"Excellent, the seniors are here!"
Seeing Shūhei and the others arrive to support them, Renji's tense spirit could finally relax.
"Hurry! Let's fall back immediately!"
Rukia and the others responded in unison and immediately took the chance to pull Akiyama out from the Hollow's encirclement, running toward Arata and the others.
"Are you all right?!" Shūhei looked worried. "Is anyone injured?"
From the moment they heard the screams, they had been running nonstop. But it seemed they were still too late, the broken limbs and blood on the ground told the whole story.
"Senior, we're fine, but Akiyama…" Rukia shook her head.
"Aoga, treat this girl first." Shūhei quickly made the decision. "Arata, Kanisawa, and I will deal with these Hollows. The rest of you, stay alert."
"Understood. I'll leave it to you then." Aoga nodded and immediately used Kidō to heal Akiyama.
Hearing that, Renji, of course, disagreed.
"Hisagi-senpai, we can fight too!"
"Idiot! These are real Hollows, you can't handle them like in practice!"
"Don't think you're invincible just because you beat a few weak simulations!" Kanisawa glared at him sharply.
She was right. Even they couldn't predict the attack of the invisible Hollow, which far exceeded the standards of students at the Spiritual Arts Academy.
Renji wanted to argue, but Kira pulled on his sleeve.
"Calm down, Abarai. The most important thing now is to protect ourselves and not cause more trouble for the seniors."
"Renji, Kira is right. The situation is beyond our control," Rukia added calmly.
Hinamori nodded. "Yes, we should stay on guard in case more Hollows appear."
After those words, Renji finally calmed down. Seeing that, Shūhei, Kanisawa, and Arata focused on the massive Hollow in front of them.
Kanisawa took the initiative, using her knowledge of Kidō techniques to create an opening for her comrades.
"Be destroyed, black dog of Rondanini! Look upon me and tremble! Bakudō #9: Geki!"
Five yellow spiritual bands, like ropes, condensed from her hands, quickly wrapping around the massive bones of the Hollow and restraining it. The beast roared in fury.
Arata seized the moment to leap, the sword in his hand pierced precisely through the Hollow's mask.
The mask shattered, and the body crashed to the ground, soon dissolving into spiritual particles that vanished into the air.
Thanks to Unohana Retsu, the demonic training of the past days had greatly enhanced his reiatsu. Arata had mastered precision strikes through countless practical battles.
With the strength and speed of a seated officer, it was no difficulty for him to destroy a lower-ranked Hollow in one blow.
"Rika, rika, rika!!"
The death of their companion triggered rage and fear among the remaining Hollows. They roared in unison and, releasing their spiritual pressure, shattered Kanisawa's restraints and charged toward Arata.
It was that man, that purple-haired shinigami in the black hakama, who had killed their kind with a single strike!
Shūhei predicted the trajectory of one Hollow's attack, quickly moved, and barely managed to block it with his short sword.
But the remaining three attacks came without hesitation, forcing him to shout:
"Arata, watch out!"
Kanisawa clasped her hands again, compressing yellow reiatsu in her palms. The distance was too short, she could only try to restrain the Hollows with the lowest Kidō spell.
"Bakudō #4. Hainawa!"
Unfortunately, the spell was too weak and hastily cast. The reiatsu was too small to stop the massive bodies of the Hollows.
Arata's expression showed not the slightest trace of panic. The cold look in his eyes spoke more than a thousand words.
"Keep your head down…"
Shūhei and Kanisawa froze, not understanding what he meant.
They saw Arata raise his Zanpakutō horizontally in front of him, and then an enormous surge of spiritual pressure burst from his body.
"Dark Flame Slash!"
Purple-black reiatsu exploded from the blade and instantly split into four terrifying crescent slashes spreading in all directions. One of them passed right beside Shūhei's head, forcing him to duck quickly.
So… that's what you meant by 'keep your head down'?!
Boom!
Four massive Hollows were sliced in half at the same time. Their bodies collapsed and scattered into particles of light.
Everyone was left speechless. They stared at the scene before them without a word.
Could everything really be resolved with just one strike?
"Let's go, we need to find the other teams."
Arata calmly sheathed his sword, as if the previous battle hadn't put any pressure on him at all.
"…" Shūhei was silent for a few moments, then said, "How much stronger have you gotten without telling us?"
"Nothing special, just at the level of a regular seated officer," Arata answered honestly.
His current strength was roughly that of a seventh or eighth level, so killing such ordinary Hollows was easy for him. As long as he didn't encounter a Menos Grande, there was no reason to worry.
After all, he carried the bloodline of the Soul King and had already consumed numerous blue vials of spiritual elixir, it would be strange if his power hadn't increased dramatically.
Kanisawa sighed deeply. "You've really left me far behind."
Everyone was visibly impressed, not to mention Rukia and the others who had experienced it firsthand. In their eyes, admiration for Arata was clear.
"I've heard of Senior Arata from the teachers before, but I didn't expect he was actually this incredible!"
"After all," added Renji, "he's an elite, first in his class for two consecutive years."
Shūhei subtly shook his head. The students who came here for the first time had too narrow an understanding. Even the best student in the Academy couldn't reach this level of power.
The kendo instructor had never demonstrated a strike filled with that kind of purple-black reiatsu. And that sudden surge of spiritual pressure, it resembled the sign of an awakened Zanpakutō far too much.
Could it be that Arata… had already achieved Shikai?
After eliminating the five large Hollows, Arata and the others set out again to search for the other teams.
Whether by luck or fate, apart from the two groups of invisible Hollows that had earlier attacked Kanisawa and Akiyama, they didn't encounter any more enemies. The other teams were also safe and sound.
Shūhei briefly explained the situation to all the gathered students.
Although many teams had failed to complete their training objectives, for safety reasons he decided to temporarily suspend the mission. The most important thing was for all students to return safely to Seireitei.
At that moment, the communication device finally reactivated, allowing Shūhei to make contact with the barrier team.
"This is Hisagi Shūhei, leader of today's field practice."
"This is the barrier team speaking. Is something unusual happening?"
It seemed the barrier group had no idea about the chaos that had just occurred.
Shūhei took a deep breath. "We were attacked by a group of massive Hollows. Terminate the practice immediately and send a rescue team!"
"W-what? Are you serious?"
Kanisawa grabbed the transmitter and snapped sharply: "Do you think we'd joke about something like this?!"
There was silence on the other end, followed by hurried noise.
"We deeply apologize… this was a serious failure in our duty."
"What are the casualties?" Shūhei asked coldly.
"Three students were killed, and several were lightly injured. The rescue team is already on the way. Please remain in place and await assistance."
When the call ended, Shūhei set the communicator down and addressed everyone in a calm tone, trying to reassure them.
Arata quietly sighed in relief. Although he had easily defeated the giant Hollow, inside he had been tense. He had worried that Aizen might launch some unexpected plan.
Fortunately, nothing had happened. The contact with the barrier team meant Aizen's experiment in this area was over.
Akiyama Haruna's fate has been changed by your actions. You gain 18 Fate Points.
The system panel appeared before Arata once again.
He already knew that the number of points obtained depended on the character's importance in the original storyline and the degree to which their fate was changed.
Akiyama Haruna, a character who never appeared in the original work, naturally, she couldn't yield a high reward.
Even if you save someone's life, if that person plays no major role in the history of the Soul Society, the fate value remains low.
"I have to find other ways to earn more Fate Points…"