"You'd better drop those dangerous thoughts from your mind." Aizen warned, "This is the outskirts, not an uninhabited area."
Hearing this, Akira reluctantly suppressed his Reiatsu, abandoning the bold idea he had just conceived.
His thought process had been simple: since they couldn't find the source of danger, why not unleash widespread firepower?
The Kidō Mastery exclusive Trait could reduce his Kidō casting cost by 50% while doubling its power. Though his Reiryoku might be insufficient, with the system boost, going all out would let him spread Sekienton (Red Smoke) throughout his field of vision.
If he could use it, it would be a killing blow. Unfortunately, he couldn't...
"I've used Reikaku to scan this entire forest." Aizen calmly explained, "But I haven't detected any movement. In that case, there are only three possibilities: either their Reiatsu far exceeds yours, or they're using some method to block my perception."
Akira picked up the thread, frowning.
"Or..." He looked toward the forest's north, where the more desolate outskirts lay with rolling hills creating interwoven patterns, "The danger comes from even further away!"
He was certain of this last guess.
Only a Captain-level Shinigami could evade a Lieutenant-level Reikaku, but they wouldn't deploy a Captain for a small fry like him.
According to the intelligence extracted from the assassin, the Rebels had only deployed this one small squad. In their leader's view, sending several elite Shinigami to kill a genius still studying at the Shin'ō Academy was already showing enough respect. Failing such a simple task seemed impossible.
So the true source of danger must be something else entirely.
Just as Akira was debating whether to scout further ahead, a heavy rumbling echoed through the forest, and the ground began to shake violently — as if a dragon were turning beneath the earth.
The two exchanged glances, as if asking each other's thoughts. Neither showed any fear in their eyes — only intense curiosity.
Though his Danger Instincts hadn't yet issued warnings, Akira, emboldened by Aizen's skill and his own daring nature, prepared to investigate the source of the tremors.
Clearly, everyone had a considerable degree of risk-taking in their genes — some displayed it readily while others kept it hidden deeper.
⤫⤬⤫⤬⤫⤬⤫⤬⤫⤬
Meanwhile, at the 12th Division barracks, Research Institute.
Mayuri stood at the experiment table, his face painted stark white, his bloodshot eyes and manic expression fixed on the display before him.
"Confirmed, Spirit Wave measurement established! Wait..." His eyes tracked the radar-like patterns on the massive screen. He let out a maniacal laugh that quickly gave way to a somber expression, "This is a Menos Grande's specific frequency? Location: 32nd District, East Rukongai, 3603. And there's a Hollow Circuit Detector response frequency..."
A realization dawned on Mayuri's face, twisting it into a grin.
"Ah, that foolish kid. What terrible luck, encountering a Menos Grande invasion. He's done for—"
Another voice cut through his words.
"That's not necessarily true, Mayuri." The pale-skinned Senjumaru materialized before the massive screen, her delicate lips curling as she watched the pulsing red dots.
"You never take others seriously, do you, Senjumaru? Intruding into someone's private space..." Mayuri didn't bother turning around, recognizing her voice instantly.
Indeed, she was the only one who could enter his lab without triggering his alerts — that irritating, arrogant woman.
"Intruding is too strong a word." Senjumaru's eyes followed the dots representing the Menos Grande across the screen, "I'm actually more interested in these two young men. I'm curious to see how they'll perform in this situation..."
⤫⤬⤫⤬⤫⤬⤫⤬⤫⤬
Akira stared in shock at the spider-like Hollow horde charging toward them from the horizon.
"Aren't we still in Soul Society? How can there be an entire group of Hollows here, in the headquarters of the Shinigami?"
Aizen sighed. He couldn't understand this scene either. By his knowledge, Soul Society shouldn't harbor such a massive Hollow group.
From their earlier battle, these spider Hollows should have been dwelling deep in the mountains or underground. The reason for such a large-scale disturbance...
Might be because a certain someone — whose name's first letter is 'A' and the last letter is 'kira' — had injected a huge red cloud crackling with lightning into the mountain, triggering chain explosions that disrupted the already unstable space.
Of course, there could be other reasons...
"Sōsuke, let's run." Akira's expression turned grave, "With this scale of Hollow group, forget about just us—"
Before he could finish speaking, he discovered that Aizen had already vanished from beside him.
"???"
Well, well, well. Who would have thought that someone looking so honest and upright would abandon their teammate so decisively?
Watching the spider Hollow group approach, the ground tremors intensified.
Akira didn't dare delay, following Aizen's Reiatsu in pursuit. Though he liked taking risks, faced with over a hundred Hollows, he wisely chose to flee. Who knew if there were any Menos Grande among them?
Risk-taking wasn't the same as seeking death; the two shouldn't be confused.
When Akira caught up to Aizen, he found him chanting an unfamiliar Kidō incantation in a deep voice.
"...Abrupt tower, sink, flow, pale, fall into the bottomless abyss, ignite the blazing sun, illuminate all directions."
⤫ Hadō #57: Daichi Ten'yō ⥤ Upturned Earth Dance! ⤬
As the words fell, the ground behind them instantly split with fierce cracks, the earth surging like violent waves, piling layer upon layer toward the sky, forming two impenetrable barriers. Between the barriers lay a bottomless, uncrossable ravine.
"Whew—" Akira gazed at the spectacular scene before him, drawing in a sharp breath, "As expected of you, Sōsuke. But since you're so powerful, why not turn back and kill all those Hollows?"
At these words, Aizen gave him a look as if he were looking at an idiot.
Just then, the Hollow Circuit Detector device in his pocket began to vibrate. Akira pulled it out, but before he could inject Reiatsu to check it, a familiar voice came through.
"Hello, hello, can you hear me?"
Akira was startled, not expecting the Hollow Circuit Detector device to have communication capabilities.
"This is Shutara from the Research Institute. Our observations show that a Hollow group has appeared at your location, cause unknown. However, you should note that we've detected Menos Grande Reiatsu waves within this group."
Senjumaru spoke into the microphone before her with concern.
"Young man, try not to die before support arrives..."
⤫⤬⤫
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