Chapter 26: The Many Captains Of The Masked Army Were Shocked

"This doesn't make sense... It was just a bait! Why are there so many Hollows!?"

Somewhere in an alley in Karakura Town, Ishida Uryu stood soaked in sweat, looking up at the sky filled with towering Menos Grande.

A glowing blue bow formed in his right hand as he fired arrow after arrow of spiritual energy. Each shot destroyed a Menos Grande, dissolving it into spiritual particles.

But for every one he took down, dozens more still filled the sky. It was like trying to empty an ocean with a cup.

"What the hell are you doing, Ishida! Are you out of your mind!?"Kurosaki Ichigo shouted, slicing through a Menos Grande with his sword before turning to glare at Uryu.

"Do you realize how many people are going to get hurt because of this!?"

Uryu shook his head, his face pale. "It's not me! This isn't what was supposed to happen. The bait I used shouldn't have caused this!"

He had expected to draw in maybe a thousand Hollows—at most.

But now, it looked like tens of thousands were flooding into Karakura Town. It was chaos, and people were in real danger.

All he could do now was pull back his bowstring again and again, trying to bring down as many as he could.

The argument ended quickly.

They were forced to stand back-to-back, fighting off the oncoming Hollows, their faces tight with tension—and for a moment, even fear.

Then, suddenly—A streak of black lit up the sky.

Both of them looked up, stunned.

"What is that?!""Flames?!"

"That's Nanaya's attack! That's Amaterasu! Isn't it!?"

From the distant horizon, a wave of black flames spread out, roaring across the sky like a living shadow. Hollows were burned instantly, screaming in pain as they were consumed by the fire.

The flames spread so far, they actually blocked out the sun.

It was terrifying—but to Ichigo and Uryu, the sound of the Menos Grande wailing in agony was the sweetest thing they'd heard all day.

They exchanged looks, both amazed.

"Hey, Kurosaki… did you say Nanaya's name? Are you telling me he did this?"Uryu stared, shocked, his mind flashing back to the quiet guy from class.

A normal-looking human. Maybe he had strong spiritual energy, but Uryu had seen people like that before.

Sure, they had potential—but the strongest among them could barely shape spirit energy into bombs. Even then, their power wasn't half as strong as one of his arrows.

"Of course I did," Ichigo smirked, still slicing through Hollows.

"Nanaya's stronger than I am. Way stronger. Those flames? That's his move—Amaterasu. It's a fire that never dies, and it can burn through anything."

"I've seen him use it before. But this… this is insane. He's covered the entire sky in flames!"

"Good thing he showed up. Let's take care of the ones still on the ground."

Uryu didn't respond.He just stood there for a moment, stunned.

"That guy… is really that powerful?"

His heart twisted with a mix of disbelief, awe, and something else he couldn't name.

But there was no time to think. More Menos Grande were pouring in. He gritted his teeth, raised his bow, and started shooting again.

Meanwhile, on the edge of Karakura Town, near an old warehouse—

A girl with spiky yellow hair, dressed in red and carrying a massive, jagged sword, stared at the sky in frustration.

"That idiot Urahara… he hasn't changed a bit. Still causing trouble like he did over a hundred years ago."

She swung her blade casually, slicing a charging Menos Grande clean in half.

"Did he even think about what would happen? About how many people would get caught in the middle of this mess!?"

Next to her stood a laid-back, sharp-eyed young man with matching yellow hair and a white shirt.

He looked up and sighed.

"It's not just a few Hollows this time. There must be over a hundred thousand of them."

"I'm more worried about whether anyone can stop this now."

With that, he raised his hand, releasing a wave of blue energy that tore through the sky. A line of Menos Grande fell in an instant—burned, shredded, gone.

But even then, the sky remained dark with monsters.

The Hollows just kept coming.

"Ugh, this is all that bald idiot Urahara Kisuke's fault!"The yellow-haired girl growled, roughly ruffling her hair in frustration."Why the hell would he summon this many Hollows for no reason!?"

Next to her, a chubby man in a green suit chuckled calmly."So... should we step in now?"

Before he could get a response, multiple figures appeared in flashes of movement. Members of the Visored Corps arrived one by one, each carrying a Soul-Cutting Sword, their faces tense.

They were once captains and vice-captains of the Gotei 13, now outcasts. Their eyes narrowed as they looked at the dark sky.

"That damn Urahara..." one of them muttered."He's always dragging trouble behind him."

Several of them gripped their weapons tighter, but hesitation filled the air.

As former Shinigami, they wanted to fight.But as traitors, the moment they released vice-captain-level Reiatsu or higher, they'd be flagged by the Technology Development Bureau—and likely hunted down by the Seireitei itself.

Unlike Yoruichi or Urahara, who could operate in the open, they couldn't afford to reveal their Hollow powers.

Then—Hirako Shinji, the blonde youth with the lazy grin, suddenly raised an eyebrow.

"Looks like we won't have to."

"Huh?"Everyone turned their eyes upward.

The black flames from earlier were now spreading across the sky, swallowing up even the Garganta rifts—and every Menos Grande around them.

Their screams filled the air, high-pitched and horrifying.

Any Menos Grande that even touched the fire was dragged into a black inferno, struggling violently until nothing remained but ashes.

Further out, the flames condensed into thousands of black blades, piercing distant Menos before exploding back into flame—burning them from the inside out.

"That flame... it's horrifying," someone whispered."Once it touches you, it's like it sticks to your soul. You can't shake it off..."

Several Visored members flinched at the sight, comparing it to Captain Yamamoto's Ryūjin Jakka.

Then the yellow-haired girl, Sarugaki Hiyori, suddenly snapped her fingers.

"Wait! I've heard about this flame before—wasn't it the one that burned off Urahara's hair!?"

Hirako chuckled and nodded."Yeah, that's the one. Belongs to a human named Nanaya. Didn't expect this, though."

"A human did this?""Seriously? That's wild."

"I heard from Hanakari Jinta that Nanaya gave Urahara a serious beating."

"Not just Urahara. Even Yoruichi got knocked around."

"Insane... he's taken out tens of thousands of Menos Grande alone. His Reiatsu's at least vice-captain level."

"When this is all over, I have to meet him. This guy sounds fun."

"Forget that—I'm gonna punch Urahara first."

"But with a flame like that... how much spiritual energy does he even have left?"

Meanwhile, Nanaya was bounding across rooftops, confusion flickering in his eyes.

"Wait a sec… why do I still have so much spiritual power?"

He had gone all out—maxed out both Amaterasu and Flame Control, letting his flames burn wild across the sky.

But his spiritual power… wasn't dropping. If anything, it was increasing.

He stopped, narrowed his eyes, and focused.

Then it clicked.

Every Menos Grande killed by the flames—every bit of spiritual energy they released—was being devoured and absorbed straight into his body.

One side was using power. The other side was refueling it.

"Am I... a perpetual motion machine?"He snorted at the thought and glanced back toward the sky.With that realization, he cranked up his power even more, his eyes glowing as his flames surged forward in a black tsunami of destruction.

As he passed over a certain street, Nanaya suddenly paused.

He looked down, spotted Ichigo and Uryu, and grinned.

"Hey, you two!" he called."Could you maybe pick up the pace!? At this rate, it'll take forever to clean up!"

Ichigo: "... ..."Uryu: "... ..."

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