Five minutes earlier.
In the thickets of the dark forest, Takashi, Kūkaku, Ichigo, Hachihara, and Rindō, the five of them, suppressed their spiritual pressure as much as possible, eliminating their presence.
“They’re here!”
Seeing Ōmaeda and the Hollow chasing each other to this spot, everyone’s spirits lifted.
“You guessed right again.”
Kūkaku muttered softly.
“Thanks to Rindō for providing the vision.”
Takashi did not take all the credit.
Indeed, although he had deduced that Ōmaeda would not abandon his subordinates to escape alone, but would instead try to lure the opponent away, then consider how to escape or even counter-kill.
However, ambushing them along their inevitable path was not a simple matter.
Thanks to Rindō’s ability to communicate with animals, using the countless small animals in the wilds of Rukongai as ears and eyes to transmit information and constantly monitor the movements of Ōmaeda and the Hollow, they were able to make a certain degree of pre-judgment.
“That’s true, but you also guessed that Ōmaeda would change his route here, right?”
Kūkaku’s tone was quite certain.
Takashi replied with a seemingly disjointed sentence.
“Any further and we’ll leave Junrin’an territory. It’s too far, not safe.”
“What does that mean?”
Ichigo didn’t quite understand.
“It means that guy is a coward. He doesn’t want to get entangled with the enemy for too long; he just wants to quickly lead the enemy to reinforcements. So, seeing that he’s about to leave Junrin’an, he’ll definitely be tempted to change his route.”
Hachihara covered her mouth, chuckling.
“I get it now.”
Ichigo suddenly understood.
“Prepare to act.”
Takashi’s words made everyone’s expressions serious.
“I’ll make the first move later, looking for an opportunity to ambush. Even if I can’t kill the opponent, I should be able to save Ōmaeda.”
“Hachihara, pay attention to coordinating with me. Take Ōmaeda away and don’t give the opponent a chance to take hostages.”
“Rindō, find a way to restrain the target, assist me in retreating, and then you and I will attract the opponent’s attention, creating an opportunity for Miss Kūkaku to strive for a decisive kill.”
“To be safe, if Miss Kūkaku attacks from this side, then Ichigo should go further ahead to block the opponent’s escape route. At that time, no matter the opponent’s condition, if you see him, deliver the finishing blow. Understood?”
Ambush, assassination, finishing blow.
The triple offense was a chain of interlocking steps, not high in difficulty, but very practical.
Kūkaku opened her mouth, but in the end, she only managed to blurt out one sentence: “Didn’t we agree that I would be in command?”
“If Miss Kūkaku has a better strategy, feel free to share it, but I suggest you explain it clearly within a hundred words. We have plenty of time, but Ōmaeda’s time is running out.”
Takashi’s tone was flat.
As luck would have it, Ōmaeda, within everyone’s sight, was being held by the arm by the Menos Grande, appearing to be half a captive already, the situation quite dire.
“Alright, we’ll do as you say, but how will you ambush the opponent?”
Kūkaku questioned suspiciously.
“I admit you all are very perceptive. Even with last-minute cramming, you can apply some of the experience I taught you about eliminating presence and suppressing spiritual pressure.”
“But ambushing a seemingly formidable Adjuchas from behind, I estimate only the Commander-in-Chief of the Onmitsukidō could accomplish that. I can’t help you with that.”
“I have my own methods for that. Everyone, let’s move quickly.”
“What? What method?”
As Kūkaku and Ichigo’s thoughts emerged, they witnessed Takashi disappear from his original spot.
His figure faded, and rather than blending into the night, it was more like he merged with space.
There was no trace of his aura or spiritual pressure, as if he had evaporated into thin air.
“?!”
Everyone was stunned and speechless, exchanging bewildered glances.
Even Rindō, a man as calm as a monk, couldn’t help but widen his eyes.
…
Time returned to the present.
Kūkaku used Shunpo to land in the center of the battlefield, standing shoulder to shoulder with Takashi, who held a blood-dripping long blade.
“Excellent work! Was that move your Zanpakutō’s ability? But I don’t recall hearing you call out a release command. You couldn’t have already learned Bankai, could you?”
“You think too highly of me.”
Takashi felt that Kūkaku had developed an overly high expectation of him.
“That was just a small trick.”
“Is that so?”
Kūkaku didn’t press further, reining in her curiosity.
After all, techniques are very private matters.
Many Shinigami who work together for decades might not even know each other’s Zanpakutō abilities.
The move just now wasn’t a Zanpakutō ability, which only highlighted its extraordinary nature even more.
No incantation, no medium, no preparation needed to conceal one’s form, then moving freely without a hint of detection…
If this were a teachable technique…
Not only would the Onmitsukidō be envious, but others would also be interested.
Her curiosity fully confirmed this point.
Takashi appreciated Kūkaku’s discretion.
That technique was indeed not something he could casually show off at this stage without caring about others’ opinions.
Invisible Scale.
A high-level magic of the Fairy Tale Dragon, which could also be called Kidō.
But essentially, like a Hollow’s Cero, an Arrancar’s Hierro, and a Shinigami’s Hadō and Bakudō, it was the same type of racial ability.
It allowed him to make his form transparent and disappear, then silently shift his position without being noticed.
He would only surface when launching an attack.
…Of course, the undetectable aspect was not absolute.
Just as an Arrancar’s Hierro was almost impenetrable, it could still be torn by stronger swords.
If it were an Arrancar with extremely excellent detection senses, there would be a certain chance of seeing through Takashi’s invisible state.
However, Ques Cucabarra was clearly not among them.
Takashi had only recently thoroughly mastered the Kidō fundamentals taught by Aizen, allowing him to unearth the power of the Fairy Tale Dragon’s blood from deep within his soul.
That is Invisible Scale.
As the time was short, he hadn’t mastered it very skillfully yet.
Even so, it was enough to fool Ques’s perception, allowing him to get behind him and savagely stab him in the heart, laying the foundation for the subsequent decisive blow.
Not far away, Ichigo let out a heavy breath, looking at the bisected Menos Grande corpse.
At least nothing went wrong.
“This counts as revenge for those two.”
“Are you talking about those two stubborn brats?”
The sudden question not only froze Ichigo’s expression but also made Hachihara, Ōmaeda, Takashi, Kūkaku, who had run back from the forest, and Rindō, who had just walked up to them, simultaneously feel a strange spiritual pressure continuously rising, almost as if…
the dead were gradually resurrecting!
All eyes were instantly drawn to the source of the spiritual pressure.
Ques’s body, cut into two halves, rapidly regenerated flesh and blood, completing the remaining parts of his body, accompanied by a crimson spiritual pressure.
“What?!”
Ichigo’s pupils contracted, greatly shocked.
But he didn’t lose his composure.
He quickly noticed the difference.
“Your head…”
“Thanks to you all, one is missing.”
Two identical Ques spoke at the same time.
Compared to his previous body with three heads, they now each had one head per body.
It looked normal, but this was the most abnormal thing.
Moreover, their injuries were all healed…
And Ques made no secret of it.
To vent the fear of almost being killed, and wanting to see fear on his enemies’ faces, he deliberately looked around, mockingly saying, “Truly remarkable. None of you are stronger than me, yet together you stole one of my lives.”
“I’ll break your necks, pry open your brains, and see how many more little tricks like that you have!”
With that, he attacked the nearest Ichigo.
Though Ichigo reacted quickly, raising his Zanpakutō to block, he couldn’t withstand the combined assault of the two Ques.
He was sent flying with a single blow.
“Ichigo!?”
Kūkaku tried to rush to his aid, but one of the Ques turned and blocked her, while the other continued to pursue.
It was clear that Ques resented Ichigo, who delivered the final blow, more than Takashi, who struck the first.
Let’s call the Ques who stopped Kūkaku Number Two, and the one pursuing Ichigo Number Three.
Suddenly, a Shakkahō shot forth.
Number Two raised his arm to block, avoiding a direct hit to his face.
Seizing this opportunity, Kūkaku quickly bypassed him and rushed to support Ichigo.
“Damn it!”
Number Two, upon realizing this, was about to stop her when a sudden chill struck his heart.
With a ripping sound, a shallow sword wound appeared on his back.
Takashi, the instigator, retreated to create distance, giving him no chance to counterattack.
“So that’s it. Although the technique still works, your defense is much stronger than before after raising your spiritual pressure. I thought I could sever your spine… assuming you even have a spine.”
Takashi stood with his blade, the firelight coloring half his face, the other half hidden in shadow, seemingly contradictory yet highly unified, for his blade-like sharp face was so awe-inspiring.
Even the warm words he spoke were filled with soul-burning aggression.
“Takashi!”
Rindō and Hachihara appeared by his side immediately.
Although Ōmaeda seemed a bit reluctant, he also came.
“You guys go to Ichigo.”
Without a Zanpakutō and with a severed arm, the fireworks master, who had long since retreated to the sidelines, would find it extremely difficult to defeat a formidable intermediate Menos Grande head-on.
Therefore, assistance was needed, a consensus reached from the beginning.
Now, with the grotesque Ōmaeda assisting, plus an Ichigo who could burst with power at any moment.
Hachihara and Rindō were not dead weight.
As long as Kūkaku utilized this lineup well, she wouldn’t need to worry too much.
As for his side…
Hachihara also considered this point immediately.
“What about you?”
“I’ll finish before you guys.”
“…Alright!”
“Hey! Is it really okay to leave that kid alone?!”
Ōmaeda ran behind the two, unable to resist looking back at the two confronting sides.
“If Takashi says he can handle it, then he can handle it.”
At this point, there was no time for arguments.
Coupled with Takashi’s accurate judgments throughout, Hachihara decided to continue trusting him.
Rindō felt the same.
“Huh?”
That was an Adjuchas.
The Spirit Arts Academy textbooks clearly stated that they were best dealt with by Royal Guard operatives.
Although it wasn’t actually that exaggerated, there was a reason for it to be written that way.
Its strength was undeniable.
It was definitely not an opponent that mere Spirit Arts Academy students were qualified to challenge.
Let alone defeat!
Ōmaeda was about to question it, but then he remembered that they had killed one of the opponents’ lives right off the bat.
Moreover, the surging spiritual pressure clashes behind him clearly far exceeded the scope of a Spirit Arts Academy student, making even him feel a bit terrified, so he wisely shut his mouth.