"I'm going too!"

  Seeing Kaien Shiba rush bato battle, Rukia Kuchiki tried to follow suit. But she hadn't even taken a step in Shunpo before Haruki pressed her down.

  "Calm down," Haruki said softly. "With your current strength, you'd only get in the way."

  "But I…" Rukia was anxious. Yet when she saw the look on Haruki's face, she fell silent.If it hadn't been for Haruki just now, she would have been killed by that Hollow.

  Once Rukia calmed down, Haruki narrowed his eyes.

  White…

  Why did it suddenly attack Rukia?

  It was as though something was drawing it toward her, giving White a particur craving for her.

  "Don't move from here. I'm going to che the situation up top."

  Just then, Haruki's pupils dited, and he spoke again. He had sensed Captain Jūshirō Ukitake's spiritual pressure above them plummet dramatically.

  That sickly guy… He must have had another bout of illness during the fight with White. Hopefully it's not so severe that he gets killed ht.

  Good thing I healed Kaien. With him bag up Ukitake, it's uhe captain will be taken out.

  "Captain Ukitake!"

  Rukia, too, sensed Ukitake's spiritual pressure weakening drastically and grew agitated again.

  Haruki frowned. "Don't move. I'll go look."

  He leapt upward and used another burst of Shunpo, arriving at the top of the hill.

  Ohere, he found Kaien locked in bat with White once again. Ukitake was off to the side, clutg his chest. A gaping, bloody wound marred the spot as though White had punched a hht through him.

  Even after this seemingly endless cycle of battles, White showed no sign of fatigue—if anything, it seemed to be getting stronger with each csh.

  "!"

  White swatted Kaien aside and began gathering spiritual pressure at the horns on its head—a mass of crimson energy formed.

  Cero!

  Boom!

  The Cero crashed against Kaieonating with a tremendous explosion. Kaien was bsted backward, his body covered in wounds.

  "Hah… hah…"

  Kaien panted raggedly as he gred at White. He never imagi would be so overwhelmingly powerful.

  "Raaagh!"

  White let out a roar and charged at Kaien again. Kaien shut his eyes—he repared to die.

  But once again, White abandoned him as a target. Instead, it rushed straight down toward—

  Rukia!

  Haruki watched all of this unfold. This time, he didn't intervene. Because he'd noticed that something was very off about White's behavior.

  When fag Kaien and Ukitake, White had clear killing i. A, whe went for Rukia—who it had already targeted more than ohere was no true killing i behind it.

  Haruki drew his Zanpakutō. In that moment, he released it.

  "San yū mu anraku, kodoku jigoku chū…"("Three existences, no peace—solitary beings in the hell of loneliness…")

  But Haruki did not attack White or any of the Shinigami. Instead, he slowly stabbed his Zanpakutō into the ground.

  In an instant, the entire world seemed to ge.

  Ukitake and Kaie as though they were suddenly the only people left; the others seemed to shrink into the distand vanish. But a moment ter, it was as if everyone was back again—like their isotion had been a mere illusion.

  Solitary Hell does not cease to exist just because there are many people. turies ago, five hundred bhikkhus still experiehat hell of loneliogether. Few people or many, in Solitary Hell, it makes no difference.

  Right now, Haruki used that teique on Ukitake and Kaien—to prevent them from witnessing what would happe between White and Rukia.

  In that instant, White bit into Rukia's neck, while Rukia, enduring the pain, drove her sword through White's body.

  Even though Kaien and Ukitake together couldn't bring White down, Rukia mao pierce its body just like that?

  "This is…"

  Haruki watched, stunned.

  White's body began to swell, and then—boom—it self-destructed!

  BOOM!

  The massive explosion took pce right o Rukia, yet she suffered no physical injury. She merely colpsed to the ground.

  Haruki stared at the se in shock.

  This—

  Isn't this exactly what was supposed to happen to Masaki Kurosaki, Iother?!

  Acc to the inal storyline, Isshin Shiba traveled to the World of the Living to deal with White, but was ambushed by Aizen and uo defeat it. Then Masaki arrived to help and White pleted Aizen's "final phase" of the experiment by transferring itself into Masaki's body.

  And now it's exactly what's happening to Rukia… identical in every detail!

  Everything's messed up.

  All messed up!

  What was inally meant to be transferred to Masaki—then ter on to Ichigo—has ered Rukia's body.

  So… what's going to happen to Ichigo?

  Haruki subsciously g the sky, sensing Aizen's godlike aura. Even though he couldn't see Aizen, he imagiheir reas were the same.

  No—Aizen might be even more excited than I am.

  His carefully id pns have taken an ued turn, and for someone like him—a stist at heart—this kind of unforeseen development might be more thrilling than if everything had gone as expected.

  White…

  It has transferred into Rukia Kuchiki's body!

  What will happen to her now?

  Will she undergo Hollowfication?

  "… …"

  Haruki pulled his Zanpakutō out of the ground aur to its scabbard.

  At this moment, Ukitake lost sciousness from his illness. Kaien, battered by intense bat, the earlier Cero, and Haruki's "Solitary Hell," also passed out.

  Rukia colpsed as well—she likely had no idea what had just taken pce.

  Only Haruki remaianding.

  He slowly walked over to the unscious Rukia. "Iing…" he murmured.

  "What does the future hold now…?"

  Haruki crouched down, pg a hand on Rukia's chest. Closing his eyes, he sent his spirit energy into her body to exami.

  No trace of a Hollow's spiritual pressure…

  Meaning White's transfer was nearly perfect. Just like with Ichigo Kurosaki, unless Rukia is forced into Hollowfication, she won't mahe Hollow's power o down the same path the Visored did due to an inability to suppress it.