Swish!
The moment the blade light flashed, Ichigo instinctively closed his eyes.
"Huh?"
Ichigo kept his eyes closed for a moment but didn't feel being cut by a blade.
Then Ichigo opened his eyes and saw the girl claiming to be a Shinigami hadn't stabbed him. Instead, the hilt of her Zanpakuto was pressed against the head of a middle-aged ghost that had suddenly appeared beside him.
"I... I don't want to go to hell..." The middle-aged ghost cried out in terror.
Rukia gently comforted, "Don't be nervous. You're not going to hell, but to the Soul Society. Compared to hell, the Soul Society is a leisurely, peaceful place."
As soon as Rukia's words fell, a black void suddenly appeared in space, sucking the middle-aged ghost inside.
Seeing this unbelievable scene, Ichigo stammered, "You... what did you do to that guy just now?"
Glancing at Ichigo, Rukia still explained, "I sent him to the Soul Society. This is called 'Soul Burial', what you humans call 'attaining Buddhahood'. It's also one of a Shinigami's duties."
"Understand now... Why do you still look disbelieving?"
"Forget it. Let me explain to a reckless kid like you with simple, easy-to-understand illustrations. Just listen quietly."
Saying so, the 'soul artist' Rukia took out a picture book she had drawn herself.
"You know... there are two types of souls in this world."
Rukia held up two fingers.
"One type is called 'plus spirits', ordinary souls. Usually, the 'ghosts' you can see belong to this category."
Rukia pointed to a cute rabbit in the picture book.
"The other type is called 'Hollow'. They attack anyone they see, living or dead, and devour their souls… what's commonly called 'evil spirits'."
Rukia pointed to a rabbit with a 'ferocious' expression.
Seeing Ichigo's utterly confused expression, Rukia asked, puzzled, "I explained it simply. Do you still find it difficult to understand?"
"Um... Can you explain why your drawings are so bad?" Ichigo couldn't help but say.
Rukia: "..."
Without another word, Rukia directly took out a pen and started drawing on Ichigo's face.
"Hmm, not bad."
Looking at the ridiculous little mustache she drew on Ichigo's face, Rukia couldn't help but nod in satisfaction.
"Alright, let me continue explaining."
"We Shinigami have two main duties..."
"One is the 'Soul Burial' I mentioned earlier."
"The second is... purifying and eliminating Hollows."
"And that's also my mission this time."
"...Wait!" Ichigo suddenly said with a serious expression.
"You came to complete a mission. So that means a Hollow is nearby?" Ichigo asked, his expression grim.
Rukia cutely nodded. "Yes."
Hearing Rukia's words, Ichigo couldn't help but shout angrily, "You... you idiot! Instead of going to kill it, what are you blabbering about here?!"
Ichigo's anger wasn't because he feared the Hollow hurting him. If a Hollow was nearby, his family could be affected!
Rukia also said with a grave expression, "No, it's not that..."
"For some reason, ever since earlier, I can't sense it at all..."
At this point, Rukia also looked puzzled.
"Hey, hey, really? Aren't you a Shinigami? How could you..."
Here, Ichigo suddenly seemed to sense something, his expression instantly changing drastically.
"What... what's going on? This..." Ichigo wondered inwardly.
Meanwhile, Rukia beside him remained unaware, muttering to herself, "How strange... Why did I suddenly stop sensing the Hollow? It's like it's being shielded by some powerful force..."
"Hey! Shinigami!" Ichigo shouted.
"What is it?" Rukia asked, puzzled.
"You're asking me?! Didn't you hear that terrifying sound just now?!" Ichigo said urgently.
"Terrifying sound?"
Rukia asked, puzzled, "What sound..."
Roar!
A roar echoed, this time clearly heard by Rukia as well.
Rukia's heart tightened. "That is... indeed a Hollow's cry!!"
'But why did this kid hear it before me?' Rukia wondered inwardly.
"Ahhh—!!"
Suddenly, a terrified scream came from downstairs.
"That's Yuzu's voice!" Ichigo instantly recognized it as Yuzu's voice!
Hearing the sound, Rukia immediately turned to deal with the Hollow.
"Hey! Wait! Is that really a Hollow's cry?" Ichigo hurriedly asked.
"Yes. I'll go eliminate it. You stay there!" Rukia instructed.
"What are you saying?! It's attacking my family! How can I stay here?! Come here and undo this Kido thing!!" Ichigo roared.
"Nonsense! Even if you go, what can you do?! You'd just die in vain!" Rukia scolded.
Crack!
The door to Ichigo's room suddenly opened. A figure crawled in from outside.
"Karin!" Ichigo exclaimed in surprise.
Seeing the blood flowing from Karin's head, Ichigo immediately shouted worriedly, "Karin, what happened?!"
"Fortunately... it hasn't reached here yet..." The injured Karin said intermittently.
"Everything happened too suddenly..."
"Dad suddenly collapsed beside us, his back covered in blood..."
"And Yuzu and I were attacked by a huge thing..."
"So I thought I had to notify... Ichigo-nii..."
"As for the thing attacking us, I could only see a little..."
"Dad and Yuzu seemed unable to see it at all..."
"Ichigo-nii... before it discovers... escape..."
With that, Karin lost consciousness.
"Karin!" Ichigo shouted.
"Don't worry. She just fainted. It's nothing serious." Rukia checked Karin's condition.
"Hey! Don't act recklessly!" Seeing Ichigo suddenly straining to break free from the Kido bindings, Rukia hurriedly tried to stop him.
"Ahh! Ahh! Ahh! Ahh! Ahh... !!"
Ichigo used all his strength to break free from the restraints.
Boom!
A powerful Reiatsu suddenly erupted from Ichigo's body.
"Su-such strong Reiatsu?!" Rukia exclaimed in shock.
Bang!
The Kido Rukia used to bind Ichigo completely shattered!