XX-level Hokage

He met Hisagi Shuhei's gaze head-on and slashed down with all his might! *Thud!*

The chain that Shuhei Sasaki instinctively raised was severed instantly.

Blood gushed from Hisagi Shuhei's massive wound, running from his shoulder to his waist.

Regardless of how many other ways Hisagi Shuhei can use Kaze-sui, or even if he can use it not only alone but also with Kido as an auxiliary method, etc.

That's just how battles are; there's never a sense of helplessness after exhausting all your skills and being helplessly defeated. There are only moments of victory and defeat.

However, even so, Hisagi Shuhei did not fall from the height. A huge blade landed on Hisagi Shuhei's neck.

They didn't cut any further down. "The outcome is decided."

Ichigo stood in front of Hisagi Shuhei and spoke to him.

"I can't say we can have a proper chat, but at least you don't have to keep chasing after me now. My only goal is to find Rukia, fight you, or kill you or something. That's not my purpose."

Even Hisagi Shuhei's gaze towards Ichigo became complicated.

The wound, which descended from the shoulder to the waist, looked quite frightening, with a large amount of blood gushing out at the moment of the injury.

But the fact that Hisagi Shuhei wasn't cut in two makes it clear that Ichigo held back at the last moment. Even though he was dressed like a Shinigami and wielding the same Zanpakuto.

But Ichigo is not a true Shinigami, unlike the Shinigami who risk their lives to either kill the enemy or be killed by the enemy.

He was merely a human who wielded the power of the Grim Reaper.

Chapter 122: Kunan Nicole

"Not going to say anything? Then I'll take that as your agreement." Ichigo's voice echoed in the silent air, carrying an undeniable decisiveness.

He made his own judgment, slowly sheathed his sword in front of Saki Shuhei, and steadily carried Zangetsu on his back. The sunlight shone on Ichigo, outlining his resolute profile, as if he were wearing a layer of golden armor.

"Whether you go back to heal or tell others about me, that's your freedom, but don't keep bothering me." Ichigo added, a hint of worry barely perceptible in his eyes.

However, Hisagi Shuhei remained silent and did not respond.

Ichigo felt uneasy and repeated, "If you keep chasing me, I'll have to defeat you completely. You can't beat me like this!!"

Before he could finish speaking, a cold light flashed before Ichigo's eyes, like sunlight being refracted by a sharp blade. At that moment, the air seemed to freeze, and a sense of danger rushed towards him. His survival instinct made Ichigo's body react before his consciousness. He suddenly fell to the side, narrowly avoiding the blade that was thrusting straight at him.

After dodging the fatal blow, Ichigo quickly retreated, creating distance from the danger.

However, upon closer inspection, he discovered that the blade that had pierced him did not come from Hisagi Shuhei, but had instead pierced through his chest. The snow-white blade was unusually long, gleaming coldly in the sunlight.

Hisagi Shuhei's face was filled with shock. He slowly lowered his head and looked at the sharp blade that had pierced him. His lips moved slightly, as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he couldn't say anything. Like a kite with a broken string, he fell straight to the ground.

"That won't do, Ichigo. If you show mercy to the enemy, you might get killed!" A dramatic voice came from behind Hisagi Shuhei.

The sound came from afar. Ichigo looked in the direction of the sound, his pupils instantly contracting, and his alertness instantly heightened.

Before my eyes came the familiar yet chilling figure of Gin Ichimaru, his face bearing that signature, sly, sly smile.

Rong's smile seemed to seep into the air, sending chills down one's spine.

The scene shifts to the First Division's base, outside the division leader's meeting room.

Sunlight filtered through the dappled leaves, casting soft shadows and adding a touch of gentleness to the solemn place. A tiny, petite girl stood there.

Inside, holding a report in her hand, was Kunan Nicole.

Her side ponytail was tied with an iron chain, which swayed gently with her movements, making a crisp sound.

"That concludes our analysis report on the items we recovered from the Eighth Division," said Kunan Nicole with a strong voice.

She came here on the secret orders of Nemuro to report to Mashiro on the status of the collar bombs recovered from the 8th Division. Who would have thought that this little girl was actually Kunan Shiro's younger sister?

The two sisters had absolutely nothing in common, from their habits to their hobbies.

Mashiro nodded slightly, and after listening to the report, summarized: "I see. In other words, it's a pure spirit particle bomb. As long as it explodes, its range..."

"The encirclement could even encompass an entire squadron's base, right?"

Kunan Nicole quickly added, "The explosive force was enough to wash everything on the surface clean. Of course, we don't know about underground."

Her voice held a hint of urgency, seemingly dissatisfied that Mashiro had overlooked the bomb's power. Mashiro nodded slightly, thoughtfully: "Unexpectedly, it's something unremarkable."

Hearing this, Kunan Nicole instantly perked up, her face full of displeasure as she poured out her grievances: "Exactly! So what's the point of researching this kind of thing? Just focusing on increasing its power, even I could..."

However, her words abruptly stopped, because Mashiro's gaze, which had been lost in thought, suddenly fell directly on her. That gaze seemed tangible, making Kunan Nico feel suffocated, like a duck with its neck caught, unable to utter a sound.

She almost thought that this Mashiro-sama had just "escaped" from prison.

Why is Kunan Nicole here? She's one of the unlucky few in the Technology Development Bureau.

They originally wanted to investigate the identity of the sand left at the scene of the Fourth Division, but the project was canceled as soon as it was started. Instead, they were asked to go to the Eighth Division to retrieve the bomb and conduct research.

The bomb recovery and research went smoothly, but the results were devastatingly simple.

This collar bomb is similar to a Cero, but it seals the Cero in a controllable state a few seconds before the explosion, so the technology involved is not very advanced.

When Kunan Nico came to report, she was full of resentment, complaining that she didn't know why Captain Nemuro had dragged her into doing such a boring task. But when she saw that the person listening to her report was Mashiro, she was completely satisfied.

She honestly reported the situation, not daring to utter a single word of complaint.

Having finally managed to get to the point where Mashiro was saying something, I wanted to vent, but before I could even get to the point, Mashiro's gaze intimidated me, and I froze on the spot.

Mashiro stared at her silently, like a homeroom teacher scrutinizing a student who had made a mistake. Kunan Nico was under immense pressure; her eyes initially darted away, but she couldn't help stealing glances at Mashiro, her small movements constantly shifting.

Finally, under Mashiro's continued gaze, she gave up resisting in despair and silently lowered her head.

Mashiro waited for a long time, but Kunan Nico remained silent. After thinking for a moment, she decided it might not be important and said, "Regarding how that thing ended up in the Eighth Division, I will have someone continue to investigate. Your current task is to keep that thing safe and, ideally, find a way to dismantle it. Don't keep anything useless."

"Oh

Kunan Nicole lowered her head, responding reluctantly in a low voice, her hands clasped together, not daring to object.

As if remembering something, Mashiro asked, "Oh, right, didn't Captain Ichimaru say he was going to go check on things? Did you see Captain Ichimaru?"

Upon hearing Gin Ichimaru's name, Nico Kunan looked up abruptly, her eyes wide with terror. "No, no way? That, that 3rd Division Captain who's impossible to like no matter what is going on is actually going to cause trouble in our department?!"

"Don't say things like that in front of him... No, even if you don't say them in front of him, don't say them either." Mashiro chuckled, lecturing Kunan Nico, "Besides, he just said he was going to visit, how can you say he's causing trouble? But judging from your reaction, he didn't go, huh?"

"Uh-huh.

Kunan Nicole nodded frantically, her face filled with the expression of "thank goodness they didn't come, no, I hope they never come."

"So it was just talk after all." Mashiro breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness it was just talk!" Kunan Nico blurted out.

"I told you, don't say things like that out loud." Mashiro said, reaching out to give Kunan Nicole a flick on the forehead with a "bing" sound, under her confused gaze.

Kunan Nicole immediately covered her bright red forehead and cried out, then withdrew her hand, a satisfied expression on her face.

After Kunan Nico left, she summoned a light screen. On the screen, Ichigo was facing off against Gin Ichimaru.

Chapter 123: Report

"You seem quite interested in this guy named Kurosaki Ichigo?" Egg Flower, standing beside Mashiro, asked. "Because he's very strong," Mashiro replied with a light laugh.

"Very strong?" Unohana asked, somewhat puzzled. "Urgent report!"

Just then, a voice, raised several octaves, rang out from below.

Zhen Zi immediately looked down, simultaneously reached out and turned off the screen, then disappeared from the spot.

“The rest is up to you,” Mashiro said with a smile. Unohana didn’t speak, seemingly agreeing.

Soon, several team leaders also heard the noise and came over.

"It has been confirmed that the 7th Division Captain, Sajin Hachimura, and the 7th Division Vice-Captain, Tetsuzaemon Iba, were assassinated in the 7th Division Captain's duty room. They are in critical condition and have been sent to the 4th Division for emergency treatment. The perpetrator is currently unknown and the investigation is ongoing."

"What?!"

The one who asked such a startled question was not Unohana, but Tosen Kaname, who had just arrived and was so nervous that he stood up.

The reporter gave him a warning look, then lowered his head and continued. His report wasn't finished yet.

Ninth Division Lieutenant Shuhei Sasaki was defeated in a battle against a rogue spirit suspected to be codenamed Kurosaki Ichigo and is currently in critical condition. He has been transferred to the Fourth Division for emergency treatment. The whereabouts of the suspect, Kurosaki Ichigo, are currently unknown.

"!!

Do you have any more detailed information?

After the reporter finished explaining the situation, Unohana glanced at the somewhat agitated Tosen and asked further questions.

"There is no further information at the moment. Any new developments in the investigation will be reported to the two captains immediately." It was clear that the reporter who said this was also quite overworked.

The way things suddenly developed was beyond his control. He wasn't even at the Seventh or Ninth Division site. All he did was organize the submitted intelligence and report it immediately, nothing more.

After the initial excitement, Tosen Kaname also came to understand the truth.

It was noticeable that his emotions hadn't completely calmed down, but he wasn't as agitated as he had been when he first received the news. "How are the two captains of the Seventh Division doing now?"

"Based on the intelligence we have so far, because the discovery was timely enough, and because the Seventh Division already had the Fourth Division's field team conducting necessary investigations at the time..."

After receiving emergency treatment, they were immediately sent to the Fourth Division for further medical care. Captain Uchimura Sajin and Vice-Captain Iba Tetsuzaemon are not in immediate danger.

This situation was actually mentioned in the initial report. But Tosen still asked about it.

This wasn't because he had poor hearing, or because he had unconsciously skipped that part; he brought it up again specifically to learn more detailed information about it.

The intelligence submitted will certainly not be as simple as just a few sentences. The reporter's job is to condense all the details into a few sentences and select the most important points to report.

If you want to know the details, you can ask follow-up questions like this.

Hearing the reporter's words, confirming that Sajin Kurumura and Tetsuzaemon Isaba, especially Sajin Kurumura, were indeed out of danger and that it wasn't an exaggeration to put their minds at ease, Tosen finally breathed a slight sigh of relief.

"What about Hisagi Shuhei of my Ninth Division?"

"According to reports from the members of the Ninth Division, they witnessed Lieutenant Higasaki engaging in battle with the Ryouka, but the two were simply too fast."

Because of this, they lost track of him. When they finally found Vice-Captain Hinoki by following the marks left along the way, the Ryouka had vanished, leaving only the unconscious Vice-Captain Hinoki. "At this point," the reporter paused slightly, hesitating for a moment before continuing, "Vice-Captain Hinoki didn't suffer many injuries. The most crucial ones were a slash wound that had caused significant bleeding and a penetrating wound that knocked him down. A quick examination by the Fourth Division determined that these two injuries... were not caused by the same person. Therefore, it's reasonable to speculate that Vice-Captain Hinoki didn't fight a single Ryouka; he most likely fell into a trap set by the Ryouka."

If this speculation is true, then the only possible reason why Hisagi Shuhei could have survived such a perilous situation is that he and the traveling demon Kurosaki Hajime...

During the exhibition and the battle, the combat department of the Ninth Division quickly mobilized to keep up. Even if they lost track of the enemy for a while, they were able to continue tracking them.

This led the Travelers to conclude that if they remained, they would be surrounded, forcing them to retreat. The reporter didn't voice this speculation; he only mentioned information from the submitted reports. His speculation, including the predictions and reports from the Fourth Division, wasn't his personal guess. Even so, the atmosphere at the scene became quite tense.

After all, in the blink of an eye, without any preparation, three captain-level Death Gods were knocked down. This is a major situation that cannot be easily ignored under any circumstances.

After several days of silence and calm, has the situation finally stirred up again? "Fortunately, no one's life was in danger."

It was Unohana who eased the tension; here, it seemed only she could offer such comforting words in such a nonchalant tone. "But what are you planning to do? Are you going to check on the Fourth Division?"

Sajin Katsumura was Tosen Kaname's close friend, and Shuhei Hisagi was one of his important subordinates; both were people he deeply valued. Now that both of them have been defeated, should Tosen Kaname continue to stay with the First Division?

Or should I go to the Fourth Division to visit them, or personally investigate and hunt down the culprit who knocked them down?