Chapter 289 — Hollows Manifest; War Spreads

Ichigo Kurosaki had once tried his hand at writing a few mystery novels and submitted them to the major magazines. They were accepted, but the reception was lukewarm at best.

That made him aware of where his shortcomings lay.

Thanks to the "photographic memory" of Far-Sight, his literary foundation was solid enough, but his deficiencies in technique and personal style could not be improved overnight.

The upgrade from top-student domain to academic-god domain was not the optimal outcome.

After all, in Ichigo Kurosaki's view, as an ordinary literary enthusiast living in the living world, the self-preservation Far-Sight of the top-student domain was already sufficient.

As long as he followed his memories and avoided those troublesome matters with foreknowledge, no problems would arise.

Rukia Kuchiki had long since recovered from her injuries and returned to the Soul Society.

Since she had not shared the Far-Sight with herself, Sosuke Aizen had no excuse to attack her.

As for the Hogyoku originally sealed within Rukia's body, Ichigo Kurosaki had Kisuke Urahara extract it anew.

Kisuke Urahara was a man of fairly sound principles, but on this matter he had indeed been somewhat in the wrong.

Out of fear of the consequences the Hogyoku might cause, he had sealed it inside Rukia's body.

He had never considered Rukia's feelings.

There was no need for reasoning.

All Ichigo Kurosaki did was walk into Kisuke Urahara's little shop, give his name, and tell the man that he already knew the relevant intelligence about the Hogyoku.

Kurosaki—the surname of the former captain of the Gotei 13's Tenth Division.

Kuchiki—one of the oldest and most powerful families in the Soul Society.

Kisuke Urahara barely took any time to consider before using covert means to extract the Hogyoku once more.

With no direct stake in the matter, Aizen naturally would not trouble Rukia again.

"Still... I hear Aizen got his hands on the Hogyoku in the end?"

Ichigo Kurosaki shook his head.

Lately he had occasionally gone to drink with Kisuke Urahara, and the man had let slip this intelligence while airing his grievances.

None of it concerned him, however.

Everything Sosuke Aizen had done was simply an attempt to rebel against the rotten rule of the Soul King.

That was Soul Society politics, and it had nothing to do with the people of the living world.

Lost in thought, Ichigo Kurosaki arrived at the alley near his home.

A trace of nostalgia surfaced in his eyes.

This was the very place where he had received the system bestowed by Wang Xu and gained the memories of his "past life."

Whatever the other party's true purpose might be, deep in his heart Ichigo Kurosaki was left with nothing but gratitude.

In this life, he no longer drifted through his days in a daze, passively dragged into one incident after another; instead, he strove and struggled toward an ideal.

Back home, Ichigo Kurosaki raised a hand and called out clearly, "I'm home."

Ever since he had thrown himself into his studies like a man possessed, his old man had changed as if he were a different person—no longer randomly beating him, and even learning to cook, transitioning into a full-time stay-at-home dad.

"Bro! Come quick!"

"Something big happened—come watch the news!"

The voices of his two younger sisters rang in Ichigo Kurosaki's ears.

His brow arched slightly, and with keen interest he slowly walked over to the television.

On the Tokyo channel, two news anchors were nervously reporting the latest developments.

"Invisible monsters run rampant in Karakura Town!"

"Civilians flee; population drain continues."

"Bizarre claw marks appearing abruptly on buildings..."

After only a few glances, Ichigo Kurosaki had it figured out.

They were definitely Hollows—no doubt about it.

But in his memories, there was no intelligence of anything like this...

"The Soul Society won't just let this develop, will they?"

"This will blow over soon enough."

Thinking so, Ichigo Kurosaki smiled and reassured his two sisters, then returned to his bedroom to bury himself in his books once more.

...

The next day, early morning.

After arriving at school, Ichigo Kurosaki realized that his thinking the day before had been far too naive.

The Hollows, originally invisible to ordinary people, had suddenly become visible after midnight.

Even humans with the weakest, most barren spiritual power could now catch sight of them with the naked eye!

Across the campus, discussions of the "masked monsters" rose and fell without end.

The students had no heart for lessons, and the teachers had no mind for teaching.

Many students and teachers had taken leave and were hiding at home.

In the classroom, classmates such as Keigo Asano, Yasutora Sado, Orihime Inoue, and Tatsuki Arisawa were all discussing the major events of the past day.

"The real name of those masked monsters is actually 'Hollows'—didn't you know?"

"...Your intel is already outdated. A friend of mine in Mount Fuji says Hollows are ranked by class."

"From the most ordinary Hollows to Gillians, Adjuchas, and Vasto Lordes—there are four classes."

"That's not right, is it? I heard they're divided into humanoid and non-humanoid types."

"A newspaper reporter photographed the 'Hundred Hollows Pilgrimage'—a lot of Hollows were going to worship a human youth..."

"That photo's been retweeted nearly a million times on Twitter—who knows what's really going on!"

"It's photoshopped, isn't it? How could humans possibly coexist peacefully with Hollows? We're just food to those monsters!"

Ichigo Kurosaki, who had once kept his mind solely on his books and his ears closed to the world, finally could not read in peace.

He fished out his phone and quietly logged into Twitter.

Before long, he found the photo his classmates were discussing on the top 10 trending list.

Black hair, green eyes, pale bloodless skin, an indifferent expression...

Ulquiorra Cifer!

No. 4 among the Espada!

Though the half-face helmet-like mask had vanished completely and he looked like an ordinary human, with no hole in his chest either, that face was one Ichigo Kurosaki would never mistake!

But the current situation differed enormously from his memories.

The First Espada, the Second, the Third...

Even the most unruly of them all, the Sixth Espada Grimmjow, stayed at Ulquiorra's side, worshipping him as a king.

This was no mere show.

From Grimmjow's eyes, Ichigo Kurosaki sensed heartfelt reverence.

"What a headache..."

He drew a deep breath and rubbed his temples.

The Hollow manifestation incident, the change in Ulquiorra's status...

If he was not mistaken, these were certainly tied to the mysterious man Wang Xu.

"Just what are you trying to do?"

Ichigo Kurosaki's eyes narrowed slightly as he recalled Wang Huai'an's appearance in his mind, but he could only remember a blurry outline.

He could not fathom Wang Huai'an's thoughts and intentions, and could only take things one step at a time.

...

A full week had passed in the blink of an eye since physical Hollows descended upon the living world.

The whole world was watching the matter closely.

The Soul Society was no exception.

The Gotei 13 deployed half its strength, and captains and lieutenants alike drew their blades and came to assist.

Unfortunately, the greatest difference between Hueco Mundo and the Soul Society lay in the number of soldiers.

Ulquiorra was not bound by the shackles of a Shinigami identity; after taking control of Las Noches, he could act without restraint.

For every Hollow cut down, two more were sent to the living world.

The chaos of war gradually spread from Karakura Town.

Kanagawa, Osaka, Hokkaido, Hyogo, Saitama, Chiba...

The whole of Japan's land had been scorched and battered to rags by the fires of war.

In war, the heaviest toll was never taken from the Soul Reapers or the Hollows, but from the innocent common folk.