Night, Karakura Town.
A figure was chasing something, striding quickly down the street.
He had neck-length, swept-back hair, broad eyebrows that hooked slightly upwards, brown eyes, a tall and sturdy build, and wore a black jacket with a fur collar, a silver cross necklace adorning his chest.
This person was Ginjō Kūgo. Ten years had passed, and the former Little Ginjo was now a third-year student at Yuhua High School.
As he came from an orphanage, he had to work part-time to earn living expenses while completing his studies. Occasionally, he also had to moonlight as a Shinigami to help the Human World get rid of Hollows and assist Yekawa in collecting spirit king fragments.
His extracurricular life was incredibly fulfilling.
"Zzzzt!"
On his right shoulder, a small centipede covered in dark golden patterns was perched—it was Yekawa's centipede clone.
At this moment, the centipede clone's body glowed with faint dark golden light. Seeing this, Ginjō Kūgo frowned slightly:
"More Hollows have appeared? Why are there so many Hollows in Karakura Town recently?!"
Before he could lament, the small centipede on his shoulder jumped down and guided him towards a certain direction.
"Roar!"
A loud roar pierced the silence of the night, echoing through several surrounding streets.
Although the ordinary people living in Karakura Town couldn't hear this furious roar, at the moment it erupted, they all felt dizzy and lightheaded, as if someone was constantly beating gongs and drums next to their ears.
"This is… a Gillian?!"
"How can a Gillian appear in the Human World?"
"Didn't Makoto-Nii say that Gillians usually only stay in Hueco Mundo?"
Looking at the nearly hundred-meter-tall Gillian, which was exactly as Ito Makoto had described, Ginjō Kūgo didn't hesitate at all. He immediately propelled his soul out of his body, wielding his Asauchi, and slashed at the Gillian.
He couldn't allow the Gillian to destroy Karakura Town, where he had lived for over ten years.
Ginjō Kūgo used Shunpo, rushing towards the Gillian at an incredibly fast speed, and slashed at its large, bone-like feet.
With a swift movement, he directly severed those large feet!
"Roar!"
With a pained roar from the Gillian, the Gillian, having lost its feet and unable to stand, immediately toppled backward!
"Rumble!"
The Gillian, a colossal being nearly a hundred meters tall, thus collapsed onto the streets of Karakura Town. Fortunately, there were no tall buildings behind it, otherwise, countless innocent lives would have been lost!
Watching the Gillian, which had lost its feet and fallen to the ground, Ginjō Kūgo raised his sword, thrusting it into the Gillian's crotch, then charged forward, splitting the enormous Gillian directly in half.
Just like that, a Gillian was cleanly and decisively slain by Ginjō Kūgo.
Although Ginjō Kūgo had never studied a day at the Spiritual Arts Academy, due to the systematic training he received from Ito Makoto ten years ago, his background as a Soul King Candidate, and his continuous hunting of Hollows wandering in the Human World over the past decade,
his current strength could now rival some seated officers.
Just as Ginjō Kūgo finished dealing with the Gillian and was about to return to his body, he suddenly felt another violent spiritual pressure appear behind him.
"Clang!"
Ginjō Kūgo instinctively raised his sword to block, but he was still sent flying by the immense force.
"Bang!"
Ginjō Kūgo directly crashed into a utility pole, knocking it down.
"Whoosh!"
A figure, using Sonido, attacked Ginjō Kūgo.
Ginjō Kūgo rolled, narrowly dodging the attack.
"Cough, cough, what the hell?"
In the dim moonlight, Ginjō Kūgo finally saw what had attacked him.
A dark purple steel skin, a crest on its head like a steel blade, bulging muscles, and a broken mask on its face.
"What in the… what the hell is this?"
Clearly, Ginjō Kūgo didn't know what an Arrancar was. He just looked at the monster before him, which was neither quite Hollow nor quite not, and the violent spiritual pressure it emitted.
He immediately felt overwhelmed.
"Whoosh!"
The Arrancar, resembling a chicken-headed human, stiffened its neck, using its head as a blade, with the crest on its head as the cutting edge, and lunged at Ginjō Kūgo.
Seeing this, Ginjō Kūgo hastily raised his sword to block.
"Clang!"
With a single strike, the sound of clashing metal echoed, and sparks flew!
"Is this chicken crest made of iron?"
Ginjō Kūgo was astonished to find that the Asauchi that had accompanied him for ten years had been chipped by this chicken-headed monster, leaving a gap the size of his pinky finger.
Before he could catch his breath, the chicken-headed Arrancar attacked again.
"Whoosh~"
At the crucial moment, Ginjō Kūgo recalled the Zanjutsu taught by Ito Makoto, adjusted his breathing, and unleashed a slash!
"Die, monster!"
"Boom!
With a loud bang, Ginjō Kūgo was sent flying backward, rolling dozens of times in the road, directly from the crosswalk at one intersection to the crosswalk at the next.
"Holy crap!"
Ginjō Kūgo spat out a mouthful of blood, looked at the Zanpakuto in his hand, which was now broken in half, and a look of despair appeared on his face.
"Could it be… is this truly the end for me?"
Gazing at the relentlessly advancing chicken-headed Arrancar, Ginjō Kūgo gritted his teeth, dropped the broken Asauchi in his hand, and stumbled towards where his body lay!
"I'm not reconciled… I haven't fulfilled my promise with Makoto-Nii!"
"I haven't become strong yet!"
"I haven't…"
Ginjō Kūgo murmured as he walked to his body and re-entered it.
"Has he reached his limit?"
Yekawa saw Ginjō Kūgo's situation clearly through the small centipede clone.
"As expected, is it still too difficult for someone of a seated officer's strength to deal with an incomplete Arrancar that transformed from a special Gillian?"
Just as Yekawa's small centipede clone, with dark golden patterns flashing on its body, was about to unleash the one-strike power left by the main body within this clone,
Ginjō Kūgo, having returned to his body, slowly opened his eyes. Looking at the chicken-headed Arrancar before him, resembling a hellish demon, he instead charged forward with a brisk step.
"I will not accept my fate!"
Just as he was about to make contact with the bizarre chicken-headed Arrancar, Ginjō Kūgo, as if by inspiration, took off the cross pendant Ito Makoto had given him from around his neck, and at the same time, shouted loudly:
"Cross of Scaffold!"
The cross necklace transformed into a massive two-handed sword with a hilt longer than the guard, a red gem embedded in the center of the crossguard, and a hollowed-out section near the guard adorned with golden struts.
"Die!"
Ginjō Kūgo raised the greatsword high, charged towards the chicken-head, and brought it down with a powerful strike.
"Pfft!"
Under Ginjō Kūgo's greatsword strike, the chicken-headed Arrancar's steel-blade-like crest and sturdy steel skin were shattered as if they were made of paper!
That wasn't all. After slaying the chicken-headed Arrancar, Ginjō Kūgo directly plunged the greatsword into the Arrancar's chest.
The spiritual pressure that originally belonged to the Arrancar was completely assimilated and absorbed by Ginjō Kūgo!
After receiving the spiritual pressure replenishment, Ginjō Kūgo's spiritual pressure, which had been almost depleted and dry, gradually began to become full again!
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