It was not as though Ichigo had never thought of training his Schrift power the same way Uryū had. But no matter how he tried to activate that Schrift A, he could not call it forth, so he had turned his training in other directions.
If Nnoitra had truly died because of Ichigo's All-Killing, then at least his death had served a purpose. At the very least, it had reminded Ichigo that yet another numerical cheat-like power of his could be trained.
With Tsunayoshi's reminder, Ichigo seemed somewhat excited. Ever since Uryū had mastered the power of the Antithesis, Ichigo had been extremely envious. He had desperately wanted to properly experience his own Schrift power.
But no matter what he did, he could not find a way to trigger that Schrift power. Knowing that his Schrift was A, yet being unable to use it—how was that any different from guarding a treasure chest without a key?
On top of that, during training, Masaki and Hae would often deliberately use their Schrifts right in front of Ichigo, making his eyes itch with envy while leaving him completely helpless.
Now things were different. His Schrift power had begun to emerge. Once they returned to the World of the Living, Ichigo planned to properly interrogate Old Man Zangetsu and make him help him master the power of his Schrift.
Seeing Ichigo's perverted-looking silly grin, Tsunayoshi understood that he had sunk into his own fantasies. He kicked Ichigo lightly, neither too hard nor too softly, waking him up. Their group was about to arrive at Aaroniero's palace.
Sora Inoue rather helplessly recorded Nnoitra's death and Yammy's defeat, then put away his small notebook.
In name, he was still one of the Espada, and he also usually served as something like a life committee member. Before Tsunayoshi and Aizen formally laid their cards on the table, Sora Inoue still needed to honestly record his work.
"We're here. Let's go in."
The palace doors were wide open. Sora Inoue led everyone inside. As soon as they entered, they saw Uryū sitting cross-legged on the ground in boredom.
"Uryū, is Rukia's battle over?" Kisuke Urahara asked.
He remembered that Tsunayoshi had asked Uryū to protect Rukia. For Uryū to be this idle could only mean one thing: his presence no longer affected the battle.
"It's over, but also not over," Uryū said. For a moment, even he did not know how to describe the result to them. He could only stand up and walk at the front. "They seemed to be chatting quite happily, so I left them some space."
Following Uryū's steps, Tsunayoshi and the others soon saw two people sitting on the ground in the center of the palace, chatting pleasantly. One of them was undoubtedly Rukia.
The other was a black-haired Ichigo wearing Las Noches' white robe?
"Get lost…" Ichigo snapped, punching Tsunayoshi in annoyance. He had already read the question in Tsunayoshi's eyes.
Ichigo, why are you wearing Arrancar clothes?
Of course, the person sitting beside Rukia was not Ichigo Kurosaki. He simply looked very similar to Ichigo, like a black-haired version of him. He was Ichigo's blood relative, his cousin, Kaien Shiba.
When they saw people arriving, Kaien and Rukia quickly stood to greet them. The moment Kaien saw that orange-haired boy who looked extremely similar to him, the smile on his face could not be hidden at all.
"Hello, everyone. I am Kaien Shiba. Thank you all for taking care of Rukia." Then Kaien stared at Ichigo and said, "You must be Uncle Isshin's son, right? This is wonderful. Our Shiba Clan finally has someone to carry on the line."
Kaien Shiba's greatest regret was that he had not fulfilled his responsibility of carrying on the Shiba Clan. Especially after hearing from Rukia that, after Isshin Shiba left Soul Society, the Shiba Clan had completely declined, Kaien felt deep guilt.
Back then, he had clearly been only one step away from mastering Bankai. As long as he mastered Bankai, Jūshirō Ukitake would definitely have recommended him to become a captain. In the end, everything had turned into a bubble.
That was why, when Kaien saw Ichigo, his expression became extremely emotional.
Wonderful. The Shiba Clan still had hope of being passed down.
Looking at Kaien's smile, Ichigo immediately knew that Kaien had misunderstood. Somewhat embarrassed, he said, "Kaien… uh… Brother, I took my mother's surname. My name is Ichigo Kurosaki."
"That doesn't matter. No matter what, you are still a descendant of our Shiba Clan," Kaien Shiba said magnanimously.
In his current state, he had no way to change anything anyway. He could only accept the reality that Ichigo's surname was Kurosaki.
"Isshin and Ichigo have both settled in the World of the Living. The important responsibility of the Shiba Clan should still be taken up by you, Kaien-san."
"You are… Captain Urahara?" Kaien Shiba immediately greeted him respectfully.
"I am no longer a captain, so there is no need for such formality. But you can give my suggestion some serious thought." Kisuke Urahara did not care about such etiquette at all.
"Of course I would like to, but…" Kaien said with a bitter smile. "Although I can communicate smoothly with all of you right now, my main body is still Aaroniero."
"Aaroniero? That sounds somewhat familiar… Right, Rukia, I wanted to ask where our Ninth Espada went. I still need to register it," Sora Inoue said, taking out his small notebook again.
"The Ninth Espada is right here," Rukia said, pointing at Kaien Shiba. "Lieutenant Shiba's main body is Aaroniero, which means he is the Ninth Espada."
"What? He is the Ninth Espada? Why don't I have any impression of that?" Sora Inoue was full of doubt. As the Espada's life committee member, he was confident enough to say that even Aizen was not as familiar with the Espada as he was. How could he have absolutely no memory of the Ninth Espada's name?
"You used your new power?" Tsunayoshi seemed to think of something and raised an eyebrow at Rukia.
"Yes." Rukia clenched her fist and showed the back of her hand, where a scythe-shaped mark lit up.
…
Time returned to when Rukia and Uryū had just followed Aaroniero into the palace.
The moment they returned to the shadows, Aaroniero could not help removing his mask, revealing his glass-tank-like head.
"Rukia, was it? I wonder if you still remember us? No—I should say, me."
Forcibly changing his habit of speech, Aaroniero turned around and transformed into Kaien Shiba's face. He had devoured the Hollow that had killed and fused with Kaien Shiba, so naturally, he had obtained all of Kaien Shiba's memories.
From the instant Rukia appeared, Aaroniero had recognized her. And yet Rukia had even delivered herself to his door. Aaroniero could no longer restrain himself. He wanted to slowly savor the delicacy that was Rukia through torment.
"Rukia!"
Seeing Aaroniero transform into a Shinigami, complete with a Zanpakutō, Uryū immediately formed his Spirit Bow. When it came to life-and-death combat, he did not possess the noble quality of insisting on a one-on-one duel.
As long as Rukia gave the order, Uryū's Heilig Pfeil would appear in Aaroniero's body.
A hand stopped in front of Uryū. What Uryū saw was Rukia's resolute expression.
"Leave this to me, Uryū. Don't worry. I'm not trying to act tough."
"All right."
Uryū glanced at Rukia and stepped back, but the Spirit Bow in his hand remained aimed at Aaroniero, ready to fire at any time.
"Rukia, I knew it. After seeing this face, you wouldn't bear to let an outsider interfere in our battle." Kaien Shiba spoke with an exaggerated expression.
This was Aaroniero's strategy.
From the moment Rukia and Uryū came over together, he had already thought of a plan. In his memories, Rukia had deep respect for Kaien Shiba. Rukia would absolutely choose to personally eliminate this Arrancar who had insulted Kaien Shiba.
"I only have one question. You possess Lieutenant Shiba's memories, don't you?"
Rukia's expression was terrifyingly cold, but Kaien Shiba did not fear her in the slightest. He even spun around to show himself off. "What are you talking about? I possess his entire spirit body, memories, and experience. I am Kaien Shiba!"
Kaien Shiba released his Zanpakutō in one motion.
"Rankle the Seas and Heavens, Nejibana!"
Water formed a ring around Kaien Shiba and wrapped around him. A trident pierced through the flowing water, revealing Kaien Shiba holding it in his hand.
Nejibana, a trident-like spear resembling that of Poseidon, was a true water-type Zanpakutō.
Aaroniero chose to fight Rukia in Kaien Shiba's form not only because Kaien Shiba was familiar to Rukia and could affect her mental state.
Kaien Shiba's power also happened to be the strongest among all the spirit bodies Aaroniero had devoured. Whether psychologically or physically, Aaroniero was using his strongest power.
Rukia restrained her somewhat excited left hand. The scythe mark on her hand had already lit up.
"You possess all of Lieutenant Shiba? That is… wonderful!"
Rukia had originally been afraid that Aaroniero no longer had Kaien Shiba's Reishi, afraid that Kaien Shiba had already been completely absorbed by him.
In the end, this Arrancar had perfectly preserved all of Kaien Shiba's power. Forget Reishi—even his spirit body still remained.
That was wonderful.
Lieutenant Shiba, thank you for taking care of me all those years.
This time, I will be the one to save you!
Black Reiatsu wrapped around Rukia. Her skin became even paler, and a blood-red scythe appeared in her hand. It was none other than the Hollowfication power she had only recently obtained.
An interesting scene appeared.
As the Ninth Espada, Aaroniero was an Arrancar, yet he was using the power of a Shinigami. Rukia, as a Shinigami, was instead using the power of a Hollow.
"As a Shinigami, you use Hollow power?" Kaien Shiba spun his trident, driving water toward Rukia. "You have fallen, Rukia. I am disappointed in you!"
"If you want to lecture me, then let the real Lieutenant Shiba do it!"
Rukia's furious voice exploded from behind Kaien Shiba.
Aaroniero, who was using Kaien Shiba's power, naturally used a Shinigami's Shunpo. Rukia, meanwhile, used a more direct movement method.
Sonído.
Appearing behind Kaien Shiba, Rukia swung her scythe at his back without the slightest hesitation.
But Kaien Shiba's strength was worthy of a captain candidate. His battle experience allowed him to immediately discover Rukia's position. As Nejibana spun with his body, the long shaft of the trident blocked in front of the scythe just before it could strike him.
With a sharp swish, something that Kaien Shiba—or rather, Aaroniero—had never expected happened.
His trident could not block that scythe at all.
The blood-red scythe passed straight through Nejibana and slashed into Kaien Shiba's body.
A surge of water slammed into Rukia. While spinning the trident, Kaien Shiba had not forgotten the ability of his Zanpakutō.
According to Aaroniero's plan, while he used the trident to block Rukia's scythe, the water would strike Rukia and destroy the stability of her body. After that would come the series of dance-like spear techniques Kaien Shiba was familiar with.
Unfortunately, Aaroniero had calculated the second step correctly, but not the first.
Rukia's Hollowfication ability was too suited for a first-contact kill. Very few people could imagine that her scythe possessed permeability and could not be parried.
As Rukia was sent flying backward by the water, a proud smile appeared on her face.
Her goal had already been achieved.
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