Since Orihime Inoue had already said as much, and the situation was urgent, Rukia Kuchiki didn't want Muten Natsu getting distracted because she refused him.
Besides, it wasn't the first time.
A kiss was just a kiss.
"My mistake." Muten Natsu rubbed Rukia Kuchiki's head. "Next time, I'll kiss you both."
"You still want to kiss me?" Rukia Kuchiki kicked him. "And what do you mean, both of us?"
Rukia Kuchiki stormed off with Orihime Inoue, leaving Muten Natsu to turn toward Shinji Hirako. "What did you want to tell me?"
"I don't feel like talking to you anymore!" Shinji Hirako replied with obvious irritation.
Muten Natsu: "...?"
"This isn't a good place to talk." Shinji Hirako glanced toward the Senkaimon. "Follow me."
Only after they had moved a considerable distance from the Senkaimon did Shinji Hirako explain. "The Senkaimon is monitored by the Surveillance Hall. We can't just destroy its surveillance system the way we could casually crush a recording spirit insect, so we had to get farther away."
Muten Natsu looked around. Even though the Shinigami had done everything they could to protect the 4th Division, which was responsible for treating the wounded, badly damaged buildings could still be seen everywhere.
Or rather, if even the 4th Division had suffered this much damage, the rest of Seireitei could only be worse. It showed just how serious the Zanpakutō rebellion had become.
"You specifically wanted to avoid the Surveillance Hall's monitoring..." A cold glint flashed through Muten Natsu's eyes. "Is the Tsunayashiro Clan involved in this too?"
"We don't know yet," Shinji Hirako said quietly. "It's only a suspicion, but there's no harm in being careful. Anyway, that's not the main thing I wanted to tell you."
"Then what is?"
"Hollowfication." Shinji Hirako got straight to the point. "It wasn't only our Zanpakutō. The Hollows inside us disappeared too."
"So that's why you went tracking them with Suì-Fēng. You were trying to find the Hollows that had left your bodies?"
"Exactly. I waited here specifically to tell you something important. For Shinigami capable of Hollowfication, once the Hollow inside them and their Zanpakutō materialize..." Shinji Hirako's voice grew lower and lower, as though he were wary of someone overhearing.
To hear him clearly, Muten Natsu had no choice but to move closer.
The instant the distance between them became short enough, Shinji Hirako suddenly drew his Zanpakutō and slashed at Muten Natsu.
Clang—!
Ink spread outward, blocking Shinji Hirako's attack.
"Oh?" Shinji Hirako raised an eyebrow. "How did you notice?"
"Your disguise was convincing. I didn't notice anything." Myōki emerged from Muten Natsu's palm. "Orihime was the one who noticed."
Orihime Inoue had the keenest Reiatsu perception of them all. On top of that, she had treated Shinji Hirako before, so the moment she saw him, she noticed something was wrong with his Reiatsu.
Since she couldn't determine his intentions, Orihime Inoue hadn't exposed him immediately. Instead, she had warned Muten Natsu in a discreet way.
In the past, that kind of farewell kiss had always come just before a major battle.
But this time, Muten Natsu was only supposed to have a private conversation, yet Orihime Inoue had kissed him and even reminded Rukia Kuchiki to do the same.
That was her way of warning Muten Natsu that this would not be an ordinary conversation. It might very well turn into a deadly fight.
If being discovered by Orihime Inoue could be blamed on this fake Shinji Hirako's bad luck, then trying to defeat Muten Natsu with a draw-and-slash technique was simply foolish.
Without exaggeration, Muten Natsu had drawn his blade more times than many Shinigami had swung theirs.
The instant the fake Shinji Hirako's fingers touched his Zanpakutō, Muten Natsu had already predicted the path of his strike.
"So..." Muten Natsu's gaze turned cold. "Who are you?"
"I hadn't finished what I was saying." The fake Shinji Hirako retreated to create some distance, his appearance changing as he did. "When a Shinigami capable of Hollowfication has both the Hollow within them and their Zanpakutō materialize, the two fuse together."
His skin turned deathly white before Muten Natsu's eyes, while the fingers of both hands became covered in pale exoskeleton.
The right side of his body remained unchanged, but white armor grew from the left shoulder and merged with his Captain's Haori.
The blond hair on the left side of his head rapidly lengthened until it reached his waist. Black and red colors appeared among the strands, while their ends curled into rings. Half a mask covered the left side of his face, adding a sinister edge to his smiling expression.
A white ring floated above the back of his left hand, black and red flames dancing within it. Sakanade spun in his right hand, but unlike before, five clusters of flame now surrounded the ring on its hilt.
"This is the first time we've properly met, isn't it, Muten Natsu? I am Sakanade, now possessing the power of Hollowfication." Hollowfied Sakanade twirled the Sakanade in his hand. "I originally planned to deal with the Shinigami here without much trouble, but I didn't expect you to show up. So I'll just have to take care of you first, then deal with the rest of the Shinigami afterward."
"Why?" Muten Natsu made no move to attack. Thanks to Orihime Inoue's warning, he had still chosen to speak with Sakanade alone precisely so he could extract more information from him. "Even if you believe Shinji Hirako was restraining you, you have no reason to hurt the other Shinigami. Why are you doing this?"
"A reason..." Hollowfied Sakanade smiled. "Does everything really need one? I do whatever I feel like doing. If I couldn't act however I wanted, why would I have bothered leaving that self-important idiot Shinji in the first place?"
"Looks like that's all you're going to tell me." Muten Natsu appeared behind Hollowfied Sakanade. "I won't trouble you for the rest."
Myōki swept through the air.
"So that was an attack?" Hollowfied Sakanade chuckled. "When you suddenly moved so far away, I thought you were trying to run."
Muten Natsu frowned. "Why...?"
"You're wondering why you still fell under Sakanade's power even though you held your breath, aren't you?" Hollowfied Sakanade rotated the Zanpakutō in his hand. "That isn't enough. Holding your own breath isn't enough. You need to make your other self hold its breath too."
My other self?!
Before Muten Natsu could make sense of those words, Hollowfied Sakanade had already closed the distance and brought his blade down.
From the front... No! Behind me.
Before his thoughts could catch up, his body had already begun to react.
Muten Natsu forcibly stopped himself from raising his blade to block and slashed downward instead.
Clang—!
Ink spread outward as Ink Guard activated, blocking one attack for Muten Natsu, but it failed to stop the second strike that Hollowfied Sakanade launched immediately afterward.
A wound opened across his shoulder... no, across his back, spraying blood.
"Awful, isn't it? It's like trying to rotate your tongue clockwise while turning your head counterclockwise at the same time." Hollowfied Sakanade laughed maliciously. "The more someone like you has trained their Zanjutsu until it's practically instinctive, the easier it is for my power to interfere with them."
"In that case... I'll just use something other than Zanjutsu."
Muten Natsu stomped down hard. Surging Spirit Ink erupted beneath his feet and swept wildly across the surrounding area.
"Bakudō #1, Sai!"