Chapter 197
"..."
Haruto raised his arm toward the sky.
It doesn't matter.
"Hadō #65: Gaki Rekko!"
"Hadō #67: Raimeisan!"
"Buzz!!"
A slender, sharp, bluish-green bolt of lightning shot straight into the sky; the already gloomy weather became even worse, and the rolling lightning in the clouds and the increasingly fierce cold wind made pedestrians realize that the climate was changing.
Seisen has no ability to control celestial phenomena.
Haruto was able to unleash such a large-scale Kidō by taking advantage of the weather conditions that were already present—which shows how powerful those celestial Zanpakuto were. Even with Haruto's Third-Class Reii fully activated, each strike could only barely reach the threshold of advanced Hadō.
"Fall."
The arm swung down along with the lightning.
"Snap!!"
More than a hundred bolts of lightning flashed simultaneously, bathing the entire city in iridescent light.
"..."
"It's over."
Clearing out these Hollows is not a simple matter; the more complex the types of Reiatsu, the lower the accuracy of the Kakushitsuijaku becomes.
Without these feints as cover, that Captain-level guy will soon--
"?"
The combined Hadō from before wasn't very powerful, far from being strong enough to eliminate Menos Grande in one hit, but even if Gillian were hit, he would be seriously injured and fall to the ground.
An ordinary Hollow that can survive a lightning strike...
"It shouldn't exist."
"Whoosh!"
Naruki City, Maple Drop Park.
"It's fine."
The sudden thunderstorm undoubtedly startled pedestrians in the park.
If the distance were relatively far, some people might have the leisure to take photos to commemorate the event, but when faced with a disaster so close at hand, it's already quite remarkable that ordinary people aren't terrified—especially those who were almost attacked by the fake attack: although the actual situation is somewhat different, they have indeed just experienced a life-or-death situation.
Thunderstorms scorched ancient trees with a history of over 400 years on the riverbank of the park.
Playful children find lightning amusing, but what truly makes them cry is a balloon blown away by the wind, stuck in a tree branch, and then popped by lightning.
Come on~
The frightened child is probably only in elementary school.
I have a few more here~
Maple Drop Park is very close to residential areas, so children walking together do not need their parents' special supervision, especially little boys who are considered to be at lower risk—the safety of Naruki City is surprisingly good.
With the comforting words of their aunt, who was clearly their mother's age, they quickly skipped away; the smiles on their faces were far better than the panic on the faces of many adults around them.
"Whoosh!"
Is this the place?
Haruto Shunpo in the crowd.
--The mission was quite urgent, so none of the Soul Reaper used their Gigai, and Haruto naturally appeared directly in his spirit form.
This is also to facilitate movement among ordinary humans.
"That..."
"There is no trace of emptiness."
However, even at such close range, Haruto still couldn't detect the presence of the Hollow, and even the coordinates that he had previously locked onto with his Kakushitsuijaku had disappeared.
"He was disguised as a regular Hollow, but completely hid after being discovered?"
"This gentleman who's going to film a Taiga drama..."
"..."
Haruto wasn't hearing problems; he simply hadn't expected that a human could actually see him.
When he finally focused his attention on the other person...
She had long, slightly wavy, brown hair, wore a grayish-brown women's work uniform, and flesh-colored stockings with short heels at the toes for easy movement; underneath, a white shirt was topped with a scarf for autumn wind protection.
From a purely rational perspective, this woman's looks are definitely not bad.
Coupled with her charmingly domestic demeanor, she's definitely the kind of woman that company leaders and young men "fight for" day and night.
Are you talking to me?
"Yes."
Haruto's question surprised her somewhat.
"I see..."
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the children, soaking wet, disappearing rapidly toward the riverbank not far away.
"Was he a child who fell into the water while trying to hook a balloon, and who was at the age where loyalty is most important?"
They were spirits, not human beings.
Based on Haruto's experience, as long as there are even the slightest clues, it's easy to see why the spirit has become the way it is now.
Haruto tree, and the woman in front of him gave the balloon to the child. Their obsession with the past had disappeared by chance—from the perspective of Soul Reaper, she had done a small but significant favor.
"..."
Seeing Haruto start talking to himself, she had to interrupt him:
"Excuse me, what brings you here?"
Haruto used Instant Shunpo to get there.
From the other person's perspective, it's like a historical drama actor suddenly popping out of the crowd and blocking their way.
On one's inevitable path... such things are complicated to explain.
"I'm the costume and prop manager for a nearby film crew. Madam, are you interested in participating in a TV series?"
Haruto simply went along with it and said...
"Huh? Me?"
The woman pointed to herself and asked, somewhat surprised.
"Right!"
"I'm sorry, I've been very busy with work lately and haven't had much time to watch dramas. Please forgive me if I've been too forward."
The woman clasped her hands together, bowed her head, and apologized.
Taiga dramas hold a very high status in Japan, and not just any actor is qualified to participate, let alone an amateur extra; even those in the industry often never have such an opportunity in their entire lives.
As you can see.
The woman held up the plastic bag in her hand to indicate:
"I'm a bit too busy with work to meet your expectations."
Lawson's tote bag.
Inside the transparent packaging lies a unique understanding of staple food paired with staple food, a common dish among Japanese students and office workers:
Fried noodles with bread.
The half-portion of fried chicken was probably for a good mood, since women are very conscious of their weight; the canned hot coffee was likely her personal preference, and if it was to stay alert while working overtime, the two bottles of Lipovitan that were at the bottom and the first thing she bought would be enough to last her the whole night.
Aside from being able to see herself, the woman is just an office worker who comes out for lunch.
That's such a shame.
Haruto wasn't surprised by this answer, as it was entirely expected; if she were truly interested in dramas, Haruto would have had to go to great lengths to recruit people from other squads to help her.
Each team has its own area of responsibility, but the Thirteenth Division, which is monitoring Naruki City, only has Haruto.
With a regretful smile, Haruto stepped aside to make way for the woman—he was long past the age of being unable to resist beautiful women, and while humans who could see spirits were rare, they weren't worth paying too much attention to.
"That..."
Just as the woman was about to walk away, she suddenly stopped beside Haruto.
Please speak.
Haruto gestured that it was alright.
"Although it may seem abrupt, I have a friend who is very interested in the entertainment industry. I wonder if I could ask you..."
"Can I leave you my contact information?"
For the Japanese, such a request goes beyond being abrupt: a street-side adult video director might welcome this kind of insider recommendation, but how can that be compared to a Taiga drama?
"That's right!"
The woman hurriedly rummaged through her inner pockets.
"I am Agata Asuna, nice to meet you."
Finally, he produced a rather elegant business card and handed it to me with both hands: the weight of the convenience store bag hanging on his arm was clearly having a negative effect at this moment.
"..."
Haruto accepted the business card.
The Gotei 13 wouldn't be equipped with such a thing, but since the other party has the ability to see spirits, it seems feasible to temporarily create one using Reishi —even if the other party's spiritual power is too weak to be detected, they are still more vulnerable to Hollow attacks than ordinary people. Let's just say it's Haruto's way of repaying her for "deceiving" her.
However.
Just as Haruto reached his hand inside the lining—
"Whoosh."
The clearest sound of Shunpo (Shunpo) could be heard above Haruto's head.
"Boom!"
"Whoosh!"
Haruto appeared on the sparsely populated riverbank. At the crucial moment, Agata, whom he was carrying with one hand, was mercilessly thrown into the grass behind him: a slump on his backside and being late for work were better than losing his life.
"Snap."
Haruto placed his left hand on the hilt of Seisen's sword.
The Twelfth Division detected the auras of multiple Captain-level in the World of the Living. Haruto initially thought he had identified the targets using his previous combination of Kidō techniques:
Adjuchas possesses the ability to conceal himself.
Who would have thought...
It turned out to be a Captain-level Soul Reaper, who disguised his aura as a Hollow and hid among the Hollows—and now it was so strong that no trace of Reiatsu could be detected at all.
"Who are you?"
Haruto looked up at the figure frozen in the sky.
Only the sides of the lower Shihakushō were covered with thick animal fur, leaving the upper body completely bare and full of steel-like muscles; if it weren't for the fact that he wasn't wearing Zanpakuto at his waist, he would almost have been mistaken for Yammy.
"I don't have Zanpakuto..."
Haruto observed the other person's state.
When Reiatsu is completely imperceptible, one can only rely on the naked eye to identify them: Soul Reaper do not possess Zanpakuto are extremely rare. If you encounter someone of unknown origin in the World of the Living, they are most likely a heinous criminal who has had their Zanpakuto confiscated and sealed away.
This coincides perfectly with the Captain-level Reiatsu information provided by the Twelfth Division: