"Tch, these things are truly endless!"
Rangiku Matsumoto wiped the sweat from her forehead, her signature long orange hair dancing in the fierce wind.
Right at her feet, three mutated Hollows covered in slime let out agonizing roars, looking both disgusting and bizarre.
"Growl, Haineko!"
With Rangiku's sharp cry, her Zanpakuto instantly transformed into a cloud of gray ash.
Under her command, the blade-like particles rapidly sliced across the Hollows' bodies, splattering black pus everywhere.
Behind her, the Soul Reaper squad members of the Tenth Division stood back-to-back, forming a defensive formation.
Although retreating to this bridge had somewhat weakened the suffocating, abnormal energy, it only provided them enough relief to catch their breath.
In this abnormal city plagued by a Spiritual Disaster, every inch of air felt highly toxic, constantly eroding the Soul Reapers' Spiritual Pressure.
"Sixth Seat Kocho, I'm leaving the rear to you!" Rangiku shouted without looking back.
"Please rest assured, Vice Captain Matsumoto."
Shinobu Kocho, standing at the back of the formation, replied softly.
Her Zanpakuto, Tsumugi, was already released. The Asauchi in her hand had transformed into a rapier dancing with flowing purple light; rather than a sword, it looked more like a conductor's baton controlling a swarm of Reishi insects.
Shinobu's figure turned into a blur of afterimages, dancing up and down amidst the horde of Hollows.
As she brandished her rapier, she accurately pierced the vitals of the mutated Hollows.
The monsters that had been struggling madly suddenly froze.
Immediately after, the dark red tentacles attached to their bodies rapidly blackened and withered, shriveling up in the blink of an eye before being slashed to pieces by the other Soul Reapers.
"This feels terrible..." Shinobu frowned. "Although the deadly poison secreted by the spirit insects shattered these Hollows' bodies from the inside, they also sustained damage..."
The situation on the battlefield was exceptionally tense.
A Soul Reaper swung his sword with all his might, severing a Hollow's arm. But before he could even catch his breath, the severed limb sprouted countless tiny tentacles the moment it hit the ground, attempting to parasitize the squad member's leg.
The Soul Reaper cried out in alarm, on the verge of being entangled by the tentacles.
Shinobu immediately directed her Reishi insects, instantly engulfing the severed arm. "Step back! Don't let those things touch you!"
Several well-trained squad members stepped forward in perfect synchronization, gathering Spiritual Pressure in their hands.
"Ye lord! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man!"
"Inferno and pandemonium, the sea barrier surges, march on to the south!"
"[Hado #31・Shakkaho]!!"
Several blazing fireballs accurately bombarded the writhing severed limbs.
The flames not only incinerated the limbs but also completely destroyed that bizarre energy, finally putting an end to their regeneration.
"It worked!"
"Coordinate with the vanguard's strikes! As long as we use Kido to obliterate the remaining tissue the moment they regenerate, we can kill them completely!" a Soul Reaper shouted excitedly.
Thanks to this coordinated tactic, the tide of battle finally began to turn.
The frontline warriors used their masterful swordsmanship to dismember the Hollows, while the rearguard followed closely behind, sweeping the area with offensive low-level Kido.
This tactic consumed an extreme amount of stamina and Spiritual Pressure, but under these circumstances, it was their only path to survival.
Watching this unfold, a hint of relief flashed through Rangiku's eyes, but it was quickly replaced by deep worry.
"To think they only dispatched the Tenth Division for a Spiritual Disaster of this magnitude! We need to find a way to request backup!"
She looked up at the sky; that terrifying aura that made her tremble was still continuously rising.
Just then, in the distant outskirts of Fuyuki City, from the direction of the ruins where they had first landed, an earth-shattering Spiritual Pressure suddenly erupted.
The Spiritual Pressure was so intense that it instantly dispersed a portion of the gloom hanging over the bridge.
"That is..." Rangiku's pupils shrank. She stopped what she was doing and gazed into the distance.
All the Soul Reapers unanimously looked in that direction.
A massive, deep-blue waterspout rose from the ground, piercing straight into the clouds.
That was no mortal rainwater, but a monstrous wave formed from extremely concentrated Spiritual Pressure.
The waterspout roared madly across the earth, as if seeking to wash away all the filth in the world.
Under that terrifying impact, dozens of mutated Hollows were instantly shredded into the most primal Reishi fragments before they could even let out a scream.
What a magnificent yet ferocious sight it was.
"An attack of this scale... Is that Captain Kaien?" a Soul Reaper muttered, his eyes filled with awe.
"That must be the Captain's Bankai... Nejibana..." Rangiku softly murmured the name of that Zanpakuto.
Even from several kilometers away, she could still feel Kaien Shiba's aura surging wildly like a tsunami.
Rangiku withdrew her gaze, her expression turning fierce once more. "The Captain is risking his life; we can't afford to embarrass ourselves here!"
Her encouragement reinvigorated the exhausted crowd.
"Yeah!! Let's slaughter all these monsters!"
However, the mutated Hollows' assault did not cease because of the distant spectacle.
On the contrary, Kaien Shiba's outburst seemed to have triggered some sort of defense mechanism, causing the horde of Hollows on the scene to become even more frenzied.
Shinobu was crouching on the ground, treating the wounds of a squad member whose thigh had been torn open.
She poured a panacea down his throat while pressing the tip of her blade against the wound, allowing the Reishi insects to coordinate from the inside out to rapidly repair his Spiritual Body.
"Please bear with it for a moment, the Spirit Ribbon repair will be done shortly," she comforted him gently.
Right at that moment, an extremely sinister chill crept up her spine.
It was an intuition forged through years of life-and-death struggles.
In her blind spot, within the shadows of the bridge's side steel beams, a slender figure that almost blended into the darkness quietly emerged.
It was an extremely small, eyeless mutated Hollow.
It did not roar like its kin, and it had even suppressed its Spiritual Pressure to the absolute limit.
Its forelimbs were two pitch-black bone blades gleaming with a faint, eerie light.
It was thrusting silently toward Shinobu's back at an unbelievable speed!
"Miss Kocho! Watch out!"
A squad member not far away spotted this, but he was entangled by several Hollows and had no time to save her.
Rangiku noticed it too, but her Haineko was currently in a dispersed state, and gathering it back together would take time.
'It's too late!!' Rangiku's heart sank heavily.
Hearing the shout, Shinobu instinctively wanted to dodge.
But the squad member at her feet was undergoing treatment and had absolutely no ability to resist.
If she moved away, this squad member would undoubtedly die!
Gritting her teeth, a flash of resolve crossed her eyes.
"[Bakudo #8・Seki]!"
She could only attempt to block the strike with Kido and then figure out a way to counterattack.
The cold wind whipped up by the bone blades had already scattered the loose hair at the back of her neck.
The Hollow's face was mere inches away, sticky fluid dripping from its hideous mouthparts.
And that fluid was corroding her Bakudo!
The stench of death rushed at her face.
BOOM—!!!
The sky seemed to be violently torn open by an invisible giant hand, and an eardrum-shattering sonic boom pierced through the entire battlefield.
A streak of black-red light descended from the heavens.
Like a falling meteor, it crashed straight down between Shinobu and the ambushing Hollow.
An overwhelmingly suffocating power erupted instantly, forming a terrifying shockwave centered on the point of impact.
The mutated Hollow, which had been certain of its kill, couldn't even make contact before the unreserved blast of Spiritual Pressure shattered every bone in its body, sending it flying backward like a ragged mop.
Dust and smoke filled the air.
In front of Shinobu, a tall, slender figure slowly stood up.
"Moshi moshi, are you okay?"
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