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"What if I refuse?" Ginjō Kūgo asked tentatively.
The guy opposite him clearly wasn't reliable.
Working with the Tsunayashiro Family was one thing, as he had been with them for a few years.
But Sephiroth, upon their first meeting, wanted to subjugate him. If he simply agreed, he would not only lose face but also be in great danger.
"I'm not asking for your opinion, kid!"
Aozaki Reiji said, drawing the Zanpakuto from his waist and lightly swinging it. A white, crescent-shaped sword strike grazed Ginjō Kūgo's body, carving a hundreds-of-meters-long gully behind him.
Cold sweat trickled down Ginjō Kūgo's forehead as he swallowed hard, trying to suppress his terror.
He turned his head blankly, his pupils shrinking abruptly at what he saw behind him.
Madman! This guy is a madman!
He couldn't feel any Reiatsu, so how could he be so strong?
Fortunately, the two were in the suburbs. If this were in the city center, how many people would die with one strike!?
"Don't worry, it doesn't matter even if there are people."
"After people die, their Souls go to Soul Society, and they can continue to live, though after a few decades, they will completely forget their memories of the Human World."
Aozaki Reiji suddenly paused as he spoke. He had been in Soul Society for quite some time, and it seemed he hadn't experienced any memory loss.
However, this wasn't very important. Recovering his thoughts, he looked at the young man in front of him and continued:
"What's your answer? I have things to do in the Human World and no time to waste on you. Or do you want me to cut off your head with the next strike?"
...…
"Sephiroth-sama."
Ginjō Kūgo's voice pulled Aozaki Reiji's thoughts from the past back to the present.
"Ahead is a gathering place for Hollows."
"They've even used special means to block Reiatsu sensing in this area. It seems these guys are not simple at all!"
Aozaki Reiji spread his hands, remarking with feigned "surprise," then stepped right in.
"Domiro-sama!" The winged Hollow landed steadily in a room enclosed by high black walls, respectfully bowing to a body much larger than its own.
The owner of the massive body was over ten meters tall, appearing like an entirely pale ape.
The surrounding Hollows bowed to him, indicating that this ape Menos Grande named "Domiro" was the leader of the Hollow group.
Domiro nodded slightly, and the walls of the dark room began to shake, with violent tremors coming from the ground.
Black bodies surrounded the Hollows like city walls. Looking around, it was actually a fortress made up of the lowest-ranking Menos Grande, the Gillian.
The Gillians had identical appearances, wearing white masks with long, clown-like noses, and massive bodies like witch capes, nearly fifty meters tall, looking like small black mountains from a distance.
"Have you found enough high-spiritual-power Souls?" Domiro asked gruffly, gripping the winged Hollow with his thick arm.
"Not yet, Lord." The winged Hollow said cautiously.
This Lord was an existence it couldn't afford to provoke—an Adjuchas-class Menos Grande.
It was only the lowest-ranking Hollow.
Let alone this Lord, even the lowest-ranking Menos Grande under his command, the Gillian, could easily crush it into powder.
"Then keep looking! All of you go look! One hundred qualified Souls! If you can't find them, we'll all be sent to Szayelaporro-sama's experimental table!"
Domiro roared, punching the ground, which immediately caved into a large pit.
But in his threatening words, there was also undisguised fear.
Unlike the low-intelligence Gillians, the ordinary Hollows heard the fear in his voice and took a deep breath.
They wouldn't mock this powerful intermediate Menos Grande, because they, too, felt the same fear.
Every Hollow living under the rule of Hueco Mundo's king, Baraggan, knew the terror of the Las Noches chief researcher.
The cruel experiments performed by this Vasto Lorde were so brutal that even fellow Hollows found them somewhat unacceptable.
"Ah!"
As the Hollows were recalling their lives in Hueco Mundo, a Gillian suddenly moved, stepping casually and crushing a Hollow.
"What's going on? Why are the Gillians agitated?"
"Someone has invaded our territory. I can sense a Shinigami's Reiatsu."
The gathered Hollows immediately became noisy.
"A Shinigami?" Domiro smiled, his tone full of mockery.
He sensed a Reiatsu at the level of a professional Shinigami.
Though not strong, regardless of strength, being a Shinigami meant an excellent Soul, and thus excellent experimental material.
Domiro thumped his chest with his thick arm and laughed loudly: "Bring him! I want him alive! Szayelaporro-sama prefers them alive!"
"Yes." The Hollows responded excitedly. Capturing this Shinigami increased their hope of survival.
They still wanted to evolve, not just to become the high-and-mighty Adjuchas and Vasto Lorde, but also an endless, uncontrollable desire to devour, driving them to continue living.
"Sephiroth-sama, is this really okay?"
Ginjō Kūgo watched the Hollows flying in the sky, rushing on the ground, and swaying among the buildings, unable to help but swallow.
His talent was very high, having absorbed a regular Shinigami's Shinigami power, his Reiatsu was close to that of a seated officer. But facing such a large number of Hollows, he couldn't help but feel timid.
Moreover, not only Hollows of ordinary Shinigami Reiatsu level were approaching him; some Hollows even had Reiatsu superior to his own.
"Relax, they're just a bunch of small fry." Aozaki Reiji waved his hand, looking completely at ease, not taking these terrifying monsters seriously at all.
"But those guys should be very strong, right?"
Ginjō Kūgo raised his hand and pointed into the distance, his legs feeling a bit weak at the sight of those black mountains.
The Reiatsu from those black mountains, even from such a distance, still made him feel immense pressure.
"Strong?" Aozaki Reiji seemed to have heard a funny joke and burst into laughter: "The small fry I mentioned also include those guys, and their master too."
"Their master?" Ginjō Kūgo's eyes widened in surprise.
These massive, entirely black creatures looked dull, but their Reiatsu was clearly far superior to his own. The terrifying thing was that these beings, which could crush him with a single step, actually had a master!
What kind of power would this thing's master possess?
And what kind of power did Sephiroth, who called them small fry, possess!?
"That's about enough." Seeing the approaching Hollows, Aozaki Reiji suddenly said, "But with so many of them, I might as well perform a long-lost incantation."
"Heart of the South, Eye of the North, Fingertip of the West, Heel of the East. Gather with the wind, scatter with the rain."
"Bakudo #58: Kakushi Tsuijaku!"
A black circular magic circle instantly formed on the ground. Aozaki Reiji pressed one hand to the ground, and the magic circle emitted white Reiatsu light.
He grinned: "Location locked. Next, I need to restrict their movements. Let me think… I'll use this!"
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