The barefoot child, Jiro, took a few oval bronze coins covered in green rust from his tattered clothes. It was the first time Haruto had ever seen the currency of Soul Society.
"Little brother, what's your name? Have you eaten? I have food here!" Haruto said gently, handing him a rice ball that was originally his own dry ration.
"My name is Jiro... Can I really eat this rice ball?" The boy looked like he hadn't had a proper meal in a long time. After seeing Haruto nod, he devoured the rice ball in a few mouthfuls.
"Little brother, can you tell me what exactly happened? What did the Hollow look like? Where did it appear?" Haruto began to gather intelligence. After all, a thousand years ago, there was no advanced technology to monitor all of Soul Society; they had to rely on this clumsy method to gather information.
After a brief conversation, Haruto learned that Jiro and Hana were siblings. Although they lived in Hishōzan, their lives were very difficult. Three days ago, while they were digging for wild vegetables in the wilderness, a spider-shaped Hollow appeared and took Hana away.
"Wait," Haruto said, immediately spotting a blind spot. "Are you sure that Hollow took your sister away, and didn't eat her on the spot?"
Jiro nodded vigorously. "I'm sure."
Haruto, drawing on his knowledge of the plot from his past life and his close observation of Hollows in this one, knew that most had no intelligence and would eat their prey immediately, never saving it. Yet, this boy insisted his sister was taken. There were only two possibilities. Either Jiro's memory was confused, and his sister had been tragically killed, but he was unwilling to admit it, clinging to the hope that she was merely taken away. Or, this Hollow had evolved and possessed intelligence. This was the result Haruto least wanted to see.
Furthermore, if the girl had been taken three days ago, her chances of survival were extremely slim. Haruto made up his mind: if he rescued Hana unharmed, it would be a happy ending. If she had already met with misfortune, he would tell Jiro, "Your sister ran away. I don't know where she went, so you'll have to find her yourself." He would leave the boy with a glimmer of hope, believing even a tiny bit of hope was better than complete despair.
However, it probably wouldn't be easy to lure this Hollow out.
"Jiro! I'll agree to help you save your sister, and I don't want your money, but you have to do me a small favor," a mischievous smile appeared on Haruto's face.
At this time, the young boy had no idea of the serious trouble ahead. "As long as I can save my sister, I'll agree to any conditions!"
"Help! Why are you tying me up? You're not trying to use me as bait, are you? I'm still a child! How can you do this to me? Quickly untie me!" Jiro was tied up like a fish and hung on a tree, still struggling non-stop.
"You have to use bait to lure your prey. Don't worry, with me here, the enemy will either flee or be utterly defeated. When that Hollow comes, I'll cut him down! I didn't sleep well last night, and the Old Man dragged me up for training early this morning. I'm going to catch up on some sleep. Call me if the Hollow comes!" Haruto hugged his Zanpakutō and dozed under the tree.
"Wake up! Don't sleep! Are all the people in your Gotei 13 so unreliable? Quickly untie me! What if a Hollow comes?"
The only response he got was Haruto's snoring, a snot bubble hanging from his nose.
Jiro struggled until he was exhausted and finally gave up. A rustling sound came from the distant bushes. Jiro's eyes widened in fear. "Hey! That Shinigami… something's coming… wake up!"
Haruto's snores grew louder.
The rustling grew louder and louder. Just as Jiro's fear reached its peak, a small cat jumped out of the bushes. A false alarm.
But the rustling didn't stop. A moment later, a monster wearing a white mask emerged from the bushes. Jiro was so scared that all the blood in his body seemed to freeze. He wanted to shout loudly to Haruto, but due to extreme fear, no sound came out of his throat.
The Hollow ignored the small cat and stared intently at Jiro. However, its gaze quickly shifted to Haruto's body. The stronger a person's spiritual power, the more likely they are to become a Hollow's prey. Haruto, with his Vice-Captain-level spiritual pressure, was a far more tempting target.
The Hollow stretched out its pale tongue, its demonic face seemingly sneering, and its four limbs pressed down on the ground like a giant praying mantis. Just as its bladed forearms were about to cleave Haruto's body, a silver sword light suddenly flashed, instantly severing the hooks. Before the Hollow could even react, the Zanpakutō had already pierced through its mask and impaled its head.
The hilt of the sword was firmly in Haruto's palm.
"Brat! Don't shout so loud! I can hear you!" Haruto said, sharply flicking his blade upwards and splitting the Hollow's head in two. "Job done! Was this the Hollow that took your sister?"
Jiro's face was solemn, his forehead covered in cold sweat. "No, that's not it! This isn't the Hollow that captured my sister!"
"Hmm?" Haruto was stunned, a look of surprise crossing his face. There's more than one?
Just as Haruto was momentarily distracted, a spider silk as thick as a baby's arm shot out from the distant bushes, tightly binding his wrist.
"Not good…"
Then, an extremely massive figure appeared. It was a spider-shaped Hollow, over five meters tall, with eight long spider legs. The grotesque Hollow's abdomen was adorned with a half-mask, featuring a human-like face.
"Fools! Sending out a mere cannon fodder made you drop your guard!" The Spider Hollow again sprayed a large amount of spider silk, almost completely enveloping Haruto. He struggled desperately, but the more he fought, the tighter the silk constricted.
The Spider Hollow let out a wild laugh, dragging Haruto toward the depths of the mountain. With this great tonic in its grasp, whether the boy tied to the tree was eaten or not was irrelevant.
Only Jiro remained, looking at the vast darkness with a terrified expression.