IDKjust
patreon
Chapter 355 B
🕑 Added 2025-05-22 15:03:01 +0000 UTCChapter 355
2-in-1 chapter:
---------------------------
“Raaaah!!!”
Above Karakura Town, Isshin Shiba’s figure soared high into the sky.
Clenching his teeth, both hands gripping his Zanpakutō, he scowled as the entirely pitch-black Hollow effortlessly evaded his Getsuga Tenshō, darted in front of him, and sent him flying with a single claw strike.
No wonder—this was a test Hollow released by his master. It was absurdly strong.
Still, at least this scuffle had successfully drawn its attention away from Masaki. Now it was focused on the fight.
Isshin looked at the humanoid Hollow cloaked in black, radiating a dangerous aura. A strange question popped into his mind—why was it named “White Hollow”?
Just because it had white hair?
What a weird naming sense.
Isshin could tell the Hollow was watching him just as he observed it.
This creature, with its overwhelming strength and strange powers, wasn’t in any rush to finish the battle.
It was enjoying itself. As if this was a game it was playing.
Realizing this, Isshin couldn’t help but laugh.
What an arrogant bastard.
Treating one of Kaelith’s people like a plaything? Better not cry later when it regrets that choice.
With a low growl, Isshin dived down, his Zanpakutō igniting in roaring flames.
The Hollow laughed softly as it watched him charge. It had plenty of destructive power, but the speed was way too slow.
Hollow’s Sonído was inherently faster than a Shinigami’s Shunpo.
And this one was artificially created, its movement abilities specially enhanced—it could move almost instantaneously.
Just as it was about to sidestep the attack, a sudden sense of danger flared up behind it.
“Hm?”
Instinctively, it stopped, aborting its intended movement.
Whoosh!!
A blue spirit arrow flew past its side.
The arrow carried tremendous destructive Reiryoku. If it had moved as planned, it would’ve taken a direct hit.
It was that Quincy girl from before.
Just a Quincy, yet surprisingly capable.
As it thought this, the Hollow raised a hand.
Boom!!!
Isshin’s flaming Zanpakutō slammed into its palm. The flames sizzled against its Reiryoku-hardened skin, producing a searing sound.
“Hraah!!”
Isshin roared, pouring even more power into the strike.
The Hollow could sense another arrow forming behind it—another threat.
With its free hand, it touched its chin.
A Shinigami and a Quincy, coordinating seamlessly. Trusting each other.
Interesting.
“Masaki! I’ve got it pinned! Aim for its head—shoot it in the head!!”
Isshin kept pouring out Reiryoku as he shouted.
Masaki nodded, drawing her bow and taking aim at the Hollow’s head.
But in the next instant, to both their shock, the Hollow lashed out with a kick.
Isshin couldn’t react in time—he took the kick square in the stomach and was sent flying.
In the blink of an eye, the Hollow appeared beside Masaki, its hand reaching for her neck.
Masaki’s face turned pale.
No time to dodge!
Just as she thought she was about to die, a flash of light streaked through the air.
Crack!!
A lance of green lightning pierced the Hollow’s shoulder.
The force of the strike hurled its body away, slamming it into a building and erupting in an explosion.
Ulquiorra appeared beside Masaki in a flash.
After confirming she was unharmed, he nodded silently and darted off to pursue the Hollow.
Masaki stared in surprise.
Wasn’t he the sales manager from Kaelith’s company?
Why was he here? And this strong?
That white outfit wasn’t a Shihakushō. And that spiritual pressure... it wasn’t a Shinigami’s either.
If anything—it was more like... a Hollow?
Kaelith’s company had Hollows in upper management?
“Masaki!”
Isshin rushed back, visibly relieved to see she was okay.
Then he turned to look in the direction Ulquiorra had gone.
“Ulquiorra... what a good guy.”
Back when Kaelith’s Hollowfication experiment went berserk, it was Ulquiorra and Starrk who had blocked an attack for him.
Otherwise, who knows if he’d still be alive today.
And now, he’d saved Masaki in the nick of time again.
If he had a kid someday, he would definitely make them recognize this man as family.
“Masaki, tell Ryūken to send people ASAP—start evacuating the civilians!”
“Got it!”
Masaki nodded.
Isshin then followed after Ulquiorra, both of them charging the Hollow.
Ulquiorra had already released Resurrección, large black wings flaring behind him as he wielded a spear of pure spirit energy, clashing back and forth with the Hollow.
Isshin’s flaming Zanpakutō struck whenever an opening appeared.
If this rhythm held, they could wear it down and kill it.
But then, the Hollow suddenly grinned.
To their horror, it raised a hand and hurled a barrage of Ceros toward a residential building.
The Ceros weren’t strong enough to kill Isshin or Ulquiorra—but if they hit civilians, the casualties would be catastrophic.
Without hesitation, Isshin flashed in front of the blasts.
Boom boom boom boom!!
He blocked half with his sword. The rest struck him full force.
The pain nearly blacked him out.
Then the Hollow turned and launched another volley at a different building.
Ulquiorra stepped forward, blocking the blasts with his wings. Damaged sections healed instantly with High-Speed Regeneration.
The Hollow grinned manically as it watched them take the hits.
Then it raised a finger toward the sky.
Isshin’s gut clenched.
Sure enough, a red-glowing orb materialized midair.
A moment later, a barrage of Ceros fired in every direction!
Karakura might’ve been a small town, but it was densely packed.
If those Ceros all landed, tens of thousands might die.
Isshin’s face darkened.
If only Master or Kaelith were here—what would they do?!
Just then, a voice rang out—
“You two are disgraceful.”
With those words, rain poured from the sky!
In stunned silence, Isshin and Ulquiorra watched as a torrential downpour exploded the Cero volley midair, obliterating them all.
Dozens of blasts, wiped out by thousands—tens of thousands—of spiritual arrows raining down!
Amid the storm, a figure descended from above.
White military uniform. Officer’s cap. Flowing black hair. Regal, proud posture.
And behind her—majestic, white wings.
Ulquiorra blinked in surprise.
“A Quincy?”
“A Quincy this powerful exists in the living world?”
Isshin stepped up beside him.
“She’s one of Kaelith’s people. Bambietta Bastard—”
It’s Basterbine, you Oaf, she thought, hearing it clear as day even from this distance.
“—uh, Baster-something. Forgot the full name.”
“She’s not just any Quincy.”
“I’ve never seen her go all out, but Kaelith assigned her to oversee every Quincy in the world of the living.”
“If she couldn’t handle herself, she wouldn’t have earned that trust.”
Ulquiorra looked surprised.
She could suppress Ryūken and Sōken Ishida?
That was no small feat.
In the sky, Bambietta clashed with the Hollow, wielding a spiritual longsword, slashing with a mocking grin.
On the ground, Masaki looked up, feeling something familiar in that spiritual pressure.
Her eyes widened.
That was... the final form of the Spirit Weapon?
That Quincy girl had sacrificed her powers just to protect everyone?
Respect welled up within her.
Ryūken was racing toward the scene. Beside him, an old man kept pace.
Sensing the Reiryoku in the air, Ryūken adjusted his glasses.
“Such powerful Quincy energy... It’s like the final form of the Spirit Weapon.”
“Is this what you called Vollständig, Father?”
“Yes,” Sōken Ishida nodded gently.
“When I left the Wandenreich, Vollständig was just a theory.”
“I didn’t expect that in just a hundred years, Haschwalth and the others would actually complete it... A true leader, even after losing their king.”
“I’m ashamed I couldn’t do the same.”
Ryūken said nothing.
He didn’t know what kind of being Yhwach was.
But to him, Kaelith was invincible.
Even if he wasn’t stronger yet—he would be, one day.
Time would prove that leaving the Wandenreich and joining Kaelith had been the right choice.
…
The Hollow flitted around the sky.
It hadn’t expected such a powerful Quincy to exist.
The Shinigami-Hollow-Quincy power triangle was supposed to be clear.
But it was being overwhelmed.
This girl’s strength wasn’t normal.
In both one-on-one and large-scale attacks, Bambietta demonstrated incredible combat skill.
With Isshin and Ulquiorra joining back in, the Hollow’s situation became dire.
Even with evasive maneuvers, there was no winning against three monsters of equal strength.
But it didn’t plan to flee.
Because—aside from speed, it had another power.
It grinned, watching Bambietta strike confidently.
Yes. She was strong.
But no matter how strong a Quincy is, if a Hollow corrupts their powers... their fate is sealed!
Its second ability is parasitism.
Upon death, it could implant itself into any host it had injured, feed on their power, and wait until it was ready to erupt again.
A perfect test subject. Let’s start with this Quincy girl.
With a feral shriek, it rushed Bambietta head-on, aiming for a trade of injury.
But she had no intention of taking damage.
Unlike most living-world Quincy, she’d been trained since childhood in the Wandenreich.
Quincy must never be touched by Hollows.
As it charged, she gripped her blade tight and prepared to cut it down.
But just before impact, the Hollow turned and fled!
This girl... wasn’t someone it could take lightly.
Better to pick another target.
Down below, Masaki looked up just in time to see it diving at her.
She raised her bow with grim focus.
Shoom!
A spirit arrow hit the Hollow in the shoulder.
Isshin, Ulquiorra, and Bambietta followed up—one strike shattered half its body.
But the Hollow didn’t care.
Grinning wildly, it opened its mouth—
…
Seireitei, Squad 1 Office.
Kyōraku Shunsui set down his pen and stretched.
Another hard day’s work. He deserved a medal.
He turned to Kaelith, sitting calmly nearby.
All the files he'd sorted yesterday—Kaelith had finished by dawn.
Shunsui sighed.
His little junior really had grown.
No wonder people say suffering’s the best teacher.
The old man’s death...Ehm no, “departure”—had pushed Kaelith to new heights.
He really had become the perfect successor.
Thinking of Yamamoto made his feelings complicated.
He turned to Kaelith.
“Hey, Kaelith. Let’s go see the old man?”
“Him? What for?”
Kaelith looked unimpressed.
He’d just visited recently—the old man had been gaming with the others, yelling at Guts bosses.
Shunsui chuckled.
“C’mon, been a while.”
“…Alright.”
Kaelith nodded.
It just so happened that I also had some questions and wanted to confirm with the old man...
