Boom! Boom! Boom!
Reality wasn't like those neatly choreographed battles in anime. The Hollows didn't politely declare their presence before attacking.
The three lead Gillians had only half-emerged from their Garganta when they fired their Cero—blinding lances of destruction, already primed and crackling.
"Bakudō #8 — Repulse!"
"Thunder Strike!"
Higashi Shuuichi and Shihōin Yoruichi moved at the same instant.
Shuuichi unsheathed his Zanpakutō and channeled Bakudō through the blade, coating it in a translucent layer of reishi. With a flash step, he swung, slicing through the incoming Cero. Its trajectory veered wide—missing the confused nobles by mere meters and detonating harmlessly in the distance.
Yoruichi, meanwhile, had already predicted the shot's path. She raised her palm, compressed Kidō into a pinpoint bolt, and vaporized the second Cero mid-flight, so fast it was invisible to the untrained eye.
But two Shinigami weren't enough.
The third Cero screamed across the field, carving through a cluster of fallen lesser Hollows—and struck a young noble before he even had time to scream.
He died instantly.
By the time the dust settled and the three Gillians fully emerged, the nobles were only beginning to process what had happened.
So was Gin Ginjirou, who stood frozen in place, stunned.
"What the hell?! Gillians?! Already?!"
As a 14th Seat of the Sixth Division—a squad that mostly handled noble affairs—Ginjirou rarely saw live Hollows, much less fought them. Most intrusions into Soul Society never made it past the outer districts; they were always intercepted by the Tenth, Eleventh, or Second Division.
His reaction was normal. And against Gillians or Adjuchas-level Hollows, low-ranking officers like him were usually cannon fodder.
Yoruichi knew better than to expect anything from him.
And the nobles? Worthless in a fight.
"Ginjirou! Get these nobles out of the 62nd District—now!"
Yoruichi flash-stepped between the incoming Hollows and the frozen nobles, her eyes blazing.
"Y-Yes, Captain!" Ginjirou stammered, finally snapping out of it.
He turned to fetch Shuuichi—only to find him already gone.
Shuuichi had leapt into battle while everyone else was still catching up.
Aizen's message said I could "display moderate strength." Which probably means... any opponent I can beat?
He grinned.
Truth be told, life under Aizen had been frustrating. Sure, he'd gotten stronger. But he'd never used that strength. Aizen's path was pure stealth—strike only when the odds were absolute.
Now, finally, he had an excuse to loosen the leash.
As he dropped onto a stunned Adjuchas, Shuuichi grinned like a child on a sugar high.
You should've stayed in bed today, big guy.
"Tessan."
The word was spoken low, but it hit like a thunderclap.
The Hollow didn't even see him move. One moment, Shuuichi was a flicker; the next, his heel came crashing down like a meteor. The Hollow's skull cracked, and its hulking body slammed into the ground, half-buried in rubble.
"…That technique."
Yoruichi's eyes narrowed.
Among the Four Ways of the Shinigami—Zanjutsu, Kidō, Shunpo, Hakuda—most chose Zanjutsu. Kidō came second. Then Shunpo.
Hakuda? Practically forgotten—except by the Second Division, whose covert operations forbade flashy powers.
But what Shuuichi had just used—Tessan, a refined Hakuda technique—was not the kind of thing you picked up from self-study. It was a Second Division specialty.
Yoruichi frowned slightly. Had he trained under her command once? Or was this something more complicated?
But Shuuichi wasn't thinking about her.
His strike hadn't even warmed him up.
He wanted more.
But even so, habit kept him grounded. He remembered his real mission.
"Go forth, Heisha!"
He raised his Zanpakutō—then released it without hesitation.
Shikai.
"Command the battlefield… Heisha!"
The blade sliced a vertical arc through the air. Spirit particles exploded outward. The Gillian he'd just flattened was split clean in half—its body disintegrating into motes of white.
Then, the true ability took hold.
Seventeen humanoid figures formed—faceless, white, miniature constructs of reishi.
They hovered in the air, silent, waiting.
"He can reconstitute enemies' reishi… just like his own…"
It was the first time Yoruichi had seen Heisha in action. She'd only heard rumors from Yamamoto and Kyōraku.
"No wonder Shunsui said that Zanpakutō is dangerous."
It wasn't about raw power.
It was because the ability—breaking down enemies into autonomous reishi puppets—resembled the Quincy.
Not entirely. Quincies destroyed both spirit particle and soul. Heisha, by contrast, only broke down reishi, leaving the soul intact.
But even with that difference, it was dangerously close to taboo.
"Third Seat Higashi!" Yoruichi called, her tone sharp. "Cease using your Zanpakutō ability. Stick to Hakuda. Work with me."
He'd expected this. Mission complete.
So he sheathed his weapon, bowed with exaggerated guilt, and said, "Apologies, Captain. I panicked. I won't use it again."
Meanwhile—underground, hidden from view—ten more faceless spirit puppets slid away.
Shielded by the chaos, masked by the others moving visibly, these advanced units slipped into the shadows. With Shunpo and cloaking Kidō, they scattered—west to Districts 64 and 66, south to 71, 73, and 75.
The hunt had truly begun.