Thinking back to the scene yesterday, Asano Kiyoshi let out a deep sigh.
After those three people were swiftly cut to pieces, the remaining members—who had barely any fighting spirit to begin with—became like headless flies, running in all directions and fighting on their own, with no sign of teamwork at all.
But honestly, this was pretty much the norm for the expedition squads. After all, most of the expedition team members were criminals who'd been exiled. Generally, once they were sent to Hueco Mundo, there was never any intention of letting them return. As far as things stood, Shinigami had almost no means to travel back and forth from Hueco Mundo—except for the rare occurrence of a Garganta opening up by chance.
If the expedition teams wanted to return, they had to use special spirit particle communication devices to connect across realms. Then, with the combined power of two captain-level reiatsu users and the Kido Corps, they could open the Dangai Gate to travel back and forth.
When it came to truly balancing the three realms, multiple captain-level beings would be dispatched to Hueco Mundo to hunt down Hollows, maintaining the balance of spirit particles and souls across the worlds.
Of course, in the Soul Society's thousands of years of history, this had only ever happened a few times.
Looking at the utterly broken formation of the expedition squad around him, Asano Kiyoshi's expression turned serious. If these people had just listened to him even a little, it wouldn't have ended up like this.
Forget it—dwelling on that was pointless. For now, the priority was to completely eliminate these Hollow groups.
Asano Kiyoshi drew his Zanpakuto. Dark spiritual pressure slowly flowed along the blade. He didn't release his Shikai; in an environment where the number of enemies was unknown, conserving every bit of energy was absolutely necessary.
Spirit particles gathered beneath his feet. As the scenery around him blurred by in an instant, Asano Kiyoshi appeared directly in front of a Hollow shaped like a giant turtle.
With a swing of his blade, he felt slight resistance as it cut through—he split the Hollow's mask clean in half!
With a piercing wail, the Hollow's body dissolved into blue spirit particles and white threads, slowly fading into the air.
As the blue spirit particles drifted away, a few of them entered Asano Kiyoshi's body, becoming nourishment for his growth.
Feeling that faintly cold spirit energy, so different from that of a Shinigami, Asano Kiyoshi gripped his Zanpakuto tighter.
But he didn't immediately continue cutting down every small fry Hollow. Instead, he moved across the entire battlefield, ready to assist any Shinigami who were about to be killed or gravely wounded.
Kido, Hakuda, Shunpo, Zanjutsu—The four core Shinigami skills were used to the fullest in just a few minutes.
His skill and perfect timing even caught the eye of Maruya Naoto, who was deep in the bloodshed. With blood dripping from the corner of his mouth, Maruya grinned and muttered:
"Looks like we've got quite the monster on our side this time. Interesting!"
With that, he swung his blade again, cleaving the dark red-furred Hollow before him cleanly in half.
Most of the weaker Hollows had no intelligence; they acted purely on animal instincts. But once they sensed that Asano Kiyoshi was far more dangerous than anyone else, they instinctively grouped together and charged at him.
Seeing the incoming swarm of Hollows, Asano Kiyoshi's face stayed calm—if anything, he felt a hint of delight. He fixed his eyes on them and began chanting:
"Hado Number Twelve — Fushibi!"
As the words fell, a net of red spiritual energy spread out, ensnaring the swarming small Hollows.
Before they could break free of the net, Asano Kiyoshi's voice rang out again:
"Ruler! Mask of flesh and blood, all creation, fluttering wings, crowned with humanity's name! Scorching heat and strife, across the seas, rolling south, step forward!"
"Hado Number Thirty-One — Shakkaho!"
With the full incantation cast, a surge of crimson flames rushed out like a tidal wave of death, engulfing the trapped Hollows.
The explosion echoed out, the firelight painting everyone's faces red. The intense heat even melted some of the sand around them.
At the center of the blast, the small Hollows had all been reduced to spirit particles, their bodies sacrificed to the endless white desert.
With Asano Kiyoshi and Maruya Naoto sharing the bulk of the pressure, the scattered and disorganized squad finally managed to finish off the Hollows they'd been fighting.
Unfortunately, despite Asano Kiyoshi's support, the initial chaos and panic still cost them dearly. Three more Shinigami died in that battle. Combined with the one Maruya had cleaved earlier, plus the three who ignored orders and were hacked apart when they tried to run—seven dead in total.
In less than two hours, this 20-man expedition team was down to just 13 people.
But this was normal. After all, theirs was hardly the only expedition unit sent in—there were at least a dozen other squads like theirs.These people were exiles. No one really cared whether they lived or died.
After dealing with that wave of Hollows, Maruya Naoto approached Asano Kiyoshi. His body was covered in blood, the smell so thick it made people squint.
He looked at Asano Kiyoshi, a slightly creepy grin on his face.
"Hey, you—when we get back to the Soul Society, let's have a match!"
Asano Kiyoshi just replied vaguely:"We'll see when the time comes."
Hearing that, Maruya just snorted and went back to wiping the blood off his blade.
Meanwhile, Asano Kiyoshi turned to the surviving members and called out:"Come over here. I'll use Kaido to patch you up a bit."
The others hesitated, but eventually came over. After a simple round of healing, Asano Kiyoshi had effectively taken command of the squad.
It was only natural—his actions and his strength in dealing with the Hollow swarm made him someone they could trust.
Asano Kiyoshi's new "command" didn't bring him any real benefit, though. He didn't expect them to accomplish anything grand—he just didn't want them dying pointlessly.Maybe it was just a sliver of a conscience, but looking at the young faces among the group and the worn, scarred old ones, he felt a twinge of softness.
Talking briefly with them, he realized they weren't all irredeemable criminals—some insisted they'd been framed by nobles. How true that was, he could only judge for himself.
Still, even with the command now in his hands, Asano Kiyoshi couldn't help feeling a bit troubled about what to do next.
T/N: For up to 30 chapters ahead on my translations, become a p@tron at [email protected]/LordHipposApostle