Bleach : I Need To Rizz To Become Stronger ?!

Tachikawa Shin raced through the air toward Rukongai with Matsumoto Rangiku and two other Squad Ten members in tow.

"Captain, it might not be that serious," Rangiku tried to reassure him. "Hoshino only stayed behind to cover the retreat, and he already called for backup."

She kept talking, her voice unsteady. "Hoshino's still a Fourth Seat. Regular Hollows shouldn't be a threat to him."

Shin said nothing. His face was dark, his silence colder than any scolding. He just flew, faster and faster.

Rukongai was vast, and District 79 was a long way from Seireitei. Even flying at full speed, they saw no signs of any reinforcements.

As they drew closer, Shin suddenly sensed a strong, turbulent spiritual pressure—chaotic and brimming with malice. Without a word, he surged forward, far ahead of the others.

Then he saw it.

The Hollow was monstrous—six-legged, lizard-like in shape, a grotesquely exaggerated mask over its face. From its scalp sprouted red appendages, somewhere between tendrils and hair.

Its massive maw still held half the corpse of a shinigami, dressed in bloodied shihakushō.

When Rangiku and the others arrived, their pupils shrank in horror.

"That's... Asai..."

One of the squad members spoke with a trembling voice, recognizing the body clutched in the beast's jaws as one of the three who had stayed behind with Hoshino.

Rangiku scanned the area. Signs of battle everywhere—scorched earth from Kidō, large patches of blood soaking into the dirt.

They were all... dead?

Her breath caught in her throat.

She turned to Shin. "Captain..."

He didn't answer. He stood utterly still, gaze locked on the Hollow.

The creature had noticed them too, and when its gaze fell on Shin's white haori, it instinctively took a step back.

It wasn't stupid. It knew what a captain meant.

The others immediately drew their Zanpakutōs with a metallic hiss, falling into battle stances.

"Wait," Shin ordered sharply.

He remembered now—why this Hollow looked so familiar.

Metastacia.

The same Hollow that, in the original timeline, killed Kaien Shiba and his wife.

A Hollow with the ability to endlessly evolve through fusion—and, more dangerously, to temporarily make a shinigami's Zanpakutō vanish.

Aizen's experiment.

It would later be absorbed by the Noveno Espada and eventually slain by Kuchiki Rukia.

"Captain?" Rangiku asked.

"You don't need to approach," Shin said, flashing forward in a blur of shunpo to land just meters from the Hollow.

Metastacia knew its own strength well. Its ability to disarm shinigami had let it slay many before—most lieutenants stood little chance.

But those wearing white... captains... were another matter.

Still, it believed its evolution had no ceiling. If it consumed enough powerful prey, even captains would fall beneath it.

But not now. Not this one.

It had already fed well today—it had no desire to risk everything.

The captain in white approached. Metastacia turned to flee without hesitation.

BOOM.

A crushing wave of reiatsu fell like a mountain, pinning it in place. Its limbs gave out, body paralyzed under the sheer pressure.

"Damn it!" it screeched in human speech. "What is this?!"

On the sidelines, even the Squad Ten members staggered under the weight of Shin's spiritual pressure. It wasn't directed at them, but the shockwaves alone were suffocating.

"Captain…" Rangiku whispered.

It was the first time she had felt his reiatsu so directly. It was far stronger than she had ever imagined.

Perhaps even stronger than Captain Shiba.

Thud.

Metastacia collapsed completely, belly to the ground.

"Damn it! Damn it!"

It cursed incessantly, knowing full well the laws of the world: there was no peace between Hollow and shinigami. And it had just killed several of them.

Shin approached with measured steps, his gaze frosty and calm.

Devour… Fuse…

Did it still have a chance?

"Rangiku."

She snapped to attention. "Yes, Captain!"

"Take the others and leave. As far as you can."

Rangiku blinked, then nodded immediately.

"Yes!"

She grabbed both squadmates by the arms and flash-stepped away at full speed.

There was no way that thing could match their captain.

Several hundred meters away, as they halted, an invisible barrier of spirit particles shimmered into being, isolating the battlefield.

Then Rangiku felt Shin's overwhelming reiatsu surge… and suddenly vanish like a receding tide.

"Lieutenant Matsumoto, what's the captain doing?" one of the squad members asked.

She hesitated.

She didn't know. Was he just venting his fury on that thing alone?

"I don't know," she said quietly. "We follow orders. That's all."

She stared toward the battlefield, fists clenched tight.

Hoshino...

Just this morning, they had been speaking.

He had his own duties, but still volunteered to help her with her work.

She'd even complained he was too obedient to the captain…

Damn it. How did it all turn into this?

She seethed with guilt and grief.

Suddenly, she felt several spiritual pressures approaching rapidly.

She turned and saw Captain Aizen of Squad Five, leading a small group of subordinates toward them.

"Lieutenant Matsumoto, what's the situation?" Aizen asked, tone tense.

Rangiku's expression dimmed. After a moment, she replied slowly, "We arrived too late. Fourth Seat Hoshino and the three members with him... all perished."

Gin Ichimaru stood behind Aizen, his eyes mere slits, smiling faintly as he watched her.

"And the Hollow?" Aizen asked.

"Our captain subdued it," Rangiku replied. "But he told us not to approach. Captain Aizen…"

Aizen paused, then nodded. "I understand."

He looked genuinely distraught, voice soft. "We were too slow. And I should've warned Captain Tachikawa more clearly."

Rangiku said nothing.

They waited there in heavy silence for over half an hour. No one spoke. Squad Ten's remaining members were wrapped in grief and numbness.

Finally, they felt Shin's reiatsu fade significantly.

Metastacia's presence vanished entirely.

"It's over," Aizen said. "Let's go."

Rangiku nodded.

As they reached the scene, they were met with a chilling sight.

The Hollow had been utterly dismembered, its body dissolving into spirit particles.

But that wasn't what shocked them.

Before Shin, three bodies lay in perfect formation.

Rangiku rushed to his side. "Captain, this…"

"They're dead," Shin said flatly.

The three corpses lay neatly side-by-side, their uniforms immaculate. No visible wounds, their faces still bore a soft flush.

But no trace of life remained.

Shin had tried to use Rewind to bring them back, draining his own reiatsu to nothing.

He only succeeded in restoring their bodies.

He couldn't revive the dead.

Across from him, Aizen's eyes flickered—almost imperceptibly.

He adjusted his glasses and lowered his head slightly, the glare from the lenses hiding his gaze.

"Captain Tachikawa."

He approached and met Shin's cold, detached eyes.

"I'm truly sorry," he said. "That Hollow was stronger than expected. I should have warned you. If I had, maybe Hoshino and the others…"

Shin was silent a moment, then sighed deeply.

"No. This isn't your fault, Captain Aizen. I've been leading these patrols all week. But today... I gave the job to Hoshino."

He looked away from Aizen, back to the corpses.

He didn't trust himself to keep looking at the man.

Of all days, this had to happen.

And of all people—it had to be Hoshino leading the squad.

If Shin had gone himself...

That Hollow never would've shown its face.