In the Menos Grande Forest, the constant sound of chewing broke the darkness and silence. The sounds of hunters and prey fighting to the death, triumphant howls and screams of defeat intertwined to create a world steeped in blood.
Without Zommari's power to keep it in check, the forest had descended into complete chaos. Several Adjuchas that had been hiding were hunting lower-ranked Hollows nonstop.
Gillian with consciousness no longer pretended otherwise, devouring their less intelligent companions. They wanted to climb higher.
After Yanis ate several masks, Rei's power increased a little more. Yanis, who retained half of it, also grew stronger. His one-meter-tall consciousness grew a few centimeters.
All eleven of them made it out of the Menos Grande Forest alive through the passage Zommari had guarded. Fortunately, they were not far from camp, and Rei could sense Sōjun Kuchiki's Reiatsu.
Reiatsu could travel a great distance, unless it was deliberately concealed.
The protagonist trio in the original timeline were proof of that. As soon as they entered Hueco Mundo, their vast Reiatsu had been sensed by the Espada in Las Noches, a very long way away.
After returning to camp, Rei also noticed that it had been attacked. No one had died, but more than ten people, including Sōjun Kuchiki, had suffered minor injuries.
Rei used Shunpo to appear in front of Sōjun Kuchiki and asked, "What happened?"
"Whew, it happened this morning. An Adjuchas wandered here alone and attacked our patrol. I went to reinforce them and managed to drive him off. No one on the patrol died, but they were all injured."
Seeing Rei and the others return safely, Sōjun Kuchiki breathed a sigh of relief. They had pocket watches and knew the time each day, so their daily schedules had not fallen into disarray.
"A wandering Adjuchas? I'll have five people form a patrol and follow them to take a look."
After murmuring that, Rei began organizing people to go "fishing," hoping they would not come back empty-handed...
Five of the people who had escaped the Menos Grande Forest with Rei formed a group and set out again. As they walked across the desert, every one of them looked wary.
Sure enough, the Adjuchas appeared again, but this time he was not so lucky. Rei was following right behind the patrol...
Time flowed like a river, never to return. Six months had passed. Every day, another vertical sword mark was added to the rock wall to keep track of time.
Attacks on the camp by individual Menos Grande like this only happened occasionally. More of the clever Menos Grande chose to go around after sensing the Reiatsu Rei gave off.
The only change in Hueco Mundo's weather was the occurrence of sandstorms, with sand and dust filling the sky. Anyone caught in one, human or Hollow, would be unable to breathe...
"The killing only stops when a sandstorm blows. What a cursed world!"
Rei stood at the entrance to the large cave, gazing out. The wind and sand outside were held back by Kidō, and all the Soul Reapers were huddled inside the cave.
No one answered Rei. The atmosphere here had changed from talking and laughing, sharing the joy of victory, to the oppressive mood of now.
There were no hot springs, no fine food or wine, and they were far removed from ordinary life... Every day, they killed Hollows, rested and recovered, then killed more Hollows.
The only exception was when they held funerals for their comrades, but those occasions were even more oppressive. You could hardly laugh when a comrade had died!
In an environment like this, anyone without a strong enough will would have gone mad by now. Fortunately, no one here had.
Rei reckoned depression was the worst they would suffer, and two people were already showing signs of it. He had spotted it early and arranged for others to keep talking with them.
Rei and Sōjun Kuchiki were the only two who would not get depressed. They trained tirelessly every day, using Hollows to practice Kidō and the like.
The pressure driving Sōjun to train so furiously came from his brother-in-law, Kōga. By now, Kōga had long since learned Bankai. The only things he lacked were experience and a calmer temperament.
When Sōjun came to Hueco Mundo, Kōga had transferred from the Sixth Division to become Third Seat of the First Division. That meant the Captain-Commander intended to groom Kōga.
If his father, Kuchiki Ginrei, stepped down, Kōga, having earned merits and prestige in the First Division and fully honed himself, would very likely become the Sixth Division Captain.
Though they were all family, Sōjun felt that Kōga did not share their blood after all. If a man who had married into the family became its head and led the Kuchiki Clan, people would certainly mock the clan behind its back.
Like son, like father... Sōjun decided to shoulder the honor of the Kuchiki Clan. At the very least, he had to meet the requirements to inherit the position of clan head himself and compete for it...
The one currently driving Rei forward was Kuruyashiki Kenpachi. Since they had agreed to fight within twenty years, Rei could not back down. He had to find every possible way to grow stronger.
Lately, Rei had often gone hunting alone, entering the Menos Grande Forest to devour Gillian and steadily increasing his power. He also used Bankai in the Menos Grande Forest from time to time, solely to get used to fighting with it as soon as possible...
Another two months passed. Their Expeditionary Force had long since met its target of killing thirty thousand Hollows. Rei decided to take them back first, or people were certain to become depressed or go mad.
On hearing that they were going back, the members did not say much, but joy showed in their eyes...
"In our right hand we hold the stone that links the boundaries. In our left hand we grip the blade that binds existence. Black-haired shepherd, chair of the hanged, the gathering clouds descend, and we hunt the scarlet ibis!"
Riiip!
Space tore open. This time, Rei was the one opening the Garganta. He had learned it from the Kidō Corps, using the incantation to arrange his Reiatsu, break through space and locate Soul Society.
Rei had learned to open a Garganta long ago. He could locate the World of the Living or Soul Society, but he could not pinpoint a specific region or place within either of them, which made things difficult.
"He can support such a huge Garganta all by himself? As expected of someone Captain-level. His Reiatsu really is powerful."
"Enough talk. Hurry up and go!"
The Kidō Corps squad leader marveled at Rei's strength, but Rei urged them to hurry and lead the way... After everyone had jumped into the Garganta, Rei withdrew the Reiatsu he was using to break through space and jumped in himself.
In the thirtieth district of East Rukongai, Soul Society, space suddenly shattered, and a group of Soul Reapers rushed out. Even after returning to a lush, green world, their faces remained unsmiling.
The Soul Reapers who had just emerged from the Garganta scanned the surrounding weeds, their eyes sharp. There really were two Ragged Hollows there, lying in wait for prey. Instead, they became the Soul Reapers' prey, instantly purified by Zanpakuto and sent on to their next lives.
Several days later, they returned to the Seireitei. Every Soul Reaper who encountered them gave them strange looks upon learning that the Expeditionary Force had returned: some envious, some respectful, some jealous, and some disdainful.
The members of the Expeditionary Force paid them no attention, however. They no longer even cared about their merits. As far as they were concerned, returning alive from the hellish Hueco Mundo to the heavenly Soul Society was already good enough.
Old Man Yama immediately began organizing rewards according to merit. After all, Rei and his Expeditionary Force had completed their mission and killed quite a few Menos Grande as well.
And so, the members of the Expeditionary Force were not dismissed, nor did they even change out of their dirty, torn clothes. Like monkeys, they stood on a platform for people to look up at...
"Isn't that Shinichi? He seems to have gotten a lot stronger."
"That's right, Yuanshan and Kuluo too. Only someone who's been through countless life-and-death battles could give off that kind of presence, right?"
"I heard fifty-five people set out, but there are a lot fewer now! Do Expeditionary Forces always have it this bad?"
"Don't talk nonsense..."
Below the platform, Soul Reapers whispered to one another until Old Man Yamamoto's voice drowned them out...
"Yuanshan of the 11th Division performed excellently on this mission and made outstanding gains in personal strength. He is transferred to the Eighth Division as the first of its Fifteenth Seats."
"Miyamoto Shinichi of the Seventh Division performed with distinction and is promoted to Eighth Seat of his division."
"Sōjun Kuchiki of the Sixth Division..."
Old Man Yama called it rewarding merit, but in truth, the Gotei 13 were dividing the returning members of the Expeditionary Force among themselves.
They had originally been rank-and-file members of the Gotei 13. After returning from a completed mission in Hueco Mundo, they were being promoted outright. How could they refuse?
Old Man Yamamoto finally finished promising the ordinary Soul Reapers grand rewards. Rei went straight to Kuruyashiki to ask for a few days off to rest at home, but unfortunately Kuruyashiki was not there. Rei heard that a Menos Grande had appeared in Rukongai and was hunting Soul Reapers, so Kuruyashiki had gone after it.
That suited Rei even better. He did not have to worry about a damn thing and could just go home and rest for a while...
"Big brother, welcome back!"
Rei had slipped past the guards to get home, but Maki sensed him and came running over, dropping to one knee in front of the door.
Maki was now dressed in a black Soul Reaper robe, with a Zanpakuto hanging at his waist. He looked every bit like a successful man.
Now it was Rei's turn to be surprised. He smiled and asked, "Oh! You finally became a Soul Reaper? Nice! Which division and seat?"
"You're in the 11th Division, big brother, so I joined it too. I'm currently the 11th Division's Eighteenth Seat!"
"Not bad! The 11th Division has always let strength do the talking. They definitely wouldn't have offered you a seat to get you to join, so you must have fought and won it yourself. Very good!"
"I'm still a long way behind you, big brother..."
Having earned Rei's approval, Maki was so excited that he forgot what he had meant to say for the moment.
After dismissing Maki, Rei took a change of clothes straight to the hot-spring bathhouse in the backyard and soaked in the bath. He fell asleep in it and slept very, very deeply.
Several hours later, a servant woke him. It was already time for dinner.
Maki and the Vassals who had originally sworn loyalty to Rei were all present. A banquet to welcome Rei home had been set up in the main hall, with a small table for each person. Several dishes and a jug of wine sat on each table.
"More food..."
"Someone, more wine!"
"More food..."
In the main hall, the only sounds were Rei eating and drinking ravenously, and his constant calls for the servants to bring more food.
Rei looked terrifying, like a starving ghost come to life. His eyes shone as he stared at the food, and he ate nonstop. The dishes were replenished again and again, and jug after jug was filled with wine.
Only after more than ten minutes did Rei stop. "Sorry, I went so long without normal food in Hueco Mundo that I got a little carried away. Anyway... if there's something going on, tell me now!"
Rei had noticed long ago that the atmosphere was off. None of his subordinates were speaking, and whenever he looked at them, they only gave awkward smiles. It seemed something had happened.
"I'll tell you..."
Seeing that no one was answering Rei, Maki spoke up and began recounting what had happened after Rei left for Hueco Mundo.