"You'd better rein in those dangerous thoughts of yours."
Aizen warned him. "This is the outskirts, not some uninhabited wilderness."
At that,
Kisaragi Akira sheepishly reined in his Reiatsu, abandoning the bold idea he'd finally come up with.
His way of thinking was actually quite simple.
Since he couldn't find the source of the danger, he'd just blanket the area with firepower.
The Exclusive Entry for [Kido Mastery] cut the cost of his Kido by fifty percent while doubling its power.
His Reiatsu might be a little lacking, but with the cheat's boost, if he went all out, he should be able to spread Red Smoke Escape as far as he could see.
If he could pull it off, it would be a guaranteed kill.
Unfortunately, he couldn't...
"I sensed the Reiatsu throughout this entire forest."
Aizen calmly analyzed the situation. "But I didn't detect a single thing out of place. That leaves only three possibilities."
"The enemy's Reiatsu is far stronger than yours, or they're using some method to block Reiatsu detection."
Kisaragi Akira picked up the thread, frowning. "Or..."
He looked toward the north side of the forest. The outskirts were even more desolate in that direction, with ranges of low hills stretching into the distance and forming a crisscrossing pattern.
"The danger is coming from somewhere farther away!"
Kisaragi Akira was sure of his final guess.
It seemed only a Captain could evade detection by someone with a lieutenant's level of Reiatsu.
But someone as insignificant as him wasn't worth sending a Captain after.
According to the information they'd extracted from the assassin, the rebels had sent only this one squad.
In the rebel leader's eyes, sending several elite Shinigami to kill a genius who was still studying at the Spiritual Arts Academy was already more than enough.
The idea of their mission going wrong had been unthinkable.
Judging by the situation now, the real danger came from somewhere else.
Just as Kisaragi Akira was wondering whether they should head farther out to take a look, a deep, resonant rumbling echoed through the forest. The ground began to shake violently, as if an earth dragon were turning over beneath it.
At the sight, the two exchanged a glance, as if asking what the other wanted to do.
By coincidence, neither saw a trace of fear in the other's eyes. Instead, they were both filled with intense curiosity.
Before his Danger Instinct could sound the alarm,
Kisaragi Akira, counting on Aizen's skill and his own boldness, decided to investigate the source of the tremors.
Clearly, everyone had a fair amount of a death-seeking streak in them.
Some simply showed it all the time, while others kept it well hidden.
Meanwhile, at the 12th Division barracks, inside the research institute,
Kurotsuchi Mayuri, his entire face coated in white paint, braced both hands on the workbench. His eyes were bloodshot, and his expression was feverish and wild.
"Confirmed. The spirit-wave measurements are up and running!"
"Wait..."
As a radar-like image formed on the enormous screen in front of him, Kurotsuchi Mayuri let out a crazed laugh. But soon his lips settled, and his expression abruptly darkened.
"Is this the specific frequency of a Menos Grande?"
"The location is northwest of Shantei Temple, at coordinates 3603."
"It seems there's also a response frequency from the Hollow Group Circuitry Device..."
As if he'd just remembered something, Kurotsuchi Mayuri grinned.
"I remember now. It's that silly little brat."
"His luck really is terrible. To run into a Menos Grande incursion..."
"He's as good as dead—"
Before he could finish, another voice cut him off.
"Not necessarily, Kurotsuchi Mayuri."
Shutara Senjumaru appeared in front of the huge screen, watching the red dot that kept pulsing. Her elegant lips curled slightly.
"You really don't think much of other people, do you, Senjumaru?"
"Invading someone else's private space without permission..."
Kurotsuchi Mayuri didn't even bother to turn around. He knew who it was from her voice alone.
Or rather, the only person who could enter this laboratory without alerting him was that insufferably arrogant woman—
Shutara Senjumaru.
"'Invading' is an exaggeration."
Senjumaru watched the light on the screen that represented the Menos Grande and spoke casually.
"I'm actually more interested in those two boys."
"I'm very curious to see how they'll perform in a situation like this..."
Kisaragi Akira stared in shock at the swarm of spider Hollows charging toward them from the edge of his vision, his eyes wide.
"We're still in the Soul Society, right?"
"The mighty Soul Society, the Shinigami's home base—so why is there an entire clan of Hollows here?"
Aizen sighed.
To be honest, he couldn't make sense of it either.
As far as he knew, the Soul Society shouldn't have a Hollow swarm this huge.
It wasn't hard to tell from the earlier fight that these spider Hollows must have lived deep inside the mountains or underground.
As for what had caused an outbreak on this scale...
It might have been because someone had poured Red Smoke Escape into the mountain, triggering a chain of explosions and damaging the already unstable space.
Of course, there might have been some other reason.
"Sosuke, let's run."
Kisaragi Akira's expression was grave. "With a Hollow swarm this big, forget the two of us—even if..."
He hadn't finished speaking when he realized that Aizen, who'd been standing beside him, had disappeared without a trace.
Kisaragi Akira: "???"
Well, well, well. Who'd have thought you'd be so quick to ditch your teammate, despite that honest-looking face?
The spider Hollow swarm was drawing closer, and the tremors in the ground grew more and more violent.
Kisaragi Akira didn't dare waste time either. He followed Aizen's Reiatsu.
He might enjoy courting disaster, but when faced with a swarm of more than a hundred Hollows, he still chose to run for his life.
Who knew whether there was a Menos Grande among them?
Courting disaster wasn't the same as courting death. The two couldn't be lumped together.
When Kisaragi Akira caught up with Aizen, he found him chanting an unfamiliar Kido incantation in a low voice.
"...Abrupt spires, sink and fade, grow pale, fall into the bottomless abyss, kindle the dazzling red sun, and illuminate all directions."
"Hado 57: Dance of the Earth!"
The instant the words fell, the ground behind them split open with a series of jagged cracks. The earth seemed to turn into raging waves, piling up layer upon layer as it surged skyward, forming two Indestructible walls.
Between the walls lay a bottomless ravine, impossible to cross with ease.
"Hiss—"
Staring at the spectacular sight before him, Kisaragi Akira drew in a sharp breath. "You really are something, Sosuke."
"But since you're so strong, why not turn around and wipe out that whole swarm of Hollows?"
At that, Aizen gave him a look as if he thought he was an idiot.
Right then, the Hollow Group Circuitry Device tucked inside Kisaragi Akira's clothes began to vibrate.
Kisaragi Akira took it out and held it in his hands. Before he could pour in Reiatsu to check it, he heard a familiar voice coming from inside.
"Moshiboshi, can you hear me?"
Kisaragi Akira froze. He hadn't expected the Hollow Group Circuitry Device to have a calling function.
"This is the Shutara Research Institute. Our observations indicate that a Hekisa Botas swarm has appeared at your location. The exact cause is unknown."
"However, be advised that we've detected the Reiatsu of a Menos Grande among them."
Shutara Senjumaru spoke into the microphone, her voice full of concern.
"Dear boys, don't die before reinforcements arrive..."
The Hekisa in this story is an original variation. It was originally called Hekisa Botas, an ordinary Hollow that appeared in the manga's early setting.
As for the swarm, Hollows definitely exist in clans. This was mentioned in Ulquiorra's flashback: he was completely different from his clan, whose members were all depicted in humanoid forms. So the Black-Winged Great Demon might be a clan of Menos Grandes rather than a single Hollow.
This combines elements from both settings.
Before you continue