You Can't See Me

Dōsan had always firmly believed that pies didn't fall from the sky for no reason, and he wasn't the sort of person lucky enough to have one land on him.

Perhaps it was a man's seventh sense that made Dōsan reluctantly abandon the little pile of gold glittering within easy reach.

But as quickly as Dōsan reacted, he couldn't outpace the Twelfth Division, which had already made every possible preparation.

The fishing scam was only meant to lure Dōsan Hanyū into a designated area, where there would be fewer unexpected complications during the experiment.

Ripples spread through the air. A shudder from the depths of his soul made Dōsan Hanyū raise his eyebrows, a look of wary surprise appearing on his handsome, youthful face.

The Spiritual Pressure of a Hollow flickered in and out of perception, making Dōsan's heart pound.

The anomaly appeared and progressed with incredible speed. Before Dōsan could react, space tore open, and out came a monster shaped like a centipede, more than two meters long.

The monster held its body upright, with eight blade-sharp claws along the sides of its abdomen. It wore a bizarre, milky-white mask that looked somewhat sinister, and a round hole gaped in its chest.

"What the hell is that?"

Both the sight of it and the oppressive presence of something higher on the food chain made Dōsan furrow his brow.

That's... a Hollow?

Hollows were the only natural predators of souls, and although they weren't especially common in Soul Society, Dōsan Hanyū still recognized the bizarre monster.

It was a natural predator that fed on souls like them.

The instinct of his soul made Dōsan Hanyū afraid, like a mouse encountering a cat.

But even in this moment of crisis, Dōsan Hanyū displayed extraordinary composure.

Dōsan Hanyū knew quite a lot about Hollows.

First of all.

Given the current situation, he didn't think an ordinary soul like himself could escape its pursuit.

And he had another question.

Do these otherworldly monsters use bait to entrap people too?

A two-meter-tall monster using kan as bait?

There was no time to dwell on such minor details.

As the Hollow struggled to break through the spatial barrier, Dōsan Hanyū promptly rolled into an alley not far to his right and hid in the shadows. At the same time, he steadied his breathing, just like the ordinary souls sleeping soundly in the rooms around him.

Dōsan Hanyū was now like a hunter from the wild, lying low to one side and reducing his presence to the absolute minimum.

Though his small frame didn't show it, he had endured countless hardships to leave District 49, where he was born, and settle in District 11. After that, he had spent a month walking from West District 11 to Junrinan to find work.

He had plenty of experience.

Sometimes, doing "nothing" was the best choice.

Right now, he could do no more.

He had done all he could to prepare; the rest was up to a miracle.

What no one noticed, including Dōsan Hanyū and the Soul Reapers, was that as he crouched there, a faint gray mist spread outward from his body.

The gray mist seemed to come from a parallel space-time, and no one could perceive it.

"Impressive," Rangiku Matsumoto murmured in praise, having watched everything unfold.

Although Hollows weren't lower animals, they too had an instinct to pursue living beings in motion.

If Dōsan Hanyū had been an ordinary soul and held his breath like this, an average Hollow might indeed have been more inclined to attack the wandering souls still asleep.

His actions were simple and straightforward, but the Hollow had appeared only three seconds ago. To restrain his instincts and act like this at a moment of life or death was quite an impressive display.

The Twelfth Division members nearby noticed too, but only smiled disdainfully.

The man in the white coat even spoke up. "What a naive little brat!"

The Spiritual Pressure spilling from Dōsan Hanyū was like a beacon in the dark to a Hollow, or a bowl of water before a traveler crossing the desert.

How could it possibly let him hide so easily?

The Hollow emerged completely, less than a hundred meters from Dōsan Hanyū, and immediately noticed the delicious food nearby.

Just as the man in the white coat had thought, the scent was so delicious that it was like deadly bait. Even knowing it meant certain death, one couldn't help wanting a lick.

The Hollow reached a foreclaw toward Dōsan Hanyū, its tongue dangling from its mouth, a full three meters long. Its eyes showed a look of infatuation.

But as it continued toward Dōsan, the gray mist touched its body in wave after wave, like the sea.

The Hollow's movements stopped abruptly.

The next moment, like a machine receiving new instructions, the Hollow suddenly halted in its tracks.

Even its sinister smile vanished, and its whole face went blank. Moving like the "diners" in Dōsan Hanyū's dreams, it turned and walked away from him like a marionette.

It just left like that...

It wasn't playing with him. Watching the Hollow get farther and farther away, Dōsan touched his hair, utterly bewildered.

As a reasonable guess, was this Hollow just out for a walk at night?

Meanwhile.

Rangiku Matsumoto had seen enough of the show. She had already drawn a foot of her Zanpakuto's blade from its sheath and was about to go down and save Dōsan Hanyū, but the hand holding her raised sword froze. For a moment, she wondered if she'd had too much to drink.

She was surprised, but the Twelfth Division members were already crying out in shock.

"Impossible!" The man in the white coat leading the Twelfth Division even sprang to his feet and cried out.

"Absolutely impossible!"

Rangiku Matsumoto blinked her golden eyes like a cat that had found a new toy.

But the Twelfth Division members were left with nothing but confusion and disbelief.

"An ordinary soul with Spiritual Pressure spilling from its entire body is like a constantly shining light source to a Hollow. How could the Hollow just leave like that?"

"It's like a tiger that hasn't eaten for three days seeing a delicious piece of meat and turning around and walking away."

"Could it be that the captain's experiment affected the Hollow's intelligence..."

"Shut up," the man in the white coat leading them snapped. "Summon the Hollow back."

A soul with abnormal Spiritual Pressure and a Hollow that had been scientifically modified.

Their encounter would provide important experimental data. It absolutely couldn't end so easily.

Clack.

The crisp sound of a Zanpakuto being drawn came from behind them. Rangiku Matsumoto spoke in a grave, serious voice. "I won't allow you to do as you please anymore!"

"Rangiku Matsumoto, you dare interfere with a Twelfth Division experiment?"

With a shing, nine Soul Reapers drew their swords, showing no sign of backing down.

Rangiku Matsumoto hadn't expected a few Seated Officers to be so brazen as to actually draw their swords against her, an acting lieutenant.

And it was precisely the clash of their Spiritual Pressure that drew the lowly Hollow, which had already gone far away, back.

The Hollow shook its head in confusion, then, as if nothing had happened, turned back and fixed its gaze on Dōsan Hanyū again.

Rangiku Matsumoto held back no longer. "Growl, Haineko."

Huh?

Dōsan Hanyū still didn't know what Spiritual Pressure was, but he could sense that there seemed to be something on a rooftop not far away.

Raising his head, Dōsan also noticed the Hollow's aggressive Spiritual Pressure.

This is bad.