"Aya, you said a man abducted Mei Hua, then you kept chasing after him and slashing at him, but only hit afterimages. Then your vision blurred, and that man vanished, while a whole lot of dead people appeared on the ground?"
In the underground base, Unohana Retsu, who had rushed over upon hearing the news, questioned her daughter in the gentlest tone she could manage. Yet from the corner of her eye, she kept glaring at Wu Biao off to the side. She had told that bastard to watch the child, and this had happened instead.
"Mhm, that's what happened."
Aya did not understand what had happened at all. She only knew that her mother and all the captain uncles around her looked very serious, which made her a little frightened. In a small voice, she asked, "Are they dead?"
No one answered. Finally, Ukitake Jushiro stepped forward, gently rubbing Aya's head as he softly said, "Don't be afraid, Aya. They're not dead. They're only asleep."
"..."
Everyone's expressions became exceedingly strange. Although Renji Abarai had handled the scene immediately, they had all seen the records. That sort of "sleeping" scene was truly chilling.
"Hehehe, little girl." Mayuri Kurotsuchi gave a sinister chuckle, then turned and wildly tapped at the computer. At last, he pulled up an image on the virtual screen. "Was the man you saw this person?"
Aya looked up. Upon seeing the man in a white bodysuit on the virtual screen, she nodded. "That's right, it was him. But he had a pair of glasses in addition to what's in this picture."
Everyone's faces immediately darkened. Although Aya's account had already given them some suspicions, once those suspicions were confirmed, every one of them looked extremely grim.
Aizen Sosuke—the most troublesome man—had returned.
Unlike other enemies, Aizen