Ichigo leaves and takes up residence in Soul Society!

The intense spiritual pressure that repeatedly erupted from the Twin Peaks Hill drew the attention of many people in the Seireitei. However, while everyone was gazing at the high cliff, someone had somehow sneaked into the deepest part of the underground prison – "Mugen".

Unlike "The Nest of Maggots," which holds potentially dangerous individuals, Room 46 attempts to extinguish any remaining sparks of danger in advance.

The Eighth Prison, "Avici," is the place where extremely serious criminals are sealed away.

Although there were only a handful of them, without exception, they were all people who had nearly caused great harm to the Soul Society, or who had committed heinous crimes and were extremely vicious.

The killing intent stone, which isolates spiritual pressure, is completely dark underground, with no light at all, making it almost impossible to distinguish up from down from left from right. It's like a man-made space.

The prisoner is placed in this environment, preventing him from experiencing the existence of the world.

Over time, people outside the community will forget their existence.

"Ah~ Ah~ That's what they say, but I still came in, didn't I?"

With cat-like lightness, Gin Ichimaru used a key he'd somehow acquired to open the door to "Mugen" (the prison), and found a prisoner.

The prisoner was completely bound by a binding spell, his five senses were sealed, and he was unable to move.

This is a standard feature of "Infernal Affairs".

Even with superior demonic arts, one cannot break free from the binding spell, because it is a physical binding spell created by consuming a great deal of effort.

Only the key held by Room 46 can open it.

But these keys are now in Gin Ichimaru's hands.

It can be said that all the restrictions on the prisoner were removed without any effort.

Then, they led people out of "Avici".

"I never thought I'd see the light of day again."

The prisoner closed his eyes, feeling the scent of green grass and soil, listening to the sound of the wind, and the warmth of the sun.

His stagnant heart gradually came to life, and when he opened his eyes again, his yellow pupils were filled with an arrogant and domineering air.

"It's really quite difficult to bring you out here."

Gin Ichimaru sat leisurely on a tree trunk nearby.

"One of the captains of the 12th Division felt that it was unsafe for the 'Mugen' seal to remain clustered together, so he dispersed it. I spent a lot of time and effort, traveling to several different places... but those are manageable. What's giving me the biggest headache is 'Souku'."

"That is a core seal prepared specifically for you."

"Only when it is liberated can we have a brief opportunity to take advantage of it."

"Otherwise, even if I run myself ragged to get the key and remove the bindings from your body, you still won't be able to step out of 'Avici Hell'."

The prisoner raised his head and looked at Gin Ichimaru with a disdainful and fearless attitude.

"You racked your brains and exhausted all your energy just to release me, who once nearly destroyed Soul Society. What is your purpose? Also, I'm very curious, how did you learn of my existence?"

“You should know that I have been ‘departed’ for two thousand years. The long passage of time is enough to erase the traces left by me who does not belong to this world.”

"Oh, this one~"

Ginichimaru shrugged and complained.

“Recently, an Adjuchas appeared in Rukongai. It accidentally ran into the research lab of an acquaintance of mine, and after eating some unclean or discarded food, it underwent a slight mutation and gained the ability to hide its spiritual pressure.”

The prisoner listened with a frown, not understanding what he was saying.

"At the same time, it also made a mess of the research room. As my acquaintance and I were about to leave, I inadvertently looked at a line of words on the ground... to be precise, a name."

"Arturo Pratidó".

Gin Ichimaru squinted at the slight change in the other person's face.

"By the way, that Hollow is called Keith Kukabro, a dog-shaped Hollow."

"Cess...?"

The prisoner looked relieved.

"I see. You were curious about this name, so you looked up some old documents and that's how you learned about my story?"

“Mr. Arturo’s men are very loyal; they seem to be looking for an opportunity to rescue you.”

"Heh, if he had that ability, he wouldn't just be a mid-level Hollow... His loyalty and ambition are directly proportional. I think he wants to find my Zanpakuto, eat it, and then inherit my power, right?"

Arturo stroked the remnants of the mask on his forehead. He was draped in a tattered cloak, and aside from the mask, he looked no different from a human.

In reality, the owner of the name Arturo Pratidoo is a high-ranking Hollow who has autonomously transformed into an Arrancar.

He broke through the mask with his own abilities and transformed the core of his soul into a Zanpakuto.

Although he was sealed away, he is still alive, and the knife is still there.

Therefore, Arturo could tell at a glance what his former subordinates were planning.

"That piece of trash probably only recently evolved to the point where he can gnaw on a knife, but that's not enough to make him a match for the Grim Reaper."

"Dare to approach Seireitei, and you'll definitely be killed. The best-case scenario is that you'll escape severely injured... In that case, your body, mutated by special abilities, will inevitably degenerate into a mindless stray dog, right? Hahahaha! If that's the case, it's fitting. That's the fate of trash!"

"And what about Mr. Arturo himself?"

Gin Ichimaru's words abruptly silenced the masked criminal's arrogant, gleeful laughter.

"What do you mean?!"

"Don't mind me~ I didn't mean to be sarcastic. I'm just curious, how much courage does that great sinner who almost single-handedly conquered Soul Society two thousand years ago still have to be an enemy of Soul Society now?"

"……Ah."

Arturo gave Gin Ichimaru a deep look.

"I understand. You want to use me to destroy Soul Society, right? Although I'm confident I can do it, it's an undeniable fact that I'm not at my peak right now."

"But you, as a Shinigami, actually released me and encouraged me to fight against the Soul Society... It seems that Yamamoto is also nearing his end; he can't even control his own subordinates anymore."

"Don't say that~ Captain-Commander is still going strong~ Yes, not in his prime? I've thought about that too. Right now there's something great that will not only help you recover but also surpass your past self, waiting for you to take it."

Gin Ichimaru said meaningfully.

"Oh?"

Arturo scoffed, thinking to himself, "Would someone be so kind as to save such a good thing for me?"

Suddenly, a figure rushed out of the dense forest and appeared at one of the only passages to one of the many hidden exits of this underground prison.

"Ichimaru, you mean the 'Hogyoku'?"

"Eh?"

Gin Ichimaru looked at Toshiro with surprise.

"Isn't this the captain of the 10th Division? When did you start following me?"

"...It's none of your business."

Toshiro's expression was so serious it was almost frightening. Holding the communication device in his hand, he gestured and said, "I've recorded your conversation... It's not very clear, but once we capture you, the truth will come out."

"Take us down..."

Gin Ichimaru's mouth was twisted into a "へ" shape, making him look extremely speechless.

"I was wondering, Captain of the Tenth Division... You're only one person, are you sure you can handle both of us at the same time?"

Arturo scoffed at this moment, "He's not that stupid... Even though he's a shorty, he's wearing the same clothes as you, so he can't be that naive."

As he spoke, he cast a playful glance at the two women who had reappeared.

"Of course... they're not much smarter either."

"Team leader...!"

The moment the masked, green-haired, yellow-eyed man looked over, Yongyin felt as if she had fallen into an ice cave.

"Don't be nervous, Yongyin."

Unohana Retsu said softly, reassuringly, while observing the situation and instructing, "Use 'Heavenly Skyfall' to inform the entire team that a serious criminal is colluding with a traitor. That alone should be enough to calm everyone down... Frankly, I even think Captain Ichimaru did a good thing."

"Captain Unohana is so composed, but isn't it a bit too dangerous for the head of the medical squad, who's supposed to be in charge of things from the rear, to come to the front lines?"

Gin Ichimaru couldn't help but applaud.

Toshiro was reminded of something unpleasant by her relaxed demeanor. Suppressing his boiling killing intent, he coldly questioned, "Ichimaru, I have something to ask you before we start fighting."

"Is it about that girl...? Who killed Lieutenant Hinamori?"

"—!"

Gin Ichimaru's blunt question pierced Toshiro's heart like a spear. He instinctively gripped the hilt of his sword and stared at Gin with even sharper eyes, radiating a terrifying killing intent and spiritual pressure, as if he wanted to use this aura to force the other party to tell the truth.

But Gin Ichimaru seemed oblivious to everything. No one could tell what he was thinking, and even his unchanging smile—whether it was malice or something else—was impossible to discern.

"You might not believe it... but that girl committed suicide."

"what?!"

Toshiro's pupils contracted, his anger barely contained.

"Is that so! It seems you don't want to tell the truth... Well then, I won't hold back! If we don't understand, we'll just kill all the suspects!"

"Captain Hitsugaya...! Isane!"

Unohana Retsu wanted to persuade her colleague, who was gradually going to extremes, to calm down, but she knew it was a futile effort, so she urged her adjutant to get things done quickly.

"Ah? Got it!"

Yongyin hurriedly used "Ten-Ting Kong Luo," a high-level binding technique used to capture spiritual pressure and instantly share information with multiple people.

Those who possess the aptitude for "returning to the Dao" are often quite capable in the realm of ghosts.

at this time.

Arturo raised his hand and stretched out his palm, aiming at Yongyin, making a feint grabbing motion, and crushed the almost formed "Tian Ting Kong Luo".

To be precise, it caused the spiritual particles of the construction technique to go berserk and out of control.

"ah……!?"

Yongyin was so frightened that she sat down on the ground with a thud.

Seeing this, Retsu Unohana and Toshiro looked somewhat serious.

"Is this... the ability to manipulate spirit particles? No... is it an alternative application of the ability to absorb spirit particles?"

But whatever it was, Retsu Unohana knew that it was impossible to use Kido in front of this Arrancar.

"Where are Captain Hitsugaya and Vice-Captain Matsumoto?"

“We ran into Kira on the road, and she went to intercept him... We can’t get in touch with her for a while.”

Toshiro gritted his teeth.

"Then we'll have to let Yongyin leave first, and then notify everyone else later."

This thought flashed through Retsu Unohana's mind.

Arturo had anticipated their plan and released an extremely powerful spiritual pressure to construct a circular white space, isolating the three of them inside.

"Wow, that's really amazing! How long can this last?"

Gin Ichimaru exclaimed in surprise.

"An hour or two is no problem... This arena was originally designed to prevent prey from escaping, but I never expected it to be used in this situation..."

The tactic of detaining two captains and a vice-captain for an hour or two was undeniably powerful, but Arturo felt humiliated.

However, in order to avoid being captured and to quickly regain his strength so that he could take revenge on Yamamoto.

This sense of shame will only fuel even greater fighting spirit.

"Let's go, let's take the 'Hogyoku' you mentioned."

"...You believe me so easily? And you don't seem to know much about the 'Hogyoku'?"

Ichimaru Gin was slightly surprised.

"It's just another divine artifact. I know the power of such things all too well. I wouldn't be surprised if you said it could restore me or even surpass my peak. As for why I believe you... don't joke around. I've never had that kind of feeling."

Arturo strode past the tree where Gin Ichimaru was sitting, and said without turning his head:

"I'm only giving you face because you saved me, you're just a nobody. If you don't appreciate the kindness of the King of Hueco Mundo, I'll execute you... It's that simple."

"...Hmm, he doesn't seem like the kind of subordinate Captain Aizen would like. This is really..."