Restricted Death

Chapter 229 Ten Blades
In this world, Karakura Town.

The afternoon sun lazily painted the outlines of the buildings, and the streets were sparsely populated. However, this brief tranquility was abruptly shattered as a figure streaked across the sky like a shooting star, plummeting downwards. A powerful yet restrained spiritual pressure instantly spread out, precisely locking onto a certain corner of the city.

Shin's figure solidified above Karakura Town. He squinted, his sharp perception piercing through the air, instantly catching several familiar spiritual pressure fluctuations mixed with weak and chaotic energy. Gin Ichimaru and the others were there.

With almost no pause, his figure blurred again, leaving only the faint sonic boom of air being sliced ​​apart at high speed.

When Shin arrived, he saw several Shinigami, led by Gin Ichimaru, standing solemnly on the rooftop of a building. The air was thick with tension and the stench of blood. A figure lay on the ground, his bright orange hair spread out on the cold concrete. Beside him, another Shinigami knelt on one knee, a faint green glow emanating from his fingertips. Beads of sweat rolled down his forehead, clearly indicating that he had exhausted all his strength.

Gin Ichimaru sensed Shin's approaching spiritual pressure. The moment he looked up and saw Shin, his fox-like eyes, which were always dangerously curved into crescent shapes, unconsciously opened slightly.

"Captain Tachikawa." He spoke first, and this address seemed more sincere than ever before.

Shin nodded almost imperceptibly, his gaze landing squarely on Matsumoto Rangiku. The Grim Reaper who had been doing everything in his power to save her felt as if he had been granted a pardon, and immediately rose and respectfully stepped back, his movements carrying a hint of hasty reverence.

He knew that Shin had been the third seat of the Fourth Division and one of the top ninja in Soul Society.

Shin strode forward and crouched down. His fingertips barely touched Matsumoto Rangiku's blood-soaked collar when his expression darkened. His gaze shifted downwards to the massive, gaping wound that ran from her shoulder blade to her heart; the flesh was torn and gruesome. Matsumoto Rangiku's face was deathly pale, her breathing as faint as a candle flickering in the wind, her life hanging by a thread.

Without pausing, Shin unleashed the power of his Zanpakuto directly upon Matsumoto Rangiku, and visible spiritual particles covered her body.

The surrounding air seemed to freeze. The Grim Reapers nearby held their breath, not daring to make a sound. Before their eyes, Matsumoto Rangiku's horrific wounds began to heal at an astonishing speed.

Gin Ichimaru's gaze followed the healing light intently, witnessing Matsumoto Rangiku's breathing stabilize and her chest rise and fall with increasing strength. His tense nerves gradually relaxed, knowing that the most critical moment had passed. He slowly turned around, walked to the edge of the rooftop, and gazed at the entire city.

Matsumoto Rangiku slowly awoke, opened her eyes and looked at the letter in front of her. Her senses returned like a tide, and a dull pain still lingered in her chest, but the fatal weakness and coldness had been dispelled by her powerful life force.

She instinctively struggled to sit up.

"team leader……"

Her gaze then fell upon Gin Ichimaru, who was standing not far away with his back to her.

After about a minute, Nobunaga sighed and said, "It's done."

Even if the Fourth Division arrives, they will likely be helpless to deal with Matsumoto Rangiku's injuries for the time being, and sending her back to the Fourth Division of Soul Society would be extremely risky.

Matsumoto Rangiku sat up completely, first touching her chest with an incredulous expression. It had once been a fatal wound, but now, apart from torn clothes and residual bloodstains, her skin had returned to its smooth state, and she could not even feel any discomfort. She tried to move her shoulders, and the movements were fluid.

"Thank you, Captain, for saving my life."

Her gaze unconsciously drifted towards Gin Ichimaru.

Xin didn't get up, but instead sat cross-legged on the cold ground. "Tell me about what happened. The Hollow you were investigating shouldn't be very strong, so how could it have beaten you up like this?"

Upon hearing the question, Gin Ichimaru shifted his feet slightly, silently moving a little closer.

Matsumoto Rangiku took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. She gently patted her forehead and began to recall that nightmarish experience.

"At first, the Hollow I encountered in Nogawa City wasn't very strong. I didn't even consider requesting the removal of my limited spiritual seal. But it was extremely fast and adept at escaping. I chased it all the way here, and then another Hollow appeared..."

As she spoke, her eyes suddenly widened in surprise.

"That's right, it's an illusion..."

Xin frowned slightly: "What do you mean?"

Matsumoto Rangiku said, "The other Hollow's appearance is no different from a human's, but it exudes the spiritual pressure of a Hollow!"

Xin was taken aback upon hearing this, and two words flashed through his mind in an instant.

Arrancar!

It looks like a human, but its spiritual pressure is ethereal; only Arrancar and Visored can possess such an existence.

However, as a masked figure, Shinji Hirako and his group could not possibly cooperate with the Hollow and launch an attack on Rangiku Matsumoto.

But the Arrancar...

He turned his gaze to Gin Ichimaru, only to find that he also looked somewhat dazed.

Matsumoto Rangiku's eyes flashed with fear as she continued, "That Hollow's strength... was terrifying. He wielded a strangely shaped black scythe and defeated me with a single blow, rendering me unable to fight... But for some reason, he didn't rush to kill me. Later, someone saved me, but I didn't even see who saved me before I passed out."

The person who saved Matsumoto Rangiku must be Urahara or Hirako and the others, she thought to herself.

A black scythe...

Xin asked again, his eyes darkening, "Is that Xu a male, dressed in white clothes, with long black hair, and wearing an eye patch covering his left eye?"

Matsumoto Rangiku nodded repeatedly, her tone both certain and alarmed: "Yes! Captain, you've seen it before?"

Xin did not answer her question directly. He took a deep breath, as if to inhale all the surrounding air into his lungs, then stood up, his gaze sweeping across the empty surroundings and the distant sky like a sharp sword.

"Why haven't the rescue personnel from the Fourth Division arrived yet?"

Upon hearing this, a Shinigami responsible for communications immediately pulled out his communication device and began rapidly operating it. But just a few seconds later, his face turned deathly pale, and he looked up in astonishment, exclaiming, "Vice-Captain Ichimaru, Captain Tachikawa... we can't contact the Soul Society!"

These words startled everyone present.

"Heh..." Xin let out a cold laugh, a laugh devoid of any warmth, but instead filled with mockery and danger.

"Looks like it's not over yet."

Gin Ichimaru stood silently beside Shin, his smile stiff as if it were etched onto his face, his eyes churning with indescribable complex emotions.

Matsumoto Rangiku also took out her own communication device and tried it out, only to find that it also had no signal. She then stood up and stood to the side of the letter. She wanted to express her gratitude to Ichimaru Gin, but the strange and oppressive situation in front of her made her realize that this was definitely not the time to talk.

"Captain, now..."

Shin glanced at Gin Ichimaru beside him and asked, "Does Vice-Captain Ichimaru have any ideas?"

Gin Ichimaru was silent for a moment, then maintained his smile and said, "I'll do whatever Captain Tachikawa says."

"Then let's go somewhere else..."

Before Xin could finish speaking, a black spatial rift suddenly tore open in the sky not far away.

Or rather, it's a black cavity. Similar to a portal for Shinigami, it allows travel between the Soul Society and the Human World, but the black cavity is a technique that only Hollows can use.

The sudden appearance of the black cavity put everyone present on high alert.

Four figures, like demons emerging from the abyss of hell, exuding a suffocating sense of oppression, slowly stepped out from the rolling dark rift and stood in the void not far from the rooftop!
From their appearance, they are no different from ordinary people, but some of them wear pale, ethereal masks on their faces.

He glanced at the letter and instantly understood the identities of these people.

"Captain, that's it!"

Matsumoto Rangiku looked at one of the figures holding a sickle and exclaimed in surprise.

Gin Ichimaru's smile grew increasingly stiff, threatening to falter.

"Who is this aimed at?" Xin asked slowly, his voice somewhat cold, a faint smile playing on his lips.

"Such a grand display, it's truly overwhelming."

Nelielu du Odeschavank.

Ulquiorra Cifer.

Neutra Gilga.

Grimmjow Jakkajaj.

Four Espada have arrived at once. Does this mean they don't intend to let these people leave alive?
Xin also took the opportunity to glance at the system interface.

Nelielu du Odeschvank

【Favourability: 0】

[Can form a void wedge]

This is the first time Shin has ever seen a favorability rating of 0. Is it because the opposing stances between Hollows and Shinigami naturally lead to hatred between them?
His gaze lingered on Nelielu for a moment longer, naturally admiring her strikingly hot figure, which was fully revealed beneath her white ravaged uniform, and the unique, antelope-horn-like bone mask on her forehead.

However, Xin's attention was more like a cold needle, constantly fixed on the silver-haired vice-captain beside him.

To be honest, even now he still can't be sure of Gin Ichimaru's stance, or whether this is a trap set by Gin Ichimaru and Aizen against him.

"Matsumoto."

Shin called out softly, and Matsumoto Rangiku, who had been on high alert, responded instinctively, her hand gripping the hilt of her Zanpakuto at her lower back.

"team leader."

With a flick of his finger, he touched her collarbone, and the restrictive spiritual seal there instantly vanished.

Since we can't contact Soul Society now, applying to remove the limited spirit seal is completely futile.

Almost the instant Shin released Matsumoto's spiritual seal, the Arrancar with short blue hair on the other side grinned, revealing his gleaming white teeth. His voice was filled with impatience and blatant contempt: "I knew it! What kind of person would be worth so many of us coming here? This spiritual pressure isn't even that great."

His gaze swept unabashedly over Xin's entire body, as if assessing the value of his prey.

Xin didn't even bother to glance at him, completely ignoring the provocative words of this pure warmonger. His communication device reappeared in his hand. Unlike the others' malfunctioning devices, his seemed to use a special frequency. Xin quickly dialed the only encrypted number on it.

After a few brief seconds of silence, a response finally came from the other end of the machine, a drawn-out voice with a touch of cynicism:

"Mo~shi~mo~shi?"

Shin's voice was calm: "You felt the spiritual pressure, didn't you? To make a long story short, all of them are captain-level Arrancar. I can't take care of the residents of the entire city. You'd better figure something out."

After saying that, Xin hung up the call immediately.

Captain level...

Matsumoto Rangiku was very curious about who the captain was talking to. Wasn't the messenger machine temporarily unusable? But after hearing what the captain said, she was even more shocked.

What is a broken face?
While Shin was still pondering how to proceed with the battle, he noticed that the combined strength of the four Arrancars before him was above that of a regular Captain. Among them, the strongest were undoubtedly Nel and Ulquiorra, who were still at their peak.

In addition, there's Gin Ichimaru by his side, whose identity is unclear—whether he's friend or foe.

To be honest, Shin didn't think these people combined could kill him, especially since this was Karakura Town and he had outside help.

But the current dilemma is this: if a full-scale war breaks out here, the aftershocks from the collision of terrifying spiritual pressures that are powerful enough to shake space will instantly destroy millions of innocent humans in the entire city, just like crushing ants!

And these ordinary team members around him, including Matsumoto Rangiku who had just recovered from serious injuries, were not even cannon fodder in a battle of this level. He simply couldn't possibly care about their lives!

"Vice-Captain Ichimaru, can I still trust you?"

Gin Ichimaru remained expressionless and simply said, "That depends on what Captain Tachikawa himself thinks."

"..."

Matsumoto Rangiku couldn't understand their conversation. Was the captain doubting whether Gin's strength was enough to help because they were facing such a powerful Hollow?

At this moment, Ulquiorra, one of the four Arrancar, spoke up: "Did you call for reinforcements?"

Xin ignored him.

“To be frank, the more people who come, the more disadvantageous it will be for you,” Ulquiorra said. “We know the rules of you Grim Reapers. Our orders are to kill you here. So, the more people there are, the lower the chances of those humans below surviving.”

Upon hearing this, Xin slowly narrowed his eyes and finally spoke: "Who told you that I care about the lives of those humans down there?"

As soon as he finished speaking, an extremely powerful spiritual pressure erupted from Shin's body. Matsumoto Rangiku, who was standing next to him, was shaken by the aftershock and took a step back.

The undisguised, immense spiritual pressure swept across the entire rooftop like an invisible tsunami, causing the concrete beneath their feet to groan under its immense weight, and making the four Arrancar opposite them change color under the terrifying power of the spiritual pressure.

“Not bad, not bad at all!” Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez reacted the most fiercely. His wild face showed no fear, but instead burst forth with an even more scorching fighting spirit.

"I'm saying, you guys don't have any objections to handing this person over to me, right?"

(End of this chapter)