Chapter 66: Las Noches

Yamabuki Haruto shuddered, nearly tumbling off Lizard Maru’s back.

“Brother Yamabuki, you okay? You look pale! Hurt?” Sasakibe Chōjirō leaned in, concerned.

“Back off!” Haruto snapped. “You startled me—I thought you were a Hollow. I’m Soul Society’s second-best healer. Think I wouldn’t know if I was injured?” His eyes darted, avoiding Chōjirō’s gaze.

“Where’s that mask you were wearing?” Chōjirō pressed.

“Mask? Tossed it after messing around,” Haruto lied, feigning interest in the horizon. The mask had fused into his body, a secret he couldn’t share.

Hollows still pursued them, their reiatsu closing in. At this rate, capture was inevitable. Kazenami Haru spoke up. “Chief, I contacted Soul Society. Technical issues—they can’t open the Senkaimon for at least two hours.”

“Two hours?” Haruto licked his lips. “Fine. You two steer Lizard Maru. I’ll handle the pursuers.” Prolonged battles didn’t scare him—his body devoured Hueco Mundo’s reishi, replenishing faster than he spent.

The four-armed Adjuchas lunged first. Haruto avoided his reishi bows, wary of Chōjirō and Haru witnessing Quincy powers. The Quincy-Shinigami war loomed, and explaining a Shinigami using reishi would be impossible. Instead, he relied on pure Shinigami strength. After the last fight, his reiatsu had spiked, nearing captain-level.

“Bakudō #39: Enkōsen! Bakudō #62: Hyapporankan! Hadō #63: Raikōhō! Hadō #88: Hiryū Gekizoku Shinten Raihō!” Kidō barrages rained down, ignoring energy cost. Hollows wailed as lightning and barriers shredded them. Haruto’s reishi absorption healed wounds and restored his reserves instantly.

Ordinary Hollows fell easily, but Menos Grande fired Ceros—multicolored beams flooding the sky. Only a turret counters a turret, Haruto thought. Even he couldn’t outgun dozens of Menos alone.

Then inspiration struck. After absorbing the Hollow mask, his body hinted at Shinigami, Quincy, and Hollow powers. Can I use Cero? He stretched out a hand, focusing reishi. A silver-white orb formed, mirroring the Hollows’ Ceros. It worked!

He hurled it. The night sky blazed silver as the Cero exploded among the Hollows, annihilating those at its core and slicing others with surgical precision. The four-armed Adjuchas’s eyes narrowed. A Shinigami using Cero? What is this monster?

“Brother Yamabuki, that was incredible!” Chōjirō cheered, creeping closer.

“Just a Kidō I crafted,” Haruto lied, waving him off. “Watch the road, don’t bother me.”

Haruto experimented further, condensing a larger Cero. “Eat this!” he sneered, firing it like a shotgun. Thumb-sized light particles sprayed, piercing Hollows without exploding, killing dozens instantly.

“What’s that?” the Adjuchas roared. “Cero doesn’t work like that!”

Haruto smirked, firing another scattershot. The Hollows countered, their Ceros dispersing his attack’s reishi, neutralizing it. Haruto tsked. The surviving Hollows—down from a thousand to under two hundred—grew cautious, holding back.

Chōjirō beamed. “That Kidō’s amazing! Teach me back in Seireitei?”

“No way,” Haruto scoffed. “You haven’t mastered Bankai yet. How many Zanpakutō forms are there?”

“Two!” Chōjirō answered eagerly.

“Learn Bankai first, then talk,” Haruto said. Chōjirō, oblivious, didn’t notice the non-Shinigami powers.

Kazenami Haru’s eyes flickered with suspicion. Trained by the Tsunayashiro noble family, she knew no Shinigami wielded such powers. But she stayed silent—knowing too much could spell trouble for someone of her rank.

“Look, they stopped chasing!” Chōjirō said, pointing. The Hollows formed a resentful semicircle, watching from a distance.

“As expected,” Haruto boasted. “Even Hollows fear my power.” He wondered if unleashing all three powers—Shinigami, Quincy, and Hollow—could rival a captain.

Lizard Maru halted. “Why’d you stop?” Haruto demanded.

Haru’s voice was low. “Chief, something’s off. Hueco Mundo… has a massive building.”

Haruto turned, stunned. Looming in the distance was Las Noches, its white walls stark against the eternal night.