Facing the Strongest Enemy
Shiraishi wasn't a battle fanatic—he simply wanted to grow stronger.
Desler alone had given him a staggering three hundred experience points, enough not only to push him past level ten but to add another eighty on top. The thought of how much an Espada like Nnoitra Gilga might yield made his blood stir with anticipation.
He arrived at the northern outskirts of the Tsunayashiro estate. Unknown wildflowers, pink and white, covered the hillsides, and verdant trees dotted the mountainside. It was a tranquil scene, doomed to be shattered.
Better the wilderness than the settlement behind him, where wheat fields and clustered homes still stood.
Boom.
Nnoitra, following Shiraishi's reiatsu, landed heavily, trampling the flowers beneath his feet. His spiritual pressure erupted unchecked, violent and suffocating, tearing the beauty of the scene into insignificance.
Shiraishi's face hardened.
There was a reason he had eliminated Desler first—at level nine, he hadn't dared face Nnoitra head-on. The Espada's monstrous reiatsu, his hierro—the toughest of all the Espada—and his sadistic will to fight made him the deadliest opponent Shiraishi had encountered yet.
"So it's you. The one who killed Takehiko Tsunayashiro… and Desler. Heh… very good."
Nnoitra's single visible eye widened with glee. Silver hair, modern attire—there was no mistaking this was the man Aizen had marked for death.
Excitement roared through his body. A powerful opponent was the finest intoxication—better than wine, better than blood.
"Hahahaha!"
His manic laughter echoed as he swung Santa Teresa, his massive crescent blade. The weapon's movement was deceptively simple, but backed by his spiritual pressure, its destructive force was monstrous.
Shiraishi closed in without hesitation. He still hadn't drawn his blade.
"Die!" Nnoitra roared, insulted that anyone would meet his strike barehanded. Golden reiatsu surged along his blade, the pressure so fierce the very air screamed.
Bang!
Shiraishi's hand met the blade—and golden currents erupted, enveloping him.
It was the passive effect of his skill, the Rurouni Kenshin Shield. The intent he had accumulated earlier now manifested as a spherical current of light.
Seventy percent of Nnoitra's force was dispersed. The remaining thirty still shattered the shield, but it was enough—Shiraishi gripped the weapon and countered.
He unsheathed his sword in a single motion, thrusting straight for Nnoitra's heart. Hollows had vital points like humans—the brain and heart. At this range, it should have been fatal.
Clang!
The strike bounced off. Sparks flew. His hands went numb.
Even with his Steel Flash skill and reiatsu at 7,550, the blade hadn't pierced.
Nnoitra threw his head back and laughed. "Hah! Did you really think a dull sword could cut me? My hierro is absolute!"
His left hand shot out, aiming for Shiraishi's chest.
Shiraishi instantly released his grip and retreated. Without the shield, he couldn't risk direct contact again. Nnoitra's grin widened—so the strange barrier wasn't permanent.
He bit his tongue, blood spilling, and reiatsu condensed on its tip. The Cero blazed to life—golden, feral—and launched like lightning.
Shiraishi swung his sword, conjuring a wall of compressed wind. The Cero struck and vanished silently into the barrier.
Nnoitra's eye narrowed. "That's no kidō. If it's your Zanpakutō's power, then what was that shield? A Zanpakutō should only have one ability." His curiosity was edged with fury. "Just what the hell are you?"
"Does it matter?" Shiraishi replied coolly. "We're here to fight, aren't we?"
"You're right. Whoever you are—I'll kill you!"
Nnoitra charged again, both hands gripping Santa Teresa, cleaving downward with overwhelming force.
Shiraishi's senses flared. He vanished into wind, slipping past the blow, then countered with Steel Flash—a circular golden arc. The slash scraped across Nnoitra's lower back, scattering sparks but leaving no wound.
Two strikes landed. The Steel Flash's layered effect began to build, golden air currents rising around Shiraishi.
"What is this?" Nnoitra hissed, his body instinctively retreating.
Shiraishi smirked. "What's the matter? Scared already?"
"Afraid of you?!" Nnoitra bellowed, fury shaking him to his core. Every nerve screamed the same command—Kill him!
"Then try this."
Shiraishi thrust his blade forward. A golden tornado erupted, towering over ten meters high, sweeping up flowers and soil, its roar like thunder.
Nnoitra's eye flickered with doubt. A tornado? A disaster for humans, yes—but to an Espada, even a Menos Grande could snort it away.
He snarled, firing a standard Cero, a torrent of light colliding with the storm.
But the tornado devoured it, spiraling the energy within. Nnoitra realized too late—its pull had caught him. His body was dragged forward, sucked into the whirling gale.
"Damn you!" He struggled, but the suction overpowered even his hierro. His massive frame lifted into the sky, swallowed by the golden storm.
Shiraishi didn't hesitate. He unleashed his ultimate move.