A catastrophe befell the Araki manor.
When the Kidō barrier was withdrawn, chaotic and despairing Reiatsu flooded the entire Noble District, instantly alerting the nearby stationed Soul Reapers.
Simultaneously, countless gazes turned toward the direction of the Araki family home.
The Soul Reapers closest to the scene rushed toward the mansion immediately, preparing to stop the disturbance.
However, when they arrived at the site of the Araki home, they were terrified by the scene before them.
A distorted monster, standing tens of meters tall like a mountain range, had countless arms and limbs extending from its twisted body. Its giant mouth, occupying almost its entire head, opened wide, constantly spewing highly corrosive acid.
In just a few breaths, the massive mansion was reduced to nothing but ruins filled with smoke and dust.
Aside from the most conspicuous distorted monster, the rest of the Araki family fared no better.
Their bodies were hunched, resembling humans, but they had mutated to grow multiple arms and limbs. Their entire bodies were covered in black fur, making them look no different from their family head.
Not a shred of human emotion could be seen in their scarlet eyes, only instinctual, extreme greed.
The few individuals who hadn't mutated were instantly torn apart and devoured by the siege of their own family members, leaving not even a complete corpse behind.
Once the living creatures within the mansion were devoured clean, the distorted monsters turned toward the intruders—the reinforcing Soul Reapers—opened their mouths, and lunged!
"Hadō #4. Byakurai!"
In their panic, several Soul Reapers who reacted in time immediately abandoned the incantation, and flashing white lightning illuminated the night sky.
However, attacks of this level couldn't harm the mutated Araki clansmen at all.
Just as the Soul Reapers were about to meet a violent end, a reassuring voice suddenly came from behind them.
"Hadō #63. Raikōhō!"
Brilliant golden light erupted in an instant. Ferocious arcs of electricity turned into a visible torrent, dispelling the night in a flash and instantly erasing several distorted monsters ahead.
Amidst the heavy atmosphere, a gentle figure stepped forward, looking solemnly at the terrifying, mountain-like monster in the center of the mansion.
A pure white Captain's Haori embroidered with the number "Four" appeared in everyone's line of sight, acting like a shot of adrenaline injected into their hearts.
The black-haired woman turned her head, her exquisite and beautiful face full of seriousness as her gaze swept over the present Soul Reapers.
"Although I am usually responsible for logistics, I am still a Captain, for what it's worth."
Her gentle voice carried a trace of tone that brooked no refusal as her beautiful eyes looked over the crowd.
"Squad 4 is temporarily taking control of this area. Soul Reapers below seated officer rank will retreat outside the mansion. The rest, follow me inside."
"Yes, Captain Unohana!"
Because she had been out on a healing mission, Unohana Retsu sensed the anomaly the moment the Kidō barrier was removed and appeared near the Araki mansion at top speed.
Before arriving, she had thought there was an issue with the Seireitei's spirit membrane, leading to a Menos Grande appearing in the Noble District.
But upon arriving at the scene, she realized the situation was even more serious than a Menos invasion.
'Body modification... and the Reiatsu is filled with the scent of a Hollow.'
The distorted monster, several meters tall, appeared behind Unohana Retsu. Just by twisting its body, it cast a massive shadow.
Its bloody maw opened wide, and a deafening roar resounded over the ruins as it charged forward without hesitation.
Then, it was instantly sent flying back along its original path, smashing heavily into the architecture and kicking up dust that blotted out the sky.
Before it could struggle to stand, it was pinned to the ground by several pillars of light that appeared out of thin air.
Bakudō #61. Rikujōkōrō.
Unohana Retsu looked at the monster struggling in the dust, her slender brows knitting tightly together, her gentle eyes filled with confusion.
'If it involves souls, that isn't my area of expertise. Especially when it's related to Hollows.'
Smoke and dust overflowed from the collapsed ruins.
In such an environment, even seated officers had to treat the situation with gravity; the slightest negligence could lead to being heavily injured by the distorted monsters.
Yet, Unohana Retsu seemed to be taking a leisurely stroll, wandering among the hideous and terrifying monsters. With a casual Hadō, she would blast away the ugly things attacking her.
At the same time, her free left hand was casting another Kidō completely unrelated to combat.
"Net of black and white!"
"Twenty-two bridges, sixty-six crowns and belts. Footprints, distant thunder, sharp peak, engulfing land, hidden in the night, sea of clouds, blue line. Form a circle and fly though the heavens!"
"Bakudō #77. Tenteikūra."
Majestic Reiatsu expanded, instantly radiating to the ends of the horizon, intruding directly into another's private domain.
"Senjumaru, have you detected the Reiatsu fluctuations at the Araki house?"
Inside her laboratory, Shutara Senjumaru raised an eyebrow, realizing something. "Oh? Are you at the scene?"
Unohana Retsu didn't waste words. She directly recounted the details of what she had found in the ruins, emphasizing the points she didn't understand.
"As everyone knows, Hollowfication is like a potent poison to Soul Reapers. It usually causes the Soul Reaper to lose their reason, completely degenerating into a Hollow and becoming a monster that acts on instinct."
"However, the modification technology found at the Araki house is an improvement based on this theory. It turns the Hollow's soul and body into a core, and finally injects this core into the Soul Reaper's body."
Hearing this, Shutara Senjumaru couldn't help but sigh with emotion. "Although this improvement still has many serious flaws, it is nonetheless a good line of thinking."
"Wait—"
From her close friend's tone, Unohana Retsu keenly sensed something amiss.
"You understand Hollowfication so clearly... you wouldn't happen to be researching this technology already, would you?"
"Ma, that is a secret, my dear Retsu." Shutara Senjumaru's lazy voice traveled along the Reiatsu connection. "Calculating the time, Silly Boy should have arrived by now."
"What?" Unohana was puzzled.
Before she could ask for specifics, the distorted monster, tens of meters tall, appeared to her rear right like a mountain. Its thick arms, proliferated with mass amounts of flesh and blood, were attached with hard white bone that was firmly embedded like a mask.
A huge shadow was cast down. Eyes all over its body stared dead at the figure on the ground as its arm smashed down like a meteorite.
Unohana Retsu lowered her gaze slightly, and a trace of imperceptible, cold killing intent appeared deep in her peaceful eyes.
However, just as she was preparing to draw her blade, a completely unfamiliar Reiatsu barged into the battlefield.
A loud noise, like the fury of thunder, descended abruptly.
Boom!
As the building fell apart, countless plumes of smoke rose up.
The distorted monster that ordinary Soul Reapers viewed with dread actually collapsed with a bang. Everyone looked in shock at the direction the smoke was swirling.
They saw a figure standing atop it, pulling a Zanpakutō out of the flesh and blood, bringing forth a spray of blood blossoms.
The young man stood on the mountain-like corpse, grinning at those below:
"Hello, Captain Unohana. I am Naraku Sora, the 9th Seat of Shino Prison. I specifically came to rob... help you."