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Four Ceros of strange colors suddenly erupted into the night sky. Su Li's eyes flashed with joy as he quietly placed his hands before him, while beside him Rukia, tense and uncertain, clutched the sleeve of his haori.
"Guluā¦"
Hirako Shinji, Hiyori, and Kurosaki Ichigo swallowed hard in unison, their eyes locked on the boy, terrified of missing the slightest detail. Purple, blue, red, rose-redāfour blazing beams hurtled forward before colliding with a fifth, a deep black.
Boom!!
The heavens split in a terrible explosion, strange fireworks brightening the night until stars and city lights alike paled into insignificance. At that moment, there were only four burning colors in the world.
The blast wave swept outward. Tormented branches finally gave way and Ulala's roots were torn from the earth, flung into the air as if seeking freedom. The grass beneath Hirako and the others was stripped bare, reduced to ragged earth. Shinji and Hiyori were driven back by the gale, their feet gouging deep tracks across the ground, while Ichigo was outright swept off balance, clinging desperately to the jagged eaves of a private home as his body swung wildly in the storm.
"Backā¦ why does this happen every timeā¦" he gritted out, clutching the roof with bleeding fingers. For a moment he even missed Urahara's oversized fan.
"Isn't this commotion too loud?!" Shinji's voice trembled as his eyes widened at the towering mushroom cloud. In his perception, countless reiatsu were already rushing toward themāMasked Legion, Urahara Kisuke, Shihouin Yoruichi, and from Soul Society itself, a tide of Shinigami. Even the dullest observer would notice such destruction.
Yammy and the others also sensed the reinforcements, yet none could spare a thought. Their gazes, wide and unblinking, were fixed on the blazing cloud above. Yammy, Grimmjow, Rubyāeach felt the same dread. Could such a fused Cero truly obliterate the boy?
Everyone waited, nerves fraying.
A streak cut through the airāswish!āand the Masked Legion appeared first, landing heavily. Two more shadows followed. Urahara Kisuke and Shihouin Yoruichi had also arrived. No one spoke. Every eye turned upward to the roiling cloud, silent, taut, unwilling to breathe.
The haze thinned.
"Alive!" Shinji and Urahara shouted together, their eyes sharp. They did not mean Su Liābut Rukia. They had felt her reiatsu, unbroken. Moments later, the others sensed it too.
"Cutā¦ these two bastardsā¦" Yammy and Ruby's faces twisted, while Grimmjow's hand slowly lowered. He had half expected this, yet the truth still clawed at himātheir combined strike, four Ceros fused into one, had failed to even kill the girl standing at the boy's side.
Wanda Wise stared blankly, eyes empty, as the clouds drifted apart to reveal a figure.
The boy stood unbowed, arm raised. His haori's sleeve was gone, revealing a blackened arm gleaming with metallic sheen, faint smoke curling from his wrist. Yet his body bore no scars. Behind him, Rukia clung to his back, her face pale, fear not yet faded. Aside from a bloodstain from earlier, she remained uninjured.
Her eyes lifted to him, dazed, unfocused.
"ā¦Noā¦ are you okay?" she asked softly.
The boy nodded, lowering his hand. "Never mind."
The girl lingered in silence, unable to answer. The evening wind swept through the wreckage. The world held still. Only the boy's quiet murmur broke the hush.
"It's really hardā¦ but the fabricāpoor review."
His blackened arm slowly returned to flesh tone. Crack, crack. He dusted his palm, face carrying a strange satisfaction, like a child pleased with a new toy, innocent and oddly pure.
"Hey, baldy, did you see that clearly?" Hiyori whispered, voice still trembling. "What kind of move was that?"
"You ask me, who do I ask?" Shinji muttered. Though once a captain of the Gotei 13, even he had never witnessed such a techniqueāreinforcing the body to such extremes, shrugging off the fused might of four Ceros. It was beyond unheard of.
"Is that another White Hits technique of his?" Yoruichi frowned, incredulous.
"ā¦It's possible," Kisuke admitted, rubbing his chin. "To harden, to blacken like thatā¦"
Sally scribbled furiously into her notebook from afar, cheeks tinged pink.
Suddenly, countless sounds of air breaking filled the distance. Faces tightened. The Masked Legion vanished in a flashāstill fugitives, their names not yet cleared, they could not be seen.
At the same moment, a shadow appeared behind the Espada.
"The mission is complete. Let's go." Ulquiorra's voice was flat.
"Wait for meā" Ruby began, but Ulquiorra had already torn open a black garganta, dragging them inside without pause. A second maw opened beneath Wanda Wise, consuming him in silence. Within heartbeats, the sky closed, and the Arrancar were gone.
"Where?! Where are those Arrancar?!"
"Baka! Hack them down!!"
"The 17th Seat of Division 13, Kozuki Momotaro, reporting!!"
Dozens of Shinigami rushed onto the scene, high-spirited and ready for battle, but the Arrancar had already vanished. Confusion spread among the ranks until their eyes lifted to the sky.
There, under the pale moonlight, stood only a boy and a girl.
Sensing the stares from below, Su Li smiled faintly, then turned to Rukia. "Rukia, I'll leave the aftermath to you."
She blinked, startled. "Thenā¦ where are you going?"
"To Soul Society." He smiled again.
"ā¦And after that?" Her hands twisted in the fabric of her robes, tone faintly pleading.
"Thatā¦ we'll talk about later." Su Li lifted his hand gently to her cheek, wiping away the streak of blood. Rukia said nothing, eyes closing as he brushed her face clean.
Satisfied, Su Li exhaled softly. "Gone."
He stepped onceāand disappeared.
Under the moonlight, the girl stood frozen, staring at the empty space where he had been. For a long time, she could not move, could not even breathe.
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