(T/N: Hello!! This is the first chapter of the day! Also, with your help, the novel One Piece: Surrounded at Marineford? Yeah, I Don't Think So, has reached 1k in the collection!!
I will be dropping a Bonus Chapter as thanks for that!)
BOOM!!!
A red Cero blasted a massive crater into the ground. The surrounding rock pillars shattered under the shockwave, and countless shards of stone and sand rained down from above.
With a sharp whoosh, the rising dust was pierced, and Nanatsuki appeared behind the Adjuchas.
A large gash opened on the Adjuchas' abdomen—but not a drop of blood spilled.
Nanatsuki lightly tapped the foothold formed from condensed Reishi, then vanished again.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Nanatsuki's form flashed around, leaving countless afterimages circling the Adjuchas.
"Katori-ryu Secret Art: Quadrant Shun Strike!"
Nanatsuki's Quadrant Shun Strike was no longer limited to four afterimages. The number he could create now depended on his Shunpo speed.
With Shunkō: Raikiri Form activated, his Shunpo speed reached terrifying levels. In mere moments, dozens—no, hundreds—of afterimages surrounded the Adjuchas.
Each afterimage that appeared brought a fresh cut to the Adjuchas' body.
Some of the sliced-off flesh morphed into small Hollows.
These spawned clones tried to chase Nanatsuki with the same relentless drive, but he was far too fast. None could catch up. All they could do was watch as he blinked around endlessly.
"Shinigami, your Shunpo is fast. I can't even guard against it," the Adjuchas jeered, utterly unfazed. "But your blade cannot kill me. Even if you slice me into threads, you won't reach my division limit! And you… will be the one to die of exhaustion!"
Even as he spoke, hundreds more wounds appeared across his body.
Then suddenly, the Adjuchas' sneer stiffened.
Something felt off. His mind… it felt sluggish, like it was grinding to a halt. His thoughts slowed to a crawl.
But Nanatsuki didn't stop. He continued slicing through him, relentlessly.
Panic welled up in the Adjuchas' heart. A formless terror gripped his mind. He didn't know what was happening, but he instinctively understood—if he stayed here, something unbearable would happen.
He tried to flee.
But his body... wouldn't obey.
There was a lag between his thoughts and movements, as if mind and flesh had come unlinked.
He desperately forced his body to move—but the more he struggled, the slower he became.
It felt like trying to power a train by pedaling a bicycle.
By then, Nanatsuki had carved another hundred wounds into his flesh.
"Shinigami! What are yo—ou—sayi—ng…" The Adjuchas' eyes lost focus. His consciousness seemed to float away from his flesh, which moved no longer under his command.
Everything around him warped. It was like an invisible barrier had severed his connection to the world.
Then he dropped—falling like a stone.
He hit the ground hard, tumbling through the dust.
Moments later, the Adjuchas could no longer maintain his humanoid form, collapsing into a shapeless white mass of flesh.
"Shishoku no Shi—it disrupts cognition, impairing mental processes," Nanatsuki muttered.
Azashiro Kana's Shishoku ability was terrifying—it could affect the senses directly—but its activation requirements were incredibly strict.
The effects of Shishoku escalated in layers, with a significant delay before each took hold. Its influence on the senses grew slowly.
The longer the battle lasted, and the more times the opponent was hit, the stronger its effects.
At present, Nanatsuki could only draw out about half of Shishoku's potential. That meant he had to land even more hits to stack its effects.
Normally, anything that could take this many hits from him would have died long ago—long before Shishoku could activate.
But this Adjuchas' powerful division ability allowed it to survive nearly a thousand strikes.
And that gave Nanatsuki the time he needed to unleash Shishoku no Shi.
That was the true strength of his Release—he could copy other abilities to counteract natural disadvantages, and even use those powers to reverse-engineer victory.
Nanatsuki stared at the quivering mound of white flesh, his thoughts churning.
He hadn't come to Hueco Mundo for nothing—he had intended to capture a few Hollows for research.
And this one, with its division ability, was the perfect test subject.
Nanatsuki flickered across the battlefield, gathering up all the split clones of the Adjuchas.
With its core consciousness severed, the scattered clones had all turned into immobile lumps of meat—though smaller and less developed than the main body.
He tossed the clones onto the original mass, watching as they fused of their own accord. It was a neural reflex of the Adjuchas' physiology. Even without thought, it tried to reassemble itself.
Nanatsuki used Shadow Bind to restrain the Adjuchas. If it woke up, he'd know instantly.
With that done, he turned his attention to the other battlefield through Shadow Space.
Inside the Shadow Space, Nanatsuki's Shadow Sights dotted every surface. The other battlefield was also within its bounds—he could monitor everything in real-time, which was why he'd felt confident leaving his disciples with Asido.
That battle wasn't over yet. Over thirty Gillian still remained.
Nanatsuki melded into the shadows, racing toward the second battlefield.
These Gillian, summoned by the Adjuchas-class Hollow, were the mindless kind—unable to evolve, lacking true consciousness. They operated mostly on instinct.
Without the Adjuchas to lead them, they posed far less of a threat to Asido's group.
All six Shin'o Spiritual Arts Academy trainees and Saitō Akane had already achieved Shikai. Their abilities were diverse and synergistic, allowing them to disrupt the Gillian with precision.
The Gillian weren't smart. When they fired their Cero, they didn't care if their allies were in the way.
So the trainees used their smaller size and agility to bait the blasts toward other Gillian.
Hirako Shinji and the others led the Gillian into friendly fire traps.
Several Gillian had already been killed by their own kind's Cero.
Asido's subordinates employed similar tactics. Those who hadn't unlocked Shikai focused on taking down regular Hollows.
Asido himself roamed the field, striking solo. He watched the situation closely, stepping in the moment anyone was in danger.
Then, the Shinigami on the ground sensed a powerful surge of Reiatsu from above. One by one, they looked up.
The Forest of Menos had erupted into a furious wave of scorching wind.
Sand and gravel churned through the air, then abruptly melted and fused into chunks of molten earth.
The Shinigami stared in horror at the storm above, unable to see clearly—only the monstrous pressure leaking from it.
From the heart of the heatstorm, a titanic giant emerged—wreathed in golden flames and clad in blazing armor.
The Flamebound Armor of Dust had taken shape.
The flaming giant towered over a hundred meters tall.
It slammed into the earth, crushing two Gillian beneath its blazing foot, sending sand and dust flying.
BOOM—
The Shinigami below felt the impact like an earthquake, staggering and falling to the ground.
A massive golden hand punched through the swirling dust and slammed down on a Gillian's skull.
SSSSHHHH!
The scorching heat carbonized the Hollow's head, its screams echoing in agony.
Then—
The golden hand clenched.
Silence.
The Gillian's skull and mask shattered like brittle glass, and the blood that sprayed out evaporated instantly.
The heatwave swept the dust away, revealing the true form of the giant in golden flame.
Its terrifying presence made every Shinigami hold their breath.
Flamebound Armor of Dust.