In the darkness, an invisible ripple quietly flashed past...
This was a modern city known as Karakura Town. Though night had already fallen deep, the streetlights lining the roads kept the streets brightly lit.
What looked like an originally peaceful night was, in truth, anything but peaceful.
At that moment, in an alley by the street, a young man carrying an enormous long sword on his back walked alongside a young woman as the two talked.
"You're Ichigo, right? Your body isn't seriously hurt, is it?"
The young woman looked at him with concern written all over her face.
"I think you should be more worried about yourself, shouldn't you? Just look at those wounds on you..."
Ichigo scratched his head as he spoke to the young woman. After all, her injuries looked far worse than his!
But at that very moment, suddenly! A tremendous pressure swept down from the sky, blowing both youths to the ground before directly passing through some sort of boundary and reaching another world.
That world was—the Soul Society!
The Soul Society, once eerily quiet, was thrown into chaos by the sudden arrival of that overwhelmingly immense pressure. Violent winds rose, and everyone in the Gotei 13, including Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto, had rushed outside the instant the pressure arrived. Feeling that terrifying pressure now, every one of them wore a shocked expression.
"My God! What could be giving off such immense pressure?"
"Could the Soul King have returned to the mortal world?"
"Who on earth is it?!"
Everyone in the Gotei 13 spoke in shock, while Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto's face darkened.
Just now, he had secretly tried to use his own spiritual pressure to resist that terrifying pressure, only to discover that he was completely incapable of restraining this horrifying force!
Raising his head to