"Explode, Hadō #58: Tenran!"
"Attack with full force, power of wind!"
"O Lord! Mask of flesh and blood, the myriad things, flying high with wings, the thing bearing the name of man! Burning with strife, rolling southward across the sea, striding forward—"
"Hadō #31: Shakkahō!"
"Bakudō #30: Shitotsu Sansen!"
In the blink of an eye, a group of Hollows in the distance charged straight at the front line. Members of each combat group immediately followed their captains, and battle flared up instantly.
The light of various Zanpakutō and Kidō blossomed simultaneously over the endless gray desert.
Suddenly, a wolf-like Hollow from the crowd exploded forward with incredible speed, instantly breaking through the battle group's formation and rushing toward the students in the rear.
Beneath the distorted, terrifying mask, a bloody maw opened to an unnatural degree. Several students, finding themselves in real combat for the first time, were so terrified they couldn't move, and were already on the verge of being swallowed by the Hollow.
"Hadō #4: Byakurai!"
Abandoning all chanting and casting the spell in its shortened form, a blue lightning bolt the thickness of a bamboo staff shot from Arata's right hand and struck the mask of the wolf-like Hollow precisely.
Boom!
With a clear cracking sound, the Hollow's mask shattered instantly, its body began to disintegrate, and then turned into Reishi, scattering in the air.
A scream full of pain immediately snapped the terrified students out of their trance, and they finally came to their senses and rushed to thank Arata.
"Thank you so much, Saitō-kun!"
Arata shook his head without much expression, his words carrying a tone of coldness and disapproval: "You have to learn to fight on your own. The other senpai Shinigami and I can't be your babysitters forever."
"Y-yes, we understand!" After that cold shower, they realized just how pathetic they had been moments ago.
If Arata hadn't been right next to them, they might have already ended up in the Hollow's mouth and become the first students to die in this exam.
Arata didn't stop, but continued hunting lone Hollows across the battlefield.
He didn't use the power of his Zanpakutō at all. He would simply approach using Shunpō, then take down the enemy in a single strike with pure swordsmanship. After that initial Byakurai, he didn't even use Kidō anymore.
Unfortunately, the maniacs from the expedition unit and the 11th Division were too fast, just when he found a chance to jump in, he managed to kill only five Hollows.
Hueco Mundo is vast, and this expedition would last. Even though the Sōtaichō didn't give any explicit instructions, according to records of previous expeditions, the average duration of stay here was always over two weeks.
Even with a medical team accompanying them at all times, Arata felt he needed to conserve his strength as much as possible.
The greatest taboo of prolonged warfare is exhaustion.
Things like the overall plan and logistics should be left to the expedition unit and the rear; an individual fighter like him should think only about how to distribute his own power rationally.
Fortunately, the Hollows that attacked this time were mostly small fry, which even regular soldiers of the Gotei 13 could easily handle. Only a few leaders had reached the level of weaker officers.
However, they were immediately marked by the 12th Division through spiritual pressure detection equipment, and before they could do any damage, they were surrounded and eliminated by captains and officers from various combat formations.
A hundred or so regular Hollows were dealt with very quickly.
After the battle, a count of the injured and dead was carried out, only a few students had suffered minor injuries because they hadn't dodged attacks in time. The number of severely wounded and dead: zero.
"Shiba-fukutaichō, it seems there's quite a talented one among this generation of students." A logistics member in charge of statistics approached Shiba Kaien holding a data collection device.
"Oh? Let me see." Shiba Kaien took the device, flipped through the statistical list, and soon his gaze stopped at one name.
[Saitō Arata]
[Department: Class 6-A]
[Number of enemies defeated: 5]
Rank: 1
"Tsk tsk tsk… First battle, and he already took down five Hollows by himself?" Kaien's tone was full of undisguised praise.
While most other students still had a kill count of zero, this guy named Saitō Arata had already defeated five Hollows and left them far behind.
Below him were three others from Class 6-A – Hisagi Shūhei, Kanisawa Hotaru, and Aoga.
Each of them had defeated one Hollow, making them very outstanding students.
But compared to Arata, their results looked rather pale.
"Keep monitoring him. Maybe Saitō Arata will soon become our colleague." Kaien smiled with satisfaction and returned the device to the Shinigami in charge of statistics.
After that first small battle, the expedition did not stop.
After several iterations, the communication equipment from the Technological Development Bureau was able to provide ultra-long-range reconnaissance and connection, so everyone could continue exploring outward without any burden.
In later skirmishes, the six reincarnated ones gradually began to enter the front lines and show their strength under controlled and relatively safe conditions.
Arata's outstanding performance also drew more and more attention.
He clearly felt many eyes on him, including, but not limited to, Madarame Ikkaku, Kotetsu Isane, Amagai Shūsuke, and that Kidōchō uncle whose name they never mentioned.
---
In Soul Society, in a secret laboratory.
Tōsen Kaname, who always wore glasses, served as a data observer and continuously operated instruments in front of him.
"Lord Aizen, the strength shown by Saitō Arata far exceeds the level of a regular Shinigami soldier."
"According to the data sent back by the marked Hollows, his speed and power have at least doubled compared to the last real-world experiment!" Tōsen's expression was full of disbelief, it was the first time he had seen someone's power increase so rapidly.
Moreover, the other party was still just a student of the Spiritual Academy.
Aizen stood behind Tōsen, calmly listening to the report, a slight smile on his lips.
"Yes, there's no reason to be surprised. Isn't this exactly what we expected?" Aizen asked gently, the reflection on his glasses hiding unreadable emotions.
"On the contrary, if Arata-kun hadn't behaved this way, I'd have been disappointed."
Aizen, who had personally tasted Arata's power during the training session, of course wasn't as shocked as Tōsen. He had already recognized this young man's potential back then.
Although, based on the current incoming data, Arata already stood very close to the level of a mid-tier officer…
Aizen felt that what Arata was currently showing was just the tip of the iceberg, and much more was hidden beneath the surface.
"Alright, how many experimental subjects do we currently have in Hueco Mundo?" Aizen adjusted his glasses on his nose and asked.
"Hmm… the last fusion experiment consumed 69 of them. Now we have a total of 106 remaining, of which 25 are Gillians, and the rest are regular Hollows."
Tōsen recited the figures about the situation in Hueco Mundo in detail but didn't know why Captain Aizen was suddenly interested in it.
"Still that many? Then let's use them all up."
"Yes, gather all the Gillians at the expedition unit's location."
Tōsen was deeply shaken by Aizen's calm, yet completely deranged words. He wanted to ask why, but his instinctive reverence for Aizen tied his tongue.
"As you wish, Lord Aizen."
Tōsen replied quietly, then pressed a button on the console.
———
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