Is That Your Only Move?

"That's a Cero!"

"Damn it, move, body!"

No matter how desperately the Soul Reaper students struggled, they still couldn't control their bodies.

With their strength, they shouldn't have been so helpless, but their luck was simply too terrible.

Even an ordinary Hollow could intimidate an ordinary person.

That greedy, vicious, evil, inhuman aura could easily tear apart a normal person's mental defenses, leaving them trapped in fear they couldn't escape.

Let alone a Menos Grande that had only taken shape after devouring hundreds of souls.

Faced with such a higher-order life-form, ordinary Soul Reapers were like lambs awaiting slaughter. They had no recourse but to let it butcher them.

In another corner, Gin Ichimaru watched with interest as the Menos Grande unleashed a Cero in the sky and remarked:

"The Soul Reapers' world really is dangerous!"

He had no intention whatsoever of going to rescue his classmates.

Gin Ichimaru could just barely put up a fight against a Gillian.

But with his snakelike senses, he keenly perceived that this incident was no simple matter.

Gin Ichimaru couldn't die before he accomplished his goal.

At that moment, the Cero the Gillian had gathered began to swell, poised to fire.

The Soul Reaper students fell into despair, while Gin Ichimaru frowned in the shadows and prepared to run.

Just then, five dazzling bolts of lightning streaked across the sky and slammed into the Gillian's white mask.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Thunder pealed across the heavens like a great bronze bell, like the wrath of heaven and earth, making hearts and minds tremble.

The matchless lightning Reiatsu made their hair stand on end and their bodies tingle.

Heavenly lightning descended upon the world, and heaven and earth changed color!

After the five bolts of heavenly lightning, the Gillian let out an earth-shaking scream.

Its white bone mask shattered, causing it unbearable pain and leaving it unable to maintain its massive body, which was composed of hundreds of souls.

The Cero in the Menos Grande's mouth had yet to take shape, and it too burst apart, sending out several shock waves. In an instant, fierce winds howled, whipping up sand and stones.

Moments ago, the area had been bathed in bright sunshine. Now darkness swept over it, as though the end of the world had arrived.

The Soul Reaper students, who had narrowly escaped death, were buffeted every which way by the strange wind.

By the time everything fell quiet, the seemingly invincible Gillian had fallen to the ground and was dissolving into Reishi.

"W-we're saved!"

"Thank goodness!"

"I almost never got to see my family again, sob!"

At that moment, the Soul Reaper students were filled with the joy of surviving a disaster.

Still, they had their doubts. Who had saved them? Was it a Soul Reaper stationed in the World of the Living?

"So all this time, he wasn't even using his full strength when he fought him!"

From the shadows, Gin Ichimaru looked toward the area Kyōsuke Kuchiki was responsible for, his eyes inevitably showing a hint of confusion and lingering fear.

Only now did Gin Ichimaru realize just how ridiculous he had been, showing off in front of Kyōsuke Kuchiki.

It was like an ant waving its antennae threateningly at a lion.

All the while unaware that the lion could crush it with a mere lift of its leg.

At that moment, a sixth-year student holding a Zanpakuto in its Shikai state seemed to recall something and suddenly spoke:

"That place is the area Kyōsuke Kuchiki is responsible for, right? Could it be...?"

Another sixth-year also seemed to understand. He swallowed and shook his head, his face full of shock.

"No way. Even Kyōsuke Kuchiki couldn't kill a Gillian in an instant, could he?"

"Right, that's a Menos Grande. Only someone Captain-level could..."

"But Kyōsuke Kuchiki is the only one who could use lightning Kidō like that."

Gin Ichimaru stepped out of the shadows, his customary false smile on his face.

"That's right. It was Young Master Kyōsuke who just made that move."

"There's no need to be surprised. That's just Young Master Kyōsuke performing as usual!"

It really was Kyōsuke Kuchiki!

After hearing Gin Ichimaru's words, the trainee Soul Reapers had very mixed feelings.

Alongside their surprise and admiration, a sense of powerlessness rose within them.

Only now did they realize that even among Soul Reapers, the gap in talent could be this vast.

What they had thought was a distance they could gaze across from afar now seemed beyond both sight and reach.

Chapter 17: Is That Your Only Move?

When Kyōsuke Kuchiki arrived with Shunpo, he was greeted by a host of admiring and grateful looks.

Even the usually low-key Gin Ichimaru offered him a sincere compliment:

"You really are worthy of being our top student, the greatest genius in the history of Soul Society."

"It's nothing special. These Menos Grande look frightening, but they're really just conspicuous targets."

Kyōsuke Kuchiki was very happy at the moment.

A single Five Thunder Heavenly Heart Incantation had sent his mastery of the Heaven Communicating Talisman Art straight up to 91%. That was a huge gain.

Every one percent increase in mastery greatly strengthened the Heaven Communicating Talisman Art accordingly.

And his strength had increased greatly after just one move. What was there to be dissatisfied with?

That small increase in mastery was nothing to scoff at. Normally, Kyōsuke Kuchiki might need to train for ten days or half a month to improve that much.

Sure enough, only in intense battle could he raise his mastery of the Eight Extraordinary Skills most quickly.

This time, Kyōsuke Kuchiki had also managed to test his true strength: standard Captain-level.

In simpler terms, he was on Kensei Muguruma's level.

There were three kinds of Menos Grande: Gillian, Adjuchas, and Vasto Lorde.

Gillian were the weakest of the three kinds.

But even faced with the weakest Menos Grande, ordinary Soul Reapers could only take a detour. Only high-ranking Seated Officers could put up a fight.

Against a Captain-level Soul Reaper, however, this kind of Menos Grande was no match.

Kyōsuke Kuchiki's ability to kill a Gillian in a single blow had already reached the standard of a captain.

Of course, that wasn't the limit of his potential.

Once his mastery of the Heaven Communicating Talisman Art reached the realm of perfection and he unlocked another of the Eight Extraordinary Skills, he could easily trounce his current self.

By then, Kyōsuke Kuchiki would be another step closer to the level where he could "instantly kill a captain with a normal attack."

After this incident, the Soul Reaper students, who had yet to experience the world's harsh beating, underwent a subtle change in mindset.

Once, they had thought they could change the world through their own efforts.

Now, they no longer had such naive ideas.

Several trainee Soul Reapers moved closer to Kyōsuke Kuchiki, wanting to express their gratitude and build a connection with him while they were at it.

Given his status, his strength, and the fact that he had saved their lives, there was no shame in doing so.

"Get back, it's not over yet!"

Seeing several students approach without knowing any better, Kyōsuke Kuchiki called out a warning.

His words instantly made the Soul Reaper students hold their breath.

They hurriedly looked up and saw that the black rift in the sky hadn't disappeared. Instead, it had become more solid and deeper.

It still wasn't over?

In an instant, everyone's faces went deathly pale, and they fell into despair.

But just then, Kyōsuke Kuchiki suddenly swept across their field of vision.

There was no panic on the young man's face. There wasn't even a trace of emotion.

His eyes held only their usual calm!

"Everyone, move farther back."

"I might catch you in the aftermath of what's coming."

The black rift in the sky seemed to come alive all of a sudden and began charging toward them at tremendous speed.

"Haaah—!"

Two Gillian with even more terrifying auras and even larger bodies leaped down in front of them.

The two Menos Grande blotted out the sky, and with every movement, the earth shook and the mountains trembled.

The ancient Japanese-style buildings around them looked like matchboxes beside the two behemoths, trembling constantly.

Faced with such an insurmountable natural disaster, ordinary people could only hide at home and shiver.

In the Soul Reapers' world, the weak could only leave things to fate, with no way to control their own destinies.

At that moment, the powerful Reiatsu of the two Gillian Menos Grande washed over them, making it hard to breathe, as though gravity had increased severalfold.

The oppressive pressure was completely different from what they had felt watching from a distance!

That greedy desire to devour everything grew ever more terrifying, further eroding the courage of the Soul Reaper students nearby.

This time, however, with Kyōsuke Kuchiki leading the charge, they were doing much better than before.

Faced with the intimidating Reiatsu of the Menos Grande this time, they could not only move freely, but several trainee Soul Reapers even mustered the courage to release their Zanpakuto into Shikai and launch an attack.

Swish!

A blade of light swept through the air and exploded against the Gillian.

But when the smoke cleared, all that remained on the Hollow's hard skin was a shallow scratch!

Compared with its entire massive body, it was hardly worth mentioning.

Even so, it gave them a little confidence.

"If we all attack together, there's still hope."

The trainee Soul Reaper who had attacked first tightened his grip on his sword hilt and took a deep breath.

"At the very least, we can hold it back first! Buy Lord Kyōsuke some time!"

Hearing his words, the others exchanged glances and saw a trace of encouragement in one another's eyes.

"Go!"

"Kidō number thirty-one, Shakkahō!"

"Bakudō number nine, Hōrin!"

"..."

Attack after attack, wreathed in spiritual power, flew out in succession and slammed into the Gillian.

Crimson flames and ropes made of Reishi flew toward it as well, attempting to halt its advance.

The rumbling continued for a long while, and the scene became spectacular, as though they had inflicted a great deal of terrifying damage. Everyone's expressions immediately grew excited, and they hurled attacks without holding back.

Only after more than ten seconds did the smoke and dust kicked up by the attacks slowly disperse...

There were still only a few shallow scratches on the Gillian's body.

Not only that, but its hard skin was constantly healing. The wounds they had spent so long inflicting simply disappeared bit by bit.