Night fell over Yuhua Town.
A figure moved swiftly through the streets, chasing something unseen, his strides long and urgent.
He had neck-length swept-back hair, thick brows that curved slightly upward, sharp brown eyes, and a tall, sturdy frame. A black jacket with a fur collar draped over his shoulders, and a silver cross pendant rested against his chest.
This was Kūgo Ginjō.
Ten years had passed, and the once-young Ginjo was now a third-year student at Yuhua High School.
Raised in an orphanage, he had to support himself through part-time work while studying. At the same time, he occasionally acted as a substitute Shinigami eliminating Hollows in the Human World and assisting Yekawa in collecting Spirit King fragments.
His life outside school was anything but ordinary.
"Zzzzt!"
Perched on his right shoulder was a small centipede covered in dark golden patterns Yekawa's clone.
At that moment, faint golden light pulsed across the centipede's body. Seeing this, Ginjō frowned.
"More Hollows again? Why have there been so many in Yuhua Town lately?"
Before he could dwell on it, the centipede leapt down and began guiding him forward.
"Roar!"
A thunderous roar shattered the quiet night, echoing across several streets.
Ordinary residents couldn't hear it, but the moment it sounded, they felt dizzy, as though invisible drums were pounding beside their ears.
"That's… a Gillian?!"
"How is that possible in the Human World?"
"Didn't Makoto-Nii say Gillians usually stay in Hueco Mundo?"
Staring at the towering figure nearly a hundred meters tall and exactly as Ito Makoto had once described Ginjō didn't hesitate.
He forced his soul out of his body, grasped his Asauchi, and rushed forward.
He could not allow such a monster to destroy the town he had lived in for over ten years.
Using Shunpo, he closed the distance instantly and slashed at the Gillian's massive, bone-like legs.
With a clean stroke, he severed them.
"Roar!"
The Gillian howled in agony. Deprived of its support, the massive body toppled backward.
Rumble!
The colossal figure crashed onto the streets. Fortunately, no high-rise buildings stood behind it—otherwise the destruction would have been catastrophic.
Without hesitation, Ginjō raised his blade, plunged it upward through the Gillian's lower body, and surged forward, splitting the massive creature cleanly in half.
Just like that, a Gillian fell swiftly and decisively.
Though he had never attended the Shin'ō Academy, Ginjō's strength had grown tremendously over the past decade. With Ito Makoto's early training, his unique Soul King Candidate constitution, and years of real combat against Hollows, he now rivaled seated officers of the Gotei 13.
But just as he prepared to return to his body
A violent spiritual pressure erupted behind him.
Clang!
Instinctively, Ginjō raised his blade to block, yet the impact still sent him flying.
Bang!
He slammed into a utility pole, snapping it in half.
Whoosh!
A figure closed in using Sonido.
Ginjō rolled aside just in time, narrowly avoiding the follow-up strike.
"Cough what the hell is that…?"
Under the dim moonlight, he finally saw his attacker.
Dark purple hierro.
A blade-like crest rising from its head.
Bulging muscles.
A fractured Hollow mask.
"…What is this thing?"
Ginjō had never seen an Arrancar before. The creature before him was neither fully Hollow nor anything he could recognize and its spiritual pressure was suffocating.
Whoosh!
The chicken-headed Arrancar lunged forward, neck stiffened, using its head like a blade. The crest sliced through the air like steel.
Ginjō barely managed to raise his sword.
Clang!
The clash rang out sharply, sparks scattering in all directions.
"This crest… it's like iron?!"
His expression changed. The Asauchi that had accompanied him for ten years now bore a chip the size of his little finger.
Before he could recover, the Arrancar attacked again.
At the critical moment, Ginjō steadied his breathing, recalling Ito Makoto's teachings, and countered with a precise slash.
"Die!"
Boom!
The collision exploded outward and Ginjō was blasted away, tumbling across the road, rolling from one intersection's crosswalk to the next.
"Damn it…!"
He spat blood, staring at the blade in his hand.
It had snapped in half.
Despair flickered across his face.
"Is this… really the end?"
The chicken-headed Arrancar advanced relentlessly.
Ginjō clenched his teeth, dropped the broken blade, and staggered toward his body.
"I refuse… I haven't kept my promise to Makoto-Nii…"
"I'm not strong enough yet…"
"I can't"
Muttering under his breath, he reached his body and forced his soul back inside.
"Has he reached his limit?"
Through the centipede clone, Yekawa observed everything.
"As expected… it's still too much for someone at seated-officer level to handle an incomplete Arrancar evolved from a special Gillian."
The centipede's body glowed brighter, dark golden patterns flaring as it prepared to release the final strike left behind by Yekawa
But then
Ginjō slowly opened his eyes.
Facing the demonic figure before him, he stepped forward instead of retreating.
"I won't accept this!"
At the moment of impact, inspiration struck.
He tore the cross pendant from his neck the one Ito Makoto had given him and shouted:
"Cross of Scaffold!"
The pendant transformed instantly.
A massive greatsword materialized in his hands its hilt extended long beyond the guard, a red gem embedded at the center, and a hollowed section reinforced with golden struts.
"Die!"
With a roar, Ginjō swung the blade down.
Pfft!
The chicken-headed Arrancar's steel-like crest and hierro shattered like paper beneath the strike.
But he didn't stop there.
Driving the blade forward, Ginjō plunged it deep into the Arrancar's chest.
In that instant, the creature's spiritual pressure was forcibly absorbed.
The power flowed into Ginjō, merging with his own.
His nearly depleted Reiatsu surged back to life, rapidly replenishing itself until it brimmed with strength once more.