Crossover Anime: Starting with Bankai from Demon Slayer

Chapter 154 The Vanishing Twisted Flower

That was a rainy night twenty years ago.

Thick cumulonimbus clouds were pressing down over Soul Court, threatening to fall at any moment.

The dense forest outside the Thirteenth Division's base was now stained with blood and gore.

That night, Shiba Tou, the wife of Shiba Kaien, who was originally ordered to investigate the mysterious void, returned alone.

Upon returning, she first fell into a coma, then her personality changed drastically. She started killing anyone she saw, and within a few breaths, she had slashed down several team members.

Despite Haiyan's obstruction, she let out a non-human roar and vanished into the depths of the dark forest in the blink of an eye.

When Shiba Kaien, Captain of the 13th Division Ukitake Jushiro, and his teammate Kuchiki Rukia chased into the depths of the forest, they only saw Shiba's empty Shinha suit left on the ground.

Behind that shihaka armor was a strangely shaped monster.

Its body consists of multiple strong, twisted arms, its head is covered with countless thin tentacles, and a nauseating smile hangs on its twisted bone surface.

"Ah... have they come? Death Gods." The bizarrely shaped Hollow waved its tentacles and let out a chilling laugh.

"Where is she?!"

Whether it was her duty as a grim reaper or her responsibility as a husband, Shiba Kaien charged forward first, glaring angrily at the Hollow before her.

"You mean that woman?" The ghost let out a strange laugh. "What a feast... her body, her soul, all of it was completely digested in my belly."

"It's a pity, I should have made better use of her... I kind of regret it..."

It turns out that those who returned were all controlled by this parasitic entity, which led them to commit the bloodshed.

Haiyan's pupils suddenly contracted.

In that instant, all the memories he had of his wife—those warm afternoons, those tender smiles, those moments of fighting side by side—collapsed and shattered, turning into a raging inferno.

"Captain Ukitake, Rukia, nobody interfere..."

'

Haiyan's voice sounded like a demon crawling out of hell: "This is my battle... I will personally tear this beast to pieces!"

Rukia Kuchiki tried to speak up to stop him, but Jushiro Ukitake waved his hand to stop her.

He looked at Haiyan's upright and resolute back, and finally just clenched his fists and whispered to Rukia, "...Rukia, there are two kinds of battles in this world."

"A battle to protect lives, and a battle to protect dignity."

"This is a battle for Vice Captain Haiyan's dignity; let him handle it alone..."

'

Whoosh—!

Battle is imminent.

Initially, the mutated Void was forced to retreat under the relentless pressure from the Seagull.

As a genius Grim Reaper who completes six years' worth of courses in a single year, Kaien's techniques are exquisite.

The Void's tentacles were severed, its body torn apart, and before it knew it, the seagull was riding on its head, gripping the tentacles tightly as if afraid it would escape.

"Let the water and sky reverse, Twisted Flower!"

With Haiyan's roar, the Zanpakuto in his hand began to vibrate, radiating powerful fluctuations of water elemental energy.

He would kill the Void with the fiercest attack! To avenge his wife and his fallen teammates!

However, the Void did not show any fear; instead, its eerie smile deepened.

"Hehe...you've run into me."

Just as Haiyan was preparing to launch her final attack, an indescribable sense of emptiness suddenly struck her.

To his astonishment, the Zanpakuto he had been holding had become transparent! And then it completely disappeared!

"What is this...?" Haiyan looked at his empty hands, a situation he had never encountered before.

"This is my power." It stared greedily at the seagull: "The moment it touches my tentacles, the Shinigami's Zanpakuto will instantly disintegrate into primordial spirit particles! Right now, you're nothing but prey that has lost its claws!"

The situation reversed instantly.

Having lost his Zanpakuto, Kaien's advantage vanished, forcing him to resort to close-quarters combat.

But this is of no use against the massive and fast-moving Hollow.

His shihaka outfit was torn, his body was covered in wounds, and blood blurred his vision.

But he did not back down; his eyes remained fixed on the monster that had devoured his wife.

"Lord Kaien!" Rukia couldn't help but want to draw her sword, but was stopped by Ukitake again.

"If we intervene now, it would be a trampling on his dignity... cough... cough..." Ukitake suddenly let out a burst of coughing.

His expression was serious, his eyes were filled with tears, and blood was seeping from the corner of his mouth.

His old ailment flared up at this time, but he still persevered and witnessed the battle.

In the center of the battlefield, Xu seized the opportunity when Haiyan was off guard.

Its enormous body suddenly condensed into a ball and began to vibrate at an extremely strange frequency.

"Since you love your wife so much, then become one with her!"

Suddenly, crimson tentacles shot out, all aimed at the sea swallow.

Haiyan let out a muffled groan. He felt the chilling spiritual pressure creeping wildly into the depths of his soul through his wound.

parasitic.

"Ugh... Get out... Get out!" Haiyan's eyes began to swell with blood, and it felt as if countless tiny snakes were wriggling beneath his skin.

His consciousness began to blur, and he sank deeper and deeper into the abyss.

The spiritual network is being eroded, and the core of the soul is being forcibly assimilated by that void.

The monster's voice screamed wildly in his mind, slowly gnawing at his memories, his emotions, and his heart.

I'm sorry... I guess I'll have to go keep you company...

Haiyan has made her final preparations.

He planned to control his body to crash into the captain's blade before his soul was completely lost, and perish together with the beast.

At this critical moment.

A faint, sweet fragrance suddenly drifted through the air.

"Moshi moshi, I heard that the 13th Division needs emergency support. It's a truly tragic scene..."

'

Wow!

The heavy rain poured down.

A gentle female voice rang out in the downpour.

Like a butterfly silhouette cut from the moonlight, the woman gracefully landed in the core area where the seagull and the ethereal creature were entangled.

"You are...the Fourth Division..." Jushiro Ukitake clutched his chest, looking stunned.

Rukia recognized the person who had arrived, her eyes gleaming with ecstatic joy: "Shinobu-neechan!!"

"Oh, Rukia is here too, and Captain Ukitake is here as well. Good evening."

The visitor was none other than Shinobu Kocho.

She still wore that polite yet distant smile, her purple eyes reflecting Shiba Kaien's darkened eyes and overly gloomy demeanor, causing her to furrow her brow.

"Although it is impolite to interfere in other people's battles, you seem to be about to die, Vice Captain Haiyan."

"Quickly...kill me..." Haiyan squeezed out his last words through gritted teeth, a mixture of his own voice and the voice of the ethereal creature: "Before it's completely over..."

"It's not time to give up yet." Shinobu Kocho drew her asuga.

At the same time, she took out a transparent test tube containing a pale purple liquid from her bosom.

"Who are you? Get out of my way!" The virtual being controlling Haiyan's body let out a wild bark, and several tentacles shot out from the wound like venomous snakes.

The tentacles moved so fast they left afterimages in the rain, but Shinobu Kocho was even faster.

Her steps were as light as if she were stepping on flower petals, and her figure was as elusive as a butterfly.

The tentacles tried several times to entangle her, but always missed, only managing to catch a faint afterimage of her.

"How impatient you are." Shinobu's voice drifted through the rain, as if coming from all directions.

Taking advantage of a brief moment of movement, she had already reached Haiyan's side.

With a flick of her jade-like hand, she precisely tossed the bottle of pale purple liquid into Haiyan's mouth, which was slightly open in pain.

"Gulp... What... did you give me to drink?!" The virtual puppeteer forced Haiyan's body backward, its tentacles flailing wildly.

Shinobu Kocho replied with a smile, "Antidote, Mr. Urobuchi."

"Antidote? Hahaha!" Xu let out a piercing laugh. "What a stupid woman! I've already merged with this guy's soul, how are you going to detoxify me?!"

Rukia gazed at the seagull, whose body began to undergo drastic changes, with many wandering lumps bulging under his skin.

It seems that before long, he will be completely assimilated by this Hollow, just like Shiba.

No...that's not how it is...

Haiyan, or rather, that empty creature, had a strange expression.

These changes did not originate from it!

"That's not necessarily true. My antidote is still very effective."

Shinobu Kocho stopped five steps in front of Kaien, and the Asabu in her hand began to change.

The blade gradually became tinged with a faint purple hue, which spread along the blade's lines, flowing as if it were alive.

"Weave your destiny, Mother of the Cloth..."

She murmured in a voice only she could hear.