A Fateful Encounter

A black-haired girl with a bob shaped like an onion leaped out of an Edo-style door in the sky. Her petite frame was dressed in a black Shinigami Uniform, and a long-sword-like weapon hung at her waist.

The girl's name was Rukia Kuchiki. She was one of the Squad Members of the 13th Division in the Soul Society's Gotei 13. She had received an assignment from the Seireitei to come and garrison Karakura Town for a while. Her main duties were to perform Konso on wandering human souls and guide them to the Soul Society, eliminate Hollows that might invade the World of the Living, and protect Karakura Town's safety.

"Strange. The World of the Living doesn't seem as dangerous as the stories say?"

Rukia landed on the street, confusion in her brows. She actually could not sense any Hollow Reiatsu in Karakura Town, which was extremely at odds with all the dangerous legends about subjugating Hollows back at Shino Academy.

Rukia wandered aimlessly down the street. There were no Hollows attacking humans, nor any souls drifting about. This Karakura Town seemed almost excessively clean, and for a moment, Rukia lost her sense of direction.

Where should I go? Since I'll be stationed here for a while, I need to find somewhere to stay, right? I heard there are some shrines in the mountains that are usually unoccupied. Maybe I should go take a look?

What Rukia did not notice was that in the alley behind her, grains of something the size of rice were shattering one after another.

"Hello? Mr. Tsuna, we've discovered signs of Garganta opening not only over Karakura Town, but on every street corner as well," Urahara Kisuke said over the communication channel.

"You're saying the guys in the sky are just there to draw our attention?" As Tsuna casually drove his Illusion to eradicate the low-level Hollows in the air, he activated his Fullbring. "D. Spada's Magic Mirror."

Using the magic mirror to scan the streets of Karakura Town, Tsuna discovered that there were indeed traces of extremely faint Hollow's power on the streets. That power was fatally attractive to Hollows. If nothing unexpected happened, it was Hollow Bait.

Tsuna looked up at the sky. The traces of Hollow Bait up there were even clearer. Tsuna clearly saw a tiny bug clutching a small pill. That was the Hollow Bait.

Tsuna raised his hand and destroyed the bug he saw, while saying to Urahara, "It's Hollow Bait. Tiny bugs are crushing Hollow Bait in the sky. There are some in the streets too, but the area is small, just enough to trap Ichigo inside."

"Tiny bugs? Hirako, and Mr. Ishida, please pay attention and clear out those tiny bugs," Urahara reminded them.

"Tsuna, you jerk, you're saying that way too late! I'm surrounded by Hollows!" Ichigo complained. With only Orihime Inoue's ability, the two of them were honestly finding it a little hard to break out, and could only keep being forced to run by the Hollows.

"Huh? Ichigo, you should've said so sooner. But even if you had, we wouldn't have had any time to help you," Tsuna said calmly. "Do your best and keep running. There shouldn't be any Hollows that can catch up to you."

"You bastard, easy for you to say!" Ichigo roared as he held Orihime Inoue and charged forward, relying on Orihime's shield to block the Hollows' attacks.

"Don't worry, Ichigo. Do you feel that Reiatsu not far from you? Head toward it. That's your backup," Tsuna said.

"Reiatsu? Tsuna, can you be a little more reliable? At a dangerous time like this, you still want me to trust some stranger's Reiatsu?!" Ichigo yelled while moving toward that Reiatsu. Though he complained, his body still trusted Tsuna's judgment.

Tsuna did not try to help Ichigo. The director who had staged this grand play had gone to so much trouble to set up this scene, so Ichigo and Rukia's meeting had already become inevitable. In any case, Ichigo was not in any danger, so Tsuna still put Karakura Town's safety first.

The Shinigami about to encounter Ichigo, Rukia Kuchiki, was not in very good shape right now. Originally, Rukia had still been fairly relaxed and was preparing to find somewhere to stay, but suddenly, countless Hollows appeared in the sky, and Rukia's expression changed completely.

Since becoming a Shinigami, Rukia had never seen such a massive number of Hollows. Was the World of the Living really this dangerous? Even the numbers in Hueco Mundo were probably no more than this, right?

After only an instant of hesitation, Rukia drew her Zanpakuto. She was the only Shinigami in Karakura Town. She could not run. If she ran, this city in the World of the Living would truly be finished!

Rukia casually used her Gigai Communicator to send a distress message to the Soul Society, then gathered strength in her calves and prepared to attack the swarm of Hollows in the sky. She would stall them for as long as she could. Maybe that way, she would not let down Brother Kaien's teachings.

In the end, Rukia never had time to put her thoughts into action. A sharp claw was already grabbing toward her body. She hurriedly dodged and cut off the Hollow's claw with a slash. Only then did Rukia realize that at some point, she had been surrounded by Hollows. Apart from fighting, she had no room to move at all.

Rukia swung her blade in rapid succession and killed several Hollows in a row. Since they were all low-level Hollows, dealing with them did not put too much pressure on Rukia, but there were just too many of them. If this kept up, she would be surrounded and killed by these Hollows.

She could not just sit and wait for death. From the corner of her eye, Rukia spotted a gap in the swarm of Hollows. That might become her breakthrough point.

Rukia held her sword in one hand and raised her other palm upright, chanting under her breath, "Way of Destruction No. 31: Red Fire Cannon."

A red Reiatsu shell drilled toward the gap in the swarm of Hollows and exploded directly among them. Rukia used the smoke to break out at high speed.

"What is going on?" Rukia said, looking at the group of Hollows behind her with lingering fear. She had nearly died in those Hollows' mouths.

Thinking of this, Rukia raised the Zanpakuto in her hand and glanced at it, her expression growing even more grave. The only things she could rely on now were her Zanjutsu and her not particularly practiced Kido. Fortunately, these were all low-level Hollows. If it was only this much, Rukia could still handle it.

Suddenly, a terrifying Reiatsu came from the sky, directly freezing Rukia in her tracks. Rukia, who had just escaped with her life, looked up and saw that what crawled out of those enormous Garganta were actually Gillian-class Menos Grande.

"How can this be? Why would Hollows that only the Royal Guard can handle appear in the World of the Living?"

Rukia's mouth parted slightly. If there were Gillian-level enemies in the World of the Living, no matter how she thought about it, they would not have sent ordinary Squad Members like them on the mission. At the very least, they should have sent Shinigami above Seated Officer rank, or even Captain-level ones.

Rukia's hands turned cold. She simply did not dare imagine what would happen if so many Hollows invaded together, or what kind of horror the city of Karakura Town would become.

There was no more time for Rukia to sigh. In just that moment of distraction, those low-level Hollows surrounded her again. Rukia could only keep slashing and using Kido to help break out. No matter what, running first was the right choice.

Whenever she got even the slightest opening, Rukia frantically tapped at her Gigai Communicator. But why? Why could she still not contact the Soul Society?

And so, Rukia and Ichigo were chased by swarms of Hollows and kept fleeing. Under someone's deliberate control, the fated encounter was about to unfold.

Ichigo himself had a considerable burst of Reiatsu, and with Orihime's shield defending him too, although the two of them were somewhat disheveled, they were not injured.

Rukia was not so lucky. After being chased by Hollows the whole way, her right shoulder was already wounded. Two long claw marks left Rukia unable to exert strength properly.

Rukia's Zanjutsu strength was cut in half outright, and she could only continuously use low-level Kido to create space for herself to escape.

By now, Rukia had also realized that she might have fallen into a shocking conspiracy. Her Gigai Communicator could not contact the Soul Society, and her own Zanpakuto could not unleash its true power either. Otherwise, how could she possibly be in such a miserable state?

After passing through two more streets, Rukia discovered that the intersection ahead had been completely blocked by low-level Hollows. Looking up, she saw two flying Hollows swooping down from the sky as well.

Is this where it ends? Rukia felt somewhat despairing. The stabbing pain in her back constantly reminded her that she was injured. This was already a dead end.

Bakudo No. 4: This Rope.

Rukia did not aim the Bakudo at those Hollows. The target of the Bakudo was her own palm, because due to her injuries, Rukia's right arm was gradually losing strength. She was using This Rope to firmly bind her Zanpakuto to her hand.

At the very least, at the end of my life, let me fight with everything I have, like Brother Kaien did. Thinking this, Rukia's steps quickened a little more as she charged toward the swarm of Hollows before her.

A golden arc of light swept in from the right side of the intersection, directly destroying the Hollow to Rukia's front right. A trace of joy appeared on Rukia's face. She immediately used Flash Step and rushed toward the road on the right. No matter what she encountered, as long as it was an enemy of the Hollows, that was enough.

Ichigo and Orihime Inoue were also delighted. That unfamiliar Reiatsu had appeared. They had a new teammate.

But in the next moment, Ichigo was a little dumbfounded. A wounded girl in a Kimono appeared in his line of sight. This was the teammate Tsuna had mentioned? She was already injured. With that kind of strength, could she really protect them?

The girl looked at them with the same touch of surprise. Seeing that the newly arrived pair were a man and a woman, as long as they were not Hollows, things were manageable. From the looks of it, they even had the ability to fight Hollows.

Their gazes met, and Ichigo instantly turned utterly terrified. This newly appeared person was only staring at them, completely failing to notice that the Hollows behind her had already launched an attack!

With the situation urgent, Ichigo had no time to care about anything else. A black longbow unfolded, and he smoothly drew a green arrow, shouting, "Get down!"

Ichigo's voice carried considerable authority, scaring Rukia into instinctively ducking. The arrow swept over Rukia's head with unstoppable Reiatsu, and the gust it kicked up threw Rukia's onion-shaped hair into disarray.

The domineering arrow directly cleared an entire street of Hollows, leaving Rukia stunned. That casual strike had at least the strength of a Seated Officer. Since when had someone this powerful appeared in the World of the Living?

However, Ichigo's arrow did not completely solve the problem. After that shot, the eyes of the remaining lower-level Hollows began to turn blood-red. All kinds of miserable shrieks rang out, and every Hollow nearby went berserk.

"Hey! What are you standing there for? Let's work together and break out!" Ichigo shouted anxiously.

Rukia did not dwell on why this human could see her. She took a step and ran to Ichigo's side, saying quickly, "Understood. I'll create an opening for your attack."

A trace of Kido Reiatsu gathered in her palm. Rukia was just about to condense another Red Fire Cannon and attack, only for Ichigo's next words to nearly make her Reiatsu waver and set the Red Fire Cannon off in her palm.

"What are you talking about?! I don't have any chance to attack left! Aren't you the strong reinforcement?" Ichigo said in a frenzy. It was precisely because he had encountered Rukia, and because Rukia was in danger, that he had decisively fired his final arrow.

The current Ichigo had already lost the ability to fight. His actual offensive power was even worse than Orihime Inoue's in his arms.