Chapter 343: Hueco Mundo Forces Descend!
Rukongai, South District 1.
On the peaceful street, a black crack had unknowingly begun to spread and split open.
"Groan... moan..."
Eerie sounds emerged from the dark fissure.
Souls showed astonished expressions, collectively turning to look.
They saw a large head covered in a white mask slowly emerging from the crack.
A massive blue hand extended out alongside the head.
The hand violently tore at the edges of the black fissure, causing space to emit unbearable creaking sounds.
After a moment of shock, the souls began screaming and scattering in panic.
"A Hollow!!"
"It's a Hollow!!"
"How can this be! How could a Hollow come to District One!!"
Fear and chaos instantly swept through the entire district.
Stalls were overturned, shoes were scattered everywhere, everyone was desperately fleeing, terrified of becoming the Hollow's food.
"Waaah!"
Amid the chaos, a child fell to the ground.
As he tried to get up, panicked people rushing from behind trampled him several times.
Though not fatally injured, he missed his best chance to escape.
By the time the crowd had passed and he could barely stand up, the Hollow with its ghastly white teeth had already reached his back.
"Gah, fresh souls!"
The Hollow made a delighted sound as it reached out to grab him.
Swish!
Just as the boy thought he was doomed, a figure suddenly descended from the sky.
The man wore a white Captain's Haori with the character "Five" written on it.
Under the boy's astonished gaze, the man elegantly twirled his sword before sheathing his Zanpakutō.
The previously arrogant Hollow that had been flaunting its power now sprayed blood, collapsed to the ground, and turned into black dust.
The man turned to look at the boy.
"Hmph, you alright, kid?"
"...Y-yes, I'm fine. Thank you!"
The boy responded instinctively.
Shinji Hirako curled his lips, about to say something cool.
But then the boy continued: "Thank you, bald Shinigami sir!"
"..."
Shinji Hirako fell completely silent.
His smooth head reflected sunlight under the sun.
Exceptionally shiny.
Suddenly, Shinji Hirako turned to look in another direction.
He sensed another Hollow breaking through elsewhere.
"Tch, that was fast."
After complaining in dissatisfaction, he prepared to move.
But at that moment, another Hollow's Reiatsu emerged from yet another direction.
Then a third, a fourth...
Numerous Hollow presences appeared throughout Rukongai!
"Dammit... Rukongai has truly fallen into chaos!"
Shinji Hirako's face turned grim.
Though he had mentally prepared himself, actually witnessing Rukongai's situation still made it hard to maintain composure.
No wonder Aizen insisted on sending him to Rukongai. With so many Hollows unchecked, it would likely cause a massive disaster.
The problem was, if you're sending people, why not send more?
So many Hollows... What can I, a poor fictional captain, possibly do?
Shinji Hirako leaped into the air, rushing at full speed toward one of the locations.
He calculated in his mind.
No matter how hard he tried, he could only protect two or three districts at most.
He could only hope that Aizen had some backup plan!
Watching a Hollow in the distance chasing and preying on civilians, Shinji Hirako's gaze turned icy as he drew his Zanpakutō.
Kill!!!
...
...
West District 1.
Several Hollows, forty to fifty meters tall, were wreaking havoc on the streets.
Inside a small house, a silver-haired boy stared wide-eyed, unable to believe what he was seeing.
"Hey, hey... you've got to be kidding me..."
The boy tried hard to stay calm, but his slightly trembling hands betrayed the panic in his heart.
He hurriedly ran back into the house.
An elderly woman knelt in the room, smiling at him.
"Tōshirō... you're back."
"This is no time for that!"
The boy urgently interrupted the old woman.
"Quick, Grandma, come with me!"
"A Hollow is coming! If we don't leave now, it'll be too late!"
Hearing this, the old woman was momentarily stunned.
Having lived in District 1 her entire life, she had rarely encountered Hollows.
After a brief moment of surprise, she smiled and gently shook her head.
"Tōshirō, you should run by yourself."
"Grandma can't run anymore. I wouldn't be able to escape."
"Besides, this house is where I've lived since I was a child. I'm already used to being here."
"Even if these are my final moments, I don't want to leave it."
Tōshirō said angrily:
"Don't talk nonsense! Come with me quickly!"
"If something happens to Grandma, Wet-the-Bed Momo will be very sad when she returns!"
Without waiting for the old woman to say anything more, he directly picked her up on his back and started running.
The old woman was very aged, her body small and withered. Carried on the back of this child, he could just barely manage to run.
Carrying his grandmother, Tōshirō rushed out of the room, ready to flee for their lives.
But at that moment, a giant foot came crashing down.
Amidst the dust and debris that flew toward them, Tōshirō fell straight to the ground.
In the instant before hitting the ground, he twisted forcefully, landing face-first to prevent injuring the old woman on his back.
Intense pain shot through his face.
Blood gushed from his nose.
His teeth seemed to have broken, but there was no time to worry about that...
He quickly pushed off the ground with his feet and stood up.
As soon as he rose, he saw a ghastly white giant face that had somehow extended right in front of him.
"Hoho... what wonderful food!"
"Such dense spiritual power... If I eat you whole, I might evolve directly!"
The Hollow was extremely excited. To prevent others from stealing this delicious meal, it didn't dare waste time and quickly reached out to grab Tōshirō.
The silver-haired boy widened his eyes, staring fixedly at the giant claw coming toward him.
I'm going to die!
I'm going to die!
Thump-thump!
With a heartbeat, he felt as if some power began to surge and emerge.
The surrounding air rapidly dropped in temperature.
The old woman on his back began to shiver.
The Hollow reaching for him paused in confusion.
"Huh? What's going on?"
Sensing the abnormally active ice-attribute Reishi in the air, it felt something was wrong.
Forget it, no matter what happens, I'll eat this kid first!
It continued reaching down.
Just then, a voice rang out:
"Invading the Soul Society without Lord Mikami's permission is a crime punishable by death."
"?!"
The Hollow looked up in shock.
Tōshirō also snapped back to reality and looked toward the source of the voice.
He saw a woman with brown skin and short golden hair standing quietly there, though he didn't know when she had arrived.
The woman stood with her arms crossed over her chest, the high collar of her white clothing covering the lower half of her face.
A short sword hung at her lower back, giving off an intense sense of danger.
Seeing this figure, the Hollow stepped back in terror.
"Th... The Three Great Generals... Tier Harribel!!"
"Waaah!!"
It turned around and began frantically trying to escape on all fours.
But before it could take two steps, a magnificent wave of water surged from behind.
As the wave passed, its massive body vanished without a trace, as if it had never existed.
Tier Harribel gazed indifferently at the silver-haired boy.
"Hitsugaya Tōshirō?"
"Yes, yes."
The boy nodded instinctively.
Harribel glanced at the elderly woman lying on the boy's back and gave an almost imperceptible nod.
"Not bad."
Her words were brief, leaving it unclear whether she was referring to the talent the boy displayed in critical moments or his determination to protect his family.
"You, not bad. You haven't failed Lord Mikami's expectations."
"In the future, remember to repay his grace."
"As for now... just watch carefully from there."
"I will resolve this chaos."
As her words faded, Harribel's figure flashed and appeared high in the sky.
The next moment, under Tōshirō's watchful eyes, golden Reiatsu erupted violently from her body!
The heavy Reiatsu representing "sacrifice" instantly swept through several surrounding districts.
"This place is the territory of Las Noches!"
"I, Tier Harribel, one of the Three Great Generals of Las Noches, hereby declare!"
"Those who disrespectfully trespass upon Las Noches' territory shall be killed!!"
All the Hollows across more than a dozen surrounding areas received this Reiatsu transmission.
Compared to Shinigami, Hollows possess greater sensitivity to the Reiatsu of their own kind.
The moment they sensed Harribel's Reiatsu, all the Hollows who had been hunting, feeding, and destroying immediately ceased their actions.
They didn't fear Shinigami - even those far stronger than themselves, they would dare to fight.
But... Las Noches was different.
That was a fear engraved deep in their souls, the representative of the ruler of Hueco Mundo, Satoru Mikami!
Every Hollow that sensed Harribel's presence frantically tore open Gargantas, scrambling to return through them.
The same scene simultaneously occurred in other districts.
Nelliel, Starkk, Grimmjow...
Most of the senior executives of Las Noches had come to the Soul Society to suppress this rebellion.
As for the Living World, the Exequias led by Rudbornn were cooperating with Ulquiorra to carry out suppression.
Shinji Hirako stood on the street, feeling as frustrated as if he'd been kicked by Komamura.
This was too absurd.
As someone who had previously "visited" Hueco Mundo, he was quite familiar with these Reiatsu signatures.
They were all the trusted Menos Grande under Satoru and Aizen.
Any one of these Menos Grande possessed combat power no less than that of a Captain-level fighter.
Originally, the Second, Fourth, Sixth, Tenth, Eleventh, and Twelfth Divisions - so many squads - had already become part of Satoru's faction.
Now with so many terrifyingly powerful Menos Grande joining them...
Unless Yamamoto could display divine might, fighting one against a hundred and suppressing all the rebels, the Seireitei probably had no chance left.
However, in his view, the most absurd thing wasn't the power of these Menos Grande.
It was their purpose for coming to the Soul Society.
A group of Arrancar Menos Grande, with enough power to destroy half of Seireitei, had actually come to help protect Rukongai.
Just absurd.
In all his years, he had never heard of anything so bizarre.
Just as he was feeling speechless, an Arrancar descended beside him using Sonído.
The Arrancar looked at him warily.
Two seconds later, the Arrancar relaxed.
"So it's one of Lord Aizen's subordinates... I thought the Shinigami had sent attackers."
He smiled and nodded at Shinji Hirako:
"I'll leave this area to you. Lord Aizen said we should minimize civilian casualties as much as possible, so be careful when you take action!"
After speaking, the Arrancar used Sonído again and disappeared into the air.
Shinji Hirako: "..."
An Arrancar, coming to protect Rukongai, and even reminding himself not to cause unnecessary casualties.
What in the world has happened??
...
...
Amidst the chaos outside, the battle between Satoru and Yamamoto had reached its climax.
Unlike their usual sparring sessions, both of them were now completely ignited.
Here, there was no teacher or student, no Captain-Commander or captain, not even a distinction between friend and foe.
There was only surging fighting spirit and the determination to take down the person before them!
Satoru already had several long wounds on his body.
No blood flowed from these wounds.
At the moment they were slashed, his flesh had already been cooked and carbonized.
If it were an ordinary captain, being struck like this would have been enough to burn them to ashes over ten times.
As for Yamamoto, his body was covered in numerous bluish-purple bruises.
Each bruise was the result of a strike from multiple layers of force.
Had it been any ordinary captain, their body would likely have been riddled like a honeycomb.
The two collided violently, then were thrown apart by the recoil.
Yamamoto gripped his sword with both hands, raising it high as he brought it down wreathed in raging flames, aiming squarely for Satoru's head.
Just before the blade landed, Satoru suddenly leaped up, headbutting Yamamoto's wrist while his leg snapped like a whip toward Yamamoto!
Even without looking, Yamamoto could sense that this whip kick contained at least three layers of force.
What should have been an ordinary physical strike, layered with multiple forces, had inexplicably become a devastating weapon.
This simple and brutal fighting style had truly been mastered by this kid!
Yamamoto's eyes blazed with fury as he suddenly released Ryūjin Jakka.
His muscles bulged, fists clenched, and he slammed both into Satoru's incoming leg—
Sōkotsu!!!
BOOM!!!!
Another massive explosion erupted within the Dangai.
The terrifying Reiatsu, even half a world away, washed over the entire Seireitei, palpable to all.
In the Living World, thanks to the Kyōgoku buffering the impact, the situation was somewhat better.
Shunsui Kyōraku raised an arm to shield his eyes from the blinding light.
As the radiance faded, he hurriedly looked over.
There, in the Dangai, Yamamoto and Satoru had already distanced themselves from each other again.
They had swapped positions, and both now appeared somewhat breathless.
Yamamoto's hands trembled uncontrollably.
Meanwhile, Satoru's stance was slightly off-balance—undoubtedly, his leg had been severely injured in that last exchange.
Grinning at Yamamoto, Satoru let out a sharp laugh.
Crack!
A series of popping sounds suddenly came from his leg.
Under Yamamoto's dumbfounded stare, Satoru's leg instantly returned to perfect condition.
At least, it seemed that way on the surface.
Yamamoto knew this idiot disciple had once again used his shadow to forcibly brace his broken bones.
A maneuver that would have driven an ordinary person to death from agony couldn't even alter Satoru's expression.
The latter still wore that same exhilarated grin, as if ready to devour someone alive.
The moment he realized this, Yamamoto suddenly noticed that his own mouth was also stretched into a wide grin.
Damn it, he'd been infected by his idiot disciple!
He clicked his tongue in displeasure, preparing to launch the second round.
But just as he was about to strike, he felt a sudden intuition and glanced to the side.
There, Satoru's Zanpakutō was planted in the ground, trembling faintly.
On the other side, Satoru also looked over curiously.
There, Ryūjin Jakka was embedded in the earth, quivering.
It seemed to be frantically hinting at something to him.