Human World, outskirts!
"Damn it, damn it, damn it, damn it..."
Yumichika Ayasegawa brought his Zanpakuto down hard on a rock, making it ring with a series of loud cracks. "You bastard! I'm going to break you!"
"You're so noisy, you bastard!" Matsumoto Rangiku, who had been meditating with her eyes closed and communicating with her Zanpakuto, felt a vein bulge on her forehead.
"But Fuji Kujaku is such a bastard! He's always acting so high and mighty, and he thinks he's the most handsome person in the world. There's no talking to him!"
Yumichika scolded his Zanpakuto with a furious expression. He didn't seem to consider that the spirit of his Zanpakuto had split off from his own soul. It was obvious where that personality had come from!
Listening to the two argue, Hitsugaya Tōshirō and Madarame Ikkaku, who were seriously meditating with their swords in the distance, both felt a vein bulge on their foreheads.
"Both of you, stop arguing and focus!"
Hitsugaya Tōshirō shouted, then said solemnly, "The Hell Agent and the Substitute Shinigami have both been gone for a month. According to Captain Ukitake and the others, who recently returned from Hell, the Hell Agent is training there."
The group fell silent. Hitsugaya Tōshirō frowned. "And I heard from Inoue that the Substitute Shinigami, Kurosaki Ichigo, is training too. Rukia took Orihime Inoue to the Soul Society for special training, while Renji Abarai is training with Sado Yasutora. Can you really afford to keep this up?"
"..." Their expressions gradually grew serious.
Just as Hitsugaya Tōshirō had said, everyone outside the Gotei 13 was preparing for the coming battle, while they were wasting their time in the Human World. They knew that, but... getting stronger wasn't easy!
Especially since they were stationed in the Human World.