Whoosh!
Just as Firebird King, formed from the Sokyoku, was about to pierce Rukia's body, a figure appeared before Rukia in the nick of time.
The figure held the Zanpakuto on their back with one hand, not even turning their head, and precisely blocked Firebird King's sharp beak with the broad back of the blade, preventing it from advancing an inch.
Rukia looked at the newcomer with an expression of utter disbelief.
"Yo!"
The newcomer greeted with a smile.
"I... Ichigo!"
Rukia exclaimed in shock.
"Yo, Rukia. I'm here to save you."
No need to elaborate, the newcomer was naturally Kurosaki Ichigo. Just before the execution was about to begin, Ichigo had finally mastered Bankai and rushed over without stopping.
Fortunately, Ichigo and the others' hiding place was in the underground space right beneath Sokyoku Hill, located directly below the Sokyoku itself. It was extremely close, just a few steps away. Otherwise, even if Ichigo had mastered Bankai, he might not have made it in time.
"You idiot! Why did you come again?!"
Seeing Ichigo come to rescue her, Rukia didn't show a happy expression at all. Instead, she shouted angrily.
"Huh?"
Ichigo looked at Rukia dumbfounded.
"You should know very well that you can't beat my brother. Coming here rashly will only get you killed. Go back immediately! I don't need you to save me!!"
Rukia shouted anxiously.
While Rukia was telling Ichigo to go back, the others in the distance were staring at the sudden appearance of Ichigo in shock.
"How is this possible?! He actually blocked it!"
"The Sokyoku with destructive power equivalent to millions of Zanpakuto... he blocked it with just one Zanpakuto..."
"Who... is he?!"
Sui-Feng said incredulously.
Actually, what most people don't know is that although the Sokyoku is claimed to have the destructive power of millions of Zanpakuto, which sounds terrifying, those millions of Zanpakuto refer only to Asauchi.
Although millions of Asauchi is still a frightening number, their power isn't as amazing as imagined, because an Asauchi is just an Asauchi. Although it has great growth potential, it isn't much stronger than an ordinary blade.
Therefore, the destructive power of Firebird King formed from the Sokyoku is only at the Captain-level.
Of course, as the Sokyoku, it naturally possesses some special abilities. For instance, it can completely burn away the soul of the person being executed. When it pierces a Shinigami's body, its power instantly expands tens of times.
Moreover, once the Sokyoku is released, unless it is sealed again, Firebird King formed from the Sokyoku spear will not stop attacking until it exhausts the power of the millions of Zanpakuto it possesses.
Most others were as shocked as Sui-Feng by the sudden appearance of Ichigo. Only Yamamoto quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
After communicating with Toshiro, Yamamoto naturally knew that Rukia's execution was just a plot orchestrated by Aizen, and Rukia herself, regardless, did not deserve death.
The reason the execution proceeded as planned was simply because it was part of the plan to deal with Aizen. Toshiro had also told Yamamoto that when the time came, someone named Kurosaki Ichigo would appear to stop it, so Rukia herself would be safe.
Of course, if something went wrong with the plan and Ichigo didn't appear on time, Toshiro had suggested stopping the execution. Although Yamamoto had agreed at the time, he knew very well that if an accident occurred and Ichigo didn't appear in time, he would still choose to carry out the execution.
In Yamamoto's view, although Rukia was a member of the Kuchiki Clan, she was ultimately just an ordinary Shinigami in terms of strength, not even a Lieutenant. Her death, even if it happened, wouldn't affect the Soul Society much.
But Aizen was a threat to the Soul Society's very existence. So, if sacrificing Rukia was necessary to deal with Aizen, Yamamoto would not hesitate to abandon her.
Although this approach was too heartless, as a leader considering the 'big picture', it couldn't necessarily be called wrong.
Of course, this was only in case of an emergency, a last resort. And if Yamamoto did that, it would be hard to explain to Toshiro. So now that Ichigo had appeared on time and everything was proceeding according to plan, Yamamoto couldn't help but feel relieved.
"Oh? So he was the first to arrive, huh..." Seeing Ichigo appear, Kyoraku couldn't help but smile meaningfully.
Kyoraku and Ukitake had also planned to save Rukia this time, but Ukitake was preparing spiritual tools to counter the Sokyoku, which took some time. Kyoraku hadn't expected Ichigo to be the one who showed up in time.
"Screech!!"
When Firebird King was blocked by Ichigo and couldn't break through for a long time, it suddenly let out a fierce cry, then retreated sharply, preparing to muster an even stronger attack.
But just then, Ukitake, along with Sentaro and Kiyone, also suddenly appeared.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Two black ropes shot out from the spiritual tool Ukitake was carrying, tightly wrapping around Firebird King's enormous body, binding it firmly and preventing it from moving.
"C-Captain Ukitake... Kiyone!"
Seeing the sudden appearance of Ukitake and her younger sister, Isane showed a bewildered expression.
Whoosh!
Kyoraku's figure flickered and he appeared beside Ukitake, standing opposite Yamamoto and the others.
Although Nanao didn't know about Kyoraku's plan beforehand, she unhesitatingly stood by his side at this moment.
"Hey, handsome, you sure kept me waiting." Kyoraku teased his companion Ukitake beside him.
"Sorry, preparing the spiritual tools to counter the Sokyoku took a little extra time." Ukitake apologized.
Isane looked at Kyoraku and the others with a pained expression: "Captain Kyoraku, Captain Ukitake, and Kiyone, what are you trying to do?!"
Yamamoto's expression darkened: "Shunsui, Jushiro, excellent! The two of you are excellent..."
"That emblem... is the Shihoin Clan's crest!!"
Sui-Feng's pupils suddenly constricted as she recognized what the spiritual tool Ukitake was carrying.
"Stop them! They're going to destroy the Sokyoku!!"
Sui-Feng shouted.
Boom!
No sooner had Sui-Feng's words fallen than a beam of Reishi suddenly shot out from the spiritual tool Ukitake was carrying, directly blasting the bound Firebird King to pieces.
In the end, only feathers fell fluttering from Firebird King's huge body.
"Hah!"
After Firebird King was destroyed, Ichigo also shouted loudly, raising his blade to strike the remaining execution stand that bound Rukia.
Bang!
With a loud noise, under the shocked gaze of everyone, the execution stand was also severed by Ichigo.
As soon as the stand broke, Rukia was naturally freed. Ichigo quickly stepped forward and tucked Rukia under his arm with one hand.
"Rukia, I will definitely get you out of here!"
Ichigo said firmly.
"You idiot... I'm not going to thank you, you know..."
Rukia said tearfully.
"Stuff like that doesn't matter." Ichigo dismissed.