Chapter 16: Invisible Scale
Five minutes earlier.
In the thickets of the dark forest, Takeru, Shiba Kukaku, Ichigo, Hachihara, and Rindo Yu suppressed their spiritual pressure as much as possible, erasing their presence.
"They are here."
Seeing Omaeda and the Hollow chasing each other toward this spot, everyone tensed, spirits lifting at the same time.
"You were right again," Shiba Kukaku muttered softly.
"Thanks to Rindo for sharing his vision,"
Takeru replied, not taking all the credit.
He had indeed calculated that Omaeda would not abandon his subordinates and run. Omaeda would try to lure the enemy away first, then think about escape or even a counterattack.
However, setting up an ambush along their inevitable route was not simple.
Thanks to Rindo Yu's ability to communicate with animals, they used the countless small creatures in the wilds of Rukongai as eyes and ears. By relaying information and constantly tracking Omaeda and the Hollow, they were able to predict their path with a fair degree of accuracy.
"That is true, but you also guessed Omaeda would change his route and come here, right?" Kukaku said with quiet certainty.
Takeru answered with a line that sounded unrelated at first.
"Any farther and they would leave Runrinan's territory. Too far, not safe."
"What is that supposed to mean?" Ichigo frowned.
"It means that guy is a coward," Takeru said calmly. "He does not want to stay entangled with the enemy for too long. He wants to drag the Hollow to where reinforcements are coming as quickly as possible. So once he feels he is about to leave Runrinan, he will be tempted to change course."
Hachihara covered her mouth and chuckled.
"I get it now."
Ichigo's eyes lit up in sudden understanding.
"Prepare to move," Takeru said.
At once, everyone's expressions turned serious.
"I will strike first and look for a chance to ambush," Takeru continued. "Even if I cannot kill the target, I should at least be able to save Omaeda."
"Hachihara, be ready to coordinate with me. Get Omaeda out of there and do not give the enemy a chance to take a hostage."
"Rindo, find a way to restrain the Hollow, help cover my retreat, and then you and I will draw its attention. That will create an opening for Miss Kukaku to go for a decisive hit."
"To be safe, if Miss Kukaku attacks from this side, then Brother Kurosaki should go farther ahead and block the escape route. At that point, no matter what state the enemy is in, if you see him, you finish him. Understood?"
Ambush, assassination, finishing blow.
Three linked strikes, not especially complicated, but brutally practical.
Kukaku opened her mouth, but in the end all she managed to say was, "Did we not agree I would be in command?"
"If Miss Kukaku has a better plan, please share it," Takeru replied evenly. "But I suggest you explain it clearly in under a hundred words. We have plenty of time, but Omaeda does not."
As if to prove his point, within their field of view Omaeda was already being pinned by the Menos Grande, one arm caught in its grip. He looked half like a prisoner already, the situation on the verge of collapse.
"All right, we will do it your way," Kukaku conceded. "But how are you going to get close enough to ambush that thing?"
She narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
"I will admit you kids are sharp," she went on. "You picked up what I taught you about erasing presence and suppressing spiritual pressure in a single cram session and can already apply it."
"But sneaking up behind what looks like a genuine Adjuchas level Menos? I would say only the Commander in Chief of the Onmitsukido could manage that. I cannot help you there."
"I have my own way," Takeru answered. "Everyone, move."
"What way?"
Kukaku and Ichigo both had the same thought at almost the exact moment.
Then they watched Shimiya Takeru vanish from where he stood.
His figure faded. Rather than blending into the darkness, it was more like he merged with the space itself. His aura, his spiritual pressure, the sense of his existence, all disappeared. It was as if he had evaporated into thin air.
"?!"
Everyone stared, speechless, trading stunned looks.
Even Rindo Yu, usually as calm as a monk, could not help widening his eyes.
…
Time returned to the present.
The scorched ground left behind by Raikoho still radiated heat. In the distance, a roaring blaze had turned the night sky above the outskirts into a sheet of crimson.
Shiba Kukaku flashed across the battlefield with Shunpo and landed beside Takeru, who was standing with a long blade dripping blood.
"Beautifully done," she said. "Was that your Zanpakuto's ability? But I do not remember hearing a release phrase. Do not tell me you have already learned Bankai."
"You are giving me too much credit," Takeru said. He felt that Kukaku's expectations of him had already climbed far too high.
"That was only a little trick."
"Is that so…"
Kukaku did not press the issue. She forced down her curiosity.
After all, a Shinigami's techniques were intensely private. There were Shinigami who had worked together for decades and still did not fully know each other's Zanpakuto abilities.
The fact that the technique he used was not even his Zanpakuto's power only made it more abnormal.
No incantation, no catalyst, no visible preparation. He concealed himself, moved freely, and left no trace for the senses to grasp.
If this was something that could be taught, the Onmitsukido would not be the only ones jealous.
Her curiosity alone proved that.
Takeru appreciated her restraint. Right now, this was not a power he could casually flaunt without caring about what others thought.
Invisible Scale.
A high level magic of the Fairy Tale Dragon, something that could also be called Kido.
In essence, it was the same class of power as a Hollow's Cero, an Arrancar's Hierro, or a Shinigami's Hadō and Bakudō. A racial power, just in a different form.
It allowed him to make his body transparent and disappear, then silently shift his position without being noticed.
He would only "surface" the moment he launched his attack.
Of course, the undetectable nature of it was not absolute.
Just like an Arrancar's Hierro, which was almost impenetrable but could still be cut by a blade strong enough, Invisible Scale could be pierced by senses that were sharp enough.
If it were an Arrancar with exceptional perception, there was a good chance they could see through his invisible state.
However, Ckes Kucabara was clearly not one of those.
Takeru had only recently fully mastered the Kido foundations Aizen had taught him. That mastery allowed him to dig deep into the Fairy Tale Dragon's blood slumbering in his soul and bring out its power.
That power was Invisible Scale.
He had not had much time to train with it, so his control was far from perfect.
Even so, it was more than enough to deceive Ckes' perception, slip behind him, and tear into his heart with one ruthless stab, laying the groundwork for the later finishing blow.
Not far away, Ichigo exhaled heavily as he stared at the bisected corpse of the Menos Grande. At least nothing had gone wrong.
"This counts as payback for those two," he said.
"You mean those two stubborn brats?"
The sudden line froze Ichigo's expression in place.
At the same time, Hachihara, Omaeda, Shimiya Takeru, Shiba Kukaku, who had just rushed back from the forest, and Rindo Yu, who had walked up quietly, all felt it.
A strange spiritual pressure was rising again, climbing steadily, as if the dead were clawing their way back from the grave.
All their gazes snapped toward the source of that pressure.
The two halves of Ckes' body were knitting together. Flesh and blood regenerated, gaps closed, and his form reassembled, wrapped in a surging crimson spiritual pressure.
"What?"
Ichigo's pupils shrank in shock.
He did not panic, though.
He quickly spotted what was wrong.
"Your heads…"
"Thanks to you all, there is one less," came the answer.
Two identical Ckes spoke at the same time.
Where he had once had three heads, each new body now had a single head on its shoulders.
As a shape, they looked almost normal, and that made them all the more abnormal.
Their injuries were completely gone.
By the time Shimiya Takeru fully registered it, he already had the answer in his mind.
Ckes himself did not bother to hide it. To vent the fear of almost dying, and to taste the shock on his enemies' faces, he deliberately looked around and said with mocking delight,
"Remarkable. None of you are stronger than I am, yet together you managed to steal one of my lives."
"I will break your necks and crack open your skulls, then see how many little tricks like that you still have inside."
He moved the instant he finished speaking and struck at the nearest target, Ichigo.
Ichigo reacted quickly and brought his Zanpakuto up to guard, but he could not withstand the combined assault of the two Ckes at once.
He was blown away by a single heavy hit.
"Ichigo!"
Kukaku tried to rush after him, but one of the Ckes turned and cut her off, while the other continued the chase.
It was clear Ckes hated Ichigo, the one who had delivered the finishing blow, more than he hated Takeru, the one who had struck first.
For clarity's sake, call the Ckes who blocked Kukaku Number Two, and the one who pursued Ichigo Number Three.
Suddenly, a Shakkaho shot out.
Number Two raised an arm to block, avoiding a direct hit to the face.
Seizing that instant, Kukaku flashed around him and rushed toward the spot where Ichigo had crashed.
"Damn it!"
By the time Number Two realized what she was doing and moved to stop her, a sharp chill crawled up his spine.
A shallow cut opened across his back with a tearing sound.
Takeru, who had struck, had already retreated to a safer distance, leaving no chance for a counterattack.
"So that is how it is," Takeru said lightly. "The technique still works, but your defense is much higher now with your spiritual pressure raised. I wanted to sever your spine… assuming you even have one."
He stood with his blade in hand. The firelight painted half his face in red and left the other half in shadow, a contradiction that somehow fit together perfectly.
His knife sharp features and steady gaze were so fierce they were almost overwhelming.
Even the mild words that left his mouth seemed wrapped in killing intent hot enough to burn the soul.
"Takeru!"
Rindo Yu and Hachihara appeared at his side almost at the same time. Omaeda, though clearly reluctant, also hurried over.
"You three go help Brother Kurosaki," Takeru said without looking back.
Without her Zanpakuto and with one arm gone, the fireworks master who had already stepped back from the front line would find it extremely difficult to take on an intermediate level Menos head on. She needed support. That much had been agreed upon from the start.
Now she had the bizarre Omaeda, and an Ichigo who could explode with power at any time.
Hachihara and Rindo Yu were not dead weight either.
As long as Shiba Kukaku could use this lineup properly, there would be no need to worry too much.
As for his side…
Hachihara immediately thought of that as well.
"What about you?" she asked.
"I will finish before you do," Shimiya Takeru said.
"…Fine."
"Hey, is it really okay to leave that kid by himself?" Omaeda shouted from behind them, unable to resist looking back at the two opposing sides.
"If Takeru says he can handle it, then he can handle it," Hachihara answered.
There was no time left to argue. On top of that, Takeru's judgments so far had all been painfully accurate. Hachihara decided to keep trusting him.
Rindo Yu felt the same way.
"Huh?"
Omaeda almost could not believe it.
That thing was an Adjuchas.
The Spirit Arts Academy's textbooks clearly stated that the ones best suited to deal with them were members of the Royal Guard. It was exaggerated, sure, but there was a reason it was written that way.
Its strength was unquestionable.
Students from the Spirit Arts Academy had no business fighting that kind of enemy.
They were certainly not qualified to defeat it.
He wanted to yell that at them, but then he remembered they had already taken one of its lives in their first coordinated strike.
The spiritual pressure exploding behind him also made his heart pound.
It far surpassed the level of ordinary students, enough to make even him feel afraid.
So Omaeda shut his mouth and kept running.
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