Sunshine, beaches, swimming pools, watermelons, soda.
Sōgo Shihoin, who had gathered all the wonderful things about summer vacation, was happily playing with Lilynette and Tier Harribel.
Meanwhile, Szayelaporro made his move again.
Outside Seireitei, where the Soul Reapers of Soul Society's Gotei 13 lived, lay Rukongai, which ordinarily housed only ordinary souls.
"Roar!"
Several of the most ordinary Hollows emerged with roars and began attacking those ordinary souls indiscriminately.
"They're Hollows!"
"Oh no! Hollows have gotten in!"
"Hurry, go find the Soul Reapers!"
As the most ordinary of souls, they had no ability to fight Hollows. Even against the most ordinary Hollows, they had no power to fight back.
"Hahaha..."
"Let's see what sort of fish I catch this time~"
Szayelaporro gently adjusted the glasses on the bridge of his nose. Dressed in a spotless white lab coat, like an unremarkable scientist, he quietly hid in the shadows and watched, using the same routine as fifty years ago.
The Gotei 13.
"Hollows have appeared in the Kusajishi District again?"
Inside the Eleventh Division Barracks, Kuruyashiki Kenpachi stood bare-chested, his powerful muscles exposed, endlessly swinging the katana in his hands as sweat dripped from his body onto the barracks' wooden floor.
"Captain! Hollows have appeared again in the Kusajishi District, which you told us to keep watching. But just like the last few times, they seem to be ordinary Hollows... Will you be leading the force personally again this time?"
The 11th Division's lieutenant was a bespectacled man who looked very young, with a somewhat scholarly air that seemed out of place in the 11th Division. He was the only man in the 11th Division who could write reports, giving him extremely high standing there. Many of the written apologies required of members punished for fighting and causing trouble were personally written by him.
"Of course!"
"I won't let what happened decades ago happen again."
Kuruyashiki Kenpachi gently wiped the sweat from his body with the towel the lieutenant before him handed over, a beastlike gleam flashing in his eyes.
"Fall in."
Kuruyashiki Kenpachi spoke softly to the members of the 11th Division.
Soul Reapers dying was perfectly normal, but dying under such unexplained circumstances was something Kuruyashiki Kenpachi could not accept.
Especially since the deaths of those former Tenth Division members were connected to him, the captain of the 11th Division, and could be considered a dereliction of his duty. If he had stopped them immediately back then, perhaps the Tenth Division would not have suffered such a devastating blow.
"Lieutenant, stay here. Third Seat, Fourth Seat, Fifth Seat... you ten stay with the lieutenant!"
Kuruyashiki Kenpachi picked out the ten strongest Soul Reapers in the 11th Division and left them behind as its last embers in case the 11th Division was wiped out like the Tenth Division. Then, without saying anything more to the others, he led his remaining subordinates toward the scene.
"That captain, honestly..."
The 11th Division's lieutenant watched Kuruyashiki Kenpachi and the others hurry away and shook his head helplessly.
"Third Seat Haruhiko, follow the captain and the others and take a look! If things get dire, remember, do not fight under any circumstances. Come back and report immediately!"
The lieutenant still remembered what had happened to the Tenth Division decades ago, so every time Kuruyashiki Kenpachi set out, he sent someone skilled in Shunpo after him, just in case.
"Yes, Lieutenant!"
Haruhiko knelt on one knee before his lieutenant and nodded respectfully, then smoothly turned into a black shadow and vanished from the spot.
"Sigh..."
"What a captain. He never lets me stop worrying."
Having done all this, the 11th Division's lieutenant shook his head helplessly. This was already the limit of what he could do. After all, his strength was truly insignificant compared to Kuruyashiki Kenpachi's.
Meanwhile, Kuruyashiki Kenpachi raced to the Kusajishi District and immediately cut down the ordinary Hollows wreaking havoc in the residential area.
"Go rescue people!"
Looking at the utterly devastated streets burning with raging flames, Kuruyashiki Kenpachi gave orders to the seated officers beside him.
"Yes, Captain!"
After hearing Kuruyashiki Kenpachi's orders, the members of the 11th Division nodded lightly and ran toward the streets, preparing to rescue as many people as possible from the burning streets.
"Is he our opponent?"
"Hehehehe... judging by his appearance, he's one of those Soul Reapers they call captains?"
"Interesting..."
Just after Kuruyashiki Kenpachi sent his subordinates out, five or six Adjuchas-class Menos Grande instantly surrounded him. Behind these Adjuchas-class Menos Grande stood dozens of Gillians modified by Szayelaporro.
"Slurp~"
"There's no mistake. That Soul Reaper... he's the one who attacked Hueco Mundo back then."
Szayelaporro gently licked his lips, watching the brown-bear-like Kuruyashiki Kenpachi with interest. Kuruyashiki Kenpachi had left a deep impression on him. He still remembered the sight of Kuruyashiki Kenpachi fighting that Vasto Lorde under Baraggan one-on-one. Szayelaporro's assessment of Kuruyashiki Kenpachi was powerful! Incomparably powerful! He was the most suitable candidate for research material!
"This is bad!"
Haruhiko, who had been following Kuruyashiki Kenpachi all along, saw him surrounded by Menos Grande and immediately turned and fled without a second thought. He had to report the situation to his lieutenant.
Boom!!
At that moment, Kuruyashiki Kenpachi erupted with spiritual pressure that shot into the sky. Without even releasing his Zanpakuto's Shikai, he cut a Gillian in two with a single slash.
His terrifying fighting strength astonished all the Adjuchas-class Menos Grande.
"Slaughter the auspicious omens and be born, revere the darkness and bid old age farewell, Garōgairō!"
Kuruyashiki Kenpachi gave the Menos Grande no time to react and immediately released his Zanpakuto.
Black light instantly enveloped the Menos Grande, and countless monsters the size of brown bears opened their bloody maws and lunged at the Adjuchas to bite them.
"What the hell are these things?"
"Damn it..."
"Damn it, I've never heard of a Soul Reaper like this."
The Adjuchas-class Menos Grande roared and howled, unable to do anything against the powerful Kuruyashiki Kenpachi.
"Just as I thought, this guy is the best experimental material. What a shame~"
"I don't have much time left."
"If I keep wasting time here, even I might end up dying in Soul Society."
"I'll come back next time I have the chance~"
Szayelaporro gently licked the corner of his mouth and opened a Garganta behind him, preparing to retreat.
"Hmm?!"
Kuruyashiki Kenpachi saw the sky split open, and his attention was instantly drawn to it. His gaze immediately met Szayelaporro's.
"So you're the boss? You're not getting away!"
Kuruyashiki Kenpachi hoisted a spider-shaped Adjuchas beside him and hurled it at Szayelaporro.
Szayelaporro gently turned sideways, and the spider-shaped Menos Grande was thrown straight into the Garganta, blocking his path forward.
"Hmm?!"
Szayelaporro frowned as he glanced at the Adjuchas thrown into the Garganta.
Before Szayelaporro could think further, Kuruyashiki Kenpachi raised his blade and attacked him the very next second.
(End of chapter)