"Come to think of it, do you get many chances to encounter Hollows?"
"Hmm, how should I answer that?"
Jun and Nana traveled through the outer reaches of Soul Society. Their Shunpo was evenly matched, and just running was rather boring, so Jun slowed down, and Nana slowed down with him.
After Jun asked his question, Nana looked down and thought for a while, then told him about her decades of experience as a Soul Reaper.
In the fifty-one years since Nana Onibe had become a Soul Reaper, she had slain thirteen Hollows on her own and another thirty-one with others.
The Tenth Division's patrol duties sounded simple, but in practice, it really was the division with the heaviest combat workload, living up to its name as the patrol and security division.
On average, Soul Society was invaded by roughly one Hollow a day. Of course, they couldn't possibly come to Soul Society to throw their lives away at such a steady rate of one a day. Generally, a small group of Hollows would suddenly appear once every three to five days.
Tenth Division patrols usually operated in teams of three to five. That was because finding Hollows required a Bakudō spell, the fifty-eighth, Kakushitsuijaku. Not just anyone could use a Bakudō of that level, especially in the Tenth Division, where the requirements for Kidō could be lowered in favor of Hakuda and swordsmanship.
"Why didn't you say so earlier!?"
"Huh? I-I-I can't use it! So I forgot, waaah~~~ Sorry, Jun~"
Jun had been listening with great interest, wondering whether the Tenth Division had some special technique for finding Hollows. As it turned out, Nana Onibe had forgotten to tell him he needed to activate a Bakudō.
Jun was quite annoyed. To strengthen the Bakudō, he began chanting: "Heart of the south, eye of the north, fingertip of the west, toe of the east. Gather with the wind, disperse with the rain."
"Bakudō #58: Kakushitsuijaku!"
This Bakudō sensed Reiatsu. Anything with Reiatsu within its range could be detected. The Reiatsu of Soul Reapers and Hollows was very different, so there was no danger of mistaking a Soul Reaper for a Hollow, and it made sensing Hollows easier.
Jun said nothing more after casting the Kidō. Nana had just made such a big mistake that she naturally didn't dare say anything either. After a while, Jun looked at her.
"When was our division's last extermination mission?"
"Hmm, half a month ago?"
"Tch~ If we find too many Hollows, do we retreat and fire a signal flare?"
"Huh? Are there Hollows? How many!?"
"Not too many. Twenty-four."
"That's not too many!!!?" Nana Onibe was utterly bewildered. She grabbed Jun and started pulling him back. "Let's retreat! I have a signal flare right here. I'll fire it immediately."
Jun struggled a little. "Ah~~ I want to go take a look."
"Jun!!"
"Um, from what I can sense, they're all just low-level Hollows." Jun gave her his assessment, but still couldn't persuade Nana, so he compromised. "What do division regulations say about an invasion of twenty-odd Hollows?"
"..." Nana was at a loss for words, and Jun saw hope. "An ordinary team has to retreat immediately and send up a signal flare. If a single-digit seated officer is present, we need to ask for their opinion."
"So it really is up to me."
"But Jun, this is your first time!" Nana was still trying. "Let's retreat first and play it safe."
"Hmm, they're still a long way off. How about this? Fire the signal flare first." Jun found a place to sit. "We'll wait here. If the others are slow to arrive, we'll retreat gradually."
Nana had no other choice. She simply couldn't persuade Jun, and he had earned his Ninth Seat through real combat. Even if she had doubts about him, she still trusted his judgment, so she fired the signal flare.
"All right then~, but if they're slow to arrive, we absolutely have to retreat."
"Okay, okay."
The two waited where they were. Jun looked into the distance, where another signal flare burst in the sky, showing that someone had responded. He stood up.
"Let's move over that way. The Hollows are heading closer to that direction too. Come on, let's not let them run into the Hollows before they can even get here to support us."
The two used Shunpo, while the other party also headed toward Jun using Shunpo. Shunpo was quite fast, covering several hundred meters in a second. A maximum-distance Shunpo had a cooldown of around five seconds. That was how it was used for traveling; in battle, the cooldown for short-range Shunpo was practically nonexistent.
Jun and Nana soon met the other party, a four-person squad. Nana and the others knew each other, but they didn't know Jun.
"Nineteenth Seat Miyagi~ It's me, Onibe."
"I know. Who's this beside you?"
"Ah~ This is the new Ninth Seat, Shimizu."
"I'm Jun Shimizu. It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Ah~ Ah! Not at all, not at all. Hello, Ninth Seat Shimizu~"
The others hadn't reacted at first, but one member of their squad had attended the graduation assessment and hurriedly reminded them. They immediately became very respectful. Unlike Nana, who knew Jun, none of them dared question him. The hierarchy in Soul Society was extremely strict and rigid.
"You're Miyagi, right?"
"Yes! What are your orders, Ninth Seat Shimizu?"
"The enemy is already close. What do you sense, and how should we deal with them? I'm a newcomer, after all, and I'd like to learn a little from a veteran like you."
"Hehe, you flatter me, Ninth Seat Shimizu." Nineteenth Seat Miyagi was delighted. Everyone liked being praised, and since Jun had shown him such respect, he didn't hold back. "The enemy consists of nineteen Hollows. Their Reiatsu doesn't feel particularly strong, and everyone on our team here is a veteran. We can handle that number of Hollows easily."
Jun felt a little awkward. Nana was just about to speak when he subtly pulled her back. There were clearly twenty-four, but Miyagi had only sensed nineteen. He hadn't noticed the five in the rear, and Jun didn't think he could embarrass him.
"All right, let's move forward first. Once the teams behind us reach the signal flare's launch site, they should be able to sense us too. Do we have a signal flare to mark our route for them to follow?"
"Yes."
"Mm, then we can fire it after we've gone a little farther. Right~ Let's move."
The six quickly rushed toward the Hollows, discussing their battle plan on the way. Jun and Seventeenth Seat Miyagi were the strongest among them, while the highest-ranked of the others was the Thirty-first Seat. So they settled on a plan.
Jun would take the lead and attack head-on. Then Seventeenth Seat Miyagi would lead Nana, the weakest among them, in an assault from Jun's right, while the remaining three attacked from his left. They would wipe out the enemy with a three-pronged attack.
On the way, they fired a flare for the others to follow. As they continued forward and were about to attack, Jun sensed movement from Seventeenth Seat Miyagi on his right.
Jun immediately focused. As Seventeenth Seat Miyagi moved, he suddenly saw threads of condensed Reishi appear before him, forming words in the air.
"Already aware. Continue the operation."
"Hsss~~~~~" Seventeenth Seat Miyagi sucked in a breath.
Nana caught up and said, "Jun—cough, cough. Ninth Seat Shimizu sensed twenty-four Hollows right from the start. He already knew."
"Is that so? That's amazing! I understand. I'll go thank him afterward. Ninth Seat Shimizu really is amazing!"
While he was taking the time to condense his spiritual power, Jun was positioned at the front, and the Hollows spotted him and charged over. It was the first time Jun had seen real Hollows.
Their bodies were blue or gray, and not all of them were humanoid. Only their faces were all covered by masks, and they each had a fist-sized hole in their bodies. An ordinary Hollow's hole was where its heart would be, though that wasn't necessarily true for Menos Grandes.
"Hadō #4: Byakurai."
Jun's Zanpakuto hadn't come back yet, so he was empty-handed. He really didn't want to dirty his hands with Hakuda, so he would use Kidō. This was a good chance to test the destructive power of Kidō used at full strength.
A bolt of Byakurai shot out and shattered the right half of a Hollow's body, but it didn't do any substantial damage. It had been aimed at the Hollow's head, but Hollows weren't incapable of dodging.
"Is that enough destructive power already? So they can't take much of a beating. Then I'll use something a little stronger." With that, Jun released more than ten threads of spiritual power and connected them to the Hollows.
Hollows could sense and devour Reishi. Once Jun connected the threads, even the Hollows that hadn't noticed him came charging his way.
But they were still a long distance off, and Jun leisurely chanted, "Broken bones of the beast, unbreakable wall, collapse and crush, let blood blossom!"
"Hadō #11: Tsuzuri Raiden!"
In an instant, intense lightning traveled along the threads of spiritual power to the Hollows, and their souls exploded. The Hollow closest to Jun had already leaped at him, but the blast sent it flying over his head.
Jun looked at the Hollows scattered across the ground. A few were still twitching, not dead yet. Of course, the one whose half-body Jun had blown apart earlier was already down.
Then Jun sensed that fighting had also begun on the other two sides. Just as Seventeenth Seat Miyagi had said, it was going very smoothly. Besides, Jun had taken out eleven. That left eight, four on each side. If they still couldn't handle that, Jun thought Soul Society was really screwed.
After Seventeenth Seat Miyagi finished dealing with the Hollows, he hurried over, as did the others. They saw Jun standing there with his hand on his chin, watching the Hollows twitch on the ground.
"What are you doing, Ninth Seat Shimizu?"
"Hm? Ah~" Jun scratched his head. "It's my first time fighting Hollows. According to regulations, do we kill them all, or leave a few alive?"
"Uh, what would we leave them alive for?" Miyagi and the others were even more bewildered. They couldn't follow Jun's train of thought at all.
Jun smiled faintly. "Well, my fiancée is a member of the Twelfth Division, you see. Doesn't the Twelfth Division do research on Hollows? I want to capture a few and take them back."
The others didn't know what to say, and Jun muttered to himself again.
"Forget it. There are five stronger ones left. Let's finish off these small fry." As he spoke, he casually fired several shots of Tsuzuri, the third Hadō, precisely through their eye sockets and into their heads, where they exploded. The display struck everyone present as quite flashy.
"Those five in the rear are moving now. What do you think, Miyagi?"
"Uh, those five waited, so they may be Hollows that have undergone a certain degree of evil spirit transformation. Hollows like that are fairly strong and have some independent awareness. I can handle about three on my own. With you here, Ninth Seat Shimizu, I don't think they'll be a problem."
"Oh, I see. Then let's fall back for now. Our people are already gathering behind us. More people will make it safer." Jun led the group back. "I want to capture them alive, so I'll have to ask everyone for a hand."
Seventeenth Seat Miyagi had just been spared embarrassment by Jun, who hadn't directly exposed his mistake earlier, so naturally he had no objections. The group retreated, and before long they met the main force coming up behind them.
Their numbers immediately rose to fifteen. Jun was still the highest-ranking officer, and they had gained a Fourteenth Seat named Taki Tama.
"With this many people, things will be much easier. Everyone, please divide into five teams for the coming battle. There are only five Hollows, and your own safety comes first. Then, from multiple directions, drive the five Hollows together. I can use Kidō to wipe them out in one go, saving time and effort. Does anyone have any questions about this plan?"
Fourteenth Seat Taki asked, "It's all right if we accidentally kill one ourselves, isn't it?"
"Of course. If you can kill one, then by all means do so. I only asked you to gather them because I have a particular idea I want to try, so I hope you can cooperate."
Fourteenth Seat Taki gave Jun a few looks but said nothing.
He seemed to have some doubts about Jun, who didn't mind. A newly arrived superior was bound to be questioned by the people under him. He could let his strength speak for itself later. If even that couldn't straighten Taki out, then he was refusing a toast only to drink a forfeit, and Jun had plenty of ways to deal with that sort of person.
The operation began. Jun watched from a distance as the fourteen divided into five teams. Fourteenth Seat Taki and Seventeenth Seat Miyagi each made up a team on their own; both could reliably beat an evil-spirit-class Hollow to death. The remaining twelve split into three teams, led by the Twenty-fifth, Thirty-first, and Thirty-sixth Seats. There was no problem at all.
The Hollows were driven toward a central point as planned. Although Taki had made that pointless comment, he didn't deviate from the plan, which made Jun quite happy.
"Spiritual parasol of the heavens, secret canon of the ruler of men. Seek the enemy with the eyes, divide and strike, hold them in contempt."
"Bakudō #62: Hyapporankan."
In an instant, twenty-five long rods of spiritual energy fell from the sky, smashing the five Hollows to the ground and leaving them unable to move. The Soul Reapers stopped one after another. Apart from the original group of six, none of them knew why he had used Bakudō.
Jun sprang out and, without speaking to anyone, sealed their five senses with a wave of his hand. He was very fond of this five-senses seal because it reminded him of Shaka, the Virgo Gold Saint from Saint Seiya. Wasn't it especially like Tenbu Hōrin?
Then Jun began to chant.
"Favored child of heaven, blessed in heart, gratitude engraved upon the soul. Show mercy to the enemy, unable to bear killing them. Seal the eyes, seal the ears, seal touch, seal the nose, seal the mouth. The five senses vanish, leaving the soul alone."
"Bakudō #85: Soul Seal."
The five Hollows had their senses and spiritual power sealed, rendering them completely useless. Then Jun used Hainawa, Bakudō #4, to bind them.
"Um, sorry for the trouble, but could someone come drag these things for a while and take them back? I was thinking of bringing the Twelfth Division something interesting. This is a personal request, so I—"
"I'll do it, I'll do it!!"
Before Jun could finish, the others were already scrambling to volunteer. He paid it no mind and didn't continue, because he already knew he had earned the recognition of the division members here this time. His display of strength had won them over.