In the darkness, an invisible ripple silently flashed past...
This was a modern city called Karakura Town. Though it was already deep into the night, the streetlights along the roadside filled the streets with light.
What seemed like a peaceful night was, in truth, anything but peaceful.
At that moment, in a small alley by the street, a young man carrying an enormous longsword on his back walked alongside a young woman, the two chatting as they went.
"You're Ichigo, right? Your body isn't seriously hurt, is it?"
The young woman looked at him with concern.
"I think you should be more worried about yourself, shouldn't you? Look at all those wounds on you..."
The boy named Ichigo scratched his head as he spoke to her. After all, her injuries looked far worse than his!
But just then, suddenly! An immense pressure swept down from the sky, knocking both youths to the ground before directly passing through some sort of boundary and reaching another world.
That world was—the Soul Society!
The Soul Society, originally quiet to an eerie degree, was thrown into turmoil by the sudden arrival of that overwhelmingly powerful pressure. Violent winds rose, and everyone in the Gotei 13, including Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni, had rushed outside the moment the pressure arrived. Feeling that terrifying pressure now, every one of them wore an expression of shock.
"My God! What could be emitting such enormous pressure?"
"Could the Spirit King have returned to the world?"
"Who on earth is it?"
Everyone in the Gotei 13 spoke in shock, while Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni's face darkened.
Because he had secretly tried to use his own Spiritual Pressure to contend against that terrifying force, only to discover that he simply could not restrain it at all!
Raising his head to look at the