"So that's how it is… I recall your crime was attempting to obtain Hollow powers, for which the Central 46 ordered you to be executed in the manner of a Hollow." Natsuro looked at the mask covering Shinji's face and smiled.
"I didn't expect… you actually did obtain Hollow powers."
"It's not that we tried to gain this power, we were victims too," Shinji replied.
"Perhaps." Natsuro neither confirmed nor denied it.
"But even if you've used Hollow powers… is this all you can do?" Natsuro gazed at Shinji calmly, feeling his reiatsu. It had improved, yes, but…
The gap between them was still far too wide.
"Don't say I never gave you a chance. You can all come at me together." Natsuro spoke again.
The last time he had said this, it had basically enraged everyone present. But now, when he repeated it…
The other three former captains hesitated. In their eyes, one-on-one, their chances of beating him really did seem rather low.
"Then don't blame us for being unsportsmanlike!" The four exchanged glances. Kensei bumped his fists together with a hard thud and spoke.
"If you can manage it…" Natsuro smiled. At last, even for him, facing four captain-level opponents at once brought some pressure.
The main reason was that every captain's zanpakutō had some special ability. For example, Shinji's complete inversion ability could catch him off guard if he wasn't careful.
The next moment, three bursts of reiatsu stronger than ordinary captain level erupted.
A long, rectangular white mask appeared on Kensei Muguruma's face, with six rectangular holes. His arms were wrapped in metal gauntlets, like those of a ferocious beast.
Love Aikawa placed his hand claw-like on his forehead, and a demonic mask with two horns appeared on his face.
Rōjūrō's mask was in the shape of an eagle's head, its beak sharp as a dagger.
Then, the four surrounded him.
Love moved first. A massive spiked club, likely his zanpakutō, appeared in his hand.
It looked clumsy and enormous, larger than the four of them combined, yet Love swung it one-handed with ease, spinning it rapidly before smashing it down toward Natsuro.
The colossal spiked club came crashing down with the weight of a thousand catties… but suddenly stopped mid-swing.
Behind his mask, Love's face broke out in cold sweat, not because he wanted to stop.
Natsuro, looking at the giant club that could easily engulf his entire body, acknowledged its oppressive presence but…
He extended his hand, as if it were wrapped in endless reiatsu, and the weapon, massive as several men, was stopped like a child's toy.
"Pure brute force… isn't enough," Natsuro said. "And your strength is far less than Zaraki Kenpachi's!"
Natsuro's own power might not quite match Kenpachi's, but it was close. His frame might not look bulky, but with reiatsu reinforcing him, his strength stood at the pinnacle of this world.
Then his eyes flicked toward the other three charging in from all sides.
Reiatsu flared in the hand holding the spiked club, forming a massive hand of spiritual pressure that seized the weapon's tip, then swung it in a wide arc.
Under Natsuro's strength and reiatsu, the club even tore the air, producing sonic booms.
The other three stopped immediately. Not only the club but also Love, still holding it, was being swung around!
"Damn it!"
Kensei cursed, hoping to exploit the opening as Natsuro swung the weapon. But in that instant, Love's body suddenly loomed huge in his vision, so fast he couldn't even react.
Natsuro had let go of the club mid-swing, deliberately aiming it at Kensei!
Bang!
Love and Kensei crashed together, and the massive club came down after them.
Fortunately, Kensei managed to punch the weapon away before it smashed them flat. With those jagged spikes, a direct hit at that force would have been disastrous.
The miserable sight of the two jarred the remaining pair, distracting them momentarily.
"Where are you looking?" Natsuro's voice sounded right beside them, freezing them in place.
Lightning cracked.
"First Form: Hekireki Issen (Thunderclap and Flash)"
A dazzling, lightning-fast slash tore toward both Shinji and Rōjūrō.
At the last moment, the ground beneath them exploded and they leapt back, narrowly evading the strike.
"Oh? You dodged?" Natsuro noticed the broken beak of Rōjūrō's mask, mildly surprised.
Shinji and Rōjūrō both dripped cold sweat, dodging that attack had taken everything. It was too fast, too sharp.
Meanwhile, Love and Kensei had gotten back on their feet. Kensei was fine, but Love looked woozy, being swung like that had clearly rattled him.
Four against one… yet they were losing ground.
Not only they but even the vice-captains watching were stunned.
They'd known he was strong, why else invite him? But they hadn't expected this.
From just this brief display, they felt Natsuro might be even more terrifying than the Head Captain. At least against the Head Captain, they could block a little, maybe even escape.
But against Natsuro? With that speed, even running would be hard.
"I overestimated you." Natsuro sighed, seeing the four hesitate to advance. He had hoped for a more satisfying fight.
In truth, he had been fighting seriously, and now, they were frightened.
At his taunt, the four had nothing to say, only shame.
"When you Hollowfy, you can't use bankai, right?" Natsuro suddenly asked.
"You could say that. The truth is… our reiatsu isn't enough to sustain both Hollowfication and bankai at the same time," Shinji admitted.
"I see. What a pity." Natsuro nodded. "Then choosing Hollowfication against me… was your worst option."
Even Hollowfied, their base stats still fell short of his, and they'd abandoned the unique abilities that might have made him wary.
Originally, what Natsuro feared most was their special bankai abilities. But now?
Boring.
"In that case, try stopping this strike together. If you can, I'll grant your request." Natsuro's voice suddenly rang out.
Hirako brightened, then froze, catching the trace of mockery in his tone.
"But… if you can't block it, you might die..."
Natsuro stepped into the air, appearing high above, looking down at the four captains below with a smile.
His reiatsu flared violently. Endless lightning danced around him, within which flickered countless shadows of lightning-based kidō.
From the lowly Hadō #4: Byakurai, to Hadō #11: Tsuzuri Raiden, to the mid-tier Hadō #63: Raikōhō, all the way to the ninety-something level lightning spells, all gathered here.
This was Natsuro's current fusion of kidō and swordsmanship, akin to Yoruichi Shihōin's Shunkō. Now, he was combining every lightning-type kidō into one.
Among the ninety-nine Hadō, fire and lightning were the most numerous, and the ones Natsuro excelled at most.
Of course, this strike wasn't perfect, some kidō weren't fully optimized.
But… this was already enough.
"Fifth Form: Shōmetsu (Annihilation)"
Instantly, the lightning converged on Natsuro's Meikyō Shisui.
Unlike the hundred-meter flame greatsword of the Fourth Form: Futen (Burning Heaven), this Fifth Form didn't even resemble a slash, it was a pure lightning beam cannon.
Physics be damned, its power was absolute.
Facing the overwhelming beam, the four captains below turned pale. In their view, it filled everything.
Run? Where? When they hadn't chosen to run while Natsuro was charging it, it was already too late.
Their only choice now… was to take it head-on.
They drew deep breaths, reiatsu surging wildly as if their lives depended on it, finally forming a barrier of spiritual power.
BOOM!!
In an instant, the lightning beam cannon clashed against the barrier.
The dazzling brilliance of the lightning turned the already-bright daytime space into pure white. The light was so intense that no one could keep their eyes open.
From the side, it was clear that the barrier was like a candle in the wind, on the verge of shattering almost immediately.
And yet, it didn't completely break apart in that first moment. It somehow held together, just barely.
After a long while, Natsuro still stood in the sky, peering through the blinding white radiance as though he could see what was happening inside. He allowed himself a faint smile.
In truth, the Fifth Form wasn't quite as powerful as the Fourth, but it was more than enough for now.
Which meant Natsuro had already expected that four captains could withstand it.
The only difference was… now things would be even easier, because…
It wasn't just the four captains anymore. The vice-captains had joined in as well.
As the light faded, all the members of the Visoreds were revealed standing beneath the barrier.
At the very last moment, just before the barrier would have shattered, everyone had joined forces inside it, and together, they'd blocked Natsuro's strike with ease.
Well, even if it was a lightning beam cannon, it had been swung with a sword, so it could still be considered a sword-type attack.
"Hey! You up there!" Hiyori Sarugaki slung a baseball bat over her shoulder, glaring irritably. "Us joining in doesn't break the rules, right? You said we could all come at you together!"
"Of course you can," Natsuro nodded.
At that, the Visoreds finally breathed a sigh of relief, smiles of delight spreading across their faces.
It seemed they'd found themselves an unexpected and formidable ally.If they could just seize the right opportunity to strike at their target, and combine it with Natsuro's power, maybe they really could take him down.
While the Visoreds were quietly pleased, he was deep in thought.
In fact, the moment he had seen them Hollowfy, he'd already made his decision.
The reason he'd kept fighting was simply because he enjoyed it, and because he wanted to see the power of their Hollowfication firsthand.
Natsuro was quite interested in their Hollow forms. In the near future, his own reiatsu compression would reach its limit.
Previously, he hadn't known what to do next, but after seeing their Hollowfication, perhaps he now understood something.
Shinigami and Hollows were, in truth, very similar.
After death, humans become souls. Every soul has some amount of spiritual power, the only difference is how much.
Those with more spiritual power have the talent to become Shinigami once they arrive in Soul Society. Those with very little… have no such chance, and might instead become Hollows, usually the weakest kind.
So whether Shinigami or Hollow, both ultimately originate from human souls.
You could say they are two different evolutionary paths: one retains reason, the other returns to instinct.
Natsuro had never considered that these two paths could intersect, or if they did, it would be something one was born with, like Ichigo.
But now, seeing these Hollowfied captains, who could wield zanpakutō, achieve bankai, and use Hollow powers…
Even if they couldn't use Hollowfication and bankai at the same time, they had said themselves that this was only because their reiatsu wasn't enough.
In the original story, Ichigo could clearly use both simultaneously, and when it came to spiritual pressure, Natsuro had confidence. What they couldn't do didn't mean he couldn't.
And more importantly, after Hollowfying, these captains' reiatsu clearly rose to a higher level.
So… could he also use Hollow powers to take another step forward?
Of course, it wasn't something to attempt lightly. Once you tried, there was no turning back, and it would mean completely turning against Soul Society.
The Central 46 aside, even the Head Captain wouldn't let him go.
And besides, his reiatsu hadn't yet been compressed to its limit. When he truly reached the point of no further progress, then he could consider it, and perhaps find a way to have the best of both worlds.
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Currently on Chapter 485 - The Captain's Target