When the smoke finally cleared—
the battered body of Hollow White slowly emerged from the explosion's fading shockwave.
More than half of its body was already gone.
Behind the cracked bull-shaped mask, its crimson eyes burned with frenzied madness.
From the remaining half of its body, the violent spiritual pressure unique to Hollows and Arrancar began swelling uncontrollably.
The moment everyone saw that abnormal state—
they instantly realized what was happening.
Hollow White was about to self-destruct.
"…You've got to be kidding."
"Is it planning to blow itself up?"
"Did it realize it has no chance of winning and wants to take Bai Chen down with it?!"
Watching from afar, Shiba Isshin's pupils shrank sharply.
A powerful sense of dread rose in his heart.
And sure enough—
that fear became reality in the next moment.
The violent spiritual pressure of a Vasto Lorde began pouring out of the creature's torn wounds.
Within just a few breaths—
before Isshin's warning had even fully left his mouth—
White's body swelled visibly.
From a distance, it looked like a grotesque black balloon stained with blood.
It was on the verge of bursting.
Seeing this scene, Isshin shouted instinctively:
"Bai Chen! Get away!"
"That thing is clearly going to self-destruct!!!"
Unfortunately—
the warning came too late.
When the remaining body expanded to its limit—
Hollow White exploded like a bursting balloon.
All the spiritual pressure within its body ignited instantly.
The power detonated violently.
Not only did the explosion tear open the wound in its chest—
even the last remaining horn disintegrated into dust.
BOOM!!!
A deafening blast shook the sky above Karakura Town.
The clouds vanished.
The heavens trembled.
Even the light of the sky seemed to intensify a hundredfold.
Spiritual particles burned and exploded across the atmosphere.
The resulting shockwave devastated the entire area.
Although the explosion occurred hundreds of meters in the air—
the destructive force still crushed hundreds of nearby buildings below.
The blast resembled the detonation of a nuclear bomb.
Everyone present was sent flying.
Whether it was Aizen and Gin watching from afar—
or Isshin and the Tenth Division soldiers—
every single person was thrown back hundreds of meters by the shockwave.
Only by desperately releasing their spiritual pressure were they able to stabilize themselves.
Gasping heavily, Isshin landed among the ruins more than a kilometer away.
"That… was insane…"
"Just the aftershock alone tore through my Shihakushō…"
"And I had to burn nearly half my spiritual power just to withstand it!"
He was completely exhausted.
And he hadn't even been at the center of the explosion.
That alone showed how terrifying Hollow White's self-destruction had been.
Even a captain-level Shinigami could barely endure the shockwave.
If they had been closer—
they might have died along with the Hollow.
Behind him, the Tenth Division soldiers spoke nervously.
"Captain Shiba…!"
"Bai Chen… he'll be alright, right?"
Even though Isshin had shielded them during the blast—
their uniforms were still shredded by the shockwave.
They had personally felt the overwhelming power of the explosion.
Which made them even more worried about Bai Chen.
After all—
he had been standing at the very center of the blast.
Even though they had witnessed Bai Chen's terrifying strength countless times—
they still feared the worst.
Isshin forced himself to respond.
"…He should be fine."
"That's Bai Chen, after all."
"…Trust him."
But the hesitation in his voice betrayed his uncertainty.
The self-destruction of Hollow White had shaken even his confidence.
For the first time, Isshin wondered whether Bai Chen's signless healing ability could truly withstand such a catastrophic explosion.
Fortunately—
a few minutes later—
as the dust and shockwaves finally dissipated—
a familiar silhouette appeared again in the sky.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
"He's alive!"
"Bai Chen survived!"
Isshin looked upward.
Within his sight, Bai Chen's figure slowly became clear.
His Shihakushō was badly damaged—more than a third of it had been destroyed.
However—
thanks to his signless healing ability, the wounds on his body had already regenerated.
He had only suffered superficial injuries.
Not a single drop of blood remained.
But in front of him—
the place where Hollow White had stood—
there was now nothing.
After that terrifying explosion—
the Hollow's body had completely vanished.
Its black spiritual form, along with its mask and horn—
had been reduced to ashes.
Hollow White had been erased permanently.
"Looks like that threat has finally been dealt with."
Bai Chen muttered softly.
But then—
his brows suddenly furrowed.
"…However…"
"Just before the explosion…"
"It seems Hollow White deliberately released fragments of its soul into my body."
Bai Chen clearly sensed something unusual inside himself.
More precisely—
he had experienced something similar to what happened in the original story with Masaki Kurosaki, Ichigo's mother.
When Hollow White died—
it had attempted to invade its enemy's body.
A final act of revenge.
By planting fragments of its power within Bai Chen—
the Hollow attempted to corrupt him through Hollowfication.
If successful, it could seize control of Bai Chen's body and resurrect itself.
Because of that last desperate act—
Bai Chen now carried a latent Hollow power inside his own soul.
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