Seeing that Yamagata and the medic had successfully escaped, Uesawa knew he had absolutely no chance of survival. Even so, a gratified smile graced his lips. *'This isn't a bad way to go out.'*
That half-smiling, half-crying whimper echoed once more. Uesawa turned his head to see the Gillian already standing right behind him. It was grinning, tilting its massive head as it stared at him, almost as if seeing him for the very first time.
In truth, an ordinary Gillian couldn't distinguish the faces of Shinigami. Meat was just meant to be eaten; the specific patterns on their food hardly mattered. Instinct simply told the beast that it was time to reach out, grab the meal, and shove it into its mouth.
Facing the pale, giant hand drawing ever closer—the very same hand that had just snatched away his teammate's life—Uesawa felt no fear. Swinging his chain-flail, he charged right at it.
"Going down without a fight isn't my style! If you want to eat me, you'll have to break a couple of teeth for the effort!" He didn't care if he could actually pull it off; that was just his mindset. Even snapping one of its fingers would be an acceptable consolation prize.
The expected collision never came. Just as Uesawa was about to clash with the giant hand, a figure materialized out of thin air, stepping between them and forcefully prying the two apart.
"Long time no see, Uesawa." The figure slowly turned his head. A face that hadn't changed much in seven years entered Uesawa's vision. "You're looking pretty energetic."
"Kō...e?" Uesawa's jaw dropped. He instinctively rubbed his eyes, his face a picture of pure disbelief. "Shihouin? Kōe!"
"That's right, it's me!" Kōe rubbed the stubble on his chin, speaking with utmost seriousness. "I haven't shaved in half a month, so it's normal that you didn't recognize me. The difference is quite drastic, after all."
Kōe's appearance had indeed changed over the last seven years, but not so much that he was unrecognizable at a glance. What truly shocked Uesawa was his strength. He had always known Kōe was strong, but he never imagined he was *this* strong.
Almost every Shinigami knew the four major combat arts, but the gap between a beginner and a master was unfathomable. Take *Shunpo*, for instance. This footwork technique relied on instantaneous movement within a certain range, and it was exactly what Kōe had used to rush over.
However, *Shunpo* only *appeared* instantaneous; it still left a traceable trajectory. Uesawa and his men were proficient in *Shunpo*, but the reason they hadn't used it to break out of the encirclement earlier was due to the sheer number of enemies. They would have easily been intercepted mid-step.
But Kōe was entirely different. First, the range of his movement was so vast that Uesawa couldn't even perceive it. Second was the speed—he couldn't see the trajectory of the movement at all. In all of Squad 11, Uesawa had only ever seen three people execute such a beautiful *Shunpo*.
*Shunpo* was one thing, but then there was his absolute physical power. While halting the Gillian's advance, Uesawa hadn't felt the slightest shockwave of force from the impact. Such immense physical strength wasn't something even a Lieutenant possessed!
Uesawa didn't dare think any further. He looked at the young man before him with incredibly complex emotions. *'This kid isn't even a hundred years old yet. Comparing yourself to others really is a quick way to piss yourself off!'*
"What's with that look!" Kōe snapped, feeling the force bearing down on his right hand suddenly increase. "Looks like this guy doesn't have the patience to let us catch up. I'll get you out of here first."
Before Uesawa could even react, his collar tightened. The surrounding scenery blurred like an overturned paint palette, all the colors violently smearing together in an instant. Honestly, the sensation was quite nauseating.
Fortunately, the discomfort was incredibly brief, and the world quickly regained its clarity. Not far away were the backs of various Hollows, and a massive roar echoed in his ears—the source being the hunched-over Gillian.
A fierce gust of wind whipped up out of nowhere, stinging Uesawa's cheeks, though he was far too stunned to care.
"We were just... over there, right?" Uesawa pointed at the spot where thick yellow dust was currently billowing into the sky. He turned his neck stiffly toward Kōe, desperate for an explanation.
"That was close, too close! We almost didn't make it out!" Kōe said, casually whistling a tune. His completely relaxed expression betrayed zero actual tension. Uesawa immediately understood: *'What do you mean "close"? What do you mean "almost died"? That's complete bullshit, isn't it!'*
Kōe's whistle successfully drew the attention of the Hollow horde. Seeing their focus shift back to them, Uesawa immediately latched onto Kōe's arm.
"What are you doing?"
"Waiting for you to keep running!"
Kōe shot him a look of utter disdain and peeled the clinging hands off his arm. "No need to wait for me. You just go on ahead."
"I can't exactly just leave this trash lying around here, can I?" Throwing his hands up in a helpless shrug, Kōe vanished from his spot.
*'He didn't actually go back, did he?!'* Uesawa hurriedly looked toward the Hollow horde. He saw that Kōe had somehow already appeared behind one of the Hollows. Both of his black-clad hands were clamped onto its head, his fingers digging deeply into its smooth white mask.
"Where exactly are you looking!"
Accompanied by Kōe's shout, the Hollow was forcefully bent backward. Its massive head slammed heavily into the ground, shattering its mask into pieces. By the looks of it, the creature was dead beyond dead.
With that, the Hollows finally knew exactly where to look. Their original, delicious prey—Uesawa—was magnificently ignored as they all turned and swarmed toward the provoking Kōe.
What followed was Uesawa bearing witness to Kōe's combat style—an artistic, seamlessly flowing method of fighting that Uesawa would come to view as his lifelong pursuit.
Surrounded by the Hollow horde, Kōe was a blur of motion. Sometimes a short blade flashed in his hand, drawing a geyser of blood; other times, using gauntlets and greaves, his four limbs transformed into the most agile of weapons, playing an unorthodox symphony of flesh and bone.
His figure wove back and forth through the horde like an ape swinging through a forest. To Uesawa, Kōe didn't look like he was being besieged at all; rather, he resembled a butterfly leisurely fluttering its wings amidst a bed of flowers.
Fists, palms, elbows, and knees always struck at the perfect moment, as if choreographed long in advance. No matter how many Hollows there were, no matter what direction they attacked from, and regardless of how close their fangs and claws got to Kōe, in the very next second, they were destined to be sent flying off into the unknown.
One of them even landed right at Uesawa's feet. Relying on his solid professional instincts, Uesawa casually swung his blade, sending it off to see the Soul King.
Further away, Tsukikage also witnessed this spectacle. Truthfully, he was astounded. He never expected Kōe, whom he had dismissed as a pampered noble, to possess such overwhelming strength. *'Is Shikaon Susumu from my squad really more outstanding than this young man?'* Tsukikage mentally stamped a massive question mark on that assumption.
Casting those thoughts aside, he felt a strong urge to join the fray—not to steal the glory, but to offer some assistance to the young man fighting all alone.
But the problem was that Gillian. Tsukikage stared at the towering black silhouette in the distance, which seemed to be watching a theatrical play. He hoped it would just keep watching until the rest of the reinforcements arrived.
Unfortunately, Tsukikage's prayers seemed to have the exact opposite effect. The Gillian, which had been standing in a daze for quite some time, suddenly threw its head back and let out a deafening roar. Even from a distance, Tsukikage felt the very air vibrate from the sound.
It wasn't the half-smiling, half-crying whimper from before. This roar was high-pitched and immensely powerful. Even though they were different species and didn't share a language, everyone present understood one thing clearly: it was angry!
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