State of Siege 26/11

You also noticed it, right?

That it was going to be useless no matter how hard he tried.

I know the whereabouts of every Asauchi I've forged.

All Soul Reapers are given an Asauchi.

And through continuous training,

we transform them into our personal Zanpakuto.

This is the foundation and essence of the relationship

between Soul Reapers and Zanpakuto.

It is an absolute truth.

It's not just squad members and captains...

but the Zanpakuto of us Squad Zero, too.

Even a stray outlaw like Kenpachi Zaraki...

gained an Asauchi by pulling it off the corpse of a Soul Reaper.

Every one of us.

Since the dawn of the Soul Society,

not a single Soul Reaper has awakened their own Zanpakuto

without possessing an Asauchi I forged.

It was obvious.

That this method wasn't going to work for him.

You and I both knew that.

He's the only one who doesn't understand that.

That's why he needs to know...

the whereabouts of his soul.

The blue skies above are hopelessly clear

At my wit's end, I feel a growing frustration

As if to laugh at us hopeless cowards

Countless eyes stare at us

This soul of mine breaks again and again

All I can do is hold it tight

Until the day it turns to ash

I've absorbed all of this sorrow

It has shaped me, painted me

But that's how we got here, right?

One step at a time, just like breathing

These countless scars on my palm

That no longer fade

Are my badge, my story

I faced the fear and shred it to pieces

And let it walk beside me once more

THOUSAND-YEAR BLOOD WAR

"KUROSAKI CLINIC"

I'm home...

Yo, Ichigo!

Long time no see—

That punk ran away.

What the hell is wrong with you?

"UNAGIYA" What the hell is wrong with you?

"UNAGIYA" You show up for the first time in a while

You show up for the first time in a while

looking like it's the end of the world.

What are you, some school girl who had a fight with her parents?

Sorry...

I got kicked out without even getting my Zanpakuto fixed...

I don't know how to face them right now.

Ms. Ikumi, thanks for—

Whoa, hot!

Eat it! It'll warm you up!

I'm sorry, Ms. Ikumi...

for not showing up for work and barging in on you like this.

I'd rather you came to work than hear your apologies, you idiot!

From the moment I hired you,

I've felt like an older sister to you.

You can come to me at any time!

Kids should rely on adults!

Ms. Ikumi...

Coming!

Huh? There's no one here...

It seems like it was a prank...

Thanks, Ms. Ikumi.

I'm going home.

I'm fine now...

Hey, wait...

Ichigo! You forgot something!

I guess I'll deliver this to him tomorrow...

You came to pick me up in that outfit...

You know what's going on, don't you?

I heard what happened in the Soul Society from Urahara.

Including the fact that your Zanpakuto was broken

and that Squad Zero came down.

They kicked you out, didn't they?

Well, I can see why.

In your current state,

there's no way you can fix your broken Bankai.

You don't know anything about yourself.

Remember what you said to me?

That you could wait until I was ready to tell you.

Now's that time.

Listen carefully.

You're not a Soul Reaper.

But you're not an ordinary human, either.

Ichigo. Your mother was...

My name is Masaki Kurosaki.

I'm a Quincy.

THE SEIREITEI - SQUAD 10 BARRACKS

Captain!

Where are you?!

SQUAD 10 LIEUTENANT - RANGIKU MATSUMOTO

I found you...

Captain!

Bull's-eye!

You broke my beautiful tailbone!

- I'll have to take the day off! - Come on, let's head back.

I'm going to make sure you do your job!

SQUAD 10 CAPTAIN (AT THE TIME) - ISSHIN SHIBA Captain Shiba!

SQUAD 10 CAPTAIN (AT THE TIME) - ISSHIN SHIBA

SQUAD 10 BARRACKS - CAPTAIN'S OFFICE

SQUAD 10 THIRD SEAT (AT THE TIME) - TOSHIRO HITSUGAYA I've completed the documents, sir.

Well done, Toshiro!

Our soon-to-be captain!

Hold on!

I should be next in line for the captaincy based on rank!

Are you kidding me?

If someone like you became captain, the Squad would be ruined.

I agree.

I've been making progress with my Bankai training,

so I think I'll do just fine.

Hey, Toshiro!

How could you agree with him like that?!

Take it easy, you two.

Huh?

Does anyone know what happened to the manju that I left in here?

Captain, by the way,

there's a report that caught my attention...

"CASUALTY REPORT IN NARUKI CITY" It's about this one...

Wait. Let's talk about my manju first.

Have you seen the manju I hid in there?

Shut up.

Who cares about your manju right now?!

It was delicious!

So you did eat it!

Even worse, you tried to brush it aside!

You're a naughty boy, aren't you?!

Do you remember the report from two months ago?

It's from a mid-sized city called Naruki...

where one of the stationed Soul Reapers died in an accident.

Yeah, I do remember.

The one where the cause is still under investigation, right?

Correct. We just received last month's report...

TWO SOUL REAPERS DEAD DUE TO AN ACCIDENT Last month, two more died.

Hey! Where are you going, Captain?

To investigate! Take care of the rest, okay?!

Wait, you're leaving right now? Alone?!

Yup! I should be back in two days, so cover for me, will ya?

You can't be serious!

Shouldn't we report this to the Head Captain?

We're going after him, Toshiro!

No, let's not.

What are you saying?

The Captain went alone because

he figured this investigation would be dangerous.

I know that!

- That's exactly why— - That's exactly why...

...we should wait here.

At our current level,

we would only get in his way.

Any progress?

No, none at all.

We've been successful in equipping Hollows

with the ability to Hollowfy their targets...

but not even the souls of Court Guard members

can withstand it.

I see...

No matter.

We are close to narrowing down

the location of Shinji Hirako and the others.

We get to conduct Hollowfication experiments

while we smoke them out.

It's two birds with one stone.

Let's take our time. Gin. Kaname.

Everything is in the palm of our hands.

JUNE 4TH, 20:22 - NARUKI CITY

It's getting cloudy...

I don't like this...

The last guy and the guy before that

died on a rainy day, didn't they?

Let's not talk about it...

I see... It's dangerous on rainy days, huh?

That's good to know!

Captain Shiba!

What are you doing here?!

Oh, I was looking for the bathroom and got lost...

That's a terrible lie!

If it rains tonight, you guys can go home.

I like to pee in peace.

SAME DAY, 20:36 - KARAKURA TOWN, ISHIDA RESIDENCE

How is everything at school, Miss Masaki?

Oh, me?!

Well, I go there every day, Aunt Izumi!

Then how about your Seiren?

My Seiren is going...