On Ginbu Town's main street, another sudden paranormal incident erupted—countless buildings collapsed with a thunderous roar, and the road split apart.
No human knew the cause. Most people only knew to flee in panic.
But in an era like this, there were always a small handful of people who weren't afraid to die.
They carried microphones, hoisted cameras, and ran straight into the flow.
People in the World of the Living usually called them… reporters.
"Right now, we're on the main thoroughfare of Ginbu Town, Tokyo.
Everyone can follow our camera and see it—buildings on both sides of the street suddenly look like they've been hit by some unknown explosive shockwave.
Not only have the walls suffered varying degrees of damage, some high-rise buildings even show signs of collapsing!
And as you can see, this intense shockwave seems to still be continuing—more vehicles are being lifted into the air out of nowhere…"
"Watch out!"
"Bzzzt—"
The feed cut out.
In this period, when human technology was only just beginning to develop at high speed, mobile phones and television networks had not yet been widely popularized. Broadcasting live footage to everyone in real time was not an easy thing.
But the people who fit that description did not include Kurosaki Masaki—who was currently attending an ordinary high school in Karakura Town.
Even if mobile phones weren't common yet, Masaki already had a piece of black tech in her hands that could rival one: a real-time signal catcher.
It was a special device recommended to her by a certain general-store owner. As the name implied, it could capture all kinds of television signals in real time across the entire island nation.
If Masaki wanted, in theory she could use it to watch any program she wanted—raw, unedited, real-time live broadcast.
Of course, as a Quincy, Kurosaki Masaki didn't have such lowbrow tastes.
She had only asked that miraculous general-store owner to install an additional special alarm module into the device.
As long as there were words like "abnormal," "danger," and the like in nearby TV or radio signals, the device would alert her.
And so Kurosaki Masaki saw the very last image of that reporter being flipped away by the shockwave.
That fleeting streak of white mist in the frame instantly made Masaki realize—Ginbu Town might be under attack.
Because it was September. The weather was cool, but not so cold that mist should appear.
The only things that could cause that… were Shinigami, or Hollows.
She had to go take a look.
If it was Shinigami, then fine.
But if it was Hollows…
Kurosaki Masaki wanted to prove herself!
Though she was temporarily staying with the Ishida family—also Quincy—Masaki, as the legitimate heir of the Kurosaki line, had inherited all of the Kurosaki clan's Quincy techniques.
And from the legacy left behind by her grandparents, she had learned certain advanced abilities ordinary Quincy could not grasp.
For example, she could briefly slip into her own shadow and nearby shadows, and move freely within them.
Or for another—she could control multiple Heilig Pfeil (Sacred Arrows) at once and have them fly along trajectories she set.
These were techniques even other "pure" Quincy, including the Ishida family, had never mastered.
Masaki firmly believed she had the qualifications to become an excellent Quincy on her own—rather than, as Ishida Sōken had said, having her "best destination" be becoming Ishida Ryūken's wife.
"Help me ask the teacher for leave—just say I've got something to do, so I'm heading home first~"
Masaki decided instantly. After saying that to her close friend, she immediately left the school.
And while everyone's attention was focused on Ginbu Town…
Hitsugaya Tōshirō's classmates—those second-year Shin'ō Academy students—also faced what might be the first real crisis of their lives.
The Arrancar Shawlong Koufang and the Arrancar Edrad Liones—two of Grimmjow's Fracción—blocked their path.
"This isn't a place you're allowed to go.
Disturbing our king's battle is a crime worthy of death."
The tall, black-haired Arrancar with a braid down his back—his head and left eye covered by a mask fragment—Shawlong Koufang, spoke as he stood before those young Shinigami.
"Ridiculous! You're Hollows, we're Shinigami—between us, we're enemies by default!"
A young Shinigami couldn't stand Shawlong's tone. He rushed forward without another word.
Psh!
One slash of Shawlong's hand.
That was all it took to pierce straight through the young Shinigami's chest.
He didn't even get the chance to cry for help.
"Idiot!
That's an Arrancar!
They're several levels above normal Hollows—I've heard even an Adjuchas-class Menos Grande is still a step below an Arrancar!
How could he possibly beat that thing?!"
One of the young Shinigami cursed.
"Then what do we do?
Isn't this supposed to be our practicum?"
"Are you stupid? An Arrancar like this—even seated officers might not win, and they want a bunch of second-years to fight?
This is definitely not a practicum!
I'm running. Do what you want!"
A smarter Shinigami was the first to bolt—
And died on the path of escape.
Because the other Arrancar—towering in build, gold-eyed, with half his hair short and gray on the left side and long deep-red strands on the right—Edrad Liones, had already formed a pincer with Shawlong Koufang around them.
"Boring… you Shinigami are way too weak!"
Edrad casually tossed the corpse in his hand aside and looked at the trembling young Shinigami in the middle, speaking with smug delight.
Then, from somewhere in the crowd, someone shouted—
"I'll fight you to the end!"
As if it sparked a final sliver of courage in desperation, all the remaining young Shinigami began chanting their still-awkward Kidō (Demon Arts) together at Shawlong and Edrad.
There was Hadō 31: Shakkahō (Red Flame Cannon), Hadō 32: Ōkasen (Yellow Fire Flash), Hadō 4: Byakurai (Pale Lightning)…
And Bakudō 4: Hainawa (Crawling Rope), Bakudō: Hōrin (Crushing Wheel), Bakudō 26: Kyokkō (Curved Light), Bakudō: Kōtotsu Sansen (Three-Flash Spike)…
Most of them stumbled over the incantations, and the power varied wildly.
Some people's Kidō even fizzled out halfway.
But that was the normal standard for the vast majority of Shinigami in Soul Society.
Or rather—being able to cast Kidō at this level as second-years meant many of them would become excellent graduates of the Shin'ō Academy in the future.
Only…
This level of Kidō, before Shawlong Koufang and Edrad Liones, looked completely powerless.
Because those two were numbered Arrancar—No. 13 and No. 11 among the current Arrancar, just beneath Hueco Mundo's strongest force: the Espada.
"Father, if this continues, they'll die."
Inside the roadside café, the roof had already been torn away, and only the wall on the side where Higashino Shuuichi and Nemu were sitting remained standing stubbornly in the wind.
Not because the wall was particularly sturdy—purely because someone behind it was secretly reinforcing it with spiritual pressure.
"Mhm. If you want to save them, then go ahead~"
Shuuichi nodded.
He didn't really want to act. If not for Nemu, he wouldn't mind watching these Shinigami die right here.
Because Kisuke Urahara still hadn't appeared. Shuuichi couldn't expose his own presence yet.
But Nemu could.
Still, by Shuuichi's judgment, if Nemu tried to take on both Shawlong Koufang and Edrad Liones at once, her odds of winning were small.
That said, if Nemu wanted to retreat, those two Arrancar probably couldn't do much—because if it was just interference, Shuuichi could handle it easily.
What he cared more about was the other side—
The fight between Hitsugaya Tōshirō and Grimmjow.
In this timeline—where Hitsugaya was not yet a captain, and had not mastered Bankai—
Hitsugaya shouldn't be a match for Grimmjow, right?
On the other side, after the aftermath of the explosion, Hitsugaya rose into the air.
A chilling cold continued to drag the surrounding temperature downward.
"Not bad, tiny Shinigami. I really did underestimate you at first!"
But Grimmjow hadn't taken much damage in that blast. The high-speed regeneration of a Menos Grande restored what little injury he had in a short time.
"Guncho Tsurara (Flock of Ice Pillars)!"
Hitsugaya coldly swung his blade downward from the sky.
In an instant, the frigid air condensed the moisture in the atmosphere into countless ice pellets—
And those pellets, like a flock of birds, plummeted from the sky toward Grimmjow on the ground.
For some reason, seeing Hitsugaya like this—ruthless and barely speaking—Higashino Shuuichi vaguely saw his own shadow in him.
It was just too similar to Shuuichi's own way of fighting.
Though, to begin with, Hitsugaya's original combat style was always like this.
Massive thumbs up!
Against enemies, you shouldn't waste words!
Shuuichi was deeply pleased.
After all, whether it was Kisaragi Shūsuke or Yushima Ōko, those two were each chattier than the last—they hadn't learned the essence of efficient combat from him at all.
But no matter how concise the fight was, it couldn't make up for a gap that was simply too large.
"Kill him, Pantera!"
As the Resurrección release command rang out from Grimmjow's mouth, his Zanpakutō vanished—and his body transformed into a white panther in an instant.
The blue markings stretched to his temples, his ears became feline, his hair became long enough to fall to his waist, and his mask fragment shifted from beneath his left cheek up to his forehead.
After releasing, Grimmjow was clad in white, tight armor. A segmented tail with a black tip grew from his back, his limbs darkened at the ends, and he gained a long mane and vicious claws.
Most Arrancar Resurrección took on beastlike or insectlike forms.
Unlike Shinigami Zanpakutō release—whose first hallmark was an increase in spiritual pressure—
An Arrancar's Resurrección most directly manifested as an all-around boost to strength, speed, and every other physical aspect.
And so Grimmjow was extremely arrogant—he kicked off the ground, charging straight into the countless ice pellets falling from the sky, letting them slam into him head-on.
With a single deafening crack of shattered ice, Grimmjow's claw struck Hitsugaya's Zanpakutō.
That violent impact traveled through Hitsugaya's body and into the ice wings behind him.
In the blink of an eye, those wings shattered into a long, narrow blue galaxy behind Hitsugaya's back.
If Shinigami battles were more like a gorgeous performance of technique—
Then Arrancar battles were more like savage impact and primal collision.
In midair, facing Grimmjow's full-force assault, Hitsugaya retreated again and again.
The ice he formed in front of himself often cracked and exploded the moment it finished condensing, smashed apart by Grimmjow with brutally violent force.
"Not enough, not enough!
Trash Shinigami like you—completely unworthy!"
Grimmjow shouted incomprehensible things as he chased Hitsugaya down.
But Hitsugaya had no time to think about what Grimmjow meant.
His right arm holding the blade was already numb. He was forced to grip his sword with both hands.
Even so, his defeat was only a matter of time.
The sharply lowered temperature around them seemed to have no effect on Grimmjow at all.
"Damn it!"
Hitsugaya gritted his teeth. He refused to be beaten by Grimmjow here!
He still had to become a true Shinigami!
That was the promise he had made to Matsumoto Rangiku-san!
How could he fail like this?!
There had to be a way!
This was an evaluation—so there had to be a way to pass!
What was it?
Hitsugaya remembered what Matsumoto Rangiku-san once told him: a Shinigami's Zanpakutō had two release forms.
One was Shikai.
One was Bankai.
And only those who mastered Bankai could become captains.
"Bankai… Bankai!"
Hitsugaya knew it—Bankai was his only hope.
But back then, Matsumoto Rangiku-san hadn't told him how to master Bankai.
And now, he didn't have the chance to find her and ask.
He could only rely on his imagination.
Rely on his will to win—
And make his Zanpakutō feel that desperate desire!
"I'm done playing, tiny Shinigami!
Now die—Desgarrón (Panther King's Claw)!"
Above Hitsugaya, Grimmjow opened two massive, blue, blazing arcs—his finishing move.
And Hitsugaya's eyes were completely swallowed by that overwhelming blue light.
Facing that incomparable pressure, Hitsugaya shouted to his Zanpakutō—
"Answer me, Hyorinmaru!"
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