"No need to look."
Just as Mask and James were still looking around for their target, a voice rang out.
"Shin? Excellent. As long as I take you down, I'll be the brightest star."
Mask turned around and saw Shin, becoming very excited.
"Go, sir! Take him down!" James cheered from the side.
"Take me down? You two have quite the big mouths."
Originally, Shin was heading towards the center of Seireitei with Unohana, but he sensed Kensei's Reiatsu disappear, so he came to investigate.
He asked with interest, "Are you the Rey Mysterio?"
Mask wore a golden mask and loved to quote wrestling terms, which reminded Shin of Rey Mysterio who basically never took off his mask.
"Rey Mysterio? What does that mean?" Mask was bewildered by the question.
"Today, I'm going to take off your mask and see."
With that, Shin attacked.
Prokinesis!
A fireball appeared out of thin air and instantly struck James, who was fanning the flames.
James was vaporized by the scorching flames, leaving no ashes behind, and the cheering stopped abruptly.
"James!" Mask yelled.
He hadn't reacted at all to Shin's attack.
"Damn villain!"
"Star Headbutt!"
An enraged Mask leaped from the ground, charging towards Shin at high speed. He was fast, but in Shin's eyes, it was far from enough.
Teleport!
He instantly moved to dodge. He had no interest in taking a headbutt from this two-meter giant.
Mask couldn't change his direction and continued charging straight along his original trajectory.
Boom!
He crashed into the ground, creating a large crater.
"Star Flash: Supernova!"
Mask flew into the air, gathered the surrounding Reishi, formed a giant five-pointed star, and fired a massive star-shaped Reishi beam at Shin.
Seeing Shin directly hit by the Reishi beam, a smile appeared on Mask's lips.
"How boring."
Without James's cheers, Mask's power was restricted, and this Reishi beam posed no threat to Shin.
Hearing Shin's words, Mask felt a bad premonition.
Before he could react, in the next instant, a katana was plunged into his chest.
"Impossible..."
Mask couldn't believe that with his physical strength and defense, his heart could be pierced by a single sword strike.
Mask's life force continuously drained, his Reiatsu slowly decreased, and his Vollständig vanished.
Shin came before him and removed his mask, revealing the face of an ordinary man.
"Sternritter, Schrift 'L' - Pepe Waccabrada, has arrived!"
A dark-skinned, obese old man sat cross-legged on a tray, making a heart gesture with his hands, loudly announcing his arrival.
Shin's lips twitched, he absolutely did not want to see this guy.
Just like the Seventh Espada, he found him extremely unsightly.
Pepe had a single-eyed, winged staff on his back, resembling a magical girl's staff.
"Love Kiss!"
A dark red, heart-shaped unknown substance flew towards Shin.
Shin swung Nietono no Shana, cutting it to pieces with a single strike.
"Oh, does your sword have no heart?"
The heart-shaped substance fired by Pepe could control the target it hit, including a Shinigami's Zanpakutō.
Shin didn't want to waste time with Pepe. He remembered that Pepe had a move where he pulled a Heilig Pfeil from his mouth, even covered in saliva, which made him shiver just thinking about it.
Omnium Principia!
The Reishi within a few meters of Pepe was completely drained, forming a black fireball that enveloped Pepe.
"Ah—"
Accompanied by Pepe's screams, the fireball gradually disappeared, and in the end, Pepe was gone.
—
On the other side, just after Shin left, Unohana encountered an interception.
"Unohana... Retsu!"
A chilling voice rang out from behind.
Unohana turned around.
The speaker was slender man with long black hair and a black mask.
It was none other than Äs Nödt, who had fought Byakuya and Harribel last time.
"Captain-Commander, what is your fear?"
Saying this, Äs Nödt fired several cone-shaped light arrows.
Unohana used Shunpo to dodge. The light arrows impaled the ground, oozing a black liquid.
Unohana slowly said, "Äs Nödt, Schrift F, ability Fear. However, your 'Fear' is ineffective against me."
Äs Nödt simply didn't believe it. "Everyone feels fear because of certain things. As long as you have life, fear cannot be ineffective against you."
"Go ahead and try."
"Bankai: Minazuki!"
A blood-red space enveloped the two of them.
"Is this the Captain-Commander's Bankai?" Äs Nödt surveyed his surroundings, and at the same time, he felt a deep-seated agitation.
Unohana said, "Do you feel the desire for battle? Come. Let me see if you can please me."
Killing intent!
Äs Nödt felt as if he was enveloped by Unohana's endless killing intent.
Unohana moved, and Äs Nödt was just about to act when—
Pfft!
The blood blade had already struck his body. He watched in shock as blood spurted, then the wound healed, with only the pain telling him it was real.
Äs recovered, gathering a large number of light cones. Some were blocked while others hit her sword.
Ink-black liquid spread from the blade to Unohana's arm.
"Feel the fear!" Äs shouted loudly.
"I told you, your fear is useless." Unohana seemed completely unaffected, swinging her sword again.
"Such a thing doesn't exist."
"Ah—"
"Tatarforas!"
Äs activated his Vollständig. A purple-black pillar of light enveloped him. His body tore open from the middle, his eyes rolled back, and blood flowed out.
The pillar of light shattered, and Äs's body stitched itself back together, with a five-pointed star with a spiked halo on his head and thorny wings on his back.
In his Vollständig state, Äs's Fear ability is enhanced.
He believed his ability wasn't strong enough before, which was why he couldn't make Unohana feel fear.
He stood on the ground, quietly waiting for Unohana to attack. Now, he could inject fear into his enemies through their nerves.
However, Unohana still swung her sword normally, severely injuring him again.
"Why can you still touch me? I don't believe it!" Äs's injuries healed, and he roared like a madman.
Suddenly, a huge circular wall surrounded the two of them, and countless eyes appeared on the wall.
"Look. My eyes are everywhere, the power of 'Fear' will be maximized, Unohana, feel your fear! And then be devoured by fear!"
As soon as Äs finished speaking, all those countless eyes opened, their eyeballs rotating, all looking at Unohana.
Unohana closed her eyes and sighed softly.