When Kinroku issued his orders to the squads, the Hueco Mundo expedition force at the base was already clashing with the invading Adjuchas horde.
"Kill!"
Black-clad figures darted forward, groups of several or a dozen charging one or two Adjuchas at a time.
In raw power, most of these Shinigami grunts couldn't match these Adjuchas, whose strength rivaled high-ranking seated officers.
But through endless battles with Hollows in the Seireitei and the living world, they'd honed a formation tactic for taking down large or powerful foes.
Led by one or two with the best Shunpo, the rest played support, weaving in Kidō and Zanpakutō strikes. Like a well-oiled raid team tackling a dungeon boss, they chipped away at these far stronger Hollows bit by bit until they fell.
This was wisdom carved from years of combat and practice.
Even so, Adjuchas weren't foes they could easily fend off.
Much like a raid team wiping on a boss from a single slip-up.
The expedition force faced that same peril—and then some!
"Hadō 31: Shakkahō!"
A roaring Kidō blast erupted behind an Adjuchas, scattering smoke. A scythe-like claw swiped through the haze, instantly killing a burly Shinigami.
"Rain that down, Shikusui!"
A roaring seated officer released his Shikai, charging like a man possessed, slashing at the Hollow only to leave shallow scratches on its Hierro.
"ARRGHHH!"
Deafening bellows shook the sky. Ten, even dozens of giant-like Adjuchas rampaged through the hundreds-strong Shinigami legion, a scene straight out of a hellish scroll.
One wrong step, and you'd crush a wailing comrade's body.
Boom!
Ryūma roared with youthful vigor, directing Gagaku Kairō at an Adjuchas while firing mid-level Kidō in quick succession.
But to these towering monsters, small fries like him were laughably weak.
The massive Gagaku Kairō sphere crumpled under a casual blow from the Adjuchas, its round form caving in midair, crashing into the pale sand with a pit-forming thud and a plume of dust.
Ryūma froze.
The next instant, scarlet eyes swiveled toward him.
A thick arm swung down like a hammer.
Oh no!
But in the same moment the arm fell...
The hulking Adjuchas stiffened.
Its heavy fist grazed Ryūma's frame, slamming into the sand with a dull thud.
"Come formless void, become my visage twists."
"Fuhahara!"
From afar came Kinroku's low, steady chant.
The glasses-wearing uncle, looking like a kindergarten teacher, pressed his sword hilt, his right middle finger nudging his frames.
At that moment...
Within dozens of meters around this balding man, seven Adjuchas tearing through the crowd were sliced in half by invisible blades.
The space-warping cuts split their massive bodies in two, crashing to the ground with a boom.
Blood sprayed, staining the pale desert red.
As their masks shattered and their ashes faded into the air, Kinroku strode through the throng.
The Shinigami parted to clear his path.
His big hand patted Ryūma's head gently, his voice weathered. "Kids should stay back."
"Don't get so close."
"Your butt'll split in two."
Ryūma barely held back a retort.
Butts are already two parts!
Yet the crowd remained dead silent.
Even though Kinroku had felled several Adjuchas in a flash, no one cheered.
Because ahead, in the direction he advanced, stood a slender figure with mid-length pink hair amid the Adjuchas swarm.
Everyone felt it... a crushing pressure like the deep sea.
Not just physical weight, but breath, movement, and even thoughts, all pinned to the ocean floor, immobile.
In this trembling mob, only Kinroku kept his calm, unfazed by the terrifying Reiatsu bursting from this Vasto Lorde.
He drew his blade, still sporting that about-to-retire-and-collect-pension vibe, nudging his glasses with his right middle finger and aiming it at the foe.
"Oh my, oh my… a Vasto Lorde. What a rare beast."
"First time seeing one up close."
"So, what brings you here, sir?"
"Oh, right… can you talk?"
Szayelaporro grinned at him, his smile a twitching dance of muscles, curling up in a slightly manic or perhaps more manic than the usual way.
"Such a rude gentleman."
"Rather than what I'm here for, how about..."
His voice flipped, shifting to a brash, grating tone, elegance spiraling into madness. "You bastards killing on my turf dare to ask me?!"
The instant his words dropped, Szayelaporro shot forward like an arrow, lunging at Kinroku.
The moment he moved, the clustered Adjuchas behind him roared as if on cue, charging into the Shinigami ranks.
"That's why I said I hate leading from the front."
Kinroku let out a low, resigned sigh.
But the moment he raised his eyes, a sharp glint flashed in them.
"Wouldn't this just waste my scholarly image?"
"Quit yapping!"
With that unmistakably annoying tone, Szayelaporro's form blurred into an afterimage, twisting in a Sonído to close in on Kinroku. His slender arm now bore a crimson-pink bone blade formed from his own skeleton, slashing with a shrill screech that tore through the air.
"Fuhahara!"
Kinroku's blade flicked lightly, conjuring a pitch-black gate in the space before him, severing the void.
Szayelaporro's bone blade struck and dissolved effortlessly, its sharpness powerless against the spatial cut.
His pupils shrank as he twisted to redirect his momentum. With a bang, a grotesque wing unfurled from his back muscles, slashing toward Kinroku like a blade.
And that wasn't all.
Shoulders, arms, elbows, knees, legs, wings!
Every protruding bone morphed into massive blades, unleashing a storm of ultra-fast strikes amid frenzied roars.
A Vasto Lorde's physical prowess and Reiatsu density needed no explanation, Sonído alone outpaced the naked eye of regular Shinigami, let alone fists and feet several times faster.
Yet, facing this chaotic barrage, Kinroku only smirked faintly.
"Cutting people is something you learn from the basics."
"Vasto Lorde."
With that casual tone, he didn't even bother with spatial blades just swung his Zanpakutō with both hands, effortlessly parrying every strike.
Bone clashed with Zanpakutō at blinding speed, silent as death.
"Back off, idiot!"
A cold shout distinct from the earlier madness burst from Szayelaporro's body.
He withdrew.
Glancing down at himself...
Crack! Crack! Crack!
In a chorus of splintering, his seemingly sharp bone blades shattered into scattered fragments.
His body was crisscrossed with fine, net-like marks.
Those seemingly calm, rational eyes lifted to Kinroku's unassuming blade.
Look closely, and you'd see a thin, half-inch layer of warped space coating its surface spatial blades fixed to the Zanpakutō.
Kinroku met Szayelaporro's darkening expression, nudging his wobbly mustard-yellow glasses with his middle finger, voice mild. "Don't judge me by how I look now."
"Back in the day, I was a big name in Rukongai."
"Is that so?"
Szayelaporro gave a shallow smile, his fine wounds melding like putty, limbs nearly severed by spatial cuts snapping back together.
High-speed regeneration.
"Seems my dimwit brother picked the wrong approach from the start."
"Hey! Szayel-" The voice tried to butt in but was squashed.
"So, how do you block gas?"
Snap!
A finger flick.
Szayelaporro's wings flared, gland-like tumors swelling and contracting, spewing deep crimson mist.
Kinroku's face shifted.
"Scatter!"
His voice boomed.
But for the Shinigami fending off Adjuchas, it was too late.
The mist swept outward, swallowing soldiers and Adjuchas alike.
Those engulfed writhed as if bugs burrowed under their skin bulges surging, scampering like rats until reaching their heads.
Then exploding!
In that brief moment, dozens of Shinigami were consumed.
Kinroku's eyes narrowed, anger flaring as he drove his blade into the sand.
Zing!
Instantly, invisible spatial blades formed a massive hemisphere, engulfing him and Szayelaporro.
The spreading gas lost its source.
"Fuhahara - Void Slash."
His expression grave, Kinroku swung his blade straight for Szayelaporro's vitals.
"Oh my! Oh my!"
Szayelaporro chuckled mockingly, slithering into the soil with a hiss and reemerging farther off.
"No need to panic, noble Shinigami lord."
"They're just expendable servants you don't care about, right?"
"Let me test my new concoction instead."
Kinroku vanished and reappeared, his blade slicing silently through the air, cleaving a dozen meters of pale sand behind Szayelaporro.
His voice was cold but earnest. "Nonsense."
"Those are my most cherished subordinates!"
Szayelaporro paused, an intrigued look crossing his face.
But in that split-second hesitation...
Boom!
A long naginata slashed diagonally, its ferocious force aimed at Szayelaporro's skull, leaving a shockwave-like white streak in the air, the blade tinged with crimson.
Slash!
The blade carved through Hierro and bone, lopping off half his head, brain matter splattering midair and splatting onto the ground.
Kinroku, holding the front line, flashed a surprised grin.
But it faltered.
"Katori!"
The instant he shouted, Szayelaporro's half-headed body spun. A leg swung upward like an axe, bone blade jutting from the calf, grinning wickedly as it kicked at Katori.
Bang!
Luckily, the naginata form was sturdy, and Katori was no slouch.
Spotting the body not collapsing, she braced the haft across her abdomen, tanking the blow. A deafening blast rang in her ears.
Her petite frame flew dozens of meters, feet digging into the sand to stay upright.
"Close call, close call!"
"Almost got me, Shinigami."
Szayelaporro kept his theatrical tone, patting his head only to grab air.
Still, he smiled.
"Pity… usually, a Hollow's weak spot is the masked head."
"But, alas."
"To hide such an obvious flaw, I've moved it elsewhere."
"Care to guess, folks?"
Szayelaporro flung his arms wide, taunting the crowd, his grin growing wilder.
Until a sleek figure pierced dozens of meters in a flash, a black shadow roaring.
"Your balls!"
Szayelaporro's pupils shrank, hands darting to shield his pelvis.
Too late, his eyes nearly popped out, body folding diagonally as he crashed into the distant sand with a boom.
Pale grit sprayed in a radial burst.
Makoto dusted off his clothes, sneering. "You think hiding your mask in your pubic bone would fool anyone?"
"Freak!"
All eyes turned to him.
A single thought echoed in everyone's mind.
Makoto-kun.
The real freak is you for guessing that spot in one go!
***
Bonus Chapter:
100 Power Stones = 1 BC
300 Power Stones = 2 BC
500 Power Stones = 3 BC
700 Power Stones = 4 BC
1000 Power Stones = 5 BC
***
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