"Hikoya... Ah."
Shinji murmured as he finally remembered.
Hikoya was a living being created by Tsunayashiro Tokinada using multiple Soul King Fragments that he had stolen from others as the core, combined with the corpses of numerous Shinigami, humans, Quincy masters, and Fullbringers as materials.
As a unique creation, Hikoya possessed the combined powers of Shinigami, Hollow, and Quincy. He was extremely powerful, capable of using the steel skin of the Arrancar and even the Blut Vene, the static blood armor of pure-blooded Quincy.
When he was first created, Hikoya had no head and his body had numerous defects. His soul cycle and soul sleep were only barely connected.
Later, Tokinada sent him to the Shino Academy in the Seireitei, where Yamada Seinosuke, the head of the Academy, secretly rescued him.
So it turned out... Tokinada had created Hikoya long ago.
Rumble,
The house was instantly reduced to ruins by a single slash from Hikoya.
Shinji leapt high into the air and landed on a nearby wall.
Next to him, Nilu was glaring with intense hostility.
She was angry.
"Kuchiki Shinji, you don't understand who I am!"
Tokinada sneered, raising his head to meet Shinji's gaze. "You don't understand what I'm doing!"
Annexing the Shiba clan?
That was just the beginning.
The real plan... was only just beginning.
He would ascend to the highest throne step by step!
"You say I don't know who you are? Don't make me laugh. The existence of the Soul King, do you really think that's still a secret?"
Shinji scoffed.
The moment he saw Hikoya, he understood Tokinada's true ambitions.
Seeing the Soul King and believing you've glimpsed the truth of the world?
What a joke.
By now, there were more than thirty people who already knew the truth about the world and the Soul King.
"Kuchiki Shinji, you bastard!" Tokinada's eyes widened. "You even know about the Soul King... Don't tell me you've been to the Royal Palace?!"
The Royal Palace, sealed high above the sky, was the dwelling of the Soul King.
In theory, no one could enter it without permission.
Then how... did Kuchiki Shinji know?
"You've seen the Soul King with your own eyes... And now you want to replace him?"
"So pathetic. Thinking what you've seen is the ultimate truth of the world."
Shinji shook his head.
Replace the Soul King?
Only a lunatic would even consider that.
The Soul King was the cornerstone of reality's balance, existing solely to stabilize the world.
Immortal. Unkillable. Forever sealed within the Royal Palace.
A living corpse.
And someone wanted that role?
"Stop your nonsense!"
Veins bulged on Tokinada's forehead as he covered his face with one hand. "My plan can't fail! I'm the god who will rule over everything!"
"Wild dogs! Kill them!"
At his roar,
Nogawa and Hikoya vanished instantly.
Hikoya charged toward Nilu.
Nogawa drew his sword and attacked Shinji.
Boom!
Sparks exploded.
Shinji's eyes shifted. He raised his arm calmly.
Clang!
A powerful slash landed directly on Shinji's arm!
A wave of dark green spiritual energy erupted on impact.
Tsunayashiro Tokinada appeared with a Zanpakutō in hand, Nogawa's secondary blade.
"Kuchiki Shinji, did you think your only enemy was Nogawa?
"This time, it's 2v1!"
Tokinada grinned viciously.
"Scream! Scream like my wife did, begging for mercy! Maybe then, I'll consider letting you live!"
He loved tormenting people.
Just like how he tortured his own wife to death.
For him, it was pure pleasure.
"You're seriously pissing me off, you trash."
Shinji's voice rang cold from within the dark green aura.
Then, slash!
A gust of wind roared.
A massive fissure tore through the ground as the Reiatsu enveloping Shinji burst apart.
"What?!"
Tokinada staggered back in disbelief, eyes wide.
That slash had landed squarely on Shinji's arm, yet there wasn't even a scratch?
What kind of defense was that?
"Surprised? A power you can't comprehend."
Shinji's voice now came from behind him.
Tokinada turned quickly, trying to back away.
Then, pain exploded across his face as Shinji's whip kick struck, sending him flying.
Boom!
A white shockwave spread out as smoke engulfed the scene.
Shinji calmly tilted his head, dodging Nogawa's icy slash, then glanced at his Zanpakutō, now in a completely different form.
"Straight to Bankai, huh?"
He observed the blade in Nogawa's hand.
Instant Bankai release and a sneak attack, clearly a highly cautious assassin.
Shinji then looked down at Tokinada, rising from the rubble with a grim expression.
"I bet you're wondering how I defeated two captains during my assessment. How I cut down Kurotsuchi Mayuri's Bankai and even killed him."
"Well then, Tsunayashiro Tokinada, take a good look.
"This is the slash I used to destroy Kurotsuchi Mayuri's Bankai."
Blue-purple Reiatsu surged, flooding into Shinji's Zanpakutō.
"Watch closely."
"This is my sword pressure!"
Shinji swung.
Tokinada watched in terror.
For a moment,
The sky seemed to collapse.
Space cracked apart in chaotic, twisting lines.
Then,
The sword pressure, glowing with blue-purple lightning, surged forward, slow but unstoppable.
Boom!
Sword pressure and Zanpakutō collided.
Lightning and flame entwined.
Crack!
A sharp sound echoed.
Cracks spread through Nogawa's Zanpakutō.
Before he could react,
The blue-purple energy consumed him.
Then slammed down on the Tsunayashiro estate.
Boom!
Thunder flashed. The world turned blue.
Once it faded,
Tokinada stared at the enormous crater, face pale.
One slash.
Just one sword pressure, and it broke a Captain's Bankai, shattered their Zanpakutō, and killed them.
Even the entire estate was devastated by its power.
This power...
Could anyone really wield such terrifying force?
Who... What the hell is Kuchiki Shinji?!
No! That can't be him!
This power isn't Shinji's!
His gaze landed on Shinji's Zanpakutō.
Right.
It must be that Zanpakutō!
No way Shinji could do that on his own.
"Hehe..." Tokinada licked his lips.
"Kuchiki Shinji, thank you.
"This Zanpakutō... It's now mine."
"Shikai!"
"Drink from the world, coil across the heavens, overwrite and erase all phenomena
Beautiful Mirror!"
He released the blade.
His Reiatsu began to swell unnaturally.
His already pale complexion grew ghost-white.
But his smile stretched even wider.
In his hand,
Yamiro Kyouten began to twist and change.
Lines etched themselves into the blade.
Dark green energy exploded outward.
When the light faded,
Tokinada grinned, holding his thunderous blade up toward Shinji in the sky:
"Kuchiki Shinji!"
"Your Zanpakutō is mine now!"
---
The other side.
Boom!
Nilu was once again possessed by battle instincts, having been at Shinji's side for so long, she reflexively used one of the divine combat moves she had seen him use.
She slammed Hikoya's head straight into the ground.
The impact echoed like an earthquake.
Completely ignoring the surrounding Tsunayashiro clan members, Nilu gazed into the giant crater with a confused expression.
"That sensation just now… was that Hierro?"
But the enemy is supposed to be a Shinigami, right?
That sword, it's definitely a Zanpakutō.
Nilu frowned slightly.
"That hurt."
A childlike voice muttered.
Hikoya rubbed his head and surprisingly leapt out of the crater completely unharmed.
His voice leaned toward a childlike neutral tone, much like his undefined gender, making it hard to distinguish if he was male or female.
"Lord told me to chop you up. Sorry about that."
He bowed politely.
With innocent eyes, Hikoya gripped his Zanpakutō tightly.
"Shikai!"
"Surround the stars!"
His Reiatsu surged wildly, but strangely, Hikoya's own spiritual pressure didn't increase.
Instead, it all seemed to flow into the Zanpakutō.
Nilu narrowed her eyes at the sword in Hikoya's hand. After releasing, its form resembled the arm of a Menos Grande!
"Incoming."
Hikoya kindly gave a warning.
Then, his Zanpakutō, shaped like a Menos Grande's arm, fired off a crimson Cero.
"That sword…"
Nilu's pupils shrank. She raised her hand and caught the Cero directly.
Charging through it, she barreled forward and yanked the Zanpakutō from Hikoya's grip with brute force.
"That feeling… there's no mistake."
"This is Hollow power!"
After touching it closely, Nilu immediately realized the truth.
It wasn't a Shinigami's Zanpakutō.
It was a Hollow sealed in sword form!
"You're really strong."
Hikoya's eyes sparkled, and he clapped his hands with a childlike grin.
"Bankai!"
He could release Bankai remotely!
At the end of the chant, the sword in Nilu's hand suddenly burst,
A crimson beam of light split the sky.
"Are you… a Vasto Lorde-class Menos Grande?"
Nilu backed away, shock surfacing in her gaze as she stared at the enormous Hollow forming.
A giant Menos Grande, nearly thirty meters tall.
Red eyes, bat-like wings on its back, just one roar stirred tornadoes across the area.
That crushing spiritual pressure, it was unmistakably that of a Vasto Lorde!
"Roar!!"
The monster howled. Its eyes raged with madness, stripped of reason.
Its mouth opened wide.
Torrents of dense spiritual energy gathered rapidly into a Cero.
Crimson light surged, swallowing Nilu whole.
"A'right, looks like I finished the mission. Time to report to Lord."
Hikoya smiled, turning to walk away.
Then his steps halted. He looked up, confused.
From the vanishing crimson glow, another light emerged.
This time: pale red and crimson light spiraling together.
Nilu stood tall.
Energy condensed at her fingertip, aimed directly at the Menos Grande.
In the blink of an eye,
Like teleporting between two points, a spiraling hyper-accelerated Cero streaked through the air and struck the massive Hollow.
Boom!!
As the Menos Grande howled in agony, spiritual pressure exploded into the sky. The shockwave leveled half the district.
That was Cero Doble,
And even more terrifying: Gran Rey Cero!
As a Vasto Lorde-class Arrancar, Nilu's Cero naturally reached royal-level destructive power, able to tear through space itself.
Her unique move, Cero Doble, absorbed the enemy's Cero and mixed in her own, doubling the destructive force before hurling it back.
Just one strike utterly disintegrated the monstrous Hollow's body, reverting it into sealed sword form.
Immediately, Nilu picked up the now-unleashed Zanpakutō, slammed it into the ground to reseal it,
And appeared behind Hikoya in a blink.
One swift kick, Boom!
Hikoya was launched like a ragdoll, screaming.
Then came the relentless onslaught.
With the destructive power of a Vasto Lorde-class Arrancar, Nilu focused a flurry of brutal strikes onto Hikoya's head.
Each blow shattered the sound barrier.
After less than ten hits,
Crack!
Hikoya let out a final wail as his steel skin shattered and he collapsed into unconsciousness.
Nilu raised her hand to his neck.
After a moment's hesitation, she smiled.
"Hmm… Shinji might find you useful. Your Zanpakutō is pretty interesting, after all."
Thinking of Shinji, her smile grew. She grabbed both the sword and Hikoya, then dashed toward Shinji's direction at top speed.
She looked just like a puppy rushing to deliver prey to its master, hoping for praise.
---
"Kuchiki Shinji, I truly thank you."
"I didn't expect my biggest surprise to come from you."
As he swung a lightning-infused Zanpakutō, Tsunayashiro Tokinada's pale face lit up with twisted glee.
"So it wasn't you, but the Zanpakutō in your hand that created that devastating slash, wasn't it?"
"Trash like you doesn't deserve such power."
"It's clear now, your strength comes from the sword, not yourself!"
"And now that Zanpakutō belongs to me!"
He laughed wildly.
Everyone had been fooled.
He had told the world his Zanpakutō, Kyūten Jingū, could reflect attacks like a mirror.
But that was a lie.
Its real ability? To imitate any Zanpakutō!
Though limited by his own spiritual pressure and soul capacity, meaning the copied version was weaker, Tsunayashiro didn't care.
Each use consumed a portion of his soul, shortened his life, and weakened his body.
But it was worth it.
If he could just copy Shinji's destructive slash, even at the cost of everything else, it would all be worth it!
He stared at Shinji, who remained silent, interpreting it as fear or despair.
He pointed his blade to the sky, voice full of frenzied anticipation.
He couldn't wait.
To test this new, god-like slash.
At that moment,
A green blur shot past.
Nilu, beaming, trailed a clear afterimage as she flew like a bullet,
And rammed headfirst into Shinji's chest.
Boom!
Shinji was sent flying.
Tsunayashiro Tokinada: "…???"