Chapter 233

Bleach World.

After being promoted to Captain of the 5th Division, Chu Yang spent most of his time training himself, practicing the four basic techniques of Zanjutsu, Hakuda, Hoho, and Kido.

The work of the 5th Division was much easier than imagined; usually, they were like street wanderers, and the number of encounters with battles was pitifully small.

In fact, it wasn't just the 5th Division; even the 11th Division, which was specifically responsible for fighting, saw a decrease in the number of encounters with Hollows.

Ever since Aizen disappeared, such situations had occurred frequently, and Chu Yang felt that there must be a problem in Hueco Mundo.

When Aizen left, the Hogyoku in his hand was an unfinished product; he would definitely find a way to make the Hogyoku complete.

And to do this, a hard condition that could not be bypassed was the soul; only a large number of souls could make the Hogyoku complete.

Hollows were also souls, just souls with empty hearts.

But for the Hogyoku, there was no big difference between the souls of Hollows, Shinigami, and humans.

Chu Yang guessed that a large number of Hollows were being sacrificed to the Hogyoku every moment, which led to the sharp decrease in the number of Hollows.

According to Rukia, the number of Hollows appearing in the real world was also becoming much scarcer, and not a single one could be encountered within two or three weeks.

The abnormality in Hueco Mundo was reported to the Seireitei; in the absence of the Central 46 being rebuilt, it could only be handled entirely by the Captain-Commander Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni.

Old man Yamamoto's order on this was to remain still.

Some radical Shinigami in Soul Society advocated entering Hueco Mundo to investigate the reason for the disappearance of Hollows, but their requests were rejected by old man Yamamoto one by one.

"Soul Society needs to maintain stability."

This was the reason given by old man Yamamoto.

Not only him, but it was also the common opinion of most Shinigami who had survived for a long time.

Hueco Mundo was the enemy's territory, and Shinigami would gain no benefit from fighting there, especially with the uncertain factor of Aizen.

The ability of Kyoka Suigetsu was deeply rooted in people's hearts; thinking back on it now, it was still chilling, and as companions who had fought side-by-side with Aizen for a long time, the current Shinigami captains had almost all seen Kyoka Suigetsu.

They had been at a disadvantage from the very beginning of their fight with Aizen.

With various unfavorable situations stacked together, old man Yamamoto would be even less likely to agree to go deep into Hueco Mundo.

Some Shinigami even felt that this was a good thing.

After all, Hollows were truly decreasing.

Chu Yang was just a newly appointed Shinigami captain, and his voice carried the least weight among all the captains, so his opinion would certainly not be cared about.

Settling for the next best thing, Chu Yang proposed going to the real world to find the reason for the decrease in Hollows there.

This request was granted.

That very night, Chu Yang returned to the real world; he had asked Ichigo to handle the house he used to live in, and he originally thought the other party would sell it, but he didn't expect it to be preserved.

There wasn't much dust inside, and it looked like someone cleaned it often.

It was either Ichigo or Rukia.

Chu Yang only sat for half an hour when the entrance outside suddenly lit up, followed by the sound of a door opening.

"I ate too much dinner today; it's not conducive to fighting at all. What if we find a Hollow?"

"How long has it been since we've seen a Hollow? Most of the ones we usually meet are ordinary souls; I didn't even break a sweat, and I just used my Zanpakuto to send them to the afterlife."

"Don't be careless; as a Shinigami, you must remain vigilant at all times. Hollows are more cunning than you think."

Two figures walked toward the living room while arguing, and when they saw Chu Yang on the sofa, their gazes immediately became dazed.

"Yang?!"

"Why are you here?"

Ichigo revealed a surprised smile and rushed over; it had been a long time since he last saw Chu Yang.

"I have a mission, and I'm here to see you guys while I'm at it. I might stay here for a while."

Chu Yang explained with a smile.

"Mission? What kind of mission requires a Shinigami captain to come to the real world in person?"

Rukia was very sensitive in this regard, and her eyes suddenly became sharp.

"Come, sit down and talk."

Chu Yang greeted them to sit down.

Ichigo sat down obediently, while Rukia walked to the kitchen to brew a pot of tea; she was very familiar with everything in the house, seemingly having lived here for quite some time.

Chu Yang asked: "Did Rukia clean the rooms?"

Rukia handed him a cup of tea, "Not just me; Ichigo and others also help clean."

Ichigo continued: "Orihime, Chad, Ishida, they all come occasionally, and those from the Urahara Shop."

Chu Yang laughed: "Have you guys treated my house as a base?"

Ichigo scratched his head embarrassedly.

Rukia nodded: "It's good to have a base; when there's something, everyone can sit down and discuss it without disturbing Ichigo's family."

"But if you want to live back here next, we'll change to another place and won't come to disturb you."

Chu Yang shook his head: "No need for that; we'll have many places to deal with each other in the future. I just told you guys, I came back with a mission."

The two stared at Chu Yang curiously.

"It's related to Hollows." Chu Yang sighed and said: "You guys should have noticed too, Hollows in the real world have suddenly become much fewer."

"Actually, it's not just the real world; in the places we can observe, the number of Hollows is decreasing rapidly."

"Soul Society thinks there's a problem in Hueco Mundo, but Captain-Commander Yamamoto doesn't agree to go to Hueco Mundo to understand the reason."

Rukia frowned as she listened, "Why?"

Chu Yang shrugged: "Because the old man thinks the risk is too high, and also thinks it might be Aizen's conspiracy, deliberately luring Shinigami to Hueco Mundo."

Rukia fell into deep thought.

Ichigo said: "So you came, is it because you think there might be some clues in the real world?"

"You could say that." Chu Yang shook his head secretly in his heart; it wasn't a possibility, but a certainty—Aizen would definitely take action against the real world.

Because his goal was to create the Oken, and then enter the Royal Palace to kill the Soul King.

The key to creating the Oken required 100,000 souls, as well as a heavy spiritual ground with a radius of one ri.

The so-called heavy spiritual ground refers to "a singular point with spirituality in the real world"; the location shifts with the era and is the land in the real world that is easiest to gather spiritual things and has spirituality.

Karakura Town is a heavy spiritual ground.

"Is there anything we can help you with?"

"I don't have any clues yet, so I don't need it for now."

"In other words, you're very free now?"

"Although I don't want to admit it, it is indeed the case."

Ichigo's eyes lit up after hearing this, and he said excitedly: "Then let's have a battle; I want to know how strong you are now."

Chu Yang thought for a moment and nodded: "That's possible, but you might be disappointed with the result."

Ichigo laughed: "It doesn't matter, I won't be."

Chu Yang sighed and said, "Then come on."

The two came to the main road outside, each wearing their Shinigami robes. Ichigo decided to strike first, raised Zangetsu, and rushed over, using his usual reckless fighting style.

Chu Yang didn't summon his Zanpakuto, just simply wrapped his fist in spiritual pressure and smashed it over, plain and simple.

Before Ichigo could get close, he was rolled into the sky by the massive spiritual pressure, and after landing, he took a punch and passed out completely.

The battle ended very hastily, and even Rukia, who was watching, didn't react.

It wasn't until she walked to Ichigo's side that she realized this kid had already passed out.

Rukia looked up suddenly, looking at Chu Yang in shock.

Even Kuchiki Byakuya, who was also a Shinigami captain, might not be able to defeat Ichigo so easily.

Ichigo hadn't been idle since returning from Soul Society, and she had seen the improvement in his strength.

"I said the result would be disappointing."

Chu Yang was very helpless; the gap between him and Ichigo was a bit large. Except for Captain-Commander Yamamoto, other Shinigami captains were not his opponents now, let alone Ichigo.

Ichigo, who had experienced the battle in Karakura Town, might be able to barely keep up with his pace.

"Are you planning to carry him back, or wait for him to wake up naturally?"

Chu Yang looked at the entrance intentionally or unintentionally, preparing to go home to sleep.

"I choose the third one, leave him at your house."

Rukia said angrily.

Then she really left Ichigo alone and disappeared into the night without looking back.

Chu Yang's eyelids twitched, he snapped his fingers, and Ichigo's spiritual body flew up and followed him home.

The next morning.

Ichigo woke up from the sofa with a scream, looking around blankly, "Have I already arrived in Soul Society?"

"Not yet." Chu Yang was drinking coffee at the dining table, kindly reminding him, "But if you don't get up for school, that might not be the case."

Ichigo suddenly widened his eyes, "I remember we had a fight yesterday."

Chu Yang's evaluation of this was, "Not bad, the brain didn't break after all."

Ichigo gasped, "Why does my memory end here? What happened later?"

Chu Yang stopped drinking coffee and sighed: "I take back what I said before; it should have broken halfway."

"It's better to let Rukia help you recall at school; you still have three minutes..."

After hearing this, Ichigo sprang up from the sofa, rushed to the entrance regardless of his life, put on his shoes, and pushed open the door, only to turn back and say with a grin to Chu Yang: "Welcome back."

Chu Yang was stunned for a moment, just about to say something, but Ichigo's figure was already gone from the entrance.

He could only lower his head, look at his reflection in the cup, and smile.

"Thank you."

School.

"You said I passed out after taking only one punch?"

"Impossible!"

"Absolutely impossible!"

Ichigo denied it vehemently; although he had lost his short-term memory, he absolutely did not believe he would be so weak that he couldn't even take one punch from Chu Yang.

"Maybe you were careless; everyone hasn't seen each other for a long time, and no one would have thought he would become so strong."

Comforting words came from Rukia's mouth, but they didn't work at all; Ichigo's emotions were very agitated.

"The competition in Soul Society should be very intense; when we went last time, weren't the people there terrifyingly strong?"

"I think Yang must have put in a lot of effort to survive there."

"There isn't so much competition in the real world, and you don't have many opportunities to become stronger; it's normal for your strength to be surpassed by Yang, no need to be so entangled."

Orihime explained from another angle, making Ichigo feel much better.

Ichigo scratched his head: "Indeed, the challenges Yang needs to face are more severe; he gave up his life to choose to become a Shinigami, and his inner determination is stronger than anyone else's."

Rukia looked at Orihime with some surprise; the stubborn kid was actually persuaded in a few words.

Orihime noticed Rukia's gaze and smiled embarrassedly.

"Even if Ichigo was careless, being able to defeat him with one punch shows that Yang's strength should be among the top few among Shinigami captains."

Ishida Uryu, sitting diagonally in front of Ichigo, lowered his head to wipe his glasses, his tone very complex, "If this continues, the chance of us catching up to him is very low."

Orihime laughed: "Isn't that great? The stronger Yang is, the safer Soul Society and the real world will be, and everyone can live peacefully without worrying about fighting Hollows."

Ishida Uryu was speechless; Orihime was right—the stronger the Shinigami, the safer it meant for ordinary people.

But he was a Quincy, an enemy of Shinigami, so he would subconsciously think that the appearance of a powerful Shinigami was an unfavorable thing.

Chu Yang was not Ichigo and didn't have a deep connection with Ishida Uryu; the two were in a hostile position between Shinigami and Quincy.

Others didn't notice that Ishida Uryu's complexion was not good, and everyone kept discussing the reason for the sharp decrease in Hollows.

"The number of Hollows is decreasing; how can you say it's a good thing for the real world?"

"Why care so much?"

Orihime didn't quite understand the logic.

"Because I'm afraid the balance will be broken; Hollows are also part of the reincarnation of souls, although they are the wrong part and need someone to correct them, it doesn't mean this part of existence can be directly erased."

"The decrease in Hollows also means the decrease in souls; a large number of souls leaving the balance of the world's reincarnation will have a huge impact on both Soul Society and the real world."

Rukia said with a serious expression: "To give a simple example, what would happen if there were no more newborns in the world?"

Orihime immediately understood Rukia's meaning and whispered: "In that case, humans would disappear from the world..."

Rukia said: "The example I just gave is not quite appropriate, because the sharp decrease in souls has a more complex impact on Soul Society and the real world."

"It's not that humans will disappear from the world, but the world itself will disappear, returning to its initial chaotic form, which is the state before the Soul King created the world."

Hearing this explanation, Orihime and Ichigo suddenly felt a chill, and even Ishida Uryu was shocked in his heart.

Ichigo said anxiously: "The impact is so serious, then we should go directly to Hueco Mundo to find the reason; why not take action?"

Rukia sighed leisurely: "Ichigo, you don't understand Soul Society, and you understand Hueco Mundo even less; that is the graveyard of Shinigami. As long as Shinigami step into Hueco Mundo, very few return alive. Captain-Commander Yamamoto's decision is not wrong."

Ichigo wanted to say something but stopped; just as Rukia said, he didn't understand Soul Society or Hueco Mundo and had no right to speak.

But he always felt that doing so was wrong; the more dangerous the matter, the more the initiative should be in one's own hands.

Ichigo suddenly thought of Chu Yang.

He must have been unable to bear Soul Society's decision, which is why he returned to the real world.

"The source of the problem is in Hueco Mundo; it's hard to find clues in the real world. Yang made a wrong decision this time..."

Ichigo muttered in a low voice.

"Not necessarily." Rukia suddenly spoke: "I felt very strange the first time I met Yang; he always had a kind of incomprehensible confidence, inexplicably certain about the next development of things."

"If he thinks there will be clues in the real world, it means something will definitely happen in the near future."

(End of chapter)