"Are you all right, Rukia?"
Crouching before Rukia, Ailin asked softly.
"I'm sorry, Teacher Ailin. I've let you down."
Lying in a pool of blood, Rukia's first reaction upon seeing Ailin was to apologize to him.
As Teacher Ailin's disciple, she could be said to be his most disappointing student.
"No. Being able to stay alive after facing Captain Aizen already makes me very proud of you, Rukia."
Golden ripples appeared in the air above Rukia. A white bandage flew out from within them and, as though it possessed a will of its own, wrapped itself around her.
Under the green glow, Rukia's injuries rapidly healed.
Even her Shinigami uniform, which had been slashed apart by a Zanpakuto, was completely restored beneath that green light.
It was as though time had reversed.
Soon, all of Rukia's injuries had healed, and the white bandage slipped back into the golden spatial ripples.
"There, Rukia."
"Go do whatever you want."
"I'll stay here and have a chat with Captain Aizen."
"Mm."
Perhaps sensing that Teacher Ailin was in a bad mood, Rukia responded softly, glanced at Aizen Sosuke, and left through the passage she had entered from.
Only after Rukia's spiritual pressure had faded into the distance did Ailin turn around to face Aizen Sosuke.
"Aizen, it seems those decades I locked you away still didn't teach you any sense!"
"No, Captain Ailin."
"It was precisely because I learned my lesson that I attacked Rukia."
After witnessing Ailin's speed just now, Aizen knew that, for the time being, he had little ability to fight back before Ailin.
So, Aizen sensibly sheathed his Zanpakuto at his waist.
"Captain Ailin, anyone who knows Rukia's Zanpakuto ability can easily infer your objective from that."
"Erasing Rukia should be something you thank me for, Captain Ailin. Why