Chapter 41: Saving Ichigo

Currently, Yoruichi was relaxing in the hot spring inside the hidden underground cave while happily drinking some sake Yuna had procured from somewhere somehow. Frankly, she wasn't the type to let her guard down like this, but she simply couldn't help herself. If someone asked her to assign what was the cause for Yoruichi slacking off, she would equally divide it between Yuna and the alcohol she served.

"You sure started slacking off, didn't you~"

Hearing Yuna's teasing words, Yoruichi completely ignored her and took another sip instead.

'Seriously, what's wrong with me? I'm in the middle of enemy territory, yet I'm drinking alcohol.'

As these thoughts passed her mind, she briefly glanced at Yuna, who was sitting close to her and was currently flirting with Rangiku.

'Yeah, no matter how I look at it, I can relax like this because Yuna is here. Someone who can defeat THAT Retsu Unohana is certainly someone I can feel safe around.'

Her thoughts kept wandering, and while she thought about Retsu, she briefly glanced at her as well. Just like Yuna and Rangiku, Retsu was sitting in the hot spring as well and was currently talking with Hinata, who sat next to her. Yoruichi briefly listened to their conversation, and after realizing they were talking about the best places to stab a human, she decided she would rather not be part of that conversation.

Since she stayed here anyway, she decided to partake in everyone's nightlife as well. After all, why not have some fun?

Obviously, Yoruichi only participated and didn't join Yuna's harem at all. For some reason, whenever claiming that, Hinata rolled her eyes, annoying Yoruichi a little.

As Yoruichi continued relaxing, a somewhat strong wave of Spiritual Pressure rolled over her, startling her a little as her head snapped towards a certain direction.

"Shit! I completely forgot about Ichigo!"

Hearing Yoruichi's exclamation, Yuna couldn't help but chuckle in amusement. Simultaneously, she allowed her senses to spread to find out who Ichigo was fighting, resulting in her smiling wryly.

'That guy sure has bad luck, huh? Of all the Captains to meet, he encounters Kenpachi.

While Yuna was lamenting Ichigo's fate, Yoruichi quickly got out of the hot spring and [Flash Stepped] towards the nearby house to get some clothes. She might not might people seeing her naked, but they would rather not run through Seireitei naked.

Seconds later, she opened the door, revealing Ishida, who had somewhat been healed by Retsu and was now trying to leave the house for the first time since coming here. The moment he saw the still naked Yoruichi, he completely froze up, while Yoruichi herself didn't seem to mind Ishida seeing her. Despite not caring about that, she had places to be, so she quickly went past Ishida, grabbed a random coat, and left the building, leaving a dumbfounded, out-of-the-nose-bleeding Ishida behind.

"Sorry, Ishida, I've no time to talk."

She glanced at the coat she was holding, briefly wondering why Yuna had a coat with such an unusual design lying around. It was almost completely black and had a few red clouds on it.

Anyway, as she was running towards the cave's exit, she transformed into her cat form while wrapping the coat around so it wouldn't hinder her movement in cat form much. She could just wear it directly, but as a cat, she could move through Seireitei more easily.

She was just about to leave the cave when she heard Yuna loudly yelling something at her.

"If he's stubborn, then just tell him my name. That should sway his opinion."

Yoruichi didn't answer her but took the information with her.

'I don't know the other person's Spiritual Pressure, but it seems like Yuna knows who it is. Seriously, how many connections did she make during her short stay in the city.'

A few moments later, Yoruichi reached her destination, and when she saw who Ichigo was fighting, she almost fell off the roof she was standing on.

'Really, Ichigo? Really!? Of all the people you could have possibly fought, you choose the Captain that holds the title of the strongest?'

Despite those thoughts, she didn't immediately go to save Ichigo but kept spectating instead, and as she continued watching the fight, she couldn't help but frown.

'Mhh, what's going on here? Kenpachi's Spiritual Power barely reaches the Captain level. Is he so good at hiding it that even I can't feel it, or is there another factor?'

Moments later, Yoruichi's question gets answered due to Kenpachi taking off his first armband, causing the amount of pressure he oozes to increase significantly.

'So it's like that, he had his power sealed. What a battle, junky. Oh well, I guess you don't get the title of the strongest if you don't enjoy fighting.'

The duo kept clashing, and after an especially powerful exchange, Ichigo sank to his knees while his consciousness slowly slipped away. Seeing that, Yoruichi wanted to snatch Ichigo away and flee the scene as far and fast as she could. Unlike Retsu, Kenpachi was clearly a power type instead of a speed one, so Yoruichi was rather certain that she could get away from him, even while carrying another person.

That was, of course, only her idea until Kenpachi removed his second armband, causing his power to spike even further.

'Shit, another seal? This makes it very hard for me to judge how fast he can move.'

Yoruichi briefly pondered if she should just risk it or try another approach, and after a few seconds of thinking, she came to a conclusion.

'Well, Yuna said that if I mentioned her name to him, he might be willing to give me a favor. I really wonder how she managed to get to know two Captains within a mere week, and she even managed to build a good relationship with them.'

So, without any further delays, Yoruichi approached Kenpachi with careful steps.

"Excuse me, could you hand him over to me?"

"KITTY!!!"

Before Kenpachi could answer her, a little girl appeared next to Yoruichi, startling her.

Yachiru's hand was just about to start petting Yoruichi when Yoruichi reacted and quickly moved away from her, causing Yachiru to pout.

"Please don't start randomly petting cats, or you might get attacked."

"Ehh, so mean. Ken-chan, help me pet this kitty."

Meanwhile, Kenpachi ignored the conversation between cat and child and focused on Yoruichi.

"I won't be able to hand Ichigo over to you. The old man ordered to capture you bunch. In fact, I might as well catch you too. You are one of the invaders as well, right?"

Although Yoruichi expected that kind of reaction, she still gritted her teeth and continued speaking.

"Would something change if I told you that Yuna sent me?"

"Oh? She did? Okay, see ya."

Without any hesitation, Kenpachi turned around and started walking away, his blade lazily resting on his shoulder. Obviously, he wanted to fight Yuna again, so following Yoruichi was an option, but he wanted to get stronger before challenging her again, to make their battle even more exciting.

Meanwhile, Yoruichi was utterly dumbfounded due to Kenpachi giving up on Ichigo this easily.

'What the hell happened between these two? From what I could glimpse, Kenpachi has very deep-seated respect for Yuna. I, at most, expected Yuna's name to make the negotiations easier, but everything was somehow solved instantly. How bizarre.'

Unfortunately, while she was in deep thought, paired with a healthy dose of confusion, someone appeared behind her and launched a sneak attack.

"KITTY!!!"

*HISS*

And just like that, a cat with the voice of a middle-aged man was molested by a little girl. Yet another case of a loli predating a middle-aged man.

Around an hour later, a loud groan escaped Ichigo's mouth as he slowly opened his eyes, making him see a ceiling entirely made out of ice, confusing him a little.

"An ice ceiling?"

"Yup, personally designed and constructed by me."

Hearing someone speaking, Ichigo turned his head and immediately saw Yuna with a black cat on her shoulder walking into the room.

"Yuna, Yoruichi, what is going on? As far as I remember... Shit, I lost."

"You didn't just lose; you got your ass completely kicked~"

As Yuna was taunting him, Ichigo couldn't help but grit his teeth in frustration.

"Shit, it wasn't that bad!"

"True, it was much worse~ You remember how he got stronger after removing that armband? He had two more of those seals, and he didn't even use his Shikai or Bankai."

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"Bankai? What's that?"

Although the more Yuna spoke, the more frustrated he became, hearing that unfamiliar word immediately drew his curiosity. Unlike before, this time, his question was answered by Yoruichi.

"An advanced form of Zanpakuto release that comes after the Shikai, which significantly boosts a Shinigami's power while granting them new abilities in most cases."

After Yoruichi finished her explanation, Yuna chimed in as well.

"Think of it like this, if your Shikai allows you to freely manipulate 100 liters of water, then your Bankai might be able to control 500 to 1000 liters or something like that. Obviously, increasing the volume isn't the only possibility. It might increase the speed you can move it at, or even both, or something completely different. But no matter what abilities are unlocked, a Bankai always makes a Shinigami more powerful."

As soon as Yuna finished her explanation, Ichigo sank deep into the bed he was lying on. As confidence to actually rescue Rukia was dwindling, a sigh of frustration escaped his mouth.

"*Sigh* To think there was such a huge gap between a Lieutenant and a Captain. This is so frustrating. Can we really save Rukia under these circumstances?"

"Okay, stop right there. You seem to be under the assumption that Kenpachi is a normal Captain, but he doesn't hold the title of 'Kenpachi' for nothing. He is the strongest within Seireitei, and if you would compare him to an average Captain, he could probably cut them down with a single swing if he wanted to."

Ichigo's eyes almost popped out when he realized that he somehow had the bad luck to meet the strongest person within Seireitei. Although that made him feel a little better, he still felt like this whole thing was suddenly impossible. After all, while he had barely reached Shikai a few days ago, there were people running around who had something even better. Yoruichi picked up Ichigo's mood and smirked at him.

"Oh? Frustrated that you can't use Bankai, huh? If a regular Shinigami heard that, they would undoubtedly curse you. After all, reaching Bankai requires at least ten years of dedication~"

After Yoruichi finished speaking, Ichigo gritted his teeth in anger. Ten years! He didn't even have a month before Rukia's execution started. What was he supposed to do? Before his mood could deteriorate any further, Yoruichi continued speaking.

"Luckily for you, I have a method to teach you Bankai within a few days~"

"What!? Really!? Please teach me! I need Bankai to save Rukia!"

"Naturally, I will help you. After all, that is why I brought you here."

Hearing Yoruichi's promise to teach him, Ichigo sighed in relief as his determination and confidence were rekindled. However, while his mood improved, there was something else bothering him. Or rather, there were two more things.

"How did you even manage to rescue me from that guy? He claimed that he would capture me. Did you actually manage to steal my body away from him?"

"Honestly, I don't know how I managed to pull that off either. I just told him Yuna's name, and he immediately turned around and left."

As soon as Yoruichi finished her explanation, Ichigo's eyes widened in surprise, as this was something to do with his second question.

"Kenpachi claimed that Yuna had defeated him before; what's that all about?"

Yoruichi's head immediately snapped towards Yuna, who appeared to be zoning out, not really interested in the current conversation.

"Yuna, you defeated Kenpachi? THAT Kenpachi?!"

It took Yuna a while to get out of her daze before she simply shrugged her shoulders and answered Yoruichi's question.

"Yeah, that was some fun fight. It's been a while since I got a chance to go all out~"

A shudder passed through Yoruichi's body as Yuna's face split into a battle-thirsty grin.

'What a monster.'

Yoruichi decided to quickly drop this topic as she didn't want to trigger some kind of crazed state with Yuna. She currently seems rather similar to Kenpachi, so she would rather not make her go crazy. Well, she herself claims to be crazy, but whatever. However, before she could avert the topic, Ichigo started speaking with anger clear in his voice.

"Wait a moment; if you are stronger than the strongest in the city, couldn't you have rescued Rukia a long time ago?"

While Yoruichi was sweating a little, thinking that Yuna might punch Ichigo's lights out, Yuna simply shrugged her shoulders with a profound expression on her face.

"I fear it isn't that easy. This city has more moving gears wheels than you might believe, so it isn't as simple as busting in there and getting her out. However, I've been preparing the perfect opportunity ever since I came here. For now, learn Bankai, and then we should be able to help Rukia."

[I like how you pretend that you caused all that chaos to save Rukia instead of your desire to mess this city up.]

'I know, right? That's my specialty.'

[Gah~ Shameless, Gahaha!]

'That's right~'

Hearing Yuna's explanation, Ichigo frowned deeply, and after thinking about Yuna's words a while longer, he nodded in understanding, believing in Yuna's words.

Yoruichi, on the other hand, looks at Ichigo in pity. She had spent a few days with Yuna, and she had interacted with the women around her as well, so one thing became rather clear for her: Yuna LOVED causing chaos.

Whether she truly believed that causing havoc within Seireitei would make helping Rukia easier was not something Yoruichi could judge, but she was certain that Yuna loved messing with the city's inhabitants, especially the more uptight clans like the Kuchiki clan.

The trio kept chatting a bit longer before Yuna and Yoruichi left the room to allow Ichigo to heal some more in peace. However, the moment he was to doze off, the door to the room was opened yet again, revealing a blood-covered Ishida, causing Ichigo's eyes to widen.

"Ishida, what happened to you!?"

However, Ishida completely ignored Ichigo's words and approached the bed he was now sitting on and grabbed both his shoulders with his hands.

"Forget about that, Ichigo; it isn't important. There is something very important you need to know if you intend to stay here."

Although Ichigo was a little confused due to how absentminded Ishida seemed, since whatever caused him to be covered in blood like that didn't seem to cause Ishida any pain, Ichigo decided to listen to him for now.

"Listen well, never... NEVER leave this house! IF you NEED to leave it, then NEVER... ABSOLUTELY NEVER walk towards your left-hand side. I know that steam over there is tempting. You want to know what is going on there, won't you? HOWEVER, you can't go there! ABSOLUTELY NOT!!! THAT STEAM IS HIDING SOMETHING NO MORTAL MAN SHOULD SEE!!!"

Seeing Ishida rambling on and on in a crazed manner, Ichigo couldn't help but try to make some distance from him. He didn't know what had happened to Ishida since he entered Seireitei, but it clearly wasn't something good.

'His mental state seems to be in shambles. Damn, what did those Shinigami do to him for him to act this crazed?'

As Ishida continued talking with froth almost coming out of his mouth, Ichigo couldn't help but become curious about what exactly he was talking about, so he couldn't help but ask.

"What is behind that steam, Ishida?"

The moment Ichigo asked that question, Ishida's rambling stopped as he completely froze up. Moments later, a sloppy smile appeared on his face as some blood dripped out of his nose, adding a bit more red color to his clothes.

"Paradise~"

Seeing that he likely wouldn't get a comprehensible answer out of Ishida, Ichigo sadly shook his head as he decided not to pay too much attention to the now drooling Ishida for now.

'It must have been some kind of illusion-type Zanpakuto. I don't know what Shinigami did this to Ishida, but I'll make them pay. Since it was very likely a Zanpakuto's ability, I believe that there should be a way to reverse the damage done.'

Before the disconnected rambling could continue, a strong wave of Spiritual Pressure washed over Ichigo, alarming him as his head snapped toward the source of that pressure.

'That's Byakuya's Spiritual Pressure! Shit, he must be fighting one of us. I need to go there and help them!'

As soon as this thought passed his mind, he got up from the bed and ran towards the door. However, as he was about to leave the room, another fanatic yell escaped Ishida's mouth.

"DON'T GO TOWARDS THE STEAM, ICHIGO!!! DON'T BE TEMPTED BY IT!!! YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE WHAT'S BEHIND THE STEAM... OF COURSE, YOU WANT TO, BUT YOU SHOULDN'T!!! DON'T BE TEMPTED, ICHIGO!!!"

Hearing Ishida's words, Ichigo only looked at him in pity before sadly shaking his head and leaving the building. As soon as he left, he briefly glanced to the left, and indeed, steam was rising from there. Additionally...

'Am I just imagining it, or do I hear women giggling?'

... the giggling of multiple women was constantly echoing out of the steam-filled area. Frankly, Ichigo really wanted to see what that was all about, but he had other things to do right now.

'I'll investigate this later. For now, I need to save whoever is confronting Byakuya.'

And just like that, Ichigo left the hidden cave and moved towards the course of Spiritual Pressure he felt. Considering whoever Byakuya was facing didn't have enough Spiritual Pressure to be felt within Byakuya's, he couldn't help but worry.

'Please make it in time!'

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