Several days ago, a few figures in black robes appeared in the Dangai.
The figures tampered with the spiritual particle barrier at a certain point, weakening its strength considerably.
"Release the 'lure' and attract the Hollows wandering in the Garganta," one of the figures said. "Once the Hollows come and destroy this section of the barrier, leaving their spiritual pressure behind, no one will know it was a man-made incident."
"Yes!" Another black-robed figure nodded. As he raised his hand, the crest of the Tsunayashiro clan was revealed on his sleeve.
If any teachers or students from the Spiritual Arts Academy were present, they would surely recognize the leading figure as the academy's vice-director, Akito Tsunayashiro!
Akito and other clan members were here to create an incident to retrieve the Soul King fragment.
Originally, Akito didn't want to go this far, but that Katori Sora and Kakyō didn't know what was good for them, daring to refuse the Tsunayashiro clan's goodwill.
But how could the Tsunayashiro clan easily give up something they had set their sights on!
He would retrieve the Soul King fragment through other means.
Recently, he discovered that Kakyō had applied for early graduation, which sparked the idea of using her graduation assessment mission to get it back.
Tokinada Tsunayashiro, standing nearby, showed a look of disdain. "What a roundabout way. Why not just assign her an assessment mission in Hueco Mundo and have her killed there?"
Akito Tsunayashiro shook his head. "That Ayane Kotetsu keeps a tight watch. I have no opportunity to interfere with mission assignments. I can only use an indirect method to create an incident and make them take the bait."
Akito noticed that Kakyō's desired placement was the Kidō Corps, so he meticulously planned an incident that would require the Kidō Corps to resolve.
As long as no one knew they created the incident, Kakyō would naturally follow the Kidō Corps to the Dangai for her graduation assessment.
At that time, their other arrangement would come into play.
The released 'lure' quickly took effect, attracting the wandering Hollows in the Garganta.
The 'lure's' range in the Garganta was limited, and the density of Hollows was not high, so only three were attracted.
But that was enough to achieve their goal.
The Hollows soon tore through the tampered spiritual particle barrier and entered the Dangai, devouring the 'lure' that was so tempting to them.
Once the 'lure' was consumed, the three Hollows began to wander aimlessly in the Dangai.
"Alright, now we just wait for the Shinigami to discover the anomaly themselves..." Akito Tsunayashiro turned his attention away from the three Hollows. "Next, let's go deal with the The Cleaner."
Akito's strategy was to use the The Cleaner to separate Kakyō from the others and then seize the opportunity to retrieve the Soul King fragment.
If Kakyō was unfortunate enough to be killed by the The Cleaner, it would save them even more trouble.
The history of the Tsunayashiro clan was longer than that of the Dangai itself, so naturally, they had studied it extensively.
They even had methods to manipulate some of the behavioral patterns of the Dangai's cleaner, the The Cleaner.
When the Kidō Corps came to repair the barrier, they would surely restrict the The Cleaner's movement. The Tsunayashiro clan needed to tamper with the The Cleaner to allow it to break through those restrictions.
As they were searching for the The Cleaner, they detected a new spiritual pressure reaction in the Dangai passage.
"Lord Akito, we've detected an approaching spiritual pressure fluctuation. A Shinigami is coming," one of the black-robed figures reported.
"It's good if a Shinigami discovers the problem early. It saves us time," Akito Tsunayashiro said.
The Tsunayashiro clan members used their cloaks to conceal their presence.
A moment later, Shizuku Saitō appeared at the other end of the passage.
...
The repair and improvement of the spiritual particle barrier were proceeding in an orderly manner.
Kakyō was full of energy. Her graduation assessment was passed, and graduating early meant she would be given important responsibilities when she joined the Kidō Corps.
After half a day of hard work, the leader of the Kidō Corps announced a thirty-minute break.
"Kakyō, congratulations! I heard from Instructor Sakai that you passed your assessment!" Kana Azashiro came over to talk when she saw the Kidō Corps Shinigami resting.
"I have to thank the examining instructors for not making things difficult for me," Kakyō said with a smile, clearly happy to have passed.
"When the mission is over, we'll go back to the dojo. The professor will definitely celebrate for you!" Kana Azashiro swallowed, her thoughts seemingly already back at the Katori dojo.
It was a tradition in their school: whenever a disciple graduated, the professor would personally cook a big meal to celebrate.
Just then, a Shinigami guarding the barrier anomaly sounded an alarm: "Abnormal spiritual pressure detected... a Hollow is coming!"
Kana immediately snapped back to reality and warned Kakyō, "I'll go check it out. You be careful and don't stray too far from me."
In Kana's eyes, her junior's strength was average, and she needed to be looked after.
Kakyō was skilled in Kidō, but her swordsmanship, Shunpo, and hand-to-hand combat were only at the level of an ordinary squad member.
"On alert!"
When Kana reached her subordinates, she found that a large hole had been torn in the wall of the Dangai.
From the hole, a pink-haired humanoid Hollow slowly emerged. Its face was covered by a mask, and it wore a white robe.
As the humanoid Hollow appeared, a terrifying spiritual pressure vibrated through the narrow passage of the Dangai.
Seeing this, Kana broke out in a cold sweat.
The Hollow's spiritual pressure was terrifying, and its form was almost identical to a human's.
Such a Hollow was generally known as a high-level Menos—a Vasto Lorde!
The squad members beside Kana trembled, losing even the courage to draw their swords.
The humanoid Hollow was very perceptive and seemed to notice that Kana was the strongest among the Shinigami. A heavy wave of spiritual pressure poured out, concentrating on her alone.
Kana felt a weight press down on her, but she remained unmoved, placing her hand on the hilt of her sword.
If she hadn't undergone spiritual pressure suppression training with her professor, she probably wouldn't even be able to draw her blade right now!
"I've wanted to come and study the Dangai for a while, but I've always been delayed by other matters," the face beneath the Vasto Lorde's mask chuckled to itself. "It's rare to find a breach in the barrier. I had to drop the material I was working on. After all, using a pre-existing opening saves me a lot of trouble."
"Notify the Seireitei! A Vasto Lorde has invaded the Dangai!" Kana shouted, urging the other squad members to act quickly.
Kana's palm was already damp with sweat. Facing such a powerful Menos, she couldn't hold out for long. She could only hope that support from the Seireitei would arrive soon.
"Ri... right..." A squad member took out a Hell Butterfly to contact the Seireitei.
Thump—
With a faint drumming sound, the Vasto Lorde's figure vanished from its spot.
The next moment, he appeared beside the squad member holding the Hell Butterfly.
"My, my, I still need to study the Dangai. I can't have Shinigami reinforcements arriving too early," the Vasto Lorde said in a frivolous tone, holding a head in his hand.
The head he held was that of the squad member who had taken out the Hell Butterfly.
From the gruesome wound on the neck, it was clear that it had been ripped off.
Due to his spiritual pressure, the Shinigami didn't die immediately. His face was filled with terror, and he tried to call out to his comrades for help.
"Ah... ah..."
But his vocal cords were severed, and he could only produce meaningless sounds.
"Damn you, Hollow!"
Seeing the despair in her subordinate's eyes, Kana was instantly enraged.
"Taste it, Shishoku!"
Clang—
The moment the sword was drawn, a pale blue light shot out from the sheath.
After several years of refinement, Kana Azashiro was not the same as before.
Her sword was faster.
So fast that even Vice-Captain Iba couldn't block it.
Screeeech—
A harsh sound of metal scraping echoed.
Kana looked closely, and her expression changed drastically.
The flash of light was stopped by the fingertips of the humanoid Hollow's two fingers.
This humanoid Hollow had blocked her Ryūkō with just its fingernails!
Kana remembered what her professor had taught her about 'Hierro'.
'Hierro' was the technique of hardening the outer skin with spiritual pressure, giving it immense strength.
Only a few powerful, high-level Menos possessed this ability.
Kana quickly assessed the situation. This humanoid Menos was far stronger than she was.
"This Vasto Lorde is extremely strong! We attack together, hold him off, and find a chance to call the Seireitei for help!" Kana said very quickly.
"Bakudō #61. Rikujōkōrō!"
Six slats of light appeared out of thin air around the humanoid Hollow, locking its waist.
The leader of the Kidō Corps had made his move.
"Attack together!" the Kidō Corps leader shouted.
"Hadō #33. Sōkatsui!"
"Hadō #63. Raikōhō!"
"..."
The Shinigami from the 3rd Division and the Kidō Corps all unleashed Kidō, striking the restrained humanoid Hollow.
Kakyō was no exception. She also released a Kidō she could cast without incantation:
"Hadō #31. Shakkahō!"
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The combined force of twenty to thirty Hadō spells created a massive disturbance, filling the Dangai with dust and smoke.
Kana narrowed her eyes. She saw a faint purple light emerge from within the smoke.
"Shinigami! Savor the gift of Lord Szaelaporro!" A frivolous laugh came from within the dust cloud.
"Watch out, get back! It's a Cero!" Kana quickly sensed the terrifying spiritual pressure fluctuation and shouted.
As soon as she finished speaking, a purple beam of light pierced through the smoke, blasting towards the concentrated group of Kidō Corps Shinigami.
A Gran Rey Cero!
BOOOOM!!!
The force of the Cero far surpassed the Shinigami's Kidō, causing even the Dangai passage to tremble.
The Gran Rey Cero turned the Dangai into a hellscape.
After the flash dissipated, it left behind a field of mangled corpses and barely-living Shinigami.
At that moment, Kana drew her sword again, unleashing the ultimate technique of the Katori Style—
Senmai Oroshi: Ryūkō!
Clang—
The longsword left its sheath, and a stream of azure light transformed into a continuous flash, rushing towards Szaelaporro at extreme speed.
"An ant trying to shake a tree." Szaelaporro raised his hand, his movements unhurried, yet he blocked every single flash of light.
The storm of azure slashes struck Szaelaporro's hand, producing a series of metallic clashes.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang—
The 'Senmai Oroshi: Ryūkō' that Kana was using now was much more powerful than the one she had used against Sōjun Kuchiki years ago.
In an instant, she had delivered hundreds of slashes.
But Szaelaporro was too powerful. The relentless barrage of attacks only managed to break his skin slightly.
"Oh my, is this your ultimate move...?" A long tongue extended from Szaelaporro's mask, licking the blood from his hand as he praised, "Not bad at all!"
Just then, they heard a rumbling sound from the distance.
"Is that the sound of the The Cleaner?" Szaelaporro turned his head towards the depths of the passage, muttering to himself, "Come to think of it, I'm quite curious about the The Cleaner as well..."
"Something interesting is coming. I'll finish you all off first." Szaelaporro stared at Kana Azashiro.
The next moment, he appeared behind Kana, grabbing her by the neck.
"Sip, Fornicarás!"
A mirror appeared in front of Szaelaporro.
Black mist spewed out from the mirror.
"Hmm?" Szaelaporro found the black mist interesting. He didn't avoid it, even making contact with it intentionally.
The black mist from the mirror quickly enveloped Szaelaporro.
Upon contact, Szaelaporro froze for a moment.
"It's working!" Kakyō rejoiced internally.
What she didn't know was that the 'Breath of the Underworld' was causing Szaelaporro significant trouble.
Another will, dormant deep within his body, had been awakened under its influence.
Szaelaporro covered his forehead with his other hand and muttered under his breath:
"Yylfordt... how did you wake up..."
Kana seized the opportunity and kicked Szaelaporro's mask, breaking free from his grip.
She landed on the ground, gasping for breath. Her neck had almost been snapped.
Kana's mind raced. The power gap between them was too vast; they had to outsmart him.
She glanced into the depths of the Dangai. The rumbling sound was getting louder.
Kana sheathed her sword and drew it again.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang—
A continuous stream of light instantly struck Szaelaporro.
But Szaelaporro seemed to be struggling with the other will inside him and ignored Kana's attack.
Puchi! Puchi! Puchi—
Many small wounds appeared on Szaelaporro's body.
"You're courting death!" Szaelaporro was furious. He hadn't expected this black mist, with its strange spiritual particle fluctuations, to awaken his dormant brother's will.
But these wounds were insignificant to him. As soon as he suppressed the will inside him, he could crush these Shinigami with ease.
RUMBLE—
A light appeared at the other end of the Dangai passage.
The The Cleaner appeared before them.
Szaelaporro finally suppressed his brother's will, but he quickly discovered a new problem.
His movements had become sluggish.
It felt as if there was a barrier between him and his body, preventing him from controlling it.
However, his spiritual pressure was strong, and he could forcibly break through this thin barrier.
But, the The Cleaner had already reached them.
Szaelaporro was shocked and enraged; he didn't have time to get out of the way.
"Damn it!!!"
The moment he broke through the internal barrier, he was swallowed by the The Cleaner.
However, before Kana and Kakyō could breathe a sigh of relief...
Two long white whips wrapped around their bodies.
For a moment, Kana and Kakyō couldn't break free from the whips' grasp and were swept away by the turbulent currents surrounding the The Cleaner.
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