Bab 230: Dance, Sode no Shirayuki
Rukia Kuchiki hadn't yet built a comprehensive database for her "Data Kendo." She couldn't claim to "know her enemy," but her daily training allowed her to "know herself" better. After all, with each passing day, under her rigorous self-imposed regimen, she grew stronger. This strength, if left unchecked, could become a liability, a chink in her armor.
She arrived at a secluded clearing and drew her Zanpakutō, ready to begin.
Swoosh!
Under the cloak of night, Rukia's figure blurred, weaving across the training grounds as if there were two of her. Twin flashes of light, the glint of her blade, danced between the illusory duplicates. It was an illusion born of her speed.
Her current training focused on high-speed movement between two fixed points using Shunpo. With each flash, she would seamlessly draw and sheathe her Zanpakutō, stopping momentarily before repeating the sequence. To the untrained eye, it appeared as a display of raw speed.
But a keen observer would notice something extraordinary. The footprints she left behind, despite the rapid movements, were perfectly aligned. Among the captains of the Gotei 13, only two possessed such mastery.
One, of course, was Ailin, her teacher and the one who had taught her "Data Kendo."
The other was Head-Captain Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto, who could flawlessly contain the intense heat of his Zanpakutō, Ryūjin Jakka, without a single particle of energy escaping.
The rest, Ailin wasn't trying to belittle them, simply lacked the finesse for such meticulous control.
Perhaps Retsu Unohana, the captain of the 4th Division, possessed such capabilities, but even she couldn't match Rukia's precision.
Suddenly, Rukia's movements ceased, and her figure solidified. She raised her head at the distant horizon.
"This feeling… it's ominous…"
"Hollow reiatsu."
"And… Third Seat Shiba's reiatsu."
"Have they encountered a Hollow?"
Rukia was astonished. This was the Seireitei, the heart of the Soul Society! How could a Hollow have infiltrated their most heavily guarded territory? If this became public knowledge, it would undoubtedly shake the foundations of their world.
The Seireitei, the seat of power within the Soul Society, was also a bastion of immense spiritual energy. For the Hollows of Hueco Mundo, the Shinigami were a feast, their reiatsu a tantalizing aroma. But even those driven by primal instinct knew better than to approach the Seireitei. It was a place of death, not sustenance.
To infiltrate the Seireitei was to court oblivion. What kind of fool would willingly walk into a lion's den?
In the million-year history of the Soul Society, only the ancient Hollow King had dared to breach its defenses, defeating Head-Captain Yamamoto and attempting to ascend to the Soul King Palace. No other Hollow had ever infiltrated the Seireitei.
But that ancient king had possessed near-invincible strength, brute force that had shattered their defenses. This Hollow, while strong, lacked the power to break through their barriers. How had it gotten in?
Despite her bewilderment, Rukia pushed her doubts aside and sped towards the source of the Hollow's reiatsu. She sensed several Shinigami reiatsu signatures, flickering and fading, then disappearing entirely.
When she arrived at the battlefield, she saw a Hollow descending from the sky, its limbs outstretched, about to strike Miyako Shiba. Rukia was too far away to reach them in time.
In an instant, she calculated the distances, the speed of the Hollow, her own limitations. She raised her left hand, index and middle fingers extended.
"Bakudō #37 - Tsuriboshi!"
Her voice rang out, clear and unwavering. A green beam shot from her hand, reaching the space between Shiba and the Hollow in a heartbeat. It transformed into a shimmering green hammock, anchored to the surrounding trees by countless strands of reiatsu.
Bang!
The Hollow crashed into the hammock, its weight stretching the reiatsu strands taut, bending the trees nearly to the ground. But for a brief moment, the attack was halted.
Shiba, glancing up as she felt the tremor from the impact, wasted no time. She vanished in a flash of Shunpo.
Sizzle!
The Hollow ripped through the green hammock, crashing into the spot where Shiba had stood moments before.
Boom!
Debris flew as the ground shattered, sending Shiba tumbling backward. She raised her arms to protect herself, but the sharp fragments still left bloody marks on her skin.
Rukia, having closed the distance, drew her Zanpakutō.
"Rukia?"
Shiba, struggling to her feet, was stunned. As Kaien Shiba's wife, she knew Rukia. The quiet, unassuming girl had been brought to the 13th Division by Captain Ukitake, seemingly through the influence of 6th Division Captain Byakuya Kuchiki.
Lacking any impressive displays of strength, Rukia had been ostracized by some of their subordinates. Kaien, seeing her plight, had offered his friendship, and Miyako, as his wife, had also extended a welcoming hand.
But the girl before her, the one who had just saved her life, was a far cry from the timid, bullied Rukia she had known. That Bakudō #37, she had cast it without an incantation! Moreover, even without an incantation, its power had been sufficient to momentarily halt the Hollow's attack, giving Miyako Shiba time to react. Rukia's Kidō mastery was no less than hers.
Why had she allowed their subordinates to treat her so poorly?
Countless questions swirled in her mind. But seeing Rukia facing the Hollow, she shouted a warning.
"Rukia, be careful! Don't let your Zanpakutō touch that Hollow!"
"It can nullify any Zanpakutō that touches it!"
"Oh?" Rukia acknowleded Shiba's warning. "If it only affects blades that touch it, then all I have to do is avoid touching it."
She spun her Zanpakutō counterclockwise before her. "Dance, Sode no Shirayuki!"
Her reiatsu quadrupledin an instant, but just as quickly, it was brought under control, not a single particle escaped.
"That reiatsu…"
Despite its fleeting presence, Miyako couldn't help but be awestruck. Rukia, upon releasing her Zanpakutō, had surpassed her in raw power. Moreover, her Zanpakutō… it was beautiful.
The blade was pristine white, adorned with a long, flowing white ribbon that danced in the air as she moved, as if an unseen hand was guiding its graceful movements.
Rukia touched the air before her with Sode no Shirayuki's tip, creating four shimmering segments of ice, each resembling a blade, hanging motionless. Then, assuming a stance, both hands gripping her Zanpakutō, she aimed the tip at the approaching Hollow.
The four ice blades shattered, transforming into countless white ice crystals that swirled around Rukia's blade, forming a miniature blizzard at her command.
"Second Dance - Hakuren!"
Boom!
A wave of freezing energy erupted from Rukia's Zanpakutō, engulfing everything in its path. The air itself froze, moisture condensing into a pale blue glacier.
The Hollow was completely encased in ice.
Rukia, seeing the Hollow immobilized, released a breath of frosty air and sheathed her Zanpakutō.
She approached Miyako. "Third Seat, are you alright?"
Shiba, covered in wounds, appeared quite disheveled. "Don't worry, it's just a few scratches."
It wasn't a lie. They had been pursuing this Hollow for some time, its constant attempts to flee leading them to underestimate its true strength. It was their carelessness that had allowed it to ambush them, killing several of their comrades.
The injuries Miyako had sustained were from the debris that had flown as the Hollow struck the ground. While she had lost a significant amount of blood, none of the wounds were fatal.
She shook her head. "Thank you, Rukia. If it weren't for you, I might not be here now, and those other Shinigami… They wouldn't have stood a chance."
"Don't say that. With your strength, I'm sure you would have been fine," Rukia said, her earlier confidence replaced by her usual timid demeanor.
"No…" Shiba chuckled wryly. "You overestimate me, Rukia. This Hollow… It was cunning. It had been toying with us. If it weren't for your timely arrival, I might have ended up like Alberto…
But Rukia, with your strength, why haven't you shown it before? I'm sure that if you had displayed even a fraction of your power, the others in the 13th Division would have accepted you."
She couldn't understand. This Rukia was a far cry from the timid, bullied girl she had known. Her Kidō mastery was remarkable, and her Zanpakutō… Its power was undeniable.
Rukia was embarrassed by Shiba's praise.
"It's… It's nothing…"
While the 13th Division was among the safest divisions within the Gotei 13, it wasn't like the 4th and 12th Divisions, where healing and research took precedence over combat.
PERTIMBANGAN PENCIPTA 
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