Hueco Mundo, desert region.
A dozen Shinigami clad in black lay crouched behind a sand dune.
"Lieutenant, that Menos is strong! There are too many Cero bombs—we can't even get close!"
Ōmaeda Kishinosuke's hand trembled as he clutched his wounded shoulder.
The pressure from that Menos was overwhelming.
They didn't stand a chance.
"Cut the chatter! Focus on healing!"
Shihōin Yoruichi glanced at her subordinates. The situation looked grim.
After only a brief exchange, more than half of the Onmitsukidō had already fallen.
These weren't just any subordinates—she had brought the elite of the Onmitsukidō with her.
Yet they still couldn't break the stalemate.
The enemy Menos could manufacture Cero bombs from its own kind, and now they were surrounded by an array of those very bombs. There were simply too many to defend against.
They had tried multiple times to break the encirclement, all in vain.
Now hidden behind the dunes, the Shinigami were using Kaidō to hastily patch up their injuries.
"This can't go on. If we want to defeat that Menos, we need to break through the Cero bomb perimeter."
Ōmaeda Kishinosuke bit his lip. His trembling hand clutched tighter. "Lieutenant, let us draw their fire. We'll buy you time!"
He was ready to charge again.
"Absolutely not! That's suicide!"
The outside was crawling with Cero bombs. Entering meant certain death. Yoruichi couldn't accept that kind of sacrifice.
At that moment, sand burst up from beneath the dune as a pangolin-like Hollow emerged from below.
"All rested up?"
A sweet, childish voice echoed from within the creature.
"If you're ready, come play with Timu!"
Even more disturbing was the sight below the pangolin Hollow—a bunch of heads poking out of the sand.
These Hollows swelled rapidly, their bodies surging with explosive energy.
"Move!"
Yoruichi shouted.
The Shinigami, panic-stricken, scattered as fast as they could.
A blue sun rose over the Hueco Mundo desert.
BOOM!!
Sand dunes were annihilated, the shockwave ripping across the landscape in crashing waves.
When the storm settled, the terrain had drastically changed.
At the center of the explosion, a massive crater now marred the desert.
At the crater's edge, Yoruichi pushed away the sand and crawled out with effort.
Pffft—
She spat out a mouthful of blood onto the scorched sand.
She had escaped the center of the blast, but the shockwave had still injured her.
Pain throbbed across her entire body.
Yoruichi pulled out a secret pill and swallowed it. The pain quickly faded.
Her injuries were now temporarily suppressed.
Sensing her team's Reiatsu, her expression darkened.
None of them could still stand. Her subordinates were completely incapacitated.
"If you don't tell me your true name now, we're going to die here together—Raibyō!"
Her eyes fixed on the empty space beside her.
But she wasn't alone. Only she could see the black-haired, cat-eared girl standing there.
It was her Zanpakutō, Raibyō.
Traditionally, to achieve Bankai, a Shinigami must first manifest their Zanpakutō's spirit, then subdue it to learn its true name.
Yoruichi had already completed the manifestation.
But Raibyō was a stubborn feline and hadn't revealed her name.
"To die in a lovers' pact with Yoruichi... sounds kinda nice," Raibyō's ears twitched. "She's coming!"
"I'm not dying here!" Yoruichi leapt away.
A massive shadow loomed above. A giant Menos came crashing down, smashing into where Yoruichi had just stood.
"All the other toys are broken already..."
Timu, standing on the giant's shoulder, pouted. "Can't you last a little longer?"
"Otherwise Timu's going to get bored again!" Her grin turned feral. "Crush her, Pascal!"
THUD!
The giant vanished in an instant and reappeared right above Yoruichi.
Its iron fist came crashing down.
But Yoruichi had already activated her Shunkō form.
The thunderous power of her Zanpakutō fused with Reiatsu turbulence, boosting her speed to the extreme.
Flash!
She Shunpoed behind Timu.
"I was just wondering how to get to you, and here you are, all gift-wrapped."
Yoruichi's form became a bolt of lightning, slicing clean through Timu.
Timu blinked in confusion as her vision skewed and dropped.
"Why... can I see... my own body?"
She clutched her severed head in disbelief.
Devoid of strength, she tumbled from the giant's shoulder.
"Timu... is dead..."
Her head hit the ground.
"Finally took care of that bomb girl..."
Yoruichi exhaled slightly.
What annoyed her the most was how that bomb girl had kept placing Cero bombs, making it impossible to approach.
Timu wasn't strong in close combat. If not for the giant and the explosives, Yoruichi would've beheaded her long ago.
Now that Timu had foolishly come close, it was a perfect opportunity—one she didn't waste.
"TIMU!!!"
The giant bellowed.
It was Yoruichi's first time hearing it speak. The drum-like voice rang painfully in her ears.
"Why did you break my Timu!!!"
It grabbed Timu's head and hurled it at Yoruichi.
Her gaze sharpened—she sensed an enormous surge of Reiatsu from the head.
That wasn't the residual energy of a dead Hollow.
The head swelled, and a terrifying blue Cero burst forth.
BOOM!!
A second blue sun ignited over the Hueco Mundo sands.
Flash!
Yoruichi appeared mid-air.
"So Timu was also a Cero bomb!"
Now she understood: the Menos creating the bombs was the giant itself!
That small, energetic Hollow—Timu—had only been one of its many Cero bomb constructs!
The giant picked up Timu's corpse and tore off one of her arms.
"Why did you break my Timu!!!"
It flung the arm, and another Cero exploded.
"Give me back my Timu!"
"I'll turn you into the new Timu!"
Timu's limp body, now little more than a rag doll, was ripped apart and tossed piece by piece—until only a mangled torso remained.
Yoruichi zigzagged through the air, narrowly avoiding each detonation, steadily closing the gap.
In the next instant, she flashed above the giant and swung her blade down.
CLANG—
Her Zanpakutō clanged against its armored skull—metal against metal.
Her eyes widened. It didn't even cut!
The iron fist came at her, but she Shunpoed away just in time.
"I can't break through its defense!"
She panted.
The combination of Shunkō and her Zanpakutō's lightning gave her incredible speed—enough to dodge the blasts—but it drained her stamina quickly.
The giant, seeing its bombs were ineffective, stuffed Timu's remains into its mouth and started chewing.
Then it opened its jaws wide.
A blue beam fired instantly.
Such speed!
There was no charge-up. It was the fastest Cero Yoruichi had ever seen.
Worse—it predicted her movement. She had no time to evade.
She could only take it head-on.
BOOM!!
A third blue sun bathed the land and sky.
"Did I get her?"
The giant hesitated. He still wanted to turn her into the new "Timu." Blasting her to pieces would ruin that plan.
Elsewhere, two injured members of the Onmitsukidō lay watching.
"Lieutenant!"
They cried.
"Wait—what is that!"
Ōmaeda Kishinosuke's sharp eyes caught it—something was leaking out of the explosion.
"That's lightning!"
Just then, thunder boomed from the turbulent skies.
Lightning flashed brighter than the blue sun itself.
Everywhere the eye could see—lightning.
A massive claw of pure lightning tore through the explosion.
From within the blue sun, a gigantic beast of thunder emerged.
At its center stood Shihōin Yoruichi.
"Bankai—Raijū Goka!"
The beast resembled a feline, sleek and agile.
In a flash, it was upon the giant Menos.
Its claw swiped once—the Menos was hurled away by sheer force.
"I... I can't move?!"
The giant felt his body paralyzed, lightning locking him down.
He crashed through two dunes before skidding to a halt.
Even then, the residual lightning still paralyzed him, making every movement twitchy and delayed.
He tried to charge a Cero, but the lingering electricity disrupted it.
Now panicked, the giant regretted wasting his Cero bombs toying with his "toys."
"So this... is my Bankai!" Yoruichi's eyes sparkled. "Maybe I should try that unfinished technique."
Feline curiosity beat out caution. Her golden eyes shimmered with sparks.
"Shunkō: Raijū Goka!"
The lightning beast collapsed inward, wrapping itself around Yoruichi.
Lightning clung to her like a second skin.
Thunder crowned her head, mingling with her long hair to form cat ears.
A tail of lightning extended behind her.
Ever since mastering the Cat Transformation technique, she'd developed feline habits.
Now fused with Raibyō's power, her beastly nature surged to the forefront.
Yoruichi crouched low on all fours, a true cat-demon in form.
Flash! She appeared behind the Menos, now holding a piece of its bone armor.
She sniffed it curiously—then made a face of disgust and tossed it aside.
The Menos felt a numbness atop its head and touched it—only to find something squishy.
It was a brain.
Its skull had been lifted.
What Yoruichi had grabbed was its skull plate!
Now brain-exposed, the giant didn't die immediately—but went mad.
"RAAAAARGH!!!"
His body began to swell.
He was turning himself into a giant Cero bomb to take her down with him!
Yoruichi glanced back, then vanished.
In the next instant, lightning pierced the Menos' chest.
She reappeared in the air, holding a still-beating heart.
Her speed was so immense the heart hadn't even realized it had been removed.
The Menos froze mid-transformation, its body deflating.
BOOM.
The massive corpse hit the ground.
"Timu... I want Timu..."
With that final whisper, the giant fell into eternal slumber.
"It's... over!!!"
"We're alive!"
"Lieutenant is amazing!!!"
The surviving Shinigami sighed in relief.
Their injuries left them helpless. If Yoruichi had lost, none would've survived.
Thankfully, she won.
Then Yoruichi's nose twitched. She sensed something.
Her eyes lit up.
"That's Sensei's lightning!"
She vanished on the spot—leaving her subordinates behind.
Her current state was more beast than human. Reason had given way to instinct.
"Wait... Lieutenant, where are you going?! Come back and help us!!"
Ōmaeda Kishinosuke lay on the ground, shouting after her as she disappeared into the sky.
Forest of Menos.
Lisa, Isane, Munemitsu, Tetsuzaemon, and Maki were fighting as they retreated, needing to lure the Hollow army to the designated location.
All five had already released their Zanpakutō.
The number of Hollows was overwhelming, and the pressure immense. They had no room to hold back.
Lisa wielded her long spear, weaving through the swarm of Hollows like a dragon.
Her speed gave her a huge advantage when mowing down enemies. After their teacher, Isshin, and Komamura held off the stronger Hollows, the most powerful enemies left in the group were the Gillian-class. But those Gillians were sluggish, and couldn't even touch the edge of her clothes.