The Six-Rod Light Prison pinned the Adjuchas in place, sending it into an instant frenzy. As it threw its head back and roared, it began hurling an impressive stream of vulgar curses—half of which Akira was pretty sure it had learned from some very questionable source.
"Kill you… tear you into pieces!"
"Rip out your guts and shove them into your ear canals!"
"You insignificant vermin…!"
As the evolved form above a Gillian, the Adjuchas possessed the intelligence of an adult human—though the massive reservoir of negative emotions packed into its body made its behavior wildly unstable.
Kisaragi Akira sat cross-legged on the ground. Behind him, the sacred silhouette formed by the black shadow stretched outward, countless branch-like tendrils unfurling like a tree spreading its limbs.
A moon among stars.
Dense spiritual pressure swirled around the shadow, flooding into Akira's depleted reserves.
It didn't take long for his spirit energy to refill completely.
But the power granted by the ritual didn't stop there — it continued pouring into him, strengthening him further. A fullness seeped into his very soul, while the black markings etched along his body pulsed with eerie, magnificent power. The chill that crept across his skin was bone-deep — cold enough to devour.
And then—
The instant the Six-Rod Light Prison shattered apart, the ground quaked violently. A wave of spiritual pressure surged outward like a tsunami, crashing across the forest.
The spreading darkness around Akira thickened the air itself until it felt viscous and suffocating.
Crack… crack!
The sound rang from the breaking Kidō.
The massive Hollow—this Adjuchas of the Kurokisa clan—burst free and lunged forward, its blade-like limbs cleaving through the air with explosive force.
By now, the creature's rage had reached its very limit.
How it even ended up in this world no longer mattered to it.
Its only desire was to crush these two little insects bit by bit, let its underlings feast on their corpses…
…and then grind their souls into dust between its teeth.
Lightning crawled across Akira's body like serpentine dragons, hissing and snapping. The air heated around him until it smelled faintly scorched, and the ground beneath him blackened.
Power thrummed through his entire being — power gained through sacrificing those Hollow souls… power he had never felt before.
At that moment, the Adjuchas barreled toward him like an enraged freight truck. Compared to the brown-haired boy nearby, this lightning-wreathed brat was far more offensive to its instincts.
Its prey.
Closing in.
Its sharpened limbs descended like spears, ripping through the air toward Akira with force that made the wind alone sting against his skin.
But that sting didn't stir fear in him. Instead—
It awakened something vicious.
Bloodlust surged.
Death-Sword Style — Cloudbreaker!
The sword style created by the very first Kenpachi burst forth in full brilliance.
No need for fancy technique.No complicated flourish.
Just pure, concentrated killing power—everything unleashed in one strike.
In an instant, the Adjuchas's limb was severed cleanly. Thick, steaming blood sprayed across the ground… only to be swallowed immediately by the writhing black shadow pooled around Akira's feet.
A splash of blood landed across Akira's cheek, giving his normally handsome face a ferocious edge.
Aizen stared in disbelief as Akira—rather than retreat—charged forward toward a creature tens of times his size.
The tides of battle reversed in an instant.
Distance shrank by the heartbeat, the air thick with suffocating bloodlust.
The Adjuchas froze for a moment—its instincts overwhelmed by Akira's sudden explosion of raw killing intent. That single hesitation was enough.
Another limb went flying.
The pain shattered what little rationality it had left, and its beast-like howls echoed through the entire forest, shaking the treetops.
The ground beneath it split apart as it surged forward with terrifying speed—like a meteor crashing downward.
Its blood-red eyes burned with unrestrained violence. Spiritual pressure fell like a falling mountain, and its jaws opened wide as it prepared another piercing sound-wave attack.
Seeing this, Aizen began forming hand signs for another binding spell, ready to restrain it to give Akira an opening.
But then—
Something unexpected happened.
Akira charged directly into the incoming spiritual pressure, ripping it apart with brute force. The veneer of innocence that usually clung to him was torn away, revealing pitch-black pupils brimming with unrestrained savagery.
Lightning burst from his left hand. His right hand raised his blade. Every muscle tensed.
Spiritual power surged to overwhelming levels—
The blessing of the One-Eyed Great God, Mimihagi.
Full-body reinforcement.
His blade gleamed with lethal sharpness.
With a single forward step, he hacked straight through the descending limb—splitting it in two—and carried the momentum forward without slowing.
Lightning exploded beneath his feet, propelling him like a cannon shell. His speed sharpened. Increased. Multiplied.
Speed is power.
The sound-wave roared toward him like a collapsing wall, a shockwave visible even to the naked eye.
And then—
BOOM!
The two forces collided, spiritual pressure exploding outward as the boy and the giant Hollow were thrown apart, both skidding several meters back.
For the first time…
The Adjuchas sensed real danger.
A moment ago, this little Shinigami brat had been completely helpless. What had he taken? What had he eaten? How had he suddenly become this monstrous?
In a direct clash, it—the Adjuchas—had been pushed back!
Something was very, very wrong.
The crushed limbs, the ripped flesh, the blazing pain tearing through its body… the Adjuchas found its fury cooling into fear. The red glow in its eyes dimmed slightly.
It stared at the figure charging toward it—
Blood streaked across his cheek. A feral grin twisting his lips. Sword in one hand, lightning crackling in the other.
At this point… which one of them was supposed to be the real monster?
For the first time, the Adjuchas felt… not hungry.
Just terrified.
The moment hesitation crept into its heart, lightning exploded under Akira's feet. The earth shattered. Using the recoil, he launched himself forward like a fired shell—
And in the next heartbeat, he appeared directly before the Adjuchas.
Four eyes met.
The predator and prey switched places.
Aizen no longer looked back. Akira had said he'd finish charging — and when he reached peak power, the outcome had already been decided.
Against an opponent of similar rank, a Hollow relying on raw instinct could never win against this lunatic.
Aizen turned to head toward the encroaching swarm of lesser Kurokisa Hollows—
—but then stopped as several powerful spiritual pressures surged from the direction of Zendō-ji Temple.
At their head was one pressure thick and heavy like iron.
Reinforcements… had arrived.
The first to step into the devastated battlefield was a tall man with long blond hair and a lazy, carefree expression. But the moment he saw the state of the forest, his jaw dropped.
Broken trees. Scorched earth. Deep trenches carved through the soil. Thick, congealed Hollow blood soaking the ground.
At the edge of the clearing, the massive Kurokisa Adjuchas lay collapsed, every one of its limbs severed, blood pouring out in bubbling streams.
And atop its back stood a lone, battered figure—clothes shredded, body covered in wounds—raising a lightning-wreathed right fist.
And then, before the stunned Shinigami reinforcements could utter a word…
His fist came crashing down—
—and he blew the Adjuchas's head apart with a single punch.