Unohana sheathed her sword.
The thick stench of blood, mixed with the murky aura of dissipating Hollow reishi, swirled around her.
The scattered remains of the Menos Grande were melting away at a visible rate.
The crimson bloodstains were swept away by the reishi, gradually fading.
Only the fissures of varying depths on the ground remained, proving that the massacre had truly taken place.
The moment Unohana returned her blade to its scabbard, that tangible killing intent abruptly retracted, as if it had never existed.
The spiritual pressure surrounding her reverted to its usual gentle and heavy state. Her plain Captain's haori fluttered lightly in the night breeze, its hem completely spotless, without a single drop of blood tainting it.
Unohana turned around and walked slowly toward the camp. Her steps were steady, and her features had returned to their customary softness.
It was as if the sight of her decapitating an Adjuchas with a single strike was merely a collective illusion.
But no one believed it was an illusion.
The crowd in front of the camp remained frozen in place, their eyes following Unohana's figure, emotions churning within their gazes.
Kotetsu Isane tightly gripped her own sleeves, hiding half her body behind Hasumi Ren.
Beneath her silver-gray bangs, her eyes were wide and round, filled with shock and bewilderment.
She had never imagined that Captain Unohana, who always spoke softly and treated others with such warmth, could possess such a...
Terrifying side.
But... she was so strong.
Strong enough to fill Isane with deep admiration.
If Kotetsu Isane felt this way, it was even more so for the members of the Eleventh Division.
Their eyes had long been overtaken by absolute fanaticism.
The young squad members flushed red, gripping their Zanpakuto tightly as they stared at Unohana with burning gazes.
That was the purest yearning and worship for the strong.
In the Eleventh Division's dictionary, strength was everything.
The power Unohana had just displayed left them completely mesmerized.
"Why does the Captain of the Fourth Division seem... even more ruthless than our Eleventh Division..."
A young Eleventh Division member murmured softly as he watched Unohana approach.
"Brat, what do you know."
Another older member swallowed hard.
"I've heard long ago that Captain Unohana used to..."
"Used to what?"
Seeing the intensely curious look in the young man's eyes beside him, the slightly older member glanced at Unohana in the distance and pursed his lips.
"Forget it, don't ask."
As if recalling something, he left his sentence unfinished.
The confusion in the young man's eyes deepened, but seeing his senior's deeply guarded expression, he sensibly chose not to press the matter.
Meanwhile, Hasumi Ren stood at the very front of the crowd, calmly watching Unohana approach.
It wasn't until Unohana drew near that the surrounding crowd snapped out of their daze. They instinctively bowed in greeting, their voices carrying a slight tremble—whether from fear or excitement, it was hard to tell.
"Captain Unohana."
Unohana gave a slight nod. Her gaze swept over the crowd before finally landing on Ren, and she spoke mildly.
"Clean up. Tomorrow morning, we set out to return to the Seireitei."
"Yes!"
The crowd responded in unison. At this moment, no one dared to slack off in the slightest; even their movements were several times brisker than usual.
The camp, which had been thrown into a panic by the Adjuchas attack, instantly regained its order.
Once the crowd dispersed to busy themselves, Ren slowly walked toward the center of the battlefield.
The residual reishi fragments left behind by the dissipating Menos Grande were gathering in one place, glowing with a faint dark red hue.
Those fragments were continuously drawn into Ren's body.
Instantly, a majestic surge of spiritual power flooded his body, and system prompts rang out in succession.
A much thicker Hollowfication power circulated within him. Ren could clearly feel that his mastery over Hollowfication had deepened.
Even without truly unleashing it, he could sense that latent power deep within his soul growing ever stronger.
He gathered his thoughts and was just about to turn back to the camp when Unohana's voice sounded from behind him.
"Ren."
Ren turned his head to see Unohana standing a short distance away, a faint trace of contemplation in her eyes.
"Well, did you notice anything unusual?"
Ren pondered for a moment, walking up to her side and sweeping his gaze over the surroundings.
"Captain, ever since we arrived in the South 7th District, hordes of Hollows have attacked in succession. First, it was low-level Hollows, then Gillians."
"Finally, even a massive horde led by Adjuchas appeared. This kind of swarming, progressively escalating offensive is far too strange."
He paused, then continued.
"Although Hollows appear frequently in the Rukongai, they have always fought independently and rarely gather. This kind of large-scale attack, organized and led by Menos Grande... I suspect..."
"Indeed."
Unohana spoke mildly.
"This sort of thing has happened before. However, the scale this time is far inferior to that previous incident."
She raised her eyes and looked into the distance, her gaze seemingly piercing through the night to land on some unknown place.
"Over a hundred years ago, the Soul Society suffered an invasion by a Hollow horde led by a Vasto Lorde."
"At that time, that Vasto Lorde led several Adjuchas and dozens of Gillians, invading the Soul Society through a Garganta."
"The Kenpachi of the Eleventh Division at the time led the entire squad to strike out and repel them. That was the most severe Hollow disaster the Soul Society has faced in the last century."
Ren listened quietly. He had seen records of this battle from over a century ago in the Spiritual Arts Academy's archives.
However, the archives were vague on the details of the battle, only recording the ultimate victory of the Eleventh Division.
"But this time is different from back then."
Unohana's gaze fell upon the direction of the camp.
"It's as if they knew there was a large number of injured Shinigami here, throwing themselves at us time and time again as if drawn by something."
Ren's heart stirred, and he suddenly spoke up to remind her.
"Captain, could it be that their target is inside the temporary camp?"
Unohana turned to look at Ren and gave a slight nod.
"Perhaps."
She said no more. Raising her hand, she brushed it in front of her, and the dense, mist-like reishi scattered into the air.
"We will set this matter aside for now and investigate further after returning to the Seireitei. Go back and rest; we still have to travel tomorrow."
"Yes."
Early the next morning, just as the sky was beginning to lighten, everyone finished packing.
Unohana personally led the group, escorting the wounded on their journey back to the Seireitei.
Along the way, it was completely peaceful. Not a single Hollow appeared, as if the horde attack from the previous night had merely been a sudden nightmare.
Ren instinctively looked back.
Yet behind them, there was only the rustling sound of the wind blowing through the grass and trees.
After their figures completely disappeared from the South 7th District of the Rukongai, a figure slowly stepped out from the shadows.
Aizen walked to the center of last night's battlefield. His gaze swept over the residual traces of reishi on the ground, a hint of contemplation flashing in his eyes.
Although it had been a spur-of-the-moment decision on his part.
These Hollows, drawn in by the bait, truly couldn't last a single exchange against Unohana.
This outcome did not exceed his expectations.
The founding Captain of the Gotei 13 from a thousand years ago truly lived up to her reputation.
That tangible killing intent, the ruthlessness with which she executed the Adjuchas, and her unfathomable strength.
It made even Aizen feel a slight sense of threat.
He gently raised his hand, and a wisp of pale blue spiritual pressure spilled from his fingertips.
It landed on the traces of the bait on the ground, and those residual marks instantly vanished without a trace.
This way.
No one would be able to notice a thing.
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