Putting the Blame on Kisuke Urahara

But the Menos Grande's lower leg had not been severed.

There were no longer any Reishi fluctuations on Tokoyo Misao's blade.

He was relying solely on the blade's basic sharpness to injure the hulking Hollow.

But that was nowhere near enough to kill it.

The hulking Hollow grew even more frenzied after being wounded. It swung its arms wildly, casually blasting aside the Hollows charging toward it with its claws, then pursued Tokoyo Misao as he ran toward the darkness of the street.

Tokoyo Misao ran deeper down the street, occasionally dodging attacks from the sky while striking back.

His eyes kept scanning the surroundings until he spotted an alley with sturdy buildings on both sides. Without hesitation, he darted inside.

He ran to the middle of the alley and turned around again.

By then, Hollows had already crowded the alley entrance.

The frenzied Hollows kept jostling one another, trying to enter the narrow passage.

But their bodies were too large for them to get through.

The smaller Hollows could not get past the hulking ones, either, and could only roar behind them.

"Awoo!"

The hulking Hollow raked its claws across the sturdy walls on either side, leaving three deep claw marks on each building.

Both buildings were made of reinforced concrete and did not collapse.

The hulking Hollow howled and prepared to attack the walls again, but in the next moment, it suddenly closed its mouth, its body turning into Reishi and slowly dissipating.

A well-proportioned Hollow dropped to the ground where the hulking Hollow had dissipated and walked into the alley.

It opened its mouth slightly and exhaled a white breath of Reishi that slowly drifted through the alley.

Then it raised its right arm, which had completely transformed into a blade, accelerated in an instant, and charged at Tokoyo Misao, slashing down.

Tokoyo Misao turned sideways and held his blade at an upward angle to block.

But the moment it met the other Hollow's bladed arm, pain shot through the web of his hand, and he nearly lost his grip on the hilt.

He sharply bent his arms, letting the back of the blade rest against his shoulder, and braced his whole body against the force.

But the Blade Hollow kept applying more and more force.

The bones in Tokoyo Misao's body were already creaking under the strain.

He took two quick steps to the right, turning his body sideways and diverting the force toward the ground.

With a bang, the Blade Hollow's arm struck the ground, instantly smashing a deep crack into it.

At the same time, Tokoyo Misao planted his feet against the wall beside him and leaped above the Blade Hollow. Gripping the hilt with both hands, he slashed fiercely at its neck.

A sharp clang rang out like a hammer striking iron.

The Asauchi's blade stopped against the skin of the Blade Hollow's neck, unable to cut through.

The Blade Hollow's free left hand, which had still retained its fingers, instantly transformed into a blade and slashed behind it.

A spray of bright red blood burst from Tokoyo Misao's chest, and intense pain instantly spread through his entire body.

Tokoyo Misao pulled his lips back and clenched his teeth. Blood squeezed through the gaps between them, ran down the corner of his mouth and over his chin, and dripped to the ground.

He suddenly lowered his center of gravity, tightened both hands around the hilt, and stabbed straight down into the Hollow's eye socket.

The blade easily pierced the Blade Hollow's red eye and plunged into its brain.

The Blade Hollow opened its mouth in a furious howl of pain. The Reishi in its body erupted again as it twisted its head wildly.

After three to five twists, a sharp clang echoed through the alley.

The Asauchi broke.

Tokoyo Misao kicked off the Blade Hollow's back, flipped several times through the air, and landed on the ground.

He covered the wound on his chest, which was over ten centimeters long, with his hand and sealed it with the tiny bit of Reishi he had left.

Then he glanced down at the broken sword in his hand and casually tossed it aside.

The broken Asauchi fell to the ground with a faint ring, as if crying out because it could no longer fight.

Tokoyo Misao stepped back with his right foot, raised his clenched left fist in front of him, and drew his clenched right fist back at shoulder height, taking his stance.

The corners of his mouth remained raised in a grin. He felt no fear or dread despite the crisis he faced, and seemed to be enjoying his present situation.

With a crack, the Blade Hollow pulled its bladed fist from the ground and turned to face Tokoyo Misao again.

It seemed that the man and the Hollow could see only each other, and even the savage howls outside the alley could no longer reach their ears.

The next moment, both figures vanished from where they stood.

They collided with a bang.

A dense series of booms immediately followed, bursting from their clash and resounding through the night sky.

Tokoyo Misao pressed his entire body close to the Blade Hollow, putting it in an awkward position.

Both its forearms had transformed into blades, but its upper arms and shoulders remained as they were.

There was a considerable difference in their sizes, and whenever the Blade Hollow swung its bladed arms to attack, Tokoyo Misao could always get in close.

This not only let him evade the blades, but also made it extremely awkward for the Blade Hollow to put force behind its blows, leaving it unable to hit him.

Instead, once Tokoyo Misao got close, he hammered punch after punch into its chest.

Those blows were nothing to the Blade Hollow, though. It did not even feel pain.

But having all its attacks dodged while it passively took a beating greatly irritated it, and it opened its mouth and roared repeatedly.

As time passed, the Blade Hollow discovered that its attacks could occasionally land.

Clearly, the little fellow in front of it was running low on stamina and could no longer maintain his flawless close-range assault.

Its red eyes lit up again. It moved in toward him of its own accord and changed its fighting style.

It withdrew the blades on both fists, turning them back into fingers, and tried to grapple Tokoyo Misao.

If it could just catch the little fellow, it could squeeze his guts out in an instant!

Tokoyo Misao kept dodging, using his smaller size to his advantage and sensing the direction of its attacks in advance.

He grabbed the Blade Hollow's thigh with his right hand and used it as a pivot, swinging himself around behind it to evade an attack.

The next time, he grabbed its upper arm and used that as a pivot to dodge.

In his current physical condition, a single hit would mean his death.

He narrowly escaped danger again and again, walking the line between life and death.

The Blade Hollow grew increasingly impatient again. It turned both fists back into blades and repeatedly attacked the walls on either side, widening the alley.

This finally allowed the Hollows that had been blocked at the entrance to get inside.

Hollows filled the entire alley. Once they swarmed toward Tokoyo Misao, he would have no room to maneuver at all.

Tokoyo Misao took a deep breath and assumed his stance again, holding his clenched left fist out in front and drawing his clenched right fist back to his waist.

"Awoo!" The Blade Hollow roared, pointing its right bladed fist at Tokoyo Misao's head.

The horde of Hollows surged toward Tokoyo Misao like a tsunami, threatening to swallow him.

He was like a speck of duckweed in the ocean, about to be swept to the seabed by the raging tsunami.

Crack.

Suddenly, a sound like shattering glass rang out in the sky.

A powerful pressure followed, crushing the Hollows to the ground like a mountain and leaving them unable to lift themselves.

The next moment, a figure descended from the sky and landed at the alley entrance.

He looked at Tokoyo Misao, who was still holding his stance, and smiled gently as he spoke.

"I'm sorry, Tokoyo Misao. I'm late."

Chapter 42: Putting the Blame on Kisuke Urahara

"Don't worry. You're safe now, Tokoyo Misao."

Aizen spoke again in a gentle voice, then drew his Zanpakuto with his right hand and lightly swept it through the night air.

The Hollows pinned to the ground by his Reiatsu were all beheaded with a single stroke.

But one Hollow, well-proportioned and with both hands transformed into blades, was not killed.

It looked at Aizen for a moment, then turned and fled.

Of course, in everyone else's eyes, this Hollow had also been killed by Aizen's sword, its body dissolving into Reishi.

But Tokoyo Misao could clearly see its deathly pale Spirit Ribbon moving away from the area until it disappeared.

His expression remained calm, however. He lowered his Hakuda stance, stood upright, and replied.

"Thank you, Captain Aizen. If you hadn't arrived in time, I'm afraid I would have died here too."

His tone was sincere, carrying a hint of relief at surviving the ordeal and gratitude to Aizen for coming to his rescue.

"Captain Aizen, is Tokoyo Misao all right?"

A strong voice rang out. Its owner was none other than Kaien Shiba, lieutenant of the Thirteenth Division.

As soon as he entered the World of the Living, he had seen the group of badly injured trainees. From Izuru Kira, who had collapsed to the ground from exhaustion, he had learned that Tokoyo Misao had lured the horde of Hollows away and saved their lives.

Just as he set out, he sensed the Reiatsu of Sōsuke Aizen, the captain of the support force, and hurried over.

When he saw Tokoyo Misao emerge from the alley with his clothes stained red with blood, he broke into a happy smile.

"Good thing you're not dead."

"I'm sorry. I actually arrived in the World of the Living to provide support ten minutes ago, but I couldn't find the trainees or the Hollows."

Sōsuke Aizen's expression suddenly darkened, and his voice was filled with deep self-reproach.

"With your abilities, Captain Aizen, you couldn't find them right away? Did something happen?" Kaien Shiba asked with a frown.

He already had one foot in the Captain-level himself, so he naturally knew that a captain's perception could cover all of Karakura Town. There was no reason Aizen should have been unable to locate the trainees.

Aizen pointed to a strange mark on the ground and said, "This entire area was covered by a strange Kidō. I also found some equipment used to set it up."

He pulled an iron frame from inside his clothing. It looked as though it had already been damaged. Then he continued.

"I don't know who set up such a wide-ranging Kidō here. Whoever it was most likely knew about the situation in Soul Society and laid a trap here."

"What?" Kaien Shiba took the equipment Aizen handed him and examined it. He could indeed detect a trace of Reishi fluctuations on it.

He then crouched down to inspect the strange mark, and his expression immediately darkened.

"To use equipment I've never seen before to set up a Kidō over such a wide area, this person must not only be very strong, but also highly skilled at inventing things."

He stopped there, because he had already all but settled on one person in his mind.

That was Kisuke Urahara, the former captain of the Gotei 13's Twelfth Division and head of the Shinigami Research and Development Institute.

He pulled a wooden communication plaque from his waist and quickly reported what they had found.

Then he turned to Aizen. "Captain Aizen, these students have suffered heavy casualties. I need to get them back to Soul Society for treatment as soon as possible."

"Members of the Twelfth Division will come to the World of the Living to investigate shortly. We'll leave the rest to them."

"I'll come back with you, in case anything else happens on the way." Aizen nodded slightly, his expression grave.

Kaien Shiba had been about to ask what could possibly happen in the Dangai, but the name Kisuke Urahara suddenly flashed through his mind, and he closed his mouth.

He nodded silently, then stepped forward and reached out to support Tokoyo Misao, who was still standing straight.

"What are you still trying to tough it out for, kid? You're badly hurt. Take it easy."

He could naturally see that Tokoyo Misao's injuries were even worse than those of Shūhei Hisagi and the others, who had already fallen unconscious.

Yet the boy had relied on sheer willpower to remain standing until now. By the look of him, he had even intended to walk back to Soul Society himself.

Even Kaien could not help feeling some admiration for Tokoyo Misao, who was suspected of being a member of one of the Five Great Noble Clans.