The three-month-long expedition to the Bottomless Abyss finally came to an end. Chun and Starrk led their team back to the Endless Sea. To ensure mutual support, Starrk's team didn't explore too far downwards, only about two kilometers, which was a piece of cake for the Bottomless Abyss map.
Chun and Starrk were the first to return. After waiting a day, four more teams returned, and it wasn't until the third day that everyone was back. The best news was that no one had died; only one person was seriously injured on the way, but he recovered.
This time, the 18 groups brought back 39 Vasto Lorde with talent. In the pure team, Ge Ze Li had been running errands for three months, caught 14. Thus, after three months, this batch of 53 Vasto Lorde of various types began to catalyze their growth.
Then there are 23 new maps, 17 new passages on known maps—these are all valuable resources. And the most amazing thing is that they even captured a Soul Reaper!
This Soul Reaper also possesses Captain-level strength. He's a criminal exiled over four hundred years ago. I vaguely recognize him, but I'm not very familiar with him. His name is Naoto Kōzawa. He used to be in the Seventh Division, and also served in the Fifth Division, Third Division, and Eighth Divisions.
Their relationship with Soul Society was certainly bad, but they were also wary of it. The team that found him was Natasha's team, which happened to be without any Soul Reaper. It wasn't until they met Jun and the other Soul Reaper that they were completely dumbfounded and realized what was going on. Their worldview was shattered.
These are all minor matters. Jun came back this time specifically for Aizen's sake; the real focus should be on the World of the Living. He opened the sent files and looked them over; none of the defeated or killed were acquaintances, so that's fine. Then came Ichigo's new worries.
"Hollowfication Mask and a face integrated together? That's interesting."
It was flipped from back to front. "Orihime was captured, normal procedure, nothing else happened. The most recent news is from a month ago? Both sides have been idle for the past month?"
"Tsk tsk~ Wait a minute, what the heck is Felix!?" Chun had only quickly skimmed through it before, picking out a few key words, but now, after a careful look, she discovered a major problem.
Oka and the others were also looking at the documents. "This Felix should be our little Lynx; she's with Aizen."
"Ulquiorra is there too, and so is Nnoitra."
Jun also saw both messages. "Three already? That's a bit tough on the Soul Society side."
"Felix is the Fiftieth Espada, and there are four ahead of him: Ulquiorra and Nnoitra. Who else?" Starrk patted the file. "There aren't many who can rank ahead of Felix."
"Healdos? Impossible, that guy would never join any faction."
"Cirucci? Possibly, but I remember Felix was quite restrained by Cirucci."
"Tejuda is still in the sea; she hasn't gone anywhere."
"Grimmjow? By the way Grimmjow, how strong has that kid gotten? Has anyone seen him recently?"
The Arrancar started chatting, Pandele stroked his chin, thinking for a moment, "The last time I saw that Grimmjow kid was fifty years ago, wasn't it? Fifty years have passed. He shouldn't be a match for me now."
Starrk covered his head. "You're over a hundred years older than Grimmjow, how can you compare them? Isn't there a more objective assessment?"
Pandele shrugged. "I didn't even fight him, so how can I calculate it? But it's settled then. These five are the top 50 Espada: Ulquiorra, Nnoitra, Cirucci, Grimmjow, and Felix. How does that ranking sound?"
"That's interesting, this ranking should be about right," Oka nodded.
However, Jun shook his head. "It can't be that ranking. You've forgotten the previous master of Las Noches. Although Baraggan isn't Original Arrancar, his abilities would be quite troublesome for most of you, and you might not even be able to fight him. For example, Biersen. So I think Baraggan must be in the top five of the Espada, either second or third."
The Arrancar exchanged glances and nodded. Oka said seriously, "Indeed, we overlooked Baraggan. It seems our thinking has become rigid; we're not even considering beings other than ourselves when looking at things. This won't do."
"Alright, alright, your strength speaks for itself. You have the luxury of being arrogant; there's no need for such self-criticism," Jun said, flipping through the documents again. "I'm going to check out the World of the Living. Hueco Mundo also needs some attention. And most importantly! Not a single one of those who came from our Endless Sea can die! I didn't raise you all to work for Aizen! The kids don't know any better, so you older brothers and sisters should look after them."
The Arrancars all laughed, with Natasha laughing the loudest. "Pure~, Ulquiorra is the eldest brother, and I'm just the second eldest!"
Starrk scratched his face in annoyance. "So, what's my number? I'm obviously the eldest brother, and you're the third sister."
"Oh, right, I'm the third and fourth brother."
Oka raised his hand, "I'm the fourth one!"
"I'm the fifth sister! I'm the fifth sister! No, I'm the fifth older sister!" Dolfen jumped up and down, looking around. "Hehe, I have so many younger brothers and sisters!"
Who told her to be the smallest? But Lilynette suddenly said, "Hey, you little fifth, come here and call me 'big sister'!"
"Ugh~", Dolfen immediately wilted.
"Then I'm sixth," Tier Harribel said without arguing, letting the sixth sister take the lead.
"Felix is the seventh sister, Healdos is a myna bird, pfft, a myna bird!" Nel laughed. A myna bird is a bird, Healdos's symbol is also a bird; this hit her funny bone. "I'm the ninth sister now!"
"Nnoitra is the tenth brother, and I'm the eleventh," Biersen chuckled. "Tejuda is the twelfth brother. Pandele, who's older, you or Cirucci?"
"I'm a month older than him. I'm the thirteenth, Cirucci the Jūshirō, Grimmjow the fifteenth, and you, Ge Ze Li, are the sixteenth, youngest sister."
Dolfen ran to Ge Ze Li's side and patted her on the shoulder, "Little sister~"
Sadly, Ge Ze Li, sitting on the ground, with the horn on her head, was about the same height as Dolfen, or even taller. Dolfen would cry if she stood up; the two were 60 centimeters apart in height, not even counting the horn.
Fifth Sister~
"Waaah~ Please don't call me 'sister' anymore, sob sob~"
This scene was absolutely hilarious, it made everyone burst into laughter. After the laughter subsided, Chun called out names one by one.
"I reckon Ulquiorra won't leave Hueco Mundo. Starrk, you're the eldest brother, you keep an eye on him."
"Learn!"
"Felix might go to the World of the Living with Aizen, Tier Harribel, you're World of the Living with me."
"Hmm~"
"Nnoitra will probably go to the World of the Living too, Nel, you're coming with me to the World of the Living as well."
Okay~
"And there's another one, whether it's Cirucci or Grimmjow, I reckon he'll also go to the World of the Living with Aizen. Pandele, you're coming with me to the World of the Living too."
OK!
"And bring Oka along too."
"OK"
"Are you three going to the World of the Living or not, Kuruyashiki?"
"I'm going! I'm going!" Kuruyashiki ignored the other two. He was determined to go. Three months of adventure had left him feeling utterly bored. All he wanted now was to go to the World of the Living, drink some alcohol, and have a few bowls of Kantō!
Sōya Azashiro shook his head. He had been to the World of the Living a few times and didn't really like World of the Living noise. Ashido Kanō thought for a moment and nodded, "I'll go too. Isn't the final battle in the World of the Living? I'll go and see Aizen."
"But you're our trump card! You haven't seen Aizen's Kyōka Suigetsu, have you?"
"No, I never go to tasting competitions."
There are indeed such eccentrics in Soul Society. In the original work, there are people who haven't seen Kyōka Suigetsu, but those who haven't are too weak and can't possibly fight Aizen.
"Aozumi and Kōga, you two can move around freely. Just keep an eye on Byakuya."
"Hmm, we know."
"Ku-nan~you"
"I'm going to kill Kensei Muguruma!"
Mashiro Kuna is the person whose friend was killed by Kensei Muguruma. In this timeline, Mashiro Kuna is also Kensei Muguruma's Vice-Captain. The two of them came to the World of the Living together and have always had a good relationship.
However, even after Jun started his public relations efforts, their relationship didn't change much, but the emotional distance between them was immeasurable. Kensei Muguruma couldn't understand the thoughts of those who were World of the Living -minded, while Mashiro Kuna was World of the Living -minded but unwilling to take action.
Then things happened. There were very few women in the Visoreds in this timeline. Mashiro Kuna, Hiyori Sarugaki, and five others made up only seven girls in total. There were originally 34 people who appeared. Mashiro Kuna was inseparable from two of them, and she wasn't one of the first to leave.
In this situation, all three girls preferred World of the Living things, and the more they talked, the more they wanted to change things. One of them was more radical; she became increasingly radical and couldn't stand the stifling situation of the Visored anymore. She also wanted to take some action freely. After an argument, she left on her own.
After the girl left, Mashiro Kuna and another friend met again. After discussing it, they decided to leave as well, but not secretly. They had all been together for so many years, so they decided to part amicably. They simply told Hirako...
Unfortunately, Kensei Muguruma happened to be Hirako about this matter that day—the girl's escape. Mashiro Kuna and the others walked right into it Kensei Muguruma, being the most hot-tempered guy out there, immediately started a fight.
He slashed directly at them with his sword. Kensei Muguruma was in his Permanent Shikai. Mashiro Kuna, Hirako, and the dead girl never expected him to attack, so they didn't even think to defend themselves. As a result, their throats were slit by the sword. The Jidanpū ability explodes upon contact, instantly blowing their heads off.
Then, while Kensei Muguruma was still confused, Mashiro Kuna immediately drew his sword and started fighting with Kensei Muguruma. Hirako had no choice but to draw his sword to break up the fight, but at first, Hirako didn't understand why the two of them were really fighting.
Mashiro Kuna truly intended to kill Kensei Muguruma, and Kensei Muguruma realized this, escalating their fight. To Kensei Muguruma, "Mashiro Kuna, you want to kill me for a traitor? You're a traitor too!" To Mashiro Kuna, "We've shared over a hundred years of trials and tribulations! You're going to kill me over something like this?!"
This is the huge disagreement between the two people on the same issue, stemming from their differing values. After trying to mediate for a while, Hirako realized the situation was really getting out of hand, and that the others were on the verge of violence. So he used Shikai to subdue everyone and then announced the division of the family.
The Visoreds were already in dire straits; the undercurrents were truly turbulent, and one wrong move could lead to an explosion. Hirako was still trying his best to maintain order, but after this incident, there was no point in trying to maintain anything; they had to break up quickly, or more people would die.
Meanwhile, the team captain Vice-Captain of Mashiro Kuna 'Kensei Muguruma, Kensei Muguruma, have become bitter enemies, with Mashiro Kuna vowing to kill Kensei Muguruma.
Chun couldn't do anything about it either. "You, you figure it out," she said.
"Qianlimu, Mito, the four of you come with me. Kariya Jin, Yoshino, the two of you also come with me to the World of the Living."
"Yes" x6
After this series of actions, the identities were basically settled. Jun went to the last person, Sōjirō Kusaka, who was another person who possessed the Hyōrinmaru Zanpakuto.
"Kusaka, are you ready?"
Sōjirō Kusaka gave a wicked smile, "If I kill Hitsugaya, won't Hyōrinmaru be mine?"
Chun laughed heartily, "If you can do it, you're welcome to give it a try."
"Tsk~, okay, I'll listen to you."