Kasumioji Yakumo looked young, but her soul had already grown old inside. Only she knew that. Perhaps in another one or two hundred years, she would die of old age.
Her husband, who had married into her Kasumioji Clan, had died young. They had once had three sons, but the first two, both outstanding, had become Soul Reapers and died in battle. Only their third son remained.
When Kasumioji Yakumo needed an heir, she looked back and found that her third son had already turned into a pile of shit that even dogs wouldn't eat. Only a few dung beetles of the same caliber would play with him...
The dung beetle Tokinada had already been handed over to the people summoned from the Fourth Division for emergency treatment. As for the five of them, retribution for defying a captain's authority came quickly: they were to be sent to Rukongai to serve as stationed Soul Reapers for several months.
Kasumioji Yakumo didn't resent Rei, but the Tsunayashiro Clan was a different matter. Their head, Hideaki Tsunayashiro, was also a captain at present, and they were a great noble family. How could they tolerate someone showing contempt for the dignity of the great nobles?
Unfortunately, Rei had already used the technique to travel to Hueco Mundo. If Hideaki wanted revenge, he would have to wait for Rei to return.
With five members of the Kidō Corps chanting together, a huge rift opened in space. Rei was the first to rush inside. As agreed beforehand, he used Reishi as footholds, forming a path forward.
Rei's control over Reiryoku was fairly strong. He ran along a broad road wide enough for three people to travel abreast... Unlike Ichigo in later years, whose path would break apart as he ran.
The Soul Reapers followed along the path Rei created to save their own strength. Once everyone had entered, the five Kidō Corps members turned and leaped into the Garganta as well.
Without their Reiatsu to sustain it, the Garganta that had appeared in the Senkaimon plaza soon vanished, and space returned to normal...
In the inner world, Yanis was excited. This was the world he knew so well. When the time came, Rei only needed to find a reason to send his subordinates back first, then stay behind and devour to his heart's content.
Yanis's own evolution had grown very slow. By his reckoning, the limit of his power was that of a high-level Adjuchas. He could never become a Vasto Lorde, the highest class of Menos Grande.
But things were different now. Thanks to Rei's physical talent, Yanis felt he had room to improve. He might really become a Vasto Lorde!
"Boss, can I keep half the Reiryoku to evolve? I want to evolve into a Vasto Lorde..."
As Rei ran, Yanis's voice suddenly sounded in his mind. He froze for a moment, unable to react.
"Of course, I'd never betray you, Boss. I'd only take over when you lose consciousness..."
"Do as you like. Just keep it when the time comes. Right now, I'm mainly training my body and adapting to Bankai!"
Rei hadn't spoken at first, and Yanis had grown so frightened that he started explaining himself. But Rei interrupted him and told him what his current training priorities were.
"Y-you're not worried?"
Yanis found it a little strange and pressed him.
"Worried? If you could seize control of my will, how could I ever stand at the peak? Yanis, if you hadn't become a part of me, your greatest goal in this life would have been to become a Vasto Lorde, wouldn't it?"
In the inner world, Yanis nodded. Outside, Rei was still running normally, but once his attention began to wander, the squad members suffered terribly... The path kept breaking.
Rei continued in his mind, "What about after you became a Vasto Lorde? Did you have a goal?"
"Yes. I wanted to be king. I wanted to build a stronger force, overthrow Baraggan's rule, and become the king of Hueco Mundo! Then I'd order my subordinates to go to Soul Society and bring back lots of delicious food for me. Wahahaha..."
Yanis began to recount his old dream, as if he could see himself sitting beneath a broken clock, directing the affairs of the realm.
As for eating delicious food, that had only been added later, after he met Rei.
"That's it? Your dream depends on you having great strength. Do you have it? A mere Vasto Lorde can only fight a captain who isn't using Bankai."
"If you encountered a powerful captain, they probably wouldn't even need Bankai. They could kill Vasto Lorde-class Menos Grande like you with a casual Shikai. If you ran into someone like that, could you protect your territory? You couldn't, could you?"
The question left Yanis speechless. He had already seen Captain-level combat power, and... he had seen Rei's Bankai. That was why he didn't dare resist in the first place.
"My goal is different from yours. I want to stand at the peak of the World of the Living, Soul Society, Hueco Mundo, and even Hell. By then, I won't need a territory. Every world will be my territory!"
"Whether in goals, strength, or vision, I surpass you by far, Yanis. Your will is nowhere near as strong as mine!"
In the inner world, Rei's voice rose as he told Yanis his ultimate dream and asserted his complete dominance.
Yanis fell silent. Perhaps from the moment he submitted, he had no longer had a chance to seize Rei's body. Looking back on Rei's past, Rei had been growing stronger and pursuing power from beginning to end, never stopping for a moment.
Yanis was a Hollow, but he could devour Reiryoku, and Rei had accepted him despite the law that set Soul Reapers and Hollows against each other.
During his travels through Soul Society, when Rei encountered certain schools with powerful swordsmanship, he would even suppress his Reiatsu and challenge them so he could learn their techniques.
The Gotei 13's Kidō could increase his combat power, so Rei joined them to study it.
To a Hollow like Yanis, born of darkness and fear, Rei, with his goals and direction, shone like a beacon.
At some point, Yanis had gone from having a few ideas of his own to silently watching and serving Rei. After that, Yanis wanted to see just where Rei's ultimate goal lay!
The change in Yanis's thinking had taken only a few short years.
Yanis asked very seriously, "Isn't that dream a bit too big? That Captain-Commander alone is ridiculously strong. Do you think you can beat him?"
Noticing the change in Yanis's tone, Rei nodded to himself. The Hokage's "talk no jutsu" lived up to its reputation.
"Big? He's certainly strong, but he isn't unbeatable. He's already at the pinnacle of Soul Reapers and can't grow any stronger."
"But we can. We're a combination of Soul Reaper and Hollow. The creator made Soul Reapers and Hollows and set them against each other, but we broke through that opposition."
"Breaking it might mean the body collapses and dies, but I didn't die. What's more, I'm improving faster. That means we, who broke through that opposition, can become much stronger and surpass the limits of Soul Reapers and Hollows!"
Rei gave Yanis his own assessment of their current state. It wasn't as if a Hollow and Soul Reaper had never become one before; there would be many, many such cases in later years.
Either the Hollow controlled the body or the Soul Reaper suppressed the Hollow. The two consciousnesses fought for control of the body, never properly bringing out the power a Soul Reaper and Hollow should have.
Rei didn't even have the Hōgyoku now. He had only arrived at these theories after Yanis parasitized him. As for whether they were accurate, Rei wasn't sure. At least for now, he still had room to grow.
"I understand. I'll transform into the strongest Vasto Lorde, then become a blade to help you clear away every obstacle."
"You're not transforming to become a tool. We're transforming together!"
"Boss!"
"Little brother!"
Yanis believed he would definitely become a powerful tool. Rei corrected him, intending to treat him as a companion... Mm, a brainwashed little brother...
While they were traveling through the Garganta, some Soul Reapers had long since noticed something was wrong and had run ahead of Rei to open the way. By the time Rei came back to his senses, the people in front had already broken through space and entered Hueco Mundo.
Someone shouted, "We're in the air! Watch out!"
Rustle, rustle, rustle!
The group landed steadily from twenty meters up. Everyone was accounted for; no one had fallen behind.
"So this is Hueco Mundo? It's desolate, all right..."
It was Rei's first visit. He looked around and saw an endless sea of sand in every direction, its only adornments the grayish-white quartz trees. A bright moon hung in the sky, and white clouds drifted by, but there were no stars.
Some people curiously stepped forward to touch the quartz trees. Finding that they were nothing like ordinary trees, they marveled at them.
"Everyone, stay alert. Next, we might..."
"Aaaah! Help me!"
Before Rei could finish, a scream cut him off.
A male Soul Reaper had wandered a little farther away and had been pierced through the body by an extremely long tail stinger. Though he was still screaming, he wouldn't survive even if they rescued him.
A giant scorpion emerged from the sand and brought the male Soul Reaper to its mouth, about to swallow him whole, but Rei killed it with one stroke.
The Hollow's mask was cut, and its body rapidly dissolved into Reishi. The three medical Soul Reapers sent by the Fourth Division rushed forward to stop the wounded man's bleeding and treat him.
But they soon gave up. The wounded man had stopped breathing, and there was no saving him.
Quite a few people began to panic. They hadn't expected to be ambushed as soon as they arrived, and who knew what else lay ahead?
The somewhat panicked Soul Reapers began gathering with the companions they had joined the Expeditionary Force alongside, forming little groups. Those who had come alone could only draw their swords and watch their surroundings.
Even Rei couldn't stand the disorderly group any longer. He roared, "Is this your first day as Soul Reapers? Can't you fight once you leave your own divisions? Everyone except the Kidō Corps, form groups of three and take up combat formations. Sōjun Kuchiki, you command them in battle!"
"Yes! Split into groups, quickly! Don't dawdle!"
Sōjun Kuchiki answered loudly. He also agreed with Vice Captain Nangong's simple plan. As for why Vice Captain Nangong had put him in command, perhaps it was because the vice captain himself wasn't good at commanding.
This was the simplest grouping, something Rei had learned by looking through the books Kuruyashiki had given him. Even a newcomer like him, who had joined the division only a month ago, knew it, yet this group from the Expeditionary Force apparently didn't understand it.
By the time the Soul Reapers had clumsily formed their groups, evil, terrifying Reiatsu rose from the sand. The Hollows were plainly about to attack.
Aaooo~
There were more than a dozen Giant Hollows, only one step away from becoming Gillians, but they still had their intelligence. Beneath the Giant Hollows were some small and medium-sized Hollows. They had clearly formed a small group and intended to attack these intruders together.
"Are they all Giant Hollows?"
"Damn it, there must be at least a hundred of them!"
"C-Captain Nangong?"
While they still stood there exclaiming in shock, Rei had already appeared atop the head of a giant rhinoceros Hollow and killed it with one effortless stroke. A squad member who noticed was utterly incredulous.
"Don't you understand yet? With Captain Nangong here, these Hollows are nothing to fear. Everyone, maintain your combat formations and kill!"
Sōjun Kuchiki's voice was calm, revealing neither joy nor anger. With a sweep of his hand, he sent everyone into battle against the enemy, while he himself charged ahead.
With a rise and fall of his Zanpakuto, Sōjun Kuchiki also killed a Giant Hollow. The Ragged Hollows swarmed around him, but he wiped them all out with a single sweeping slash.
A Giant Hollow resembling a flying Wyvern opened its mouth and spat out a mass of energy formed from condensed Reiatsu, aiming at a squad of Soul Reapers on the ground. But the Kidō Corps members joined forces and used Kidō to block the attack for them.
That was an incomplete Cero, unique to Giant Hollows. They could only unleash a true Cero after becoming Gillians.
The battle soon ended. To Rei, this small fight didn't even count as loosening up. Someone came forward to report the results:
"Reporting, Captain. One killed and two injured, both with minor wounds. We killed eighty-six Hollows; the rest escaped."
"Mm."
After acknowledging the report, Rei walked up a taller sand dune and looked into the distance. For now, they needed to find a rocky area suitable for living. Only a place like that could offer some protection against sandstorms.
Hueco Mundo was said to have frequent sandstorms, so Rei had to guard against them. His plan was to use a rocky camp as their base, send the squad members out in all directions to hunt Hollows, and return once they had killed thirty thousand.
The world was kind enough. Rei soon spotted a small dot in the distance. It had a rounded top and no branches, so it probably wasn't a quartz tree. Rei led the group toward it.
Along the way, Hollows appeared and attacked from time to time. Another squad member lost his life, and three were injured.
There were too many Hollows, and after living year-round in Hueco Mundo, where they hunted one another, they had long since learned how to hide and disguise themselves.
About ten hours later, the group of Soul Reapers arrived at the foot of several rocky hills. Just as they were about to climb, a large horde of Hollows appeared at the top. The three in the lead were actually Adjuchas.
"Hahahaha, Soul Reapers, we've been waiting here for you for a long time."
"Hehehe, you made so much noise along the way. Surely you didn't think no one would notice you!"
"Enough talking to them. After eating them, we might be able to keep evolving!"
This was a remote border region of Hueco Mundo, so it was quite rare for three Adjuchas to be here.
At a command from one of the Adjuchas, the Ragged Hollows charged down, howling as they came to tear the Soul Reapers apart.
Didn't you say this place was far from Las Noches? Why are there three Adjuchas?
Boss, this is Hueco Mundo. Adjuchas might not be everywhere, but there are definitely plenty of them. Besides, these ones have clearly stopped evolving and are just living out their days. There's no need to worry.
After that exchange in the inner world, Rei learned that these three Adjuchas had already reached their limits. No matter how many of their own kind they devoured, they would not grow stronger; they could only maintain their intelligence.
"Where are you looking? We're your opponents!"
"Die!"
The three Adjuchas were clever. They had known from the start that Rei was the strongest and intended to gang up on him.
The first looked like a horse, the second like a mouse, and the third like a giant turtle. The horse Hollow led the attack, charging straight at Rei!