"We're back~" The green-haired girl came in with the pink-haired big man behind her.
The big man was carrying two bags with today's lunch inside.
"Good," Muten Natsu said, stopping what he was doing and stepping off the treadmill. "I've completely figured it out."
"Hey!" Hiyori Sarugaki noticed him stop. "Who said you could stop? Keep going!"
"There's no point in continuing." Muten Natsu moved a little to loosen up his stiff body after repeating the same motion for so long. "I already understand what this treadmill does."
"If you understand it, then keep running!" Hiyori Sarugaki glared at him irritably. "Stay on it for at least three full days!"
"Why are you two arguing?" The green-haired girl handed the boxed lunches to Rukia Kuchiki and Orihime Inoue.
"Thank you, Mashiro." Orihime Inoue had only just learned that the girl's name was Mashiro Kuna. "It's not really an argument."
Orihime Inoue had seen Rukia Kuchiki and Muten Natsu actually argue before. What was happening now was just Hiyori Sarugaki venting her frustration over not getting to enjoy the earlier fight enough.
"This treadmill can drain spiritual power by a huge amount, but that only applies to other people." Myōki popped out of Muten Natsu's palm. "With Myōki's Soul-Stealing and the help of the Bokukō Gigai, I can recover spiritual power very quickly. A machine at this level would need at least ten days to completely drain my spiritual power, even if I turned off Soul-Stealing."
Hiyori Sarugaki corrected him, "It's the Super Hiyori Treadmill."
"Call it whatever you want." Muten Natsu put Myōki away and drew Bokukō. "The point is to drain my spiritual power completely, right? I've got a better way."
Reiatsu poured into Bokukō. Thick spiritual ink overflowed from the blood groove, blackness spreading outward as Muten Natsu's spiritual power rapidly drained away with it.
"So you can do this too..." Shinji Hirako nodded. "Then yeah, there's no need to keep using that piece-of-junk Hiyori treadmill."
"It's Super!" Hiyori Sarugaki shouted.
The thick spiritual ink dripped onto the ground and spread in every direction, releasing wisps of drifting black mist.
At first, everyone was curious about what the spiritual ink could do. As time passed, though, they became more curious about Muten Natsu's spiritual power.
No matter how you looked at it, this amount was ridiculous.
After finishing her own meal, Orihime Inoue picked up Muten Natsu's and fed him bite by bite. "Ahhh~~~"
Muten Natsu was gripping Bokukō with both hands to keep the spiritual ink output at maximum, so he really could not free a hand to eat. And if he waited until his spiritual power was fully drained, he probably would not even have the strength left to eat. So he obediently opened his mouth and let her feed him.
Hiyori Sarugaki looked speechless. "She's the type who'd spoil a man into uselessness."
Shinji Hirako clutched his chest. "Ah... I've had my heart broken again."
Kensei Muguruma, the white-haired man in the tank top, shot him a sidelong glance. "An unrequited crush doesn't count as love, does it?"
"Not necessarily." Lisa Yadōmaru, the braided girl in the sailor uniform, flipped through the manga in her hand. "A simp is still a dog."
Shinji Hirako shot back, "So a pervert still counts as a woman, right?"
"I'm not a pervert!" Lisa Yadōmaru shouted. "I'm just interested!"
"From society's point of view," Kensei Muguruma reminded her, "that makes you a pervert."
"Oh?" Lisa Yadōmaru glared at him. "Weren't you interested too? You even borrowed my manga before!"
Kensei Muguruma blushed. "I gave it back!"
Lisa Yadōmaru drove the point home. "That still means you read it!"
"Hahahaha! What's there to be embarrassed about?" Love Aikawa laughed loudly. "I go borrow one every two days!"
Somehow... Rukia Kuchiki watched Muten Natsu being fed while listening to all their bickering, and felt that the Visored's atmosphere was rather different from what she had expected.
Mashiro Kuna, the green-haired girl in the white bodysuit, fanned the air with her little hands as she stared at the spreading black mist. "Hachi, do something."
If this kept up, the whole place was going to fill with black mist.
Muten Natsu looked toward the pink-haired big man, who was two meters fifty-seven tall and weighed three hundred seventy-seven kilograms.
These people had only briefly introduced themselves by name, without mentioning anything about their past.
But with Unohana Retsu's help, Muten Natsu had still learned some useful information.
The man's name was Hachigen Ushōda, though most of the Visored called him Hachi.
A hundred years ago, he had served as Vice Commander of the Kidō Corps and possessed extremely powerful Kidō.
The Kidō Corps was a unit that specialized in Kidō operations, usually handling tasks like Kidō development, opening passages, raising barriers, sealing, and unsealing.
Back when Rukia Kuchiki was to be executed, it had been the Kidō Corps that handled the unsealing.
"J-just wait a second." Hachigen Ushōda clapped his huge hands and put up a barrier. Then, with a shift of his fingers, openings appeared on both sides of the barrier, and a strong wind surged up, carrying the black mist away.
Orihime Inoue was merely amazed, but Rukia Kuchiki was stunned.
Laymen watched the spectacle. Experts saw the skill.
Rukia Kuchiki had always done well in Kidō, and precisely because she was good at it, she understood even better how difficult it was.
Constructing a barrier was one of the more basic Kidō skills, but a barrier large enough to cover an entire factory would take at least four ordinary Shinigami working together.
Opening holes in that barrier while still maintaining its shape was like cutting holes into a balloon while keeping it inflated. The difficulty was far beyond simply blowing up a balloon.
And on top of that, Hachigen Ushōda had used Hadō #58, Tenran, to stir up a gale while still controlling its power within a limited area... as expected of the former Vice Commander of the Kidō Corps.
Muten Natsu's spiritual power drained away at high speed, and there was less and less spiritual ink. In the end, even Bokukō could no longer maintain its Shikai form and reverted to the appearance of an Asauchi. "This should do it, right?"
"Yeah, that's right." Shinji Hirako held out a hand. "Perfect."
Reiatsu surged, and Muten Natsu closed his eyes.
"Don't worry." Love Aikawa slung the unconscious Muten Natsu over his shoulder and explained things to Rukia Kuchiki and Orihime Inoue. "The only way to move on to the next step is to knock him unconscious."
"Hachi," Shinji Hirako called, "put up a Double-Layer Barrier."
"Understood!" Hachigen Ushōda clapped one hand at his chest and the other above his head, and a golden double barrier completely enclosed the factory.
"Come on!" Hiyori Sarugaki stomped on the ground. With a creak, a slab of the floor rose up and revealed a deep underground passage.
Everyone went down together. What opened up before them was a huge space similar to the underground area beneath Urahara Shop. A desolate plain stretched out, dotted everywhere with towering stone outcrops, beneath an artificial sky.
"Rose, stop them from interfering." Watching Love Aikawa set Muten Natsu down on the ground, Shinji Hirako turned and instructed Hachigen Ushōda, "Hachi, put up another barrier here too."
"Oh—"
"Oh what?" Shinji Hirako said with open disgust. "An old guy saying 'oh' is not cute at all!"
Rukia Kuchiki's gaze swept over Lisa Yadōmaru, who was standing in front of her. "What exactly are you planning to do?"
"First, we put his own consciousness to sleep. Then we force out the Hollow's consciousness. After that, we restrain him in his Hollowfied state," Shinji Hirako answered. "Of course, the method is a little rough. Hachi, seal his five limbs."
"Understood!" Hachigen Ushōda interlocked the fingers of both hands, and five points of light rose from his fingertips. "Walls of iron sand, a priestly pagoda, glowing ironclad fireflies. Standing upright, silent to the end. Bakudō #75. Gochūtekkan!"
His clasped hands slammed down onto the ground, and the five points of light reflected off the earth below, giving off a brilliant glow.
Rukia Kuchiki looked up. "They're actually using this..."
With a crashing roar, five enormous iron pillars connected by black chains slammed down. Each square pillar was dozens of meters tall, crushing Muten Natsu's limbs and the center of his back beneath them.
"Muten!" Orihime Inoue reached for her hairpins, wanting to heal him.
"Don't worry, he won't die." Lisa Yadōmaru raised a hand to stop her. "You'll see soon enough. He doesn't need healing."
"Don't blame us for being rough." Shinji Hirako stared at Muten Natsu beneath the iron pillars. "In a moment, he'll be rougher than we are. Everyone... release your Reiatsu."
At Shinji Hirako's order, the Visored released their Reiatsu all at once. Unlike the power of ordinary Shinigami, their violent Reiatsu rose up, intertwined in midair, and pressed down on Muten Natsu inside the barrier.
Even though the Reiatsu was not aimed directly at Orihime Inoue, she was still caught in the terrifying pressure and nearly lost her footing.
Rukia Kuchiki grabbed her by the arm and released her own Reiatsu to help shield her.
By this point, Rukia Kuchiki already understood the Visored's method.
When an ordinary soul is surrounded by Hollows and influenced by them, it falls more quickly into becoming a Hollow.
The Visored were recreating a similar process, using the Reiatsu from their own Hollowfication to trigger Muten Natsu's Hollowfication.
Muten Natsu's own consciousness had already fallen asleep, so once he Hollowfied, his body would be driven by instinct and fight unconsciously.
The reason they had exhausted Muten Natsu's spiritual power earlier was to weaken him after Hollowfication, making it easier for the Visored to suppress him and prevent Hollowfied Muten Natsu from causing too much destruction.
It really was a very good method...
No, wait!
For some reason, Rukia Kuchiki felt that something was wrong.
"Why hasn't he come out yet... I might kill you, you know~" Shinji Hirako noticed that Muten Natsu still had not moved beneath the iron pillars. His gaze shifted, landing on Rukia Kuchiki, deep in thought, and Orihime Inoue, full of worry. "Ah, I see. Because his companions are here, he hasn't fallen into complete despair yet... Lisa, kill them."
"You idiot... don't say it out loud!" Rukia Kuchiki finally realized what the problem was. "Muten Natsu doesn't fully trust you!"
Of course Rukia Kuchiki knew Shinji Hirako did not really intend to kill them. He was just trying to provoke Muten Natsu with those words.
But that was the problem.
Right now, Muten Natsu could not be provoked.
Muten Natsu had not known the Visored for long. After everything he had gone through in Seireitei, there was no way he could fully trust them.
Especially with Rukia Kuchiki and Orihime Inoue traveling with him.
Even with his spiritual power exhausted, Muten Natsu would definitely still leave himself a backup plan just in case.
Which meant that right now, Muten Natsu was absolutely not as weak as the Visored thought he was.
If he Hollowfied at this moment, then the destructive power he would unleash...
Clang!
The chains shook, and the five iron pillars slammed into one another.
Muten Natsu suddenly lifted his head. The right half of his face was covered by a ghastly white skull mask, while the left half was completely expressionless. Both eyes had turned pitch-black, and his cold voice rose without the slightest inflection. "[Error] [Malfunction] [Anomaly] [Failure] [Damage] [Unable to Execute]"
A crimson glow flared in his eyes and swept rapidly across everyone present. "[Clear]"
Just being swept by that gaze made Hiyori Sarugaki's body stiffen on instinct.
There was none of an enemy's savagery there, nor any of a Hollow's madness.
Something had occupied Muten Natsu's body, yet it held no human emotion at all.
What stood before them was neither Muten Natsu, nor Hollowfied Muten Natsu, but a humanoid... monster of unknown origin.
"Hachi!" Shinji Hirako sensed that something was off. "This is bad. Can you still hold it?"
"No problem!" Spiritual energy surged around Hachigen Ushōda, and the shaking iron pillars stabilized again. "As long as he's still inside my barrier..."
Drip.
A black drop landed on the barrier. The instant Hachigen Ushōda looked up, more black liquid began to fall like rain, slowly melting the barrier away.
"That's... the spiritual ink from before!" Hachigen Ushōda realized the barrier was dissolving. "That stuff is corrosive!"
The falling spiritual ink punched through the barrier and landed on the iron pillars. The pillars that had just stabilized began to give off blue smoke, then were completely covered by the spiritual ink and stained pitch-black.
As if it had a life of its own, the spiritual ink on the ground flowed together, rolling upward and lifting the iron pillars.
The pillars that had been pinning Muten Natsu down were raised into the air by the spiritual ink, standing side by side, while the gaps between them were filled in with more ink.
"[Bankai. Rin'en Bokukō]"
Along with a high, far-carrying cry, a colossal beast burst through the spiritual ink, opening its savage jaws and charging at the Visored.
"Tch!" Lisa Yadōmaru stepped in front of Rukia Kuchiki and Orihime Inoue. "He's completely lost his mind. He's even attacking his own side now?"
"O Heavenly One, wall of iron, dragon stride, lion roar, tiger howl, wolf rush, before collapse cuts off heaven and earth..." Hachigen Ushōda raised a hand. "Bakudō #81. Dankū!"
An invisible barrier rose in front of them. Rin'en Bokukō slammed into it, and the pitch-black spiritual ink traced a sharp dividing line across its surface, as if the two sides had been split into different worlds.
But that division lasted only for an instant before the spiritual ink corroded it away completely.
After seeing how the spiritual ink had eaten through the barrier before, Hachigen Ushōda knew Dankū could not fully stop Rin'en Bokukō. He was only buying time. "Hadō #88..."
Grabbing his left wrist, Hachigen Ushōda leveled his right palm, and a line of lightning shot straight toward Rin'en Bokukō as it broke through Dankū. "Hiryū Gekizoku Shinten Raihō!!!"
In the next instant, violent thunder erupted, swelling into a massive pillar of light wrapped in crackling electricity. Amid deafening peals of thunder, it completely blew Rin'en Bokukō apart.
"Hah..." Hachigen Ushōda lowered his arm. "That should do it. Urgh!"
Blood sprayed out!
..
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