"Whooo—"
A cool night wind swept through, completely blowing away the dark clouds overhead. Instantly, pure moonlight poured down like flowing water over the silent Yasutama Cemetery.
"Gurgle—"
The moment that strange sound rang out again, Fūjin Taichi suddenly realized something. His body dropped low as he sprang forward more than ten meters in one fluid motion!
BOOM!
At the exact instant Taichi left his original position, a jet-black blade descended with the force of wind and thunder, cleaving the tombstone of Abe Kinzo into shattered fragments!
"White…?!" Under the clear moonlight, Taichi saw the horned, humanoid Hollow perfectly. It was none other than the Arrancar modified by Aizen: White!!
"Gurgle—"
White let out a low growl and straightened slightly, its pale yellow Hollow eyes locking firmly onto Taichi. Then it raised both blade-like arms high into the air—
"Face the Wind! Hasa—"
Knowing White possessed strength rivaling that of a captain-class Shinigami, Taichi didn't dare underestimate it and immediately began releasing his Zanpakutō—
Whoosh!
Before Taichi could even finish his Shikai release, White's figure vanished abruptly. When it reappeared, it was already right in front of him!
A pitch-black blade slashed straight toward Taichi's head—
"So fast!"
Taichi's heart tightened. He instantly raised Zanpakutō · Kyūjūkyū (Ninety-Nine) to block.
The black blade crashed heavily against his sword with a thunderous impact!
CLANG!
Black spiritual power collided violently with blue spiritual power midair, producing a deafening sonic boom. Shockwaves visible to the naked eye exploded outward, shattering surrounding tombstones and trees one after another—
Whoosh.
Taichi was blasted backward by White's overwhelming force, skidding dozens of meters before finally stabilizing himself. Without even fully catching his breath, he released his Zanpakutō:
"Face the Wind—Kyūjūkyū!!"
A streak of green light flashed across the blade of Zanpakutō · Kyūjūkyū. At the same time, Taichi's black pupils turned grass-green, and an immense surge of spiritual pressure erupted from his entire body!
Whoosh—
As the dust settled, White's tall, slender figure once again stood beneath the moonlight. Behind its pitch-black body, golden hair whipped wildly in the turbulent air currents.
"Gurgle, gurgle—"
Strange sounds echoed beneath its white bull-horned mask, as though it had developed an intense interest in its prey.
"You fight like a Shinigami… yet wear a Hollow mask—what exactly are you?!" Taichi shouted, his left hand gripping the short blade Ichi and his right holding Kyūjūkyū.
Although he already knew White's origins, he deliberately asked anyway—clearly directing those words toward the man lurking behind it.
"Gurgle—"
White completely ignored Taichi's question. Its body paused for an instant, then launched another attack—
But this time, with Taichi having released his Zanpakutō's power, his strength had instantly increased fivefold. The spiritual pressure erupting from his body now faintly rivaled that of a captain-class Shinigami!
Thus, when White repeated its earlier move and swung its black blade toward Taichi's head once more, Taichi vanished the instant the blade descended—
Using Shunpo, he appeared behind White and slashed forward in one smooth motion:
"Gale Slash!"
WHOOSH!
A cold flash streaked across the moonlit sky. Five thousand razor-sharp gales condensed into green wind blades, forming a towering tornado that instantly engulfed White!
Zzzzzz—
The violent wind blades continuously carved countless tiny wounds into White's body. Dark green blood slowly seeped from its steel-like skin—
As expected of an Arrancar... that skin is incredibly tough, Taichi thought. He knew high-level Menos possessed a hardened skin called Hierro, which at its peak could deflect a Captain's Zanpakutō.
Evidently, under Aizen's modifications, White already possessed Hierro. Even Taichi's signature "Gale Slash" could barely draw blood.
"Gurgle—"
Relying on the steel-like hide that was hundreds of times tougher than an ordinary Hollow's shell, White forcibly endured the storm of wind blades.
Then it let out a low roar and—whoosh!—lunged straight in front of Fūjin Taichi, bringing its two pitch-black blades down in a crushing overhead strike!
"Hasagi!!"
Without the slightest hesitation, Taichi swung his Zanpakutō. A ten-meter-tall white wall of wind instantly formed before him, blocking White's attack—
Slash!
Clearly unaware that Taichi's Hasagi could ignore all physical and spiritual attacks, White was caught completely off guard. The white wind wall severed half of its left "bull horn" in one clean cut.
That half of the horn flew several meters through the air before embedding itself into a shattered tombstone with a crisp clack.
"GURGLL!!"
White was now completely enraged. It leapt into the air, tilting its head back in a silent roar. A dark-crimson ring of light began to condense between its horns. It was a Cero, a technique typically reserved for Gillian-class Menos and above.
"Hmph, have you run out of tricks already? You actually think you can deal with me using a Cero?!"
Taichi couldn't help but sneer as he gripped Zanpakutō · Kyūjūkyū, preparing to unleash his ultimate technique once more—Hasagi!
Strictly speaking, Hasagi is simply the Japanese word for "blade edge" and originally carried no special meaning—
But after Taichi released his Zanpakutō's true power, he combined the wind-manipulation ability of Zanpakutō · Kyūjūkyū with the spatial ability of Zanpakutō · Ichi, developing this ultimate move:
A wind barrier with absolute defense, capable of ignoring all physical and spiritual attacks—one he affectionately named Hasagi!!
"Zzzzz—"
White's dark crimson Cero continued to condense. Perhaps because half of its horn was missing, the charging time was noticeably longer than normal!
Even so, Taichi didn't dare relax for even a second, his eyes locked tightly onto White's movements.
Then he stepped forward with his left foot, right foot braced behind, his body slightly crouched. His left hand pressed against Zanpakutō · Ichi (One), while his right hand gripped Zanpakutō · Kyūjūkyū—
He was fully poised to strike.
Shk—
At that critical moment, a faint tearing sound cut through the air.
A blade radiating dazzling silver light suddenly arrived from nowhere, piercing diagonally straight through Taichi's chest—
SPLURT!
A spray of crimson blood burst forth like a blooming flower, splashing across Taichi's front before dripping down and soaking the soil beneath his feet…
"Wh-What?!" Taichi stared in disbelief at the silver blade that had pierced his chest, his black eyes wide open.
Gin…?
But… why…?
Whoosh—
The silver blade vanished—just as if it had never existed. No trace of another spiritual pressure could be sensed anywhere nearby—
As though that Shinso strike had appeared out of thin air, leaving nothing but confusion behind…
"Masaka..." (It can't be...)
Taichi muttered those words under his breath, searing pain surging from his chest, pushing him to the brink of unconsciousness.
Yet, for some reason, Taichi suddenly felt like laughing—
Perhaps because when he used to watch Bleach or Naruto, whenever villains got instantly crushed by the protagonist, the words they always screamed were "What (Nani)?!" and—this exact phrase—"It can't be (Masaka)…"
"Masaka... is this the end?"
With great effort, Taichi raised a hand to clutch his profusely bleeding wound, then slowly lifted his head—
Only to see that White had already completed charging its dark crimson Cero, now gazing down at him coldly from midair…