Ichigo's mind was filled with confusion, utterly unable to comprehend the scene before him.
'When that giant Hollow appeared the day before yesterday, didn't this guy step in front of us first?'
'He was so badly injured to protect...'
'So why, why today, just when I was about to win, did he...'
"What the hell are you doing?!"
Ichigo looked up sharply, roaring at the black figure standing with his blade.
He couldn't understand, couldn't accept it.
But Sasuke didn't look at him. He slowly shifted his gaze to the still-panting Renji, a mocking smile curling his lips.
"How pathetic, Renji." He let out a derisive laugh, his voice soft but making Renji's just-relaxed nerves tense again, "To be pushed to this point by a half-baked amateur who doesn't even know his own Zanpakuto's name."
Sasuke turned his face slightly, the disdain in his tone unconcealed, "Did you forget how to hold a sword after becoming Lieutenant?"
These words were like adding fuel to the fire, turning Renji's face, which is already flushed from defeat, instantly livid.
He was furious.
Losing to a human was already a great humiliation.
And this shame had actually been witnessed by the foul-mouthed brat Uchiha Sasuke.
"You bastard..." Renji gritted his teeth in anger, veins bulging on the hand holding Zabimaru, "Who asked you to save me?!"
To him, being saved by Sasuke was worse than dying by that human's blade.
"Why?!" Ichigo's voice rang out again, filled with the anger of betrayal, "Answer me, Sasuke! Aren't we companions?!"
Sasuke finally slowly turned his face, an impatient look appearing, "Annoying."
The moment the word fell, he moved.
Everyone present saw only a flash of pitch-black light streak through the air.
Too fast.
Faster than the normal visual capture limit.
Squelch…!
Ichigo's roar cut off abruptly. He looked down in confusion.
A deep, bone-deep wound ran from the left side of his abdomen to his right shoulder. Blood instantly gushed out, dyeing his black Shihakusho red.
The edges of the wound were charred black, as if burned by lightning.
"Guh..."
Excruciating pain, delayed by half a second, suddenly swept over his entire body.
Ichigo's eyes lost focus. His body went limp, and he heavily knelt forward, blood continuously pouring out.
Sasuke slowly sheathed his sword, the black arcs of electricity around him quietly vanishing. He snorted coldly, "Who ever said we were companions?"
The entire area suddenly fell into silence.
At this moment, Rukia's face was drained of color. She stood dazedly in place, completely unable to comprehend what had just happened.
'Why?'
'Why did Sasuke suddenly inflict such a severe wound on Ichigo?!'
In the distance, the cherry blossom-like figure's eyes flashed with a barely perceptible strangeness.
His originally raised hand slowly lowered again.
'So fast.'
Abarai Renji struggled to his feet from the ground, watching Sasuke slowly sheathe his blade, 'This brat's speed is even faster than before. I could barely see his drawing motion.'
"Ichigo..."
Rukia finally recovered from her shock and ran desperately towards the figure lying in a pool of blood.
However, a strong arm firmly clamped around her neck, pinning her against a lamppost.
It was Renji's.
"Let me go, Renji!" Rukia struggled fiercely, tears uncontrollably streaming down, "Ichigo, he..."
"Look carefully, Rukia!"
Renji's voice twisted with jealousy as he firmly held down Rukia, "That brat is already dead! Understand? Now, even just touching him again will add twenty years to your sentence!"
He leaned down, almost roaring into Rukia's ear, "There's no need to worsen your crime for a human who's already dead!"
"Ichigo..." Rukia stopped struggling, just hanging her head, allowing tears to drip onto the ground, "He was dragged into this by me. It's because of me that he died..."
She suddenly raised her head, staring intently at Renji, "I just want to go to his side. What's wrong with that?!"
"Even if your charges will worsen, you still insist on going?"
A cold and clear voice came from not far away, utterly without warning.
Byakuya had, at some point, walked to Sasuke's side. His gaze fell on the fallen Ichigo.
"I see, Rukia." He spoke slowly, his voice devoid of emotion, "This human boy... he resembles him greatly."
Byakuya was referring to Shiba Kaien, the former Lieutenant of the 13th Division, who looked exactly like Ichigo.
He had taught Rukia about dignity and battle, an indelible figure in her heart.
But he had died by Rukia's blade in an accident.
Just then, a faint voice sounded.
"...Don't screw with me."
Ichigo's blood-soaked hand had, at some point, grabbed the hem of Sasuke's Shihakusho.
He struggled to prop up his upper body, his face contorted.
"What 'I'm already dead,' and 'resembles who'..." Ichigo looked up, glaring at the two lofty figures, "Don't just start chatting on your own, you bastards."
This sudden turn of events stunned everyone present.
Sasuke's eyes instantly narrowed. He looked down at the hand tightly gripping his clothes, a cold light flashing in his eyes.
"Let go."
"Hah? What did you say?" Ichigo grinned, a provocative smile actually appearing on his face, "The wind's too loud. I can't hear you."
"Is that so." Sasuke slowly turned around, his voice soft, "It seems you don't want this hand anymore."
Rukia, with strength from who knows where, suddenly broke free from Renji's restraint and kicked away Ichigo's stubbornly clinging hand.
"Why, Rukia?!" Ichigo looked at her, utterly bewildered.
"Just a mere human, yet daring to raise a blade against a Shinigami. Truly arrogant to the extreme." Rukia's back was to him, her body trembling violently, but the words from her mouth grew increasingly harsh, "Listen well, Ichigo. You and I are not from the same world at all."
"Let's go, Nii-sama. That guy's actions just now have made me completely clear-headed." Rukia looked at Byakuya, her voice full of resolve, "Please take me back to the Soul Society. I will atone for all the mistakes I've made."
After speaking, she didn't glance at the young man on the ground again and began to walk away.
"Wait, Rukia!" Ichigo roared, struggling to rise from the pool of blood, trying to chase after her.
A black shadow flashed.
Squelch! Squelch!
Two sounds rang out.
Ichigo's struggling movements halted abruptly.
He looked down in confusion, seeing two sprays of blood silently bloom on his back.
'What was that?'
Rukia stopped walking, a flicker of indescribable pain in her eyes, but she didn't turn around.
Sasuke retracted his two blood-stained fingers and walked to Byakuya's side.
"Let's go, Captain Kuchiki. I've completely destroyed his 'Saketsu' and 'Hakusui'."
"In less than half an hour, he will die from Reiatsu dissipation. Even if he luckily survives, he will lose all his power."
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