Chapter 146: Adjuchas

"What if I refuse?" Kūgo Ginjō asked cautiously.

The guy in front of him didn't seem reliable at all.

Following the Tsunayashiro Clan was one thing—after all, he had spent years dealing with them.

But this "Sephiroth" had barely met him and was already trying to recruit him. Agreeing too easily wouldn't just be humiliating—it would be outright dangerous.

"I'm not asking you, brat!"

Masatsuki Aozaki drew his Zanpakutō from his waist and gave it a casual swing. A white, crescent-shaped sword arc slashed past Kūgo Ginjō, carving a massive ravine hundreds of meters long into the ground behind him.

Cold sweat trickled down Kūgo Ginjō's forehead. He swallowed hard, forcing down the terror clawing at his throat.

Turning his head stiffly, he saw the destruction behind him—his pupils constricting in shock.

A lunatic… This guy is a complete lunatic!

He couldn't sense any Reiatsu, so how was he this powerful?!

Thank god they were in the outskirts. If this had been the city center, how many people would've died from a single swing of that blade?

"Don't worry, even if there were people around, it wouldn't matter."

"When someone dies, their soul goes to Soul Society. Life continues as usual, and in a few decades, they'll completely forget about the World of the Living."

Masatsuki Aozaki suddenly paused, a flicker of realization crossing his face.

He had spent a good amount of time in Soul Society, but he had never seen anyone actually lose their memories.

Oh well, not important.

Snapping back to the present, he fixed his gaze on the young man in front of him.

"So, what's your answer? I've got things to do here, and I don't have time to waste on you. Or… do you want my next swing to take your head off?"

…

"Sephiroth-sama."

Kūgo Ginjō's voice pulled Masatsuki Aozaki from his thoughts and back to the present.

"The Hollow gathering site is just up ahead."

"They've even used special methods to block Reiatsu detection. Looks like these guys aren't ordinary."

Masatsuki Aozaki spread his hands in mock surprise. "Well, well, that's interesting." Then, without hesitation, he stepped forward.

…

"Domilo-sama!"

The Hawkwing Hollow landed steadily inside a chamber enclosed by towering black walls, bowing respectfully to the massive figure looming before it.

The being was over ten meters tall, its pale body resembling that of a gigantic ape.

The surrounding Hollows bowed in unison, making it clear—this Hollow, Domilo, was their leader.

Domilo nodded slightly, and the dark walls of the chamber began to tremble. A deep rumbling echoed from the ground.

The black structure surrounding the Hollows wasn't just a fortress—it was made of Gillian, the lowest class of Menos.

The Gillians all had identical features—long-nosed white masks reminiscent of clowns, and enormous, cloak-like bodies towering nearly fifty meters tall. From a distance, they looked like a range of ominous black mountains.

"Have you found enough high-Reiryoku souls?" Domilo rumbled, gripping the Hawkwing Hollow in his massive hand.

"Not yet, my lord," the Hawkwing Hollow replied carefully.

Domilo was not someone it could afford to offend—he was an Adjuchas-class Menos.

It was merely a lowly Hollow.

Forget Domilo himself—even the Gillian under his command could crush it to dust without effort.

"Then keep searching! All of you! We need a hundred qualified souls! If we fail, we'll all end up on Szayelaporro-sama's operating table!"

Domilo roared, slamming a massive fist into the ground, leaving a deep crater.

But despite his threatening words, there was no mistaking the fear laced in his voice.

Unlike the mindless Gillians, the regular Hollows could hear the unease in his tone. They took a deep breath.

None of them would mock this powerful Adjuchas—because they felt the same fear.

Any Hollow living under the rule of Hueco Mundo's King, Baraggan, knew of the terror that was Las Noches' chief researcher.

Even among Hollows, Szayelaporro's experiments were considered disturbingly cruel—so much so that even their own kind struggled to stomach them.

"Ahh!"

As the Hollows brooded over their grim reality, a Gillian suddenly moved. A single careless step crushed a smaller Hollow beneath its massive foot.

"What's going on? Why are the Gillians getting restless?"

"Someone's invaded our territory. I can sense a Shinigami's Reiatsu."

The gathered Hollows erupted in a cacophony of noise.

"A Shinigami?" Domilo smirked, his tone dripping with mockery.

He could sense the Reiatsu of a standard Shinigami—not particularly strong, but strength didn't matter. If they were a Shinigami, it meant they had an exceptional soul.

And exceptional souls made exceptional test subjects.

Domilo pounded his thick arm against his chest and let out a booming laugh.

"Bring him to me alive. Szayelaporro-sama prefers them that way."

"Yes!" The Hollows responded eagerly. If they could capture this Shinigami, their chances of survival would increase.

They still had ambitions—they wanted to evolve. Not just to become powerful Adjuchas or even Vasto Lorde, but their endless, insatiable hunger drove them forward, pushing them to devour and survive.

...

"Sephiroth-sama, are you sure about this?"

Kūgo Ginjō watched as Hollows soared through the sky, charged across the ground, and swung between buildings. He swallowed hard.

His potential was high. After absorbing the power of a standard Shinigami, his Reiatsu had nearly reached Seated Officer level.

But facing this sheer number of Hollows…

It was impossible not to feel some fear.

And it wasn't just weak Hollows coming toward him—some of them had even stronger Reiatsu than his.

"Relax, they're just a bunch of small fry," Masatsuki Aozaki waved a hand dismissively, completely unfazed by the grotesque creatures swarming toward them.

"But… some of them look really strong."

Kūgo Ginjō pointed toward the distant figures—massive black silhouettes that loomed like mountains. His legs nearly buckled beneath him.

Even from this far away, their Reiatsu pressed down on him like an unbearable weight.

"Strong?" Masatsuki Aozaki burst into laughter, as if he had just heard the funniest joke in the world.

"When I said small fry, I meant all of them. Including those guys. And their boss too."

"Their boss?" Kūgo Ginjō's eyes widened in disbelief.

The enormous black creatures looked slow-witted, but their Reiatsu was leagues beyond his own. The thought that something so massive—something that could crush him like an insect—actually had a master was terrifying.

If those were the subordinates… what kind of power did their leader possess?

And what kind of monster was Sephiroth to call them weaklings?

...

"Alright, that should be enough," Masatsuki Aozaki said as the Hollows closed in. "Since there's so many of them, I might as well use a spell I haven't recited in a while."

"Heart of the south, eye of the north, finger of the west, foot of the east, arrive with the wind and depart with the rain."

"Bakudō #58: Kakushitsuijaku!"

A black circular formation instantly spread across the ground. Masatsuki Aozaki pressed one hand against it, and a radiant white glow of Reiatsu surged outward.

He grinned.

"Target locked. Now, to restrict their movements… Let's see… This should do the trick!"

...

(40 Chapters Ahead)

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