The leopard was Grimmjow, the Arrancar who would later serve under Aizen. Ranked No. 6 among the Espada, he was powerful at the time and known as Ge Laoliu.
But Grimmjow had only recently become an adjuchas. Decades would pass before he met Shawlong and his group, by which time his power would have reached its peak.
After that, he hunted other adjuchas with Shawlong's group, sharing their prey every day. As time passed, companions died, and newcomers were welcomed in.
But they all acknowledged Grimmjow's standing. Only over those long years did he develop his "I'm the king" attitude.
Rei didn't know who he was either, though he found the name familiar. That didn't stop Rei from wanting to keep him around as a mount.
Clatter!
To Grimmjow's disbelief, the chains came undone, and he stood up. As a leopard-shaped Hollow, he stood two meters at the shoulder and was about six meters long, not counting his tail. He did look like an enlarged white leopard.
"What are you trying to do?"
Grimmjow asked, his eyes wary. Rei was definitely up to no good.
"Nothing. I just want to make a bet with you. Whoever loses has to obey the other's orders. Do you dare?"
Rei grinned. This leopard was proud, but he had plenty of ways to make him obedient.
First he would slap him, then give him a sweet, then dangle a big pie before him, making him believe that if he obediently stayed by his side, he would eventually get to eat it. But...
"Hmph, not interested! If you're not going to eat me now, I'm leaving. Just tell me your name. Once I advance to Vasto Lorde, I'll definitely come back and settle this with you!"
Grimmjow wasn't stupid. He knew a wager like that had to involve strength, and he couldn't beat Rei right now. All he could do was threaten to fight him after school on Friday.
"Tsk, tsk. My name's Nangong Ling, and you're Grimmjow, right? Is that all the ambition you have? You think becoming a Vasto Lorde will let you beat me? Haha, hahaha, that's ridiculous!"
After firing off several questions, Rei couldn't help bursting into wild laughter. When he stopped, he said seriously, "Let me show you my power!"
Boom!
He stopped suppressing his powerful Reiatsu and deliberately raised it. By now, the blood groove in his blade was filled with his blood, and the Reiatsu he could release soared into the sky.
"D-damn it! He wasn't even using his full strength just now? What terrifying Reiatsu!"
The Reiatsu bore down on Grimmjow, who was too close to withstand it, and he couldn't help crying out.
When Grimmjow had been kicked away earlier, Rei had only unleashed his Reiatsu for an instant before quickly chasing after him, so Grimmjow hadn't gotten an accurate sense of it. Now that Rei was deliberately raising his Reiatsu to suppress him, he could finally feel exactly how great the gap was.
Put it this way: take a standard Captain-level fighter as one.
Ge Laoliu's Reiatsu was only a little higher than the standard Captain-level fighter's, at around 1.3, short of the 1.5 level of a mid-tier captain.
Rei's base Reiatsu, on the other hand, had long been twice that of a standard captain, putting him at two, the upper-middle captain tier. The Reiatsu he could unleash with his Shikai at full power was four times his base level, bringing it to a terrifying eight.
Eight divided by 1.3 meant Rei's current Reiatsu was about six times Ge Laoliu's. A little stronger, and he could have forced him to the ground with Reiatsu alone.
The difference was obvious in a fight, too. Rei had taken Ge Laoliu's Cero head-on without being injured; it had only torn part of his clothes.
"You're already shocked by that? There's much more. I also have a trump card called Bankai. It can raise my Reiatsu by at least another twofold, and my combat power by several times."
"Never mind whether you can become a Vasto Lorde. Even if you do, you could never be my match. Just take this guy attached to my left hand—he's no weaker than you..."
Rei withdrew his Reiatsu, using just a few words to shake Grimmjow's confidence. Since Grimmjow hadn't taken the bait, he would use his strength to convince him the pie existed.
Grimmjow hadn't heard the latter half at all. His mind was occupied with other thoughts. He can get even stronger? Bankai? A monster like him actually exists? How did he do it? Is there a way?
The way Grimmjow looked at Rei had changed. His gaze was full of curiosity. Words could lie, but strength couldn't.
If this man could do it, then he definitely could too... That was what Grimmjow told himself. If he could become that strong, he surely wouldn't have to worry about regressing into a Gillian without self-awareness again.
"How did you get so strong? Tell me how!"
Grimmjow asked Rei bluntly, his voice a low growl. Seeing that Grimmjow had actually reacted this way, Rei was secretly delighted. Curious? This stupid leopard has finally taken the bait.
"Of course there's a way, but why should I tell you? Still..."
Rei drew out the last word, an evil grin appearing on his face. Then he continued, "If you serve as my mount for a while, I'll teach you how to get stronger quickly. What do you say? A good deal, right?"
"Be your mount? I'd rather devour and evolve slowly on my own."
With that, Grimmjow showed his short temper and turned to leave, but Rei stopped him this time.
"Since you don't want to be a mount, how about this... We'll join forces, but I'll be the boss. You'll have to obey my orders and help me clear out some small fry. How about it? Stick with me, and you might evolve quickly!"
Rei took a step back. This proposal gave Grimmjow a little dignity, but it was the same thing in different words.
To put it nicely, Grimmjow was Rei's ally. To put it bluntly, he was still a lackey doing odd jobs; Rei just wasn't riding him.
"Fine, I'll listen to you for now. But if I become stronger one day, we'll decide who leads by strength."
Grimmjow agreed to Rei's proposal after only a little thought. The temptation of evolving quickly made him decide to swallow his pride this once.
Although Grimmjow was proud at this point, he hadn't yet become as arrogant as he would later. Even Aizen couldn't beat sense into him... He believed he was the king right up until Ichigo beat sense into him.
"Fine! Then, to celebrate becoming allies, let's go find some adjuchas to eat!"
Rei acted as though Grimmjow could do as he pleased when the time came, but in truth, he was already determined not to let him leave.
Why did you think Rei wanted to keep Grimmjow around? Just so Grimmjow could get stronger and fight him later? It wasn't that simple... Rei wanted to see Grimmjow evolve into a Vasto Lorde, then devour him!
Given Grimmjow's strength, even if he evolved into a Vasto Lorde, he still wouldn't be Rei's match. If so, Yanis might really be able to use Grimmjow's power to complete his evolution...
Rei and Grimmjow went together to the place where the two mounts had been devoured earlier. Rei's large bundle was still there. After Grimmjow discovered it contained useless things, he hadn't destroyed or taken them.
The man and the Hollow set off to hunt adjuchas or Gillians.
"Now you should tell me how to evolve quickly, right?"
On the way, Grimmjow, who was carrying two large bundles of luggage, grew very impatient and finally voiced the question foremost on his mind.
"Of course I can... The way is for us to find Vasto Lorde and devour them!"
The pleasure on Rei's face turned sinister. He had been planning to head toward Las Noches anyway; it was where the Vasto Lorde gathered.
"Impossible. Never mind how powerful Vasto Lorde are, if one bites your mask, then... Hm?"
Grimmjow was shocked and declared it impossible, but after muttering a few words, he remembered that Rei had no mask at all and was terrifyingly strong. He was fully capable of hunting Vasto Lorde.
Before meeting Rei, Grimmjow had only hunted Hollows weaker than himself when he traveled alone. If he encountered a powerful adjuchas or too many of them, he went around them, so he hadn't grown stronger very quickly.
After all, hunting was risky. If an adjuchas of the same level bit his mask, he would permanently lose the possibility of evolving.
Thus, adjuchas of nearly equal strength rarely fought. Usually, fights only occurred when one side was stronger than the other...
The first day's hunt ended with thirteen adjuchas and several hundred Menos Grande and giant Hollows. Yanis ate eighty percent, leaving Grimmjow only twenty percent. He nearly flew into a rage.
But Rei soon calmed Grimmjow's anger by citing their plan to hunt Vasto Lorde.
According to Rei, when they encountered a Vasto Lorde, he would be the main force fighting it. Grimmjow wouldn't be able to help and could only wait on the sidelines to eat.
That excuse worked once or twice, but after more than a hundred times, Grimmjow had had enough. The main problem was that they hadn't seen a single Vasto Lorde, while Yanis was eating far too much.