It took Ichigo tremendous effort just to defeat the Fourth Espada, Ulquiorra. He was beaten so badly during parts of that battle. His head is still buzzing with phantom pain and fractured memories.
As a result, now he's expected to deal with the First, Second, Third Espadas and their all-powerful leader? It seemed like a suicide mission packaged as heroism.
Kurosaki Ichigo isn't afraid of death—he never has been. In order to protect Karakura Town and everyone he loves, he is willing to sacrifice everything, down to the last drop of his blood.
But now, he is a little numb and confused, his body still operating at half-capacity despite Orihime's healing. The weight of responsibility crushes down on his shoulders like a mountain.
It would be great if Commander Uehara could help them, he thought silently. With his outrageous strength, Uehara isn't afraid of any enemy, no matter how powerful. Ichigo had seen glimpses of what the man could do, and it was both terrifying and reassuring to know such power existed on their side.
Once it comes to fighting, Zaraki Kenpachi's mind becomes much clearer, his battle instincts sharpening to a razor's edge. He grinned maniacally and said:
"Interesting! You want to hold me back and not let me join the battle? Do you look down on me or are you afraid of Aizen? You want to avoid fighting? This is not your style, Kuchiki!"
The reason why he always wanted to challenge Byakuya Kuchiki was because this aristocrat, unlike many of his noble peers, was not afraid of fighting and would never back down when properly challenged. Honor and pride drove the man as much as bloodlust drove Kenpachi.
Therefore, he did not understand why Byakuya Kuchiki would give up the opportunity to battle Aizen himself. It seemed uncharacteristic of the prideful captain.
"I don't need to take action against Aizen," Kuchiki Byakuya stated, maintaining his cold demeanor to the end. It stands to reason that among the people present, no one wants to settle accounts with Aizen more than him. The traitor had manipulated Soul Society, nearly executed Rukia, and tried to destroy everything the noble houses stood for.
But considering the dangerous hypnotic power of Kyōka Suigetsu and his own current depleted state after battling Yammy, Byakuya realized that Kurosaki Ichigo was objectively the most suitable candidate. The boy, for all his faults, was not affected by Aizen's complete hypnosis.
The "Hollowfication" White's heroic performance against Byakuya had left a deep impression on him, and also demonstrated that Kurosaki Ichigo's strength could rise to extraordinary levels, even far beyond his actual consistent abilities.
Kuchiki Byakuya genuinely thought Kurosaki Ichigo was exceptionally skilled in combat. But in reality, much of that had been the result of White's intervention and influence. Now Kurosaki Ichigo not only refused to let White take control, but his Reiatsu was also artificially restricted by the Shinigami Proxy Certificate he carried.
Therefore, Kurosaki Ichigo felt legitimately confused about his assignment. His powers fluctuated wildly depending on circumstances, sometimes failing him when he needed them most.
In fact, it was precisely because his strength was so erratic and unpredictable that even Aizen might have trouble analyzing and countering it. Not to mention, Ichigo had never seen Aizen's Shikai release, making him immune to the perfect hypnosis.
Unohana, embodying the grace of Yamato Nadeshiko, did not speak much, quietly recalling her heart-pounding battle with Uehara Shiroha. The memory sent a pleasant shiver down her spine—centuries had passed since she'd faced an opponent worthy of her true strength.
She didn't need to say much. She had to go for both emotional and rational reasons that were clear to everyone present.
On one hand, she, as the captain of the Fourth Division, needed to treat potentially wounded fighters on the battlefield; on the other hand, Aizen's Kyōka Suigetsu was too tricky and dangerous to navigate without experience.
Previously, only she could barely detect abnormalities through her intimate familiarity with death and the subtleties of corpses. Her eyes could see what others missed—the minutiae that betrayed illusion.
Unohana didn't particularly care about Aizen's grandiose plans and ambitious schemes to reshape reality. But she cared deeply about what the captain-commander Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni cared about: maintaining balance and order through combat when necessary.
So when duty called, she didn't mind unleashing aspects of herself that had long remained hidden. The healer's hands also remembered how to kill.
Before, Unohana still had some reservations about fully engaging. Because after Zaraki Kenpachi had unconsciously sealed his own power a millennium ago, she had also sealed herself, locking away the bloodthirsty warrior known as "Yachiru."
But now, Uehara Shiroha had used his unparalleled strength to unlock the seals for both of them, whether intentionally or as a side effect of his overwhelming power. Their true natures could no longer be contained.
Therefore, Unohana Retsu didn't mind showing off the "Yachiru-ryū" sword style that had been sealed away for so long. The First Kenpachi was ready to draw blood once more.
Beside them, Kotetsu Isane and Nemu Kurotsuchi were diligently treating Rukia, Ishida Uryū, Sado Yasutora and the others who had been injured in previous battles. Although each of them had their own thoughts about the situation, they had neither the time nor the position to interrupt the captains' strategy session.
Inoue Orihime was also using her Sōten Kisshun to treat Ichigo Kurosaki with focused determination. Her hairpins glowed with golden light as she channeled her power to reject his injuries.
However, she could only treat physical wounds, and could not restore Ichigo Kurosaki's depleted Reiatsu as completely as before. Even after three days of continuous treatment with her healing shield, Ichigo Kurosaki's spiritual energy was only about half of his usual level, and his overall condition remained far from optimal.
But the enemy forces were incredibly formidable, even more terrifying than Ulquiorra had been in his released state. Therefore, in her heart, she didn't want Ichigo Kurosaki to continue fighting and risking himself. She wanted him safe, whole, and far from Aizen's machinations.
However, she knew from experience that she couldn't dissuade Ichigo Kurosaki once his mind was set on protecting others, so she kept her fears to herself and focused on healing him as best she could.
"Actually, you don't have to be so anxious," Mayuri Kurotsuchi said calmly, his painted face betraying no emotion:
"The key to maintaining this garganta is the Reiatsu of that man. And my instrument tells me that the same unique Reiatsu signature just erupted spectacularly in the Karakura Town replica. In other words, when we were busy debating here, Uehara Shiroha had already joined the battle without fanfare or announcement.
Although I don't know the precise details of what's occurring, I am absolutely certain that those Ten Espadas can't pose any significant threat to that man. Perhaps he has already eliminated all the Ten Espadas and even Aizen himself by now."
What Kurotsuchi Mayuri said was not without purpose or evidence. First of all, the brilliant spiritual light emanating from his specialized instrument had almost blinded his enhanced eyes.
This particular device was designed to detect the strength of a target's Reiryoku with unprecedented accuracy. The stronger the Reiryoku, the brighter the light displayed on the instrument's readout.
With an average captain's Reiryoku, the light emitted by the instrument is already somewhat dazzling, which would classify as third-class Reiryoku in Mayuri's detailed classification system.
But the spiritual light signature of Uehara Shiroha was like a miniature sun—blindingly brilliant and radiating intense heat, even more dazzling than the formidable spiritual pressure of the strongest Shinigami, Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni himself.
Such Reiatsu intensity was simply terrifying to contemplate. Not to mention the third-class Reiryoku, even the first-class Reiryoku displayed by the most ancient captains did not approach this magnitude of power.
In addition, long ago, Kurotsuchi Mayuri had begun to suspect that Uehara Shiroha might be the illegitimate son of the Soul King, or at the very least possessed some of the sacred organs of the Soul King within his body.
In short, this couldn't possibly be the power of a pure shinigami. The Shinigami lineage simply doesn't produce such overwhelming abnormalities without external factors.
Otherwise, it would be impossible to logically explain why a supposedly "mediocre" Shinigami had suddenly become virtually invincible, transcending all known limitations of their kind.
Whatever Uehara Shiroha truly was, Mayuri knew one thing with certainty—the battle in Karakura Town had just become infinitely more interesting from a research perspective. And if there was anything Kurotsuchi Mayuri loved more than his experiments, it was collecting data on phenomena that defied explanation.