For the past few years, Aizen would move a blanket to the Great Spirit Book Gallery every now and then. After obtaining information about the Reishi Arts of Asauchi's creation, he reduced the frequency and duration of his infiltrations.
The so-called increased vigilance and patrols are nothing but a joke. Even without using the Kyōka Suigetsu, those people are no different from lambs and calves in Aizen's eyes.
Asauchi- sama is the soul fragments of Soul Reaper, and who was worried about how to collect Soul Reaper soul fragments, set his sights on the Seireitei Research Institute Aizen, which was conducting experiments on Soul Reaper immortality.
The Seireitei Research Institute's experimental projects originally used ordinary souls as materials, but because the higher-ups believed that it was immoral, they had ordinary Soul Reaper contribute some of their soul fragments.
Such contributions only leave them feeling completely drained, but they can recover after a period of rest. Therefore, new Soul Reapers are constantly joining to offer their soul fragments for research.
Over the course of several hundred years, at least 30,000 fragments of the souls of different Soul Reapers remain here.
Recent research has yielded a breakthrough, and success is possible at the very last moment. In that case, extending the lifespan of an aging Respira soul by about a thousand years would not be a problem.
The experiment was powered by emblems that gathered Reishi energy. Aizen, who had been secretly observing the research institute, made his move, targeting the weak point and detonating one of the emblems, triggering a chain reaction of explosions.
Countless Soul Reaper and lower-ranking nobles were killed in the explosion, and fragments of Soul Reaper souls used for experiments flew everywhere. Aizen took out a container he had prepared beforehand and began to collect these raw materials.
By the time the Captains arrived to seal the crests, Aizen had already collected tens of thousands of fragments... Not only him, Urahara also collected a large number while preventing these soul fragments from spreading to other places...
The remaining uncollected fragments fused with Reishi, causing mutations, and were subsequently scattered into the World of the Living through the destroyed Senkaimon.
Those humans in the World of the Living whose bodies were invaded by mutated Reishi underwent immediate mutations, but they were unaware of it...
"This pure Reiryoku... truly lives up to its reputation as the so-called primal force. And this is just the Reishi remaining after the eruption. If it hadn't erupted, wouldn't I have become a god by absorbing just a few?"
Zero, who came to seal the emblem, was delighted. The Reishi energy contained within the emblem was so pure that he could absorb it to increase his strength.
Zero sealed 99% of the emblem, then plunged the Blood Drink into the remaining small hole, continuously absorbing the Reishi within the emblem and transforming them into his own Reiryoku...
While piloting his Homogeneous Body to guard Hueco Mundo, Yanis suddenly felt a pulling force that directly dragged his consciousness from Hueco Mundo back to Soul Society, back onto Blood Drink.
'Boss, what's with all this energy?'
"Stop talking nonsense and speed up your absorption. Maybe you can break through to the next dimension after you adapt."
After evolving, Yanis also slowly improved Zero's physical attributes, enabling him to withstand the terrifying Reiatsu brought by Bankai. For Zero now, there is no need to worry about his body being unable to withstand the energy of this crest.
Sure enough, in less than two minutes, he had absorbed all the energy from the remaining emblem. With each breath, Zero exhaled a small amount of Reishi, and the concentration of Reishi in his body had reached a level that was no longer entirely under his control.
"Has it reached the critical point? To have this level of power without even going through the process of Hollowfication, huh..."
Zero, with only his Shikai level, has reached the First Dimension that requires Bankai to enter. This is the level he set. His Reiatsu is above ten chariots, which has already brought about a qualitative change.
For example, Captain-level Reiatsu of more than one cartload can sense the Unfathomable Reiatsu of Captain-Commander of eight or nine cartloads, indicating that they can also read each other's Reiatsu.
If Captain-level Reiatsu of five carts cannot reach the Reiatsu of Eleven Cars even through Bankai, then he cannot understand Reiatsu above the Eleven Cars level, as that is already a difference in dimensions.
Even if one could manage to cope through various means, the possibility of winning a one-on-one battle was virtually nonexistent, due to the vast difference in Reiatsu.
Noises arose around the crest pit as ordinary Soul Reaper finally gathered. Zero, inside the pit, drew his Zanpakuto and sealed the last bit of his soul.
Whether it's banned or not is irrelevant now; the emblem has already been ruined by Zero...
"With these things, my plan is no longer just a theory. The corrupt order and its guardians, prepare to welcome a new ruler!"
Even with Aizen's composure, he couldn't help but reveal a look of joy at this moment... He was the one who broke into Central 46, and he was the one who detonated the crest, but no one could find out where he was.
Aizen thoroughly enjoyed the feeling of being superior, the way he manipulated others from a high position. His intelligence was exceptionally high, and as he grew older, he became able to do most things flawlessly...
There are more than a dozen crests that provide energy to the Seireitei Research Institute. Only about half of them were activated just now, but they still destroyed more than a tenth of the Seireitei and caused many deaths and injuries.
An accident of this magnitude must have someone take responsibility. The director has been killed in the explosion, and among the survivors, only a woman named Ran'Tao holds the highest position and is one of the main persons in charge of the project.
Therefore, the Central 46 began to question Ran'Tao and sentenced her to be exiled to the Dangai for a thousand years... According to the time ratio of 2000 to 1, a thousand years in the Dangai is only half a year in the Soul Society.
Ran'Tao was naturally not going to be so obedient. With her low Reiryoku, she could not possibly live for a thousand years. After spending some time in the Dangai, she realized that she had no choice, so she escaped to the World of the Living while serving her sentence.
She believed that the research on eternal souls was almost successful, and that those escaped mutated Reishi must have brought something to the souls of the World of the Living.
She guessed correctly; something had indeed been brought to the World of the Living: mutated humans called 'Bount,' who could live forever by devouring souls and possess powers beyond their control.
These mutated humans are not accepted by people in the World of the Living, are regarded as a delicacy by the Hollows, and are also seen by the Soul Society as beings that must be eliminated.
After the explosion incident was dealt with, it was said that Zero's trip to Hueco Mundo was still pending confirmation, but no one was sent to track Zero again.
But when Zero returned from Hueco Mundo several months later, all doubts were dispelled...
The reason is that three months after the explosion at the research institute, Zero secretly received a report from Ulquiorra that humans called 'Quincy' had appeared on the edge of their territory and were harming the interests of the Arrancar Army.
Zero-One laughed upon hearing the report. He immediately rushed to Hueco Mundo and returned half a month later, carrying two Quincy Holy Soldier dressed in white robes, still alive.
These two prisoners directly confirmed his previous explanation: Hueco Mundo were indeed Quincy in Hueco Mundo, and they had even entered Hueco Mundo through the transformation of their bodies into Reishi.
Unfortunately, when the Second Division interrogated him to find out the whereabouts of the 'Wandenreich', they accidentally killed him, leaving not even his soul behind.
The Ice Palace of the Wandenreich!
The assessment was underway, with Number 23 outstanding Holy Soldiers vying for a spot in the Sternritter. They had to hunt down a sufficient number of Hollows in Hueco Mundo before they could advance to the next stage of the competition.
Several batches of members had been successfully selected in the past, but this time they encountered Zero. He swiftly killed ten and captured nine, leaving only four clever ones who barely managed to escape. This incident also alarmed the higher-ups of the Wandenreich...
"Nangong Kenpachi appeared in Hueco Mundo to attack our examinees? His appearance in Hueco Mundo isn't surprising, what's surprising is that he seemed to have premeditatedly concealed his Reiatsu to approach the examination area..."
Jugram Haschwalth reviewed the report, completely baffled. He speculated that this new Hueco Mundo faction might be colluding with Nangong Kenpachi.
They already knew about the change of leadership in Hueco Mundo, and there was chaos in the Menos Grande Forest. Usually, they should have sent Adjuchas to deal with the trouble... but this time, a peak-level fighter from the Seireitei had arrived, which was something the Quincy never expected.
Jugram Haschwalth began sending people to Hueco Mundo to find out who the new leader was... The person he sent was Cang Du Opie, who was loyal to Yhwach.
In Soul Society, Aizen also knew about Captain Nangong bringing Quincy prisoners from Hueco Mundo, but he had no time to pay attention to the outside world and was instead immersed in his Laboratory.
As for Urahara, he hadn't had time to study the situation regarding 'Soul Reaper Hollowfication' yet, nor had he used the collected soul fragments to create anything strange.
He has developed something called the Tenshintai, which he intends to use to shorten the time required for Shikai to Shikai, thus forcibly cultivating Bankai...
Fifteen years have passed in the blink of an eye, and it has been 155 years since the dreamer Aizen was sealed away, but Aizen is unaware of it yet.
After a long period of development and several failures, the research results on Aizen are slowly coming together. At this rate, it is estimated that success will be achieved in a few more months.
Unlike Ōetsu Nimaiya, who used Reishi Arts to forge Asauchi, Aizen used Reishi Arts to create a substance that would allow him to break through his limits and rapidly activate his innate talents to become even stronger.
In fact, Aizen knew that his talent was very strong. In the past fifteen years, his Reiatsu had also grown again. Although it was not as fast as in his golden age, it had still grown to the point of Six and a Half Carriages.
Perhaps if we wait another thousand years, after Captain-Commander Yamamoto dies, Aizen might become the number one Soul Reaper... At most, there might be one or two people like Nangong Kenpachi who can stand shoulder to shoulder with him, but those one or two special beings are definitely not as smart as him.
The problem is, by the time he reaches a thousand years, he'll probably be bald like the Captain-Commander. How can he wait that long...?
Two months later, Aizen held a black substance the size of a golf ball in his hand, which he named 'Hōgyoku'... (Urahara's Hōgyoku was much smaller).
At this moment, five or six Soul Reaper lay on the ground, their fates unknown. Aizen frowned and muttered to himself, "Like infants, do they need to constantly devour soul essence to grow?"
"Would stripping away the essence of the soul strip away the power of an ordinary Soul Reaper? Let's continue to satisfy its desires for a while and then begin experimenting with the feasibility."
Aizen had secretly plundered the soul essence of dozens of Soul Reaper and injected it into himself, causing those Soul Reaper to inexplicably lose their power.
Subsequently, he was secretly investigated by several Captains, and Aizen had no choice but to temporarily stop... But even Azu did not stop, so how could Aizen possibly give up? He planned to go to Rukongai to find those Reiryoku awakeners after the storm had passed.