Pfft!
In the desert, a towering figure slowly collapsed, kicking up clouds of dust as it hit the ground.
It was a Gillian.
Even in Hueco Mundo, it belonged among the hunters, not the prey.
And yet, it had been taken down with a single slash.
After the Gillian fell, a figure appeared. It was Natsuki.
At this moment, Natsuki's appearance had not changed much since he first arrived in Hueco Mundo. But he now wore a black Shihakusho and carried a Zanpakuto in his hand.
Aside from not having graduated from Shino Academy or registered with the Gotei 13, no matter how you looked at him, he was a bona fide Soul Reaper.
Five years had passed since he first encountered the Expeditionary Force.
For humans, five years was neither a long time nor a short one.
But for Soul Reapers, it was no more than the blink of an eye.
As beings made of Reishi, Soul Reapers lived far longer than humans. They were true long-lived beings. Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni, Head Captain of the Gotei 13, had lived for several thousand years, perhaps even longer.
According to the books, nearly two thousand years ago he had established a dojo in Soul Society. Even then, he had already been a renowned powerhouse.
Of course, not all Soul Reapers lived that long.
A Soul Reaper's lifespan was tied to their spiritual power. The strength of their spiritual power determined the Reiatsu their bodies could release, and Reiatsu was the source of a Soul Reaper's strength. The stronger their spiritual power, the more slowly they grew and the longer they lived.
In Soul Society, many souls with spiritual power remained children or adolescents for years on end.
Even so, every Soul Reaper possessed spiritual power. Compared with ordinary humans, living for several hundred years was perfectly normal for them, even if living for several thousand was another matter.
That said, there weren't many Soul Reapers who actually lived in peace for that long.
The main reason was that Soul Reapers had to fight, and wherever there was fighting, there were bound to be casualties.
Death was the fate of Soul Reapers.
That was true not only of ordinary Soul Reapers. Even among the captains at the pinnacle of their ranks, few had remained captains for a hundred years or more.
It showed just how dangerous the Soul Reaper profession was. Even captains who had mastered Bankai risked falling in battle.
If even captains faced such dangers, ordinary Soul Reapers had it worse still.
Even so, five years was truly not a long time for a Soul Reaper.
But for Natsuki, those five years had been an invaluable period of growth. He had gone from being unable to release his Zanpakuto to using Zanjutsu and Shunpo, and now he could kill a Gillian with a single slash. Compared with five years ago, his strength had improved by leaps and bounds.
After killing the Gillian, Natsuki didn't head straight off to meet up with Watanabe Yuji. Instead, he held his blade toward the sky. A faint, intangible force was drawn toward him, then flowed along his Zanpakuto and into his body.
Filtered through his Zanpakuto, this power from the Hollow didn't feel wrong to Natsuki. On the contrary, he felt better, and his spiritual power grew a little stronger.
Over the years, aside from improving his strength, his greatest gain had been figuring out some of his Zanpakuto's abilities.
Well, he still hadn't managed to master Shikai.
But even in its Asauchi state, his Zanpakuto had some special abilities.
When a being with powerful spiritual energy died, his blade could silently steal that energy, draw it in, and channel it into his body, thereby increasing his own spiritual power.
Natsuki had stumbled upon this ability by accident after killing an ordinary Hollow.
After that, he tested it several times and confirmed that the ability was real.
So far, he could steal spiritual power from Hollows and Soul Reapers alike.
That's right. After a member of the Expeditionary Force died, Natsuki had tried it out and found that, just as with Hollows, he could steal their power and use it to strengthen himself.
Afterward, he thought about why that might be.
Although Soul Reapers and Hollows seemed different, in essence they were much the same. Both were souls, beings composed of Reishi.
After death, they turned into Reishi and dispersed, eventually merging with the world around them.
Rather than saying that his Zanpakuto stole the power of Hollows and Soul Reapers, it was more accurate to say that it absorbed the Reishi they released. By drawing high concentrations of Reishi into his body, it increased his spiritual power.
There was no way Natsuki could be unhappy about this discovery.
It meant that, on top of training hard, he had another way to grow stronger.
At the same time, he had a suspicion.
Perhaps his inability to master Shikai was related to this special ability of his Zanpakuto. He might have to wait until it had absorbed and accumulated enough spiritual power before he could truly see his Zanpakuto and master Shikai.
After absorbing spiritual power for a while,
Natsuki gripped his Zanpakuto and used Shunpo. Before long, he arrived at another battlefield, where several Gillian corpses lay on the ground.
There were ordinary Hollows there, too.
At that moment, members of the Expeditionary Force were fighting them.
He knew his comrades could handle ordinary Hollows, but since he was already there, Natsuki went to help. Soon, the ordinary Hollows had all been dealt with. Including the Gillian taken down by Watanabe Yuji and several other Expeditionary Force elites, the entire group of Hollows had now been eliminated.
"How are you? Are you all right?"
Natsuki went over to Watanabe Yuji and asked.
Watanabe Yuji shook his head. "A few people were injured this time, but none of our comrades were killed."
"Still, have you noticed that more Menos Grande have been appearing on the outskirts of Hueco Mundo lately?"
Natsuki frowned. "I have. Not only have Menos Grande become more common, but ordinary Hollows have been showing up more often too."
"It's getting difficult for just the two of us to deal with all these Hollows."
With that last remark, Natsuki was simply voicing the Expeditionary Force's current predicament. The force had only a few dozen members, and one or two of them were killed from time to time. The survivors were all capable, but with so few of them, they still couldn't keep up with the endless stream of Hollows.
But there was no helping it.
How many souls could truly become Soul Reapers, after all?
Never mind the Expeditionary Force.
Even the Gotei 13 had only three or four hundred members in each Division.
There were two or three hundred ordinary members, a few dozen Seated Officers, and then the captain and lieutenant.
Because of the unusual circumstances, each Division had a different number of members, but the smallest had at least two hundred or so.
Altogether, the Gotei 13 had only a few thousand Soul Reapers.
The figure might seem unbelievable.
But it was the truth.
By comparison, having a few dozen people in the Expeditionary Force really wasn't too bad.
"I know. That's why I've already reported the situation to Soul Society. Reinforcements from Soul Society will be here soon," Watanabe Yuji told Natsuki, sharing news that took him by surprise.
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