"Damn it… 9th Seat Adomaru's advance scouting unit, along with Patrol Squads Three, Seven, Nine, Eleven, and Fifteen… not a single survivor!!"
Yakumo Ryūju identified the corpses scattered across the ground one by one—some belonged to the reconnaissance team, others to patrol units. Every single one of them had died a gruesome death, limbs and torsos torn apart and strewn throughout a river of dark crimson blood…
"How… how could this happen…?"
Nanami Heizō was already utterly shaken by the hellish scene before him. His face had gone pale, his legs weak; every step looked like he might collapse at any moment.
"..."
Fūjin Taichi frowned deeply, scanning the deathly silent surroundings.
"Something's wrong. There's absolutely no Hollow presence nearby… but that's impossible!"
"What is it, Taichi?"
Hearing his tone, Kuchiki Rukia turned toward him. Seeing the grave look on his face, a thought struck her.
"Could it be… like six years ago… a massive Hollow that can conceal its spiritual pressure?!"
"Everyone, enter combat readiness—now, immediately!!"
Taichi faintly realized that a powerful Hollow was very likely lurking nearby—and one almost certainly created by Aizen. This was no situation where they could afford even a moment of carelessness.
"Bastard, who do you think you are?! Since when do you get to issue orders here—"
Nanami Heizō felt anger surge within him, momentarily causing him to overlook the immediate danger.
"Heizō!"
Yakumo Ryūju slowly drew his Zanpakutō, his face dark as storm clouds.
"Do exactly as he says!!"
"Ryūju? You—"
Nanami Heizō never imagined that a companion he'd worked alongside for decades would side with some wet-behind-the-ears brat. His resentment boiled over.
"Idiot!! Can't you see the situation clearly even now?!"
Yakumo Ryūju snapped furiously.
"Tch!"
Seeing Ryūju truly enraged, Nanami Heizō could only suppress his anger. Drawing his Zanpakutō, he shouted into the surroundings:
"Hey! 18th Seat Nanami Heizō is here! Why don't you monsters show yourselves?!"
"Moron…"
Yakumo Ryūju cursed under his breath. Just as he was about to stop Heizō's reckless behavior, a faint voice suddenly came from nearby:
"Run… run… hurry…"
"There's a survivor! Everyone, help him—now!"
Yakumo Ryūju rushed over. Behind a low, collapsed wall lay a Shinigami with only half his body remaining, one arm stretched out as he weakly called to them.
"It's Adomaru from the advance scouting team!"
Nanami Heizō cried out in surprise.
"Stay alert!"
Yakumo Ryūju sheathed his blade and hurried to Adomaru's side.
"Are you alright, Adomaru?!"
"Run… run… hurry… leave…"
Adomaru had been torn in half at the waist by a Hollow, only his upper body propped against the broken wall—his life clearly on the brink of extinction.
Yet despite his grievous wounds, he ignored his own condition, repeating those same few words over and over. Blood poured from the corners of his mouth, staining his tattered Shinigami robes red…
"Don't worry, Adomaru! I'm here to save you—"
Before Yakumo Ryūju could finish the word save, Adomaru's blade pierced straight through his chest.
Splurt!
Streams of dark-red blood sprayed outward, bursting into a foul-smelling rain of gore in midair—
"D–damn it… y–you're not…"
Yakumo Ryūju stared at "Adomaru," terror and confusion written across his face.
"What? I'm not—Adomaru?"
The figure suddenly split into a twisted grin.
"Kekekekekeke…"
He extended a long tongue and licked Yakumo Ryūju's blood, speaking in a chilling tone:
"Because… I am the real you—"
Whoosh!
A blood-red figure lunged straight onto Yakumo Ryūju's face. In the next instant, the "Adomaru" body collapsed like a deflated balloon—while Yakumo Ryūju's body suddenly went rigid and motionless.
"Ryūju!!"
Seeing this, Nanami Heizō hastily sheathed his blade and charged forward.
Taichi quickly reached out and stopped him.
"Heizō—don't act recklessly!"
"Get out of my way!!"
Nanami Heizō roared.
"Heizō-sama, it's dangerous! Don't go over there!"
Kurumadani Zennosuke urgently tried to stop him as well.
"Move!"
With a sharp clang, Nanami Heizō drew his Zanpakutō, forcing Kurumadani back, then rushed forward. Seeing Yakumo Ryūju's back turned to him, he reached out—
Only to grab hold of a crimson tentacle.
"Kekekeke… were you looking for me, Shinigami—?"
Yakumo Ryūju turned around.
His eye sockets were sunken deep, and his pupils had transformed into yellow Hollow eyes!!
"W–what?! What are you?!"
Nanami Heizō recoiled in shock, leaping backward as he raised his Zanpakutō and began chanting in a low voice:
"Above heaven and below earth, omnipotent and supreme—
Crush everything in this world… Chidori—"
But before he could finish his Shikai release command, the Zanpakutō in his hand—previously crackling with blue lightning—vanished without a trace.
"Kekekeke… any Shinigami whose Zanpakutō touches my tentacles will have their blade disappear!"
Yakumo Ryūju let out a sinister laugh. His figure halted midair as he surged forward, raising his right arm and slashing straight at Nanami Heizō!
"SPLASH!!"
Nanami Heizō's right arm was severed at the shoulder. Blood gushed forth in an instant, bursting into a vivid crimson spray that bloomed in the air like a scarlet flower—
"Aaaargh—!!"
Nanami Heizō crashed to the ground, clutching the bloody stump with his left hand and screaming in agony.
"My apologies—this body isn't very agile yet… I'd just possessed it,"
Yakumo Ryūju said with a chilling grin.
"Originally, I meant to cut off your head… kekekeke…"
"Damn it! Taichi, protect Miss Kuchiki and get away!"
Kurumadani Zennosuke drew his asauchi and positioned himself in front of Kuchiki Rukia and Fūjin Taichi, shouting at the top of his lungs.
"Oh? You want to run? Kekekeke… that won't be happening—"
Yakumo Ryūju snarled. In a flash, he descended from the air, raising his Zanpakutō and slashing viciously at Kurumadani Zennosuke—
"So fast!!"
Kurumadani's eyes sharpened. He hurriedly lifted his asauchi across his chest.
"BANG!"
His entire body was sent flying. With a heavy crash, he slammed into a cluster of collapsed buildings, disappearing into the rubble—
"Kekekeke… next is—YOU!!"
Yakumo Ryūju's pale-yellow eyes locked onto Kuchiki Rukia as he licked his lips.
"You look far more delicious than the rest—"
In an instant, his figure vanished and charged straight toward her!
"Damn it—Ye lord! Mask of flesh and bone, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man—!"
Rukia raised her right palm high, aiming it at the onrushing Yakumo Ryūju as she hurriedly began chanting Kidō.
"ROAAAR—!"
Yakumo Ryūju suddenly let out a Hollow's roar. With a violent rip, countless blood-red tentacles burst forth from his back, lunging toward Rukia like venomous serpents striking—
Facing the incoming tentacles, Rukia's chanting did not falter—instead, her voice grew firm, until the final lines were nearly roared out:
"—and Truth! Pale fire and inequity, the sea of symbols in rebellion, march forth to the south!"
"Hadō #31: Shakkahō!!"
At that very moment, Fūjin Taichi had already appeared behind Rukia, his chin gently resting atop her black hair—
His left arm naturally wrapped around her waist, while his right arm slipped beneath hers, his palm pressing firmly against hers. Abandoning the incantation entirely, he shouted the spell softly.
BOOM—!!
A massive crimson fireball blasted forth, instantly incinerating the sky-filling tentacles into ash. A heartbeat later, Yakumo Ryūju's body itself disintegrated into the air—
"N–No… impossible! Just a mere Hadō #31…
How could it possess such terrifying power…?"
Nanami Heizō stared in shock as the Hollow-corrupted "Yakumo Ryūju" was annihilated. After muttering those words, he couldn't help but turn back—
There, amid the raging winds, stood Kuchiki Rukia alone—
A strange expression on her face, somewhere between astonishment and joy…
PS: Read Advance Chapters at https://www.patreon.com/c/ReadJin