Kurenai grabbed Yuta's hand and pulled him forward.
Choji and Nagisa glanced at Yuta, then looked at Kurenai's hand holding his. No one said anything, but it was obvious they were trying to figure out what it could possibly indicate.
Kurenai's identity wasn't simple. Though she was technically a civilian, she was also considered a genius-having passed the Second Squad officer examination even before graduation. Upon graduating, she could joined Squad 2 and could earned the position of seated officer.
She was also young and beautiful, which was enough for Choji and Nagisa to pay close attention to her.
Unexpectedly, neither of them had much luck approaching her-yet now Yuta showed up and just grabbed her hand?
Before long, everyone followed the hell butterfly that guided the way. They passed through the light and entered the present world.
It was nighttime already, but five-colored neon lights lit up the town. Four or five-story buildings stretched toward either side. Skyscrapers and Ferris wheels flashed with color. The place looked lively, even if it was empty.
Escaping from the dark pressure of Soul Society into this breeze made it easier for everyone to take in each breath.
Kurenai released Yuta's hand without saying anything. In her mind, he probably touched her out of curiosity-or because he was nervous. He did look young. He couldn't have been older than fifty.
"Next, don't move. I'll set up the barrier with the two seniors. You'll conduct the burial rites inside to stay safe."
"Yes!"
After they responded, Kurenai, Choji, and Nagisa used Shunpo to leave and set up the barrier.
Once Kurenai left, the silence broke with whispers.
"Wow… Kurenai-senpai really is beautiful. That cold attitude just makes people want her even worse-you know what I'm saying? The kind you want because you feel like you'll lose."
"Absolutely. She's too talented for people like us to reach-she's basically the moon in the sky."
"And she actually cares about us civilians too… she might seem cold on the outside but she literally saved that first-year back there. If she hadn't stepped in, he'd be detained right now…"
No one noticed that above them, three black-cloaked Shinigami floated without sound-watching everything below.
Sosuke Aizen adjusted his cloak slightly. Its fabric concealed their spiritual pressure completely from those on the ground.
Ichimaru Gin squinted with his usual unreadable smile.
"Captain Aizen," he said softly, "this soul burial internship is the perfect chance to observe Yuta's strength up close."
"Shall I use standard Hollow deployments again?"
"No…" Aizen shook his head slowly. The edges of his face caught silver moonlight as he smiled faintly. "Add several this time. Gillian-level Hollows… they'll only serve as appetizers for him."
Ordinary Hollows are the weakest form-created from corrupted souls who devour others to ease their pain. At first they feed on human souls. Over time, though, when hunger overwhelms reason, they start feeding on each other too.
Hollows who consume other Hollows merge into Gillian-giant slow-moving monsters who lose their individuality.
Unless one Hollow's will is stronger than the rest-then it becomes Gillian while retaining self-awareness.
Despite being at the bottom tier of Menos-class creatures, Gillians are far stronger than regular Hollows. They're huge. Normal swords barely scratch them. Dealing with one usually requires someone at least at lieutenant level.
Above Gillian is Adjuchas-a medium-sized Hollow that typically demands intervention from captains.
And at the top are Vasto Lorde-rare and powerful entities that surpass even Captain-level Shinigami in ability.
There are rumors of one ancient Hollow beyond even that… powerful enough to destroy worlds outright…
Ichimaru Gin tilted his head lazily and gave Aizen another narrow-eyed glance.
He wanted to ask who "he" referred to-but held his tongue; clearly Aizen already knew far too much about this Yuta…
…
Yuta took in the air of this world slowly.
Soul concentration here wasn't low-it rivalled Soul Society in dense areas. It felt familiar somehow, comfortable even… but not safe.
Was Aizen Sosuke planning anything this time?
Yuta looked up at the night sky again. He felt no spiritual pressure-but some strange instinct left him unsettled about this entire internship…
It didn't take long before Kurena and the others returned from setting up the barrier.
"Alright," Kurenai said briskly, "form teams of three. Watch each other's backs. If anything dangerous happens, use your communicator to call us."
Yuta glanced down at his device-it wasn't very different from any normal mobile phone these days. Touch screen interface included software menus alike modern smartphones.
"Yuta." Kurenai looked back over her shoulder as she walked ahead. "Just follow us-don't get lost."
"Now disperse," she added quickly over her shoulder. "As long as you purify one Hollow or bury three souls-you've completed your task."
Everyone began separating into groups of three before heading in different directions.
Yuta followed along without much concern in his expression-soul burials weren't difficult for him regardless. Walking near the edge of their path, he studied the enchantment structure instead-it interested him far too much to ignore.
Eventually their group encountered one Hollow.
It stood taller than two meters-its body black with thick limbs and weight behind each step. Its white mask had teeth over ten centimeters long-and its chest bore that unmistakable dark hole in the center of every Hollow's form.
Upon seeing the Shinigami trio-the creature roared with excitement-
"AHHHHHH-!"
Shinigami souls crackled with power-exactly what Hollows craved most when trying to fill whatever remained of their lost humanity.
With sudden aggression-it lunged at Nagisa instantly.
Nagisa faced it down calmly on the outside-but inwardly he wasn't prepared at ALL to fight creatures like this. Pressure made it hard to think clearly-especially pressure from monsters that looked like nothing human anymore…
He drew his Zanpakutō with one clean motion-and slashed toward the Hollow's arm right away-
It dodged purely on instinct-
They started clashing-blade against claw-and exchanged over a dozen movements quickly-
Choji raised his hand-
"Hado #33-Shakkahō!"
Boom!
An orange fireball half a meter wide launched violently and exploded near its feet-a burst of flames swept outward along with smoke clouds thick enough to obscure everything for several seconds-
By the time it cleared-the Hollow had burn marks scorched across its body-blood leaked from several wounds-
All those layers of damage only made it go wilder-
"Hoh-HOH HOH HOH!"
It lunged again toward Choji now-
-but before impact could happen-
SLASH!
Snow-white sword pressure cut between them-intercepting mid-charge-
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