At this moment, Rukia and her two companions were eating with great relish in a barbecue restaurant, chatting and laughing happily.
“By the way, Rukia, what have you been up to lately?
You suddenly became so strong.
Is there some secret?
If possible, can you teach Izuru and me?
We want to get stronger too.
Damn it, just now we were completely powerless to fight back.”
Renji recalled the frustration of being rubbed into the ground just now, and Rukia’s unfathomable strength that felt like a vast ocean; an ambition to become stronger rose within him.
He had originally thought he would have a chance to surpass Rukia after entering the Academy, but today reality had slapped him hard; the gap between their strengths was not just a little bit.
Kira also chimed in at this time: “Yeah, I don’t want to experience that feeling of powerlessness under someone else’s control again.”
“It’s a good thing you have the heart to become stronger, but have you thought about what you should do after you get stronger?
Find those guys from before to get even?” Rukia asked.
“Uh, this…” Renji and Kira were stumped by Rukia’s question; they hadn’t thought at all about what they actually wanted to do.
“To be honest, I really do want to get even.
I just can’t swallow this insult.
Aren’t they just relying on their strength to bully us?
Why should they?” Renji’s tone sounded a bit agitated.
If Rukia hadn’t been strong enough, who knows what would have happened today.
“Exactly, because they are strong enough, they can do whatever they want to you.
And because I am stronger, I can do whatever I want to them.
But everything must have a limit, and those Sixth-Year Students clearly crossed it.”
“Blindly flaunting your power will one day bring disaster upon yourself.
You must control your power, not let your power control you.”
“Plan before you act, and think twice.
Before deciding to do something, first think about what the consequences of your actions will be.
Do you understand?”
After she finished speaking, Renji and Kira lowered their heads in thought.
Just as Renji was about to say something, Rukia reached out to stop him.
At that moment, an extremely special Spiritual Pressure suddenly appeared in Rukia’s perception, completely different from that of a Shinigami.
‘The feeling of this Spiritual Pressure is so strange—chaotic and violent.
I’ve never felt it before.
Could it be a Hollow?’ While Rukia was still guessing, the Spiritual Pressure in her perception seemed to have found a target and moved rapidly toward her position.
“Renji, Kira, let’s leave here quickly.” At this point, Rukia didn’t care what the thing was; she grabbed Renji and the other and left the restaurant.
The three of them came outside the restaurant but found nothing, yet in her perception, the strange Spiritual Pressure was getting closer and closer.
“Rukia, what’s going on?” Renji was a bit confused; why did they have to run outside while they were eating so well?
“I sense a strange Spiritual Pressure moving in our direction.
That Spiritual Pressure gives off a very uncomfortable feeling.
I was afraid of an accident, so I pulled you guys out first.”
“But there’s nothing abnormal nearby.
Everything looks fine,” Kira said, looking around.
Rukia was also puzzled.
She clearly sensed that the Spiritual Pressure was nearby, yet she couldn’t find any abnormalities.
Could her perception be wrong?
Just as Rukia was wondering if something was wrong, the Spiritual Pressure in her perception suddenly stopped moving around and vanished.
However, Rukia did not lose her guard because of this; instead, she became twelve-fold more alert.
The sense of unease in her heart grew stronger, but still no abnormalities were found around her.
There was nothing in the sky, and everything on the ground was normal.
Could it be underground?
Sure enough, the tremors coming from the ground at that moment confirmed Rukia’s suspicion.
Without hesitation, she jumped back from her spot.
Immediately afterward, an unknown object burst out from underground, and the dust caused by the ground’s vibration made it impossible to observe closely.
Rukia gripped Sode no Shirayuki, her eyes fixed forward, not yet knowing what the thing in the smoke was.
Then, a slight breeze blew away the smoke on the ground, and the true face of the unknown Spiritual Pressure was finally revealed.
Jet-black all over, with strong and powerful limbs, sharp claws flashing with a cold light, a Hollow hole on the left chest, and a terrifying Spiritual Pressure.
Combined with the hideous bone mask on its face, it exerted immense pressure on people.
‘Is this…
a Gillian?
Has it already broken away from its lower form and begun to evolve toward an Adjuchas?’ Looking at the Hollow in front of her, Rukia inwardly groaned.
She hadn’t even seen a Hollow yet, and today a Gillian showed up directly.
Couldn’t it have been a gradual process?
Who starts by going up against a Menos Grande?
Roar!
The Hollow let out a great roar, releasing its Spiritual Pressure.
Most of the people around fell to the ground, unable to get up; only a few who were further away were unaffected.
The Hollow directly grabbed a Rukongai resident who was unable to move and swallowed them.
“Renji, go notify the Academy teachers and have them call for reinforcements.
Kira, go find nearby Shinigami and ask them to come help.
I’ll go stall it first.” Rukia could not let this Hollow continue devouring.
If it evolved again because it swallowed enough souls, she might not be able to stop it.
After speaking, she ignored Renji’s attempt to stop her and rushed forward.
“Damn it, it’s this situation again.
I can’t help with anything; I can only watch as others protect me!” Renji said with a face full of frustration.
“We’ll talk about that later.
The priority is to find the Shinigami of the Squads to help.
Rukia might not be able to hold that Hollow for long!” Kira interrupted Renji’s thoughts, repeated the importance of the matter, and sprinted toward the nearest Squad barracks.
Renji didn’t stay idle either.
After Kira’s reminder, he rushed toward the Spiritual Arts Academy.
He remembered that today there seemed to be Captain-level figures coming to the Academy to teach upperclassmen.
They shouldn’t have left yet; with their help, Rukia would definitely be fine!
Ashina Cross Cut!
Rukia used Shunpo to rush forward, using an Ashina Style secret technique mid-way to sever one of the Hollow’s arms, rescuing the Rukongai soul and placing them in a nearby house.
“Big guy, your opponent is me.
I won’t let you do as you please anymore.
Second Dance—Hakuren!” The massive torrent of ice and snow formed by Hakuren froze the Hollow into a block of ice.
But the Hollow broke out of the ice in a very short time, and even its severed arm grew back.
The Hollow roared loudly; it was clearly completely enraged by Rukia now.
Its attention was entirely focused on Rukia; now it only wanted to swallow the little speck in front of it.
“Yo, original body, any orders?” Rukia used an Ice Clone at this time.
Since this Ice Clone could only produce one copy and its strength was only half of the original’s, it seemed a bit lackluster, but at this moment, it was extremely useful.
“I’ll keep it busy.
You go rescue the people around here!”