It was a rainy night twenty years ago.
Heavy cumulonimbus clouds pressed down over the Seireitei, ready to downpour at any moment.
The dense forest outside the Thirteenth Division barracks was currently stained with the stench of blood and rain.
That night, Miyako Shiba—the Third Seat and wife of Kaien Shiba, who had been ordered to investigate an unknown Hollow—returned alone.
After returning, she first fell unconscious, then her temperament drastically changed. She slaughtered anyone in sight, cutting down several squad members in a matter of breaths.
When Kaien tried to stop her, she let out an inhuman roar and vanished into the depths of the pitch-black forest in the blink of an eye.
By the time Kaien Shiba, Thirteenth Division Captain Jushiro Ukitake, and squad member Rukia Kuchiki chased her deep into the woods, all they found was Miyako's empty Shihakusho lying on the ground.
Behind that Shihakusho stood a grotesque monster.
Its body was composed of multiple muscular, twisted arms. Countless slender tentacles sprouted from its head, and a sickening smile hung on its distorted bone mask.
"Ah... have you arrived? Soul Reapers." The bizarre Hollow writhed its tentacles, letting out a chilling, sinister laugh.
"Where is Miyako? Where is she?!"
Driven by both his duty as a Soul Reaper and his responsibility as a husband, Kaien charged to the front, glaring furiously at the Hollow.
"You mean that woman?" The Hollow let out a burst of eerie laughter. "She was quite the delicious meal... Her flesh, her soul, everything has been completely digested in my stomach."
"It is just a pity. I should have used her a bit more... I am feeling a little regretful..."
As it turned out, the Miyako who returned had been parasitized and controlled by this Hollow, leading to the bloody massacre.
Kaien's pupils shrank violently.
In that instant, every little memory of his time with his wife—those warm afternoons, those tender smiles, those moments fighting side by side—completely shattered, transforming into overwhelming, sky-blotting fury.
"Captain Ukitake, Rukia, neither of you interfere..."
Kaien's voice sounded like an evil spirit crawling out of hell. "This is my fight... I am going to tear this beast into ten thousand pieces with my own hands!"
Rukia Kuchiki wanted to speak up and stop him, but Jushiro Ukitake waved his hand to hold her back.
He looked at Kaien's tall, resolute back, ultimately just clenching his fists and whispering to Rukia, "...Rukia, there are two kinds of battles in this world."
"Battles to protect life, and battles to protect dignity."
"This is Vice Captain Kaien's battle for dignity. Let him handle it alone..."
Swish--!!
The battle erupted instantly.
At first, the mutated Hollow retreated steadily under Kaien's stormy, relentless suppression.
As a genius Soul Reaper who completed the six-year academy curriculum in a single year, Kaien's techniques were exquisitely masterful.
The Hollow's tentacles were severed, its body torn open. In a moment of carelessness, Kaien mounted its head, tightly gripping the tentacles on its crown to prevent it from escaping.
"Surge, Seas and Skies! Nejibana!"
With Kaien's furious roar, the Zanpakuto in his hands began to vibrate, emitting powerful fluctuations of water-elemental spiritual energy.
He intended to kill this Hollow with his most ferocious attack! To avenge his wife and his fallen squad members!
However, the Hollow showed no signs of fear. Instead, its eerie smile deepened.
"Hehe... you touched me."
Just as Kaien prepared to launch his final strike, an indescribable sense of emptiness suddenly washed over him.
To his horror, he realized that the Zanpakuto gripped in his hands was turning transparent! Finally, it vanished completely!
"What is this...?" Kaien stared at his empty hands, facing a situation he had never encountered before.
"This is my ability." It stared greedily at Kaien. "As long as you touch my tentacles, a Soul Reaper's Zanpakuto will instantly disintegrate into raw Reishi! Right now, you are nothing but a prey stripped of its fangs and claws!"
The tide of battle reversed in an instant.
Having lost his Zanpakuto, Kaien's advantage vanished completely, forcing him into close-quarters Hakuda combat.
But against a massive and swift Hollow, this was nothing more than a minor annoyance.
His Shihakusho was torn to shreds, his body covered in wounds, and blood blurred his vision.
Yet he still did not retreat. His eyes remained fixed on the monster that had devoured his wife.
"Lord Kaien!" Rukia could not help but reach to draw her sword, but Ukitake stopped her once again.
"If we interfere now, it would be trampling on his dignity... Cough... Cough..." Ukitake suddenly broke into a violent fit of coughing.
His expression was stern, tears welling in his eyes as blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
His chronic illness flared up at this exact moment, but he still forced himself to stand and witness this battle.
In the center of the battlefield, the Hollow seized an opening in Kaien's defense.
Its massive body suddenly curled into a ball, vibrating at an incredibly bizarre frequency.
"Since you love your wife so much, then become one with her!"
Scarlet tentacles violently shot out, all hurtling directly toward Kaien.
Kaien let out a muffled groan. He could feel that cold, sinister Spiritual Pressure frantically drilling into the depths of his soul through his wounds.
Parasitism.
"Ugh... get out... get out!" Kaien's eyes became bloodshot, and it looked as though countless tiny snakes were slithering beneath his skin.
His consciousness began to blur, continuously sinking into an abyss.
His Spirit Ribbons were being corrupted, and the core of his soul was being forcibly assimilated by the Hollow.
The monster's voice clamored madly inside his mind, slowly gnawing away at his memories, his emotions, and his heart.
'I am sorry... Miyako. It seems I will be joining you soon...'
Kaien had already made his final resolve.
He planned to control his body and throw himself onto his Captain's blade before his soul was completely lost, perishing together with this beast.
Right at this critical, hair-raising moment.
A faint, delicate fragrance suddenly drifted through the air.
"Hello there, I heard the Thirteenth Division needed emergency backup. What a tragic scene..."
Splash!
The heavy rain crashed down.
A gentle female voice rang out through the torrential rain.
Like a butterfly's silhouette cut from the moonlight, the woman fluttered down gracefully into the core area where Kaien and the Hollow were entangled.
"You are... from the Fourth Division..." Jushiro Ukitake clutched his chest, looking stunned.
Rukia recognized the newcomer, her eyes flashing with ecstatic joy. "Sister Shinobu!!"
"Oh my, little Rukia is here too, and Captain Ukitake. Good evening."
The newcomer was none other than Shinobu Kocho.
She still wore that polite yet distant smile. Her purple eyes reflected Kaien Shiba, whose eyes had already turned pitch-black and whose entire being exuded an overwhelming gloom, causing her to frown slightly.
"Although it is quite rude to interfere in someone else's battle, you seem to be on the verge of dying, Vice Captain Kaien..."
"...Kill me..." Kaien squeezed his final words through his teeth, his voice mixed with the overlapping, dual tones of himself and the Hollow. "Before it completely..."
"It is not time to give up just yet." Shinobu Kocho drew her Asauchi.
At the same time, she pulled a transparent test tube filled with a pale purple liquid from her robes.
"Who are you? Get lost!" The Hollow controlling Kaien's body let out a furious bark, and several tentacles shot out from his wounds like venomous snakes.
The speed of those tentacles was so fast they left afterimages in the rain, but Shinobu's movements were even faster.
Her footsteps were as light as if she were stepping on petals, her figure fluttering erratically like a butterfly.
The tentacles tried to entangle her several times but always missed, only managing to grasp the faint afterimages she left behind.
"How impatient." Shinobu's voice drifted through the rain, seemingly coming from all directions.
Taking advantage of a brief dodge, she arrived right at Kaien's side.
With a flick of her delicate hand, she accurately tossed the pale purple liquid into Kaien's mouth, which was slightly parted in agony.
"Guh... what... did you make me drink?!" The Hollow controlled Kaien's body to violently retreat, its tentacles flailing wildly.
Shinobu continued to smile as she replied, "An antidote, Mr. Hollow."
"An antidote? Hahaha!" The Hollow let out an ear-piercing laugh. "What a stupid woman! I have already merged completely with this guy's soul. How are you going to cure that?!"
Rukia watched Kaien from afar. His body began to undergo drastic changes, with many shifting lumps bulging beneath his skin.
It seemed it would not be long before he, just like Miyako Shiba, was completely assimilated by this Hollow...
No... that was not it...
Kaien's—or rather, the Hollow's—expression turned bizarre.
These changes were not coming from it!
"That is not necessarily true. My antidote is quite potent."
Shinobu stopped five paces directly in front of Kaien, and the Asauchi in her hand began to transform.
The blade gradually took on a faint purple hue, which spread along the hamon, flowing like a living creature.
"Weave destiny, Tsumugi..."
She murmured in a voice only she could hear.
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