Night fell.
The students of Shino'o Academy were lurking in various parts of Rukongai, preparing to hunt Hollows. Their mission this time was to bring back a Hollow corpse.
Yamatake Chiyo was with her four teammates, searching everywhere for Hollows, but unfortunately, they hadn't found a single Hollow from day to night.
"I'm so sleepy! If this continues, I'll get wrinkles." Yamatake Chiyo said listlessly. The moon was already directly overhead, which meant it was around ten o'clock at night. Usually, she would already be in bed by this time, as children are supposed to be in bed before nine.
Under the strong interference of her biological clock, Yamatake Chiyo walked and dozed off, looking very cute.
"When did Rukongai become so peaceful? I remember it used to be very chaotic!" A male team member whispered a complaint.
Another person said, "You don't know! Ever since Captain Unohana of the Eleventh Division took office, she has been leading her team to clear out all kinds of thugs in Rukongai every day, causing the entire Rukongai to be on edge. Many thugs and ruffians have reformed."
Indeed, to deal with these hooligans, one must use harsher methods.
"What about the Hollows?"
"Captain Unohana even cuts down people, let alone Hollows! If we go back empty-handed like this, we'll definitely be scolded by Teacher Yamabuki. Sigh, it's his wife's fault, but we're the ones who get scolded!" The male team member grumbled softly.
Although Yamabuki and Unohana's relationship hadn't progressed further, to outsiders, since they lived together, how much more intimate could they get?
"If we really can't find any, let's just go back. Let him scold us! It's not like we'll lose a piece of flesh!"
Suddenly, Yamatake Chiyo sharply opened her eyes and pulled out her small knife: "Something's coming!"
One of the team members quickly put his ear to the ground. Sure enough, a series of messy footsteps were approaching not far to their left. Because it was dark and almost pitch black, they couldn't see what was running towards them at all. They all drew their Zanpakutō, ready to face the enemy!
When the other party got closer, they realized it was just another student.
A false alarm.
"Don't just stand there! Run! A big one's coming from behind!" The running student urgently waved at them, urging them to run together.
Yamatake Chiyo and her team didn't know what had happened yet when a red light suddenly exploded in mid-air, sweeping past them, and the ground instantly turned into a sea of fire.
The students were all dazed by the explosion.
Yamatake Chiyo looked up in shock, only to see a giant object vaguely appearing in the darkness, wearing a bizarre white mask, its body seemingly draped in a black robe, over fifteen meters tall, swaying as it walked towards them.
"This is… a Gillian!" Yamatake Chiyo looked at the suddenly appearing Menos Grande in shock.
Most of these students had spiritual pressure below the seated officer level, and their average strength was not even as good as that of official Gotei 13 members. A Gillian, however, required at least a seated officer-level Shinigami to contend with. For them, this was a dimensionality reduction strike.
The sudden appearance of the Gillian stunned these students; the most timid one even peed his pants from fright.
With their current strength, encountering a Gillian meant certain death.
"Scatter, Mist-Gazing Flower!" Yamatake Chiyo directly released her Zanpakutō, then shouted to her companions, "Quickly run towards the Seireitei! I'll hold it off."
Although Yamatake Chiyo was studying at Shino'o Academy, her spiritual pressure was truly at the seated officer level, and she was not without a fighting chance against a Menos Grande.
Mist-Gazing Flower transformed into white mist, swirling around the Menos Grande.
Mist-Gazing Flower has two abilities: the first is to interfere with a person's visual nerves, and the second is to create illusions.
After the Menos Grande's body was entangled by Mist-Gazing Flower, its vision was indeed affected, and a Cero blasted an empty space.
"Chiyo-chan!!!"
"I'm fine, you guys go first." Although Yamatake Chiyo was terrible at close combat, her Kidō talent was excellent. While the Menos Grande was entangled by Mist-Gazing Flower, she began chanting Kidō spells.
"Chariot of thunder, the spinning wheel's gap, this thing gathers light and divides into six. Bakudō Number 61, Rikujōkōrō." Yamatake Chiyo directly shot out six light blades, instantly freezing the Menos Grande's movements.
"The bones of the scattered beasts, a spired tower, red crystal, steel wheels. The movement is wind, the stop is void. The sound of spears clashing fills the empty castle. Hadō Number 63, Raikōhō!"
Golden lightning spewed from her palm, enveloping the entire Menos Grande's body.
The students who were halfway running saw this scene and were shocked. That seemingly frail young lady was actually so strong!
Soon, the golden light dissipated.
The Menos Grande's mask showed damage, indicating it was injured, but not severely. It quickly broke free from the Rikujōkōrō's restraint and charged forward, baring its fangs and claws.
Thanks to the Menos Grande's slow movement, otherwise, none of these students would have escaped.
Yamatake Chiyo confirmed that her classmates had run far away and gave a helpless bitter smile. What am I trying to prove? Now what? How am I supposed to fight a Menos Grande?
Mist-Gazing Flower was constantly consuming her spiritual pressure. What would happen when her spiritual pressure ran out?
Yamatake Chiyo pondered a strategy to repel the enemy while retreating towards a nearby mountain, hoped to use the terrain to hinder its pursuit.
Although the Menos Grande's intelligence wasn't high, it realized that its visual nerves were being obstructed by something. So, it stopped relying on visual attacks and just threw Ceros everywhere, a barrage of indiscriminate bombing!
Yamatake Chiyo found that her spiritual pressure was almost unable to sustain itself. It was all that damned Chief of Staff's fault! If you hadn't insisted on me participating in this practical exercise, I wouldn't be in this situation today. If I turn into a ghost, I'll definitely knock on your window every day. Even if I don't scare you, I'll still disgust you!
At this point, she had already reached the hillside, and the Menos Grande was still in hot pursuit.
As she ran, Yamatake Chiyo suddenly stopped, because ahead was a cliff.
"Why did I run into a dead end? A cliché plot where I jump off a cliff and gain divine power shouldn't happen to me, right?" Yamatake Chiyo looked desperate. At this moment, the Menos Grande had completely broken free from Mist-Gazing Flower's control, opening its huge mouth, and a crimson Cero condensed within it.
"Don't think I'm afraid of you! I'm really angry now, and when I get angry, even I'm scared!" Yamatake Chiyo was so frightened she was almost crying.
In utter desperation, she could only make one last stand.
"Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flapping wings, those who bear the name of man, on the wall of Sōkatsui, engrave the Twin Lotuses, and await the great abyss of fire in the distant firmament! Hadō Number 73, Sōren Sōkatsui!"
At the same time, the Cero fired.
....
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