Ever since the powers of the Soul Reaper were thrust upon me,
my whole world has changed.
I’m Substitute Soul Reaper, Ichigo Kurosaki.
I wield this sword with all of my soul and strength
to protect my precious friends!
You are my one and only.
No one can take your place.
Never fade, my only flower.
The sun never blinds you.
You are like a flower that blooms in shade.
Exhale those feelings you hold inside.
You are my one and only; now and forever.
The day may come when all will rise against us,
but I will protect you.
Never give up, my only flower.
TIME NOTICE THAT YOU SHOULD NOTICE THAT
NOTICE THAT THERE’S NO OTHER
Leave Ishida alone!
That is impossible.
What?!
He is the most defenseless and weak among you.
Taking advantage of another’s weakness
is an established tactic, isn’t it?
Besides…
I wonder what a Quincy soul tastes like…
I’d like to find out.
Five to one…doesn’t that seem a little cowardly?
Shut up!
Ishida, stick by my side!
In that case, I will not hold back. Friede!
I agree.
No…!
I wish you wouldn’t move.
Now we’re five to two…
I’d still say it’s not quite even…
Damn you… Who’s the coward now?!
You were two from the start, weren’t you?!
Friede and I are of one mind and body.
Of course, if you want to count that sword as one of your numbers,
we could tally up the count again.
Don’t quibble!
Damn you! What are you planning to do with that girl?!
There’s nothing to worry about. I would never kill her.
But…depending on what you do,
I could cover her beautiful skin with countless cuts
and let the poison turn her into something no one would want to look at.
That is a possibility…
This is, well… something called a stand-off.
We can only give up… wouldn’t you say?
This is no time to be saying such things!
I’m the one you’re after, aren’t I?
In that case…
you can have me in place of that woman.
Ishida! You… What are you saying?!
Don’t be hasty, Ishida!
Ishida…
There’s nothing else we can do.
We can’t get innocent people involved. Isn’t that right, Kurosaki?!
I like smart kids.
Now, come on over…
Let her go, first.
Now that pains me… Am I that untrustworthy?
Whatever…
Ishida!
Don’t move!
Ichigo…
When he makes his move to eat Ishida’s soul,
it’ll be our chance.
Right…
Ishida!
I don’t know who he got it from,
but Freide is very realistic, you see.
Who are you to say that?
Humans are whimsical beings… you see.
What are you planning to do, damn you?!
Aren’t you going to eat his soul?!
Sometimes, I need a little amusement…
in order to enjoy my main dish.
Friede!
Ishida!
That woman…!
Damn you!
Miss Yoshino, you’ve snuck out yet again?
Don’t think you will be given special treatment forever.
Goethe! Take care of things here!
Take care…understood.
Hey, you! Wai--!
Are you all right?
Yeah…
Thank goodness… At least we could save one person…
Yeah…
Lirin… What about Ishida and that woman?
That way! They haven’t gotten far yet.
Okay!
Move! I’ve got no time for you!
Right now, I’m not in a very good mood.
Can I do it?
Do whatever you want.
Why you--!
Tsubaki!
Kotenzanshun!
You haven’t seen anything yet.
Shoot… There’s no end to this!
Go!
Looks like I made it just in time!
Sorry to keep you waiting!
Get them, Ururu!
Okay!
Damn!
Did you get ‘em?
That guy… Looks like he got away.
We’ll let you off easy for today!
Huh? What, Noba?
You didn’t do anything.
What…?!
Lirin… What about that woman’s spirit energy?
No good… She’s long gone.
Ishida…!
Dept. of Research and Development
I’m coming in.
Huh?
Isn’t anyone here?
In that case… I’ll just…
No one has said there’s no one here.
One such as the great Kyoraku is acting like a thief?
A thief? Now that's rude.
What do you want?
I may not look like it, but I am quite busy.
Then I’ll be up front. Will you show me some data?
Data? What sort?
Bounts.
You know what they are, right?
Bounts? Hmm… That’s a long dust-covered subject.
But the materials on that subject that should be preserved
in the Central Library seem to have disappeared.
And so, I have only the data here to rely on.
If it’s such a dust-covered subject,
it shouldn’t be a problem showing it to me, right?
That’s for me to decide.
Isn’t it going beyond your authority
for a captain of another squad to tell me what to do?
That’s the very reason I’m here.
If anyone could help me,
I was certain that it would be you, the one in charge of the R&D Bureau,
whispered to be the most excellent captain in Soul Society…
Right?
If you want to look at our data,
you’d better go through the proper channels.
If I did that, it would take a good three months.
True. The data might not be worth much…
but having people go through the proper channels
gives my position meaning and authority.
So…you can’t give me the data?
Exactly.
Hope you go to hell someday…
Huh? Did you say something?
No, nothing…
Oh…“The most excellent…” was just a bit of flattery.
Huh?
Though I’ve also heard rumors that you’re worst.
If you want to hear more,
you’ll have to go through the proper channels…!
Damn! What’s with that…?!
That rude attitude!
Nemu! The Keys!
I’ll show him…
I’ll delete all the data on Bounts!
Access denied Password required
What?! I can’t access the data?!
I don’t remember giving that order!
Who has done this?!
Nemu! What’s this all about?!
I left you in charge of supervision! You’re good for nothing!
Looks like this might turn into
something more complicated than I thought...
Yeah…
Urahara Store
Ishida…
No… We can’t just sit here!
Where’s Yoruichi?
Sorry, but she hasn’t come home yet.
Damn… At a time like this…
The more members we have, the better.
I’ll go too!
Uh-huh…
Count me in!
Wait a minute.
How can we wait?!
Where are you planning to go?
You have a destination in mind?
If we split up, we can find him!
Don’t do it.
We don’t know their objective.
Maybe, like he did the other day,
he might come after whoever is alone…
The doll that a Bount manipulates seems to have mysterious powers
that exceed those of our zanpakuto.
If you go after them without a good plan,
you’ll be falling right into enemy hands.
Got you! Got you! I got you!
I snuck a boo-boo cushion under his seat!
We got a very nice sound out of him!
N-No… I just wanted to ease everyone’s tension for a bit…
Get lost!
Where am I…?
This…?
Why did you save me?
Ah… A dead soul doesn’t taste good, is that it?
You’re a Quincy, aren’t you?
Everyone asks me that.
It must smell very different… a Quincy’s soul.
Yes, well… Put nicely, it doesn’t smell very tasty.
All the more, a Quincy that has lost its powers.
You don’t pull any punches.
How?
Huh?
How did you lose your powers?
My lack of training, coupled with reaching the limit of my capabilities.
That’s the only way I can explain it.
Is that a characteristic of a Quincy?
Huh?
Self pity…
I should have looked for another Quincy.
There are no other Quincies.
Huh?
There’s only me now…
I see…there’s only you…
There are no other Quincies…?
Urahara Store
I’ve been debating whether or not to tell you this…
The reason we thought of researching Bounts is
because there was a special substance contained in the residue.
In small quantities, that substance poses no problems,
but in increasing quantities,
there’s a good chance it could affect space.
Space? What about it?
Won’t you explain it in more detail?
In other words,
it becomes possible to create something like a tunnel
to connect two mutually exclusive spaces.
So that would mean…
Quit drawing! It’ll just make it more confus–!
Shh!
World of the Living Tunnel
Is this what you mean?
Yes…well…
It becomes possible to connect this world with Hueco Mundo–
the narrow world in which the Hollows dwell.
If that happens,
many living beings will be sucked into Hueco Mundo!
Yes…
Besides, Soul Society has been using the time it takes
for a Hollow to appear in this world
to base how they station the Soul Reapers.
If the Hollows are able to easily get from there to here…
They could call out every single Soul Reaper,
and we still wouldn’t be able to handle them!
Yes.
For the Hollows,
it would probably be a soul-eating free-for-all.
Of course, this is just a possibility, you understand.
How much of a possibility?
I’d say… about this much.
Five…percent?
Don’t joke!
You mean, 50 percent?!
We’ve received word…from Ishida!
What?!
Ishida!
It hurts my injuries, so next time,
will you please enter more quietly?
You’re all right?
Thank goodness.
Sorry, but I’m still alive.
Can you tell us about it?
Yeah…
What in the world happened?
That female Bount…
She told me an unbelievable story.
Listen quietly to me.
Then I won’t have to hurt you.
We Bounts have, for a long time,
had a rule that must never be broken.
We must never suck out the soul of a living person…
Do you know why?
No…
If we did that, we Bounts would obtain immense energy,
that would cause us to affect space.
Affect space…? What do you mean?
For example, we could go to the afterworld.
But that would undermine the balance of the world.
That is why no one had thought to do anything like that, until now.
But…
now a Bount has appeared, who is trying to do just that.
That man’s name is…
Jin Kariya.
You attacked humans, too.
But I failed.
In order to fight Kariya, I was in need of more strength.
But I no longer want to do it.
Rules should never be broken…
I intend to use the power I have now to defeat Kariya
and to put a stop to his ambition.
What has that got to do with me?
Kariya will be sure to come after you now.
No matter what, I want you to survive.
I wanted to let you know that.
He’s coming after me? Why?
The outcome of this whole situation…
will depend upon a Quincy.
After that, I lost consciousness…
When I came to, I was here in this hospital.
Why a Quincy, I wonder…
I didn’t get around to asking her about that.
Can we believe that story?
I don’t know… But…
Ishida?
Huh? Oh…
But she brought me back safely, like this.
I don’t believe it’s all a bad joke.
Anyway, if they’re going to be coming after Ishida,
we’ve got to do something.
Yeah. Don’t worry, Ishida. We’ll protect you!
Thanks…
Well, then we’ll go back to the shop.
We have to come up with a plan right away.
Yeah…
We’ll see Mr. Urahara out.
You’d better rest awhile, Ishida.
Long ago, I saw a face like that…
Mom… Mom…?
Are you crying, Mom?
That’s right…
Mom looked like she might be laughing, yet she was crying…
Are you sure…
letting Yoshino roam freely like that?
Kariya!
There’s no way she can leave me.
I have taken steps…
Count one! And move on
Count two! And take a break
Count three! And think through
I’ll just go at my own pace
Time goes by, and I get left behind.
But I say, “don’t forget that anxious feeling”
They tell me, “A reckless challenge is meaningless”
But I say “don’t give up.”
(Offense!) At times when the going gets tough, I raise my voice.
(Offense!) And head toward the direction of my goal.
There is nothing to be afraid of that towering wall.
Never losing sight in this life without answers
Keep My Pace
Count one! And move on
Count two! And take a break
Count three! And think through
I’ll just go at my own pace
What happens if we defeat a doll being used by a Bount?
I hear the Bount dies too.
Such weaklings.
Zabimaru’s been broken many times,
but I’m still kicking!
I heard from Byakuya that repairs cost a lot,
so they’ve been deducting them from your paycheck.
So that’s why my last month’s pay check was so small!
The Golden Illustrated Guide to Soul Reapers after these messages!
Illustrated Guide to Soul Reapers!
Golden!
Listen, you guys! Don’t you dare come in!
It’s been an hour since the Captain went in there.
Ugh! It’s no good…
This one always takes longer…
No. Me without my bells… unthinkable!
One more try!
It’s been three hours…
T-Tune in again!