Bleach: Azashiro

***Akihiko Azashiro***

Emerging from the dump, about a kilometer from the uneven formation of Hollows, I looked around. In front of the entire line of Hollows, at an equal distance from each other, all the officers of the covert operations detachment were already standing. After another couple of seconds, ordinary members of the detachment began to appear and line up behind us. I also took my place among the officers. Of course, I hadn't been promoted yet, but they hadn't ignored my strength either.

As far as I understood, during the battle, all officers would act freely and independently. Unlike us, the privates, who were unable to handle multiple Hollows alone, would work in groups. I just needed to ensure that as few weak Shinigami as possible fell victim to my attacks. I expected the battle to be chaotic, and it would be impossible to account for everything. Although, it wasn't that I was particularly concerned about their lives. I just didn't want to deal with the potential consequences.

"Heh, it's not the time to think about useless things," I muttered, shaking my head and focusing on the enemy.

Drawing my Zanpakutō from its scabbard, I gripped it tightly in my hand. From the walls, the Hollows hadn't looked so imposing. The height of each Hollow exceeded all Shinigami by at least a meter. Among them were giants the size of nine-story buildings—truly massive creatures. And let's not forget about the Gillians. They posed the greatest threat to the Shinigami, and I wasn't just referring to the rank and file. If any of the officers were caught in their Cero, they might not die, but they'd likely sustain serious injuries. Given the number of Gillians, there was a good chance of being hit by an accidentally released Cero.

Fortunately, I had several ways to protect myself from that in my arsenal.

Noticing Chika-san's signal, I began to walk toward the Hollows at a slow pace, keeping in step with the rest of the officers. I didn't want to stand out, at least not yet.

As I walked, I considered how to strike to thin out their ranks. A strong spell wouldn't work here; the smoke would likely obscure the view for the privates. And expecting the Hollows not to retaliate after my attack would be foolish. It didn't matter to me, but the rank and file might not react in time. Still, they were quite weak.

"Well, that's why they're here. They just get in the way," I sighed sadly.

I didn't want to get scolded by Chika-san, so I decided to keep it simple.

We drew closer and closer to the first rows of Hollows roaring at us and stopped a hundred meters away. They didn't move, remaining in place. Some screamed, others growled, and a few clacked their teeth, but they all stood still as one.

Looking around, I realized that none of the Shinigami were going to strike first. At first, it seemed somewhat ridiculous, but I quickly dismissed the thought and raised my Zanpakutō to strike.

Since no one was willing to start, I would. Standing with my legs slightly bent, I swung the blade horizontally in front of me, cutting through the first few rows of Hollows. Without hesitation, I charged into the fray.

Breaking through the crowd of Menos, I continued forward, cutting down more and more lower-tier Hollows along the way. They didn't even have time to react before their masks were sliced apart.

As I killed Hollows along the way, I reached the first Gillian, which was preparing to fire a Cero. Unlike its smaller brethren, it noticed me. Dodging the red beam was easy, but I hadn't expected three more Gillians to approach me from different directions.

"Hmm," I muttered, using Shunpo.

I appeared above a group of four Gillians standing ten meters apart. The question of what to do didn't even cross my mind. My hands moved on their own.

"Hadō #63: Raikōhō!"

A black lightning bolt shot from my outstretched arm, striking right between them.

*Boom*

The explosion hit the Gillians, killing three of the four. Without hesitation, I moved behind the last one and, with a simple swing, severed its massive head from its torso.

"What do we have here? A pest problem?" a creaky Hollow voice sounded behind me.

"Hadō #4: Byakurai."

Without looking back at the Hollow, I hid my hand behind my wide haori sleeve and released black spiritual energy in the form of lightning in its direction.

Moving behind the dodging Adjuchas, I slashed its back and sent it flying. It managed to recover and land on its feet, but the force of the impact caused it to skid several meters, leaving two long furrows in the ground.

"Bastard," the Hollow growled, its mask resembling some unknown animal.

I wasn't going to engage in conversation, so I quickly closed the distance and engaged in close combat. It was worth luring out the two other rats watching us.

As our battle continued, the Hollow sustained more and more cuts, which slowly regenerated. From time to time, I had to dodge random Ceros fired by Gillians from other parts of the battlefield.

Once again, letting a Cero pass by, I had to create distance between us. But now I wasn't in a hurry to attack again. The reason was that two Adjuchas had approached and stood next to my opponent. Finally, they had shown themselves.

"Hehe, I see you're having trouble," said one of them, its mask resembling a beetle.

"You can't even kill one Shinigami, you weakling," the second one sneered, its voice resembling a cat's.

"Shut up!" growled the battered Hollow.

Even at the beginning of the battle, a small clearing had formed around us. The other Hollows were too afraid to get close to our fight. At the same time, the Shinigami wisely stayed out of the way.

"Well, well, don't get angry. Let's squash this bug," the beetle-like Hollow hissed sarcastically in a thin, creaky voice.

"Hmm, scum," I said calmly, addressing them for the first time. "Stop talking and attack."

"Oh-ho, someone's eager to die!" growled the cat-like Hollow.

Just as I was about to activate my Shikai, the voice of my Zanpakutō spirit interrupted me.

"Don't you dare! Deal with these weaklings yourself."

As usual. If the opponents weren't strong enough in her opinion, she considered it beneath her dignity to use Shikai against them. On one hand, I understood her—they were too weak to withstand even one serious attack. On the other hand, I wanted to test out some new abilities.

There was nothing I could do. I'd have to handle this on my own. Of course, I could forcibly activate my Shikai, but I had no intention of ruining my relationship with my Zanpakutō over some weaklings.

"Bakudō #62: Hyapporankan!"

Not wanting to continue the conversation, I created hundreds of glowing blue energy rods around me. With a slight movement of my free hand, they shot toward the trio of Hollows.

Of course, I didn't expect my straightforward attack to be effective. So, I immediately began preparing the next Kidō.

"Zipper cart, spinning wheel spokes. Let the light be divided into six parts."

While I chanted the incantation, the Hollows scattered in different directions. First, I needed to finish off the initial target, then deal with the rest.

"Bakudō #61: Rikujōkōrō!"

Pointing my index finger at the wounded Hollow, I released a stream of yellow energy. Six thin but wide beams appeared, piercing the Hollow's body in a circle and immobilizing it.

Moving behind the restrained enemy, I intended to decapitate it with a quick strike, but two gray beams of energy rushing toward me forced me to change my plans.

I didn't want to miss the opportunity, so I pushed off the ground and leaped over the bound Hollow. As it passed beneath me, I released a Kidō to finish it off.

"Hadō #54: Haien!"

A quick swing of my sword sent an arc of black flame toward the Hollow.

*Boom*

"AHH!!"

My landing coincided with the explosion of the Cero and my spell hitting their target. Behind me, in the cloud of dust rising from the explosion, the Hollow burned alive in the flames of my spell.

"Bastard!"

"Kill the scum!!"

The remaining Adjuchas screamed in unison. I found their behavior strange. Did Hollows feel camaraderie? Or was it something else? Unclear. Their attempt to protect their comrade was dubious. In Hueco Mundo, they tore each other apart, but here they tried to save one another? There must be someone stronger behind them. Otherwise, I couldn't explain their behavior.

"Why don't you mutts call your master before I kill you too?" I said coldly, staring at them with a distant gaze.

As soon as I finished speaking, the two enraged Adjuchas lunged at me from different directions.

"Seki."

Two balls of blue energy appeared on the back of my palms. As I raised them to block the Hollows' attacks, the spell repelled the enraged Adjuchas, sending them tumbling across the ground. I didn't waste time waiting for them to recover. Without moving, I prepared the next Kidō.

"Hadō #33: Sōkatsui!"

Placing my hands in different directions, I directed them toward the Hollows. A shapeless wave of spiritual energy, in the form of black flame, erupted from my palms.

The waves of flame traveled more than fifty meters before crashing into the Hollows and Shinigami fighting around us, cutting through the battlefield and destroying everything in their path. Only after three hundred meters did the waves finally dissipate.

By my estimate, this attack killed over a hundred Hollows and Shinigami. But I wasn't concerned about the accidental casualties among the Shinigami. I didn't care about the weaklings who couldn't even evade such a noticeable attack in time. I was more focused on the two barely surviving Hollows.

Both were clearly damaged by my spell. The burnt parts of their bodies spoke louder than words. In fact, I was surprised they had managed to evade, even if only partially.

Without a word, they stretched out their hands toward me and began forming Ceros.

In response, I decided to use a rather specific disorienting Kidō.

"Bakudō #15: Hakufuku."

As soon as the purple cherry petals appeared, the Adjuchas lost concentration, and the Ceros forming at their fingertips stopped growing. Realizing the effect wouldn't last long, I quickly used Shunpo.

Landing behind the disoriented beetle-masked Hollow, I decapitated it with a simple swing of my sword. It couldn't offer any resistance.

As soon as this happened, its partner quickly regained its senses and fired a Cero in my direction. Shunpo.

My stab from behind was blocked by an armored growth on the Hollow's forearm.

"Rrraaa!" it growled in my face, forming a Cero in its mask's mouth.

Fortunately, I managed to create enough distance to activate a barrier.

The blue Cero shot at me collided with the green barrier surrounding me. Standing inside the barrier, I calmly watched as the beam spread across the translucent walls. After waiting for the Cero to dissipate, I dispelled the barrier and charged at the Hollow, which was already rushing toward me.

Dodging its clawed paw, which hadn't expected me to survive its attack, I severed its arm at the elbow with a quick motion. Ignoring its screams, I took advantage of the moment and, with a precise strike, decapitated it.

Having dealt with them, I looked around. Fifty meters around me, a fierce battle raged between the Menos and the Shinigami. Only now did I notice the cacophony of sounds—the clash of steel, cries of pain, the roars of Hollows, all blending together. From time to time, red Ceros flared up, claiming many lives. Explosions from spells echoed across the battlefield.

For a minute, I just stood there, watching it all, doing nothing. Even though my battle had ended quickly, I had expended a lot of Reiatsu. Everything would have been fine, but I remembered that Shika was somewhere in the middle of this chaos.

I was about to take off in search of her when a Hollow jumped at me from behind.

"Svali, Sho."

With a snap of my fingers, I sent the presumptuous Hollow flying. The low-level Hollow was blown away, crashing into the crowd and taking out several unfortunate Hollows and Shinigami along the way.

No longer paying attention to the battle around me, I took off. Now, all that mattered was Shika's safety. She wasn't weak, but I couldn't help worrying about her.

"I hope she's okay."