Chapter 21: Chapter 21: Hueco Mundo
Chapter 21: Hueco Mundo
Straw sandals crunched against the white gravel.
Yato’s eyes turned crimson, the tomoe spinning as he took in everything around him.
The sky was a heavy, gloomy leaden gray. Below lay an endless expanse of white desert, sparsely dotted with withered quartz trees. The entire world was a barren wasteland.
However...
"Hado #4: Byakurai."
Yato pointed his finger at a distant withered tree. A bright streak of pale lightning shot out, not only shattering the tree but also blasting a deep crater into the ground where it had taken root.
"The power has increased by a third..."
Yato retracted his finger thoughtfully.
The textbooks at the Shin’o Academy made it perfectly clear: the concentration of Reishi in Hueco Mundo’s atmosphere significantly exceeded that of the World of the Living and the Soul Society. Being in this environment would naturally enhance the physical functions and abilities of both Hollows and Soul Reapers.
Meanwhile, from the Senkaimon behind him, the academy students were stepping out one after another.
The group of young people marveled at the bizarre landscape of Hueco Mundo while stretching their bodies to adapt to the high Reishi concentration.
The team leader, Yoruichi Shihoin, was nowhere to be seen. She was likely far off in the distance clearing out any Menos Grande. With no one temporarily managing the area in front of the Senkaimon, things felt a bit chaotic.
At that moment, a pale-skinned young man stepped forward.
Gathered around him were four or five other students, all of them looking to him as their clear leader.
The man first gave Yato a cold, curt nod, then turned respectfully toward Byakuya Kuchiki beside him.
"Lord Kuchiki, I am Hideki Watanabe."
"Although slaying enemies is as easy as reaching into a bag to retrieve an item given your immense strength, forming a team would save you time and effort."
"The few behind me have admired you for a long time, and each has their own specialty. This one excels in Kaido, this one has an outstanding ability to sense Spiritual Pressure..."
Yato Uchiha looked at Hideki Watanabe with keen interest.
Oh? Does this guy have a problem with me? I’ve definitely never met him before...
In truth, there was something Yato didn’t know. During his time at the Shin’o Academy, he had become a thorn in quite a few people’s sides.
Hideki Watanabe came from the Seireitei and was a lower noble. After Byakuya Kuchiki entered the academy, Hideki received instructions from his family to try and build a good relationship with him. Even if they couldn’t become friends, running errands and acting as a subordinate would be good enough.
Currying favor with the great nobles was essentially the survival strategy of the lower nobility.
However, just as Hideki Watanabe was full of ambitious plans, the appearance of Yato Uchiha completely disrupted everything.
Yato and Byakuya were roommates, and the only two true powerhouses in the entire academy. As time passed, their relationship grew closer until they were practically inseparable.
Hideki Watanabe had tried incredibly hard, but he simply couldn’t insert himself between them. A few times he managed to "accidentally" intercept Byakuya, only to receive a few perfunctory, polite words before he even had the chance to introduce himself.
A year had passed without a single shred of progress. The head of the Watanabe family had scolded Hideki several times over this and had even slashed his living allowance.
Hideki Watanabe felt incredibly aggrieved, suffering in bitter silence.
Naturally, his attitude toward Yato was entirely predictable.
But Hideki didn’t dare make it too obvious. Being at the Shin’o Academy together, he knew exactly how powerful Yato Uchiha was. He was terrified of pissing the guy off and taking a brutal beating.
Thus, he could only maintain a cold, aloof demeanor with Yato, forming a sharp contrast to his eager and attentive attitude toward Byakuya.
What he didn’t expect, however, was that even after lowering his posture to the absolute minimum, Byakuya Kuchiki remained unmoved. Instead of answering immediately, Byakuya glanced at Yato beside him. The meaning was self-evident.
"Do as you please, Byakuya," Yato chuckled.
"I was planning to head out on my own to complete the Hollow-hunting mission anyway."
"Is that so? Be careful."
"Hah, it’s not like you don’t know me. Even if I run into an Adjuchas, I can still get away if I can’t beat it!"
Yato waved his hand and strode forward, soon vanishing into the desolate sands.
Byakuya Kuchiki turned back and decisively rejected Hideki Watanabe’s invitation:
"I won’t trouble you. I will also be traveling alone."
He paused, no longer maintaining the polite facade of a great noble. His expression darkened slightly, and a chill laced his voice:
"Also... I do not like your attitude toward my friend."
With a swish, Byakuya disappeared from everyone’s sight, leaving Hideki Watanabe standing there dumbfounded.
...
Two days later.
Somewhere in the endless desert.
"Shakkaho!"
A crimson fireball materialized out of thin air and slammed violently into a tiger-shaped Hollow.
Its massive roar kicked up dust and sand. It swiped its claws furiously, the white mask covering its face contorting from the aggressive movement.
However, answering this strike was merely Yato’s understated utterance:
"Sokatsui."
The power of the Uchiha granted him a terrifying talent for fire-based Kido. Even a mid-level Kido cast without an incantation surpassed the power of the lowest-ranking Seated Officers in the Gotei 13.
Under the consecutive bombardments of Shakkaho and Sokatsui, the Hollow could no longer hold on. With a mournful wail, it collapsed to the ground.
Yato stepped forward and cleanly snapped its spine.
He didn’t use his Zanpakuto.
For low-level Hollows of this caliber, being slain by a Zanpakuto meant they would be purified into a "Plus" and completely disappear.
"Sixty-seven..."
Yato muttered to himself as he grabbed the tiger Hollow’s sharp fangs and sat down beside the corpse.
He closed his eyes, adjusting his breathing and balancing his Spiritual Pressure.
It was as if he were practicing Jinzen.
A long while later, the boy opened his eyes in confusion and let out a heavy sigh.
Still nothing.
"Akame," his expression was laced with irritation.
"Come out, let’s chat."
"I’m always here." The girl, draped in her red armor, suddenly materialized on top of the tiger Hollow’s corpse.
"You seem to be in a very foul mood."
"Sigh. There’s no need to beat around the bush between us. You should have seen everything I’ve done over the past two days..." The boy’s voice grew calm.
"Do you think my theory has any chance of being realized?"
"What theory?"
"Playing dumb again."
"Hehe..."
The girl burst into amusement. At first, it was just a soft, delicate chuckle, incredibly pleasant to the ear. But gradually, her laughter grew louder and louder until it morphed into the unbridled, maniacal laughter unique to the Uchiha!
"That’s my Yato! You’re crazy enough! But only by being like this are you worthy of wielding me! Only by being like this are you worthy of the name Uchiha!"
Akame’s fanatical, uninhibited words echoed in Yato’s mind:
"With me by your side, you are destined to become a Captain-level Soul Reaper, command a Division, and have your name forever engraved on the white pillars outside the 1st Division, becoming a part of the Seireitei’s history!"
"But even with the strength of a Captain, you cannot hope to claim the Throne in the Heavens."
"Shikai? Bankai? No, your ambitions go far beyond that. The limits of a Soul Reaper are not your finish line!"
"You want to push the power of the Uchiha even further, to rival the Otsutsuki Clan."
"In Naruto, that is revered as the ’Six Paths’; in Bleach, it is the Hogyoku-infused Aizen, or Ichibe Hyosube of Squad Zero..."
"Let me tell you, Yato, even I don’t fully understand your current condition."
She leaned in close to Yato, a beautiful smile blooming on her face.
"But just like you, I also thought of that particular phrase."
"The phrase... engraved on the Uchiha Stone Tablet at the Naka Shrine."
"’When two opposing forces unite, the Myriad Things in the Universe will be attained.’"
☆☆☆
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