Crossover Anime: Starting with Bankai from Demon Slayer

Chapter 318 The Seireitei in a Mess

They were not far away.

Hitsugaya Toshiro was kneeling on one knee, supporting Hinamori Momo, who looked dazed and like a soulless puppet.

"Hinamori... wake up! Look at me! Hinamori!"

Toshiro called out to the other person anxiously, but received no response.

Her eyes were fixed blankly on the void where Aizen had vanished, her pupils unfocused, and she mechanically repeated the same few words: "Captain Aizen... why... Captain Aizen..."

The man she revered like a god not only orchestrated this earth-shattering conspiracy to overthrow the Soul Society...

Before leaving, she didn't even glance at him, and calmly departed with the others.

The pain of being betrayed by someone you believe in is ten thousand times more deadly than a physical wound.

Seeing his childhood friend in such a mentally broken state, Toshiro felt a burning rage.

"That bastard..." Toshiro's chill intensified, and the hilt of Hyōrinmaru crackled and froze in his hand. "I will kill you with my own hands..."

Unlike Toshiro's furious rage, the third division vice-captain Kira Izuru was sitting on the ground, looking utterly dejected.

The captain who always smiled, whose thoughts were hard to fathom, and whom I swore to follow, turned out to be a traitor?

No...that's not right!

Kira Izuru recalled the last look Ichimaru Gin gave him as he was enveloped by the anti-membrane before he left.

That glance... contained no mockery, no contempt for the weak, no arrogance. It held only a profound depth he couldn't decipher, and... an apology?

"...The captain must have his reasons...I must find out the reason." He vowed to himself.

In this atmosphere filled with reunion on one side and sorrow on the other.

Swish!Swish!

Two sharp whooshing sounds came from the air.

"6

"Although I sensed this unusual noise from below, seeing it with my own eyes is truly a headache."

The ground, scorched into a glassy state by the blazing katana... the enormous crater blasted by the beams of light from Avici Hell... and the corpses of the mortal guards and executioners...

Even the deep-thinking Kyoraku Shunsui couldn't help but become serious.

Jushiro Ukitake, who was standing next to him, did not respond.

His gentle eyes suddenly trembled as he surveyed the battlefield.

"A petrel?!"

Ukitake's voice became distorted due to excessive excitement, and even cracked slightly.

Kaien, who was carrying Rukia on his back and trying to explain the Shiba family tree to Ichigo Kurosaki, heard this voice and suddenly turned around.

He looked at the white-haired captain who was running towards him, bursting into a violent cough due to the strenuous exercise, and his eyes welled up with tears.

"Captain Ukitake!!"

Kaien took a deep breath and stood up straight: "Shiba Kaien, reporting for duty! I'm sorry... I worried you!"

Even though he briefly served as the captain of the 10th Division, in his heart, he was still a member of the 13th Division.

Ukitake grabbed Kaien's shoulder, scrutinizing the suddenly missing man from head to toe, sensing the weak yet undeniably real spiritual pressure emanating from him...

"It really is you! Haiyan...you're still alive! That's wonderful...that's truly wonderful!"

"Captain, you're not fully recovered yet, don't get so agitated." Haiyan's nose also tingled, and she responded with a wry smile.

"I'm tough as nails, these little storms won't get me! It's just that over the years, the burden of the Thirteenth Division has fallen entirely on your shoulders... It's my dereliction of duty."

"It's good that you're back... As long as you're back, that's better than anything else!" Although Ukitake kept coughing, he couldn't hide the joy on his face.

Kyoraku Shunsui watched this scene without immediately disturbing the long-separated master and disciple.

He simply walked silently to the side of a lithe and agile figure.

"Oh dear... I wondered who had such great abilities, to lead a few ruminants who hadn't even attended the True Spirit Arts Academy, and turn this Seireitei upside down."

He reached out and pushed his straw hat up higher: "Isn't this our esteemed head of the Shihouin clan, the Commander-in-Chief of the Onmitsukido, Princess Yoruichi?"

Kyoraku looked at Yoruichi Shihouin, his tone teasing like old friends reuniting, as if they weren't standing on a devastated battlefield, but chatting casually in an izakaya: "What? You've finally decided to come back home and see your old friends?"

Hearing that familiar tone, Yoruichi lowered her arms, turned her head and laughed, "Don't give me that, Shunsui."

"If you ask me why I'm here, just think of it as me representing my family's company and bringing my employees to the Seireitei for a team-building trip."

"However, the attractions here are too boring; I'll give it a bad review."

"...Miss Yoruichi is still so blunt with her words." Kyoraku Shunsui gave a wry smile, then his expression turned serious, and he lowered his voice: "But seriously, Miss Yoruichi, this matter is far too serious; I'm afraid the entire Soul Society is in trouble..."

""

"...Yes, I know, I didn't expect it to turn out this way either."

She retorted without any politeness, "If your leader hadn't been so useless, not even noticing that his own backyard was on fire, allowing that hypocrite Aizen to make a fool of the entire Gotei 13 for so many years, things wouldn't have come to this—"

Yoru glanced at the distant birds and remained silent.

Over there, Haiyan was placing Lucia in front of him.

"Weave your destiny, my dear..."

Shinobu Kocho's gentle voice echoed across the ruins.

She has recovered from the emotional turmoil of the reunion and regained her professionalism and composure as a doctor.

The Zanpakuto emitted a dreamlike glow, and countless tiny spirit particles, like a gentle spring rain, pattered down on the wound on Rukia's chest.

"This... Miss Shinigami, is Rukia alright?" Ichigo crouched nervously to the side, barely daring to breathe, afraid of disturbing Shinobu's treatment.

"It's not a big problem... I have to admit, Aizen's methods are very ingenious." Shinobu Kocho didn't even turn her head, but only focused on the flow of spiritual energy at the wound.

As time passed, a trace of color finally returned to Rukia's paper-white face.

The horrific hole in his chest was filled and stitched back up, leaving only a faint scar.

"Hmm..."

Rukia let out a soft groan, her long eyelashes fluttered a few times, and she slowly opened her eyes.

"Rukia! You're awake!" Ichigo was so excited he almost jumped up.

Rukia's eyes were still somewhat confused. She looked in surprise at Ichigo, who was leaning close to her, and then at Shinobu Kocho, who was putting away her Zanpakuto and smiling gently at her.

Finally, his gaze fell on the older brother standing to the side, dressed in white.

"Big brother..." Rukia's voice was terribly hoarse as she had just recovered.

When Byakuya Kuchiki saw that Rukia had woken up, he quickly turned his head away to avoid her gaze.

He simply said in his cold voice, "Now that you're awake, don't lie there anymore... Go home."

It seems he's still not very good at expressing his feelings.

"Alright, your injuries have stabilized... However, for a long time to come, you'd better not use your spiritual pressure and you must rest properly."

Shinobu wiped the sweat from her brow, stood up, looked at Asuka, and gave him a reassuring smile.

Feiniao nodded, stepped forward, and naturally took her hand.

The hand was a little cold from the effort of saving her, so Fei Niao wrapped it tightly in his large palm, trying to transfer some warmth to it.

With Rukia out of danger, the tense atmosphere of life and death in the arena finally eased somewhat.

However, when the captains and Ichigo and the others gathered together...

The heaviness in the air did not lessen in the slightest.

Now we are forced to confront an even more serious problem.

What should the Gotei 13 do?