As Shimo drew his sword...
Dense, extreme spiritual pressure gathered along the blade.
"Limitless Sword: Two Severings.."
Again.
Pure slash—no flashy effects at all.
Shimo simply lifted his blade and cut downward through the air.
A black arc of energy—reeking of annihilation—shot forward!
Shk—!
The slash cleaved through without the slightest resistance.
Yammy's crazed eyes froze—
and in the next instant, were replaced by sheer terror.
BOOM!
Pain exploded through his arm.
One massive arm fell from the sky.
Black blood gushed from the severed stump like a river—spectacular and horrifying all at once.
"Can you keep getting stronger?"
Shimo's indifferent gaze swept over Yammy.
"Don't say I didn't give you the chance."
"Release all your potential."
"Beat me, and you'll have a chance to return to Hueco Mundo."
That contemptuous stare pierced straight into Yammy's brittle psyche.
"UAAAAAAA—!!"
His body swelled again, blotting out the sunlight above.
Even Shinigami stationed in other cities could see that mountain-like silhouette in the distance.
A shadow spread over dozens of kilometers.
"T-That thing…?!"
"Reiatsu of a Menos Grande—no, worse!"
"Notify Seireitei immediately! The World of the Living has a Hollow we can't stop!"
"Can the Captains even beat that?!"
Panic rippled across the living world.
Ordinary humans couldn't see Yammy's body—
but the pressure radiating off him was enough to crush their souls.
Those who could see him only panicked harder.
Sometimes fear doesn't come from the unknown—
it comes from the unbearable clarity of what you're staring at.
Yammy opened his maw, lined with a hard bone helm, and began compressing a terrifying reiatsu in his mouth.
Under his suction alone, buildings broke apart—stones and debris spiraling into the air.
That blood-red power kept compressing, tightening, condensing—
Wrath Cero!
A crimson beam swallowed Shimo whole, piercing straight through the city!
His strongest strike under Resurrección!
Under the beam, the city's structures turned to dust, vanishing in an instant.
In Yammy's senses, Shimo's spiritual pressure had disappeared inside that Cero.
The tension in Yammy's face finally began to loosen—
And then—
An energy that seemed to split the world cleaved out from inside the Cero beam.
The multi-kilometer Cero was severed cleanly in two!
"Sever the space... Akatsuki!"
"Limitless Sword: Severing Sky Blade!"
Before the Cero landed, Shimo had released his Zanpakutō.
Severing Sky Blade was a technique that fused his swordsmanship with his Zanpakutō's space-cutting power.
The speed and force of sword arts—paired with space-rending lethality—
Was enough to erase nearly all attacks head-on.
The blood-red blade slowly returned to its sheath.
From the level of space itself, the slash dismantled the Cero—and its momentum didn't fade at all.
It went straight for Yammy.
Shhhk!
That extreme, space-level cutting power pierced clean through Yammy's skull—
even with the hard bone helm defending it.
"…What a shame."
Shimo shook his head, genuinely regretful.
"I thought your potential was limitless."
The Tenth Espada, Yammy Llargo—dead.
In the next moment, Yammy dissolved into spirit particles, scattering into the air.
Staring at the city—now a ruin beyond recognition—Shimo rubbed his brow with a headache.
"Looks like when I get back to Seireitei… I'll need to make a trip to the First Division."
Whoosh—!
A jade-green streak flashed across the sky.
A figure shot toward Shimo.
He reflexively gathered spiritual pressure to guard his chest—
But the impact never came.
Instead… something soft pressed against him from behind.
"Nel was so worried about you…"
Hearing the anxious voice at his back, Shimo's heart softened.
Against Nel's unquestioning devotion… who could really say no?
He turned and pulled her into his arms, gently stroking her long, soft green hair.
Yeah—same as always.
"I'm fine."
Shimo soothed her. "I'm strong, remember?"
With that mountain-sized body gone, light returned to the city.
Sunlight fell over broken walls, bathing the rubble in a dim afterglow.
"The Thirteenth Division is going to be busy again…"
Shimo sighed.
Compared to the last Hollow disturbance, this one was even worse.
Hollows ran rampant through the cities.
Not only were the Shinigami's losses heavy—the living world suffered brutally.
These Incompletes—born from splitting—hungered for souls far more than normal Hollows.
So the destruction they caused was far greater.
The only mercy was that the affected area was slightly smaller overall.
As for Karakura Town, with Urahara and the others there, it was—so far—still as calm as ever.
Shimo hovered in the sky, quietly waiting for the cleanup team.
But the person who arrived wasn't who he expected.
"Mr. Shimo?!"
Ichigo Kurosaki stared at him in shock.
"Y-You… why are you in the Human World?"
Shimo lowered his eyes slightly and smiled.
"The Hollow disturbance here got serious. The Shinigami stationed in Shiba City and Kyōbara City sent an emergency request to Seireitei."
"And Kaien Shiba was badly injured, so as a Captain, I had to come personally."
Ichigo nodded as if it finally clicked.
Then he looked at the city—now nothing but ruins—his eyes full of disbelief.
"T-This… this wreckage…"
Shimo didn't hide anything. As a Substitute Shinigami, Ichigo had the right to know.
"Hueco Mundo sent something with power comparable to a Captain."
"This is what happened when I fought it."
Ichigo's face didn't relax at all—only deepened with shock.
"Someone could fight you to this extent?!"
To Ichigo, Shimo was still the man from Soul Society—
the one who had cut down Kaname Tōsen with a single slash on Sōkyoku Hill.
That scene was burned into his mind.
"I didn't have a choice. Its abilities were… unusual."
Shimo sighed, a little helpless. "And before I arrived, there weren't any living humans left here."
Ichigo's expression dimmed.
From the start, he'd always thought of himself as belonging to the human side.
Now, with "his people" slaughtered… grief was inevitable.
Soon, Shinigami from the Third and Thirteenth Divisions arrived at the scene.
Staring at the endless rubble, they could only marvel at Shimo's terrifying combat power—and remember that mountain-like silhouette.
A monster like that had been cut down by Shimo.
When they looked at him, their eyes held even deeper awe.
---
Hueco Mundo — Las Noches
Aizen Sōsuke sat upon his throne, gaze lowered as he surveyed the two figures standing below.
If Shimo had seen them, he would've been genuinely surprised—
Ulquiorra Cifer, the Fourth Espada.
Yammy Llargo, the Tenth Espada.
The two who "should" have died by his hand… were now standing intact beneath the throne.
"Wiped out completely?"
Aizen spoke calmly, his detached eyes showing not the slightest emotional fluctuation.
"It seems Shimo-kun has grown even stronger."
Ulquiorra and Yammy knelt on one knee, voices low, speaking in unison:
"We're sorry, Lord Aizen. We failed."
"Even the strengthened soul-splitting bodies… weren't enough to defeat Kyōraku Shimo."
Aizen rose from the throne, walked up to them, and smiled faintly.
"No. Everything is still proceeding according to plan."
"From the beginning… I never held any hope that you would kill Shimo-kun."
Ulquiorra clenched his teeth, his expression finally shifting.
Yammy's features twisted, as if rage was already crawling back in.
Aizen's eyes lowered, sweeping over both of them.
"It's a pity, though."
"The final power Shimo-kun has been hiding…"
"Still didn't come out."
Outside Las Noches, the wind howled.
Sand rolled in waves—
…and the world moved exactly as planned.
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