"Night Parade, Hyakki." Shion, having entered a deserted palace, initiated her Shikai.
After releasing her Shikai, her demeanor turned icy, and she stepped through the black gate without hesitation.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh. The world behind the gate was a swirl of dust and sand.
In the endless desert, countless orbs of light drifted in an orderly fashion.
She looked up. There was no blazing sun, yet the high temperature was somewhat unbearable.
Shion's bare feet landed on the hot sand, and she began to walk forward.
Regardless of the temperature of the sand, Shion's expression remained eternally cold. Her fair, tender feet remained spotless, with no trace of being burned.
But upon closer inspection, one could see a faint layer of Reiatsu enveloping her delicate feet, protecting them from the scorching heat.
This was Shion's first time in the Pure Land, so she was full of curiosity about everything.
She had heard others say…
Naruto belonged to the Pure Land, and so after entering it, his strength had grown by leaps and bounds.
But strangely, Shion did not have this feeling.
She only felt that the atmosphere of the Pure Land was very comfortable.
Like a wanderer returning home.
She had a feeling that training in the Pure Land would be twice as effective.
But she didn't experience an immediate increase in her combat power or Reiatsu.
She wandered through the Pure Land, hoping to find a way to contact Naruto.
Soon, she saw a strange black dot in the distance.
And the black dot was approaching at an extremely fast speed.
After she had taken a few more steps, she could see the black dot's appearance clearly.
It was an ordinary, large Hollow, a Gillian.
"What an ugly monster. Is this the Hollow that Naruto spoke of?" A trace of disgust flashed in Shion's eyes.
She extended her fair right hand, and in the next moment, a purple sword appeared in her palm.
FWOOSH. With a single slash, Hyakki stirred the air, the boiling Reiatsu clinging to it was chilling. It sliced the approaching Hollow clean in two.
Shion, who already possessed Kage-level strength, was naturally not going to be defeated by an ordinary Hollow.
Shion continued to walk forward.
Along the way, she could always see some Hollows scattered in the desert.
They would fight and devour each other's bodies.
Once they completed the act of devouring, the Reiatsu within their bodies would increase slightly.
When there were no more of their own kind to devour, they would turn their attention to the orbs of light that symbolized souls, chasing after them with all their might, trying to consume them.
But the boost from the orbs of light was so small it was almost negligible.
Shion did not interfere. Only when a Hollow tried to attack her would she strike it down.
In her eyes, this was Naruto's world. Naruto was the king of the Pure Land.
She could not rashly change the Pure Land.
After walking for about ten minutes, Shion grew a little impatient.
She had not found a way to contact Naruto.
Just as she was about to return, she suddenly saw a figure that was different from the Hollows, a figure that looked human.
It was a Hollow with a human form. He sat on a rock in the desert, his right hand resting on a huge sword, looking very lonely.
This was, without a doubt, an Adjuchas.
Crunch. Shion's bare feet made a sound on the sand, startling the Adjuchas.
The Adjuchas slowly turned its head, and Shion could see its face.
It was a middle-aged man with short black hair, his face and body wrapped in bandages. His skin was slightly dark, clearly from long-term sun exposure, not a natural tan.
He was a ninja in his previous life, Shion thought.
"Who am I? And who are you?" Seeing Shion, who was completely different from the other Hollows, the Adjuchas stood up, his eyes full of confusion.
"To think there is already an Adjuchas in the Pure Land," Shion said, her expression still cold.
"Adjuchas? Is that me? Who are you?! Tell me!!" The Adjuchas clutched his head, looking as if he were in extreme pain. Then, his eyes turned bloodthirsty as he looked at Shion.
"Naruto said that an Adjuchas is the evolved form of a Gillian. An ordinary Gillian has strength close to that of a Jonin and can match a Jonin in actual combat. Then an Adjuchas should be close to Kage-level," Shion thought, unhurried, as she pointed her Zanpakuto at the Adjuchas.
"The birth of an Adjuchas is extremely difficult. I cannot kill him."
"ROAR!" As Shion was thinking, the Adjuchas pulled his Executioner's Blade from the sand and made the first move.
The powerful and heavy Executioner's Blade momentarily halted the falling sand as it swung viciously toward Shion.
"Hado Number 4: Byakurai." A bolt of white lightning shot from Shion's fingertip, striking the area where the Adjuchas stood. A flash of white light and a violent explosion followed.
The Adjuchas was blown back several steps.
"Ye lord! Mask of flesh and bone, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Inferno and pandemonium, the sea barrier surges, march on to the south!"
"Hado Number 31: Shakkaho." Following the incantation, a blast of fire engulfed the Adjuchas.
Although Shion's strength had reached the Kage level, her control over Kido was not yet proficient enough, so she could not cast them without an incantation.
BOOM. After the explosion, Shion had thought the Adjuchas would have lost its ability to fight, but she was surprised to find that it only had a few scratches and was otherwise unharmed.
WHOOSH. The Adjuchas closed the distance to Shion and swung its blade again.
"Although he has become an Adjuchas, has he not yet come into contact with the power of a Shinigami?" Shion easily dodged using Shunpo.
"If he can break through his power limit and condense into an Arrancar, he should be able to reach a higher level and possess the power of a Shinigami."
Shion muttered to herself.
This was all information she had learned from Naruto.
She knew that Naruto wanted to increase his number of subordinates.
All the Hollows were his potential targets.
So, Shion would not harm this Adjuchas. Instead, she was happy to point him in the right direction.
"Arrancar?" Hearing this unfamiliar word that made his soul tremble, the Adjuchas paused.
"I'm done playing with you. Goodbye," Shion said with a meaningful smile.
She raised her hand.
"Bakudo Number 30: Shitotsu Sansen."
As her voice fell, three large, beak-shaped beams of light descended, pinning the Adjuchas's hands and waist to the desert floor, sealing his movements.
"Goodbye." With that done, Shion lightly tapped her bare feet on the ground and quickly disappeared from the area.
"Who am I??" The Adjuchas lay in the sand, stunned, and whispered softly.
After leaving the Pure Land, Shion couldn't help but feel a little melancholy.
There was no way to contact Naruto in the Pure Land.
After some thought, she used her Shikai to summon a purplish-black ghost.
She ordered it to take on a human form and write a heartfelt letter.
"Deliver this letter to Uzumaki Naruto of Konoha. Remember, do not be discovered by anyone."
"As you command, Your Majesty the Empress," the purple ghost received its orders and immediately disappeared from the palace.
This was one of the abilities of Hyakki.
To command evil spirits.
Although this ability was powerful, it had a significant drawback.
The negative emotions of the evil spirits needed to be satisfied.
This meant that during the mission, some unlucky ninja or civilian would be devoured by the evil spirit.
Shion had not wanted to use this ability.
But unfortunately, there was no way to contact Naruto in the Pure Land.