The purple-black halo of the Hōgyoku gradually dissipated. The mask on the skeletal Adjuchas's face cracked, and two clusters of purple flame suddenly ignited within its eye sockets.
It was a grotesque Arrancar composed entirely of pale white bone, devoid of any flesh.
"Skull."
It knelt on one knee before Aizen, its voice coarse as it uttered its name.
Aizen didn't even spare it a glance, merely tilting his chin slightly. "Go. Make it quick."
In the next instant, the ground where it had stood erupted. Soil and grass clippings sprayed in all directions as a white shadow tore through the air like an arrow released from a bow, shooting toward Soifon.
—It's here!
Soifon turned her head almost the moment the sound of breaking wind reached her, her gaze accurately locking onto the enemy lunging at her.
...That's it?
The Spiritual Pressure of this Arrancar was only barely at the Captain level. In terms of combat strength, it was perhaps worth more than three Kenseis but less than six.
Was he looking down on her because her power was restricted? Or was this... just bait?
While her thoughts swirled, Skull had already charged within ten meters of Soifon. It had no intention of pausing for conversation; its mandible snapped open—
Crimson energy rapidly gathered and compressed within its mouth.
Vrum—
A crimson pillar of light, meters in diameter, tore through the night, completely swallowing Soifon's petite figure.
The intense wind pressure generated by the Cero caused the large trees below to collapse in unison, and the barrier for the Konso internship shattered under this powerful Reiatsu.
*
"That's...!"
"A Cero!"
Inside the Urahara Shop over ten kilometers away, Yoruichi Shihōin and Kisuke Urahara sensed the Spiritual Pressure and looked at each other, speaking simultaneously.
"How could a Hollow of this intensity appear in Karakura Town..."
"Let's go take a look."
"Put this on. Be careful, it might be Aizen's trick."
"Should we intervene?"
"Observe first."
The two of them wrapped themselves in black cloaks identical to Aizen's and rushed toward the battlefield under the starlit night.
*
Directly below the Cero explosion.
The students participating in the internship, as well as the four Kidō Corps members maintaining the barrier, all involuntarily looked up, staring in horror at the Cero that had dyed nearly half the sky the color of blood.
The violent Spiritual Pressure poured down, making many students' legs go weak, nearly unable to stand.
"What is that?!"
"Is it a Hollow?! How can there be something like..."
"Captain Soifon!"
Cries of alarm and gasps of fear mingled together.
Meanwhile, Rukia and the others, who had already mastered Shikai, released their Zanpakutō and attacked the Arrancar in unison.
The first to hit were crimson fireballs and a roaring ice dragon. Skull stood perfectly still, taking the attacks head-on; not even a scratch appeared on its outer bone shell.
Following that, a crimson Bala condensed in Skull's hand. He aimed it at the six people attacking him from below and prepared to fire.
No, I can't move at all...
A murderous intent as tangible as solid matter locked onto them. Even the strongest among them, Tōshirō, could barely grip his sword hilt.
Move! Why won't you move!
BOOM—
A figure blurred in front of Skull, and a whip-kick slammed the Arrancar, who was about to release the Bala, into the ground below. Dust kicked up over ten meters high, as if a small earthquake had occurred.
When Soifon reappeared, she was completely unharmed; even her Shihakushō remained intact.
Taking a terrifying Cero like that head-on... and she didn't have a single injury!?
The Shinigami below were stunned, their moods soaring from hell to heaven.
—Thank heavens, Captain Soifon is strong. They wouldn't have to die.
"Everyone!" Soifon's voice clearly reached the ears of every Shinigami below. "Abort the exam immediately! Open the Senkaimon and retreat to the Soul Society!"
The students taking the exam felt as if they had been granted a divine reprieve, rushing into the Senkaimon at their maximum speed.
However, six figures remained in place, looking up at the petite figure in the sky with faces full of worry.
Rukia couldn't help but shout, "Teacher Soifon!"
"What are you still standing there for?!" Soifon didn't look back, her gaze still locked on the large pit below. "You can't even hold your swords steady!"
That final scolding sent a jolt through the six of them, and they shamefully rushed toward the Senkaimon.
Only after the last member of the Kidō Corps had retreated did the light of the Senkaimon slowly close and vanish.
Soifon glanced at the Arrancar that hadn't managed to climb out yet and opened her communication device. "Encountered a powerful enemy. Requesting limit release."
Although the Arrancar in front of her was pathetic, she wasn't sure when Aizen might appear behind her to deliver a strike.
Since Soifon was the only Shinigami carrying a limit, she received a reply almost instantly.
"Understood." Behind the communicator, the staff member's fingers flew across the machinery. "Captain Soifon, Gentei Kaijo complete. Reinforcements will arrive shortly."
The seal on the back of her hand vanished, and the discomfort of having her Reiatsu suppressed was finally released.
The dust was settling. The pale skeletal figure wobbled, slowly standing up from the crater, its joints making a tooth-grinding grinding sound.
Shhh—
A deep blue arrow of spirit particles cut through the night sky, accurately hitting Skull's cranium with a crisp 'ting'.
Soifon looked toward the source of the arrow. She saw a white-haired boy wearing glasses shielding a black-haired girl behind him, a blue spirit bow in his hand.
"Master Ryūken, that's no ordinary Hollow!"
The little girl being protected said timidly.
"Dammit..."
It was the first time Ryūken Ishida had encountered such a situation. As a genius Quincy, he had actually failed to break the defense of a strange Hollow.
Snap!
Another arrow was deflected again, shattering into points of spirit particle light.
These two itchy attacks successfully drew Skull's attention.
BOOM—
An ominous Reiatsu crashed toward the two children like a gale.
Their bodies fell back uncontrollably as they slumped to the ground, pure fear appearing in their eyes.
In the next instant, Soifon's figure flickered between Skull and the two children. Her left hand opened wide, pressing his head toward the ground.
BANG—
Skull's hideous skeletal head was forced into the ground by Soifon's palm, his entire body becoming embedded in the earth beneath him.
Creak.
Suddenly, a Senkaimon appeared out of thin air beside her, and Unohana Retsu, clad in white, rushed out with her sword in hand.
She first scanned the battlefield warily, her gaze lingering on the two children, Ryūken Ishida and the girl, for a moment before coming to Soifon's side to look at this strange Hollow.
"Captain Unohana..."
"Watch out! It's going to self-destruct!"
Just as Soifon was about to explain, Unohana's pupils shrank. She discovered that the Reiatsu inside this Hollow was gathering rapidly, the output power clearly exceeding the capacity of its spirit body.
Seeing this, Soifon's right hand blurred with golden light. The finger-blade of Suzumebachi easily pierced the mask.
Crack.
The mask shattered upon impact, and an exquisite Hornet's Crest pattern flashed momentarily in the center of the broken mask.
Then, starting from the Arrancar's head, it began to crumble inch by inch like weathered rock, turning into pale gray ash.
Soifon's right hand paused in mid-air before she slowly lowered it.
—She hadn't even used her 'Death in Two Steps' yet. She accidentally used too much force and poked it to death. Was this what high stats felt like?
At a high slope under a tree in the distance.
"Oh my, it failed." Gin Ichimaru narrowed his eyes. "Captain Aizen, are you going to step in?"
With Unohana Retsu joined by a Soifon whose strength was nothing like before, the fact that Gin Ichimaru could even ask such a question made it hard not to suspect he was being sarcastic.
Aizen didn't answer immediately. He pushed up his glasses, having made a judgment the moment the opponent struck.
—Even without the limit release, Soifon could have easily dealt with that Adjuchas ripened by the Hōgyoku.
Add to that Unohana Retsu, plus the likes of Kisuke Urahara and Yoruichi Shihōin who could appear at any moment...
"Not this time." Aizen slowly shook his head, his voice calm. "The plan failed. Retreat."
If they dragged it out too long, they would be noticed by the Soul Society. It was time to leave.
____
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