As Shadow slowly sheathed his blade and turned to walk back, he suddenly froze. His pitch-black pupils contracted. The next second, he appeared before Yoruichi Shihōin, staring solemnly into the distance.
A moment later, Shinji Hirako seemed to sense something as well. He turned and looked in the same direction.
Two figures appeared not far away. One was a burly man with short fiery-red hair; the other had long sea-blue hair and a refined appearance. Both had human faces, but the fragments of masks still covering their faces and the Hollow holes in their bodies clearly revealed their identities—the highest class of Menos Grande, Vasto Lordes.
Besides them, there were ten Adjuchas and over a hundred Gillians.
Fate seemed to have played a cruel joke on them, taking them from despair to hope, then from hope back into despair.
"Yo, kid!" the red-haired Vasto Lorde said. "What an astonishing feeling! You were actually the first to notice our presence!"
"But then again!" the sea-blue-haired Vasto Lorde sneered. "You've got some nerve! You practically slaughtered tens of thousands of Hollows all by yourself!"
"..." Shadow remained silent, as though he had heard nothing.
"My, this is bad."
Shinji Hirako's gaze was solemn, yet he still spoke in his usual unserious manner.
"Two Vasto Lordes, ten Adjuchas, and nearly a hundred Gillians. What an even more luxurious lineup," Kitagawa Guobu said, frowning deeply.
"Hey! When will reinforcements from the Boundary Gate arrive?" Wangyuan Baoren asked the messenger Bleach beside him.
"Yes. Since the Boundary Gate has also come under attack from the Hollow horde, the Second Division, Eighth Division, and Thirteenth Division have suffered heavy casualties as well. So... we don't know when reinforcements will arrive."
"Damn it!"
"Enough, Captain Wangyuan. Now isn't the time to talk about that!" Shinji Hirako turned around and scanned the area, his eyes flickering. "I'll hold back one of the two Vasto Lordes. As for the other one, Shadow, sorry for the trouble."
Shadow tilted his head toward Yoruichi Shihōin. Only after seeing her nod did he speak coldly. "Yes, Lady Yoruichi. Understood. Leave it to me."
Shinji Hirako curled his lip. "Then, Captain Kiganjō, you'll hold off two Adjuchas. Captain Wangyuan, Captain Kitagawa, Captain Nanma, you can each hold off one Adjuchas, right?"
"No problem!"
"Good. Then the rest of you—Lieutenant Kazehashi, Lieutenant Muguruma, Lieutenant Shiba, and Shihōin's Third Seat—you four will each hold off one Adjuchas..."
Before Shinji Hirako could finish, he felt a chilling, murderous presence lock onto him. He involuntarily swallowed the rest of his words.
"Shadow!"
Yoruichi Shihōin placed a hand on Shadow's shoulder, interrupting that suffocating chill.
"Lady Yoruichi!" Shadow turned and met those amber-like eyes. His tone paused, and he sighed. "Sorry, Lady Yoruichi."
"Ah! Right! If there's no problem, then you four will handle four Adjuchas!" Shinji Hirako said with a sigh of relief. "As for the last Adjuchas..."
"Leave it to the three of us!"
Ichiro Odagiri, commander of the Expeditionary Force's First Legion, pointed at himself, then at the two people beside him as he spoke gravely.
After a moment of silence, Shinji Hirako considered the situation. There was no better option, so he could only nod. "Then I'll leave it to you."
"Hey, hey! Are you done talking yet?" the impatient red-haired Vasto Lorde shouted.
"If you're done, then die!" the sea-blue-haired Vasto Lorde coldly added.
"Good. Then don't hold anything back. Shadow, Captain Kiganjō, deal with your opponents as quickly as possible and provide support!" Shinji Hirako instructed.
"Got it!"
Kenpachi Kiganjō answered. As for Shadow, it would have been stranger if he had answered.
"Everyone, move!" Shinji Hirako roared. "I don't want to repeat any unnecessary words. I only want to tell you this: you are the finest Bleach of Soul Society, the finest warriors of the Seireitei! So even if you die, make them understand that victory will belong to us—to the finest among us! Fight to the death! Never retreat!"
"Fight to the death! Never retreat!"
Thunderous roars erupted from every mouth, booming across this barren land like war drums.
"Kill! Kill! Kill!"
Another clash between the Bleach and the Hollows began.
Meanwhile, outside the Boundary Gate in Soul Society, a force of several hundred people was racing forward. At the front of the group were three figures clad in pure white captain's haori.
They were Shihōin Shanqing, captain of the Second Division; Shunsui Kyōraku, captain of the Eighth Division; and Kirio Hikifune, captain of the Twelfth Division—the reinforcements rushing to the battlefield.
Hueco Mundo, battlefield.
"Drawn-Sword Slash!!!"
With his shoulder slightly lowered, Shadow drew his long blade, using the friction between blade and sheath to carve a sweeping arc through the air.
Without the slightest warning, the red-haired Vasto Lorde instinctively drew the fiery-red Zanpakutō hidden at his waist and blocked with a backhand swing.
"Clang!"
A crisp collision of blades rang out. Shadow landed after a flip, while the red-haired Vasto Lorde slid several meters backward.
Fast! Such a fast attack! Even though I blocked the blade, I was still injured by the force of it?
The Vasto Lorde pressed a hand to the blood seeping from a tiny cut across his face. The disdain in his eyes had turned to solemnity.
"You're strong, kid. So you're qualified to know my name. Remember it. I am..."
"Kexikara!!!"
The instant his words fell, the red-haired Vasto Lorde Kexikara used Sonído and appeared behind Shadow. His fiery-red Zanpakutō descended viciously, carrying a fierce gust of wind.
"Clang!"
The red and black Zanpakutō collided again. The immense force sent both Shadow and Kexikara sliding far away.
"Kid, you're the strongest Bleach I've met since becoming an Arrancar!" Kexikara laughed wildly.
"Arrancar? Is that the state where a Hollow possesses a Bleach's Zanpakutō?" Shadow asked coldly.
"Well! If you can defeat me, I'll tell you!"
"Is that so? Then I'll tell you something too..." Shadow raised his sword and vanished in a flash step.
"I'm not a Bleach."
"Clang!"
"Clang!"
The sounds of collision rang out without end as two figures, one black and one red, moved at extreme speed and continuously crossed through the air.
On the other side, Shinji Hirako was also fighting the other Vasto Lorde. Having already released his Shikai, Shinji Hirako looked solemn and pale. In contrast, the Vasto Lorde wore a cold smile. Clearly, he had not used his full strength, and that ease only made Shinji Hirako feel even more oppressed.
Kenpachi Kiganjō, the current Kenpachi, was currently fighting two Adjuchas at once without falling behind. However, winning would not be easy either.
Not far away, Kitagawa Guobu, Wangyuan Baoren, and Juji Nanma—three captains who had already been among the weaker ones—were fighting rather desperately. Juji Nanma, in particular, had lost an arm. If not for the other two watching over him, he would likely have died at the hands of the Adjuchas long ago. Even so, Juji Nanma was still in grave danger.
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