Crunch—
The humanoid Hollow bit off Suzumiya Haruya's head in a single snap. Then, like a ravenous snake, it devoured the rest of his body in huge mouthfuls, swallowing everything clean in no time at all.
"Gurrrr…"
The humanoid Hollow let out a low growl and shifted its gaze toward Itō Makoto's corpse. Its figure blurred—and in the next instant, it was back at Makoto's side. Raising its right arm, it skewered the body and lifted it into the air.
"N–No… please…" Makoto had not yet fully died. With his breath barely hanging on, he begged weakly, bright red blood dripping steadily from his body.
"Gurrrr…"
Without hesitation, the humanoid Hollow bit off Itō Makoto's head as well, then chewed through his body piece by piece. After finishing, it let out a deep roar toward the night sky, glanced around its surroundings, and finally dashed off in the direction of the Uzuhara District…
Before long, the rain gradually stopped. The dim yellow full moon peeked halfway out from behind the clouds, casting clean, silvery moonlight over Naruki City.
Several low-level Hollows seemed to have caught the scent of blood drifting from the Etsuhide District. One after another, they arrived, stretching out their tongues to lick and gnaw at the two bloody severed heads.
At that moment, a figure flashed across the sky above Naruki City. After a few swift movements, it arrived in the Etsuhide District. Upon seeing the low-level Hollows fighting over the heads, the newcomer muttered darkly:
"Damn it… I'm too late!"
The bright moonlight illuminated the man's face clearly. Beneath his short black hair was a long, narrow face, and his dark eyes gleamed sharply in the moonlight.
He wore a pitch-black Shihakushō, with a pristine white captain's haori draped over it, emblazoned with a bold black "10" on the back. A Zanpakutō with a red hilt hung at his waist—
In all of Soul Society, only one man dressed this way:
Captain of the 10th Division of the Gotei 13, former head of a branch of one of the Five Great Noble Houses—
Shiba Isshin!
"ROAR—!"
The low-level Hollows licking the blood on the ground sensed the overwhelming spiritual pressure overhead. Excited, they howled toward the sky and rushed forward all at once.
"Hmph." Shiba Isshin snorted coldly. Drawing his Zanpakutō, he swung it forward—
A crimson blaze erupted, striking the mask of the foremost Hollow. It let out a shrill scream and instantly disintegrated into ash.
"ROAR—!"
The remaining Hollows, oblivious to the danger, charged at Isshin, raising their sharp claws and smashing them down—
"Midnight has come. Prepare to die!"
Fearless and imposing, Isshin held his Zanpakutō horizontally before his chest and launched himself upward. In a single breath, he appeared right in the midst of the Hollow swarm.
His blade moved—pivoting around his right wrist as spiritual flames surged forth. In an instant, the roaring inferno incinerated every Hollow around him to nothingness!
"..."
Isshin sheathed his Zanpakutō and surveyed the area, thinking grimly:
In just a few short days, two more Shinigami stationed in the Human World had been killed—and once again, there were no traces of the attacker left behind.
According to the casualty reports compiled by Hitsugaya Tōshirō, all of these massacres appeared to be the work of a single perpetrator…
And even more troubling—
That thing's attacks were becoming more and more frequent.
Isshin frowned and looked up at the full moon overhead, unease growing in his heart.
Just what the hell is that thing?
...
At the same time, in Naruki City's Uzuhara District—
Fūjin Taichi was hiding in an underground air-raid shelter beneath the streets of 2-chome, cautiously observing the situation above ground.
Only after the rain stopped and the full moon reappeared did Taichi carefully emerge from the shelter. He looked around warily, afraid of running into the legendary Hollow known as "White."
"White" was an Arrancar of Captain-level strength, created by Aizen using an incomplete Hōgyoku. It was forged by fusing a Shinigami's soul as a vessel with Quincy blood and Hollow power!
Given Taichi's current strength, encountering an Arrancar of that level meant almost certain death—
Even if he were lucky enough to escape using the spatial abilities of his Zanpakutō "Ichi(One)", he would inevitably be noticed by the ever-watchful Aizen…
And at that point—
It would truly be a case of certain death with no escape whatsoever.
"Thank you, Leader Chishima… I really did follow your warning—'Whenever the sky turns overcast and it starts to rain, hide in advance'—and that's why I managed to survive these ten years without incident…"
Fūjin Taichi offered his thanks silently from the bottom of his heart.
In truth, ten years earlier, when Taichi gradually realized that the Naruki City he was stationed in was actually Aizen's primary testing ground for White's combat capability, he had been completely dumbfounded on the spot.
What?! Naruki City? White?! Who the hell could fight that thing?!
He was nothing more than a Shinigami still training toward Bankai. He didn't have the ability to fight opponents far above his level—how could he possibly stand against White, a being with captain-class power or greater?
That monster was the prototype of the Ox-Head Hollow, one of Kurosaki Ichigo's innate "cheat abilities" in Bleach.
From Naruki City's Uzuhara 2-chome all the way to Karakura Town's Honchō, it slaughtered Shinigami nonstop. The number of Shinigami that died at its hands was no less than several hundred—if not over a thousand…
Even more terrifying was the fact that it devoured that many Shinigami souls in one go without batting an eye—let alone caring about concepts like exhaustion!
So from that day onward, Fūjin Taichi decisively chose the same survival strategy he had once used during his Soul Burial (Konso) internship years earlier:
Whenever the weather turned gloomy and rain was forecast, he would hide early in an underground air-raid shelter and refuse to come out until the sky cleared—
And that was one of the two main reasons why, over the past ten years, Shinigami stationed in Naruki City's Enbā and Etsuhide districts were wiped out batch after batch, while Fūjin Taichi alone survived!
The other reason lay in his short Zanpakutō, named "Ichi (One)".
"Ichi (One)" was the missing "one" of Zanpakutō · Kyūjūkyū (Ninety-nine). It possessed no release ability, but instead granted spatial traversal.
Ten years ago, when Taichi fought Grand Fisher, it was precisely the power of Zanpakutō "Ichi (One)" that allowed him to easily kill that "small fry," indirectly saving Kurosaki Masaki's life…
Back to the present—
After emerging from the air-raid shelter, Fūjin Taichi prepared to look for some food to fill his stomach.
As everyone knows, although Shinigami exist in a spiritual state, the presence of spiritual power within their bodies means they can still feel hunger and pain.
In Soul Society, Shinigami purchase food using kan, most of which comes from Rukongai:
Pluses grow crops like rice and wheat, then exchange them with Seireitei for kan in order to meet basic needs—buying homes, land, clothes, and so on.
In the Human World, however, Shinigami obtain food through various means: offerings at graveyards, wild fruits, or even packaged goods.
Because Shinigami are spiritual beings, they only need to absorb the spirit particles (Reishi) within food.
That's why humans in the living world often find their food spoiling after being left out—
In reality, it's because the food's spirit particles have been consumed by invisible "guests"…
However, once a Shinigami possesses a Gigai, they can eat food directly. The Gigai's digestive system absorbs the spirit particles and then excretes the remaining physical waste—complete with smell.
"Well then, thank you, Abe-san!" Leaning against the gravestone that read "Grave of Abe Kinzo," Fūjin Taichi stuffed his mouth with rice balls, while several apple cores lay scattered at his feet.
These rice balls and fruits were clearly offerings left by Abe Kinzo's living descendants—but every last one had been "borrowed" by Taichi.
Gurrrr…
Suddenly, a strange sound echoed through the quiet night.
Taichi lowered his head in surprise and looked at his stomach, muttering in confusion, "What? Still not full?"
But his slightly distended belly was completely silent—
Which meant that the "gurrrr" hadn't come from him.
That was odd.
The moon hung bright in the sparsely starred sky. Taichi was completely alone—there wasn't even a single Plus in sight…
So then—
Who was the one making that sound?