The Hollowfication of the Three Women of the Visored

Yoruichi said sheepishly, "Actually, I secretly took some of your Reiatsu that Mama Hana had kept, and that's how..."

Ten Unohana rolled his eyes. "Do you think you could have taken it if Mom hadn't allowed it? Since Mom asked for it, I won't say anything."

"But I really didn't expect you to be able to create something like this. Tsk, tsk, it's a lot like my Zanpakuto!" Ten said indifferently as he looked at the Hōgyoku.

It was as though this high-level item that ran through the world of Soul Reapers held no appeal for him at all.

"If the Hōgyoku is so similar to your Zanpakuto, does that mean you can destroy it?!" Kisuke Urahara asked in delight.

Ten nodded and said matter-of-factly, "Yeah! Of course. Why?"

Kisuke was overjoyed. "Then could I ask you to destroy it?"

Ignoring the delighted look on Kisuke's face, Ten said flatly, "No. Don't ask why. I don't want to destroy it. You should know that this thing is also a great help to my strength."

As he spoke, Ten tossed the Hōgyoku to Kisuke. There was no way Ten would destroy it. Otherwise, wouldn't Soul Society be even less accepting of his identity as a Hollow in the future?

Besides, Ten wasn't lying. The Hōgyoku really could increase his strength. The stronger the Hōgyoku became, the stronger his future wife-to-be, Orihime Inoue, would become, but that went without saying.

Ten's own strength would indeed increase because of the Hōgyoku's power: the moment he came into contact with it, he would absorb some of it. After all, it had been created using his Reiatsu as a template.

Ignoring the anxious Kisuke, Ten said to Yoruichi, "Let's leave this matter as it is for now. Let me tell you my next plan. I'm going to Soul Society to take back my sealed Soul Reaper powers. Do you know where my seal is? Is it still in the same place?"

Yoruichi was taken aback. "Are you sure you want to go to the seal, Big Brother Ten? They were afraid it would break, so they didn't move it around. It's still where it was. But someone's guarding it, and that person is the best in Soul Society at using communication Kidō. You could say that person was trained especially for you. So even though you can break the seal without trouble, Big Brother Ten, but..."

Ten nodded to show he understood.

Seeing this, Yoruichi hesitantly said, "Big Brother Ten, could you please not go?! Captain-Commander Yamamoto is very powerful."

Ten smiled. "Then I'll have to see just how powerful this Captain-Commander Yamamoto you're talking about is. When I was sealed, Old Man Yamamoto suddenly appeared, and all the captains of the thirteen divisions were there too. I didn't dare stay and fight, so I never got to exchange blows with Yamamoto. That's always been a regret of mine!"

Seeing the worried look in Yoruichi's eyes, he comforted her. "It's all right, Yoruichi. My life isn't so easy to take. Besides, as for my means of keeping myself alive, I don't think Old Man Yamamoto can overcome them."

Yoruichi remembered how Ten had escaped after killing two captains while surrounded by the captains of Soul Society's thirteen divisions. His means of keeping himself alive really were exceptional. She looked at him resolutely and said, "You have to come back safely this time, Big Brother Ten, or else..."

Ten saw a hint of a willingness to die in Yoruichi's eyes, and his resolve wavered. Perhaps he shouldn't go and retrieve his Soul Reaper powers. He could wait until Yhwach of the Wandenreich killed Old Man Yamamoto before going...

But Ten suppressed the thought as soon as it appeared. His strength might be great now, but that was because many of the powerful figures from later on had yet to appear.

There was Yhwach, who killed Yamamoto; Aizen, who would soon appear after fusing with the Hōgyoku; and Ichigo Kurosaki in his Mugetsu state or his bull-headed state.

Although Ten could rely on his Zanpakuto's abilities to defeat Ichigo in his future Mugetsu and bull-headed states, and could also put up a fight against Aizen after he fused with the Hōgyoku, it definitely wouldn't be easy. So Ten ultimately decided to retrieve his sealed Soul Reaper powers after all.

I can only do my best to protect myself, Ten thought. To that end, Ten spent an absolute amount of time in exchange for absolute safety, though Yoruichi knew nothing of it.

Ten rubbed Yoruichi's cat-ear-like hair and said, "Don't worry. I definitely won't die."

Yoruichi nodded. "Then, Big Brother Ten, those people undergoing Hollowfication..."

Ten said, "I'm only taking care of Lisa Yadōmaru and Mashiro Kuna..."

"Ah?!—"

"Fine, I'll add Hiyori Sarugaki too," Ten said helplessly.

Hearing that, Yoruichi didn't know what to say.

Ten didn't care about the rest. He had no interest in the men's affairs. He was only looking after Hiyori for Yoruichi's sake. Otherwise, who cared if they lived or died?!

Ten simply gathered Lisa Yadōmaru and Mashiro Kuna in his arms, slung Hiyori Sarugaki over his shoulder, and headed for the basement of the villa. At the same time, he said to Yoruichi, "Yoruichi, tell Mom about my situation while you're at it. I think you should have a way."

"Oh," Yoruichi replied. As for Kisuke Urahara, well, he was completely ignored...

The villa's basement

Ten looked at the two whose whole bodies had already begun to undergo Hollowfication and scratched his head. "It looks like the Soul Reaper and Hollow energies are out of balance. I just need to find the balance point. In the original story, they relied on combat training to vent the excess, unbalanced power. Specifically, they fought their Hollowfied selves in their Zanpakuto worlds.

"The fighting process was actually the process of finding that balance point. Through combat, they consumed Hollow Reiatsu to balance their Soul Reaper and Hollow energies.

"Then I'll absorb the Hollow energy first, then slowly send it back to them," Ten said, thinking it over.

At the same time, he looked at the three women and slowly said, "To prevent any other problems, I'll experiment on Hiyori Sarugaki first, then deal with Mashiro Kuna and Lisa Yadōmaru!"

With that, Ten placed his Blade of Slaughter against Hiyori. The Hollow shell that had originally covered half her body rapidly dissipated.

Ten nodded slightly at the sight. Things seemed to be going well. At last, the Hollow mask began to slowly dissipate too, so Ten returned the Reiatsu he had just absorbed to Hiyori, keeping the mask from disappearing.

After a while, Ten finally noticed a problem—there wasn't enough time!

Although Ten's method could combine the powers of a Hollow and a Soul Reaper to the greatest possible extent, it took a little too long, and Lisa Yadōmaru and Mashiro Kuna couldn't wait that long. So Ten decided to stop the experiment and officially begin the Hollowfication Experiment on Lisa Shidōmaru and Mashiro.

The days passed.

Ten was somewhat at a loss. Lisa Yadōmaru and Hiyori Sarugaki had already regained consciousness and begun practicing Hollowfication. The only one who still hadn't woken up was Mashiro Kuna. Ten remembered Mashiro's Hollowfication time in the original story—fifteen hours.

And Ten's method would lengthen that time severalfold. He could tell from Lisa and Hiyori that their originally short Hollowfication times had now...

Watching Lisa fool around with Hollowfication, Ten felt that Mashiro's time was still a long way off! Fortunately, Mashiro wasn't heavy. He could tie her to his back with his Zanpakuto's silver chain or hold her in his arms. Ten also liked Mashiro very much—well, except for her Hollowfication.

What if I change Mashiro's Hollowfication a little? Ten thought.

Once the idea occurred to him, Ten could no longer sit still. He thought it over from every angle. Mm, it's decided. I'll change Mashiro's Hollowfication, just a tiny bit!

Thinking this, Ten slowly sent a tiny thread of his Reiatsu into Mashiro's body.

"Ah, ah! Ah, aaah—"

Suddenly, Mashiro, who had barely reacted until then, screamed like a Hollow.

At the same time, the Hollow shell, of which only a mask had remained, rapidly spread over Mashiro's entire body. Startled, Ten hurriedly absorbed the Reiatsu into his Zanpakuto, and only then did Mashiro slowly calm down.

Fortunately, nothing had gone wrong. Not only that, there were benefits: Mashiro's strength had clearly increased, and her Hollow mask had slowly changed from one that looked a lot like Sun Wukong into a fox-like mask. Her Reiatsu had also grown much stronger.

"Phew—it looks like everything's all right." Ten let out a gentle breath.

Just then, Yoruichi came over. "Big Brother Ten."

"Hm?! What is it?"

"I've already told Mama Hana about you. She'll come to the World of the Living in a few days."

Ten looked at Mashiro and thought for a moment. "Mm, it looks like there's just about enough time."

Because of what Ten had just done, Mashiro's Hollowfication, which would originally have taken a long time, had begun to shorten. That was why Ten said he could make it in time to welcome Retsu Unohana to the World of the Living.

Yoruichi nodded and left, while Ten continued to wait anxiously...

Soul Society,

Retsu Unohana lowered her head slightly and narrowed her eyes as she said to Yamamoto, "Then that's settled."

Yamamoto nodded. "Mm, go and come back quickly."

After Retsu left, Yamamoto said to Chōjirō Sasakibe, "Prepare to strengthen the guard at Ten Unohana's seal. Until the Fourth Division captain returns, there must be no fewer than two Captain-level guards there at all times."

"Yes!" Chōjirō answered, kneeling on one knee with his head lowered.

The World of the Living,

Ten let out a breath. All those days had worn him out. Hiyori Sarugaki, Lisa Yadōmaru, and finally Mashiro Kuna had all left him exhausted, but the results were good. All three women were now at least Captain-level in strength, and after Hollowfication, they could easily fight Captain-level opponents. They were still a little behind the veteran captains, though. They were Captain-level figures on Byakuya Kuchiki's level.