At this moment, the mask was not on Azashiro's face; he looked like a normal person.
"It seems you know me? May I ask your name?"
When Azashiro Sōya became Kenpachi, Hirako was just a minor Seated Officer; therefore, Hirako knew Azashiro, but Azashiro didn't remember Hirako.
Hirako revealed a sinister smile, "Shinji Hirako, Captain of the Fifth Division... Now it's my turn to ask you, isn't it better to stay in Hell? Why do you have to come to the World of the Living and cause trouble for others?"
Azashiro paused for a moment, then said, "Hell is supposed to be for those who committed heinous crimes in their lifetime. I never expected to be judged the same way, which disgusts me. That's why I've come to the Soul Society to demand an explanation."
Mentioning Soul Society reminds Azashiro of the Central 46 46, and his hatred for them burns like a raging fire.
Hirako fell silent again. He knew there was more to the story than met the eye in Azashiro being labeled a traitor, but he didn't know the specifics; the higher-ups were keeping it a closely guarded Sealing.
"Can I ask you something? How's Nangong Ling doing?"
Azashiro then wanted to know about the changes in the Soul Society over the years, especially what had become of Nangong Ling, who had killed him.
Hirako sighed, "What else could they do... They attacked the Soul King Palace, intending to destroy the Soul King and establish a new order, and they almost succeeded. They even wiped out the Zero Division..."
"It's truly astonishing. I never imagined he could achieve this level of strength. If it were just about changing the order of Soul Society, he might already have succeeded," said Azashiro in shock.
What he said wasn't without merit; if Zero hadn't attacked the Soul King Palace after displaying his power, he might have already succeeded.
As long as it doesn't disrupt the balance of the Three Worlds, the Zero Division will most likely compromise and let him manipulate Soul Society.
During his decades in the depths of Hell, Azashiro also gathered some intelligence: some self-proclaimed Arrancar Menos Grande Espada of Nangong Ling, and their strength was quite considerable.
They say that after Nangong Ling betrayed them, he attacked Soul Society several times, but judging from the current situation, Soul Society is fine and Nangong Ling Azashiro is not dead, because there has been no news of any powerful souls falling into it.
Even in Hell, there are divisions of power, and coincidentally, Azashiro prefers to act alone.
Whoosh!
In the blink of an eye, a whistling sound suddenly appeared around Hirako's body, his Reiatsu surged several times over, and his smile towards Azashiro became even more sinister.
But Azashiro remained calm. "The restriction has been lifted? That's expected. I've been waiting for your restriction to be lifted."
"Looks like you're quite confident! I've not only obtained permission to remove the restriction, but also permission to go all out." Hirako drew his sword, and in a few spins, his Zanpakuto completed its Shikai.
However, Azashiro has no sword. Captain-level who has fallen into Hell, his Zanpakuto has disappeared, but its power has become one with its owner.
Before the fragrance of the flowers could fully bloom, an unseen Azashiro had already quietly approached Hirako. When the fragrance was fully in the air, the world in the Azashiro began to turn upside down.
"Alright... let's begin!"
Hirako laughed and announced the start of the fight, unaware of the impending danger. He assumed that Azashiro was immobilized by his power. As he charged towards Azashiro, a soft "splat" was heard, and blood splattered all over the ground...
The battle began, the battle ended, all in a single move.
The Soul Society only knows that there is an invisible sword in the Azashiro, but they don't know exactly what it looks like.
Looking at Azashiro, Hirako was convulsing on the ground, Mokujo coldly said, "You who sacrificed your lives for Soul Society, only to end up like me. So what's the point of fighting to the death for it?"
Hirako was destined to be unable to refute, and Azashiro didn't finish Hirako off, because if no one treated such an injury, Hirako would die sooner or later.
The person Azashiro most wanted to kill wasn't him, but the Central 46. He wanted to make those people tremble in his own way... He didn't know that those people had already been wiped out once by Zero.
Less than a minute after Hirako fell to the ground, a white light rushed towards him from the side, but the unseen figure helped him split it in two, and the white light exploded on both sides of the street.
"Releasing the Sōren Sōkatsui silently and without a sound—truly worthy of the Great Kidō Chief!"
Azashiro turned to look at his side. The shop assistant, Tessai Tsukabishi, seemed to have done nothing and was just putting away the hand gesture for releasing the Kidō in a dark alley.
Whoosh!
A dark shadow swept past, and Hirako, who had fallen to the ground, disappeared. Yoruichi had already brought him to Tessai Tsukabishi's side, and Tessai Tsukabishi quickly used Kidō to protect him.
"Are Captain-level Togabito starting to appear?"
Yoruichi's expression turned serious. She knew about Azashiro Sōya; he hadn't been in the Kenpachi for long, but he had still caused quite a stir.
"Be careful! His abilities are strange; even though he's been in Hell for a long time, he still retains them."
Tessai Tsukabishi then Barrier to isolate the three of them, preventing Azashiro from having the opportunity to kill them instantly.
"Alright, I'll play with you guys for a bit until the Captain-level from Soul Society arrive."
As soon as Azashiro finished speaking, Tessai's expression changed immediately. He sensed that the Barrier was gradually becoming weaker.
Click, click!
"Kidō-type ability? It can dismantle Barriers."
Having roughly ascertained his opponent's abilities, Tessai called out to Yoruichi, "Please, Miss Yoruichi, take Mr. Hirako away from here first."
"Wait me a moment!"
After leaving her message, Yoruichi led Hirako towards Shiba Hospital, while Tessai quickly retreated and used Barrier to Sealing the position of the Azashiro.
But in just a few seconds, the Barrier began to loosen again, and then collapsed...
Tessai began his attack with Kidō: Raikōhō – but it was deflected by an unseen force.
Hiryū Gekizoku Shinten Raihō – Blocked by an unseen force!
Even the 'Black Coffin' with the ninety-fold power was melted away by Azashiro in a short time.
Next came various Bakudō, Azashiro didn't even try to dodge... In just a few minutes, Tessai had already had two kinds of Barriers broken, three kinds of Hadō used, and five kinds of Bakudō...
When Yoruichi arrived, all that could be seen was blood seeping from Tessai's body; it wasn't a fatal wound, but it was still quite serious.
After receiving the distress signal, Soul Society has begun to summon Captains to the World of the Living to provide support, but the process is not very fast.
When the attack began, Ryūsaki and Tsukishima were in the middle of their school lunch break. They hadn't even finished their lunch when they rushed to Ginjo's location.
Instead of being immediately attacked, Ginjo, who was in the middle of training, was greeted by an uninvited guest...
The moment Ginjo saw this uninvited guest, his killing intent surged forth. "You've finally come again. I've been waiting for quite a while!"
"Kūgo Ginjō, I'm not here to fight you, nor am I Togabito."
Half green and half yellow hair parted in the middle Kagerōza Inaba stood in front of Ginjo, leaning on a cane. As soon as Ginjo conjured Greatsword, he immediately explained with a grin.
"Not the Togabito? Then who are you, and why do you know of the Togabito's existence?" Ginjo pointed his sword at Inaba Kage and questioned loudly.
"I sent Togabito..."
"The mastermind behind it all? What are you waiting for? Die!"
Ginjo swung his sword and slashed, Inaba Kage retreated with a helpless smile, the Greatsword cutting a gap in the spot where he had just been standing.
"There's no other way, I can only talk to you after you've sobered up... Dance wildly Raikū!"
Inaba Kage continuously spun his cane, instantly transforming it into a double-edged sword over two meters long. The blades were located at the top and bottom of the hilt; when one blade slashed at an enemy, the other blade would strike in the opposite direction.
"Zanpakuto unleashed, are you Soul Reaper?"
Ginjo paused, a multitude of possibilities flashing through his mind: Had he betrayed the Court Guard Squads? Or was it originally the Soul Reaper's doing? Or perhaps another faction within the Soul Reaper?
Ginjo shook his head, cleared his mind, and roared, "No matter who you are, you must pay for Kitahara's life today!"
Since the other party is targeting their own people, there's no need to say anything more.
As Ginjo roared and charged forward, Inaba Kage revealed a mocking smile, then quickly spun 'Raikū' clockwise...
For a moment, Ginjo's vision blurred, followed by a sharp pain in his chest. He immediately collapsed to his knees, gasping for breath. The excruciating pain caused cold sweat to bead on his forehead: 'Impossible, I couldn't even see how he drew his knife.'
"You can't understand my abilities, can you? Don't bother trying to understand them; we won't become enemies," Inaba Kage said with a smile.
His Raikū is a spatial ability. Although it's not very mature, it can easily kill most people in Soul Society. Even Captain-level might not be able to defeat him.
The clockwise rotation just now created a new space, and he easily reached Ginjo by walking through the new space.
"What... what kind of joke is this? You sent people to attack us, resulting in the death of my comrade, and you're telling me we're not enemies? Do you think we're still comrades-in-arms?" Ginjo endured the excruciating pain as he stood up.
Inaba Kage, leaning on his Zanpakuto, approached Ginjo: "Your companion has only become a spirit. Wearing a Gigai) is considered Resurrection, so he cannot be considered dead. Only when he dies in Soul Society is he truly dead and then enters the cycle of reincarnation."
"What are you talking about? Of course I know he's not dead, but you're the culprit who separated us into two worlds." Ginjo indicated that he didn't quite understand.
"Don't you understand? What I mean is, he died in Soul Society, then was reborn in the World of the Living, and that's when he'll forget your existence."
Are you threatening me with Kitahara?
After understanding Inaba Kage's explanation, Ginjo's Reiatsu surged to its peak, a sign that he was about to go berserk.
"You're smart, but I'm not threatening you. What happens to your companion is none of my business. I'm just risking my life to warn you that something happened to him in Soul Society."
Inaba Kage's words caused a jolt of Reiatsu emanating from Ginjo, who then pressed him for answers, "Who exactly are you? What happened to Kitahara?"
"I used to be a passionate young man who was enthusiastic about evolving Soul Society, but then... I saw the darkness and ugliness of Soul Society and disdained to associate with them..."
Inaba Kage first introduced himself, and then began to tell Ginjo Kitahara what had happened...