"H-how could this be..."
The group of middle schoolers fell to their knees in despair, unable to believe they had lost to a bunch of 'elementary schoolers'.
Meanwhile, the so-called elementary schoolers in their eyes were hugging each other, cheering and jumping for joy.
"This is great! This is great!!"
"We won!!!"
While her friends were cheering joyfully, Karin walked over to Toshiro.
"It's all thanks to you, Toshiro."
Karin said with a beaming smile.
"No, your final shot was the key to sealing the win."
Toshiro said calmly.
"Ah, don't be modest. If it weren't for you, Toshiro, we would have lost a long time ago. Besides, you deliberately let me take that last shot..."
Karin said, patting Toshiro on the shoulder, treating him like family.
"Hmm?"
Toshiro seemed to sense something suddenly and looked up at the sky.
"Is another Hollow appearing? Seriously, can't I get a moment's peace?"
Toshiro muttered with a frown.
Just as Toshiro finished speaking, cracks suddenly appeared in the sky. Then, two enormous claws reached out from the cracks, tearing the opening wider and wider, until finally, a massive Hollow crawled out from inside.
Beep, beep, beep—!!
As the Hollow appeared, Toshiro's command console started ringing. Seeing this, Toshiro immediately reached out and turned it off.
Since the Hollow had appeared near Toshiro this time, he had sensed it even before the notification from the command console.
"This unpleasant feeling... is that thing appearing again?"
Although Karin's sensory abilities were far inferior to Toshiro's, she also felt the Hollow's presence.
'Judging by this Hollow's size, it should be a Menos Grande... No, this Reiatsu is an Adjuchas!' Toshiro thought to himself, somewhat surprised.
Initially, Toshiro thought this suddenly appearing Hollow was just a Menos Grande, slightly stronger than an ordinary Hollow. Even a Gillian rarely came to the Living World, let alone an Adjuchas.
But judging by its Reiatsu, it was indeed an Adjuchas.
Boom!
After emerging from the Garganta, the Adjuchas leaped down from the sky and landed on the ground.
Its massive body, combined with the fall from several hundred meters up, blasted a huge crater into the ground with sheer impact force. A powerful shockwave radiated outwards from the crater in all directions.
"Watch out!"
Toshiro suddenly shouted, then immediately tackled Karin beside him to the ground, holding her tightly beneath him.
Because the Menos Grande had landed not far from Toshiro and Karin, the powerful shockwave hit them first.
Even a shockwave ten times stronger than this wouldn't hurt Toshiro, but Karin was different.
Although Karin possessed considerable Reiryoku, she was still only human. If caught in that shockwave, she would be seriously injured if not killed.
"Hey! Are you okay?"
After the shockwave passed, Toshiro quickly asked Karin, who was pinned beneath him.
"I-I'm fine... More importantly... y-your hand..."
Karin suddenly blushed and fidgeted shyly.
"Hand?"
Toshiro was taken aback, then realized his hand was pressed against Karin's chest.
"Cough, cough."
Toshiro cleared his throat awkwardly, then let go and said calmly, "Sorry, I didn't notice just now."
"Hmph! You're terrible, Toshiro..."
Karin snorted softly and stood up.
"Seriously! What 'terrible'? Your chest is so flat, I wouldn't want to touch it even if you asked me!"
Toshiro said angrily.
"What did you say?!"
Karin roared like a volcano erupting: "How dare you—"
"ROOOAR—!!"
Just as Karin was about to angrily retort, the Hollow that had been ignored by the two of them let out a dissatisfied roar.
"Oh no! Everyone—"
Snapped back to reality by the Adjuchas's roar, Karin suddenly thought of her friends and immediately started to run towards them.
"Wait! Don't go over there!!"
Toshiro grabbed Karin's arm and pulled her back.
"Huh? Toshiro, can you see that thing too?"
Karin asked in surprise.
"I'll explain later. For now, just run away and take cover."
Toshiro said.
"No way! How can I just stand by while my friends are in danger!"
Karin refused without hesitation.
"Haah!"
With a shout, Karin kicked the soccer ball beside her.
Bang!
Karin's aim was pretty good. The ball hit the Hollow squarely in the face without any problem.
However, Karin was only human after all, and not very strong. The ball hitting the Hollow was less than a tickle to it.
"Darn it! It didn't work?"
Karin said in frustration.
Not only did Karin's soccer ball attack fail, but it also drew the Hollow's attention to her.
"ROAR!"
Seeing that this insignificant human dared to provoke it, this Adjuchas-class Menos Grande swung its fist, larger than Karin's entire body, towards her.
Karin, terrified, instinctively closed her eyes.
Bang!
The massive fist came down, blasting a deep crater several meters wide into the ground.
As the dust and smoke cleared, there, standing proudly in the center of the crater, was a small figure dressed in a black Shihakusho and a white Haori.
He had blocked the enormous fist, which was larger than his own body, with just one hand.
'The same black kimono as Ichigo... a Shinigami!' Seeing Toshiro in this outfit, Karin immediately guessed his identity as a Shinigami.
Boom!
Powerful Reiatsu erupted from Toshiro's body. Although he hadn't released his Shikai, his Reiatsu still caused dark clouds to gather from all directions in the sky, blotting out the setting sun.
Crack, crack, crack...
As Toshiro's Reiatsu exploded outward, the fist of this Adjuchas-class Menos Grande that was touching Toshiro was frozen solid by blue ice. The thick layer of ice rapidly spread across its entire body.
Seeing this, the Adjuchas tried to retreat quickly, but its entire right arm was already frozen solid, making it impossible to move.
"Good grief, why couldn't you just stay quietly in Hueco Mundo? You just had to come to the Living World looking to die. And if you wanted to die, you could have just killed yourself. Why come in front of me and make me go to the trouble of killing you?"
Toshiro said with an expression of disgust at the bother.
"ROAR!"
Perhaps realizing it couldn't escape, the Adjuchas suddenly roared. Then, all of its Reiatsu gathered towards its mouth, which began to glow with a brilliant red light.
"Tch. A Cero?"
Toshiro frowned slightly, then immediately increased the speed of his Reiatsu's encroachment.
Crack—
Before the Adjuchas could release its Cero, its entire massive body was frozen solid along with it.
Ding—
Toshiro reached out a finger and tapped the frozen Hollow statue.
Bang!
The frozen Adjuchas statue shattered with a loud crash, breaking into countless tiny ice shards that fluttered down from the sky like snowflakes.
Plip.
A small ice crystal landed on Karin, snapping her out of her shock.
"So... so cool..."
Karin said, her expression one of utter amazement.
"Are you okay?"
Toshiro turned around and extended his hand to Karin, who was sitting on the ground.
As the battle ended, Toshiro suppressed his Reiatsu. The dark clouds in the sky vanished, and the light of the setting sun shone down on Toshiro. He radiated a sacred, warm feeling that made Karin's heart skip a beat.