While the Visored were all mobilized, Tsuna calmly crouched not far from Muguruma Kensei, watching as Hirako and the others reinforced him with Bakudo.
Tsuna's behavior had initially drawn rebukes from Hirako and the others, but when they saw that he remained unmoved, they simply stopped paying attention to him. Muguruma Kensei was more important right now.
More and more white, representing the Hollow, emerged from Kensei's body, gradually wrapping up the few remaining features that represented him. His fists turned into a pair of white blades, the armor on his back bulged into pillars that gathered Hollow Reishi, and even the ribbon-like tracks around him were completely altered by the Hollow's power, becoming white.
Violent Reishi erupted from Kensei's body alongside inhuman roars. The Bakudo Hirako and the others had placed on him cracked inch by inch, and a hole appeared in his chest. It was a Hollow Hole. Kensei was about to turn into a Hollow!
"Not good, Hachigen!" Hirako shouted. Seeing the iron pillars pinning Kensei down teetering on the verge of collapse, he hurriedly told Hachigen Ushōda to increase the Bakudo's power.
However, it was already too late. Fully Hollowfied, Kensei smashed his fist into the ground with all his might. A massive explosion erupted—the explosive power of Tekken - Danpū. Kensei had applied his Bankai to the ground and directly broken free.
As the smoke cleared, a monster that barely retained any human features apart from the mask on its head appeared before them. The white substance on its body was still eroding Muguruma Kensei. Once even his head was consumed, Muguruma Kensei would become a Hollow completely.
"This is troublesome," Hirako said. Did it really have to come to personally killing a comrade?
Unlike Hirako, who was still considering whether to act, Tsuna instantly appeared before Muguruma Kensei. This was enough. If Kensei Hollowfied any further, Tsuna would become the sinner.
A powerful punch slammed into Hollowfied Kensei's body. To Tsuna's surprise, his punch failed to budge Muguruma Kensei in the slightest. Instead, a wound exploded open on his own arm.
Tsuna was familiar with this kind of injury. It came from Tekken - Danpū's explosive power. But could Kensei now inject that power into his enemy's body without even needing to throw a punch?
Tsuna looked at Muguruma Kensei, whose strength had undergone another evolution. Was Kensei still Hollowfying in this state?
This appearance, where the power of blade and sword had been released throughout the entire body... why did it carry a hint of Resurrección?
"Get away, Sawada brat! This is beyond what you can handle!" Hirako shouted. The moment he saw Tsuna's attack prove ineffective and Tsuna get hurt instead, he made his judgment.
Hirako's only thought now was to use Sakanade's power to hold Kensei back and see whether Kensei could hold on until Urahara arrived.
As for risking the Visored's lives against Kensei? Hirako did not believe that the group of them could withstand Muguruma Kensei in this state.
As if responding to Hirako's judgment, Muguruma Kensei threw a punch at Tsuna. The blast of wind from his fist exploded even the air itself, striking the dodging Tsuna from a distance.
Blood dripped from his arm, but Sun Attribute Flames quickly healed Tsuna's wound. At that moment, Tsuna became even more certain that Tekken - Danpū's power had evolved. Even the explosive force of rupturing air could directly injure him now.
"It can only be this way." Seeing Tsuna injured, Hirako made his decision. "Collapse..."
Before Hirako could finish his Shikai release, he sensed a chilly Reishi. Its arrival was so abrupt that it felt as though he had fallen from a warm winter sun into an icy polar cavern in an instant.
"Hollowfication? It's not like I can't use it!"
Following that arrogant voice, Hirako saw a partial Hollow mask appear on Tsuna's face. Both the warm sunlight and icy-cavern Reishi had come from Tsuna, and the shift had occurred the moment Tsuna put on the mask.
Of course. Hirako understood now. There was only one reason Tsuna had kept provoking them to use Hollowfication: Tsuna himself had mastered Hollowfication.
And considering that Tsuna was Hollowfying while in Bankai, Hirako could not understand why Tsuna had come looking for trouble with them. Tsuna's control over Hollowfication clearly surpassed theirs. At the very least, no one among the Visored dared attempt Hollowfication while in Bankai.
After putting on the mask, Tsuna's Reishi gained a trace of chill beneath the warmth of the Sun Attribute, but its intensity undoubtedly rose to another level. This Reishi, like an icy sun, bore down on Muguruma Kensei with brute force.
Provoked by Tsuna's Reishi, Hollowfied Muguruma Kensei brought his hands together. A mass of red Reishi gathered around the parts that could barely be called hands. It was the Hollow's signature technique: Cero.
Yellow Flames burst from beneath Tsuna's feet. With the combined force of his thrusters and Flash Step, he appeared before Hollowfied Muguruma Kensei in a half-crouch. The Flames on the ring around his left arm had begun to spin, blazing like a great sun. Along the edge of the golden fist rising from below, a trace of black appeared.
Hollowfication: Sun Rising Fist!
A fierce Reishi shockwave erupted together with his fist, crashing entirely into Muguruma Kensei's mask.
Tsuna's fist smashed brutally into Muguruma Kensei's jaw. Under the heavy blow, Muguruma's mask shattered with a bang, revealing his original appearance as his entire body shot out of the Hollowfied shell like an ejected mech, plunging headfirst toward the ground.
Aikawa Love, dressed in a tracksuit, reacted extremely quickly. He Flash Stepped to where Kensei was falling and caught him, preventing further injury.
Looking at Kensei's rolled-back eyes, Aikawa Love gave him a quick examination based on his experience. "Kensei seems fine. He just passed out."
The injuries Muguruma Kensei had sustained earlier from Tsuna had already healed through the Hollow's high-speed regeneration. No injuries were visible on his body anymore.
Once they learned that Kensei was unharmed, the Visored finally relaxed. Hirako also walked over to Tsuna, his expression complicated. How should he put it? Kensei's Hollowfication had been caused by Tsuna, but Tsuna had indeed helped save Kensei.
"Thanks, Sawada brat," Hirako said somewhat reluctantly.
Tsuna ignored Hirako. Instead, he stood in midair atop Reishi, searching through the Hollowfied monster's shell before him for something.
Tsuna soon made a new discovery. At the hole where Kensei had emerged, an Asauchi-like blade was embedded in the shell. When Kensei had flown out just now, he had no longer been in Bankai form, so Tsuna guessed that Kensei's Zanpakuto power had remained here.
He reached out and pulled out the Zanpakuto. As the blade left the shell, the husk formed by Hollow's power collapsed with a crash, turning into countless Reishi fragments that vanished.
Tsuna released his Bankai and carefully examined Kensei's Zanpakuto. As expected, he sensed the presence of a Hollow on the blade.
How could he confirm that this blade truly contained Hollow power? Vaguely, Tsuna's intuition told him that only a Zanpakuto could understand a Zanpakuto.
Without hesitation, Tsuna swung his Black Blade into Kensei's Asauchi. The collision between the two swords created a vibration and sparked resonance. A white monster and an arrogant boxer appeared in Tsuna's mind together.
This should be the power of Kensei's Zanpakuto. The white monster closely resembled Kensei during Hollowfication, so that was Hollow power. The other boxer was clearly the Bleach power that wielded Tekken - Danpū.
In other words, this was a Zanpakuto that possessed both Bankai and Resurrección power. The reason its combat performance had been so unimpressive was mainly because Kensei was too weak.
"Interesting," Tsuna said.
"What?" Hirako had no idea what madness Tsuna was up to. Was this act of smashing the two blades together meant to break Kensei's Zanpakuto?
Tsuna's eyes darted, and he casually slashed at Hirako beside him. Hirako truly was Captain-level. Though the sudden attack startled him, he still reacted in time, using his Asauchi-like Sakanade to block Tsuna's strike.
"Brat, what the hell are you doing?" Hirako demanded. Tsuna's move put the Visored on guard again, and they all drew their blades.
"Strange." Tsuna did not continue attacking Hirako. Instead, he sheathed his blade and handed Kensei's sword to Hirako. "Take a careful feel. It has the presence of a Hollow."
"What nonsense?" Hirako did not believe a word Tsuna said. Wouldn't he know whether there was a Hollow inside a Zanpakuto?
Over the past century, whenever the Visored Hollowfied, they had always directly drawn out the Hollow's power from within themselves. Otherwise, did Tsuna think putting on masks was just for show?
No, something was wrong. The instant Hirako took the Zanpakuto, he noticed something off. Just as he considered himself deeply familiar with Hollowfication, Hirako sensed a strange feeling from this Zanpakuto. This feeling was like... a Hollow?
Without another word, Hirako swiped across his face. A mask resembling an ancient warrior's face, bearing an eerie grin, appeared over it. That was Hirako's Hollowfication. With this Hollowfication power, Hirako truly sensed a trace of similar power from the Asauchi.
Seeing Hirako's expression change, Tsuna explained, "Using the Zanpakuto as a medium, I sensed both Bleach and Hollow power inside it. Correspondingly, I didn't sense anything strange from your blade."
"Of course. A Zanpakuto can only belong to a Bleach..." As he spoke, Hirako trailed off. If only Bleach could possess Zanpakuto, then what was going on with this Asauchi?
"Of course Zanpakuto aren't exclusive to Bleach. Otherwise, why do you think I came looking for you?"
Tsuna drew White Blade with a backhand motion. Hirako's pupils widened slightly. He did not even need to inspect it closely; the instant White Blade left its sheath, Hirako sensed the dense Hollow power upon it.
Could the Hollowfication power used by this brat have come from that white blade?
Seeing that Hirako understood what he meant, Tsuna sheathed his sword and returned to his normal clothes. He carefully considered Hirako and Kensei's situations. From Hirako's words, the Zanpakuto of their group definitely did not possess Hollow power.
As for why Muguruma Kensei's Zanpakuto had changed, the only possible reason was Tsuna himself—the unexpected variable.
Before you continue