"Hadō #63: Raikōhō!"
Inside an underground air-raid shelter in 2-chōme Street, Chōhara District, Naruki City, Fūjin Taichi stood within a glowing yellow spiritual barrier, beginning the 3,652nd day of his Kidō training.
With his left hand held straight out before him, he chanted softly. Blue lightning crackled around his arm—
—and then exploded violently.
"Ugh!!"
Taichi groaned and collapsed onto the ground, clutching his bloodied left arm with his right hand.
Abandoning incantation, instant-cast Kidō training — Day 3,652. Hadō #63 failed…
"Kaidō (Healing Spiritual Arts)." Suppressing the pain, he placed his right palm over the wound and began healing. A gentle pale-green glow slowly sealed the bleeding and mended the injury bit by bit.
Clearly, his Kaidō wasn't top-tier—it couldn't heal him instantly. It could only stop the bleeding first, then gradually repair the flesh.
This was thanks to his time at the Shin'ō Academy, when he woke unfailingly at 4 a.m. every day to study in the library. That diligence had earned him healing skills nearly comparable to a seated officer of Fourth Division.
Grrr—
Suddenly, a peculiar gurgling sound came from his stomach. He looked down at his flat belly and sighed.
"Today should be my last day stationed in the Human World, right?
As long as I make it through tonight, I can return to Soul Society. No more living in constant fear like this… So I'll just endure it a little longer."
He glanced at the now-dimming spiritual barrier around him and shook his head helplessly.
"But this barrier, designed to prevent spiritual pressure leakage, has reached its limit...
I doubt it'll hold much longer. If I don't get a new one from Kisuke Urahara, I'll probably be targeted by a Hollow with a bull's skull mask soon!!"
It was midnight in the Human World .The moon hung large and round in the sky, spilling its pure white light over the silent city of Naruki.
A cool night breeze swept in from the outskirts—sometimes slow, sometimes sharp—creating a rhythmic woo-woo sound through the empty roads.
"Theoretically, those bull-headed Hollows appear before rainy weather… So maybe I should get something to eat first. I'm starving."
After surveying the quiet night, Taichi finally gave in to hunger. Drawing his Zanpakutō, he tore open space and headed toward Yasutama Cemetery to steal offerings as food.
Before long, the moon reached its zenith. Suddenly, dark clouds drifted in from the western horizon, gradually swallowing the yellowish moonlight.
Naruki City plunged into gloom, an oppressive unease settling in the air.
Grrrrr…
Not far away, a pitch-black, bull-headed Hollow slowly emerged from the shadows. After sniffing the air, it leapt toward Yasutama Cemetery.
…
Years later—
In the Tombstone Mountains several hundred miles outside Karakura Town, thirty-two Quincy led by Sōken Ishida were besieged by an overwhelming horde of Hollows.
Screeeech—
The azure sky seemed to wail as five massive black-bodied Hollows with long white masks tore open space with their claws, forcing their way out of Hueco Mundo.
"Captain Ishida—it's a Menos! A Menos!" Quincy Jūichirō Aoka cried out, pointing at the rift in terror.
"What?! Gillians... appearing at a time like this?! Is heaven truly determined to wipe out the Quincy?!"
After piercing a snake-like Hollow with a spirit-arrow, Sōken Ishida looked up at the black rift. His expression turned grim.
"Jūichirō—send a distress signal to Soul Society immediately!"
"W-what?!"
Jūichirō stared at him in disbelief.
"Captain, Quincy law clearly states: no matter the circumstances, we must neither aid the Shinigami nor request assistance from them—"
"Silence!"
Sōken barked.
"Can't you see the situation clearly? Look around you!"
"Ahhh—!"
A Quincy let out a bloodcurdling scream before collapsing into a pool of blood.
Though the scorpion-shaped Hollow that killed him was quickly shot down by another Quincy, more Hollows swarmed in and tore that one apart as well.
"Our Quincy lineage… cannot all die here," Sōken said sorrowfully.
"Requesting aid from the Shinigami violates our code—but it is our only hope of survival!"
"Dammit..." Jūichirō bit his lip and pulled out a communicator. After hesitating for a long time, he finally activated the channel to Soul Society.
"Beep— Sending— Transmission failed!"
"Beep— Sending— Transmission failed!"
"Beep— Sending— Sending—"
"What's going on?"
Seeing the distress signal repeatedly fail, Sōken's expression changed.
"Is it poor reception? Or…?"
"I don't know what's going on… Even 4G transmissions are failing. It looks like someone tampered with this channel— the signal's getting worse and worse!"
Jūichirō Aoka kept trying to resend the distress signal. But every time he tapped "send," it either displayed 'Transmission Failed' or 'Sending'—and nothing else.
"Ah!"
"AAAH!"
Several more Quincy were slaughtered by the Hollows. Seeing that the first defensive line could no longer hold, the remaining dozen Quincy retreated to Sōken Ishida's side, pooling their strength to resist the oncoming swarm.
Beep— Sending— Transmission Successful!
"Captain Ishida! The distress signal went through!!"
At this point, Jūichirō no longer cared about Quincy law. Seeing the signal finally sent, he let out a breath of relief.
"For the future of the Quincy, we must hold this ground no matter what! We only need to stall for half an hour at most—Soul Society's reinforcements will arrive!!"
Sōken led the remaining Quincy into the valley, firing spirit arrows to push back the Hollows while waiting for aid from Soul Society.
But high in the sky, the five towering Menos had already fully emerged from the rift. Opening their massive jaws, they began condensing spiritual pressure into crimson spheres at their mouths.
"This is bad! That's… a Cero! Everyone, run—!"
Seeing the scarlet energy forming, Sōken shouted urgently.
But they were already surrounded by countless Hollows. Where could they possibly run?
SHHHHHH—!
The five Menos unleashed five Ceros at once. The entire sky was dyed blood-red by the blazing light.
"I'm sorry, Uryū… Grandpa won't be able to watch you grow up…"
As the five Ceros hurtled toward them, resolve flashed in Sōken's eyes. He drew back his spirit bow, Kojaku, and formed an enormous spirit arrow, firing it toward the sky.
The other Quincy followed suit, releasing massive spirit arrows in an attempt to intercept the Ceros—but their strength was clearly insufficient.
BOOM!
Only one Cero was destroyed. The remaining four were already upon them.
At that very moment, a voice rang out above their heads:
"Face the wind! Hasagi!!"
Whoosh—!
A fifteen-meter-wide wall of white wind suddenly materialized before the Quincy, completely neutralizing the four incoming Ceros.
"N-No way... this is—" Sōken's eyes widened as he stared at the male Shinigami who had appeared before them.
The man wore a black shihakushō. At his waist hung two Zanpakutō—one long, one short. Their design was ancient and elegant, with guards shaped like flowing golden clouds—beautiful yet strange.
On his left arm was a chrysanthemum armband, signifying the rank of Vice-Captain in Soul Society.
"A Shinigami? A Shinigami! They really came?!" Jūichirō murmured in disbelief.
"Sorry about this, old man Ishida. I think I was the one who approved Captain Kurotsuchi's Quincy spiritual modification plan… So, as compensation—let me resolve this crisis for you."
The male Shinigami smiled faintly. Curling his fingers and aiming at the surrounding Hollows, he intoned:
"Hadō #63: Raikōhō!"
Blue spiritual energy crackled at the tips of all ten of his fingers, then shot outward as spherical bolts of lightning—piercing through every Hollow within dozens of meters!!
"Incredible…" Jūichirō said, utterly stunned. "I didn't expect Soul Society to have grown so powerful—that even a mere Vice-Captain can handle this many Hollows so easily…"
"Not just that…"
Sōken looked up at the sky, where the five Menos were being cut down one by one by the Shinigami, disintegrating into ash.
"If someone of his strength is only a Vice-Captain… then today's Soul Society is truly terrifying."
...
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