A terrifying storm of spiritual pressure shattered the approaching Hollows, and the shockwave alone crushed several of the fastest ones closing in on the location.
At the same time, both the vanguard and everyone in the camp felt that cold and overwhelming spiritual pressure.
Especially the Shinigami who knew Arata, in that moment, they all turned toward the direction from which that pressure was coming.
"Hey—hey… is this really Arata's spiritual pressure?!" Hisagi Shūhei, protected by his older comrades, spoke with a trembling voice, his face filled with disbelief.
Beside him, Kanisawa and Aoga also widened their eyes.
They clearly recognized whose spiritual pressure it was, but like Shūhei, they couldn't believe Arata was this powerful.
Zaraki Kenpachi's lone eye suddenly gleamed, and Kusajishi Yachiru, lying on his shoulder, clapped her hands excitedly: "Ken-chan, Ken-chan! The spiritual pressure of that purple hard candy is really interesting!"
Arata had no idea that Kusajishi Yachiru had nicknamed him "purple hard candy."
"Hahahaha!" Kenpachi grinned from ear to ear, and the Zanpakutō in his hand trembled with excitement.
"Finally, a little spirit worth fighting. Looks like the next battles won't be boring at all!"
Elsewhere, in the logistics part of the camp, Unohana Retsu and Kotetsu Isane also felt that powerful spiritual pressure.
Especially Unohana Retsu in her slightly narrowed eyes, something indescribable was hidden, and in her hands clasped behind her back, she felt a faint phantom pain in her palms.
The scene from that night at the onsen hotel resurfaced before her eyes.
"What a familiar power, Arata-kun…"
Kurotsuchi Mayuri, observing from a distance at the temporary base, stared at the spiritual pressure readings on the screen, which suddenly spiked; his pupils sharply contracted beneath the black-and-white mask. "Interesting… so interesting! I didn't expect to see a reading like this among students of the Spiritual Arts Academy!"
Back to the center of the battlefield, the purple-black pillar of fire gradually receded, revealing Arata's silhouette standing with his sword in hand.
The purple flames on Meigetsu's blade seemed to possess a life of their own; they wrapped around him, forming a shifting wall of flame.
Any Hollow that tried to approach was instantly shredded to pieces upon contact with the purple flames, as if torn by invisible claws.
Strangely, the spirit particles they turned into did not scatter into the air but instead slowly fused into Meigetsu in a way invisible to external observers.
The flames burning on the blade grew slightly more intense.
"This level of spiritual pressure… and it's still just Shikai?" Soi-Fon halted mid-shunpo in the air. She turned to look at the figure, disbelief in her eyes. "How is it even possible that a student of the Spiritual Arts Academy…"
Though she had already tested Arata's Hakuda and Shunpo during that training class, Soi-Fon still hadn't expected him to master Shikai in such a short time.
Moreover, a Shikai with this level of spiritual pressure!
No, this wasn't just a basic release.
Amagai Shūsuke's Zanpakutō, Raika, groaned softly in his hand; he could feel his blade trembling, instinctive fear before someone standing on a higher level.
Shiba Kaien behind him also hadn't expected that the outstanding student he had praised just moments ago would suddenly erupt with spiritual pressure no weaker than his own.
Arata's figure vanished from where he stood.
In the next instant, he skipped over the vanguard's position and appeared in front of the lead Gillian.
A purple-black slash of the blade cut through the pale night of Hueco Mundo, massive spiritual pressure and icy flames surging down the sword.
"Dark Flame Slash!"
With a quiet shout, spiritual pressure and purple flames fused into a crescent-shaped wave of sword energy, slicing straight toward the Gillian ahead.
The moment the massive black body met that crescent-shaped energy, it was split in two, and a huge crack extended from the bottom to the top of its mask.
The Gillian let out a piercing screech, then burst into a flood of spirit particles, which flowed into Arata's Zanpakutō.
Not content with just bringing down one, Arata continued forward, cutting through the Hollows behind it.
"Don't just stand there, follow him!" Amagai Shūsuke shouted, raised his Zanpakutō, and charged after Arata.
Hearing this, Soi-Fon and Shiba Kaien snapped out of their daze and immediately followed Amagai.
A sense of pride rose in their chests as well, they were the main combat force of this expedition; how could they allow themselves to be outshone by a student?
---
Far away in Soul Society, at the 10th Division headquarters.
Rangiku Matsumoto lay lazily across a desk, lightly tapping her fingertip against the teacup in front of her.
"Captaaain~ I finished reviewing all today's documents~"
Shiba Isshin lifted his head from a mountain of paperwork, dark bags layered beneath his eyes.
"Rangiku, who are you trying to fool? That pile is clearly from yesterday!" He rolled his eyes at her, grabbed a handful of tea leaves, and tossed them toward his lieutenant.
Rangiku easily dodged the "tea attack," and her gaze suddenly flickered with curiosity. "Captain, speaking of which… what exactly did Captain Unohana come to ask you about that day?"
"Well… she asked me for a couple of small things, said she was preparing them for one of her juniors." Isshin stopped working and stretched lazily.
Although there wasn't much to do in the 10th Division, it somehow still exhausted him daily.
"That's right." At that moment, a woman with a seductive figure pushed open the door and entered.
She held freshly made flower cakes in her hands and, without the slightest hesitation, sat across from Isshin.
The person who entered was Shiba Kūkaku of the Shiba family branch, the leading fireworks expert in Rukongai.
"I heard it was a student of the Spiritual Arts Academy, I think his name was Saitō or something?"
The dried persimmon in Rangiku's hand suddenly halted just before her mouth.
"Arata?"
"Hmm? So Rangiku-nee knows him too?" Kūkaku became even more interested; her short red kimono slipped slightly off her shoulder as she leaned back, revealing a patch of snow-white skin.
Isshin chuckled: "Of course she does. Those cakes you've been eating lately, and that fine tea, Rangiku wheedled them all out of that kid."
Kūkaku licked the cake crumbs off her fingers and looked at the two of them with interest. "I was wondering where Rangiku-san suddenly got the idea to make fruit tea. Turns out it was that kid's idea."
"A junior personally valued by Captain Unohana must be an extraordinary genius, right?" she asked again.
"Genius?" When Arata was mentioned, Isshin's eyes suddenly lit up.
"That kid is more than just a genius. He's been top of the Spiritual Arts Academy for two years in a row. He even received extremely high praise from Captain Aizen and Captain Soi-Fon during the instructor training class!"
"Tsk tsk tsk, and that skin color… if I hadn't personally looked into his background, I'd seriously think he was an illegitimate child of the Shihōin family."
However, compared to his nephew, the super prodigy who finished the Shinō Spiritual Arts Academy in just one year, Arata was still a bit behind.
But that didn't make Isshin appreciate him any less, he thought that kid might be a late bloomer like himself.
A Shinigami's lifespan was far longer than a human's. Just because someone didn't shine in the academy didn't mean their future growth was doomed to be low.
Who knows, perhaps a few decades from now, a new star would shine in Soul Society.
And by then, he might have to rely on Rangiku's connections to lure that kid into the 10th Division and lighten his paperwork burden.
Isshin's words awakened strong curiosity in Kūkaku, and a soft smile appeared on her red lips.
"Since you say so, I'll have to find a chance to meet that kid."