"Found you! Hahaha!"
"Found my ass!" Yamabuki Chidori struck with Flash Blossom, piercing the Hollow's mask in an instant and twisting its brains out!
"If we keep running, they'll catch us sooner or later! We need somewhere safe, and we need to hide our Reiatsu." Chidori found himself missing Kurotsuchi Mayuri. That freak could definitely make a device that erased traces of Reiatsu.
"Then we'll use the simplest method!" Chidori cut down every Hollow that came near, peeled a mask from one of their faces, and put it on his own.
"Think these Hollows are smart enough to see through our disguise?" Chidori asked.
Chōjirō Sasakibe's and Hachisato's brows twitched. The Hollows were dim, not idiots! How could they possibly fall for this?
Still...
"Brother Yamabuki, your Reiatsu really did change after you put on that Hollow mask! It might help!" Chōjirō picked out a mask that fit him from among the corpses and put it on. It was rather fun.
Once all three had disguised themselves, the Adjuchas hunting them down caught up with them.
"You run pretty fast, kid! Our fight isn't over. Let's keep going!" said the Four-Armed Adjuchas.
Chidori cleared his throat, then put on an extremely raspy voice. "You've got the wrong person. I'm a Hollow too. Look at the mask on my face!"
Beneath his mask, the Four-Armed Adjuchas's brows twitched wildly. Did this kid take him for a complete moron? How could a mask fool him? And that Reiatsu...
Hm? Why had the kid's Reiatsu changed?
Before, it had been pure Soul Reaper Reiatsu.
Now it was... muddy.
Like everything had been thrown together.
"I really am a Hollow. Don't believe me? I'll fire a Cero to prove it. Stand right there and don't move. Here comes my Cero! Hiryū Gekizoku Shinten Raihō!"
Cero, my ass!
The Four-Armed Adjuchas cursed as a pillar of gold-and-blue light slammed into the crowd of Hollows, blasting a huge swath of them away.
"What are you two standing there for? Run! Our disguise has been blown!" Chidori shouted to Chōjirō and Hachisato.
Chōjirō ranted inwardly. The disguise had never worked! How stupid would someone have to be to fall for it? Where was the wisdom befitting their Chief Strategist?
The mask was useless now, so Chōjirō pulled it off and tossed it away. Hachisato did the same.
Chidori sighed. He had wanted to play at infiltrating the enemy, but that plan was dead. He reached up to take off his mask—and it wouldn't come off!
Hm?
Did I put it on too hard?
He gave it another sharp tug. It still wouldn't budge!
A chill ran through Chidori.
What's going on?
He grabbed the mask and tore at it with all his strength, but it seemed fused to his face. No matter how hard he pulled, it did not move. He would have to rip off his entire face!
Fuck, fuck, fuck!
Not now. Don't let something go wrong now!
"Brother Yamabuki, why are you still wearing that mask?" Chōjirō asked.
"I thought it looked pretty cool, so I'm keeping it on for now," Chidori said tensely. "Don't worry about me. I'll handle the pursuers!"
He tried again, but no amount of force could pry off the white mask. If he returned to Soul Society wearing this thing, someone would cut him down on sight.
Accidentally awakening the ability to control Reishi had already been trouble enough. He had to stay on guard every moment, terrified someone might find out.
Now a Hollow mask was stuck to his face, and he would never be able to explain it.
Hollows had been the enemies of Soul Reapers since ancient times. During Aizen's Hollowfication Experiment, he had used eight Captains and Lieutenants as test subjects, turning them into half-Hollow Soul Reapers. They had made up nearly a third of Soul Society's core fighting strength, yet Soul Society had abandoned them without hesitation!
Judging by Shinji Hirako's attitude toward Yamamoto during the battle with Aizen, Yamamoto had tacitly accepted Central 46's ruling.
After the Aizen conflict, the Visored Army had returned to the Gotei 13. Yet during the Thousand-Year Blood War, they had never used Hollowfication, not even when defeat meant death. Most likely, they had reached some agreement with the higher-ups never to use that power again.
Otherwise, those Visored Captains would not have been pushed onto the defensive so badly during the Thousand-Year Blood War.
Damn it. If I have to, I'll cut the skin off my face. I can heal it with Kido. Chidori steeled himself and worked the tip of his blade into the gap between mask and flesh, ready to peel away his entire face!
But then he realized the real problem was not that the mask wouldn't come off. The Hollow mask was merging with his body, sinking into him little by little!
In less than a minute, the mask vanished completely into his body. Chidori rubbed his face hard. It was flesh, not a mask, but that only made him more anxious. What was happening to his body?
"Hm? Brother Yamabuki, you threw away the mask? You just said it looked cool!" Chōjirō came over with a grin.
Chidori jolted so hard he nearly fell off Lizard Maru's back.
"Brother Yamabuki, what's wrong? You look awful! Were you hurt back there?" Chōjirō asked, leaning closer.
"Go on, get away! You startled me. I thought you were an enemy. I'm Soul Society's second-best doctor. Don't you think I'd know if I was hurt?" Chidori's eyes darted about.
"Where's that mask you were wearing?"
"The mask... Oh, that? I got tired of it and tossed it. Was I supposed to carry it around forever?" Chidori pretended to look into the distance, avoiding Chōjirō's gaze.
The Hollows were still hot on their heels. At this rate, they would catch up eventually.
"Chief Strategist, I've contacted Soul Society," Hachisato said. "But they say technical difficulties mean they can't open a Soul Gate at the designated location for at least two hours."
"Two hours?" Chidori licked his lips. That was not too long. "You two take control up front. I'll deal with the pursuers. Two hours will be enough."
A drawn-out fight was the last thing he feared now!
The Four-Armed Adjuchas charged first.
This time, Chidori did not form a Spirit Bow. The other two were watching. They might not recognize it now, but the war against the Quincy was not far off. Once they saw a Spirit Bow for themselves, how could he explain why a Soul Reaper could use Quincy powers?
So he fought the Adjuchas with Soul Reaper powers alone. After the earlier battle, he had discovered that his Reiatsu had risen another notch. He was a big step closer to Captain-level!
And he had found a way of fighting that suited him.
"Six Rods Prison of Light! Hyakurensan! Thunder Roar Cannon! Dragon of Thunder!"
He unleashed a barrage of Kidō without sparing a thought for the cost. The Hollows behind him wailed as explosions tore through their ranks.
Chidori's body rapidly absorbed Reishi from his surroundings to replenish what he spent. His wounds and Reiatsu both recovered quickly.
Ordinary Hollows could only stare helplessly, but Menos Grande had ranged attacks.
A whole crowd of Hollows began firing Ceros.
Every color imaginable flooded the sky!
Sure enough, only another cannon could suppress a cannon!
And even if Chidori had three heads and six arms, he could not outgun dozens of Menos Grande on his own.
As he watched their Ceros, an idea flashed through Chidori's mind. Could I fire a Cero too?
Ever since his body had absorbed the Hollow mask, Chidori had suspected something: perhaps he had possessed the powers of Soul Reapers, Quincy, and Hollows all along.
As for where those powers came from...
That's what being a Child of Destiny gets me!
With that thought, Chidori stretched out his hand and gathered his Reiatsu. A silvery-white ball of light appeared in his palm, exactly like the Ceros the Hollows fired!
It worked! It actually worked!
Delighted and astonished, Chidori hurled the Cero!
BOOM!!!
Silver light swallowed the dark sky. The silvery-white Cero streaked into the crowd of Hollows with a long tail of flame and exploded. Those caught in the blast were obliterated. At its edges, the Hollows looked as though something had sliced through them: every part touched by the explosion was cut cleanly away!
The Four-Armed Adjuchas's pupils contracted.
A Soul Reaper? How could a Soul Reaper fire a Cero? No, he used other powers earlier too. What kind of monster is he?
"Brother Yamabuki, that move was amazing!" Chōjirō had wandered over again at some point.
"It's a Kidō I developed myself. Of course it's amazing. Stop getting in the way and watch where we're going," Chidori snapped.
Soon, Chidori thought of something else to try.
He formed another Cero, this one larger and more diffuse.
"Have a mouthful of lead!" Chidori sneered and opened his hand. The silver Cero scattered like a shotgun blast, spraying thumb-sized particles of light in every direction.
The particles did not explode when they hit. They punched straight through the Hollows' bodies and kept going until their Reiatsu ran out.
In an instant, dozens of Menos Grande were pierced through and killed.
"What the hell is that? An ordinary Cero doesn't work like that!" the Four-Armed Adjuchas shouted.
Chidori only sneered and fired another scattered blast.
The Hollows had learned their lesson. They fired Ceros of their own to counter it.
Ceros were made of Reiatsu, so naturally Reiatsu could stop them. With the silver Cero dispersed and each particle weakened, dozens of Ceros intercepted the barrage. Not a single Hollow was hurt.
"Tch." Chidori clicked his tongue.
The Hollows were still following, but the survivors had enough sense not to charge blindly anymore.
More than a thousand Hollows had joined the pursuit at first. Fewer than two hundred remained.
Chōjirō looked at him with open admiration. "Brother Yamabuki, that Kidō is incredible! Will you teach me when we get back?"
"No! You haven't learned to walk and you already want to run? Tell me, how many forms does a Soul Reaper's Zanpakuto have?" Chidori asked.
"I know! Two forms," Chōjirō said.
"You haven't even learned Bankai, and you want to distract yourself with something else? Learn Bankai first. Then I'll teach you the advanced stuff," Chidori said.
"I'll work hard to learn Bankai!" Chōjirō was so excited that he did not even notice Chidori had not been using Soul Reaper powers at all.
Beside him, suspicion flickered in Hachisato's eyes. His own standing might be low, but his master headed one of the Five Noble Clans. As an assassin, Hachisato had seen plenty. He had never seen a Soul Reaper wield power this strange.
He pretended he had seen nothing.
Hachisato knew there were many things in this world that someone of his station was better off not knowing. Knowing too much could get him killed.
"Brother Yamabuki, look! They've stopped chasing us. Are they scared?" Chōjirō asked happily.
Chidori looked back. Sure enough, the Hollows had formed a semicircle in the distance and were glaring at them with hatred.
"Hmph. Even Hollows fear death. My strength must have scared them off," Chidori said confidently.
If I used all three powers at once, could I take on one of the current Captains?
Just then, Lizard Maru stopped too.
"Why have we stopped?" Chidori asked.
"Chief Strategist, there's something strange ahead," Hachisato said gravely. "A building this enormous... in Hueco Mundo?"
Chidori froze, then hurriedly turned to look.
Fuck! Las Noches!
"Las Noches! How did we end up here?" Shock spread across Chidori's face. No wonder the Hollows had stopped chasing them. They were not afraid of him. They feared Hueco Mundo's current king, Baraggan, the King of Despair.
"Chief Strategist, you look pale. Is this place dangerous? Should we leave at once?" Hachisato asked.
Behind them, the Hollows glared at Chidori with bitter hatred, but not one dared set foot within the bounds of Las Noches.
"What are you afraid of? Stay calm. I'm here, so we'll be fine. Las Noches covers a huge area. That bastard Baraggan won't notice us right away, and the Hollows outside won't dare come in. That gives us time to catch our breath. Tell Soul Society to open the Soul Gate near Las Noches. We'll go back in two hours," Chidori said calmly.
Las Noches was not merely a palace. Anyone who had followed the story of Soul Reapers in Hueco Mundo knew it was an immense complex. Kurosaki Ichigo and the others had caused havoc inside without being caught. Besides, there were no Espada or Arrancar in this era. If Baraggan thought he could stop Chidori on his own, he was dreaming.
Baraggan, you're a nobody!
Chidori looked back at the Hollows and raised his middle finger with a mocking grin. They gnashed their teeth in fury, but none dared step into the King of Hueco Mundo's territory.
"Brother Yamabuki, are we really safe here?" Chōjirō asked nervously. Chidori reassured him in a low voice. "Don't worry. We'll be fine. I'm here. Even if Baraggan, the King of Hueco Mundo, shows up, he won't be able to hurt you."
Chidori planned to rest on the outskirts of Las Noches for two hours, then return the moment the Soul Gate opened. Mission complete.
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