Summoned Swords Dance

Leaning on his sword, Hu slowly straightened up.

The Phantom Blade in his hand was lighter than he had imagined, but the way it felt in his grip was almost identical to the sword Jiku'a had given him in his Inner World.

The only difference was that this sword belonged to him, rather than being an illusion Jiku'a had constructed in his Inner World.

The Hollow roared and lunged again, its enormous claws sweeping through the air with a rush of wind.

Hu did not retreat.

He raised his sword and charged toward the claws.

"Hah!"

His sword flashed as it met the Hollow's claws, producing a piercing screech.

The impact knocked Hu back two steps, but it also left a shallow wound on the Hollow's claw.

"This could work!"

Hu's eyes lit up.

He pushed off, using Shunpo to circle around the Hollow's flank, and brought the Phantom Blade down in a diagonal slash.

The Hollow failed to react in time, and another wound appeared on its back.

It wasn't deep, but the wounds were adding up.

The Hollow recoiled in pain, then turned and lunged. Hu had already dodged, and his sword point came stabbing in from another angle.

Chopping, slashing, stabbing, sweeping—

The Phantom Blade grew more agile and fluid in his hands. It was as if he had returned to his Inner World, and all those days and nights spent sparring with Jiku'a had become instinct.

The Hollow had thick skin and tremendous strength, but its movements were clumsy, and it could not keep up with Hu's speed.

Like a ghost, Hu kept flickering around the Hollow, leaving a wound with every strike.

The Hollow swung its claws in fury, but it could not even touch the hem of Hu's clothes.

"This feeling... it's amazing!"

The longer Hu fought, the more excited he became.

He suddenly remembered what Jiku'a had said: the Phantom Blade was closely connected to Kidō.

Kidō?

A thought struck him. He dodged away to put some distance between them, then diverted some Reiatsu and tried to release Kidō through the Phantom Blade.

"Hadō #4: Byakurai!"

Lightning shot from his hand into the Phantom Blade, and the blade suddenly glowed white. Byakurai then shot from its tip and struck the Hollow, but its power was unchanged. Hu felt that this was not the connection Jiku'a had meant.

While Hu was distracted, the Hollow nearly struck him with its claw, and he hurriedly dodged.

"That's not right..."

He pondered the problem as he fought.

Was it not about firing Kidō through the sword, but...

He tried again. This time, instead of releasing Byakurai at the Hollow, he sent it directly into the Phantom Blade.

The blade lit up white again. This time, the light did not fade, but clung to the edge, forming a faint layer of lightning.

Hu brought his sword down.

The blade passed through the Hollow's fur, leaving a charred black mark more than twice as deep as the earlier wounds.

"So that's how it works!"

Hu was overjoyed.

It wasn't about firing Kidō out, but imbuing the blade with it.

He kept experimenting.

The force of Impact could be applied to the sword, giving each strike a slight knockback effect.

Sai's binding power could briefly impede movement in whichever part of the Hollow was struck.

Hainawa's coils could leave a chain of Reishi behind wherever the blade passed, restricting the Hollow's movement.

One Kidō after another merged with the Phantom Blade in Hu's hands.

His attacks grew fiercer and stranger.

The Hollow was driven steadily backward, roaring again and again, but there was nothing it could do.

Under the moonlight, blue sword light and the radiance of various Kidō intertwined into a dazzling net of light, enveloping the enormous Hollow.

Hu was completely absorbed in the battle. It was as if he were dancing rather than fighting for his life.

The Phantom Blade spun, flew, slashed, and thrust in his hands, every movement flowing seamlessly into the next.

He recalled the fighting stances that person had left in his memory—cold, elegant, and deadly.

Now, he too was chasing that feeling.

His sword flashed, cutting a deep wound in the Hollow's right leg. It staggered.

The sword flashed again, striking its left leg.

At last, the Hollow could no longer support itself and fell to one knee.

Hu stood before it, gripping his sword in both hands as he poured all his remaining Reiatsu into it.

Impact, Byakurai, Sai, Hainawa, and every other Kidō he could use surged into the Phantom Blade all at once.

The light on the blade grew brighter and more dazzling, until it almost seemed to be burning.

"This strike—"

Hu held the sword behind him to gather power, aiming for the center of the Hollow.

"Will send you on your way!"

Blazing with brilliant light, the blade slashed fiercely upward, unleashing two enormous waves of sword energy. The first contained Bakudō, and the second contained Hadō.

Boom—!!!

The Hollow's entire body was blasted away. It slammed heavily into the ground, leaving a shallow crater.

Its mask shattered as well.

Yet the Hollow did not dissolve into Reishi.

It lay there, its chest rising and falling, still stubbornly clinging to life...

Hu landed in front of the Hollow, panting heavily, worry showing in his eyes as he looked at the situation before him.

The battle had consumed most of his Reiatsu, and he had mastered the Phantom Blade. The only difficult part was...

He needed to walk up and deliver the final blow to this Hollow.

He walked over to the Hollow's head. Behind that mask was the face of a middle-aged man—a plain, honest face covered in tears. Two red marks crossed on his face, presumably left by the two slashes just now.

Hu looked at the face, not knowing what to say.

"Why..."

The Hollow—no, the man spoke.

Hu knew this would happen. Beneath a Hollow's mask was its appearance before it had fallen and decayed. If the mask broke without the Hollow dying, the humanity suppressed by its chaotic Reiatsu would emerge...

Hu looked at him with a sorrowful expression. After trying to separate Shimizu, he had felt like the savior of this world, but Jiku'a had shattered that illusion afterward. Jiku'a could indeed separate a Hollow from a Plus, but a Hollow's Reiatsu was born from a Plus's Reiatsu gradually falling into chaos. An ordinary Hollow was born once most of a Plus's Reiatsu had become chaotic, and the act of Hollows devouring one another was a process of purifying that chaotic Reiatsu, crushing the last trace of the Plus's Reiatsu—the last trace of humanity. A Gillian was the endpoint of chaotic Reiatsu, while Adjuchas and Vasto Lordes were the products of powerful, resilient humanity taking control of chaotic Reiatsu...

Since a Hollow's Reiatsu was converted from a Plus's Reiatsu, the total amount remained unchanged, while the Plus portion grew smaller and smaller. Once the Plus portion fell below a certain threshold, forcibly separating them would cause the Hollow portion to be purified and transform into a Gillian, while the Plus portion would collapse and dissipate because it was insufficient to restore the whole. This was also why Hu had yet to separate the twenty-seven residents who were in complete stasis under a special Kidō in the Fon Clan prison. To begin with, producing twenty-seven Gillians would be a bit much to handle, even if they were weakened versions with lower Reiatsu...

"What did I do wrong..."

The voice was deep and broken, thick with tears.

"That Soul Reaper said Soul Society was a good place... that once I came down here... I'd have a good life..."

The man's voice grew more choked with every word.

"But why... after I came down here, did I have to be someone's slave... and then get turned into a monster like this..."

"What did I do wrong..."

Tears streamed down his plain face, and he could not stop them.

Hu stood there listening, his expression growing darker by the moment.

Aizen.

Aizen again.

He remembered the major Hollowfication incident in the original story, the residents who had been transformed into Hollows, and the twenty-seven people waiting to be saved in Sizhuzhai.

This Hollow was probably another victim of one of his experiments.

"Mister..." Hu began, wanting to say something.

But the man could not hear him at all. He just kept crying and repeating those words.

Hu sighed.

"Mister... for now, please get some rest."

He raised a hand and used Bakudō, temporarily depriving the Hollow of consciousness and the ability to move.

The Hollow, as large as three people, lay quietly on the riverbank.

Hu stood beside it in silence.

Moonlight fell on him, casting a long shadow.

He knew this Hollow was aware that it had been turned into one, which meant it had memories of the transformation, even if they were only fragments.

So he could not hand it over to the stationed Soul Reapers to deal with as they pleased.

He would take it back to the Fon Clan.

Back to Fon Shaoling.

She could hand it over to Soi Fon and let the Stealth Force investigate.

He bent down, preparing to hoist the Hollow onto his shoulder.

Just then, applause came from behind him.

"Clap, clap, clap."

It was slow and soft, with a hint of amusement.

Hu spun around.

Under the moonlight, two figures had appeared on the riverbank at some point.

They were the two stationed Soul Reapers he had also seen during the earlier incident at Sizhuzhai.

One of them was clapping with a smile. The other wore a pair of glasses and stood quietly to the side, a gentle smile on his face.

"Splendid, truly splendid." The clapping Soul Reaper drew out his words in a distinctly Japanese Kyoto dialect.

"Without a Zanpakuto, you used Kidō and that... uh, that blue sword to beat a Hollow until it couldn't fight back at all. Just what I'd expect from a Fon Clan Trainee who can go on missions with the Onmitsukidō."

Hu still had not calmed down, but he did his best to suppress his feelings as he spoke.

"Thank you both for coming all this way," he said. "There's something unusual about this Hollow, so I need to take it back to the Fon Clan. Sorry for making you come out here for nothing."

"Oh? A promising talent so highly regarded by the Fon Clan, and so polite too. The Fon Clan's education is truly admirable." The Soul Reaper with the Kyoto dialect raised an eyebrow. "But taking the Hollow back to the Fon Clan? That isn't according to the rules. Dealing with Hollows that appear throughout Soul Society is the job of us stationed Soul Reapers. Leave this to your seniors here."

Hu frowned.

He took out the Fon Clan Crest from inside his clothes and showed it to them.

"This proves I'm with the Fon Clan. I need to send this Hollow for examination, so please cooperate."

The Soul Reaper with the Kyoto dialect looked at the credential, then at his companion.

The bespectacled Soul Reaper pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and spoke.

"Sir, we mean no offense." His voice was gentle and polite. "It's just that this Hollow appeared within our jurisdiction, and procedure requires us to deal with it. If you insist on taking it away, at least... let us confirm whether it's dangerous."

His gaze fell on the Hollow, on the face of the middle-aged man exposed beneath its broken mask.

"After all, if it suddenly attacks someone, you alone might..."

"I've already subdued it," Hu interrupted. "And I'll say it again: you don't need to concern yourselves with this."

The atmosphere suddenly grew a little strange.

The smile of the Soul Reaper with the Kyoto dialect deepened. The bespectacled Soul Reaper was silent for a moment, then stepped slightly to the side.

"In that case, we won't trouble you any further."

He gestured for Hu to go ahead.

Hu glanced at them and thought nothing more of it. He bent down to hoist the Hollow onto his shoulder.

Just then, he heard a very quiet laugh behind him.

It was so soft that it was almost carried away by the wind.

But Hu heard it.

He spun around.

The two stationed Soul Reapers stood where they were, motionless, their expressions exactly as they had been a moment ago.

The one with the Kyoto dialect was still smiling, and the bespectacled one's expression remained gentle.

But Hu couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.

He couldn't put his finger on it.

It was just an instinctive... unease.

He took a deep breath and thought no more about it. Hoisting the Hollow onto his shoulder, he used Shunpo to leave the riverbank.

Under the moonlight, his figure soon vanished into the night.

The riverbank fell quiet.

Only the murmur of flowing water and the rustle of wind through the reeds remained.

The two stationed Soul Reapers stood where they were, looking in the direction Hu had gone.

A long time passed.

"Oh my—"

The Soul Reaper with the Kyoto dialect stretched. His Kyoto accent suddenly took on an amused tone, with a hint of lazy mockery.

"I didn't expect an experimental subject from so many years ago to still be alive. If Soi Fon gets more information out of that Hollow, our losses will be greater than we anticipated."

He turned to his companion and grinned.

"Don't you agree, Captain Aizen?"

Under the moonlight, the bespectacled Soul Reaper slowly removed his glasses.

His movements were slow and unhurried, as if he were doing something utterly ordinary.

"It doesn't matter."

His voice was as gentle as ever, but now it carried a chilling calm.

"Withered Bamboo Hamlet was an appetizer set out this time to feed that Beast of the Captain-Commander's."

He tucked his glasses inside his robes and raised his head to look at the night sky. Moonlight fell on his face, revealing the unfathomable undercurrents beneath its gentle features.

"If you don't feed the Beast in the cage enough, it'll break out and bite."

He gave a quiet chuckle.

"This time, we merely fed it one more mouthful. Only by satisfying that Beast better can we go about our own business in peace. Isn't that right?"

The Soul Reaper with the Kyoto dialect narrowed his eyes, smiling like a fox.

"That's true." He paused before speaking again. "But that Trainee... he seems rather interesting. He managed to beat a Hollow into that state using nothing but Bakudō and Hadō numbered ten or lower."

"Just as I said before." Aizen's voice was calm. "A battle between Soul Reapers is a battle of Reiatsu. With powerful enough Reiatsu, even basic Kidō can display the power of high-level Kidō."

He turned around, putting his back to the moonlight.

"He's merely been blessed with talent. He's no different in essence from any other Soul Reaper in the Gotei 13."

Gin Ichimaru followed him, and the two walked slowly along the riverbank.

After a few steps, Gin Ichimaru suddenly looked back in the direction Hu had disappeared.

"That blue sword of his, is it a Kidō he created himself? Something about its aura feels strange."

Aizen's steps faltered.

Then he continued walking.

"Calling that sword a Kidō is selling it a little short. Still, Gin, you've grown again. You could actually sense that there was something unusual about it."

His voice drifted away on the night wind.

"Do you know, Gin? If different Kidō are mixed together at random, the different properties of their Reishi will cause them to conflict, making the spell collapse. Let alone a fusion of Kidō from the two different systems of Bakudō and Hadō—the proportions have to be extremely precise. And yet, that boy never once tried to adjust the proportions of his Reiatsu during the fight..."

After hearing this, Gin Ichimaru stole another glance in the direction Hu had disappeared, looking thoughtful.

Under the moonlight, the two figures gradually faded into the night.

On the riverbank, all that remained was the sound of rippling water and the scorched patch blasted by lightning.