Menos Grande: Adjuchas

Under Akira Morisawa's gaze and the stares of the many Tenth Division members, a figure slowly walked out of the house.

Compared with her earlier graceful, alluring figure, the widow now looked as if she had been inflated. Bulging white growths swelled out all over her body, and something like a white horn protruded from the top of her head.

With every step the widow took, unidentifiable matter spilled out through one opening and clattered to the ground. The sight was both terrifying and disgusting.

"What is that? A Hollow?"

"Such terrifying reiatsu. Is it a Menos Grande?"

"Everyone, be careful!"

"You rotten thing, you dared fool Lord Taume Yoshigami? Now those little horns are showing, huh? Watch me kill you..."

Among the solemn voices, one voice full of angry indignation mixed in, leaving Akira stunned for a moment.

When the swollen mass that the widow had become heard it, a composite voice rang out, empty and furious.

"Irritating Shinigami. This was the most satisfying shell I had found. How dare you ruin my work..."

The moment those words fell, the swollen mass seemed to burst from the inside. A massive white figure, nearly the size of the entire house, appeared before everyone.

Its whole body was a hollow white. It resembled a fusion of spider and crab, with a long tail behind it and an inverted horned head at the front of its body, covered by a pale mask. As its terrifying reiatsu erupted fully, almost every Shinigami present felt as if they were suffocating.

"Today, every last one of you Shinigami will pay!!!"

Its composite voice echoed like both a roar and a howl.

...

At the same time, deep beneath the Twelfth Division barracks in Seireitei, a flood of warning signals rang through the Shinigami Research and Development Institute. Members in white coats operated computer-like devices at frantic speed.

"Confirmed. The source of this Hollow reiatsu is near West District 79 of Rukongai. Reiatsu intensity is..."

"Adjuchas!"

The moment that word sounded, every Twelfth Division member present froze.

Akon, whose forehead bore three small horn-like bumps and whose brows were tightly furrowed, spoke in disbelief.

"How is that possible? We did not detect any Garganta opening to let a Menos enter Soul Society. Could this be an error?"

Just then, a gloomy, mocking voice sounded.

"Akon, how many days have you followed that man Kisuke Urahara, and already you have become this ignorant? Do not trust so-called common sense. Trust only the data and results in your own hands..."

As that voice fell, Mayuri Kurotsuchi appeared before the Twelfth Division members, looking almost like a complete madman. In a tone that brooked no argument, he ordered, "In the name of the Shinigami Research and Development Institute, send a warning to Seireitei. A Menos-class reiatsu at the level of Adjuchas has appeared near West District 79 of Rukongai."

As the warning from the Research and Development Institute spread, quite a few captains who had been leisurely heading toward the First Division in Seireitei to attend the emergency captain's meeting stopped in surprise.

A Menos at the Adjuchas level appearing in Rukongai was no minor matter.

If left unchecked, a Hollow of that level could easily devour thousands upon thousands of souls in an extremely short time.

Among them, Shinji Hirako, captain of the Fifth Division, whose yellow hair made him easy to spot, instinctively turned to glance behind him at "Sosuke Aizen."

Only "Sosuke Aizen" wore an expression that looked equally grave and stunned, as if he had not expected this situation at all.

In the next instant, a Hell Butterfly landed on Shinji's head, passing a message into his mind.

'Support team: Captain Rojuro Otoribashi of the Third Division and rescue team: Captain Shinji Hirako of the Fifth Division, deploy immediately. Medical team: Fourth Division, dispatch two relief squads...'

After receiving the order from the First Division, Shinji did not dare delay. He was even worried that "Sosuke Aizen" might not keep up with his speed, so he told "Aizen" to follow as quickly as possible while he himself used Shunpo to rush toward West District 79 of Rukongai.

...

At that moment in West District 79 of Rukongai, more than thirty Shinigami maintained a standoff with the Adjuchas, whose reiatsu radiated despair.

No. More accurately, under the pressure of the Adjuchas's astonishing reiatsu, most of the Shinigami could barely move.

Reiatsu.

Their reiatsu was not even on the same level.

"This... this is not an enemy we can handle..."

One rather young-looking Tenth Division member was the first to break under the pressure. His expression collapsed as he retreated step by step, muttering, "If... if we do not run... we will definitely die..."

It was not only the Tenth Division members. Akira's heart also sank.

An Adjuchas?!

This was indeed not a Menos that ordinary members or seated officers could deal with. In fact, most lieutenant-class Shinigami would be helpless in front of an Adjuchas.

This was a Menos that required a captain-class Shinigami to confront.

'How did a Hollow of this level appear here? The entire Seireitei detected nothing beforehand, and Captain Unohana and Lieutenant Isshin Shiba searched the area earlier without finding it?'

In that instant, Akira almost instinctively smelled conspiracy. The more troublesome issue was that Teacher Unohana was gone.

If Unohana were still nearby, there was no way she would fail to appear after an Adjuchas showed itself.

'This is bad. Very bad.'

Akira drew a deep breath and looked straight at the Adjuchas ahead, understanding just how dangerous his situation had become.

In the next instant, under the eyes of the many Shinigami, the Adjuchas, whose body was nearly the size of a house, abruptly vanished.

Before the Tenth Division members could react after freezing for that brief instant, Akira's voice rang out from somewhere near the back of the formation.

"Behind you! Be careful!"

At that very moment, two Tenth Division members suddenly felt a shadow appear behind them. Their bodies flew away like torn cloth, smashing heavily into the ground and rolling several times. Their chests were almost flattened, and barren earth erupted with vast stretches of grass.

In the blink of an eye, great swaths of green grass wrapped around the two Tenth Division members. Tiny blooming flowers began absorbing reishi from the air and urgently treating their injuries.

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