"There's no point in continuing to discuss the abnormal movement of the Hollow group. Captain Amagai, please develop a combat plan as quickly as possible."
Faced with such a sudden change, it was the veteran, Captain Unohana Retsu, who stepped forward to calm everyone's nerves.
"Captain Unohana is right. We can't just sit here and wait for death. We must take the initiative and reduce the threat the enemy poses to us!" added Shiba Kaien.
Facing the pressure of multiple Hollows at once, Amagai Shūsuke didn't dare to delay and immediately issued the order for force deployment.
He planned to select people from all combat formations of the expedition unit and form a vanguard that would launch a surprise attack on the group of Gillians.
As long as the Gillians were taken out, the rest of the ordinary Hollows could be left to the units defending the camp.
After one round of selection, the list of the vanguard members was finally determined.
They were Amagai Shūsuke, Soi-Fon, Shiba Kaien, and Izumo Shin Aritsuki.
"I'll personally lead the vanguard." Amagai Shūsuke looked at everyone present and announced his plan. "Captain Soi-Fon will use her speed advantage to bind the Hollows, while Vice-Captain Shiba will go with me and attack from the flank."
"Vice-Chief Izumo, I need you to erect a barrier around the Hollows and prevent the Gillians from escaping. Can you do that?"
The silver-haired Izumo Shin Aritsuki nodded slightly and replied in a calm, quiet voice: "No problem, leave it to me."
"As for the camp defense…" Amagai Shūsuke turned his gaze to Zaraki Kenpachi and Unohana Retsu, "I leave it to you two."
Zaraki Kenpachi slung his jagged Zanpakutō over his shoulder and grinned wickedly: "Tsk, boring home guard duty."
Little Kusajishi Yachiru, leaning on his shoulder, cheerfully added: "Ken-chan is just saying everything's fine~"
Unohana Retsu smiled gently and said in a calming tone: "Don't worry, Captain Amagai, we'll take care of every child's safety."
Two generations of Kenpachis were present at the same time. Theoretically speaking, considering Hueco Mundo's current strength, there were few who could break through the defense held by the two of them directly from the front.
Arata stood in formation, his fingertips unconsciously brushing over Meigetsu's hilt.
A faint purplish-black spiritual pressure flowed along the blade. He felt Meigetsu stirring in his mind, full of a desire for battle.
"Aaa~~ I'm just itching to cut~~ Master hasn't used my power at all today!" Meigetsu's seductive, sweetly drawn-out voice echoed in his mind, constantly urging Arata to release his Zanpakutō's power.
All day, she had watched in his mind as her master acted like he was slicing watermelons and cabbages, but without actually doing any of it with her power, relying only on numerical advantage and basic Shinigami skills, which made her very displeased.
The results of the last three months of training were so perfect that he could clear an entire field with a single slash, yet he still chose to cut them down one by one. Even if Arata wasn't tired, she was already bored of watching.
Arata didn't respond, only slightly curled the corners of his lips.
"Don't worry, very soon you'll get your time to shine."
During the past three months, he had been communicating deeply and training with his Zanpakutō, gaining a new understanding of Meigetsu's power and instincts.
Even if he hadn't formally faced them yet, the Gillians, who were terrifying threats in the eyes of ordinary Shinigami, no longer scared him at all.
"Hey, Saitō-kun." Madarame Ikkaku suddenly nudged him with his elbow. "Stay behind the two of us, don't get blown to pieces by some Hollow's Cero."
Ikkaku's words were very direct, but the concern for Arata was more than clear.
He was very satisfied with the kid's potential, but didn't want him to die from some accident on the battlefield.
Arata was about to respond when suddenly a series of alarms rang out from the edge of the camp.
The terrified cry of the operator tore through the night sky: "The Hollow group is accelerating! Estimated contact in five minutes!"
"Damn it!" Amagai Shūsuke turned sharply. "Vanguard, follow me immediately! Everyone else, proceed according to plan!"
"Understood!"
Arata watched as the vanguard disappeared in a flash, when suddenly he felt someone tug his sleeve.
He turned and saw that Kotetsu Isane had approached him at some point and quickly shoved something cold into his hand.
"Saitō-san, this is a spirit bead core developed by the Shiba family. In a moment of crisis, you can inject spiritual pressure into it and activate a protective shield!" she said seriously and very quickly.
"Captain personally went to the Shiba household to request it before we departed."
Before she could finish her sentence, layers of dense spiritual pressure surged in from the distant horizon, full of hatred, making it hard for everyone in the camp to breathe.
Dozens of blood-red rays cut through the night sky, these were the Cero beams being charged by the group of Gillians. Along each beam, spirit particles vibrated violently, and even the sand began to rise!
"Oh my god, this…" Isane felt this kind of suffocating pressure for the first time; her body became almost immobile in that atmosphere of fear.
"Damn it! Everyone scatter, take cover!" Amagai Shūsuke's hoarse roar echoed across the battlefield.
All the ordinary Shinigami and students with lower combat abilities, upon hearing the order, immediately fled toward more open areas away from the main impact zone.
The place where Arata stood was directly in the path of one of the Cero beams. Without a word, he simply took the petrified Isane by the waist.
Then he performed a shunpo and moved her to the combat formation behind Unohana Retsu, before Isane could even comprehend what had happened.
"Sensei, I'll leave Miss Isane to you." As soon as he put her down, Arata vanished from the camp without looking back.
"Sa–Saitō-kun! No!"
"Arata-kun——!"
The distressed voices of Unohana Retsu and Kotetsu Isane echoed behind him, but Arata ignored them completely.
He quickly caught up with the vanguard and glanced at the Kidōshū man who was already in action.
That mysterious Vice-Chief of the Kidōshū, Izumo Shin Aritsuki, hovered in the air; his crimson cloak fluttered in the wind.
A thick book floated in front of him, its pages constantly turning, and his chanting echoed like a bell.
"The pride of heaven, the iron walls, the march of dragons, the roar of lions, the howling of tigers, the running of wolves, cut off the heaven and earth before they collapse—"
As the incantation ended, countless golden symbols emerged from the pages and merged into a massive golden defensive wall in the direction of the incoming Cero beams.
"Bakudō No. 81: Dankū (Breaking the Sky)!"
Three Cero beams that tried to penetrate the barrier struck it and were completely stopped!
"Hadō No. 63: Raikōhō (Thunder Roar Cannon)!"
Immediately after, he used a high-level Hadō without any chanting; the blue thunder cannon flew straight toward the horizon.
One of the Gillians in the Hollow group was hit directly in the mask; the giant collapsed instantly and scattered into a mass of spirit particles that filled the air.
Arata's pupils contracted. He managed to kill a Gillian with a single chantless Raikōhō!
Based solely on the use of those two Kidō techniques, Izumo Shin Aritsuki's power far exceeded that of some vice-captains. He was anything but ordinary!
And the book in his hands was clearly not just for decoration.
However, the battlefield was changing by the second. As Arata thought about it, another Cero beam came from a different direction, aimed directly at him!
Arata grinned: just in time!
He laid his Zanpakutō horizontally in front of him, and purplish-black flames ignited along the blade in tandem with a surge of spiritual pressure.
"Destroy everything completely—Meigetsu!"
At the moment he released his Zanpakutō, a terrifying storm of spiritual pressure erupted with Arata at the center, and a purplish-black pillar of fire shot up into the sky.
The red Cero collided with the pillar of fire and was crushed instantly!
Arata tilted his head slightly, as if challenging the other Gillians.
"Cero? Just a little tickle."