Las Noches

Ichigo exclaimed in surprise, "Tens of thousands?"

At this point, the others also became interested, since Ye Yang had spent decades in Hueco Mundo and knew some information more clearly.

"The Forest of Menos, as the name suggests, is a forest of Menos Grande. Thousands upon thousands of Menos Grande live there. No, 'thousands upon thousands' is just an adjective. Even I don't know exactly how many Menos Grande are there. But don't worry, they can't leave. To leave the Forest of Menos, you need at least Adjuchas- level power," Ye Yang explained.

Ichigo asked, "Adjuchas? Is he Menos Grande of a higher rank than Gillian?"

"Yes," Ye Yang nodded, "Among the many Gillian, some will mutate and develop Gillian. They accumulate power by devouring other Menos Grande, and when their power reaches a certain level, they undergo a qualitative change, evolving into Adjuchas! Their intelligence is no less than that of humans, and their combat ability is extremely strong. If they Arrancars, they will bring us enormous trouble. It is estimated that their strength is similar to that of a high-ranking Seated Officer."

"Is it about the same as Ikkaku?" Ichigo asked.

Ye Yang thought for a moment and said, "Most Adjuchas shouldn't be Ikkaku match for Ikkaku. Ikkaku is considered one of the stronger Seated Officers, but we can't rule out the possibility that some top Adjuchas are extremely powerful. If Arrancars, they might even be able to contend with the captains!"

Ignoring the surprised expressions on everyone's faces, Ye Yang continued, "You don't need to worry. The Soul Society won't lose just because of this. The Soul Society's power is much stronger than what you see. There's also the last type of Menos Grande, the highest-ranking Menos Grande — Vasto Lorde!"

"Their form has evolved to be almost like a human's. There are only a handful of these Menos Grande in Hueco Mundo; they are practically invincible. The small Hollow that attacked you this time was evolved from Vasto Lorde."

Ichigo, his face grim, said, "It's him?"

"Yes, thankfully Kisuke and Yoruichi came to help you that time. With your current strength, you are definitely no match for him. I had a brief encounter with him when I was in Hueco Mundo. In the end, neither of us could defeat the other, so we had to give up," Ye Yang said, shaking his head.

Tōshirō exclaimed in shock, "What? On par with you, Master?" As Ye Yang's disciple Tōshirō knew best just how strong Ye Yang was. He could only say that even now, as the captain, he wouldn't dare say he was on the same level as Ye Yang, because Tōshirō was certain that in a life-or-death battle, he definitely wouldn't last ten rounds!

Ye Yang thought for a moment and said, "It's not that I couldn't beat him. It's because he had just broken through to the Vasto Lorde. Although he was no match for me in a head-on fight, his speed was incredibly fast, and he possessed High-Speed Regeneration. You know, the Vasto Lorde's High-Speed Regeneration ability is terrifying, so I couldn't do anything to him and just let him go. I never expected him to become Aizen's subordinate."

Tōshirō nodded slightly; that made sense. Ye Yang continued, "Now that he's Arrancar, his strength must have increased significantly. So remember this: if you encounter him again, everyone except Tōshirō should run away immediately or call for backup. Understand?"

Ichigo clenched his fist and asked, "Is he really that strong?"

"Of course, you have almost no chance of winning against him now. Don't think you're something just because you can now contend with a captain. There are differences between captains. Byakuya's strength is only considered above average among the current captains, and he wasn't in a good state of mind at the time. So Ichigo, you should think about how to improve your strength," Ye Yang said coldly, which could be considered a reminder to Ichigo.

Ichigo instantly recalled how the Captain of the Seventh Division was instantly killed by Aizen. The difference in skill between captains was indeed enormous. Ichigo had also been blocked by Aizen with a single finger and then instantly killed. Even now, Ichigo still feels terrified when he thinks about it.

He felt a deep sense of powerlessness. He thought he was strong enough, but now he realized that there were always stronger people out there. Compared to those Shinigami who had lived for hundreds of years, he was still far behind. However, Ichigo had a good attitude. Ichigo possessed that spirit of never giving up! He quickly regained his composure.

Ye Yang also saw through Ichigo's thoughts. "Ichigo, there's no need to rush your strength. Your current strength can already be described as rapid progress. You've only been a Shinigami for less than half a year, while the youngest captain in Soul Society Tōshirō, has been training for almost fifty years. What you need most now is time to accumulate experience."

Ichigo's eyes instantly lit up with motivation. "Yeah!"

Actually, Ye Yang had one more thing he didn't say: time is running out, and the final battle will take place around this winter!

At this moment Tōshirō said, "If Aizen's subordinates possess ten Menos Grande evolved from Vasto Lorde level Arrancar, then Soul Society is doomed."

In Hueco Mundo, Las Noches, Ulquiorra and Yammy returned from a mission. They were in a rather dimly lit room when they Yammy, Ul instantly brightened up, revealing dozens of Arrancar waiting for them.

On the highest throne sat Aizen, now stripped of his feigned honesty and kindness, replaced by the aura of a king. Ul merely bowed slightly, while Yammy knelt in fear, saying, "Lord Aizen, we're back."

Aizen looked at Ul and said, "Welcome back, Ulquiorra, Yammy. Tell us about your achievements before us, your twenty comrades."

But then Ul did something that no ordinary person could understand: he placed his right hand on his eye socket, then gouged out his eyeball and crushed it in his hand!

This is also one of Ulquiorra's abilities: to transmit everything he sees to others through his eyes. He doesn't need to worry about his eyes at all, because his strongest ability is High-Speed Regeneration.

Aizen quickly learned about the events that had occurred in the World of the Living from all the Arrancar. Aizen said softly, "I see. So that's why you concluded he wasn't worth killing?"

"Too careless!" a voice rang out, from a blue-haired Arrancar. "If it were me, I would have killed him from the start!"

"Grimmjow," Ul said softly. So this was Grimmjow, who had almost killed Ye Yang before. Back then, he was a Menos Grande in leopard form, but now he had become one of the Arrancar.

Ulquiorra explained, "Grimmjow, you've completely misunderstood. Lord Aizen is wary of isn't him as he is now, but his growth. That guy's potential is indeed astonishing, but there's an exaggeratedly unstable power within him. I believe that if left unchecked, that power will lead him to destruction, or make him one of us."

"What if he grows up and turns against us?" Grimmjow said with dissatisfaction.

Ul said firmly, "Then I'll execute him myself! That way you won't have any objections, right?"

Grimmjow was speechless. Aizen then said, "It's alright, just do it your way, Ulquiorra."

Ul bowed to Aizen: "Thank you so much!"

In the World of the Living, it's almost dusk. Ichigo asked, "When do you plan to go back?"

"We won't go back until the battle with the Arrancar is over," Renji replied.

"So you're going to stay here?" Ichigo asked quickly, noticing everyone staring at him. "Let me make this clear beforehand, my house doesn't have enough space for all of you."

Rangiku made a cute face and winked at Ichigo: "Can't I even do it?"

Ichigo, a naive high school student, was no match for Rangiku. He simply said, "Logically speaking, you're the least likely to stay. And why do you think you can stay?"

Rangiku didn't say anything, but placed her hands directly on Ichigo's buttons and even lifted the hem of her skirt. Ichigo quickly pulled his hands back to cover his eyes. "No, even if you lift your skirt, it's still not okay! It's still not okay! I will absolutely not submit to your will!"

But the gaps between his fingers gave him away, Rukia mercilessly retorted from behind, "Why don't you just plug those gaps between your fingers first?"

In the end Rangiku decided to go to Orihime Inoue's place, while Tōshirō left with Rangiku, but he said he wouldn't stay at Orihime's house. Ikkaku and Yumichika left directly, saying they would figure it out themselves.

Ye Yang said to Renji, "Let's go."

"Huh? Where to?" Renji was taken aback.

"Of course I'm going to Kisuke's place. Isn't that where you were planning to go?" Ye Yang asked.

Renji looked embarrassed. "Who would think of a place like that? But I just happened to have something to ask him."

"Let's go," Ye Yang replied, and then walked towards Urahara Shop with Renji.

As they walked, Renji asked, "Teacher Ye Yang, may I ask you a question?"

Ye Yang nodded. "What's the problem?"

"You mean Hueco Mundo? No, does Aizen really have ten Vasto Lorde under his command? You've been to Hueco Mundo, you should know a lot about it, right?" Renji asked directly. This time, he wasn't sure either, after all, Aizen had the Hōgyoku, which could turn Menos Grande into Arrancars. The outcome of this battle was really hard to say.

Ye Yang smiled and said, "Don't worry, there won't be more than ten Vasto Lordes in the entire Hueco Mundo. Aizen's subordinates have at most five, and I've only ever seen two in Hueco Mundo. One of them was the one that attacked the World of the Living; his name is Ulquiorra."