Chapter 344: The Ghost in Seireitei
"Do you know what you did wrong?"
A cold, heavy voice echoed in the still air, brushing past her ears like a chilling breeze. The arrancar woman, Roka, froze. Every inch of her tense body screamed submission. She lowered her head, shame written all over her face.
"I’m sorry... Szayelaporro-sama."
Of course she knew what she had done wrong. Her carelessness had almost cost them everything.
She had wandered too close to Ugendō Hall, unable to resist the allure of the Seireitei’s scenery. Her spiritual signature was nearly detected by a captain of the Gotei 13. That mistake could have exposed Szayelaporro’s lingering consciousness inside her. And now, with his current fragile state, any direct encounter with a captain-class shinigami could mean annihilation.
"Only this time. Never again." Szayelaporro’s voice, devoid of emotion, passed through her mind.
Then his tone shifted.
"But... I didn’t expect you still remembered."
He was referring to her earlier recognition of Ukitake Jushiro.
A strange reaction, given Roka’s background. She had spent most of her existence within Las Noches as a medical-class arrancar. There should have been no opportunity for her to even glimpse a captain from the Gotei 13.
And yet, she had recognized him without any trouble.
The memory that answered Szayelaporro’s curiosity wasn’t hers alone. It was buried in a tangled past—one dating back more than two hundred and fifty years.