However, before Toshiro could properly admire the scenery of the Forest of Menos, he was surrounded by countless Hollows.
"Roar! Roar! Roar!"
Enormous roars came from all directions. The originally dim space lit up with terrifying blue and red glows. Toshiro glanced at the Hollows surrounding him and couldn't help but frown.
"There are way too many of these Hollows! And I guess it's worthy of being called the Forest of Menos, with so many Menos Grande," Toshiro said, feeling a headache coming on.
The number of Hollows surrounding Toshiro was simply staggering, densely packed in layer after layer, the lines stretching who knows how far.
Moreover, the weakest among them were large Hollows. The most numerous were actually Gillian! As for the weakest ordinary Hollows, he didn't see a single one.
"Roar!"
With a roar, countless Hollows began pouncing towards Toshiro.
"Hmph, you think you can attack me?" Toshiro sneered disdainfully at the Hollows lunging at him.
Boom!
A powerful surge of Reiatsu erupted from Toshiro, pressing down on the Hollows from all directions.
Under the pressure of Toshiro's Reiatsu, the Hollows below the level of Menos Grande Gillian collapsed one after another, completely losing their combat ability. Some, unable to withstand Toshiro's Reiatsu, died on the spot.
Even the Gillian-class Menos Grande were greatly affected, their speed slowing, their already sluggish movements becoming even more sluggish.
Forest of Menos, a shadowy place where a considerable number of Adjuchas gathered.
In the darkness, the exact forms of these Adjuchas couldn't be discerned, but menacing, fierce shadows of Hollows flickered across the ground.
Just as Toshiro unleashed his Reiatsu, these Adjuchas's movements paused.
Although Toshiro's location was far away, his powerful Reiatsu could be sensed even from a great distance.
"Ahahaha... Interesting. Seems someone has intruded into the Forest of Menos."
"Judging by this Reiatsu... seems like a Shinigami."
"However, such powerful Reiatsu. This Shinigami's strength isn't weak either."
"Hmph, so what if he's strong? He'll definitely die here anyway."
"True. This Shinigami is really ignorant, daring to recklessly release his Reiatsu in the Forest of Menos. No matter how strong, he's only destined to die."
Voices echoed in the darkness, discussing the intruder Toshiro.
Since recklessly releasing Reiatsu and fighting in the Forest of Menos would attract endless Hollow attacks, in these Adjuchas's view, Toshiro was certainly doomed. They didn't even need to intervene, and Toshiro would die under the assault of countless Hollows.
After all, no matter how strong Toshiro was, under the endless siege of Hollows, he would eventually exhaust his power and be killed by Hollows.
Toshiro wasn't unaware of this, yet he still chose to unleash his Reiatsu and fight without restraint.
The reason Toshiro did this was actually to attract Ashido to reveal himself.
After all, the Forest of Menos was so vast. Even knowing the general direction, finding one person in a short time was nearly impossible.
So, Toshiro chose to fight while recklessly releasing his Reiatsu.
As for attracting endless Hollows by releasing Reiatsu, Toshiro wasn't concerned.
Toshiro believed that with his strength, as long as he didn't exhaust all his power to the point of being unable to move, the Hollows of the Forest of Menos couldn't harm him.
And dealing with some large Hollows and Gillian, Toshiro could fight continuously for days and nights without running out of power.
…
In a cave in the Forest of Menos.
When Toshiro recklessly unleashed his Reiatsu in battle, a person wearing a Hollow mask, dressed in a Shihakusho, cloaked in a cape with a skull, and carrying a Zanpakuto at his waist suddenly sat up.
"This Reiatsu! It's a Shinigami!"
Then, this person hurriedly ran towards the direction from which the Reiatsu came.
Switching focus back to Toshiro.
Although under the pressure of Toshiro's Reiatsu, the Hollows below Menos Grande suffered heavy casualties, and the survivors lost their combat ability, posing no threat, the numerous Gillian, while affected, could still fight.
"Roar!"
Several Gillian extended their massive claws simultaneously to strike Toshiro. Though their movements were slow, attacking from all directions left Toshiro no room to dodge.
"Tch!"
Given Toshiro's current strength and powerful physique, even standing still and letting these Gillian attack wouldn't harm him. But Toshiro didn't have the habit of standing still to be attacked.
His Zanpakuto was drawn in an instant.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
A series of sword flashes, too fast for the eye to follow, passed by. The Gillian attacking Toshiro from all directions suddenly paused, then their bodies were cleanly sliced in two, dead beyond dead.
"Oh? Shinigami, seems your strength isn't bad," A voice suddenly came from behind the Gillian in front of Toshiro.
Toshiro looked up. Not far ahead, a group of Gillian actively split into two lines, clearing a middle path. Then, an Adjuchas with strength around Lieutenant-level walked out.
"An Adjuchas," Toshiro said.
Being able to speak, possessing human-like intelligence… aside from some special Hollows, only Adjuchas and above has such characteristic.
This Adjuchas had been hiding behind the Gillian earlier, its Reiatsu mixed with theirs. Toshiro hadn't sensed carefully earlier and momentarily failed to detect it.
"Daring to appear before me, you've got quite some nerve," Toshiro said, looking at this Adjuchas.
"Damn Shinigami, you're really arrogant!" The Adjuchas said angrily.
"Kill this Shinigami!"
The Adjuchas waved a hand, and then hundreds of Gillian began firing Cero.
Hundreds of red Reiatsu glows flickered, momentarily lighting up the surroundings as bright as day.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Streaks of red Cero beams shot towards Toshiro.
Shunkuho!
Toshiro didn't choose to block them head-on. Instead, he directly used Shunkuho to evade the Gillian's Cero barrage.
Although deflecting these Cero wouldn't be difficult for Toshiro, when facing so many Hollows, it was best to conserve Reiatsu where possible.
Bang!
The spot where Toshiro had been standing was directly blasted into a bottomless crater.