Winter had arrived, snowflakes drifted through the air, and pedestrians on the streets were wrapped in thick clothes. Everything was so ordinary, so natural... These ordinary people had no idea of the crisis this world had faced while they slept not long ago.
In the blink of an eye, a week had passed since the battle against Aizen.
With Aizen sealed away, the ruined replica of Karakura Town had been switched back with the real Karakura Town, and everything quietly returned to normal.
However, Soul Society had undergone major changes. Though no lieutenant-level officers had died in the battle of Karakura Town, many seated officers and ordinary Shinigami had perished.
Some had been killed by Arrancar, while others had died in the aftermath of that earth-shattering battle.
Even so, Soul Society's strength had not weakened. Instead, it had grown stronger. Once Aizen's conspiracy was exposed, the lieutenants and captains Aizen had once harmed all received Captain-Commander Yamamoto's offer to return.
In other words, those "homeless scavengers from an abandoned factory," as Wu Biao called them, had finally realized how dangerous the outside world was after running away from home and returned dejectedly.
Though they were a bunch of filthy beggars, they were all powerful individuals. As soon as they returned, they rejoined the Gotei 13—some as captains, others as lieutenants.
Of course, there were also certain green-hatted men and cat demons who thought they had grown up and made something of themselves, and still chose to wander outside, completely ignoring a certain old man's offer.
After the war, the entire Seireitei returned to peacetime. The busiest were probably the 4th Division; even after a week had passed, the General Infirmary still had a large number of patients receiving treatment.
Kurosaki Ichigo and the others, meanwhile, welcomed the start of the