A Self-Created Combination Kidō

What shocked him wasn't that the Hollow before him had been hiding in the darkness, nor was it how powerful its aura was.

It was that this Hollow could actually speak and communicate.

He wasn't a freshman who had just entered the academy. Including this visit, he had come to the World of the Living ten times, and he had slain Hollows on almost every trip.

But he had never encountered a Hollow he could communicate with.

Even in the academy textbooks and the teachers' lectures, Hollows were always described as beasts born from fallen souls, devoid of intelligence.

Yet this one could not only speak and think, but even seemed to have a sense of pride. It was completely unlike the Hollows he had encountered before.

"Bastard, of course I can talk! What do you take me for, a stray dog?" The Hollow grew angry when it heard Shūhei Hisagi's words.

It bared its teeth and spread its hands.

With a sharp hiss, its fingernails suddenly lengthened into blades.

"I've decided. I won't let you die easily!"

The Hollow vanished from where it stood and appeared at Shūhei Hisagi's side in the next instant. It spread its ten fingers and slashed across him, sending several streaks of silvery-white light down at him.

Shūhei Hisagi reacted quickly, immediately turning and swinging his sword to block.

The moment they clashed, he felt that this not particularly large Hollow possessed considerable strength.

He immediately began chanting, "The ruler, the mask of flesh and blood..."

But after just one line, he realized something was wrong. The Reishi in his body hadn't gathered and was still scattered throughout him.

What was going on?

Why wouldn't the Reishi gather?

Suddenly, a searing pain shot from his lower abdomen to his brain.

His body reacted instinctively, both feet kicking hard at the Hollow's stomach.

With a thud, his feet struck the Hollow's stomach, sending him flying backward and putting distance between them. He looked down and saw three bloody holes in his abdomen.

He hurriedly gathered Reishi around the wounds. This time he actually succeeded, stopping the heavy bleeding.

Shūhei Hisagi looked up at the Hollow opposite him. A drop of cold sweat slid down his cheek from his forehead.

What had just happened?

There was something strange about this Hollow. The fact that he hadn't been able to gather Reishi just now was definitely the result of something it had done.

"Hahahaha! Can't figure it out, can you?" The Hollow laughed twice, seeing that its attack had succeeded.

The next instant, its yellow eyes narrowed beneath its pale white mask. It vanished, reappeared at Shūhei Hisagi's side, and swung its claws.

Shūhei Hisagi's eyes widened. This time, rather than meeting the attack head-on with his Zanpakuto, he stomped hard on the ground and used Shunpo to immediately open up some distance.

"Pretty smart. But if you keep running, those two lying on the ground are going to be in danger."

The Hollow didn't pursue him. It stood where it was and turned to look at Kanisawa and Aoga, who lay on the ground with their chests barely rising and falling.

"You despicable bastard. How exactly did you do it?"

Shūhei Hisagi spoke through gritted teeth, gripping his sword hilt in both hands and lowering his body as he stared intently at the Hollow.

"How did I do it? It's simple."

As the Hollow answered, it vanished again and appeared directly in front of Shūhei Hisagi, spreading the five claws of its right hand and swiping down.

This time, Shūhei Hisagi didn't dodge. He raised his blade to block again.

The moment the blade touched the Hollow's claws, the Reishi sealing the three bloody holes in his abdomen suddenly dispersed. No matter what he did, he couldn't manipulate it.

He immediately tightened both hands around the hilt and spun, redirecting the Hollow's steadily increasing force and flinging it away.

"Hahaha, finally figured it out? I have the ability to make Reishi inert. As long as I touch you, you won't be able to manipulate Reishi."

The Hollow laughed in midair, flipping several times before landing on the ground.

Sweat poured from Shūhei Hisagi's forehead.

How was that possible?

Why did a Hollow have such a special ability? He'd never heard of anything like it.

The situation was growing more dangerous by the moment. He felt as though he was going to meet his end here today.

Chapter 34: A self-created combination Kidō

Meanwhile, on the other battlefield, at the moment Shūhei Hisagi was hit.

Renji Abarai sliced the burly Hollow in two.

Momo Hinamori struck the ray with Byakurai, paralyzing it in midair.

Izuru Kira seized the opportunity to rush in and cut it in half with a single stroke.

Working together, the three of them had dealt with two Hollows swiftly and cleanly.

The Hollow facing Shūhei narrowed its eyes and looked over at that battlefield.

A moment later, its gaze shifted to the two people lying on the ground.

Shūhei Hisagi noticed the movement immediately and shouted:

"Come on, let's keep fighting!"

"Hmph!"

The Hollow vanished again, but this time it appeared beside Kanisawa and Aoga, spreading its hands and stabbing viciously downward.

"Bastard!"

Shūhei Hisagi roared and rushed over with all his strength, using his body to block the attack.

He stood in front of his two classmates, six claws protruding through his abdomen, less than ten centimeters from the two on the ground.

"Pfft."

Shūhei Hisagi spat out a mouthful of blood. The pain in his stomach left him feeling light-headed and completely drained of strength.

The Hollow pulled out its claws, raised them to its face, and licked them with its pitch-black tongue. Its eyes curved with amusement.

Shūhei Hisagi's eyes rolled back, and he collapsed in front of his two classmates with a thud.

"Shūhei-senpai!" Renji Abarai shouted as he charged over and swung his sword down at the Hollow.

At the same time, a golden rope appeared behind him and snaked toward the Hollow's waist.

"Know your place!" the Hollow said coldly, swinging the claws of its right hand upward at the blade.

Claws met sword with a clang.

The strike was blocked.

When the golden rope touched the Hollow's waist, it actually dissolved into golden light and scattered on its own.

His attack blocked, Renji Abarai's hands flew up involuntarily, and the tremendous force sent his body swinging into the air.

The next moment, three claws on the Hollow's right hand pierced straight through his stomach.

"Renji!" Izuru Kira's eyes widened in disbelief.

He looked at the three fallen seniors on the ground, then at Renji Abarai falling from the air and the splash of bright red blood. He clenched his teeth and gripped his sword hilt in both hands.

Facing the Hollow that had defeated Shūhei Hisagi and Renji Abarai.

Izuru Kira's mind went blank, and he charged forward with a roar.

"Aaah!"

"Renji, Izuru!" Momo Hinamori urgently called out her two classmates' names, quickly spreading her hands and chanting:

"Embers floating upon the earth, the sleeping god of fire is the beast's fangs."

"The moment the footsteps cease, become a blazing trap."

"Hadō number twelve, Fushibi!"

A line of fire shot from her palm, quickly catching up to Izuru Kira as he charged. It passed him and swept toward the Hollow.

The Hollow casually waved its claws at the Hadō with utter disdain, scattering the line of fire.

It raised the three claws of its left hand high toward the charging Izuru Kira, a cruel smile on its mouth as a voice emerged from its throat:

"Hahaha, what a fool, looking for death."

It truly hadn't expected him to charge over and seek death of his own accord.

It could already picture him being cut into three pieces by a single swipe of its claws.

"How is that possible!?" Momo Hinamori stood rooted to the spot, stunned to see that her Hadō had been completely useless.

Was she going to die here?

Why hadn't reinforcements from Soul Society arrived yet?

Her eyes remained fixed on Izuru Kira as he charged ahead.

She couldn't stop herself from thinking that she might die here today.

Suddenly, a calm voice sounded behind her:

"At winter's end, plum blossoms brave the cold upon the bough."

"Thunder tears through the sky, a thousand birds descend upon the branches."

Misao!

Those words filled Momo Hinamori's mind, and she spun around.

Tokoyo Misao stood where he was, calmly extending a finger.

Deep blue Reishi gathered rapidly at his fingertip, and the surrounding air suddenly turned cold, as though winter had descended.

Illusions of plum blossoms made of ice crystals condensed in the air.

But in the very next instant, the icy plum blossom illusions were replaced by dazzling golden lightning.

Blinding golden bolts burst from the center of each ice-crystal blossom, as though countless birds made of lightning had alighted on the branches in an instant.

"Hadō: Plum Thunder Swift Blossom!"

Crackle!

Thunder exploded.

A golden flash pierced the mask of the Hollow standing in front of Tokoyo Misao.

The lightning didn't continue into the darkness ahead.

It turned at a right angle, flashed past Izuru Kira's side, and slammed into the Hollow's mask.

Boom.

An explosion rang out.

Dark smoke rose from the Hollow's face. A moment later, the smoke cleared.

Half the Hollow's face had been blasted apart by the Hadō.

Its body gave off specks of white Reishi light as it gradually dissolved.

"How is that possible? My ability should have..." It vanished completely before it could finish.

Momo Hinamori murmured, "Misao, why didn't my attack work, but yours did?"

"That one's ability was to make Reishi inert, but it had to make contact. So I used a Kidō I created myself and detonated it just before the lightning touched its mask. That was all it took."

Tokoyo Misao kept looking into the darkness ahead. Without turning around, he continued:

"I remember you have an emergency medical kit in your bag. Hurry and treat them."

"Oh, right... right!" Momo Hinamori finally came to her senses, turned around, and hurried over.

She and Izuru Kira took the emergency medical kits they had prepared out of their backpacks and gave emergency treatment to the three fallen seniors and Renji Abarai.

Neither of them knew any medical techniques, but they could at least manage to bandage wounds. At the very least, they could stop the bleeding and keep them alive.