Patting Nakamura Mio on the shoulder, Hiraga Ichirō said, "Thanks for your hard work. Once this is over, I'll report to Lord Aizen and have him give you three days to rest."
Nakamura Mio shot Hiraga Ichirō an irritated glance. After releasing Nurikabe, she would be bedridden for three days, unable to move as though paralyzed. Only after those three days would she regain her mobility. Hiraga Ichirō knew that perfectly well, yet he had deliberately offered her three days off. He was plainly teasing her. If he had not been her superior, she would have slapped him across the face already.
Looking at the vast expanse of black mist before him, Hiraga Ichirō remarked, "As Lord Aizen instructed, we've kept a large batch of useless trash outside and let only a small group in. I wonder how many will make it to Lord Aizen?"
Nakamura Mio scoffed disdainfully. "Heh. Let's hope they don't all die in there. With that monster guarding the central courtyard, even all thirteen of our captains together might not be enough to take him down!"
"Yes. The ultimate monster, combining the powers of a Hollow and a Shinigami. No one but Lord Aizen can subdue him..."
As though recalling something, Hiraga Ichirō's face flickered with lingering fear and dread.
Watching the companion beside him get cut in half, Zenitsu Agatsuma could not even muster the courage to swing his sword. His body trembled, his mind went blank, and he cried in terror, "Monster!!!"
Inosuke Hashibira roared and moved faster than the eye could follow, kicking Zenitsu Agatsuma out of the path of the descending blade. "Idiot! Don't space out!"
"Feast, Taotie!" The Zanpakutō in Kaneda Yūichirō's hand transformed into the head of a savage, man-eating beast. Opening its bloody maw full of serrated