Eighty years before the story begins, Zero finally emerges from seclusion.
Zero summoned Szayelaporro immediately, intending to assign him a task, but was immediately taken aback by the man's antics...
Zero asked in confusion, "What's wrong with you? Your Reiatsu is even weaker than Dordoni's. Where did your power go?"
Even though Szayelaporro managed to increase his Reiatsu at this point, he lacked the power he had before; at most, it was only about a quarter of what it used to be.
"In order to Resurrection my elder brother, I separated him, and as a result, my strength is less than a quarter of what it used to be. I beg Lord Nangong to punish me."
Upon hearing this, Szayelaporro immediately knelt on one knee, adopting a very humble posture. He was already conducting various experiments and hypotheses in order to research 'perfect life'.
Zero dismisses his claim of "Resurrection his older brother" as utter nonsense. If asked who among the Espada is most adept at manipulating, disregarding, and harming life, it would undoubtedly be Szayelaporro.
"Then let's lower your Espada rank! Considering your impressive research methods, we'll place you ninth. Nnoitra and above will automatically be promoted one rank to fill the vacancy."
"Thank you, Lord Nangong!"
Zero knew this guy was a seasoned actor, so he directly stated the punishment. If Szayelaporro looked up, he would see a playful glint in Zero's eyes.
"Get up! I called you here to give you a task: find a way to probe the skies Seireitei. There should be a hidden Barrier space there." Only then did Zero reveal the task he was giving to Szayelaporro.
"Is Lord Nangong referring to the location of the 'Soul King Palace'? You should ask Baraggan about that. It's said that his opponents attacked the Soul King Palace back then, but failed."
Szayelaporro had already risen, a gleam of excitement on his face. Attacking the very foundation of the Soul Reapers ' faith—what an interesting activity!
"Okay, then I'll leave this to you. Check if there's a way to break in."
At this moment, Zero really wanted to fully awaken the Hōgyoku and see if it really could grant people all their wishes, as the data stated.
"Yes, Nangong Excellency is willing to go through fire and water for you. Then I shall take my leave."
"Hmm, when you finish the research on 'perfect life,' remember to submit a copy of the report to the Laboratory..."
After Szayelaporro agreed, he was smiling and about to leave, as he had expected not to be removed from the Espada sequence... but Zero's next words froze him in place, and cold sweat broke out on his back.
'He... he found out? Damn it, this guy's been spying on me! But I clearly already...'
"Yes!"
Szayelaporro didn't want to think about it anymore, and all his thoughts boiled down to a simple and direct answer.
He had already guessed that the monitoring Spirit Worm might not have been completely eliminated, or that the thing responsible for monitoring might be his favorite tool— Lojia.
Not only are there ubiquitous Spirit Worm, Nangong Ling also has a pack of loyal dogs, from the Espada to the Arrancar and the group of Soul Society followers. It would be too easy for him to monitor some of them.
If an uprising were to actually break out one day, as some of Baraggan 'Fracción have clamored, he would probably be executed by a group of Espada and Arrancar before he could even touch the hem of Nangong Ling's clothes.
This is also why Baraggan was so patient; like Szayelaporro, he saw the situation clearly.
"Go down!"
After dismissing Szayelaporro, Zero took out the Hōgyoku again in an attempt to communicate, but received no response. The Hōgyoku's powerful presence had vanished, indicating that it had fallen into slumber.
'So, the fact that my Bankai could advance to a higher level in such a short time might really be due to this thing. That's amazing.'
Zero admired the Hōgyoku in his heart and sent Szayelaporro to investigate the location of the Soul King Palace. His intention was to attack the Soul King Palace. He didn't want to kill the Soul King; he just wanted to tear off a few pieces of his flesh to feed the Hōgyoku, so that it would be satisfied and evolve into its perfect form.
However, Zero was now considering the possibility of attacking the Soul King Palace. If it were that simple, he wouldn't have been so clueless about the exact location of the Soul King Palace during his hundreds of years Captain.
Meanwhile, in the Seireitei).
Rangiku Matsumoto became the Vice-Captain of the Tenth Division. Gin Ichimaru already knew she had joined the Gotei 13, but they rarely met. The two were no longer children; the growth of their Reiryoku had made them grow up.
As mentioned before, the head of the Shiba Clan, who had been living in seclusion in Rukongai for many years, suddenly became the Captain of the Tenth Division. This person was Isshin Shiba.
Although it was said that she was invited by Kaien Shiba, Kaien had only casually mentioned the situation of the Shiba Clan. Isshin joined the Gotei 13 and was subsequently appointed as Captain.
This whole series of actions left not only many people confused, but even Kaien was dumbfounded. This uncle is really something, becoming the Captain right after joining the team...
In the Tenth Division, Kaien comes to visit her uncle, and the two of them are drinking tea, slacking off, and chatting.
"By the way, Isshin Yixin, you were the Captain before, right? Otherwise, how could you have been appointed so easily? I've never heard of an entrance exam."
"No, maybe it's because I'm exceptionally talented! The Captain-Commander thinks highly of me, hahaha..."
Kaien Isshin at Yixin, who was giving her the runaround, trying to figure out what the Captain-Commander thought highly of him, but then realized that she had been tricked into it.
"Can you answer this more seriously?" Kaien was speechless.
"When you get serious, you're just like Kongqing. Don't tell anyone, okay?" After glancing at Kaien's serious face, Isshin said, "Actually, Kongqing succeeded me. I was the Captain a long time ago, but some reason caused me to lose my power, which is why I've been living in Rukongai ever since..."
Kaien was shocked to learn the truth. He only found out about his uncle when his family moved to Rukongai when he was a child. Even his two Vassal didn't know about him, which meant that Isshin was a person from at least four hundred years ago.
At that time, he only thought that his father had won the competition for the position of head of the family, which led to his uncle splitting up the family. Now it seems that this is not the case.
The fact that the Captain-Commander entrusted his uncle with such an important task so soon after his return to the Gotei 13 suggests that his uncle's contributions were significant, and that those contributions might even have been the reason he lost his powers...
"Then why did you lose your power back then?"
When Kaien pressed for more details, Isshin thought disdainfully, "Do I have to tell you how I defeated this powerful enemy using the 'Final Getsuga Tenshō'? That would be too embarrassing! Haha."
Although Isshin desperately wanted to show off, he remained silent and unwilling to reveal too much.
At this moment, a Squad Member suddenly reported that it seemed that more than a dozen mediums World of the Living the same area had been attacked by illusions, and that ordinary souls had seen the souls of those mediums being forcibly taken away after their deaths.
Isshin suddenly struck by a headache and began yelling at the new Vice-Captain, Rangiku, demanding that she handle the situation quickly, report what needed to be reported, and send in Soul Reaper to investigate if necessary... At this moment, Kaien, being quite sensible, got up to say goodbye and left, not giving Isshin a chance to persuade him to stay.
The Gotei 13 have been on guard against Hueco Mundo's attack, but have remained silent.