SLAM!
“Ichigo—!” The bedroom door was flung open as Rukia shouted, “We’ve got work!”
“Agh!” Ichigo, who had just lied down, climbed out of bed reluctantly.
“Every single day…
when does it end?!
How are there this many Hollows!”
To make mission execution easier, Rukia had moved directly into Ichigo’s home.
After explaining the situation to the two adults, the Kurosaki family had cleared out a spare room for her.
During the process, Isshin Kurosaki had voiced his protest, arguing that Ichigo already had Orihime and that another beautiful girl shouldn’t be allowed so close to him.
Naturally, he was shut down by a single veto from the head of the household.
“Who knows!
Just hurry up!
The Hollow is about to appear!”
As an orthodox Shinigami, Rukia possessed a communication device from the Soul Society.
Often, the Soul Society could detect a Hollow’s movements before it even reached the living world.
The intel would then be transmitted via the device to the Shinigami stationed in the World of the Living, allowing them to arrive at the destination in advance to minimize soul casualties.
“I’ve had it!” With a surge of Reiatsu, Ichigo shifted into his spiritual form, and the Shinigami Ichigo made his grand entrance.
“We should just split up into zones.
I’ll take one area, Chad takes one, Orihime takes one, and Uryū takes one.”
“Chad and Ishida would be fine, but if a stronger Hollow appears, Orihime would be in danger on her own!”
“Honestly…”
It had been two months since Rukia appeared and Ichigo began handling the Shinigami work for her.
At first, it was manageable, and the frequency of Hollow appearances was low.
As time passed, however, they appeared more often, and their strength continued to grow.
From the small fry they encountered at the start, to the slightly stronger ones last month, and then to the massive Hollows from last week that were strong enough to rival an ordinary Seated Officer, Rukia couldn’t help but wonder: would the next one to appear be the legendary Menos Grande?
Through these two months of companionship, the two had grown closer, and Rukia had come to understand the situation regarding Ichigo’s friends.
Mizuiro Kojima, Keigo Asano, and Tatsuki Arisawa were high-spiritual-power individuals; they could clearly see and touch souls, possessing immense potential.
Yasutora Sado and Orihime Inoue had awakened special powers on top of their high spiritual power.
The former had awakened his over a year ago; his ability involved the mutation of his arm, which drastically increased his strength and allowed him to fire shockwaves.
A preliminary assessment placed his strength at the level of a lower-seated officer or above.
As for Orihime Inoue, she had awakened her power three months ago.
She possessed an ability called Shun Shun Rikka, which combined offense and defense with the power to heal.
It was a truly versatile ability; unfortunately, the user herself lacked sufficient Reiatsu and possessed a non-combative nature.
She could handle an average Shinigami, but anything beyond that would be a struggle.
Uryū Ishida was a legendary Quincy.
He was the strongest of the three, having undergone training since childhood and mastering many Quincy techniques.
It was estimated that he likely possessed the strength of an upper-seated officer or even a Lieutenant.
“Hey—this is the spot, right?”
THOOM—
A massive black hole appeared, and a giant Hollow slowly stepped out from within.
“Another giant one…
wait…?”
THOOM—
Another soul-shaking sound echoed as a dozen more black holes opened simultaneously, with giant Hollows stepping out from each.
The most striking among them was a Hollow that emerged from the largest hole.
It had a pitch-black appearance like a curtain, a body as tall as a dozen stories, no arms, only legs, and a white, long-nosed mask.
“ROAAR—!!”
“Is that…
a Gillian?!” Rukia looked at the final black Menos Grande in disbelief.
“That’s a Menos Grande…
a normal Shinigami can’t handle that!”
“Menos Grande?” Ichigo noted that this fell into his blind spot of knowledge.
“What’s a Menos Grande?”
“That…
anyway, if you don’t have the strength of a Lieutenant, never fight one!” Rukia’s expression turned grave.
“Be careful, Ichigo!
This opponent is beyond imagination!
A Menos Grande shouldn’t be able to appear in the living world!”
“What do you mean, ‘Lieutenant strength’…?
You keep saying that, but I have no idea what a Lieutenant’s strength is actually like,” Ichigo couldn’t help but complain.
“But if a Lieutenant is all it takes to handle a Hollow with that kind of Reiatsu, it seems your Gotei 13 isn’t that strong after all.”
Through their time together, Ichigo had gained a rough understanding of the Gotei 13’s structure.
In terms of power hierarchy, the Captains were the first tier, and the so-called Lieutenants were the second.
“Don’t be careless!”
“Yeah, yeah!”
Grasping the long sword behind him with his right hand and holding the short sword at his waist in a reverse grip with his left, Ichigo’s words were dismissive, but his movements were exceptionally crisp.
“ROAAR—!!”
A dozen Hollows roared in unison, their collective voice terrifying.
As if receiving a command, the giant Hollows charged toward Ichigo simultaneously.
“Hiyah!” Both blades left their scabbards, and a faint smile played on the corner of Ichigo’s mouth.
“Quiet down, you small fry.”
The black long sword was raised high, and visible Reiatsu gathered at the tip of the blade.
As the sword swung, powerful Reiatsu unleashed from the tip, a golden light illuminating the night and swallowing the enemies.
“This…?!”
Rukia watched the scene before her in disbelief.
In the past, Ichigo had simply used the blade to slash, and while he always killed them in one hit, this was completely different.
She wondered if she was dreaming.
She thought she had been overestimating him, but now it seemed she had underestimated him.
This kind of power was only…
“Hmm—” Ichigo turned his gaze toward the black Menos Grande, the Gillian.
“Finally, it’s your turn.
I hope you can refresh my perspective on Hollows.”
“ROAAR—!!”
Sensing a crisis, the Gillian concentrated all its Reiatsu in front of its mask.
A vivid red light flashed, quickly condensing into a massive red energy sphere.
“A Cero?” Ichigo watched the scene as if reminiscing.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a Cero…
or rather, this is the first time I’ve seen a real one.”
“Take this seriously, Ichigo!” Seeing the utterly relaxed Ichigo, Rukia was exasperated.
“We’re in the middle of a battle!”
“Battle?”
He looked back.
The red Cero behind him had finished condensing.
A blinding red light erupted as a massive red beam, seemingly capable of destroying everything, surged from the Gillian’s mouth and flew straight toward Ichigo!
BOOM—
The Cero hit its target.
The scene that followed was destined to be engraved deep within Rukia’s memory; even after later witnessing the peak battles of the three worlds, the shock she felt then was more intense than at any other moment.
“You call this a battle?”
A bored voice rang out.
The short sword in his left hand had been returned to his waist at some unknown point.
The terrifying red beam arrived with overwhelming momentum, only to be effortlessly stopped by a single hand.
“This is just a one-sided…
slaughter?”
With a slight exert of force from his right hand, the terrifying Cero—which even a Lieutenant would not dare take head-on—was crushed by Ichigo as easily as if it were a red balloon.
“Hiyah, so a Menos Grande is only at this level.”
Golden light emerged once more at the tip of the blade.
Without even looking back, Ichigo swung the long sword down.
The massive golden slash was unstoppable; the Gillian was sliced clean in half, dissolving into particles of Reishi that vanished into the air.
“Let’s go back, Rukia.”
Ichigo Kurosaki, the greatest outlier of the living world and the absolute core of the World of the Living Squad.
Despite being human, he possessed the power of a Shinigami, and more impressively, he wielded dual Zanpakutō—a rarity even in the Soul Society.
His Reiatsu was unfathomable, and his estimated strength was Captain-level…
or higher!