Karakura Town – Old Industrial District.
After descending the fairly long staircase, the three of them found themselves in an open area with a blue sky identical to the one below Urahara Shop.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
The sound of clashing blades and destruction echoed throughout the entire area, but the three only noticed it long enough to see Ichigo fighting a small girl with green hair.
What drew their attention even more were the six individuals glaring at them with killing intent and wary eyes.
"Such a warm welcome, huh, guys?" Ren smirked sarcastically as he stared at Shinji and the others, all of whom looked ready to eliminate them at any moment.
"Guys, we—" Yoruichi began, intending to clarify their identities and explain that they were not enemies — but in that very moment Ren vanished from beside her and reappeared among the six.
He was already in his Shinigami form; his black Shihakushō shimmered strikingly against this vividly colored environment.
Pang!
Pang!
Pang!
Using various Hakuda techniques, Ren launched a sudden assault on the Visored gathered there, sending all of them flying in different directions.
As the six bodies crashed down in scattered spots and a cloud of dust rose with them, all eyes stopped on Ren, who stood calmly at the center of the arena as if he hadn't done anything worth mentioning.
Ren didn't retreat. Instead, he appeared right beside the nearest person — the muscular Kensei — and began punching him relentlessly, like he was nothing more than a sandbag.
Bam!
Bam!
Bam!
Each punch rang with the grinding of bone, the ground beneath Kensei's feet bursting apart under the repeated pressure before his body was blasted away, crashing into a distant concrete wall and leaving deep cracks spreading across it.
"What the hell are you doing!!" Shinji yelled, unable to believe the sheer brutality.
But Ren didn't stop. He vanished again and reappeared behind Love, who had barely managed to regain his balance.
Ren seized his arm, spun his massive body like a rag doll, and hurled him skyward.
BOOOOM!
Love crashed into the ground with enough force to shake the entire area, chunks of shattered concrete flying in every direction.
"He's not fighting them… he's crushing them."
Lisa muttered in disbelief, her fists tight around her weapon's handle — yet suddenly no longer certain attacking was a sane choice.
"Stop this, now!!"
Hiyori charged, furious, her Zanpakutō raised — but Ren appeared before her before she could even finish her dash.
He caught the blade with only two fingers.
One glance.
Cold.
Emotionless.
Unwavering.
"You were the loudest."
He said flatly as he pressed down with his fingers.
Crrraaaack!!
The sword broke—
Not from the middle,
But from the base — shattered simply by the pressure of his fingertips.
Hiyori's face froze in absolute shock before Ren kicked her sideways, sending her slamming into the opposite wall like a skipping stone.
"Hiyori!!!" Lisa screamed.
A chill ran down Shinji's spine.
Not because of the hits…
But because of the way.
No rage… no impulse… no agitation…
Just systematic elimination.
Ren now lifted his gaze toward Shinji, as if he had just finished cleaning the floor around him.
"Is this all the Visored have? Aren't you supposed to have surpassed both Shinigami and Hollow?"
Ren smirked as he stared them down, lifting his hand beside his face — a white substance coalescing around his palm, forming a mask all too familiar to them.
The mask, carved like cracked white bone, bore curved horns etched with black markings like ancient tattoos. From its forehead, a sigil glowed faintly, sending sharp lines downward toward a jagged, fanged maw twisted into a terrifying grin. And from its sunken sockets, an orange-red light smoldered like burning embers, wrapped in a faint black flame licking the skeletal surface.
A Hollow Mask.
Something every one of them knew well.
"Impossible…" Shinji whispered in shock as he stared at the mask in Ren's hand, the others frozen the same — until something clicked in Shinji's mind.
Silver hair, handsome face, cryptic eyes like celestial crystal… and Visored power.
"You bastard… you're Kurosaki Ren, aren't you?"
The moment the name left his lips—
Their expressions changed.
Lisa inhaled sharply,
Hachigen froze for a second,
Even Mashiro — still fighting feral Ichigo inside the barrier — visibly relaxed.
"So that's the itch I was feeling…"
Kensei muttered through clenched teeth, coughing blood as he tried to stand.
Ren tilted his head slightly, as if puzzled:
"It took this many blows for you to remember my name? Disappointing."
"Disappointing!?" Hiyori wheezed from her cratered spot in the wall — "You broke my sword and probably my ribs too!!"
"At least now you understand you're slower than you think."
Ren replied coldly without even looking at her.
Shinji wiped the blood from his mouth with a strained hand:
"You could've just… told us who you were from the start…"
"I was going to."
Ren replied as he slowly placed the mask onto his face — no rush, no tension —
"…but you're the ones who aimed killing intent at me first."
The moment the mask settled—
Reiatsu exploded.
The air trembled, the walls shuddered, the ceiling above cracked in thin branching fractures.
This wasn't ordinary Reiatsu—
This was Reiatsu fused seamlessly with Hollow essence — with zero instability.
"This… isn't mere Hollowfication…"
Hachigen breathed, stunned, his brow twitching.
"His energy… is perfectly stable… no leakage… no turbulence…"
Shinji grit his teeth:
"His control level… even surpasses ours."
Ren tilted his head behind the mask:
"Surpasses?"
He let out a distorted, low chuckle.
"No. I am simply not the byproduct of a mistake."
He raised his hand — dark spiritual sparks writhing around his fingertips.
"You… are the result of a curse."
He lowered it.
"I am the result of a choice."
A long silence followed.
Until Mashiro shouted cluelessly from afar:
"Uwaaaah!! Does that mean he's stronger than all of us even before transforming!?"
Ren cast her a sidelong glance.
"...Probably."
He said dryly.
Then turned his gaze back toward the rampaging Ichigo trapped inside the barrier.
"Now that the warm-up is done… I think it's time I help my idiot brother actually understand his power."
...
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