"Ulquiorra, is this the person we're looking for this time?"
Yammy pointed at Tatsuki and asked.
The reason Yammy and Ulquiorra had come to the Living World was due to Aizen's orders. Aizen had instructed Ulquiorra to find someone, and Yammy had tagged along.
"Idiot, look closely. You merely walked up to her, and her soul is already about to collapse from your Reiatsu. How could a piece of trash like this be our target?"
Ulquiorra said.
"Tch! So it was just a coincidence that she survived my 'Soul Suck'? How boring!"
Saying this, Yammy swung his leg, thicker than Tatsuki's entire body, towards her with a bored expression. "Human! Just die!"
Tatsuki watched Yammy's attack coming, utterly helpless to stop it, resigned to her fate.
Bang!
A dull sound echoed, but Tatsuki wasn't 'blasted' by Yammy's kick. An arm with black and red markings had blocked Yammy's attack.
"Inoue, is Tatsuki alright?"
Chad strained to block Yammy's attack while asking Orihime Inoue behind him.
The sudden arrivals were Chad and Orihime. They happened to be passing by, noticed the commotion, and came to investigate, arriving just in time to see Yammy about to attack Tatsuki.
Well, one must marvel that even as a minor supporting character, being near the protagonist and benefiting from their 'plot armor' makes it hard to die.
Whenever danger arises, someone shows up to save them.
"Hey, who are you two?"
Yammy asked, looking at Chad, who had suddenly blocked his attack, and Orihime, who was comforting Tatsuki behind him.
However, Chad was already struggling just to block Yammy's attack and had no desire for idle chatter.
"Inoue! I'll hold off this guy. You take Arisawa and leave."
Chad said gravely.
"Mm, I understand. But don't push yourself too hard, Sado-san."
Orihime said, concerned.
Then, Orihime took Tatsuki and fled towards the rear.
"Ulquiorra! Is this kid our target?"
Yammy asked Ulquiorra behind him again.
"Yammy, please try to improve your reconnaissance ability and judge for yourself, won't you? A single glance at this caliber is enough… he's also trash!"
Ulquiorra said, his tone impatient.
"Is that so?"
Hearing Ulquiorra's words, Yammy immediately lost interest in Chad. He casually threw a seemingly 'light' punch at him.
Seeing this, Chad, not daring to be careless, mustered all his strength and met the punch with his own.
Bang!
Crack—!!
Fists collided, and the sound of snapping bones and tearing sinews echoed!
Unsurprisingly, Chad was no match for an Espada like Yammy, so the one with the 'snapped bones and torn sinews' was naturally Chad.
Just then, Orihime, who was fleeing with Tatsuki, heard the noise and instinctively looked back. She was frozen by the sight of Chad's horrific state.
After colliding with Yammy, Chad was covered in blood. His right arm had been completely severed… not just broken, truly severed.
Blood spurted from the wound as if it cost nothing. If left untreated, Chad would surely die from blood loss.
"Sado-san!!"
Orihime screamed in panic. She set Tatsuki down and rushed towards Chad.
Bang!
Chad's large frame collapsed powerlessly to the ground.
"Sado-san! Sado-san! Are you alright!!"
Orihime reached him and asked, her face full of worry.
But Chad was already unconscious, unable to respond.
"Hey, Ulquiorra! Is this woman also trash?"
Yammy asked again.
"Ah, yes. Trash."
Ulquiorra replied indifferently.
"Is that so? Then kill her too!"
With that, Yammy suddenly thrust a finger towards Orihime's head.
"Santen Kesshun!"
With Orihime's cry, a triangular orange-yellow barrier appeared in front of her.
Ding!
A crisp sound rang out as Yammy's finger struck Orihime's barrier.
Crack—!
Cracks appeared on the barrier, and it shattered with a crash.
However, Yammy's attack force was also exhausted, failing to kill Orihime.
"What kind of technique is that?"
Yammy asked, somewhat surprised.
But Orihime had no time to answer. She immediately took the opportunity to treat the severely injured Chad.
"Soten Kisshun!"
An orange-yellow elliptical barrier enveloped Chad's body.
Then, amazingly, the severed arm that had fallen beside Chad reattached itself to his body, leaving not a trace of the injury! As if his arm had never been severed!
"Wha… What! Healed!"
Yammy was shocked.
Having witnessed this miraculous scene, even Ulquiorra felt a hint of surprise.
'A healing technique? No... no, this is definitely not a healing technique!'
'Time regression? Or spatial regression? Regardless, this is absolutely not a healing technique!'
'What a fascinating person... this woman...'
Ulquiorra suddenly found himself intensely interested in this woman.
After healing Chad, Orihime turned to face Yammy again.
'Tatsuki, Sado-san, this time I will protect you!'
"Tsubaki!"
Orihime lightly touched the hairpin on her ear, then thrust both hands forward.
"Koten Zanshun! I reject!!"
Swoosh-
A sharp, blade-like attack suddenly shot towards Yammy!
Facing Orihime's all-out attack, Yammy merely extended his right hand lazily, caught the attack in his grasp, and squeezed hard.
Crack!
Orihime's attack was crushed like paper in Yammy's hand.
"What is this, a fly?"
Yammy opened his hand, and a pile of unknown fragments fluttered down.
"Tsubaki... Tsubaki... No... no way..."
Orihime muttered in disbelief.
[Koten Zanshun] is an attack formed by Tsubaki, one of the Shun Shun Rikka, transforming into a blade. What Yammy crushed wasn't just a simple attack... he had crushed Tsubaki itself.
"Hey, Ulquiorra. This woman's techniques are pretty unique. Should we take her back to Aizen-sama?"
Yammy suddenly asked Ulquiorra.
"No... no need. Kill her, Yammy."
Although he had become interested in Orihime, Ulquiorra, for some reason, still chose to kill her.
Perhaps because Aizen hadn't instructed him to bring her back before they came, or perhaps for some reason even he didn't know.
Seeing that Ulquiorra wanted him to kill her, Yammy didn't object. Although he had suggested bringing her back, that had been a whim. Since Ulquiorra rejected the idea, he didn't insist, as he clearly preferred killing.
So, Yammy immediately slapped his hand towards Orihime.
But once again, someone intervened.
Clang!
A figure suddenly appeared, shielding Orihime, and stabbed Yammy's palm with a sword.
"Who are you now?!"
Yammy asked, exasperated.
One after another, people kept appearing to stop him. Yammy was getting furious!
"Ichigo!"
Seeing Ichigo suddenly appear, Orihime was so emotional she could cry.
"Sorry I'm late, Orihime."
Ichigo glanced back at Orihime.