Hanatarō Yamada was the younger brother of Seinosuke Yamada, the director of the Shin'ō Medicine Institute.
Seinosuke had also once served as the lieutenant of the Fourth Division.
Growing up under his older brother's influence, Hanatarō became a Shinigami who disliked fighting and loved medicine.
In the end, he entered the Fourth Division and took the position of Seventh Seat.
That much could be seen from his Zanpakutō alone.
After all, what combat division's Zanpakutō would turn into the shape of a surgical scalpel when released?
Before entering the Fourth Division, he had worked as a cleaner in the Sixth Division.
Even after being transferred to the Fourth Division, he would still occasionally take on cleaning duties around the Seireitei.
His fixed cleaning area was the Sixth Division's territory.
Back when Rukia was still imprisoned in the Sixth Division, he often brought her some food and chatted with her.
After learning that she had only transferred her Shinigami powers to a human because of special circumstances, Hanatarō felt sympathy for her situation.
Logically speaking, there had been a reason behind her actions, and Rukia was also a noble.
She should not have been sentenced to death. However, Hanatarō was merely a small Seventh Seat.
The decisions of the higher-ups were not something he had the right to comment on.
Today, when he went to clean the Sixth Division area, he discovered that Rukia had been transferred to the Fourth Deep Prison inside the Senzaikyū.
He had originally wanted to go speak with Rukia for a while, but he was stopped by the Shinigami guarding the Fourth Deep Prison.
Left with no results, he could only return to the Fourth Division.
However, while he was on his way back to the Fourth Division, an accident happened.
He was kidnapped!
And the people who kidnapped him were none other than Ichigo and Ganju, who were running all over the place.
After Ichigo and Ganju successfully reunited, they ran straight into the unlucky Hanatarō Yamada while fleeing.
Faced with this sudden situation, Ichigo did not hesitate at all and immediately made a decision.
Kidnap Hanatarō!
And just like that, poor Hanatarō somehow became their hostage in complete confusion.
Hanatarō stared at Ichigo and Ganju with wide eyes, his face full of terror.
No matter how hard he thought about it, he never imagined that something like this would happen to him at a time like this.
But facing Ichigo and Ganju's forceful attitude, he had no ability to resist and could only obediently follow their arrangements.
Ichigo and Ganju exchanged a smile, secretly feeling pleased.
They knew that with Hanatarō as a hostage, their next move would go much more smoothly.
As for Hanatarō himself, he had already fallen into deep despair…
Seeing the pursuers behind them getting closer and closer, Ichigo had a flash of inspiration.
He placed his blade against Hanatarō's neck and shouted loudly, "Hey! Don't come any closer! I've got a hostage here! If you dare take another step forward, I'll tear the ticket right now!"
However, the aggressive Eleventh Division members chasing after them not only failed to stop, but even began showing strange smiles.
That made Ichigo's scalp go numb.
Were these people all insane?
"What the hell do you want? I'm seriously going to kill the hostage!" Ichigo shouted again, somewhat flustered.
To his surprise, those squad members answered in unison, "Go ahead! Hurry up and do it. Better yet, kill him with one slash! That way, when we report back, we can say this guy died gloriously for the Seireitei."
Hearing this, Ichigo's eyes widened in disbelief.
"Isn't he your comrade? How can you be this cruel? Are all Shinigami this heartless?"
At that moment, one squad member laughed and explained to Ichigo, "Kid, looks like you know too little about the Seireitei. The guy you kidnapped is just a useless Fourth Division member. We, on the other hand, are elites of the Eleventh Division. If we can borrow your hand to get rid of him, we'll have to thank you properly afterward."
Ichigo's face darkened.
He had never imagined that the hostage he had gone through so much trouble to grab would actually be a burden.
"Then… uh, if I let him go now, can we pretend nothing happened?"
"Too late, kid! Since you dared kidnap a Shinigami of the Seireitei, you'd better prepare yourself to pay the price!"
Left with no other choice, Ichigo and Ganju could only drag Hanatarō around as they fled in every direction to avoid being hunted down.
While they were running, Hanatarō suddenly asked curiously, "Why did you break into the Seireitei?"
Ichigo glanced at Hanatarō.
"We came to the Seireitei to save Rukia."
Hanatarō looked at Ichigo in surprise.
"Save Rukia? Then you must be that Ichigo Kurosaki she talked about. Rukia was sentenced to death because of you."
Hearing this, Ichigo's eyes widened.
He had not expected that someone he had randomly kidnapped would actually have some connection to Rukia.
"Huh? You know Rukia?"
"I was still bringing snacks to Rukia a few days ago, but today she was suddenly transferred to the Fourth Deep Prison," Hanatarō said gloomily. "I wanted to visit her, but I was driven away."
Hearing this, Ichigo somehow asked, "Can you lead us to the place where Rukia is being held?"
Ganju's eyes widened as he stared at Ichigo in disbelief, as if he were looking at an idiot.
Asking the enemy to guide them?
Wasn't that pure fantasy?
However, something unexpected happened.
Hanatarō actually nodded without hesitation.
"Sure. No problem!"
He agreed.
He actually agreed!
Ganju felt as if his entire worldview was about to shatter.
There were actually people these days who were willing to guide invaders? They were outsiders who had broken into the Seireitei!
Although they had their reasons, in name, they were still enemies!
With Hanatarō's help, the pressure on Ichigo and Ganju lessened considerably.
This was all thanks to Hanatarō's identity as a cleaner, which made him extremely familiar with the crisscrossing sewer routes inside the Seireitei.
At a corner, Hanatarō stopped, then skillfully lifted an inconspicuous floor tile and called for Ichigo and Ganju to climb into the sewer.
The Eleventh Division Shinigami who caught up stared at everything in confusion.
They could not understand how the three people who had just been right in front of them had vanished without a trace after turning a corner.
"Damn it! The credit that was right in front of us just disappeared!"
One Eleventh Division Shinigami roared angrily, his eyes almost spitting fire.
After all, they had been just about to capture them, only for the targets to suddenly vanish. It was infuriating.
Under Hanatarō's guidance, the three constantly changed direction inside the sewer and finally arrived at the exit closest to the Senzaikyū.
"Ugh!"
After climbing out, Ichigo took huge breaths of fresh air.
The stench in the sewer had been far too strong and had nearly made him throw up.
Hanatarō pointed at the enormous building ahead, which was shrouded in a thin mist.
"Look! That's the Senzaikyū up ahead. Rukia is being held inside, in the Fourth Deep Prison."
Just as Ichigo and the others were about to continue forward, they saw a figure standing on the stairs leading toward the Senzaikyū.
The thin mist slowly parted.
The person standing there was actually Renji Abarai.
He and Ichigo could be considered old acquaintances.
Not long ago, the two of them had fought in the World of the Living.
The important part was that Renji had lost.
Renji had been brooding over that matter the entire time.
Being defeated by a half-baked Shinigami who had never received any proper training was, to him, a humiliation.
He had arrived here long ago and waited like a hunter by a rabbit hole, because this was the only road leading to the Senzaikyū.
If Ichigo wanted to save Rukia, he would definitely run into him.
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