Chun was busy on the battlefield and soon reunited with Isuzu, wiping her sweat.
Are you tired?
"It's okay~"
"Be careful with your Spiritual Power consumption. If you really can't keep up, get out of the battle."
"Okay, I understand."
Chun was still worried. "No, you should come with me."
"Hmm, that works too."
After finishing his sentence, Chun vanished in a Shunpo. He saw a team ahead in trouble and instantly appeared there to Shikai.
"Cleanse away Evil Reverence and sin! Send down the Clear Rain!"
Although Clear Rain is only in its Shikai, it is already a Celestial Zanpakuto. Clear Rain's attack power is actually not very high, but its range is wide, and its attack power increases as the rain falls.
Because every drop of rain is lethal, if controlled properly, it can achieve a level of lethality similar to Senbonzakura or Rangiku Matsumoto's Haineko, though not as powerful as those two swords.
However, Clear Rain's strength lies in its large area of effect. If you consider the ratio of mana consumption to damage output, its single-target damage is much lower than Clear Rain's, but its area-of-effect damage is exceptionally high.
The downside is that it's extremely slow at killing enemies; it took ten minutes of rain to kill a large number of Hollows, and the real problem is how to get through those ten minutes.
"Gaze upon the clear mind, sever evil thoughts, let your light shine, Pure Heart!"
This is Asai Shinten's Zanpakuto. To be Pure Heart, isn't Shinten and Clear Rain sister swords? Or maybe they're couple swords? In any case, the names are really similar. I only found out about Jun later, while Shinten already had her Shikai when she was defeated by Jun.
However, Pure Heart's ability is to remove debuffs. Although it can remove debuffs from many people, it doesn't significantly increase the user's own combat power. It has the special ability to slay evil, which is somewhat effective against voids.
Because of the Clear Rain, a large area of the Hollows were drawn to Jun's aggro, allowing Shinju and Isuzu to unleash their full damage potential. The trapped team also rallied and quickly joined up with Jun.
Jun then realized it was the Eighth Division's team, and then he remembered that Shunsui Kyōraku had gone to fight Vasto Lorde. What about Jun?
"Who among you saw it clean?"
"The Fifth Seat Shimizu and the Ninth Seat Ise are further ahead."
"Follow me. If you can't keep up, there's nothing I can do. I still need to help the guys in the First Division."
"Hi!"
Jun disappeared as soon as he finished speaking, arriving at the battleground where the three First Division Bigwigs were fighting Adjuchas, the fox symbol. One of the three leaders had lost an arm, another was missing half his face, and they were all in dire straits. Jun's arrival was a welcome boost.
Chun reduced the range of Clear Rain to cover the entire battle circle, then used Bakudō 67: Body Replacement and Rain Swap to directly Body Shift with Adjuchas, and then without saying a word, he created a Kurohitsugi.
The Kurohitsugi, Incantation Abandonment, definitely wouldn't be able to instantly kill an Adjuchas. Jun isn't at the Aizen later on. Perhaps Jun will have this kind of attack power by the time the story progresses, after all, there are still four or five hundred years to go.
The Kurohitsugi wasn't used for Hadō at this moment, but rather for Bakudō. This wasn't easy to break through. One of the three powerful members of the First Division happened to Zanpakuto. His release was somewhat similar to Ikkaku Madarame's —a massive sword. Without further ado, he cleaved the Kurohitsugi and Adjuchas in two with a single strike.
This strike severed Adjuchas's leg. Chun immediately used another Tōzanshō to trap Adjuchas. Having just emerged from the Kurohitsugi, Adjuchas couldn't run fast. Chun trapped Adjuchas and the fragments of the Kurohitsugi in one go, giving it no chance to escape.
The second strike arrived as expected, and this time it was complete. Adjuchas was cut in half at the waist, rendering him unable to run. Then, the remaining two powerful figures each shattered Adjuchas's Hollowfication Mask, completing the kill.
Hollows are relatively easy to kill; Vasto Lorde would die even if his Hollowfication Mask was shattered. However, Arrancars are practically immortal unless Arrancar, demonstrating Arrancar immense power.
"Well done, Fifth Seat Shimizu!"
"Truly a hero! His Kidō abilities are incredible!" The one-armed boss gave Chun a thumbs up.
Panting heavily, Chun was really struggling with the continuous high-intensity fighting. "You guys take a rest and help keep the team stable. I'll go check things out up ahead."
"Higashiyama, you should go too. The two of us, being disabled, are enough for us. Ordinary enemies can't do anything to us."
"Alright! Let's go," said the giant sword master, Higashiyama, as he and Junichi, with Isuzu and Shinichi quickly following behind.
The group looked ahead and saw Jing's location. Her sister's strength was unwavering; she had killed Gillian in just one or two moves. However, Jun was still worried and rushed forward, creating an opening behind the Hollow Group.
"Jing! You and your men retreat. There are two senior members of the First Division behind you; they'll hold the line together!"
Yes! Brother and sister-in-law, where are you two?
"We're going to help out up front. Don't worry, your brother's got guts."
"Yes, martial prowess!" After saying that, both sides began to take action.
Jun isn't the strongest; the strongest is Sōya Azashiro, who stole Junichi's kills. His strength is definitely Captain-level, so he can quickly resolve any battle he encounters.
Because of this extraordinary existence, a lot of the fighting power of the Tenth Division and 11th Divisions was freed up, which indirectly saved many people.
There's also Junko helping to take down Isshin, who's incredibly strong. And then there's Jūshirō Ukitake behind them. These squads are pretty solid.
Meanwhile, on the Fifth Division's side, even under these circumstances, Aizen, who maintained a low profile, closely followed his father, secretly protecting him. Aizen's father was also quite strong, and the two of them joined the battle against Adjuchas, actually helping the First Division Bigwigs solve a problem.
However, the most powerful one ahead was a red-haired guy, Ashido Kanō, who would later Hueco Mundo, Ashido. If it weren't for the fact that he didn't have a release ability, his strength would definitely be at the Captain-level. He was also Kuruyashiki Kenpachi's friend, the kind of person who could fight alongside him. No wonder he was able to thrive in Hueco Mundo later on.
Despite these numerous active figures, the Soul Reaper's death toll continues to soar, nearing a 40% mortality rate.
The Kuchiki Ginrei was facing a worm-shaped Vasto Lorde with six legs, two large pincers, and a stinger at the back, clearly symbolizing a scorpion; there was no need to guess.
Scorpions are incredibly powerful. Their pincers are strong and powerful, their tails are highly offensive and venomous, and what's even more impressive is their incredibly tough armor. With such high attack and defense, it's truly impossible to know where their weakness lies.
Let's just call this guy Scorpion.
"Scattered, Senbonzakura!" Kuchiki Ginrei instantly unleashed her Shikai.
All the male members of the Kuchiki main family use the same Shikai, Senbonzakura, only the names of the Shikai differ, so they aren't considered the same sword. However, I think even if they were the same sword, Soul Society wouldn't dare use that as a reason to do anything to the Kuchiki Clan.
Kuchiki Ginrei Old Man a formidable figure who participated in the First Thousand-Year War. His control over Senbonzakura is on a completely different level from Byakuya's; he immediately split it into dozens of streams of petals.
These petal streams are attacked with chopping, slicing, picking, or stabbing motions, much like dozens of people attacking a scorpion together. Moreover, after each attack, the scattered petals immediately rejoin other petals, forming new petal streams.
However, these attacks only elicited strange cries from the scorpion. This creature seemed unable to speak; after snapping its pincers shut a few times, it used its six legs to lunge at the Kuchiki Ginrei.
However, a wall of flower petals blocked his path. The scorpion ignored it and crashed into it, but to its surprise, it couldn't move it.
On the other side, Kuchiki Ginrei frowned deeply. This petal wall attack would normally shatter anyone who ran into it, with countless petals strangling and killing the enemy. However, this scorpion had run into the petal wall even more solidly, unable to strangle it at all.
Sensing the massive energy fluctuation, Kuchiki Ginrei Shunpo to leave, a purple Cero through the wall of petals. The scorpion screeched and opened its maw again, unleashing yet another Cero.
Kuchiki Ginrei dodged with ease, but being unable to break through her opponent's defense was indeed frustrating. Since her attack power was insufficient, then...
"Bloom, Senbonzakura Honjō!"
Suddenly, a huge Japanese manor appeared behind Kuchiki Ginrei, looking just like the Kuchiki Clan's current residence. It was filled with blooming cherry blossoms, which then instantly dispersed, sending countless petals blanketing the sky.
Kuchiki Ginrei's method of controlling the petals was completely different from Byakuya's. The Old Man simply raised his left hand and swung it forward sharply, causing a giant wave of petals to descend from the sky behind him.
This move is purely a battle of brute force. You think you have high defense? You think you can't be cut? Well, I'll smash you to death!
After the wave of petals crashed down, it immediately surged up from both sides, converged in the middle, and slammed down again.
The petals that had hit the sides surged up again, gathered in the center, and crashed down once more.
Suddenly, the petals surged upwards. Old Man Ginrei Kuchiki clenched his left hand tightly at that spot, and countless petals surged forward, pushing upwards one after another. The purple light within could be faintly seen, but this Cero was effectively suppressed.
Then the Old Man pressed his hand down, and the petals fell again.
Again and again, the Scorpion Vasto Lorde kept changing positions, but the tide of petals moved with it, making it impossible to dodge; it could only be hit repeatedly.
However, Old Man Kuchiki Ginrei was also extremely frustrated, because he could sense that no matter how hard he smashed it, he couldn't break through the opponent's defenses.
The scorpion slowly approached the Old Man, then suddenly lunged forward, its long tail shooting out with a gleaming, venomous stinger. However, countless flower petals shot out, gradually enveloping the tail completely, stopping the stinger before the Old Man's eyes, unable to advance an inch.
Then the Old Man flipped his wrist, and the petals enveloping the tail began to rotate. The whole process was like putting a steel pillar into a lathe, sparks flying everywhere.
The scorpion was now in an extremely awkward situation. Its tail couldn't retract, and it was upside down, unable to turn around. Its body was completely encased in petals. Although it could move, every movement was a brute-force twist, and the petals simply wouldn't fall off.
Although it still couldn't hurt him, it was still in pain; it kept making strange noises, but there was nothing it could do.
"Wow, wow! The Old Man is really amazing!"
Are you here to mock this old man?
"No, no, I wouldn't dare!"
"I can still hold on here. You two go check on the innkeeper's side. Where did he go?"
"I'll go, Shunsui, you help me chop this thing up."
As Kuruyashiki Kenpachi spoke, he Shunpo and chased after the distant figure. The Captain of the Ninth Division, Sorachi Murozō, was the former Seventh Seat of the First Division, who was parachuted in after the Captain of the Ninth Division was killed. To be honest, his strength was at the level of a lower-ranking captain, but his Shikai and Kai were both of the head-on type. He could handle fighting Adjuchas- level opponents, but would Vasto Lorde be afraid of Soul Reaper in a head-on clash?
However, among the group of Captain-level who came this time, he was the most senior and his strength was also top-notch. Moreover, there were quite a few other captains like him. Isshin was a typical head-on clasher, and Love Aikawa was the same. The remaining Shinji Hirako, had just become captains, and Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi's strength was insufficient. They couldn't very well let the sick Jūshirō Ukitake take the field, could they?
So the Old Man had to go up, but this time even a Vasto Lorde was incredibly fierce, and he was driven away by that monster with ram's Ram's Horns that seemed to symbolize an antelope.
Returning our focus to Shunsui Kyōraku and Kuchiki Ginrei, Shunsui said, "Excuse me," and then flew very, very high into the sky.
Kyōraku weighed the height, felt it was good, and then began to descend from the sky, at a slow speed.
The Scorpion Vasto Lorde paid no attention to Kyōraku's presence; it was still engaged in a final tug-of-war with Kuchiki Ginrei. Just then, Katen Kyōkotsu landed on its shoulder, slicing through its entire upper body and then cutting out its lower right side, cleaving the scorpion into four pieces.
Upper body, lower body, a single leg, and a tail connecting to the remaining leg— the Scorpion Vasto Lorde stared at Kyōraku in disbelief, while Kyōraku had already sheathed his sword.
The scorpion wanted to fight one last time, but to his horror, he discovered he couldn't mobilize any of his power. His High-Speed Regeneration hadn't activated either; his recovery ability was second to none, but now he couldn't mobilize it—no, not just couldn't mobilize it, all that power was gone, his life force instantly reduced to zero.
This is the power of Kyōraku. A kill, performed within his game rules, is similar to reducing HP to 0 in a game. Unless you can revive, any healing ability is useless; death is inevitable.
The scorpion recognized this reality. It wasn't that he couldn't speak, but rather that he was too lazy to. In his final moments, he shouted out in bitter resentment.
"I hate His Baraggan so much!!"
Kuruyashiki Kenpachi returned carrying Captain Sorachi Murozō, who was covered in blood. "What happened?"
How's the interior design going?
"I don't know, it's terrible!"
Kyōraku, resting his chin on his hand, said, "I'm very concerned about that His Baraggan. Is he really an emperor in name only?"
Kuruyashiki Kenpachi frowned and said, "It could also be an enemy general, after all, they even have an army."
"That makes sense," said the mature and composed Kuchiki Ginrei. "Let's retreat first. If His Majesty Baraggan, or even more enemies, arrives now, we won't be able to handle it."
"Seconded," Shunsui Kyōraku had no objection.
"Yes, let's go quickly. Although it's disappointing that we can't fight the enemy's general, now is not the time! Retreat!"
Following the retreat message issued by the three captains in the Tenteikūra, the Soul Reapers began an orderly retreat. Those who were able helped the trapped teams retreat as well, while those teams that were truly beyond their ability to rescue had no choice but to reluctantly abandon them.
And so, the war between Soul Society and Hueco Mundo temporarily came to an end.