Compared to Grand Fisher, the regenerative abilities of the Hollows encountered earlier were practically nonexistent, offering no real advantage in battle.
But once High-Speed Regeneration reached Grand Fisher's level, things became troublesome.
As the fight dragged on, Muten Natsu's injuries would only worsen, while Grand Fisher could rely on High-Speed Regeneration to remain in peak condition indefinitely.
Muten Natsu raised his hand and plunged Myōki into his left palm. The sixty-centimeter blade seemed to vanish into his left forearm, leaving only the ring-handled hilt exposed.
Reiatsu surged violently. The hair lodged in the wound on his chest was forcibly pushed out as Muten Natsu lowered his body. The restless Reiatsu around him gradually stabilized, settling into an unsettling, deathlike silence.
"Sword-drawing technique?" Grand Fisher laughed. "If I ran away right now, what would you do?"
""Disintegrate, you black dog of Rondanini! Look upon yourself with horror and then claw out your own throat!" Rukia Kuchiki brought together the index and middle fingers of her right hand, pressing her left hand against the back. The incantation was completed in an instant.
"Bakudō #9. Geki!"
Red light spilled from her fingertips, sketching complex characters in midair before shooting straight toward Grand Fisher.
"You think I didn't notice your movements?" Grand Fisher dodged aside. His bloated body moved with surprising agility as he evaded the crimson symbols. "Reciting openly like that, and you expect this level of Bakudō to catch me?"
"Who said…" Rukia Kuchiki glanced at Muten Natsu. "That I was trying to catch you?"
The crimson characters landed on Muten Natsu, helping to stabilize his Reiatsu.
Under the binding effect of the Bakudō, Muten Natsu pushed his Reiatsu to its absolute peak, gaining even finer control over it.
In other words… even changing position would not weaken the power of the draw.
Muten Natsu's figure flashed, closing the distance to Grand Fisher in an instant. A chilling light bloomed in his palm.
"Damn it…!" Grand Fisher instinctively swung his claws at Muten Natsu.
Clang!
The light in Muten Natsu's palm dimmed slightly, then burst forth with even greater brilliance.
Grand Fisher repeated the same trick, twisting his hair into sharp spikes aimed at Muten Natsu's body.
However, the overlap of the sword-drawing technique and the instant activation compressed Muten Natsu's Reiatsu to its absolute extreme.
At the moment of release, torrential Reiatsu surged forth like a flood, guided by the blade's light. It crushed the approaching hair and cleaved Grand Fisher cleanly in two.
As if wiped away by an eraser, Grand Fisher's shoulder and a large portion of the flesh across his chest vanished. The remaining limbs fell limply to the ground.
"So… fast…" Grand Fisher's shattered mask trembled. "What a fast blade…"
The corpse dissolved into Reishi and was absorbed by Myōki.
Muten Natsu frowned slightly and rubbed his earlobe.
Rukia Kuchiki noticed the change in his expression. "What's wrong?"
"Soul Essence Stealing failed." Muten Natsu stared at the prompt on the light screen before him, suddenly recalling something crucial.
When he had just killed Grand Fisher, there had been no sign of the decoy above his head.
No… it was even earlier than that.
Muten Natsu replayed the fight in his mind. When he used Exploding Flash, the decoy above Grand Fisher's head was still there.
But after that, it disappeared.
"It escaped!" Muten Natsu finally pieced everything together.
During the explosion, Grand Fisher had transferred his body into the decoy, leaving behind nothing but a mass of hair to take the hit in his place.
After realizing how dangerous Muten Natsu was, Grand Fisher had separated his body in advance. The decoy fled to ensure his survival, while the remaining body stayed behind to fight Muten Natsu.
If he won, the decoy would return to reclaim the body. If he lost, Grand Fisher would still not truly die.
The fissure on Muten Natsu's forehead split open. The crimson Hell's Eye rotated, searching for the decoy's trail. "Found it…"
Suddenly, the Hell's Eye shifted, turning toward a different direction. Muten Natsu's expression twisted abruptly.
...
"All right—let's go!" Orihime Inoue, wearing a baseball cap, raised her arm high. "Tatsuki!"
"Got it!" Tatsuki Arisawa hopped twice to warm up, then swung her leg in a sharp kick. "Lightning-Speed Shot!"
The soccer ball shot toward Orihime Inoue at high speed. She sidestepped, adjusted her stance, lifted her foot… then swung the baseball bat in her hands with full force!
The ball was launched high into the air. Tatsuki Arisawa reached out to catch it, but the distance was simply too far.
"Awesome!" Orihime Inoue cheered. "I got the first point!"
"Orihime, I feel like your idea of playing soccer really puts the defending side at a disadvantage," Tatsuki Arisawa sighed. "And don't start thinking about cracking open a beer just because you scored first. You're still underage, aren't you?"
"Hehe~ It just looks like beer." Orihime Inoue smiled as she lifted the drink. "Let's celebrate toge—celebrate."
"Hm?" Tatsuki Arisawa noticed something off about Orihime Inoue's expression. "What's wrong?"
"N-no… it's nothing…" Orihime Inoue slipped the drink back into her bag. "Let's drink it when we get home."
She held her breath and walked toward Tatsuki Arisawa as calmly as she could.
Doing her best not to notice the Hollow behind her.
It was a Hollow somewhere between a jellyfish and some kind of plant. Behind its pale mask writhed purple tentacles, and strange, lump-like protrusions covered its head.
Whoosh!
The jellyfish Hollow suddenly lashed out with its tentacles toward Tatsuki Arisawa. Orihime Inoue didn't even have time to think. She grabbed Tatsuki and yanked her close.
Bang!
The tentacles slammed into the grass. Behind the mask, the jellyfish Hollow's yellow eyes narrowed. "You… so you really can see me."
"Run!" Orihime Inoue grabbed Tatsuki Arisawa and took off.
But the jellyfish Hollow was faster. Purple tentacles swept out, wrapping around the two of them before tightening abruptly. "Hm?"
Orihime Inoue and Tatsuki Arisawa's bodies passed straight through the tentacles and slowly faded away.
"An illusion?!" The jellyfish Hollow twisted its body, locking onto the two figures running in the distance. "Run? You think you can escape?"
Its body shook, and the strange lumps on its head shot out one after another.
They tore through the air like bullets, rapidly closing in on the pair.
Hearing the sharp whistling sound, Tatsuki Arisawa immediately threw herself over Orihime Inoue, knocking her to the ground and shielding her with her body.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The sound of the lumps burying themselves into the ground rang out again and again before finally falling silent.
"Tatsuki!" Orihime Inoue frantically checked Tatsuki Arisawa's body. "Are you okay?"
"I… I'm fine." Tatsuki Arisawa stood up and pulled Orihime Inoue to her feet. "But what… what was that thing?"
She moved in front of Orihime Inoue, staring warily at the jellyfish-like Hollow.
"Tatsuki… can you see it?"
"Yeah." Tatsuki Arisawa frowned. "It was blurry at first, but now it's getting clearer."