Chapter 688 Kanae: Scatter, Higanbana

Aaroniero steadied himself, and upon hearing Rukia's question, he raised his face, hidden behind the cylindrical mask. After a few seconds, a malicious chuckle came from beneath the mask: "Oh~ if it isn't the Shinigami girl who killed me."

As soon as he said this, most of the expedition team's expressions changed dramatically.

Aaroniero slowly raised his hand and removed the cylindrical white bone mask from his head.

What was revealed was a face identical to the late Shiba Kaien, his tone carrying a teasing familiarity: "Long time no see, Rukia. You've grown quite a bit~."

This stunned Rukia, Isane, Renji, and all the other members who had known Kaien, whether deeply or shallowly.

Then, seizing the moment of everyone's shock, Aaroniero swung Nejibana again.

The trident traced a crescent-shaped arc through the air, sending a wave of sword energy mixed with roaring waves hurtling toward Rukia.

And Rukia was still completely stunned, frozen in place, watching the sword energy grow larger and larger in her pupils.

At the critical moment, a golden figure flashed in front of Rukia like lightning.

The Zanpakuto struck the sword energy, splitting the wave in two.

Asuna turned her head and shouted at Rukia, "What are you doing just standing there?!"

But Rukia's expression remained one of shock, staring blankly at Aaroniero's face, identical to Kaien's. "K-Kaien-sama..."

Yoruichi looked down at the scene, thinking to herself, 'Aaroniero really knows how to pick the softest target.'

Just then, Kanae once again showed the composure expected of a leader. She used Shunpo to retreat to Rukia's side and said firmly, "Rukia, don't overthink it. He is not Lieutenant Shiba."

Rukia snapped out of it with a jolt, her eyes clearing slightly.

Kanae turned around, her sharp gaze fixed on the face identical to Kaien's. "I've heard that the King of Hueco Mundo has a wealth of talent under his command, including countless Vasto Lorde-class combatants. Does he need his subordinates to resort to such underhanded tactics? It seems he's not as all-powerful as the rumors say."

But Aaroniero continued his performance, showing a helpless smile on Kaien's face. "I am indeed the real Shiba Kaien... What, after so long, you don't recognize me? That night, after I deliberately threw myself onto Rukia's Zanpakuto, my spiritual body began to collapse."

"At the last moment before my consciousness faded, I flew into Hueco Mundo. I never expected to survive, but I became an experimental subject of the King of Hueco Mundo... and was ultimately revived in this form. Surprising, isn't it?"

He spread his hands and shrugged as he spoke. That carefree attitude was exactly like the living Kaien.

Kanae raised her hand to stop the team members who wanted to charge forward, and said coldly, "Shut up. Although I wasn't close to Lieutenant Kaien, I've heard he was a man who valued his subordinates' lives above his own. If you were truly Lieutenant Kaien, why did you attack Rukia just now?"

Aaroniero kept up the act, his tone carrying an exaggerated hatred: "Why? Isn't it obvious? Is it really so strange that I want to kill her? You should all know perfectly well that I, the former 13th Division's Lieutenant, Shiba Kaien, ended up in this state precisely because I was killed by Kuchiki Rukia's own hand. In such circumstances, is it really so strange that I want to take revenge and kill her?"

As soon as he said this, Rukia's pupils shook violently again.

Renji shouted, "Rukia! Don't listen to him! It's all lies!"

To be honest, if it had been a Vasto Lorde of Ulquiorra or Yu's caliber, they wouldn't have stooped to such psychological warfare.

But Aaroniero's strength was lacking. Although he was the appointed administrator of the Maria District, his true combat power was only a bit above that of an Adjuchas.

To deal with so many Shinigami who had mastered their Shikai without alerting guards in other areas or calling for reinforcements, he had to play dirty.

"Enough."

Kanae held her Zanpakuto horizontally before her, the last traces of gentleness in her voice gone. "I've grown tired of your pathetic acting."

Kanae took a deep breath, and softly chanted her Zanpakuto's release command:

"Drift Away... Tsuyuri."

The moment the words left her mouth, Kanae's Zanpakuto transformed into a pink glow, scattering like petals carried by the wind.

This sight made Rukia, Renji, and others' faces change dramatically.

Because, visually, Kanae's Zanpakuto release looked remarkably similar to 6th Division's Captain, Kuchiki Byakuya's Senbonzakura.

The only difference was that Senbonzakura's petals were a cool white-pink, while Tsuyuri's petals were softer, with warm yellow-white tones, appearing almost entirely harmless.

Aaroniero swung Nejibana again. Ice-blue water formed a rotating barrier before him, trying to sweep away all the petals drifting toward him.

But these petals, finer and lighter than Senbonzakura's, clearly had a larger attack range than Nejibana's water barrier.

Like dandelions scattered by the wind, they landed on Aaroniero's body.

However, to everyone's surprise, these petals didn't cut his skin like Senbonzakura would.

"What is this?"

Aaroniero, still wearing Kaien's face, looked down at the petals on his hand.

Just then, Shinobu spoke up from behind, her voice carrying a hint of pride as she explained her sister's ability: "Sister's Zanpakuto, Tsuyuri, has no offensive power in its scattered petals. But once its pollen contacts the target's skin, it completely numbs all their senses... including the ability to feel pain."

Hearing Shinobu's explanation, Aaroniero was stunned for a second, then burst into laughter.

"What a useless ability! Not feeling pain just makes things easier for me!"

With that, he swung Nejibana with even greater ferocity, launching a more violent attack on Kanae.

Kanae smiled meaningfully in the face of his onslaught. "Is that so?"

The two engaged in another fierce melee.

The ice-blue trident and the pink blade clashed repeatedly in the air, each collision creating a dazzling display of water and petals.

Aaroniero's attacks grew more intense, while Kanae seemed to be forced back step by step.

But after dozens of exchanges, Aaroniero began to feel uneasy.

Something was wrong. Although his opponent seemed to be on the defensive, she always managed to barely block his attacks.

'What was going on? This woman could actually take so many of my hits?'

Just then, Kanae suddenly twisted her wrist, sidestepping the trident's tip at an improbable angle, and swung her blade backhanded.

The Zanpakuto traced a clean arc through the air, precisely striking the joint of Aaroniero's left arm. Blood sprayed.

Aaroniero, having lost his sense of touch, didn't react for a moment.

He only felt his left arm suddenly grow lighter.

He looked down and saw his left forearm had been severed at the elbow, blood gushing from the stump.

Panicking, Aaroniero leaped back, using Sonído to instantly create distance from Kanae. He stared at her in disbelief: "How is this possible?! You actually—"

"Idiot. Still haven't noticed?"

Shinobu crossed her arms behind, letting out a cold laugh. "Haven't you realized? Sister has been using Kido on you this whole time."

Aaroniero frantically looked around.

In just the few minutes he had been focused on the melee, a thin layer of mist had unknowingly formed around him.

Within the mist, faint red flashes of lightning flickered.

He looked down at himself and was even more shocked.

His body had been opened with dozens of fine cuts without him noticing. Over half of his white robe was stained dark red.

"Hado #67, Raimei Sen."

The moment Kanae's words fell, the faint lightning that had been lurking in the mist suddenly erupted violently.

All the electricity converged from all directions within the mist, launching an all-out attack on Aaroniero.

The principle of Raimei Sen was to first create a mist of Reishi to interfere with the target's vision, then use hidden lightning within the mist to deliver intermittent attacks from all directions.

Kanae had been secretly releasing this technique while pretending to struggle against Aaroniero's attacks during the melee.

She had been accumulating it throughout the fight.

Because Tsuyuri's pollen had robbed Aaroniero of all sensation, he hadn't felt the minor burns the lightning caused on his skin.

He had thought he was overpowering Kanae, completely unaware that his body had been steadily weakening.

And Kanae had been playing along, subtly adjusting her level of holding back based on the subtle changes in Aaroniero's condition, making him believe they were still evenly matched.

With his pain and touch senses completely cut off, Aaroniero had been unable to detect his own body's gradual decline. He had completely missed the fact that each of his swings was slightly slower than the last.

And just now, seeing that his body had weakened to its breaking point, Kanae simply stopped pretending.

Shinobu sneered, "If all the Hollows here are as brainless as you, my sister could take them all on by herself."

As she finished, Kanae raised her left hand, palm aimed at Aaroniero, who was convulsing from the lightning. She released another Kido: "Hado #63: Raikoho!"

A violent golden lightning pillar, like a massive siege cannon, shot from her palm.

Just as the Raikoho was about to strike Aaroniero, he used his last shred of strength to scream:

"Devour, Glotonería!"

At the critical moment, Aaroniero's body began to rapidly expand just before the Raikoho could pierce his chest.

He exploded, transforming into a massive, ugly monster... a creature that seemed made of sludge and mucus mixed together.

A large, charred hole had been blasted through the center of its body by the Raikoho, but under High-Speed Regeneration, the hole was visibly healing.

"Now you know."

Kanae said, her back to Rukia as she held her still-scattering Zanpakuto. "He is not your Lieutenant Shiba."

"I-I'm sorry, Captain Kanae."

Rukia bit her lower lip hard, finally realizing how dangerous her earlier lapse had been.