Chapter 377: BSUS - 380: Awaiting the Bitter Fruit

Jupiter had no absolute intention of keeping Inoue Orihime behind, so he hadn’t used his left hand just now. He was essentially fighting with a one-handed handicap, likely out of concern that he might accidentally hurt Inoue.

Hiroe seemed to have anticipated this as well. Jupiter knew perfectly well that his opponent’s response just now hadn’t been the optimal choice; if he had actually used his left hand, Hiroe would never have rescued her so easily.

He could only admit that the countermeasure was perfectly suited for the situation—just enough. This made Jupiter suspect that even if he had used his left hand, Hiroe still would have managed to save her. It felt as though that strange, delicate balance would never be broken.

*How interesting.* Jupiter’s fighting spirit was thoroughly stoked, but an arm suddenly stretched out to block his path. It was Ichimaru Gin.

"Now isn’t the time. Don’t be so hasty, Jupiter."

Gin’s words reached Hiroe’s ears as well. Just like Wonderweiss was to Old Man Yama, did this imply that the newly arrived 1st Espada was prepared specifically for him? Was this yet another hint from Gin?

"To rescue someone so effortlessly while facing the four of us... you are as unfathomable as ever." Perfunctory applause echoed through the Dangai, followed by even more perfunctory praise. "Truly admirable, Chōzuka-san."

"Then you should know how dangerous it is for just the four of you to stand before me."

"Hold on!" Hiroe had only taken a single step before Gin raised a hand to stop him. "You are indeed a dangerous man, so please, stay right where you are. Can’t you see Kaname? He’s practically dying of nervousness over here."

Tōsen Kaname frowned, looking rather displeased. He didn’t find this sort of teasing amusing in the slightest.

Gin, on the other hand, seemed to be enjoying himself, his entire demeanor relaxing considerably. He took a step forward and spoke as if catching up with an old friend. "So, could I ask Chōzuka-san to either stay here or return to the Soul Society? You’ve already saved the girl, so there’s no need to make things difficult for us, is there?"

"Do you really think you can stop me?"

Gin paused for a moment, offering a helpless smile in the face of Hiroe’s interrogation. "We can’t exactly do nothing and just let you pass. Since both Kaname and I are here, it means..."

"Aizen is here too. And I can already guess exactly what he’s planning to do!" Hiroe interrupted sharply. "Then you should understand that I won’t let him succeed, which means I won’t be showing any of you mercy."

"So I’ll ask you again: do you really think the few of you can stop me?!"

That was essentially an ultimatum. Gin wiped away non-existent sweat with his sleeve. "Scary, scary..."

"You have to divide your attention to protect Inoue Orihime now, leaving you with only one free hand. Besides, this is the Dangai. If we make too much of a ruckus, it’ll attract the Kōtotsu."

In the enemy’s hands, Inoue was a vulnerability; rescued, she was a burden. Fighting while carrying her would inevitably restrict his movements. For an ordinary person facing Ichimaru Gin, Tōsen Kaname, and two Arrancar, merely surviving would be a monumental task.

Furthermore, in the eyes of the Dangai’s cleaner, the Kōtotsu, they were all just trash that needed to be swept away—whether they were Shinigami, humans, or Hollows. If a chaotic melee broke out, the turbulent clash of Reiatsu would very likely draw the Kōtotsu’s attention.

It could be said that the time, the terrain, and the people were all working against Hiroe. The current situation was nowhere near as easy as he made it sound.

Gin tapped his forehead as if suddenly remembering something. "Oh, right. If the four of us aren’t quite enough to handle you, then adding those two should just about do the trick."

The sound of hurried footsteps echoed from behind. Hiroe didn’t even need to turn around to know who the two newcomers were. After all, Zaraki’s iconic, booming voice could no longer bear the silence.

"This guy is mine! You just stand aside and watch!"

Hiroe felt a headache coming on. *’This guy’ is probably referring to me, isn’t it?* It seemed that not only were the people working against him, but at this very moment, they were practically teaming up with his enemies.

...

Meanwhile, in the Soul Society’s Seireitei, the Department of Research and Development was in a state of absolute chaos.

"The space within one spirit mile of Karakura Town has been completely sealed off! We cannot open the Senkaimon!"

"What about Captain Zaraki and Captain Kuchiki?"

"They’re... they’re still in the Dangai..."

Kurotsuchi Mayuri had just shifted his gaze to the monitor displaying the spatial detection data for the World of the Living when another alarm blared beside him.

"Inside the Dangai! Captain Zaraki is fighting Captain Chōzuka inside the Dangai! Judging by the Reiatsu, Ichimaru Gin and Tōsen Kaname are there too!"

"T-This is bad, Captain..."

A squad member monitoring the Reiatsu around Karakura Town turned around, looking as though he had just seen a ghost. His voice trembled as he reported, "A-Arrancar... At least twenty of them have just appeared in Karakura Town."

A cluster of glowing dots flickered across the screen, but that wasn’t what had caused the squad member to lose his composure. The true source of his terror was the massive, dark red dot pulsing in the center of the monitor. What it represented was...

"Aizen? What the hell is that bastard trying to do? Is he so impatient that he wants to start the final battle right now?!"

Mayuri’s widened eyes reflected the crimson glow of the screen. He wasn’t the type to panic just because Aizen had made an appearance, but a move of this magnitude was bound to make a lot of people lose their minds.

"That concludes the latest intelligence regarding Karakura Town, Head Captain!"

Yamamoto didn’t acknowledge the report, instead asking directly, "Is the Senkaimon still not ready?"

"The Department of Research and Development is working on it at full capacity. It will take an estimated ten more minutes..."

Ten minutes. There was no telling what would become of Karakura Town in those ten minutes, nor how many people would die.

Yamamoto cast his gaze downward. Shunsui understood the silent cue, his tone devoid of its usual lazy drawl. "I’ve already attempted to contact Hiroe via Kidō. He hasn’t responded yet. He’s likely still trying to break out of the Dangai..."

"But Aizen has already made his move, and Zaraki and Hiroe are currently fighting. Our message might not even..."

Yamamoto raised a hand, cutting Shunsui off. With Aizen arriving in person and Hiroe trapped in the Dangai, Karakura Town was practically defenseless against Aizen and his Kyōka Suigetsu.

Although time flowed two thousand times faster in the Dangai compared to the World of the Living and the Soul Society, if Hiroe couldn’t break free quickly enough to stop Aizen, they were destined to swallow a bitter fruit.

After all, it was a ten-minute delay. This meant that any reinforcements from the Seireitei would be entirely meaningless.

"Is there a possibility that Karakura Town will be sacrificed?"

"According to Captain Kurotsuchi, even if he faces zero resistance, it is absolutely impossible for Aizen to forge the ōken using Karakura Town in just ten minutes."

Therefore, Aizen’s sudden, full-scale invasion wasn’t to forge the ōken. So what was his true objective? It wasn’t just Yamamoto; Kyōraku Shunsui was pondering the exact same question.

However, the answer to that question could only be provided by Aizen himself.

With every step he took, a dark haze seemed to settle over Karakura Town below.

What he was about to bring to this city was an abyss so deep that no amount of tears could ever fill it.

And the answer delivered by his hands would be a regret so profound that no words could ever undo it.