"Damn midget!!"
The twin-headed Hollow's mask cracked, emitting a piercing, ear-splitting screech. Crimson and azure manes flared wildly as overwhelming Reiatsu surged outward, whipping the dense forest into a frenzy. The terrifying pressure materialized like a bubble, enveloping the surroundings.
Compared to this creature, the giant Hollow from earlier seemed as frail as a firefly against the moon, its aura so oppressive it stole the breath from those nearby.
"You dared lock me up for so long!" The red head roared, its voice teetering on madness. "I'll tear you apart! Rip you to shreds!"
"Bluedhoste agrees." The azure head added solemnly.
Despite its Reiatsu dwarfing everyone present combined, their back-and-forth had an oddly foolish charm.
"What the hell is that?!"
Yamada Seinosuke, guarding the front, sensed the abnormal Reiatsu and ordered his team to hide. Approaching alone, he froze at the sight of the red-and-blue twin-headed monstrosity.
"This Reiatsu…" He stammered, eyes wide. "A giant… no, an Adjuchas-level Menos Grande?! That's a mission for the Goter 13!"
His hand trembled on his training sword. Unlike Shinji, driven by vengeance, or Sōsuke, a prodigy, Yamada's interests lay in medicine. His Reiatsu, while notable among his peers, was barely seated officer level. Against an Adjuchas, he was helpless, Gillians were already beyond him.
"Yamada." Shinji said, stepping forward. "Get the second-years out. Call those useless instructors."
He drew his Asauchi, flashing Yamada a strained smile. "If you're too slow, I'll die just to spite you."
"You…" Yamada stared. Shinji's resolve, forged over five years of rivalry, felt almost unreal in its decisiveness.
Glancing at the second-years looking to him, he understood. In this moment, anyone could waver.
But not them.
"Retreat!" Yamada shouted, teeth gritted, unable to face the back of his rival. The second-years, as if pardoned, obeyed instantly but hesitated, glancing at Shinji, who stood his ground.
His blue-and-white Academy uniform billowed in the wind, almost like a captain's haori. His long, once-yellow bob fluttered, exuding an unexpected resolve.
His blade glinted faintly.
"Trying to run?" The red head snarled, its voice dripping with cruel bloodlust. "That midget's gone, but tearing you apart will do!"
"Bluedhoste too." The azure head echoed flatly.
As their words fell, the massive creature moved with startling speed, lunging toward Yamada's group.
Shinji raised his hand. "Bakudō #39: Enkōsen!"
Boom!
The giant collided with a circular shield, a low thud reverberating.
Seizing the moment, Shinji's voice sharpened. "Carriage of thunder, bridge of a spinning wheel. With light, divide this into six! Bakudō #61: Rikujōkōrō!"
His swift, practiced chant summoned six beams of light, converging into a cage.
But a Shinigami's battle hinges on Reiatsu. Against an Adjuchas, even a number sixty Bakudō could only hold for a moment.
Boom!
The Hollow's swelling Reiatsu cracked the Enkōsen and Rikujōkōrō, shattering them like dandelion seeds scattering in the wind.
"More tricks?" The red head taunted. "That midget could pull it off, but you? Pathetic."
"Pathetic." The blue head repeated.
Even through the thick mask, the red head's mockery was palpable.
Shinji ignored them, hand steady on his Asauchi, eyes narrowed, sinking into a Jinzen focus with his blade.
When Shinji opened his eyes again, his body was enveloped in a radiant Reiatsu, rising like streams of fire.
"Honestly, I haven't had this for long." He said, locking eyes with the Redhoste. "I planned to keep it hidden, master it, then surprise that guy."
"But…" His voice hardened. "This'll do. As long as I can kill you."
He thrust his blade forward, declaring, "Collapse, Sakanade!"
The moment the name echoed, the fiery Reiatsu swirling around him reversed, cascading upward like a waterfall. The expanding pressure whipped up a hurricane, rippling outward from his feet.
"What's that?!" The Redhoste blurted, stunned.
"Bluedhoste doesn't know either." The azure head said, equally surprised.
As Shinji called his Zanpakutō's true name, the world in the Red and Bluedhostes' eyes flipped entirely.
Up, down, left, right, forward, backward, not just their vision, but their very perception of their bodies inverted.
"Why am I in the air?" The Redhoste stammered.
"Bluedhoste too!" The azure head echoed.
In their confused daze, their four arms flailed like an octopus lost in a current.
Shinji hooked the ring at his sword's hilt, spinning it leisurely. The blade traced smooth, continuous arcs.
"This is my Zanpakutō, Sakanade." He said. "It manipulates your nerves, reversing all your senses. And even if I explain it clearly, it's useless, right?"
His form vanished, reappearing behind the Redhoste.
Slash!
Blood sprayed, staining Sakanade's blade red and carving a deep gash across the creature's broad chest.
Shinji's voice grew colder. "Even knowing, you can't react, can you?"
"What?!" The Redhoste's eyes blazed scarlet beneath its mask, the sharp pain of the steel-like skin being sliced piercing its mind. It glared at the small figure, wary but undeterred by the wound.
After a brief pause, its massive body shot forward like a bullet, sonic booms trailing its high-speed charge.
"Pointless." Shinji said, stepping forward to meet it head-on, swinging his blade.
Slash!
The sharp sword pressure tore into its shoulder, leaving an arcing scar. Blood splattered.
This time, the Redhoste reacted faster. As its shoulder was cut, it swung its arm toward Shinji's position.
But the fist, striking what seemed a solid figure, felt nothing.
"Damn you!" The Redhoste roared, veins bulging, its Reiatsu surging. Its arms flailed wildly. "You filthy yellow-haired runt!!"
Shinji, as if anticipating this, dodged lightly to a safe distance. Before it could charge again, he struck, plunging his blade into its waist, leaving another gash.
"What's wrong?" He taunted. "Can't keep up, you red-haired ugly ape? Come on!"
He mocked boldly but kept a cautious distance, wary of its erratic swings, silently praying the instructors would arrive soon.
Though he seemed in control, it was only because the creature hadn't adapted to Sakanade's rules, allowing him to stall. From the feel of his three strikes, Shinji knew the gap between them.
So tough.
Is this the legendary Hierro?
An Adjuchas… it'd take at least a captain to handle this.
He angled his body, hiding his trembling hand. Not from fear, the recoil from those strikes had nearly numbed it. He could barely grip his sword.
But he was overly cautious. The enraged Redhoste wouldn't notice such details.
At Shinji's taunts, it charged like a wild bull, roaring and swinging its massive arms, the air cracking with sonic booms.
Boom!
Boom, boom, boom!
Its hulking form crashed through the forest, red arms snapping ancient trees like twigs. It uprooted two, wielding them like clubs, swinging chaotically.
"I'll turn you into paste, you yellow-haired runt!!" it bellowed. "Die!"
Even Shinji didn't dare face such force head-on. He retreated, carefully tracking its movements.
If I can't land a fatal blow, I'll slow it down.
Despite the chaos, he stayed analytical, his gaze darting to its knees, heels, and joints.
If one cut won't sever, I'll make more.
But as he raised his head, the Bluedhoste's head, beside the red one, glanced at his true position.
Shinji's heart clenched.
He instinctively shifted with Shunpo.
Boom!
A giant tree, hurled like a javelin, stabbed into the ground far off, in the wrong direction.
Shinji exhaled, relieved.
Coincidence?
It had to be. A loud, reckless creature like this couldn't pinpoint him so fast.
Dismissing the thought, he seized the moment as the Redhoste threw another tree at an irrelevant spot. Shinji darted behind it, his blade arcing toward its ankle.
But as his sword bit into the massive joint, a crushing gust roared behind him.
Whoosh!
Shinji's eyes widened.
A blue fist, as large as his torso, swiped like swatting a mosquito, leaving a barely visible afterimage. It struck his side with devastating force.
The moment it connected, he heard a sound like porcelain shattering.
His body, still in mid-swing, twisted violently under the blow. Ribs, sternum, skull, eardrums, his entire left side felt pulverized. Skin tore, bodily fluids burst from gaping wounds like a crushed water sac.
His mind blanked.
In that instant, he understood why Sōsuke had been helpless against this strike.
The gap was too vast.
Boom!
His body shot like an arrow, crashing into the soil, skidding dozens of meters across the flattened ground.
In his fading vision, the Bluedhoste's head, once on the Redhoste's shoulder, was gone. Instead, it protruded from behind, its body extended.
As the Redhoste swung forward, the Bluedhoste mirrored it, striking backward in perfect sync.
A direct hit.
Blood poured from Shinji's curled form. "Cough… cough…"
He clung to his sword, his left arm lifeless. He didn't dare look down, only staring at the Bluedhoste.
How?
A brainless brute like that…
As the thought crossed his mind, the Bluedhoste's body retracted, its massive head re-emerging from the Redhoste's shoulder, turning to face him.
"So long as Bluedhoste moves opposite to Redhoste, we can hit you." The azure head said in its usual dim tone.
Paired with its terrifying power, the words carried a chilling indifference.
It wasn't stupid after all?
Shinji suddenly lost the urge to retort.
The dim-witted outsmarting the skilled.
No way around it.
"You bastard, Bluedhoste!" The Redhoste roared, flailing wildly. "I'm the one who'll crush him to paste!"
Shinji lay on the ground, his breaths shallow.
His vision blurred, likely from blood loss.
He wondered if Yamada and the second-years had escaped. They were so unlucky.
No.
Wait…
Shinji's lips curved into a complex smile.
The unluckiest was Sōsuke.
"That guy was the most talented of us all." He muttered. "Way stronger than me."
"And yet, you killed him so easily, before he could even show his true strength."
"If I were him, I'd be so frustrated I'd want to cry."
"You… you bastard!"
His voice, starting as a low mumble, grew louder, fiercer, until he was shouting through gritted teeth.
With a sudden surge, he raised his head. His face, half-hidden by his messy yellow bob, was smeared with blood and some other liquid, his expression ferocious.
From somewhere, strength returned.
Though his left side was shattered, he propped himself up with one hand, dragging his broken body forward, step by agonizing step, ignoring the pain threatening to snap his sanity. His right hand, caked in mud and blood, clung to his blade.
His voice rasped, hoarse. "How can I let this go?"
His shrill roar drew the Red and Bluedhostes' attention. Their four arms slammed the ground as they advanced, each step sending tremors that gripped the heart.
Shinji, leaning on his sword, tilted his head back defiantly. Sticky blood tinted his vision scarlet, but he refused to close his eyes.
The Redhoste loomed over him, raising its arm.
It swung down.
Shinji glared, eyes wide, unyielding.
In an instant, the massive arm, blotting out the sky, descended.
Thwack.
Shinji, frozen in his defiant glare, blinked.
A familiar tap sounded.
The Redhoste vanished.
In its place was an Asauchi, still sheathed, casually tapping his forehead.
Shinji stared, dazed, as a familiar figure stepped past him.
Looking down, his shattered left side was intact.
Meanwhile, the mountain-sized Red and Bluedhostes thrashed nearby, pounding the ground, fighting some unseen foe, roaring piercingly.
"So this is all an Adjuchas amounts to?" The figure chuckled. "Got me worried for nothing."
Sōsuke glanced back at the yellow-haired boy, a faint smile on his face.
"Truly foolish."
"You?!" Shinji sputtered.
***
Bonus Chapter:
100 Power Stones = 1 BC
300 Power Stones = 2 BC
500 Power Stones = 3 BC
700 Power Stones = 4 BC
1000 Power Stones = 5 BC
***
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