After everyone had finished dinner and was preparing to rest, ease the fatigue of the day's journey, and restore their spirits, the entire ground began to shake as if an earthquake had struck. A constant rumbling echoed through the air.
"What's going on?!"
"What happened?!"
The people inside the tents grew uneasy. The sudden change left them at a loss.
"The Hollows are here. Everyone, get ready!"
Shinji Hirako's calm voice rang out among the crowd.
"This disturbance... there are definitely a lot of Hollows!" Juji Nanma frowned deeply.
"Quick! Quick! Everyone, hold your positions! All wounded personnel, withdraw! The Second Legion, defend the north! The Third Legion..."
Outside the tent came the roar of Ichiro Odagiri, commander of the Expeditionary Force's First Legion.
"Let's go out and join the battle!" Kitagawa Guobu grinned, his fighting spirit rising.
"Of course!"
Stretching across the entire horizon, the densely packed Hollow Tide advanced relentlessly amid vast clouds of dust.
Fear inevitably arose in the Expeditionary Force members' hearts. During the last Hollow Tide, the brutal scenes of flying flesh and blood had remained etched in everyone's minds. But when they saw the Advance Team members assembled nearby, and the captains led by Shinji Hirako standing at the very front, their haori fluttering in the wind, countless strands of confidence filled their hearts.
"There really are plenty of trash Hollows! There are at least a hundred Gillians, maybe even more!" Shinji Hirako wore his usual eerie smile, though his eyes were solemn.
"The number of Adjuchas is... one, two, three... six. What a grand display!" Juji Nanma sighed.
"Stop talking nonsense. You four take one each, and leave the remaining two to me!" Kenpachi Kiganjō tightened his grip on the large blade in his hand.
"Don't be so hasty, Captain Kiganjō!" Shinji Hirako tilted his head, his gaze sharpening. "Don't you think exactly six Adjuchas is too much of a coincidence?"
"You mean..." Kitagawa Guobu said gravely, "there are more than just these six?"
"There may be other Adjuchas hiding nearby. There may even be a Vasto Lorde!" Shinji Hirako said seriously.
"Damn it!" Wangyuan Baoren cursed under his breath.
"Don't worry too much, Captain Wangyuan. Don't we have a mysterious fellow on our side as well?"
"Will Shadow help us?"
"Who knows?"
The First, Second, and Third Legions of the Expeditionary Force, along with the Advance Team members, all stood silently with blades in hand. As they watched the Hollow Tide, whose forms could now be clearly seen, the entire camp was devoid of any noise. There was only heavy breathing and the sound of teeth chattering.
Five hundred meters... four hundred meters... three hundred meters...
"As soldiers of the Expeditionary Force, we have always been prepared—prepared to offer our lives here. Because when we came here, we already knew what ending awaited us!"
"Death is not terrifying!" Ichiro Odagiri's expression was grave and solemn, his voice rolling through everyone's ears like thunder. "Perhaps we did not come here willingly, but since we are here, we must learn to face death. We must use this way to let more people live happily. Our lives have value. We are not dying in vain!"
"So tell me, you bastards! Will you beg those filthy Menos Grande for mercy, or will you raise your blades with me and slaughter them all?!"
Ichiro Odagiri roared loudly. "Answer me! Tell me your choice!"
Silence. A suffocating silence filled the air. Then, mixed voices began to rise one after another.
"Of course we'll slaughter those disgusting things!"
"I'm a real man! Real men aren't cowards afraid of death!"
"If I were afraid of dying, I wouldn't have joined the Expeditionary Force! What's a Gillian? I'd still cut down an Adjuchas!"
Curses, angry shouts, and roars blended together. The entire Expeditionary Force was in disorder, with no discipline to speak of. Yet no one blamed them at that moment, because they too had been infected by that conviction: even in death, they would not yield.
"That Ichiro Odagiri may not be very strong, but he's a true man!" Shinji Hirako sighed. The captains around him all nodded in agreement.
"Ha... once we've finished slaughtering these bastards, I have to make friends with him!" Kenpachi Kiganjō, another forthright man, felt a trace of mutual admiration.
"I like those words!" Kensei Muguruma, standing at the front of the Advance Team, laughed heartily. "If I die, I'll die fighting!"
"Though our strength and status may be greater, in that respect, we truly cannot compare to them!" Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi said as he stroked his long golden curls. "But I won't lose!"
"In the Shiba Family, there has never been such a word as defeat!" Kūkaku Shiba smiled confidently. "I don't want to go back and give Hiyori the chance to laugh at me!"
"Hah..."
After letting out a long breath, Yoruichi Shihōin, who had never been on a battlefield before, placed her hand on the short blade at her waist. Determination filled her golden eyes. "I am Yoruichi, the Flash God. I absolutely will not lose!"
Two hundred meters... one hundred meters...
"Roar!!!"
"Charge! For our dignity and glory! Kill!!!"
"Charge!!!"
"Kill!!!"
"Slaughter these bastards!!!"
Boom!!! Crash!!!
The battle began.
"Ye who reigns over the heavens! Mask of flesh and blood, myriad forms, fluttering wings, ye who bears the name of man! Scorching heat and strife, rolling across the sea and advancing southward! Hadō #31: Shakkahō!"
A crimson fireball the size of a basketball flew from Kūkaku Shiba's palm, blasting the oncoming Hollow to pieces. But more Hollows immediately rushed forward.
"Tch!" Kūkaku Shiba curled her lips and raised her arm again. "Hadō #63: Raikōhō!"
With a deafening boom, Kensei Muguruma, who was back-to-back with Kūkaku Shiba and attacking the other side, could not help twitching his brow. Speechless, he said, "Kukaku, could you stop using Kido all the time? It consumes too much Reiatsu!"
Even as he spoke, Kensei Muguruma did not slow down in the slightest. His iron fist swept through the air, stirring currents like flying sand and rolling stones. One punch sent the Hollow before him scattering into the air.
"You're too noisy, Kensei! Aren't you not using your Zanpakutō either? Why are you criticizing me?" Kūkaku Shiba shouted indignantly. "Ye who reigns over the heavens! Mask of flesh and blood, myriad forms, fluttering wings, ye who bears the name of man! Truth and temperance, upon the wall of dreams that knows no sin, stand only upon it! Hadō #33: Sōkatsui!"
The explosive flames blasted several approaching Hollows to pieces again. Hearing that, Kensei Muguruma raised his brows and was about to retort when—
Yoruichi Shihōin, fighting back-to-back with them, shattered the heads of two Hollows with a side kick, then attacked another Hollow without looking back. "You two, can you shut up? We're fighting, damn it!"
"Well, that doesn't sound like something you would say, Yoruichi!" Kūkaku Shiba said.
"Ahhh!!!"
Suddenly, a shrill scream came from the right. Yoruichi Shihōin and the other two, who had been about to respond, turned to look. They saw a Bleach being split in half from head to toe by several Hollows. Blood and organs spilled across the ground, while each half of his face still bore one eye filled with unwillingness and longing.
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