Isshin Shiba listened to Arai's report, his brow furrowing deeper and deeper.
He rubbed his chin, his gaze turning toward the pitch-black sky.
"Three Soul Reapers dead from 'accidents' in just two months, accompanied by abnormal soul disappearances..."
"Come to think of it, the previous Soul Reapers also vanished on rainy days, right?" He suddenly scratched his head.
"Captain... please don't say such scary things..." Arai and the others looked at Isshin helplessly, seemingly long accustomed to his style.
However, Isshin Shiba didn't bring this up to frighten them.
His gaze turned serious as he instructed the group, "Since I'm here and it's raining, you guys should head back first."
"Captain, do you mean..."
"Whether the enemy is targeting Soul Reapers specifically, or it's just some kind of Menos reacting to high Spiritual Pressure... either way, this doesn't look like a battle you can get involved in. It's best if you..."
Isshin muttered his analysis to himself, but just as he was about to issue further orders, his body suddenly stiffened.
It wasn't just him; Asuka also turned his head at the exact same moment, looking toward the east side of the stadium.
A terrifying Spiritual Pressure was spreading!
"Waaaaahhh!!"
A bloodcurdling scream echoed from outside the stadium. It was Naoto, who had been on guard duty.
"Naoto!!" Two squad members roared, drawing their Asauchi and charging outside.
"Get back!" Isshin shouted sternly. "That's not something you can handle!"
But before his words could land, a black shadow smashed through the stadium's side wall.
Bricks and rubble flew as an incredibly twisted entity appeared before them.
It had a somewhat humanoid silhouette, but its entire body was encased in a pitch-black, metallic hard armor.
A pale, bone-like mask was embedded in its head, white hair thrashing wildly in the wind. Its arms were disproportionately long, covered in bone blades that gleamed with a cold light.
With its appearance, the two Soul Reapers who had rushed out swayed on their feet, letting out muffled gurgles—
It was the sickening sound of air and blood rushing backward from instantly severed windpipes.
Then, they collapsed to the ground with a heavy thud.
"What is this presence... A Hollow?"
Isshin stepped in front of Asuka, carefully observing the monster before them.
'Even though it's completely black and the hole in its chest is plugged by something... this Spiritual Pressure definitely belongs to a Hollow!'
Looking at the monster, Asuka felt an unprecedented level of pressure.
It was an overwhelmingly intense threat. Reason told him he needed to get out of there immediately.
Compared to this monster, Muzan Kibutsuji was as innocent as a baby.
But the creature gave them no time to catch their breath.
It let out a high-pitched shriek. The ground beneath its feet instantly shattered as it flashed directly next to Arai, who was standing behind Isshin!
So fast!
Arai couldn't react at all. He could only watch helplessly as the razor-sharp bone blade rapidly magnified in his pupils.
Clang!
An ear-piercing metallic clash rang out.
Sparks bloomed in the rainy night.
Even though Nugata was still slumbering and his Spiritual Pressure remained chaotic, Asuka's combat instincts had acted first.
In the nick of time, he appeared in front of Arai, using his heavily rusted Zanpakuto to desperately block the monster's bone blade.
Due to the immense momentum, Asuka's feet plowed two deep trenches into the ground.
"Is this... a monster of the World of the Living?" Asuka gritted his teeth, pushing the only breathing technique he could rely on to its absolute limit.
He frantically drew the Reishi in the atmosphere into his body, putting everything he had into resisting the monster's attack.
This physical strength was absurd! The impossibly heavy force numbed Asuka's hands, and the ground beneath his feet continued to crack and cave in!
Strangely enough, after clashing blades with Asuka, a pulse of confused Spiritual Pressure rippled across the faceless bone mask. It was clearly taken aback for a moment.
But seeing Asuka relying on brute strength to resist, the creature roared. The confusion vanished, and its other bone blade swept horizontally toward him!
Asuka leaned backward, barely dodging the fatal strike, and followed up with a swift kick to the monster's abdomen.
Bang!
The monster didn't budge an inch. Instead, Asuka felt as if he had kicked a solid block of steel, the recoil sending a sharp ache up his leg.
"Bastard! How dare you kill my comrades!"
Arai's eyes practically tore open in fury. Roaring, he drew his Zanpakuto and attempted to ambush the Hollow from behind.
"Arai! Don't!"
The monster's speed was faster than Isshin Shiba's voice.
It retracted the bone blade locked against Asuka, twisted its body mid-air at a grotesque angle, and carved a cold, black semicircle with its razor-sharp appendage.
Arai's body froze.
A thin red line appeared between his eyebrows. In the next second, his terrified form was cleaved cleanly in two, dissolving into Reishi that scattered into the torrential rain.
In just a single exchange, aside from Isshin Shiba and Asuka, the rest of the patrol squad was completely wiped out.
Too fast.
This level of speed, this sheer efficiency in slaughter, completely exceeded Asuka's comprehension.
Even against Muzan Kibutsuji at his absolute peak, Asuka could have stopped him from instantly killing Demon Slayer Corps members.
But faced with this monster's massacre, Asuka was utterly powerless.
He instinctively tried to mobilize the Spiritual Pressure within his body, wanting to call out to the partner who always fought by his side.
But the depths of his consciousness remained dead silent.
"Tch... failing me at the worst moment!" Asuka bit his lower lip, the stinging pain helping him regain a sliver of calm.
Since he couldn't count on his Spiritual Pressure, he would have to use his old methods. (T/N: hmm old that fast?)
"Total Concentration・Storm Breathing."
Although he had reverse-engineered his own Sun Breathing, he was still more accustomed to this name.
Asuka took another deep breath of the cold, Reishi-rich air.
He forcefully drove the sluggish Spiritual Pressure within him, using the beating of his heart to pump the power through every meridian in his body.
Buzz—
A faint ripple emanated across the surface of his skin, pushing his physical reflexes to their absolute limit in that instant.
While it couldn't compare to his state when Nugata was released, he was significantly stronger than just moments ago.
Asuka lowered his center of gravity, dropping into a sword-drawing stance, ready to engage the monster once more.
But before he could, Isshin Shiba landed in front of him. "Squad Member Asuka, get out of here quickly!"
"This guy... is completely different from any Hollow I've seen before. It's dangerous!" Isshin gripped his Zanpakuto, his eyes locked dead onto the black silhouette a short distance away.
The creature launched another violent assault, refusing to give the two men any chance to communicate.
Clang—!!
Isshin's Zanpakuto and the Hollow's blade collided with tremendous force!
The massive shockwave instantly displaced the surrounding rain, creating a vacuum several meters in radius.
The turf of the stadium shattered under the sheer power, and the concrete grandstands cracked and splintered.
'No, we can't keep fighting here!'
Gritting his teeth, Isshin redirected the impact of the blade clash. He forcefully dragged the battle with the monster into the sky, then chased it from the sky down to the wastelands, his Soul Reaper Captain's haori snapping wildly in the howling wind.
Every one of the monster's sudden strikes forced him to respond with his full strength. Every slash was heavy and powerful, completely unlike a typical Hollow's fighting style.
'This guy... fights more like a Soul Reaper.'
'Did it become smarter because it devoured Soul Reapers?'
Watching the two of them engage in a running dogfight through the air, Asuka, who was desperately chasing them from below, suddenly had a thought.
'Why am I following this fight? Now that the monster is distracted by the Soul Reaper, I should be hurrying to find Shinobu Kocho. That's what actually matters. Soul Reapers, monsters... what does it matter to me if they live or die?'
But then he remembered the words of the slain Soul Reaper squad member he had briefly interacted with: "No matter who you're looking for... she won't survive a single night."
'What if that Soul Reaper loses? I definitely can't handle a monster like that on my own. If that happens, we're all doomed. Tch...'
Despite the conflict in his heart, he continued to chase after their silhouettes.
By now, the two were locked in a fierce battle.
It was a life-and-death pursuit pushed to the absolute limit.
They fought through the lightning-torn sky, clashed across the boundary bridge, and forcibly dragged the battle from Naruki City all the way to neighboring Karakura Town.
The originally peaceful streets of Karakura Town became a battlefield for gods and demons tonight.
In a split second, a low, beast-like growl erupted from the monster's throat, followed by a purple light illuminating the center of its head.