An Ordinary High School Student

Ever since learning that he was in the Bleach world, Chu Yang had always felt that there were inexplicable things around him, existing somewhere between reality and illusion.

But in truth, this had nothing to do with his understanding of the world.

The reason Chu Yang could see things he had never seen before was that after sharing talent abilities, his soul had also been affected.

The good news was that he could see them.

The bad news was that he had trouble telling whether what he saw was a person or a ghost.

If he had not shared the memories of his other "selves," Chu Yang would probably have suffered a mental breakdown by now.

Learning to distinguish souls took time. Chu Yang had made plenty of blunders during this period, and in the eyes of many classmates, he had already been labeled a "weirdo."

Ichigo Kurosaki had also noticed some of Chu Yang’s strange behavior. It gave him a familiar feeling, as though he were seeing himself when he had first begun seeing souls as a child.

A week after school started, Chu Yang gradually got used to it and no longer jumped in fright whenever a soul suddenly appeared.

So far, most of the souls he had encountered were very friendly. They simply stayed quietly within certain areas, silently lingering in the human world.

Every soul had its own reason for clinging to this world, but all of them inevitably headed toward the same ending.

As time passed, even originally friendly souls would gradually become irritable and begin doing things that harmed passersby.

As usual, Chu Yang walked along the road toward his apartment. At a corner, he saw the soul of a construction worker wearing a hard hat suddenly charge toward a moving car, apparently intending to attack the driver.

Chu Yang silently appeared behind him. His Haki-coated hand easily caught the construction worker’s soul and lifted him up like a chick.

Haki was still effective in this world. To Chu Yang’s surprise, upon thinking carefully about it, Haki seemed to affect not the elementalized bodies of Logia Devil Fruit Users, but the rules created by Devil Fruits themselves.

Powerful Conqueror’s Haki could even dispel some special Devil Fruit effects.

From that perspective, it was not strange that Haki could touch souls.

Even while dangling from Chu Yang’s hand, the construction worker uncle did not settle down, displaying an intense desire to attack.

This was the aftermath of staying in the human world for too long. He had gradually lost his emotions and reason.

But Chu Yang quickly helped him regain his reason.

With his fan-sized palm, he gave him several vicious slaps, swelling the construction worker uncle’s face.

Slap! Slap! Slap!

"Stop hitting me! Young man, stop! If you keep hitting me, I really will ascend to heaven!"

The uncle grabbed Chu Yang’s arm and begged bitterly.

"Oh, you’ve come to your senses." A look of lingering enjoyment flashed across Chu Yang’s face before he asked, "Uncle, why haven’t you gone to reincarnate? Why are you staying here? Look at yourself—you were just about to attack a passerby."

The uncle looked like an honest man. Even though he was already dead, he kept apologizing. It was just unclear whether he truly felt sorry or was simply afraid of Chu Yang’s big slaps.

Chu Yang patted his shoulder. "Uncle, I don’t know what regrets you have, but in your current state, there’s nothing you can do about them, right?"

The uncle opened his mouth but found himself speechless. Like a deflated ball, he stood there listlessly, his eyes empty.

Chu Yang hated seeing that expression most. If the uncle had bared his teeth at him, he would not have felt so bad. He would have beaten him until he was crawling around looking for his teeth.

But this uncle looked honest from every angle, and he also seemed to have died an unnatural death. It was hard not to feel sympathy for him.

Chu Yang said helplessly, "All right, tell me. What do you want me to help you with? As long as I can do it, I definitely will."

The uncle abruptly raised his head, and light suddenly returned to his eyes.

The construction worker uncle’s name was Motokawa Yosuke. He was an employee of a company called Tozawa Construction Company and had worked there for nearly fifteen years, making him a genuine veteran employee.

The stretch of road beneath their feet had been one of the company’s projects half a year ago, mainly for maintenance work.

At the time, the boss had workers rush through the night to shorten the construction period. To cut costs, he had also failed to place warning signs or lighting ahead of the work zone.

Motokawa Yosuke was struck by a car speeding through at night and died on the spot.

By law, the boss of Tozawa Construction Company was required to pay Motokawa Yosuke’s family compensation. Yet after Motokawa Yosuke’s death, there had been no sign of the money.

As the only breadwinner in his family, Motokawa Yosuke’s wife and child had effectively lost all sources of income after losing him, and life had become extremely difficult.

At the mere thought of what his family had suffered over the past six months, Motokawa Yosuke nearly went berserk again.

Chu Yang reminded him, "You should actually go strangle your boss to death."

Motokawa Yosuke said dejectedly, "It’s not like I didn’t think about it. But if I strangle him, my family will never have any chance of receiving compensation. They need that money to get through the days ahead."

Chu Yang clapped his hands and nodded. "All right, then I’ll go get that money back for you."

"Thank you, young man." Motokawa Yosuke had already tasted Chu Yang’s fists, so he had complete faith in his abilities.

A short while later, following the address Motokawa Yosuke had given him, Chu Yang found Tozawa Construction Company. He politely asked the receptionist, but unfortunately, Mr. Tozawa was not at the company.

It was around eight in the evening, prime time for the neon-lit nightlife of a nightclub. The crowd writhed wildly on the dance floor, giving off the scent of surging hormones.

Meanwhile, Mr. Tozawa was discussing business with a client in a private room.

Chu Yang’s entry into the nightclub did not go smoothly. His youthful face made it obvious that he was underage, and the security guard stopped him outside.

With no other choice, he removed the front door in front of the guard and set it aside.

The guard fell silent.

After all, with a monthly salary of just over a hundred thousand yen, was it worth risking his life?

Using Observation Haki, Chu Yang quickly located Mr. Tozawa’s private room. He had just closed a major deal and was preparing to reward himself by playing a knight-and-princess game with the young women in the room.

Just as he was riding, Chu Yang suddenly appeared behind him and viciously jabbed his lower back with a finger.

Mr. Tozawa’s eyes rolled back, and he immediately fainted from the pain.

He might never be able to ride anyone again in his life.

When Mr. Tozawa woke up, he found himself hanging over the center of a lake in a park. His entire body was tangled in branches and vines, swaying precariously.

"Help… Someone, save me!"

Completely naked, Tozawa could no longer care about humiliation as he desperately cried for help. The branches binding him were already starting to loosen. Before long, he would fall into the lake.

The worst part was that he could not swim.

If nobody saved him, by the next day he would be a floating corpse and headline the newspapers.

In his panic, Tozawa saw a student standing on the shore, watching him indifferently. As though he had found a savior, he immediately shouted, "Young man, save me!"

The young man did not answer. He merely asked coldly, "Motokawa Yosuke. Do you remember him?"

Hearing that familiar name, Tozawa’s expression changed. He stammered, "Motokawa… Yosuke? This is the first time I’ve heard that name. Never mind that, young man, think of a way to save me first. Once I’m down, I’ll definitely repay you properly."

Chu Yang looked at him as though he were an idiot and sneered. "Did drinking make you stupid? There are only two of us here. Who do you think tied you to that tree?"

"You?" Tozawa glared and cursed furiously. Connecting it with Motokawa Yosuke’s name, he suddenly realized, "You’re family of that bastard Motokawa’s? I’m warning you, let me down right now, or I’ll call the police!"

Chu Yang lightly stomped his foot, and the branches and vines binding Tozawa instantly loosened by more than half. Only his feet remained tied.

Freed from the branches’ restraint, Tozawa plunged headfirst into the water. Once more than half his body was submerged, he began struggling violently.

Seeing his bloated, flabby appearance, Chu Yang figured his lung capacity could not be much good. So when thirty seconds had passed, he hoisted him back up.

After soaking in the freezing lake water for thirty seconds, the naked Tozawa shivered and gasped from the cold, unable even to form a proper plea for mercy.

"When do you intend to give Motokawa Yosuke’s compensation to his family?"

"Compensation? That guy died in an accident. Go ask the insurance company for compensation. What the hell does it have to do with me?"

Chu Yang clicked his tongue in amazement. "You really want money more than you want your life."

With that, Chu Yang controlled the branches to dunk him into the lake again, then lifted him back up, repeating the process over and over, giving him a good up-and-down hotpot dip.

This time, Tozawa was truly frightened. He could tell that this young man really dared to kill. If he kept being stubborn, he would probably die here tonight.

"Please spare me! I’ll pay right away!" Tozawa frantically begged, his attitude exceptionally sincere.

Chu Yang smiled in satisfaction, but he did not immediately lower him. Instead, he continued "dipping him in hotpot." Only after two or three more rounds did Chu Yang place the half-dead Tozawa on the ground and send a trace of life force into him.

Tozawa sucked in several huge breaths, and color gradually returned to his deathly pale face.

After making several trips back and forth at Demon Gate, all Tozawa felt toward Chu Yang was fear.

This guy was a madman, a pervert, a murderer!

Before letting Tozawa leave, Chu Yang warned him with a kindly smile, "You can choose to call the police, but let me remind you first: I’m an orphan. I have no family and no attachments."

After suffering such torture, how could Tozawa dare call the police?

All he wanted now was to settle things peacefully and send this plague god away as quickly as possible.

"I won’t. Absolutely not. I’ll go give the money to Motokawa’s family right now." After saying that, Tozawa turned and ran. Naked from head to toe, he shivered in the cold night wind, yet still ran incredibly fast!

There were not many people in the park late at night, much less around the cold center of the lake. But once Tozawa left the park, he immediately felt countless gazes focusing on him.

"There’s a pervert! Everyone, run!!"

"Ah! My eyes! Everyone, close your eyes!"

"God, please give me a new pair of eyes! My eyes have been defiled!"

"Society’s gone to the dogs! Society’s gone to the dogs!"

Besides the curses, some unflappable elderly men and women who had seen it all calmly took out their phones and started taking pictures.

By tomorrow morning, someone would definitely make the news headlines.

Sensing what was coming, Tozawa covered his face and sprinted through the camera flashes, crystalline tears sliding from the corners of his eyes.

"Damn it!!!"

Meanwhile, Chu Yang was about to leave the park when an unexpected person blocked his way.

"Did you come to get compensation for that uncle?" Ichigo Kurosaki stood on the steps at the park entrance, looking down at Chu Yang.

"You saw everything?" Chu Yang asked in surprise. Since he lived in modern society, he did not make a habit of keeping Observation Haki active at all times, so he had not noticed Ichigo Kurosaki nearby at all.

"I only saw that uncle run out of here naked. What did you do to him?" Ichigo Kurosaki scratched his head.

"Don’t look at me like that. I just soaked him in the lake for a bit." Chu Yang waved a hand, signaling for Ichigo Kurosaki to move aside.

Ichigo Kurosaki shifted over and made way for Chu Yang. After Chu Yang went up the steps, he found himself following along as well.

The area where Motokawa Yosuke’s soul wandered was not far from the school, so it was normal that Ichigo Kurosaki had seen him. He had most likely heard from Motokawa Yosuke that Chu Yang was coming to seek compensation and had come to look around nearby.

After all, Chu Yang gave the impression of being an ordinary high school student. How could he possibly demand compensation from the boss of a construction company? Ichigo Kurosaki assumed Chu Yang would probably get beaten up, so he had come over to see if he could help.

But Ichigo Kurosaki had not expected Chu Yang to so easily handle Mr. Tozawa, who looked like someone not to be messed with. He suddenly became curious about Chu Yang.

Ichigo Kurosaki was not the sort of person who could keep questions bottled up. He could not help asking, "When did you start seeing souls?"

"Since I was little," Chu Yang replied casually. His whole family was dead anyway, and nobody could verify it elsewhere.

Ichigo Kurosaki nodded silently. Chu Yang’s situation was rather similar to his own.

Ichigo Kurosaki asked, "Will that guy honestly pay the compensation?"

Chu Yang stopped and turned to look at him.

Ichigo Kurosaki explained, "What I mean is, construction company bosses usually have ties to local gangs. After what you did to him today, he definitely won’t accept it. He might retaliate against you tomorrow, maybe even against your family."

"I don’t have family for him to retaliate against." Chu Yang smiled and said meaningfully, "People who get retaliated against usually just weren’t ruthless enough. If you make them truly feel fear, where would they find the courage to retaliate?"

With that, Chu Yang continued walking forward.

Ichigo Kurosaki stood where he was and thought for a while before silently following behind him.

"That uncle at the school gate used to look pretty abnormal. I often avoided him, but he was a little different today. I got curious and asked him about it, and he said…"

Ichigo Kurosaki’s expression was strange. "He said that after you slapped him a few times, he came to his senses."

"Can you touch souls?"

Just then, they happened to walk out of the park. Chu Yang did not answer his question and headed straight toward home.

"Today’s question-and-answer session is over!"

Hearing Chu Yang’s voice, Ichigo Kurosaki froze for a moment.

Then he turned and left in the other direction.

After school the next day, the two of them once again appeared near Motokawa Yosuke’s home with perfect mutual understanding.

"What a coincidence."

"This goes beyond coincidence. Are you following me?"

"Idiot, don’t make jokes like that. It isn’t funny at all."

Bickering, Chu Yang and Ichigo Kurosaki arrived at the door of a residence. The nameplate read Motokawa Residence. Clearly, both had come to confirm whether Motokawa Yosuke’s family had received the compensation.

"Ring the doorbell. Why are you staring at me? Don’t you have hands?"

"You handled this, so shouldn’t you be the one to ring it?"

"Then why did you follow me? Are you a stalker?"

"Do you have some kind of certification for being sharp-tongued? That mouth of yours is seriously annoying!"

"Thanks for the compliment!"

The veins near Ichigo Kurosaki’s temples bulged with anger.

After taking several deep breaths, he decided not to argue with Chu Yang and reached out to press the doorbell.

Motokawa’s wife came out of the house with a wary expression.

When she saw two students, her expression immediately relaxed considerably.

Ichigo Kurosaki organized his words in his mind, then explained why they had come. He lied that he was a student Motokawa Yosuke had once helped and had specifically come to visit today.

The two sides chatted like that for quite a while, exchanging pleasantries, before Chu Yang learned from their conversation that Tozawa had delivered the compensation the previous night.

The amount was several times higher than what the court had ordered. It was clear that Tozawa feared Chu Yang would find an excuse to retaliate against him afterward.

A short while later, the two returned to the road near the school, intending to tell Motokawa Yosuke the news.

Yet Motokawa Yosuke was not there. Chu Yang and Ichigo Kurosaki waited for a while, but they did not see him even after nightfall.

"Maybe he found out before we did and has already ascended to heaven and become a Buddha?"

Ichigo Kurosaki stretched and yawned. His stomach was growling with hunger, and he could no longer stand it, so he prepared to go home.

Staring at the empty road, Chu Yang furrowed his brows. He also felt Ichigo Kurosaki made sense, but he had a strong intuition that Motokawa Yosuke had not left.

Thinking back to how Motokawa Yosuke had remained in a dazed state before.

He had even shown signs of attacking people. The more Chu Yang thought about it, the more he felt something must have happened.

The construction company!

A flash of insight crossed Chu Yang’s mind.

That might have been where Motokawa Yosuke’s obsession ran deepest. If he did not yet know that Tozawa had delivered the compensation to his family, he would definitely go looking for Tozawa.

At that thought, Chu Yang immediately dashed toward the construction company.

He did not care whether Tozawa died.

He was only worried that once Motokawa Yosuke killed someone, he might never be able to return to his original self and would completely lose his reason and emotions.

Chu Yang took off so abruptly that by the time Ichigo Kurosaki reacted, he was already far away. Seeing how urgently he had rushed off, Ichigo Kurosaki instinctively felt that something bad had happened.

"Where are you going? Wait for me!" Ichigo Kurosaki swung his shoulder bag around properly and shot after him, but no matter how hard he chased, the distance between him and Chu Yang only grew wider.

"What the hell?!" Ichigo Kurosaki was shocked. Ever since he was young, not only had his grades been excellent, but his athletic ability had also crushed those of his peers. He had never lost before. Today was the first time he had ever been humbled.

After chasing for a while longer, Chu Yang’s back vanished completely from Ichigo Kurosaki’s sight. He had no choice but to stop, drenched in sweat and gasping for breath. "How is he so fast? Is he even human? He’s a complete monster!"

"I remember this direction—it’s yesterday’s park… No, that construction company!" Ichigo Kurosaki jolted in alarm. He quickly connected the crucial dots, and without sparing another thought for rest, he gritted his teeth and charged forward.

"Uncle Yosuke, don’t do anything stupid!"

To reach the construction company faster, Chu Yang simply took a straight route, crossing dark alleys and narrow old residential complexes. There were few people here, and with the old streetlights, even if he leaped across rooftops, no pedestrians would notice him.

He was getting a taste of Hokage Chu Yang’s daily life.

But what Chu Yang didn’t know was…

Ichigo Kurosaki behind him had actually gritted his teeth and caught up.

Just in time to see him leap onto a rooftop and disappear.

"What the hell is that guy doing? A ninja? Holy shit…" Ichigo Kurosaki froze and instinctively blurted out a few curses.

By the time Chu Yang jumped down from the rooftop, he had already reached the front of the construction company. Only a road separated the two.

The surroundings were deathly quiet. Other than the whistling of the cold wind, not even a cat could be heard. Even at night, this kind of silence was abnormal, enough to make one’s skin crawl.

Observation Haki could sense the presence of living beings, but sensing pure souls was beyond Chu Yang’s current abilities.

As for whether Roger’s level of "hearing the voice of all things" could do it, Chu Yang did not know. His Observation Haki had not yet reached that level.

Chu Yang walked down the silent road toward the construction company. His instincts told him Motokawa Yosuke was here.

But it seemed the worst-case scenario had already happened…

The instant Chu Yang approached the construction company, every window in the building exploded at once. Shards of glass rained down from above him.

The glass fragments struck Chu Yang with a series of clinks and clatters. He had already covered his entire body in Armament Haki, so he was unharmed.

At the same moment the glass exploded, Chu Yang clearly heard a monster’s roar, and his heart sank.

Chu Yang stomped heavily on the ground and leaped straight up to the second floor of the construction company. He did not see Motokawa Yosuke. All he saw was a masked monster with a hollow in its chest holding Tozawa high in the air.

Motokawa Yosuke had turned into a Hollow.

"Help… help me…" Tozawa had no idea what was happening. He could only keep crying for help, his voice weak. He had probably been severely injured.

"Quit whining!" Chu Yang cursed and charged straight at Motokawa Yosuke, now a Hollow, smashing him away through sheer brute force.

Tozawa fell from the air and slammed heavily onto the ground, his mouth full of blood.

Chu Yang glanced down at him, then coldly walked past him. This guy deserved to die, but he could not die at Motokawa Yosuke’s hands.

Soul bodies were enemies Chu Yang had never encountered before. He had no idea how much actual damage Haki could inflict on them. He was not worried that he could not break through their defenses—he was worried that one punch would kill Motokawa Yosuke outright.

Chu Yang’s fists were not Zanpakuto. They did not have the ability to purify Hollows and send them to the afterlife. If a Hollow was killed by him, then it was truly dead.

Therefore, Chu Yang could only try to restrain Motokawa Yosuke with Taijutsu and wait for the Soul Reapers to react.

Whenever a Hollow appeared in the World of the Living, Soul Society would learn of it immediately. There was no need to worry that Soul Reapers would not show up.

Unless…

A more powerful Hollow had appeared nearby at the same time.

Before the Soul Reapers arrived, Chu Yang had to keep him from charging around and hurting innocent people. He could only use Observation Haki to monitor the movement paths of the living nearby while luring Motokawa Yosuke toward a less populated area.

Fish-Man Karate had plenty of grappling and restraining techniques, perfect for dealing with the current situation.

Motokawa Yosuke’s Hollow form was enormous. Even a casual attack could cause terrifying destruction across a wide area.

Even Motokawa Yosuke, who had only just turned into a Hollow, was this formidable. It was hard to imagine how powerful the Menos Grande above him must be.

On the other side, Ichigo Kurosaki had also reached the vicinity of the construction company.

Whether from the intense exercise or the ruined scene of devastation around him, Ichigo Kurosaki’s entire body was trembling slightly.

"What the hell happened here?"

In his fifteen years of life, Ichigo Kurosaki had dealt with plenty of souls, but this was the first time he had seen anything like this.

"Help…"

A weak cry for help came from the rubble.

Following the sound, Ichigo Kurosaki found Tozawa buried beneath a pile of broken stones.

Ichigo Kurosaki hurriedly dragged him from the ruins, laid him by the roadside, and called an ambulance.

"Hey, did you see someone wearing the same school uniform as me?"

Hearing Ichigo Kurosaki’s question, the weak Tozawa barely opened his eyelids. The moment he caught sight of Ichigo Kurosaki’s uniform, his expression changed drastically.

Holy shit, he went to the same school as that bad-luck star?

Could he be another King Yama?

Tozawa pointed in the direction Chu Yang and Motokawa Yosuke had disappeared and said in a loud voice, "He went that way!"

"Thanks! I already called an ambulance for you. Stay here and don’t move."

Ichigo Kurosaki got up and ran, but did not forget to turn back and warn him, "Don’t move around!"

Tozawa hurriedly nodded, but after Ichigo Kurosaki had gone far away, he still struggled to crawl toward the other side of the road.

"Yeah, right, telling me not to move? You and that brat are in this together. You’re after my money and my life. Did you think I wouldn’t see through it? Like hell I believe you!"

Unable to see souls, Tozawa blamed everything that had just happened on Chu Yang. He could only blame it on Chu Yang.

After all, how could a normal person so easily believe in the existence of ghosts and gods?

Tozawa crawled forward with all his strength, completely throwing Ichigo Kurosaki’s warning to the back of his mind. Perhaps he was too absorbed in crawling to notice the headlights in the distance.

By the time the roar of a car engine reached his ears, it was too late.

The sky was dark, and the streetlights around them had been completely destroyed.

Everything was pitch-black. The driver could not see what was on the road at all.

Thud~ Thud~

Two dull impacts rang out.

The car jolted violently, then drove a short distance before coming to a stop.

The driver got out and looked around in panic, but everything before him was dark. Apart from the rubble on the road visible in the moonlight, he could see nothing.

The driver scratched his head and got back into the car, restarting it while soothing his family.

"What was that?"

"Probably rocks. The road is full of debris. It’s too dark to see…"

"Why hasn’t anyone come to clear it? It’s so dangerous at night!"

"I’ll call city hall later."

As the engine started again, the car drove farther and farther away. No one noticed Tozawa, barely alive and covered in blood, lying on the ground.

He lay in a pool of blood, feebly reaching forward.

With no response forthcoming, despair slowly swallowed Tozawa whole.

He suddenly thought of something.

When Motokawa Yosuke was struck and killed by a car because of late-night construction that day, had he felt as desperate as Tozawa did now?

Tozawa’s thoughts froze at that moment, then sank into eternal silence.

Ichigo Kurosaki felt like his throat was about to catch fire.

The distance he had run today was almost equal to a long-distance marathon, and he had sprinted the entire way.

Heaven did not disappoint those who persevered. Just as he was about to give up, Chu Yang finally appeared before him.

And besides him…

There was a huge thing—a creature as tall as a three- or four-story building, radiating a terrifying aura.

Ichigo Kurosaki licked his dry lips. It was not because his body lacked water, but because he saw Chu Yang fighting that huge thing barehanded.

Especially when he saw Chu Yang punch that thing more than ten meters away, goosebumps rose all over his body.

"I was worried about him…" Ichigo Kurosaki silently took a few steps back. "Shouldn’t I be worried about myself instead?"

The moment he finished speaking, a car flipped over by Motokawa Yosuke flew past Ichigo Kurosaki and crashed into a streetlamp behind him, exploding into a brilliant burst of sparks.

Ichigo Kurosaki was blasted away by the shockwave, spinning several times in the air before landing.

Thud~

Ichigo Kurosaki slammed heavily onto the ground and bared his teeth in pain.

Just as he was about to cry out, he realized a massive Black Shadow had engulfed him.

He shuddered and looked up.

The huge thing was staring down at him with a kindly smile.

It raised its foot…

And stomped down!

Ichigo Kurosaki instinctively shut his eyes and raised both arms in front of himself.

The next second.

The pain he expected never came. Instead, he felt weightless, as though he were flying.

The moment he opened his eyes, he saw Chu Yang carrying him as they landed on the roof of a residential building on the other side.

Though he had countless questions, Ichigo Kurosaki still asked the most important one. "Where’s Uncle Yosuke?"

Chu Yang gestured with his chin toward Motokawa Yosuke, who had already turned into a Hollow below.

"Uncle Yosuke?" Ichigo Kurosaki looked dazed, muttering under his breath, "Why did he turn into this…"

"You’re asking me? Who am I supposed to ask?" Chu Yang said helplessly. "Instead of dwelling on that, shouldn’t we be figuring out how to deal with him?"

"Deal with him?" Ichigo Kurosaki widened his eyes. "Are you going to kill Uncle Yosuke?"

Chu Yang rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Are you brain-dead? Murder is illegal!"

Ichigo Kurosaki fell silent for a moment before saying slowly, "The law can’t protect him in his current state…"

ROAR!!!

Motokawa Yosuke roared furiously and charged toward them.

"I can’t be bothered arguing with you. Help if you can. If you can’t, then get the hell out of here!"

With that, Chu Yang leaped into the air.

He descended onto Motokawa Yosuke’s head and drove him into the ground with one kick.

What could he help with now?

Ichigo Kurosaki, who had always been extremely confident in his athletic ability, hesitated. The battle between Chu Yang and Motokawa Yosuke below was clearly not something he could participate in.

Confidence was one thing. Seeking death was another.

Just then, Ichigo Kurosaki, standing on the rooftop, spotted an elderly couple walking in this direction from afar.

"They’re out for a walk at this hour?"

Ichigo Kurosaki grumbled as he climbed down from the roof. Then he hurried over to the elderly couple and used a clumsy lie to persuade them to leave.

"There’s construction ahead. The road is blocked, so please take another route!"

Hearing the occasional booming sounds from ahead, the elderly couple did not suspect anything and prepared to turn back.

But as they left, the old man grumbled unhappily, "Young people these days have no manners at all. They’re doing construction and couldn’t even put up a sign to warn people. Made us walk all this way."

With no other choice, Ichigo Kurosaki kept bowing and apologizing until he finally saw the elderly couple off.

"I have to stop pedestrians from wandering in here. Otherwise, someone will definitely get hurt."

Ichigo Kurosaki felt this was perhaps the only way he could help Chu Yang. So he began patrolling nearby. Whenever he saw someone, he would find a way to convince them to leave.

As it got later and later, pedestrians gradually stopped appearing. Only then did Ichigo Kurosaki breathe a sigh of relief and prepare to head back to check on the battle.

"How is he going to deal with Uncle Yosuke? If this drags on, he’ll be in danger too, won’t he?"

Amid his worry, Ichigo Kurosaki suddenly felt his heart tighten. Vaguely, he sensed something approaching this place.

That feeling of dread was even stronger than what Motokawa Yosuke had given him.

At the same time, Chu Yang sensed it too…

"No wonder no Soul Reapers have come after all this time. They really were delayed by something else."

Chu Yang pinned Motokawa Yosuke beneath his foot, his eyes fixed ahead.

"Three, two, one."

The building directly ahead exploded!

It was as though it had been hit by a speeding train, yet there was nothing in the gap.

In Chu Yang’s eyes, an even larger Hollow stood before him with its massive maw open wide. Drawn by Motokawa Yosuke’s presence, it had come here to feed.

Some Hollows liked devouring human souls, while others liked devouring their own kind.

This newcomer was probably the latter.

The way it looked at Motokawa Yosuke was filled with ravenous desire.

But soon, it shifted its gaze toward Chu Yang, who was standing on Motokawa Yosuke.

Its instincts caught a hint of danger from Chu Yang, and fear flashed through its eyes.

But that tiny trace of fear was quickly drowned by greed. It felt that Chu Yang looked even tastier than Motokawa Yosuke.

"Finally, one I can cut loose against. I’ve been holding it in so damn long."

After fighting Motokawa Yosuke while holding back for so long, Chu Yang had been sitting on a stomach full of rage with nowhere to vent it. Now, a suicidal target had conveniently delivered itself to him.

The enormous Hollow charged madly at where Chu Yang stood, smashing through numerous buildings along the way.

Chu Yang clenched his fist, Armament Haki gathering over his body into thick armor.

The Hollow rapidly closed in, reaching Chu Yang in the blink of an eye.

Chu Yang raised his hand, preparing to throw a punch.

Then, an explosion rang out.

A figure appeared between them.

Chu Yang froze.

The newcomer wore a black dojo uniform and stood with her back to Chu Yang, blocking the attack head-on with a blade and shielding Chu Yang from the blow.

She was sent flying.

Chu Yang saw her face. She was a girl with shoulder-length short hair. If nothing unexpected happened, she had to be Rukia Kuchiki.

After landing, Rukia Kuchiki sprang off the ground like a coiled spring.

Then she charged at the Hollow again, chanting under her breath.

She was casting Kido.

The invisible restraints formed by the incantation trapped the Hollow, preventing it from harming Chu Yang.

"There’s actually a human here. It was troublesome enough already, but now it’s even more troublesome."

Rukia Kuchiki seemed not to notice Motokawa Yosuke being stomped into the ground by Chu Yang. She merely frowned and glanced at Chu Yang before focusing on the Hollow before her.

Chu Yang kept staring at her, and she did not mind in the slightest.

How could a human possibly see her?

He had probably seen the surrounding buildings suddenly being destroyed and been scared witless!

That was what Rukia Kuchiki thought.

Suddenly, another human rushed out from the end of the street and ran toward her.

"Another one?"

"What are these people doing out so late instead of sleeping?"

Rukia Kuchiki complained with a troubled expression as she prepared to protect the two of them.

The Binding Spell could only restrain this nearly evolved Hollow for a brief moment, and she had no way to immediately drive the two humans away.

She could only do her best to protect them.

Meanwhile, Ichigo Kurosaki only realized after rushing up to them…

There was a larger Hollow here, and it was not Motokawa Yosuke.

He stared at Rukia Kuchiki in confusion and asked, "Who are you?"

Rukia Kuchiki froze.

Then she looked back at Chu Yang and thought, He must be talking to him, right?

Rukia Kuchiki stepped aside, only to find that the orange-haired boy was staring straight at her, as though waiting for her answer.

Rukia Kuchiki grew a little flustered.

Ichigo Kurosaki tilted his head, looked past her at Chu Yang, and asked, "Do you know her? She looks like something’s wrong with her head."

Rukia Kuchiki: "…"

Chu Yang replied, "No, but she probably isn’t a bad person. She blocked an attack for me just now."

Rukia Kuchiki whipped around, her eyes nearly popping out of their sockets.

Now she was finally certain that both of these humans could see her!

Rukia Kuchiki was just about to question them when the Hollow trapped by the Binding Spell broke free and attacked her exposed back.

Oh no!

Hearing the commotion behind her, Rukia Kuchiki immediately sensed danger. But it was already too late to turn around and face the attack.

Damn it. I shouldn’t have let those two humans distract me and lowered my guard.

She prepared herself to be injured, intending to trade wounds and severely injure the Hollow.

But Rukia Kuchiki never could have imagined…

The human beside her charged straight at the Hollow without saying a word.

"Wait! Don’t—"

Before she could finish, Rukia Kuchiki saw the man raise his hand and shatter the Hollow’s mask with a single punch!

The mountain-sized Hollow was sent flying high into the air before crashing down in the distance!

After throwing that punch, Chu Yang shouted excitedly. The pent-up frustration in his heart had finally been vented!

What kind of power was that?!

At the sight, Rukia Kuchiki’s pupils contracted sharply. In her shock, the Zanpakuto slipped from her hand and fell to the ground. When she lowered her head to pick it up, she discovered that there was another Hollow beneath her feet!

Motokawa Yosuke’s eyes shifted around before meeting Rukia Kuchiki’s gaze.