"Yas! Let's go!"
The Chicken-shaped Adjuchas' pupils constricted violently the moment he saw Reno. He immediately shouted at Yas.
To withstand two Ceros unscathed meant the Humanoid Hollow had already mastered Hierro. Unless they reached the peak of Adjuchas evolution, they couldn't harm Reno.
The Chicken-shaped Adjuchas instantly grasped this and made a decisive choice. This Humanoid Hollow, barely at the Adjuchas level, was beyond their ability to handle. Moreover, he couldn't fathom how Reno had acquired Hierro, a technique supposedly exclusive to peak-level Adjuchas.
"Heh heh! Trying to escape?"
Reno suddenly looked up, a playful glint in his eyes as he gazed at the Chicken-shaped Adjuchas before him. To be honest, Reno hadn't expected his body to be so resilient, able to withstand two Ceros without a scratch!
But this wasn't surprising. Reno's body had been forged in the mysterious Dark Red Lightning of Hell, transforming him into a Humanoid Hollow and successfully becoming an Arrancar. After years of daily exposure to the Dark Red Lightning, his skin had long since been tempered into Hierro. Upon Resurrección, Reno's Hierro would undoubtedly become even more formidable, especially when combined with the electrical energy surging through his body to enhance his defenses. With such enhancements, enduring two Ceros was child's play.
Whoosh! Reno vanished in a flash, instantly appearing behind the Chicken-shaped Adjuchas. His fist, crackling with Dark Red Lightning, slammed down with a sizzling sound.
"Thunder Fist!"
Though it was a crude and simple technique, Reno had given it a name nonetheless.
"Hmph!" The Chicken-shaped Adjuchas flapped its wings, narrowly dodging Reno's Thunder Fist. It then darted away at lightning speed in a specific direction.
"You're not the only one who can use Sonido!"
The Chicken-shaped Adjuchas snorted inwardly, continuing his escape without looking back. With his Sonido, he was just as fast as Reno, and if he focused solely on fleeing, Reno couldn't possibly stop him!
"Think you can run? Not so easy..."
Reno's punch struck empty air. Seeing the Chicken-shaped Adjuchas fleeing, he smirked coldly, then opened his mouth. A Cero began to condense before him!
Zzzzz~ The Cero, brimming with destructive energy, rapidly took shape. Dark red lightning crackled intermittently across its surface, weaving through the condensed energy.
As the Cero materialized, Reno channeled his own lightning into it. He knew that a standard Cero wouldn't be enough to defeat the Chicken-shaped Adjuchas, who was of a higher rank. Only by fusing his Dark Red Lightning with the Cero could he hope to overwhelm him!
And so, Reno's unique version of the Cero was born!
Pfft! In the next instant, Reno unleashed the Cero at the Chicken-shaped Adjuchas without hesitation. The Cero tore through the air, leaving ripples in space and a crackling trail of lightning in its wake. Its overwhelming power was undeniable!
"Damn it! What kind of Cero is that?!"
Sensing the intense danger behind him, the Chicken-shaped Adjuchas whirled around and immediately cursed.
"Squeak... squeak..."
The Chicken-shaped Adjuchas abruptly stopped, opened its beak, and swiftly condensed a Cero. It hadn't mastered Hierro; taking a direct hit from a Cero would leave it either dead or severely wounded. To counter the Cero, it had no choice but to use its own Cero to block it.
Boom! The collision was as violent as a meteor striking Earth. The two Ceros—one massive, the other smaller—crashed together with a deafening roar above the desert. The larger one, of course, belonged to the Chicken-shaped Adjuchas.
Pfft! Yet the result of the clash left both the Chicken-shaped Adjuchas and Yas, who was still frozen in shock behind Reno, utterly stunned. After the initial violent impact, Reno's Cero pierced straight through the Chicken-shaped Adjuchas's Cero, shattering it. With its power slightly diminished, the Cero slammed directly into the dumbfounded Chicken-shaped Adjuchas.
"Agh..."
The Chicken-shaped Adjuchas only had time to let out a desperate, resentful, and unwilling scream before Reno's Cero blasted its body into charred fragments that crashed to the ground, clearly beyond saving.
"Ah! Big Brother..."
Seeing the Chicken-shaped Adjuchas's gruesome fate, Yas let out a mournful cry and charged at Reno, his eyes bloodshot with rage.
Ever since evolving into an Adjuchas and appearing in the desert, Yas had been under the Chicken-shaped Adjuchas's care. With his simple mind, his first thought upon witnessing his brother's death was to avenge him, completely disregarding the fact that even the Chicken-shaped Adjuchas had been no match for Reno.
"Hmph~ So you're desperate now that you can't escape?" Reno sneered inwardly as he watched Yas charge, underestimating his opponent.
"Heh heh! Perfect timing to test my Zanpakuto's Shikai ability!" Reno chuckled softly, then dark red lightning erupted from his body. Moments later, he reverted to his Resurrección form and stepped forward, his Reiatsu drastically reduced to the level of a Gillian.
"Awaken, Thunder Prince!"
Having returned to his Arrancar form, Reno activated his Zanpakuto's Shikai for the first time. He slid his left hand down the blade, a blinding crimson light flashed, and the Zanpakuto instantly transformed into its Shikai state.
The Zanpakuto's blade stretched over a meter long, its back shaped like a lightning bolt in a zigzag pattern. A circular ring adorned the hilt, where one end of the Soul Chain Reno had obtained from the Dark Thunder Prison was coiled, the remaining chain draped across his right shoulder. The entire blade glowed with a deep crimson hue, strands of Dark Red Lightning occasionally flickering across its surface. The Zanpakuto exuded overwhelming power. When Reno gripped it, his presence became even more domineering and awe-inspiring.
"Heh heh! A combat-type Zanpakuto!"
Reno grinned as soon as he saw the Zanpakuto's Shikai form. He loved Zanpakuto like this—just like Ichigo's, perfect for hacking and slashing!
"Heh..."
His gaze turned sharp as he glared at Yas. With a low shout, Reno gripped the Thunder Prince with both hands and vanished in a flash, striking down at Yas from above.
Pfft! A spray of blood erupted as Reno's strike severed Yas's right hand, which he had raised to block the blow.
"Aaaah..."
Yas screamed in agony, stumbling backward to evade Reno's attack.
"Hmph! Let's see how many hands you have left!"
Seeing Yas still alive, Reno smirked cruelly. He vanished again, reappearing before Yas and slashing down with the Thunder Prince.
Splat! With Yas's anguished scream, his other arm was severed by Reno's Zanpakuto.
"Hmph~ Trash!"
Seeing both of Yas's arms severed, Reno cursed under his breath in dissatisfaction. Too weak. I didn't even get to test the Thunder Prince's full power!
Splat! The domineering Zanpakuto struck again, cleaving Yas's entire body in two. With a final scream, Yas's body dissolved into Reishi and vanished.
Reno, of course, absorbed the Reishi without hesitation. He still needed to evolve into an Adjuchas!
After devouring Yas, Reno proceeded to consume the Chicken-shaped Adjuchas as well.
"How could this be?" Reno murmured, frowning slightly after devouring three Adjuchas.
His anticipated breakthrough to Adjuchas status hadn't materialized. After consuming the three Adjuchas, Reno found his Reiatsu had only increased by a mere tenth. He realized he'd need to devour countless more Adjuchas to achieve the breakthrough.
Unbeknownst to Reno, the Reiatsu he had absorbed had been refined by the Dark Red Lightning coursing through his body. Though the quantity was small, its purity was unparalleled, enhancing both his offensive power and aiding his future evolution into a Great Hollow.
"Never mind! I'll just keep devouring other Adjuchas. Without breaking through, I can't infiltrate the Soul Society!" Reno sighed.
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