Visibility was extremely low on the streets of Sarayashiki City.
It was terrifyingly quiet all around; neither the roar of car engines nor the clamor of pedestrians could be heard.
Only the sound of two people's footsteps stepping on the warped pavement echoed through this distorted space.
Although he couldn't release his Spiritual Pressure to scout the surroundings like usual, Asuka's transparent perception could still be pushed to its limits in this barren environment.
He could hear the rolling fog a hundred meters away and feel the subtle disturbances in the airflow behind a trash can at the street corner...
"Asuka, the air here... is really oppressive," Shinobu Kocho said. Although she was a swordswoman who had experienced life and death, this was her first time in such an eerie place since her reincarnation.
She felt the Spiritual Energy in her body become like a frozen river, flowing with extreme sluggishness.
"Maintain your breathing rhythm. Use Total Concentration Breathing to replace the circulation of your Spiritual Energy," Asuka reminded her, keeping her safely by his side.
"Got it." Shinobu immediately adjusted her breathing. Her chest rose and fell slightly, and her complexion improved a bit.
In this dead zone devoid of Reishi, the Breathing Styles Shinobu hadn't used in a long time actually became a much more efficient tool.
Following the radar's instructions, the two carefully navigated through one distorted street after another.
Just as they were about to turn at a large intersection...
"Stop."
Asuka halted his steps and pulled Shinobu behind a newsstand.
Almost at the exact moment they took cover, a bizarre rustling sound echoed from the thick fog ahead.
It sounded like hordes of fabric dragging across the ground.
Thousands of Blanks, wearing white mourning clothes and red masks, drifted out of the fog like ghosts.
They had no purpose, merely wandering the area following their instinct to fill the void.
Asuka's brow twitched. He noticed that these Blanks were somewhat different from the rigid monsters in Kisuke Urahara's projection...
Their bodies were more solid, and their red masks bore eerie new patterns, exuding an aura that did not belong to the Soul Society.
A few of the Blanks had even manifested weapons formed from the grayish-white fog in their hands.
'They've mutated...' Asuka thought to himself.
It seemed that as the fusion between the Valley of Screams and this alternate world deepened, these low-level monsters had also received some degree of enhancement...
"Asuka, there are too many of them," Shinobu whispered, her hand already resting on her Zanpakuto.
Even if she couldn't release it, she was ready to draw her blade at a moment's notice.
"Don't move." Asuka pressed down on her hand and shook his head. "There's no point in wasting stamina here. We'll go around."
However, things didn't go as planned.
A violent surge of energy suddenly erupted from the other side of the intersection!
"Spirit Gun!!!"
Accompanied by an arrogant and energetic roar, a beam of azure energy violently tore through the gray fog and blasted straight into the center of the mutated Blanks!
BOOM!!!
The explosion echoed, and the violent energy ripples shattered the surrounding glass storefronts.
Several Blanks were blown into countless fragments by the beam before they even realized what had happened.
"...It's that reckless guy."
Asuka looked in the direction the beam had come from.
Across the intersection, a teenage boy in a green school uniform stood with his right index finger pointed forward, wisps of blue smoke still rising from his fingertip.
The boy was panting heavily, yet a confident, effortless smile hung on his face.
"Haha! Bring it on! You faceless ugly freaks! I, Yusuke Urameshi, am gonna send you all packing back home today!"
Behind him stood another figure.
It was a young girl who looked to be only fifteen or sixteen years old.
She wore the uniform of a high school girl from the World of the Living, with a pale yellow cardigan over it and a bright red ribbon tied around her neck.
Her playful, short black hair fluttered slightly in the grayish-white fog. Her amber eyes shone with innocent charm, yet were mixed with a hint of confusion.
Asuka's gaze bypassed the boy named Yusuke Urameshi and landed on the girl.
The radar in his pocket was now emitting rapid, high-frequency beeps, and the red dot on the screen was flashing so intensely it seemed ready to catch fire.
The location of that red dot perfectly overlapped with the girl's position.
"Found it... That's the Shinenju," Asuka said in a low voice to Shinobu beside him.
Shinobu's eyes flickered. "She looks... exactly like an ordinary human girl."
Looking at this vibrant life that resembled a girl next door, she couldn't possibly connect her to the lifeless object formed from countless lingering attachments that Yoruichi had described.
"...I know." Asuka looked at the girl, drawing and sheathing Kakudatsu several times.
'Is this really the only way...'
Just as the two hesitated, the encirclement of Blanks—which had been blown wide open by the Spirit Gun—unexpectedly closed up again!
The Blanks in white mourning clothes seemed enraged by Yusuke's attack, and the number surging forward was more than double what it had been.
A portion of the Blanks even began to converge in midair.
The grayish-white fog on their bodies intertwined, condensing into materialized spears that rained down toward Yusuke Urameshi and the girl!
Botan, hovering above Yusuke's head, shouted anxiously, "Yusuke! Watch out! Their Spiritual Energy fluctuations have gotten stronger!"
"Damn it! They have this trick too?! It's never-ending, isn't it!"
Yusuke complained, crossing his arms in front of him to tank the incoming wave of attacks with his body, while shouting loudly at the girl behind him. "Hey! You spaced-out girl over there! Hurry up and get down to hide!"
He had met this girl halfway down the street. She seemed a bit scatterbrained and didn't even know to run when she saw the Blanks.
Out of the goodness of his heart, Yusuke couldn't leave her alone and had been protecting her ever since.
However, as the sharp spears were about to crash into Yusuke and the girl's bodies, her movements showed no sign of panic.
She reached behind her back, and with a crisp unsheathing sound, she abruptly drew a katana tied with a long red ribbon!
"?" Yusuke was stunned. "Is that a real sword? Why are you carrying something so dangerous around with you?"
Hiding in the shadows, Asuka and Shinobu's pupils quaked in shock.
Shinobu exclaimed in a hushed voice, "Isn't she the Shinenju... How could she have a Zanpakuto?"
"She isn't human... She actually turned into a Soul Reaper?"
The moment the girl drew her blade, those amber eyes that had previously held a hint of confusion instantly became sharp.
She gripped the hilt tightly with both hands and held the blade horizontally in front of her. The red ribbon danced wildly like flames under the surge of her Spiritual Pressure.
"Bring down the night—Mirokumaru!!"
BOOM—!!!
As the Shikai release command fell, the Zanpakuto in the girl's hands erupted with a dazzling golden light.
Its originally ordinary katana form instantly transformed into a long polearm resembling a monk's staff, adorned with rings at the top.
The girl swung Mirokumaru with one hand, violently drawing a massive arc above her head.
"Gale!"
In an instant, a sudden tempest erupted from nowhere!