The Trouble Each of Them Faced

"Damn it... Is this increase in power really just because he drank blood?"

Ichigo gritted his teeth, gripped Heaven's Chain Moon Cutter tightly with both hands, and spun around at high speed.

He couldn't understand it. It wasn't as if he had never tasted Aunt's blood before. When he had been injured in the past, that strawberry-flavored blood had indeed been like a miracle cure, instantly restoring him to full health.

But he had never heard of it making someone this absurdly powerful. Just standing there, Caryatid God now radiated a pressure no weaker than what Ichigo had felt when facing all those captains at Sokyoku Hill. Maybe because Aunt wasn't standing in front of him this time, but this feeling was even more intense than what he had felt from the old captain of the 1st Division.

"Are you spacing out, Ichigo Kurosaki?"

Caryatid God's voice exploded beside his ear.

Ichigo had yet to complete his turn when his pupils suddenly contracted. He had no time to react and could only instinctively raise his Zanpakuto beside him.

Clang!!

A tremendous force crashed into him. Ichigo felt as if both his arms had slammed into a Shinkansen racing at full speed. His palms split open at once, and blood dripped down the black hilt. His body scraped across the ground for more than ten meters before smashing through a stone stalactite large enough for two people to embrace and finally coming to a stop.

"Classmate Kurosaki!" Inoue shouted anxiously from a distance. The Three Days Shield in her hands had not even had time to unfold before the battlefield had already shifted several times. At this level of speed, she couldn't follow them at all.

The difference in combat power among Ichigo's group was simply too great.

There were people