The Battle of Bamboo Creek Plain (2)

"What are we doing? Isn't it obvious? We're going to attack the Fon Clan next!"

He turned to face Shimizu.

"Shimizu, listen to me. Those nobles, those people with power and influence—not a single one of them is any good. The Fon Clan is only treating you and the people here well because they haven't been here long. Give them time, and they'll show their true colors."

Shimizu shook his head.

"No... the Fon Clan is different..."

"How are they different?!"

Tosaya suddenly raised his voice. His clenched fists radiated intense heat.

"Do you know how I got this power? Do you know what I went through in those places?!"

His eyes glowed red again.

"After I was taken away, they sent me somewhere. Those people—they locked me up with a monster. That monster burrowed into my body, bit and tore at my Reiatsu, and devoured my consciousness..."

Shimizu stopped breathing.

"I thought I was going to die. Every day I wondered, why me? Why was I the one who got taken? Later, I heard the Fon Clan came and liberated Bamboo Creek Plain... but why didn't they come sooner?"

Tosaya's voice trembled.

"If... if they'd come a few days earlier, I never would have been taken!"

He stared at Shimizu.

"Do you know what that feels like? You could have been saved. You were so close, just a little bit closer—"

Shimizu opened his mouth, but no words came out.

Tosaya took a deep breath and composed himself.

"I survived in the end. The monster couldn't devour me. Instead, it fused with me. I gained power, and I saw one thing clearly—"

He reached out a hand to Shimizu.

"Shimizu, join us. In this world, power is the only thing that's real. Those nobles, those people looking down on everyone else—only power can make them bow their heads."

Shimizu looked at him.

He looked at the man who had once taken him fishing.

He remembered what it had felt like to be devoured by a Hollow that night at Sizhuzhai. The feeling of losing himself, of being ruled by fear.

He tightened his grip on the Asauchi.

The sealing talisman stuck to the blade kept him from drawing it.

But he raised it resolutely anyway, pointing it at Tosaya.

"Big Brother Tosaya."

His voice was quiet, but steady.

"I do understand some of what you're saying. That night at Sizhuzhai was the most desperate moment of my life. I thought I was going to die, that I'd turn into a monster that knew nothing but devouring. Being consumed by instinct and negative emotions, that feeling of drowning in a boundless ocean..."

His eyes met Tosaya's.

"Hu and the Fon Clan saved me."

Tosaya's expression changed.

"So you're going to stop me?"

Shimizu didn't back down.

Tosaya was silent for a few seconds.

"Shimizu, are you really going to stop me?"

Shimizu said nothing, only tightened his grip on the Asauchi.

Tosaya sighed.

"Then let me show you what I went through."

He closed his eyes.

Reiatsu began to surge.

But unlike ordinary Reiatsu, Tosaya's carried a scorching heat. The air around him began to warp, and the paving stones beneath him crackled faintly as they split.

"Do you know how I spent those days after I was taken?"

Tosaya's voice grew low.

"Every day, I was strapped to a table, watching those people cut into me. They shoved that thing—that Hollow—inside my body and watched it run wild in there."

His body began to tremble.

Not from fear, but from the release of his Reiatsu.

"It bit at my Reiatsu and tore at my consciousness. Every day, I wondered when I'd finally die."

White bone protruded from beneath his skin.

But unlike Hongming's, Tosaya's Hollowfication brought with it a searing heat.

As soon as the bone appeared, it began to redden. It wasn't stained red; a red glow shone from within, as though something were burning inside it.

"Eventually, I understood."

Tosaya opened his eyes.

They had turned completely orange-red, like two burning coals.

"No one was coming to save me. Not those nobles, not those Soul Reapers. No one."

The bone continued to spread.

It covered his arms, chest, and back. Every plate bore a pattern of cracks, with a lava-like red glow shining through them.

"The only one who could save me was myself."

His voice grew increasingly strange, carrying the crackle of burning flames.

"So I fused with it. I made the thing that wanted to devour me a part of myself."

At last, his Hollowfication was complete.

Tosaya's entire body was covered in black-and-red armor. Cracks ran across its surface, with lava flowing through them, each one like a miniature river of magma.

His head armor resembled a volcanic crater, with hornlike protrusions on either side formed from hardened lava flows. Heavy armor covered both hands, and volcanic vents at his knuckles were trailing wisps of smoke.

Most conspicuous of all was the protrusion in the center of his chest.

The shape of a Parasitic Hollow was still faintly visible there, but it had become a crystal-like substance, glowing red from within like a core. It now pulsed like a heart. With every beat, lava surged from the core and flowed along the cracks in his armor, spreading across his body before cooling and solidifying, waiting for the next beat.

Tosaya raised his hand.

A ball of lava formed in his palm, its red glow dazzling, the heat warping the air around it.

"This is the power I gained."

He looked at Shimizu, a complicated expression in his eyes.

"Shimizu, I don't want to fight you. But if you insist on stopping me—"

He closed his hand around the lava.

It burst apart in his palm, scattering countless sparks.

The Completed Forms behind him all underwent Hollowfication at once, white armor covering their bodies.

Tosaya turned to face the Fon Clan's front gate.

"Attack."

Lava shot from his palm and blasted the gate apart.

Flames soared into the sky, and shattered stone flew everywhere.

That was the explosion Hu had heard deep in the bamboo forest.

Tosaya stood amid the flames, the lava lines on his armor glowing even more brilliantly in their light.

He glanced at Shimizu.

In that glance were regret, helplessness, and a trace of something even he refused to admit—reluctance to part.

"Charge in!" Tosaya ordered.

More than a dozen figures poured into the Fon Residence.

Shimizu tried to stop them, but Tosaya grabbed him.

"You're coming with me!"

Shimizu was thrown to the ground, his Asauchi flying from his hand.

Tosaya looked down at him.

"Shimizu, I'll ask you one more time. Will you join us?"

Shimizu got up and retrieved his Asauchi.

"No."

Tosaya sighed.

"Then let's see how long you can last."

His armor lit up, the lava lines glowing even more brilliantly.

Shimizu gripped his sword and took a stance.

Meanwhile, on the outskirts of Withered Bamboo Hamlet.

Cilian stood at the Temporary Outpost, with a person in a white lab coat kneeling before him. The person was covered in blood, his hands tied behind his back, terror in his eyes.

Sakiro stood to one side. The dust on her clothes showed that she had only recently come from the battlefield.

"We caught him," she said. "He's the chief researcher of Withered Bamboo Hamlet. Those noble lords are as crafty as ever. They didn't station any highly recognizable combatants here. Looks like we'll have to count on the operation at headquarters to catch them all in one go."

Cilian nodded and walked up to the man.

"Talk."

The researcher trembled. "T-talk about what...?"

"Completed Forms." Cilian's voice was calm. "What exactly are they? Why can they disguise themselves as Pluses? Even their Reiatsu is different from a Hollow's."

Though Cilian's expression remained unchanged, he felt a trace of gravity. When the Assault Squad led by Tessai had stormed Withered Bamboo Hamlet earlier, they hadn't guarded against the enslaved "Pluses" standing nearby. Those "Pluses" had turned out to be the so-called Completed Forms. They had immediately undergone Hollowfication, catching the Assault Squad off guard and leaving several Onmitsukidō members seriously injured.

The researcher swallowed.

"They're... they're successes from the Symbiosis Experiment."

Cilian said nothing, merely watching him.

The researcher continued, "We conducted symbiosis experiments using Parasitic Hollows and Pluses. If symbiosis failed, the Hollow would devour the Plus, and the Plus's body would become a puppet. If it succeeded..."

"What happened if it succeeded?"

"If it succeeded, the Parasitic Hollow would become an organ inside the Plus. The Plus would gain the ability to undergo Hollowfication, covering their whole body in white armor. Only after Hollowfication would their Reiatsu become closer to a Hollow's. They would gain different abilities depending on the abilities of the Parasitic Hollow. Just like releasing a Zanpakuto."

Cilian's brows twitched. "What's the success rate of these experiments?"

The researcher lowered his head. "We've conducted experiments for many years. At first, the success rate was extremely low, almost one in ten thousand. Later, we discovered that if a Plus experienced intense emotional fluctuations, there was a greater chance of resonance with the Hollow. Now we can basically maintain a rate of around three in a thousand."

In the distance, Tessai's Assault Squad was fighting fiercely against the Completed Forms.

Those Completed Forms were covered head to toe in armor. Some spewed flames, some controlled lightning, and some moved too fast to see. Their abilities came in all manner of forms. Lacking intelligence, Tessai's team was clearly at a disadvantage.

Sakiro looked over there, growing anxious.

"I'll go support them first."

Cilian nodded.

Sakiro waved her hand and led the assault team back into the battle.

Cilian looked away and turned his attention back to the researcher.

"Who told you that a Parasitic Hollow had a chance of achieving symbiosis with its host?"

He didn't think the so-called chief researcher before him was the one who had initiated this research. The man lacked the sense of accomplishment common among researchers regarding the experiment. Though its success rate was low and the process cruel, it had undeniably developed a genuine Combat System. As the Warden of the Maggot's Nest before Kisuke Urahara, he had seen the looks in too many mad scientists' eyes. This man was nothing like them.

"The people above gave it to us, along with a lot of raw data. We only carried out follow-up research based on that data..."

"Where did the Parasitic Hollows come from?"

The researcher's expression changed.

"I... I don't know..."

Cilian narrowed his eyes slightly.

"You don't know?"

The researcher shook his head desperately. "I really don't know! Those Hollows would always appear in the Materials Room without anyone noticing. Even the people who signed for them had no memory of it. We didn't dare ask too many questions. We just carried out the experiments..."

Cilian began to think:

Where had those nobles gotten so many Parasitic Hollows? And what ability had they used to erase their own presence when delivering them? Shakiro had obtained the transport records for these Hollows, but the manifest didn't match the Onmitsukidō's intelligence at all. That proved that even the Onmitsukidō couldn't uncover the supply route for these Parasitic Hollows... and this was the Onmitsukidō, the most elite members of the Stealth Force.

At the front gate of the Fon Residence.

Shimizu was knocked down again.

Tosaya's lava ability was too powerful. Every attack carried intense heat. Shimizu's clothes already bore several scorch marks, and his skin had been burned, stinging fiercely.

But he got up again.

Tosaya looked at him, a complicated expression in his eyes.

"Still not giving up?"

Shimizu panted, saying nothing.

He charged again.

He brought his sword down.

Tosaya sidestepped and drove a fist into his abdomen.

Shimizu flew backward and slammed into a wall.

Tosaya walked up to him.

"Give up. The Fon Residence's defenders have all been sent away today. The only ones left inside who can still fight are that Princess Shaoling and your friend—Yexing Hu."

Shimizu raised his head.

"Is that friend of yours stronger than me? He's a Soul Reaper candidate who's only been in Soul Society for a month. How strong can he be?" Tosaya looked at him. "And what about Princess Shaoling? A weak woman who needed Yexing Hu to rescue her on her way here this time. How could a Fon Residence like this possibly stop us Completed Forms?"

Still clutching his Asauchi, Shimizu struggled to stand.

"Give up." Tosaya's voice grew low. "Refusing to admit defeat and throwing your life away are two different things. Are you planning to die with the Fon Clan? Think about Keiko. Are you going to abandon her and die for the Fon Clan?!"

Bracing himself on his sword, Shimizu slowly rose. He gripped the Asauchi tightly and stood firm, his bloodshot eyes fixed on Tosaya.

Tosaya looked at him.

"Why are you still fighting? The Fon Clan is finished. Yexing Hu was lured out of this settlement not long ago. Fon Shaoling is as good as dead. Before long, you'll see her corpse dragged out. Stop trying to act tough. Going back to Keiko now and living your lives together is the best choice!"

Shimizu fell silent for a second.

Then he said, "I won't! And... don't you dare underestimate our princess! Don't look down on Hu, either. That guy would come running from the other side of the world if the princess needed him!"

The moment he finished speaking, a flash of blue light streaked past him from behind.

Tosaya sprang backward.

A figure landed between him and Shimizu.

Hu stood there with Jiku'a drawn, his eyes fixed on Tosaya and brimming with killing intent.

"You've got some nerve barging into the Fon Clan! Who the fuck are you?"

Cold sweat broke out on Tosaya's skin.

To his senses, Hu's Reiatsu surged like a burning blue sun, hotter and fiercer than the lava on his own body. That Zanpakuto was even more terrifying, radiating an indescribable sharpness. As the Reiatsu churned, he could even faintly hear the blade ringing.

He had intended to look Hu in the eye and speak to him as an equal, just as he had that afternoon. But the instant their eyes met, he abandoned the idea. Those eyes looked at him as though he were already dead. It seemed that if he made one more move, Hu would cut off his head. There was no possibility of conversation; he was a completely different person from the sunny young man Tosaya had met in the afternoon sun. The gap between their levels of power was too great. Perhaps only Tsuchimikado Kōmei could deal with him, Tosaya thought.

He seemed to have a faint idea why the Fon Clan had dared to leave Hu alone to guard the place.

Hu raised his blade and was about to strike when Shimizu's voice came from behind him.

"Hu!"

Hu looked back.

Leaning on his Asauchi, Shimizu struggled to his feet.

"A huge wave of enemies just charged into the Fon Clan," he said. "Hurry and go."

Hu frowned. "I'll cut this guy down first, then go. It won't take long."

"No." Shimizu shook his head. "This is my fight."

Hu looked at him.

Shimizu's gaze was unwavering.

Sensing Shimizu's resolve, Hu fell silent for two seconds, then said:

"Then don't die."

With that, he turned and rushed into the Fon Clan.

Shimizu watched his retreating figure disappear and smiled faintly.

Then he turned back to face Tosaya once more.

Tosaya looked at him, a complicated expression in his eyes. Now that a monster like that had been allowed inside, most of the Completed Forms were as good as finished. Shimizu couldn't be allowed to keep blocking him, either. He had better take Shimizu down quickly, then go find Hongming.

"Do you really want to fight?"

Shimizu didn't answer.

He raised the Asauchi he couldn't draw and pointed it at Tosaya.

At that moment, he seemed to hear the sound of the tide in his ears, unceasing and surging.

Faint whispers mingled with the sound of the tide.

It was as though someone were calling his name.

Shimizu had no time to think about it for now.

Tosaya had already unleashed his Reiatsu and charged at him.

Shimizu tightened his grip on his sword and met his charge.

Beneath the setting sun, the two figures clashed once more.