Gin watched his men spread out along the edges of the treeline. Twenty of his strongest squad members surrounded the half-formed arrancar, and every last one of them was starving for vengeance. Lieutenant Suzuki had been with the Third for the last century, stepping up when they lost their captain and lieutenant. He had held the squad together and kept them going. They had loved him-certainly a lot more than they did their new captain.
He would allow them to try to take out the arrancar themselves. They deserved the chance, but he was also determined not to lose one more man to this thing. He held Shinso in his hand, ready to end the fight instantly. For now, however, he would use the opportunity to assess their skills.
They attacked simultaneously from every direction, very well coordinated, unlike some divisions. There were at least two men to each waving tentacle, one attacking while the other defended. It might have worked if the thing wasn't so well armored. Most of their attacks glanced off its skin, only the Fourth Seat's zanpakuto sliced through one tentacle, and they discovered a secondary defense even Gin hadn't known about.
Bright green blood sprayed from the severed tentacle, drenching the Fourth Seat and two others. They screamed as the acid blood came in contact with their skin, burning instantly. All three fell to the ground writhing in agony.
The arrancar raised its damaged tentacle, roaring. The tentacle reformed in the air and swung back down with lethal force. It would have crushed at least one of the injured shinigami, but Gin was between them, blocking its swing with the flat of his blade.
"Fall back," he shouted at his men. The acid blood was too much for them, but still he was proud of them. Not one of them panicked. They withdrew quickly but carefully, watching their backs and helping the injured. There were too many tentacles for him to stop every blow, but his men were at his back, shielding him and the injured as others drug them away.
"You think you can escape me?" the arrancar roared. "I will devour all of you, like I did your friends. I will-"
"Shinso, shoot to kill," Gin commanded, the moment his men were out of range. The zanpakuto lashed out, slashing through half the arrancar's waving tentacles at once. He jumped back, easily escaping the spray of blood and striking again through the arrancar's now unprotected core. One more slash and its face and broken mask were split.
The monster tumbled to the ground with an agonized scream and shattered into a million sparkling lights, dissolving into nothing almost instantly.
Gin was startled when the men behind him burst into a cheer and shouted out praises of him. He sheathed Shinso and took a breath, making sure his grin was properly in place before he turned to face his men.
"It's always nice when no one dies, isn't it?" he said pleasantly. Then he added, "Too bad about Shirakawa's face though. Maybe next time he'll remember to dodge."
"Yes, sir," the Fourth Seat said, miserably. His face was red and covered in blisters. He was obviously in a great deal of pain, but he managed to look even more miserable at Gin's criticism.
Gin looked down at him. "Well done, landing a hit though," he said, surprising even himself. He never praised anything less than perfection, and he had yet to see that in any of his men. "Takes quite a bit of reiatsu to cut through that armor. When Division Four lets you go I want you to focus on training your reflexes. You could be worth something someday if we can keep you alive long enough."
"Thank-thank you, sir," Shirakawa's stuttered, looking far too happy for someone who'd just had his face nearly burned off.
Gin looked away. He was annoyed with himself. If he kept going around saying things like that they might start to think he gave a shit about them. They might even start to like him. That couldn't happen. He was the villain. It was a simple role, and he usually enjoyed it, but every once on a while it might have been nice not to be thought a complete psychopath.
"Saito," he said, abruptly addressing the Fifth Seat. "Try to see that everyone makes it back alive, would you?"
"Yes, sir," Saito Reika answered, standing to attention, but the Captain was already gone. With the arrancar defeated, there was no more reason for Gin to be there, so he vanished. Shunpo would get him halfway home before the night was over. There was no real reason for him to return with the others; with the injured it would take them at least four days to make it home. He really didn't have that kind of patience.
"Bastard," Saito muttered under her breath, and nearly everyone agreed with her.