!
That smile was downright eerie. Kawai had stretched the corners of his mouth almost all the way to his ears!
His body rapidly turned green and blue, and even red patches appeared on his face!
Kawai was clearly dead, yet he spoke in a voice crackling with a strong electronic distortion. "Gaoyu Kouun! I won't let you get away with this! I'll stay by your side. You can't escape!"
As he spoke, another red mass emerged from Kawai's body. Gaoyu hurriedly cut it in two, but the two halves of the red lump of flesh burrowed into the ground like earthworms and escaped!
"W-what... what is that?!"
Toru Tanimoto was badly startled. The other Soul Reapers panicked too. They had never imagined that Kawai, who had been with them for so long, was a monster!
Gaoyu remained calm, because he had known the real identity of this "Kawai" all along.
Metastacia!
Kawai had displayed a Soul Ability, and it was exactly the same as the Soul Ability of Metastacia he had seen in Rukongai.
"Parasitism: Allows the user to merge with another person's body and take it over when that person is weakened."
That was the Soul Ability of the Metastacia he had seen in West Rukon District. And after entering the tent, he had seen that Kawai possessed the same Soul Ability.
What puzzled Gaoyu was that he should have died after his Destruction Death Ray pierced his brain.
Had Aizen picked up that good-for-nothing again, recycled him, and modified Metastacia once more?
Kawai must have been merged with Metastacia only after entering the tent. Otherwise, Gaoyu would have been able to see his Soul Ability when he arrived.
What sort of modifications had Aizen made to Metastacia?
By then, the commotion inside the tent had drawn people from outside.
"What happened?!"
Satoru Fujita anxiously pulled aside the tent flap. After entering, he saw Kawai lying on the ground, covered in blood.
Toru Tanimoto had already calmed down. He hurriedly said, "Kawai was parasitized by a Hollow! Go warn everyone—a Hollow can parasitize our souls!"
"What?!"
Fujita and the Soul Reapers behind him paled. Gaoyu said, "I just cut that Hollow in two, but both halves of its body escaped on their own. I suspect it can split apart."
"The more we attack it, the more it splits. That means it can parasitize more people!"
Fujita and Tanimoto turned ashen and quickly left the tent. By then, Gin Ichimaru had also come over.
His face still wore a relaxed smile, his eyes still narrowed. He came over and asked, "What happened?"
Tanimoto quickly told him what had happened inside the tent.
Gin and the other Soul Reapers immediately looked at Gaoyu. Gin asked,
"Gaoyu, may I ask how you noticed something was wrong with Kawai?"
"Well..." Gaoyu smiled mysteriously.
"It's the ability of my Zanpakuto."
Whatever ability he had, he could simply claim it came from his Zanpakuto.
"What? Gaoyu, you can already release your Zanpakuto?!"
"Wouldn't it be strange if I couldn't? I'm a Ninth Seat now. How could I become an officer and still be unable to release my Zanpakuto?"
"Then..." Gin looked at Gaoyu and asked, "Can you tell us what your Zanpakuto's ability is?"
"Well..."
Gaoyu fell silent for a moment, then said, "Sorry, my Zanpakuto's ability is somewhat unusual, so I don't plan to reveal it."
It was perfectly normal for Soul Reapers to conceal their abilities, but every Soul Reaper was still required to report their abilities.
In other words, they could keep their abilities secret, but they had to at least inform the people in the Gotei 13 who were truly in charge.
Once he returned, Gaoyu would have to report his ability to the Captain or the Captain-Commander.
After all, some abilities really couldn't be shared freely. They might cause panic or even weaken the user's power.
Gin looked at Gaoyu with interest, then came over and patted him on the shoulder.
"How interesting. Looks like whether we make it back alive this time depends entirely on you."
"You give me too much credit, but I'll do my best."
Gaoyu spoke softly.
Gin smiled faintly, then turned around.
"Keep an eye on the outside. Don't let any Hollows infiltrate!"
Watching Gin leave, Gaoyu finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Toru Tanimoto realized that Gaoyu had just saved his life. His favorability toward Gaoyu shot up to eighty, which meant Gaoyu had permanently acquired Destruction Death Ray.
The discovery delighted Gaoyu. Wasn't this the very reason he had risked himself to save Tanimoto?
Destruction Death Ray was a powerful ability!
Gaoyu was badly in need of offensive techniques. Even though he had gained great strength in that moment thanks to his Game Master ability.
Yes, the Game Master ability let him quickly pick up and master any game he played. Naturally, that meant he could gain enough power to stand against the boss in this game devised by Sosuke Aizen.
It was as if Gaoyu had received a direct buff. The buff not only gave him the ability to detect Metastacia's presence, but also boosted his stats.
His speed, strength, defense, and reflexes had all improved in this game.
So Gaoyu was very strong now. He felt that his basic offense and defense alone gave him the strength of a Vice-Captain.
And now that he had gained the powerful Destruction Death Ray, he was even stronger.
He said to Tanimoto, "Tanimoto, that Hollow's ability lets it parasitize souls, so we need to be careful not to let ourselves get parasitized."
"This may sound harsh, but if an ordinary Soul Reaper is controlled by it, it might not have much impact."
"But if one of us officers is parasitized, it could lead to a great many casualties!"
Toru Tanimoto had plenty of combat experience, and he quickly realized the same thing. He immediately nodded.
"You're right. How about this: you can identify that parasitic Hollow, so Fujita, Tanaka, and I will stay close to you as much as possible."
Tanaka was the Fifth Seat of the Fifth Division, Kohei Tanaka. His Soul Ability was Fireball Jutsu.
Gaoyu was quite interested in his Soul Ability too.
So Gaoyu agreed with Tanimoto's suggestion.
Soon, Toru Tanimoto called the other two over and told them what he had in mind.
Before you continue