Ichigo leaves and takes up residence in Soul Society!

Even Yamamoto Genryusai couldn't stop it.

"Although you are young compared to me... times have changed, so don't expect me to show you any mercy!"

He was confronted with a subtle murderous intent in the old man's words.

Kyoraku and Ukitake drew their Zanpakuto with solemn expressions, ready for battle.

Kisuke Urahara also sighed silently, his expression extremely serious.

It's worth mentioning that he somehow acquired another captain's haori from the 12th Division and put it on.

At first glance, they all wore captain's hats.

It was quite spectacular.

"Commander-in-Chief, that's what I wanted to say too..."

bass.

Aizen smiled and calmly drew his Zanpakuto from his waist.

"As a teacher, I can't just turn a blind eye to the fact that my student has been injured like this."

"I also want to settle a score with you... for leading the Soul Society's unparalleled genius astray!"

boom!

The Four Palace Masters, who had already walked far away, couldn't help but turn their heads to look back, only to see the battlefield once again engulfed in raging flames.

Chapter Seventy: Where is the sheath, and where is the dragon?

The sudden tremor startled Ichigo awake.

He instinctively reached for the hilt of the knife behind him, but found nothing.

Ichigo was stunned for a moment, then looked around and found himself lying on the roof of a large hall. The sun was glaringly bright above him, and the stuffy heat in the air was unbearable.

"Shinomiya... cough cough cough?"

Seeing his close friend sitting quietly to rest, the hoarse voice he spoke made him cough involuntarily.

"Give."

The Four Palaces Lord casually tossed the water jug ​​beside him over.

Ichigo took the water bottle and drank it down as eagerly as a traveler thirsty in the desert.

"Phew... I'm alive again! Wait, why does this feel like tap water?"

"Where am I supposed to get you some water right now? The Captain-Commander's Bankai probably evaporated almost all the water on the surface, leaving only the groundwater... Now that you're awake, come and help me heal."

"You, watch your mouth. I'm a doctor, you know."

Ichigo was slightly speechless, but seeing that the other party was so busy that he didn't even have time to treat his own injuries, he could only complain for a moment before stepping forward to use "Return to the Path".

"By the way, Shinomiya... how long was I unconscious?"

"Less than ten minutes."

The four palaces lords responded casually, their gazes fixed on the distance.

Ichigo seemed to sense something and looked in the direction of the gaze, where there was a familiar yet terrifying spiritual pressure vibration.

He is the chief captain.

And the spiritual pressure of the teachers, Kyoraku and Ukitake.

The last one was completely unfamiliar, but was undoubtedly a captain-level figure.

"So that's how it is... Did we lose?"

"how to say."

Shinomiya-sama recounted what had just happened, shattering Ichigo's preconceived notions.

"Eh...Is that so? I thought we were both defeated by the old man and that our teachers and the others arrived just in time to save us on the way to prison."

According to the plan, they were supposed to lure the Captain-Commander to a secluded spot on the outskirts of Seireitei, where Aizen, Kyoraku, and others who were lying in ambush would hold him off. After that, they would pack up and leave, turning back to Sōgyōgaoka.

While the confrontation with Yamamoto Genryusai was not entirely unexpected, it was certainly something that needed to be avoided as much as possible.

If it is truly unavoidable.

They tried to stall until Aizen and the others arrived and took over the battlefield.

In other words.

For Shinomiya and Ichigo, as long as Aizen and the others arrive, no matter how badly they are beaten, it won't count as a loss.

"But this doesn't really count as a win... does it?"

Ichigo was quite disappointed.

"I never thought that even after learning Bankai, I would still get beaten to a pulp."

"Isn't this a good thing?"

Shinomiya raised an eyebrow, and seeing Ichigo's puzzled expression, he said softly, "This means that we still have a lot of room for improvement. The Captain-Commander has set an example for us."

"For me, what's truly terrifying isn't being utterly defeated, but rather when I become as strong as him, I can no longer become stronger and can only watch helplessly as newcomers overtake me."

"Besides, let's not forget what our original goal was. In the battle with the Captain-Commander, winning or losing is not important at all. The moment I realized that I had to fight him, I had already put victory or defeat out of my mind."

"No wonder you went easy on me in the end."

Ichigo understood.

"Yes, so in the end I used the back of the knife, but even that I wasn't knocked unconscious. I have to admire how strong the captain is."

"No...that's not what I meant. I meant...you still have some tricks up your sleeve, right? Or, your Bankai hasn't been fully revealed yet, has it?"

"What are you talking about? Didn't you see I've used up all my spiritual pressure?"

Shinomiya-sama withdrew his gaze from the battlefield and looked at Ichigo with an annoyed expression that seemed to say, "How dare you accuse me of slacking off?"

The latter simply rolled his eyes, continuing to heal him while letting out a cold laugh: "It might be possible for others, but you, Shinomiya... putting aside your habit of holding back, if you can summon a dragon in your Shikai stage, there's no reason why you can't do it in your Bankai stage, right?"

"Brother Kurosaki, you know me well. How could I just stand by and watch you lie on the ground while hiding your strength?"

"..."

"..."

The two stared at each other.

Suddenly, another tremor struck.

Several bricks and tiles on the main hall were shaken off.

The two of them turned to look at the battlefield, their frivolous expressions disappearing.

"nailed it."

"Thanks."

After the medical treatment ended, Ichigo began to heal his own wounds and asked, "What's next?"

"You go support Inoue first. As for me... I'll have to wait a bit. Although your 'Return Path' is injecting spiritual pressure, my combat strength won't recover that quickly."

"Alright, you'd better hurry up and catch up. It's too boring for me to show off all by myself."

Soon, Ichigo picked up his greatsword and headed to the next battlefield.

The four palace masters were left behind to wait silently for their power to be restored.

The fatal blow, delivered at the cost of sacrificing his armor, exhausted his spiritual pressure.

Fortunately, the principle behind "returning to the source" is blood transfusion therapy.

simply put.

It involves the user injecting their spiritual pressure into the injured person's body to help the injured person recover their spiritual pressure.

Because of the survival mechanism of "spiritual pressure equal to life force", as long as spiritual pressure is restored, the body's self-healing ability will be greatly enhanced.

The injured person's self-healing ability combined with external treatment techniques.

With coordinated efforts from both inside and outside, theoretically, as long as there was still a breath left, there was no way they couldn't be saved.

If they can't be saved.

That only means that the caster's own power is too weak, the spiritual pressure injected is not enough, and the effect of the external healing spell is also very average.

Most of the Fourth Division members would encounter this situation, so they would often be divided into multiple treatment teams to concentrate their efforts on a large scale.

If one person cannot be saved, then the entire medical team should work together. In this way, even if a captain-level Grim Reaper is seriously injured, they will not be helpless against him.

But Ichigo is different.

He alone is worth several medical teams.

With Ichigo's "Return to the Path" infusing spiritual pressure, the Fourth Prince felt his depleted body gradually recovering.

It is undoubtedly still far from its peak.

But don't forget.

Shinomiya-zun also had a "compound potion" given to him by [Machine Soul] when he enrolled.

Two usage opportunities per day.

I used them all at once.

Even taking into account the benefits of "returning to the source," at least one-third of the resources can be restored.

It's enough to handle the battles to come.

Even fighting the captain again wouldn't be out of the question.

after all.

Just like Ichigo said,

The Four Palaces Master always likes to keep something in reserve.

Even...more than one hand.

One of them is the "Black Flash" which has not yet been used.

The second is the 卍解 (banker's solution).

Ichigo guessed right.

His Bankai was not fully revealed.

While the statement "If Shikai can summon a dragon, there's no reason why a stronger Bankai can't" is a bit too absolute, it's not entirely without merit.

In fact, even if we don't say it that way...

If you think about it more carefully, you'll also find something amiss.

such as……

After the Bankai is released, the Zanpakuto will revert to its Asauchi state.

However, the Four Palaces Lord directly enters the initial release state.

This is clearly illogical.

The only explanation is...

Bankai is not the end.

This is something that others can see without the Four Palaces Lords needing to explain it.

Because it's very clear.

This is indeed a scene where "this guy's Bankai has ended, and only the remaining power is divided into two parts. One part is used to activate Shikai, and the other part is used to create a mark that guarantees 100% accuracy, so as to launch a combo-style killing blow."

However, when Shinomiya-sama used his Bankai, he held the sword and its sheath together in his hand.

From the results.

The "knife" has been transformed into an indestructible suit of armor.

It possesses "super-specification spiritual pressure hardness" that integrates offense and defense.

And the "no defense" characteristic.