The Perfect Hollow × Gua Sha

Hitsugaya's expression was almost heavy enough to drip water—not only because this Spiritual Pressure was already comparable to a Captain-level, but also because of its humanoid appearance.

A Shinigami's basic understanding of Hollows was that size didn't equate to strength; that rule applied only below the Adjuchas level. Once a Hollow broke through to the Adjuchas realm, its power and size became inversely proportional.

The closer a Hollow was to human form, the more terrifying its strength. And a Hollow identical to a human...

A bead of nervous sweat dripped from Tōshirō Hitsugaya's temple as he thought of an extremely dire possibility. With his breadth of knowledge, he knew full well that a Hollow identical to a human form was called a Vasto Lorde—a super-Hollow that surpassed even Captain-level Shinigami.

"It can't be..."

Tōshirō Hitsugaya had crossed blades with a Captain before and understood the terror of that level. Yet while the humanoid Hollow's Spiritual Pressure was alarmingly strong, it didn't seem to exceed that threshold.

On the other side, Nara Dan also recognized the Hollow's origin.

'White Hollow, huh...'

'A super-Hollow created from a Shinigami's soul fused with the power of the Hōgyoku.'

'With strength above Captain-level.'

It was also the culprit that later gravely wounded Isshin Shiba, even causing him to lose his Shinigami powers. And later, it merged with Ichigo Kurosaki, becoming one of Ichigo's power-ups—the Hollow's strength.

Nara Dan knew in his heart that Aizen was up to his tricks again.

'He's even dispatched White Hollow...'

'But...'

'Right now, White Hollow hasn't reached its peak power.'

In Nara Dan's perception, while White Hollow's Spiritual Pressure was formidable, it hadn't reached the Above Captain-level tier. It was more in a state teetering between Adjuchas and Vasto Lorde.

'That makes sense.'

'After all, it's still a hundred years