"No, wait, those clothes look real familiar now that I think about it…"
Tapping his masked chin with a gloved hand that almost seemed akin to a claw with that action a lot causing a few to unconsciously fail their chants. Various results included simply coughing out some blood while others just appeared winded. Although that was not nearly enough to stop them all.
As soon as the chant of the soul reapers finished their chant three golden triangles fired out as their spiritual power united into one uniformed form. Those constructs of light flying down in an attempt to force the monster to the floor. Hoping to pin him down with their united Bakudo.
"What a monster…"
"Don't think he's your regular hollow at least."
The shaggy blonde haired third seat came up behind her to give his own thoughts.
Their reason wasn't simply due to the strangely humanoid appearance of the hollow - rather it was because that monster… WAS STILL STANDING.
Refusing to fall even with a decently high-ranked Bakudo (even having left squad members who couldn't keep up behind to pull it off) when they combined all their power together. It wasn't a "high-level" spell but it was most definitely highest of your average soul reaper. Yet this brute didn't seem to care.
"This. Is. Why. You. Don't. Skip. Leg. Day~♪"
Even managing to mock them.
"I wonder what he's eaten to be so strong, hohoho!"
"Princess Shihōin, captain Hikifune, we don't know how long that'll keep it down!"
"Right~ right~ begin phase two!"
Everyone showed various forms of affirmation and with that they began to chant once more.
"""Ye lord! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Inferno and pandemonium, the sea barrier surges, march on to the south! [Hado #31: Shakkaho]!"""
With that chant three truly massive balls of fire along with dozens of smaller ones (all of varying sizes due to differing expertise & spiritual power) exploded forth to engulf the jester. Those fires completely consumed him as everyone stayed alert. Seemingly for no reason as no movement occurred.
"Wowser~ that was some impressive teamwork kiddos!"
That voice abruptly came out from behind Yoruichi causing her to send a kick towards the source; though the cat easily deflected the blow by poking the captain's leg at the right time and right place.
To Yoruichi it was a shocking display of skill but to others it was simply her missing due to her opponent being shorter than she assumed. Narrowing her eyes as she studied at the new figure as the other two captains drew their own swords as they finally reacted. Their squad members were still stunned.
It was actually her third seat that reacted slightly slower than the captains.
Although the noble princess soon found herself blinking blanky as she instantly noticed the short figure having a set of familiar ears.
Cat ears to be precise.
"What a rude brat you are; mother never warn you about staring?"
Clicking her tongue as she rested her two hands atop her re-sheathed cane sword.
In fact she even had the tip of that cane sit midair on the same level as her feet - as if she was standing on a physical platform. Her standing midair wasn't strange however it was more that the cane for some reason also defied gravity. Clearly she wasn't holding it yet there it was… Floating in front of her.
Soon she raised that came to shake at the trio and those squad members who realised someone had appeared behind their captains.
"Plus you kids have other things to worry about."
"The hag cat is right you know~♪"
That faintly distorted sing-song voice was all that was needed to cause an unfathomable amount of fear to overcome their entire bodies.
Each of the captains were in no way inexperienced; even Yoruichi who was the youngest among them had committed assassinations that she cared to count at this point. Yet they all felt some instinctual fear towards that slender yet powerful hollow. Its voice alone is enough to cause them to freeze up.
It's voice wasn't even close to them, still being within the smoke cloud from their combined attack, showing it hadn't bothered to move from the flames even now.
Of course they still had enough experience to turn to face the obvious threat - that cat girl at least didn't seem to be a hollow so could be figured out later. Yet it ended up being pointless. Afterall, it doesn't matter if they turn around if they're too slow to react.
The smoke didn't so much "clear" as it was cut apart with a powerful swing; that swing didn't stop at merely cutting through the smoke as blood exploded out from beside the captains.
Specifically it came out of one of them.
"HIKIFUNE!"
Kenapchi roared out with a strained voice as he matched the two halves of his comrade falling into the city below with a split expression that showed she didn't even realise she was dead. Yoruichi was more composed as she kept her gaze on the monster responsible. Still just standing between flames.
Obviously the building he was on had been reduced to burning rubble nevertheless he appeared to not even be singed.
Instead he playfully "wiggled" his smaller sword around.
Those casual effortless motions were enough to cause their squad numbers to plummet as each one resulted in countless deaths. Slowly that number went down as he got more used to his strength. In other words he was showing that his execution of their fellow captain was… A mistake.
"Ah~ so this transformation isn't as strong as my final form but is a pretty good in between for having some low level fights~♪"
"Truly is a monster…"
She said with a grimace.
"Oh~ we affectionately call him The Bastard but I guess that works."
Hearing the strange spirits' voices caused Yoruichi to look at them in the corner of her vision; that cat girl having stepped forward to replace Hikifune in their line up.
She narrowed her eyes as she studied the monster in front of her.
"Can't blame you kids for thinking him a monster but he is even worse than what you are thinking as he doesn't simply have brute force. He has more skill with every weapon than you have with one you have practised with your whole lives plus a bunch of hacks on top. Honestly it's unfair!"
Shaking her head with a click of her tongue.
"So what do we do?"
That was a question not presented by the two but the shaggy haired seated member of squad two who had stepped forward with his sword drawn. Kenpachi realised that it wasn't sealed which meant it had been silently released, only possible with Bankai unlocked. He hardly could comment now.
They needed all the help they could get.
He himself knew he was far too furious to be of any help in a discussion so silently seethed while glaring at the monster responsible for such a mascree.
"Well I suppose the easiest method would be to take average of the weaklings to hold him back long enough so you could escape-"
"No happening; I'd rather be the one to remain behind!"
"Which is good chehehe~!"
Clearly that cat wasn't surprised by that response as she nodded her head.
Instantly both captain & third seat turned to meet each other's eyes as they both found they held the exact same silent question.
"He has two weaknesses; his shitty personality that makes him unwilling to go all out due to his sadism making him want to give people a glimmer of hope."
"Great so we're dealing with a sociopathic serial killer!"
Her joking voice somewhat returned even if it was joined by a strained smile.
Though Cheshire had to stop her there.
"Oh he isn't a sociopath as he does have empathy… It's just that he also has a desire to cause as much suffering as he possibly can. Hence why he has no issues letting us stand here talking as long as we don't actively try to escape; he's letting us plot so he can crush whatever we come up with."
"Sounds like he'd be great at parties."
"Depressingly so~!"
Both captain & third seat had wry smiles while the little cat between them had a smile befitting her name even if hidden under her face mask.
"His second weakness… He has stamina issues."
"...Oh?"
That seemed to get the attention of the division member.
"Funny story actually; his blood comes from the strongest of the primordial gods which enhances all attributes but not exactly something a human body can contain. As such his blood is literally boiling his insides 24/7. In fact his blood is so pure that it isn't even able to exist as a liquid!"
"Guess I would be a psychopath as well…"
"I wouldn't say that… In fact he gets a little miffed when someone tries to rationalise why he is such a cruel person or believes he's only like that due to his pitiful state. He knows what he is and only lets people think he's pitiable when it's for some twisted joke"
Shaking her head.
"In your own words… He is simply a monster."
"Then I'll feel more happy since I'm not putting him out of his misery."
The shaggy haired squad member scratched his chin as he glanced at the captain of the eleventh division yet soon turned to look at the cat with some faint respect.
He had no idea who she was but it was clear that she was well researched.
Meeting her eyes made him feel like a kindred spirit.
"So I imagine the more he tires himself out sooner he goes up in smoke?"
"Indeed but remember to never trust that your attack will finish him off as you can't kill him."
That got their attention and especially so from the angry kenpachi.
"Yo-"
*bonk*
Not that Cheshire let him scream at her as she promptly slapped his forehead with her cane - it was a funny scene where a tiny cat girl began to lecture a hulking mountain of muscle.
"Stupid boy you never interrupt someone who is speaking!"
"S-sorry?"
"We'll talk about his hacks… Yea he has this thing called judgement that has so many applications that I can't summarise, he can summon any weapon he's used before or of those he's killed, gets stronger more weapons he's got and also has fire. I'd explain what each fires does but you'd die either way so there is no point in going into specifics."
All of them just blinked at the long list of powers that each felt like they could be Bankai let alone Shikai.
"Finally he may have something… No, never mind, let's not worry about that."
Obviously they realised she was hiding something else however it was clear to them that their "host" was beginning to get impatient as he tapped his foot aggressively.
"So what is the plan?"