Soul Society, First Division.
Due to the betrayal of Aizen, Gin, and Tōsen, three captain positions in the Gotei 13 were left vacant.
Since only Byakuya had witnessed Renji's Bankai and Renji himself wasn't interested in being promoted, he didn't take up a captain role.
As for Ikkaku, he was pretending to be dead, showing no intention of revealing his true strength.
However, captain-level positions couldn't remain empty for long.
Thus, Yamamoto's attention turned to the leader of the Hueco Mundo expedition team—Amagai Shūsuke—who had returned from the mission following Aizen's betrayal.
After being evaluated by Yamamoto and Kyōraku, Amagai Shūsuke successfully passed the captain's exam and was appointed as the new captain of the 3rd Division. Today was his first day reporting in.
"Alright, Captain Amagai , you can come in now," Yamamoto called out after briefing the current captains.
"Greetings, Captains. I'm Amagai Shūsuke, formerly the leader of the expedition team in Hueco Mundo. After returning to the Soul Society due to Aizen's betrayal, I was recommended by the Head Captain to become the captain of the 3rd Division. I look forward to working with you all!" Amagai spoke in a bold and carefree manner.
He was indeed an upbeat and optimistic person. At least most of the captains present had a good impression of him.
Of course, not everyone was interested—specifically, Komamura and Unohana.
These two kept their eyes closed for most of the meeting, only giving a reluctant nod at the end of Amagai's speech.
—
In the World of the Living, Ichigo was continuing his daily mission with Rukia and Senna, hunting down Hollows that had appeared in Karakura Town.
After slaying today's Hollow number "637," Ichigo couldn't help but complain, "This has to be Aizen's doing! The number of Hollows in Karakura has skyrocketed lately!"
Senna comforted him, "Come on, it's not that bad. At least they show up in limited numbers. Once we clear them out, we can go home."
Rukia was about to respond when the Soul Pager beeped again.
"Again? Three separate locations this time. Let's split up. According to the Department of Research and Development, there shouldn't be any more after this," Rukia sighed.
What happened to living a shameless, romantic life every day? These past few days had been nothing but Hollow hunting! Not even a single date!
And it wasn't just Ichigo's team—Tatsuki, Orihime, and Chad had also joined the cleanup squad.
No one was aware yet that Uryū had lost his Quincy powers. He was at home rummaging through the gear his grandfather had left behind.
Apparently, one of the items could temporarily restore his Quincy abilities—but it was a single-use item.
"Alright, let's split up," Ichigo said.
Ichigo quickly reached his assigned location and eliminated the Hollow in a single blow.
Landing back on the ground and sheathing his Zanpakutō, he stretched and said, "Finally done!"
But just then, he noticed a small girl wearing a straw hat kneeling in the park nearby, clearly in low spirits.
After sensing her reiatsu, Ichigo realized—she was a spirit!
Unlike normal souls of the dead in the World of the Living, this girl didn't have a broken chain on her chest. She looked like a normal human. If ordinary people could see her, they'd probably think she was a runaway child.
"A Soul Society resident?" Ichigo frowned.
With that in mind, he walked over, crouched in front of the girl, and asked, "Hey, little one, what's wrong?"
The girl took off her hat, and upon seeing Ichigo's Shinigami attire, her eyes lit up.
"You're a Shinigami?!"
Ichigo blinked, then nodded.
"Great! Please help me!" the girl cried.
Ichigo helped her up, remaining alert. "What's wrong? Someone chasing you?"
"No…" the girl looked a bit embarrassed. "I'm just... hungry."
Ichigo twitched at the response. "Seriously? All that for this?"
Before he could say more, multiple Garganta portals began opening in the sky again.
"Huh?! Didn't Rukia say there wouldn't be any more today?! Why are so many Hollows coming out?!" Ichigo was shocked.
"So many Hollows!" the girl exclaimed.
At that moment, two Shinigami descended from the sky, scooped up the girl, and called out to Ichigo, "Ichigo-dono, we'll leave these Hollows to you!"
"You two know me?" Ichigo asked, confused.
But the strange pair said nothing and vanished instantly.
"What a pain…" Realizing he was likely caught up in something troublesome again, Ichigo sighed.
"Well, might as well wipe them all out in one go!"
With that, Ichigo released his Zanpakutō.
"Getsuga Tenshō!"
He unleashed a powerful wave of spiritual energy at the sky.
The Hollows hit by the Getsuga were instantly obliterated.
Just then, Rukia and Senna arrived.
"Dance, Sode no Shirayuki!"
Seeing the mass of Hollows, Rukia immediately released her Zanpakutō.
"First Dance: White!"
Giant ice pillars shot up from the ground, freezing all the Hollows within range.
Rukia now wielded a completely snow-white blade.
Senna wasn't to be outdone.
"Fall into the twilight, Mirokumaru!"
She swept her sword across the sky, summoning storm and lightning that annihilated the remaining Hollows.
The three regrouped on the ground.
"What's going on? Why did so many Hollows show up out of nowhere?"
"It's bait," a familiar voice said.
Tatsuki arrived with Orihime, Chad, and Uryū in tow.
Now armed with his grandfather's gear, Uryū clearly had more confidence.
"It's that thing I used last time," he said to Rukia. "Hollow Bait. It draws Hollows in."
Ichigo frowned. "But isn't that a Quincy-exclusive item? How could someone else use it?"
Everyone turned to Uryū, who adjusted his glasses and said,
"It's not just us Quincies—some noble Shinigami families also possess Hollow Bait."
"Noble Shinigami families?" Rukia muttered.
Ichigo described the three suspicious people he'd met earlier, and Uryū confirmed,
"Yeah, that must've been them!"
Senna grumbled, "What do they want? Stirring up trouble for Ichigo on purpose?"
"I'll check the Soul Society's Senkaimon usage records to confirm who they are," Rukia said.
"Alright," Ichigo nodded. "But I couldn't sense their reiatsu. They must've hidden it. We should go home for now. If they really are up to something, they'll eventually slip up."
"Yeah, that's all we can do for now," Tatsuki agreed.
—
At Ichigo's house.
Rukia and Senna sat on his bed checking the Senkaimon usage records on their Soul Pagers.
"Nothing… There's no record of anyone matching those three using the gate recently," Senna groaned, tossing the device onto the bed.
Rukia frowned. "There's another possibility—private Senkaimon. These are owned by the great noble families and aren't tracked by the Onmitsukidō."
Ichigo, sitting in his chair, asked, "How many of these noble families have private gates?"
"Only the most influential families," Rukia said. "Besides the Four Great Noble Houses, there's only one other with such access."
She continued, "Ichigo, I'll ask my brother about the Senkaimon activity of two of the Great Families. The other two… you'll need to ask."
"Me?" Ichigo blinked.
"Yeah. The other two are the Shihōin and Shiba families. You'll need to ask Yoruichi-san," Rukia said with a shrug.
"Alright. I'll give her a call." Ichigo nodded.
As Rukia jumped out the window to make her call from the yard, Ichigo pulled out his phone to look up Yoruichi's contact info.
Seeing she finally had some alone time, Senna grinned mischievously and snuck up behind Ichigo, wrapping herself around him.
Ichigo felt her weight on his back but ignored it as he dialed.
Seeing him unbothered, Senna gave a devilish smile and gently bit his ear.
"Hiss—!"
Ichigo flinched just as the call connected.
"Yo, Ichigo. What's up?" Yoruichi's voice was as lazy as ever.
"Ah, I need a favor," Ichigo said while glaring at Senna. She just smirked and looked at him, arms around his neck, clinging to him like a koala.
If not for Ichigo's strong will, he'd probably have broken already.
"It's like this…" Ichigo explained the events of the day while trying to ignore Senna's antics.
After listening, Yoruichi chuckled, "No problem. I'll ask Kukaku. I'll get back to you later."
"Thanks, Yoruichi-nee."
"No biggie. I'll hang up now—unless you want to join me in the bath?"
Click.
Ichigo hung up before she could finish. He already had one little devil messing with him—he didn't need Yoruichi teasing him too!
Senna got bolder after the call ended.
Ichigo quickly grabbed the little devil from behind him and tossed her onto the bed.
It's not that Ichigo couldn't handle her—it's just that Rukia could come back any minute, and there was no way he'd be able to explain the situation if she walked in on that.
He didn't have the guts to say, "Good timing, Rukia."
Since being exploited by Unohana, Ichigo noticed his willpower had been slipping lately…
Especially with two legally 'edible' lolis around...
Held down by Ichigo, Senna pouted. "What, Ichigo doesn't like me?"
Even though he couldn't punish the little devil right now, he could still collect some interest.
"I'm really fired up right now!"
—
When Rukia returned, she found Ichigo and Senna acting oddly.
Ichigo looked very satisfied, while Senna was rubbing her hands with an aggrieved look in her eyes.
"Did I miss something?" Rukia tilted her head.
"Nope. Rukia, what did you find out?" Ichigo quickly changed the subject.
"My brother said he'll get back to me soon, but so far, no one from the Kuchiki family used the Senkaimon recently," Rukia replied.
"Yoruichi said she'd let me know later too. Still, not sure if we'll get any info on those people," Ichigo added, frowning.
This sort of testing-the-waters approach really didn't sit well with him.
Senna, having finished rubbing her hands, said, "Oh yeah—Karin told me we've got new neighbors."
"New neighbors?" Ichigo looked surprised.
"Yeah. Karin said something was off about them—like they weren't used to their own bodies or something."
At her words, Ichigo and Rukia exchanged glances.
"Could they be in gigai?" Rukia wondered.
Senna looked out the window. "Look, they're moving in right now."
Ichigo and Rukia rushed to the window and peeked outside.
"It's him!" Ichigo exclaimed.
"You know him?" Rukia asked.
"Yeah, that's one of the Shinigami I saw today. I think his name was… Inurō?" Ichigo tried to recall. That was the name the little girl called out when she was taken away, right?
"Let's go," Ichigo said.
The three went downstairs and walked over to the neighboring house.
"Hey, you're the one who used the Hollow Bait, right?" Senna went straight up and confronted him.
"Huh? Hollow Bait? I don't know what you're talking about," the Shinigami named Inurō replied, completely ignoring the three of them as he walked into the house.
(End of Chapter)
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