Hueco Mundo.
Arata's figure darted back and forth through the group of Hollows, and every swing of his sword was followed by the piercing shriek of a Gillian.
Scattered spirit particles continuously gathered into streams, and the flames on Meigetsu's blade grew increasingly intense, like a greedy beast devouring the power of the defeated.
"Third one."
Arata turned and sliced off another Gillian's leg. The Hollow, who lost its balance and toppled forward, appeared in his eyes as a lamb led to slaughter.
Just as he was about to finish it with a Nether Flame Slash, Arata suddenly heard a sharp sound of air cracking behind his back.
Three blood-red Ceros shot simultaneously, forming an equilateral triangle. In the distance, five more Gillians were synchronously charging up energy, almost completely blocking all his escape routes.
"Saitō! Watch out!"
Shiba Kaien was closest to Arata. The three-pronged spear in his hand raised a massive wall of water, but it could only intercept one of the attacks.
At that critical moment, while Arata appeared to be in a hopeless situation to others, his eyes instead held a crazed gleam.
He turned toward one of the closest Gillians, crouched slightly and leaned his body forward, as his spiritual pressure and purple flames suddenly surged upward.
"Soul Shadow Flash!"
In the air, only the sound of glass shattering could be heard, and Arata's figure vanished instantly, without a trace.
The next second, an "X"-shaped blade of light appeared between them.
Sssshap!
It looked like the Gillian had been struck by something invisible, the white mask on its face shattered instantly, and its black body was torn into countless pieces.
Before it could even let out a scream, it had already dissolved into a sea of spirit particles under the assault of purple flames.
When the other Gillians saw the terrifying death of their comrade, they all let out sharp, eerie howls.
Then, as if seeking revenge, they all charged at Arata at full speed, even stopping the Ceros they had just been charging.
"Something's wrong!" Amagai Shūsuke appeared beside Arata and blocked another Cero with a sphere of thunder and fire.
"These Gillians are behaving very coordinated and are far more intelligent than any Gillians I've encountered before!"
As he spoke, Shiba Kaien and Soi-Fon broke away from the group of Hollows and rushed over to the two of them.
Suzumebachi's double-sting mechanism allowed Soi-Fon to easily maintain control over opponents like Gillians, whose spiritual pressure was weaker than hers, and whose movements were endlessly slow.
While Arata managed to bring down three Hollows, she had already, relying on the advantage of her Shunpō, killed six.
If the two taken down by Amagai and Kaien were included, of the total 25 Gillians, only 13 now remained.
Although Arata's sudden involvement somewhat disrupted the original plan, the effect he achieved far exceeded expectations.
At the very least, not a single Gillian had broken through their encirclement, only regular Hollows had reached the camp.
"Captain Amagai, what are you trying to say?" Soi-Fon and Kaien both darkened their expressions and asked in unison.
"I suspect these Gillians aren't moving by instinct alone…" Amagai replied, "It's highly likely they're being controlled by a higher-level Hollow."
He even had one particularly grim suspicion, that this group of Hollows was merely bait, and the true enemy was hiding in the shadows, carefully observing their battle.
Arata said nothing, silently waiting for the remaining Gillians to gather.
Meigetsu had been grumbling the whole time about how this slaughter wasn't satisfying enough and was urging him to use that move that would wipe out all remaining Hollows in a single blow.
As for Amagai's suspicion, Arata had his own thoughts on the matter.
Hueco Mundo was vast, and there were many Hollows who had evolved to the level of Gillians or beyond.
But aside from Barragan, the current ruler of Hueco Mundo, no one else could send 25 Gillians at once.
However, Barragan had no conflict with Arata, they had never even met.
So Arata didn't even have to think too much, this definitely wasn't Barragan's doing.
Only one candidate remained: Aizen.
Although Arata didn't understand how Aizen managed to control Gillians in Hueco Mundo remotely from Soul Society, he never doubted that man's capability.
And to be honest, although Gillians were indeed powerful, they no longer posed much of a threat to Arata.
Soon, all the remaining Gillians had gathered.
For the first time, they combined all their spiritual powers into a single Cero, and the blood-red orb of light they formed was larger than any before.
"This is bad! With this level of spiritual pressure, this attack won't be easy to stop!" Soi-Fon's expression changed; she was already beginning to consider whether to activate her Bankai.
If they didn't stop this Cero head-on, the camp behind them could be in serious danger. Even Izumo Shin Aritsuki's "Danku" might not be able to block it.
"Senpai, please step back a bit. I wouldn't want to accidentally hit you."
At that moment, Arata spoke calmly.
Then, under the shocked gazes of the three, he leapt high into the air; his body tilted slightly and instantly split into dozens of painted silhouettes – all wielding swords engulfed in purple flames.
"Master, show them your power~"
Meigetsu's voice echoed in Arata's head, intertwined with trembling excitement.
Infected by her mood, Arata's face took on a slightly crazed expression, and a sharp smile appeared at the corner of his lips.
"Moon Feast!"
All the split silhouettes simultaneously swung their swords, and dozens of purple-black crescent-shaped energies intertwined like a net spun by death itself, covering the entire group of Hollows below.
The Gillians struck by the sword energy let out screams unlike anything from the throats of living beings. Their massive bodies were instantly sliced into irregular chunks, and the Cero they had struggled to charge was forcibly interrupted.
Ruuuumble——!
The purple flame, raging along the cut lines, continued to devour everything it touched. When the sword energy struck the desert sand, a series of explosive booms followed, like fireworks blossoming into violet flame flowers.
"Ah~ this is how it should be~" Meigetsu trembled with satisfaction and let out a seductive, prolonged sigh.
She loved the feeling of unrestrained slaughter. She couldn't give up that urge, it was an experience one could easily get addicted to, and this time, on top of everything, she had a proper feast while standing.
Arata sheathed his sword, a trace of fatigue appearing in his eyes.
Meigetsu had enjoyed herself immensely, but what was the cost?
The cost was that his spiritual pressure was now nearly completely drained, even with the immense total spiritual pressure he had accumulated over the past few months thanks to training and the blessing of the Soul King's bloodline.
This move alone consumed at least the spiritual pressure of two vice-captains.
But that didn't pose much of a problem for him, since there wasn't a single being within his perception range worth fearing.
The remaining small fry could easily be left to the others.
Just based on today's ten or so Gillians, Arata figured he would definitely place first in this graduation exam, even if he didn't participate in another fight for the rest of the expedition.
When the thick dust and smoke cleared, there was no longer any trace of a single Gillian. The ground was so clean that not even a single stone could be seen, only endless sand.
Shiba Kaien, who had just reached the edge of the battlefield in time to see it all, was stunned by the scene before him, completely speechless.
At first, he secretly hoped that Arata might one day become his colleague, but now he realized how naive that had been.
Just based on the power he demonstrated with that one move, Kaien felt that Arata could even replace his current captain.
"All of a sudden, I feel like I have no right to be called a genius…"
He smiled bitterly.