Aizen's Attention

As an excellent teacher, Gaoyu naturally had to master the material he taught inside and out.

Under the effects of this status buff, Gaoyu remained highly sensitive to the Spiritual Power around him.

On his way back, he sensed the faint Spiritual Pressure of a Hollow.

He glanced around. It was already dusk, and by the time he returned to Seireitei, his workday would basically be over.

And now he'd been targeted by a Hollow. What terrible luck.

Gaoyu pretended not to notice it and kept walking, while already thinking about how to deal with the Hollow.

He could handle an ordinary Hollow.

But if it was a Menos Grande...

There was no way he could win using only a Soul Reaper's fighting style.

He would have to rely on the Soul Abilities he'd recently acquired.

The abilities he could use right now were Strongest Defense and Destruction Death Ray. Hopefully, the other Hollow was bird-shaped. If it was, he could use Kira's Bird Killer.

The Hollow seemed intelligent and was observing him, trying to figure out what he was capable of. He had to be careful when dealing with one like that.

Gaoyu warned himself inwardly. The next moment, his sense of danger reached its peak!

A shadow seemed to engulf him. Having been prepared, he hurriedly used Flash Step and reappeared farther ahead.

Once he reappeared, he turned and looked at the Hollow.

It looked somewhat like a spider. It crawled along the ground on all fours, with red strands of flesh growing from its back that looked almost like tentacles.

The sight stirred something in Gaoyu. Why did this thing look so much like Metastacia?

Metastacia was a Hollow with the ability to make Zanpakuto disappear. He could also use Spirit Fusion, which made him an extremely dangerous Hollow.

In a few years, Shiba Kaien, the Vice-Captain of the Thirteenth Division, would be absorbed by him through Spirit Fusion, and would eventually die by Rukia's blade.

And this Hollow was a special creation, made in one of Aizen's experiments!

Aizen?!

No way. How had Aizen set his sights on him?

All Gaoyu could do now was hope that this Hollow had come after him on its own. If Aizen had deliberately sent it to attack him, wouldn't that mean Aizen was already watching him?

He did want to be friends with Aizen, but he hadn't planned to approach him this soon!

Hmm, according to the manga, Metastacia was a Hollow who "built a nest," and normally wouldn't leave his territory.

If he'd come after Gaoyu now, perhaps Aizen really had led him here.

Was it because Gaoyu had interacted with Renji and the other two that he'd caught Aizen's attention?

That guy was way too sensitive!

But no matter what he was thinking, Gaoyu remained calm on the surface.

Keeping a poker face, he said to the Hollow,

"Such a hassle. I'm about to get off work. Couldn't you have come looking for me tomorrow morning?"

"Strange Soul Reaper." Metastacia also felt something was off about Gaoyu. From what he sensed, Gaoyu shouldn't have been able to dodge his last attack.

"But whatever. Hand over your soul!"

Metastacia roared and charged at Gaoyu. Gaoyu didn't move. He knew how dangerous Metastacia was, and he had to kill him in one strike before the Hollow started taking him seriously!

Otherwise, even if Gaoyu could defeat him, it would be over if Metastacia managed to use Spirit Fusion!

So as Metastacia charged toward him, Gaoyu didn't move a single step. He looked as if he'd been scared stiff!

Metastacia couldn't help laughing. "What's wrong? Did this Soul Reaper get scared out of his wits?!"

He'd thought he might have to use his ability to kill this Soul Reaper, but it turned out the guy was this weak.

In an instant, he opened his jaws wide and bit down at Gaoyu!

Crack!

But his bite...

had no effect?!

Metastacia's eyes widened. The next moment, he felt Gaoyu's finger press against his chin.

"Goodbye."

Gaoyu said softly,

"Destruction Death Ray."

Boom!

A black point of light formed at Gaoyu's fingertip. It was compressed to the extreme, then in the next instant became a beam of light about as thick as a thumb!

Sss!

The beam pierced Metastacia's brain, traveling from bottom to top as if it would shoot all the way to the highest point in the heavens!

"You..."

Metastacia's mouth hung open, but he could no longer speak. Hollows had Super Regeneration, but Super Regeneration wasn't all-powerful.

If their brain and heart were destroyed, they couldn't regenerate.

Gaoyu's Destruction Death Ray had been fast, precise, and ruthless. Boosted by Strict Teacher, Talented Student, he'd instantly identified the weakness of a Hollow like Metastacia.

Since his body was so alien, it was hard to locate his heart. But his brain was easy to identify.

As long as Gaoyu destroyed it, Metastacia was as good as dead!

Gaoyu wouldn't give him the chance to use his ability to make his Zanpakuto disappear, much less the chance to use Spirit Fusion!

"Honestly..."

Gaoyu looked at Metastacia, who had fallen to the ground, and let out a sigh.

"I don't want to fight."

With that, he turned and continued toward Seireitei.

To deal with this guy, he hadn't just used Destruction Death Ray; he'd also used Strongest Defense, which he'd gotten from Hinamori. Damn it, he couldn't afford to keep going wild like this!

At the thought, Gaoyu wanted to hurry back, but considering that Aizen might be watching him from the shadows, he repeated his warning to himself.

Watch your image, watch your image, watch your image!

If you didn't have any presence, Aizen wouldn't care about you!

If he wanted to earn Aizen's favor, acting like a lovesick puppy definitely wouldn't work. Aizen wouldn't think much of some puppy who came crawling up to him.

He'd already figured it out. To earn Aizen's favor, he first had to get Aizen's attention.

How could he get Aizen's attention?

He didn't necessarily have to appear incredibly powerful.

He could also appear incredibly mysterious!

With Aizen's personality, he wouldn't immediately resort to torture and demand to know who Gaoyu was. He'd assume everything was under his control, then slowly enjoy the game of uncovering Gaoyu's secrets.

Let him dig. Let him dig slowly. The more he dug, the more likely Gaoyu was to earn his favor.

Once the time was right, and Gaoyu had enough standing to talk to Aizen...

Then he could lay his cards on the table and say, "Well, fancy that! You're into... uh, you're also sick of the Soul King? Me too. Let's storm the Soul King Palace together and take that bird's throne!"

That would surely work better than going up to Aizen and fawning over him... right?

So Gaoyu returned to RinAn at his usual pace, as if nothing had happened. He passed through White Road Gate and went back into Seireitei.