The Konsō Field Exercise Begins / A Menos Grande? Just a Bigger Target

Kyōsuke Kuchiki walked over to the members of his squad, chatting with them as he looked at the Senkaimon before them.

With the help of the Kidō Corps, a pitch-black path leading to the Dangai suddenly appeared between the two square pillars, where there had been nothing before.

"The Senkaimon is open!"

"Everyone, please come over and enter one at a time, in order."

"Remember to follow your Hell Butterflies closely. Don't run off, or you might get lost in the Dangai!"

"..."

As the teachers gave their instructions, a jet-black butterfly drifted silently over and landed lightly on Kyōsuke Kuchiki's shoulder.

Hell Butterflies guided Soul Reapers to the World of the Living, serving as living tools that allowed them to travel safely between the World of the Living and Soul Society.

They received the latest brief emergency messages issued by the Information Technology Bureau, allowing their bearers to keep up with the latest news from the Seireitei at all times. They were also frequently used to relay messages between squads.

And since Hell Butterflies could only be controlled by Soul Reapers, there was no need to worry about anyone else using them.

Following its lead, Kyōsuke Kuchiki approached the Senkaimon and stepped into the pitch-black passage.

In an instant, the atmosphere around him seemed to freeze, and a faint pressure pressed in on him. It was as though everything in this world had been suspended forever, with only him still moving.

According to the original story, this place was formed from several layers of severed space overlapping one another, surrounded on the outside by raging currents of time.

Compared with the outside world, its time density was overwhelmingly high, nearly a thousand times greater.

One year in the outside world was a thousand years in the Dangai.

Long ago, it was said, Soul Reapers had been exiled here, left to lose themselves in the raging currents of time and wander the Dangai forever.

Chapter 15: The Konsō Field Exercise Begins

"The Dangai really is amazing!"

Kyōsuke Kuchiki gazed curiously at the world before him.

Everything in his field of vision was pitch-black, and he could only make out the path beneath his feet. If the Hell Butterfly hadn't been leading him, he would probably have met the same fate as those exiled Soul Reapers.

At that thought, Kyōsuke Kuchiki immediately walked much more cautiously.

He had no idea how much time had passed before a glimmer of light finally appeared ahead.

"We're here!"

His spirits lifted, Kyōsuke Kuchiki darted through the air with several successive Shunpo.

The next second, he passed through the doorway, and the view before him shifted.

A clear blue sky spread out before him, replacing the pitch-black passage, and a cool breeze brushed against his face.

Before him lay a vast, bustling city.

Karakura Town!

In Soul Society at this time, who could have imagined that a century later, an orange-haired Ryoka from here would storm into Soul Society?

Or that the captains would fight their final battle against Aizen here?

Looking at the scenery, both familiar and unfamiliar, Kyōsuke Kuchiki couldn't help feeling a little emotional.

Behind him, the squad members from his class arrived one after another.

"I never thought I'd get to return to the World of the Living one day."

"It seems a little different, but then again, maybe it isn't. I can't remember."

The squad members chattered among themselves, many wearing expressions of nostalgia and longing.

They were all commoners from Rukongai who had not yet forgotten their previous lives.

But as a transmigrator, Kyōsuke Kuchiki was naturally used to everything here.

In terms of status, he was a born Plus, just like the other nobles, so he naturally felt little attachment to the World of the Living.

In reality, present-day Karakura Town closely resembled an island nation's city from the Meiji era.

Having grown accustomed to the bustling cities of the modern age, Kyōsuke Kuchiki naturally had no interest in a backward city like this.

In terms of luxury and extravagance, it couldn't even compare to his own Kuchiki mansion. What was there to see?

Kyōsuke Kuchiki nodded to the others and said:

"I'll head to my assigned area first."

"If anything happens, just contact me through a Hell Butterfly."

When he reached his assigned area, Kyōsuke Kuchiki looked up and saw a group of samurai patrolling the dilapidated, filthy streets with unwavering loyalty.

They seemed unaware that they were already dead, still repeating everything they had done in life.

"You there, boy! Stop and put down your weapon!"

Several samurai examined the strange-looking boy before them, dressed entirely in black.

But even a child would be treated as an enemy if he carried a weapon, and they would strike him down without hesitation.

Before they could make a move, however, Kyōsuke Kuchiki became an afterimage and closed in with Shunpo.

"What?" The samurai were momentarily stunned when the strange boy in the distance inexplicably vanished, and then they felt a chill on their foreheads.

A circle appeared on each of their foreheads, with the character for "soul" at its center.

At once, the samurai's bodies grew light, and they turned into Reishi and flew toward Rukongai.

Konsō complete!

But Kyōsuke Kuchiki did not put away his Zanpakuto. Instead, he turned his gaze into the distance.

At a corner of the street, a "Plus" with a twisted face and a corroded chain on his chest was peeking at him.

His face looked as if it had been smeared black with ink, and wisps of black smoke rose from it, giving him a deeply ominous air.

"Thirsty—"

"I'm so thirsty..."

This fellow had wandered for too long without a Soul Reaper performing Konsō on him in time. A gentle Konsō would no longer work; he could only be purified by more forceful means.

If left like this, they would only become true Hollows with time and begin devouring innocent souls.

As a Soul Reaper, all Kyōsuke Kuchiki could do was purify them as quickly as possible.

Kyōsuke Kuchiki stepped forward with Shunpo and flicked his wrist. A flash of snow-white steel streaked through the air.

Slash!

He sliced the Demi-Hollow in two in an instant, reducing him to specks of smoke and dust.

They dissipated into the air.

But that was only one of them. Souls were still wandering nearby.

Two Hollows were chasing those souls, trying to devour them.

"Looks like there's still a lot of work to do."

With that, Kyōsuke Kuchiki vanished and swiftly purified the two Hollows, performing Konsō on several souls along the way.

With that, his assigned area had been cleared.

Although these were not peaceful times, and the poor died like grass in swathes, this was a city district after all, so there weren't that many souls.

This was a place for their field exercise, after all. Even if there were dangerous Hollows, the Soul Reapers stationed here would have cleared them out first.

Naturally, this task was very easy for Kyōsuke Kuchiki.

He looked at the street, now transformed, and nodded with a smile before turning to leave.

But just then, he suddenly stopped.

A tremendously powerful, unfamiliar Reiatsu surged toward him!

Sensing the somewhat oppressive fluctuation of Reiatsu, Kyōsuke Kuchiki looked up. In the sky above the nearby outskirts, a huge black fissure slowly emerged, forcibly tearing the sky apart!

Kyōsuke Kuchiki frowned at the bizarre, almost terrifying sight.

He had long guessed that this Konsō field exercise might not be so simple.

But Reiatsu at this level alone wasn't enough to threaten him.

"Whatever the reason you've chosen this moment to appear, I should at least say hello, as a matter of courtesy!"

Kyōsuke Kuchiki released Dijiang and gently traced profound Daoist symbols with his finger.

In an instant, arcs of lightning gathered and leaped around his finger.

Then, with a casual sweep of his hand toward the fissure, Kyōsuke Kuchiki unleashed countless bolts of lightning. "Five Thunder Heavenly Heart Incantation!"

Chapter 16: A Menos Grande? Just a Bigger Target

At that very moment, a group of Soul Reaper academy students had gathered in an area not far away.

Unlike the powerful Kyōsuke Kuchiki, their assigned areas were close together and very safe, with usually only one Hollow apiece.

Thus, when something happened in the sky and a terrifying pressure swept over them, they quickly gathered together and looked up in fear at the abyss-like fissure overhead.

"Rrraaagh—"

A ferocious, emotionless roar suddenly came from the enormous fissure.

"What on earth is that?"

"Why is the sky splitting open?! What's going on?"

"Hey, should we contact the official Soul Reapers in Karakura Town?"

"That's strange. Why haven't the higher-ups or the Soul Reapers stationed here reacted to something like this?"

"The Hell Butterflies don't seem able to carry messages anymore. What on earth is happening?"

Several of them pointed at the fissure, panic written across their faces.

"...No, something's wrong. Look, is that really a fissure?"

"Why does it look like that thing is moving?"

"..."

They stared at the fissure in the sky.

They kept talking among themselves, their voices full of panic.

Just then, the fissure abruptly widened, and a pitch-black monster slowly squeezed its way out like a chick breaking out of its shell.

A white mask covered its enormous face, and its long nose made it look as comical as a clown.

An unimaginably terrifying Reiatsu spread out, and fear and unease welled up in their hearts.

In an instant, they were like drowning people, their hearts gripped fast by fear and despair.

A Gillian!

A Menos Grande!

These students had only seen this kind of Hollow in Shin'ō Academy's textbooks.

Only a Vice-Captain-level Soul Reaper could reliably suppress a Menos Grande like this. Soul Reaper students like them would be nothing more than easy prey.

Faced with a Menos Grande so high up the food chain, the students didn't dare breathe, let alone speak.

The monster before them was in a completely different league from what they had just dealt with.

Thinking back on those so-called "Hollows" now, they seemed like toys for children playing house. It was utterly laughable!

As if sensing the trainee Soul Reapers' fear and spiritual power, the Gillian turned its head and looked in their direction.

The students' hearts stopped on the spot, and every one of them froze.

It wasn't that they didn't want to move. They couldn't.

That chilling, terrifying Reiatsu struck straight at their hearts, weighing them down like a crushing burden and leaving them unable to move.

A red glimmer appeared on the Gillian's head.

In the blink of an eye, the red light grew into a sphere the size of a basketball.

"Cero!"