Aizen's Attention

As an excellent teacher, Gaoyu naturally had to master what he taught to the extreme.

Under the effect of this status buff, Gaoyu was still very sensitive to the spiritual power around him.

On his way back, he sensed a faint Hollow spiritual pressure.

He looked around. It was already dusk. By the time he returned to Seireitei, it would basically be closing time.

To be targeted by a Hollow at this time was just too unlucky.

Gaoyu pretended not to notice the Hollow and continued forward, but his mind was already racing on how to deal with it.

If it were an ordinary Hollow, he could handle it.

But if it were a Menos Grande...

There would be no way to win using only a Shinigami's combat methods.

He could only utilize the Soul Ability he had recently acquired.

The abilities he could use now were Strongest Defense and Destruction Death Ray. He hoped the opponent was a bird-like Hollow, because if it were, he could use Kira's Bird Killer.

The opponent should be an intelligent Hollow, currently observing his strengths and weaknesses. He had to be careful when dealing with such a Hollow.

Gaoyu warned himself internally. The next moment, his premonition of danger reached its peak!

A dark shadow seemed to engulf him. Having been prepared long ago, he quickly used Flash Step to appear in front of it.

As he reappeared, he regained his composure and looked at the Hollow.

It was a Hollow somewhat resembling a spider, with its limbs crawling on the ground and red tendrils or flesh buds on its back.

This appearance made Gaoyu's heart skip a beat. How could this guy be so similar to Metastacia?

Metastacia was a Hollow with the ability to make Zanpakuto disappear and could also perform Spirit Fusion. It could be said to be a very dangerous Hollow.

In a few more years, the vice-captain of the Thirteenth Division, Shiba Kaien, would be Spirit Fused by it and ultimately die by Rukia's blade.

Moreover, this Hollow was a special Hollow created by Aizen's experiments!

Aizen?!

No way, how could he have been targeted by Aizen?

Gaoyu could only hope that this Hollow had come to deal with him on its own. If Aizen had deliberately released it to deal with him, wouldn't that mean Aizen had already set his sights on him?

He wanted to be friends with Aizen, yes, but he didn't want to go now!

Well, according to the manga, Metastacia was a 'nesting' Hollow and generally wouldn't leave its territory.

So if it came looking for him now, it might really have been guided by Aizen.

Was it because he had interacted with Renji and the other two that Aizen's attention was drawn?

This guy was too sensitive!

However, no matter what he thought internally, Gaoyu remained very calm on the surface.

He maintained a poker face and said to the Hollow:

"This is troublesome. I was about to get off work, couldn't you have come to find me tomorrow morning?"

"Strange Shinigami." Metastacia also felt a peculiar sensation looking at Gaoyu. In its perception, Gaoyu shouldn't have dodged its previous attack.

"But no matter what, hand over your soul!"

Metastacia roared and charged towards Gaoyu. Gaoyu didn't move because he knew the danger of Metastacia. He had to kill it with a single blow while it wasn't taking him seriously!

Otherwise, even if he could defeat it, it would be over if it managed to activate Spirit Fusion!

So, seeing Metastacia charging over, Gaoyu didn't even take a step, appearing as if he was stunned!

Metastacia couldn't help but laugh and say, "What? Are you a Shinigami scared stiff?!"

It had originally thought it would need to use its abilities to take down this Shinigami, but unexpectedly, this guy was so weak.

It instantly opened its large mouth and bit towards Gaoyu!

Crack!

But its bite...

Was ineffective?!

Metastacia's pupils dilated. The next moment, it felt Gaoyu's finger tap its chin.

"Goodbye."

Gaoyu said softly.

"Destruction Death Ray!"

Boom!

A black point of light generated from Gaoyu's finger. The light point compressed to the extreme and instantly formed a beam about as thick as a thumb!

Chii!

The beam instantly pierced Metastacia's brain, xuyên qua from bottom to top, as if it had shot all the way to the highest point of the sky!

"You..."

Metastacia's mouth gaped open, but he could no longer speak. Although Hollows possessed hyper-regeneration abilities, it wasn't foolproof.

If the brain and heart were destroyed, regeneration would be impossible.

Gaoyu's Destruction Death Ray, released in that instant, was fast, accurate, and lethal. Empowered by the 'Strict Teacher, Talented Student' ability, he instantly identified the weakness of a Hollow like Metastacia.

Because its body was close to alien, its heart's location was difficult to pinpoint, but its brain's location was easily determined.

Destroying its brain would guarantee its death!

Gaoyu wouldn't give it the chance to activate its ability to make his Zanpakuto disappear, nor would he give it the chance to activate Spirit Fusion!

"Honestly..."

Gaoyu sighed softly as Metastacia collapsed to the ground.

"I really don't want to fight."

With that, he turned around and continued walking towards Seireitei.

To deal with this guy, he hadn't just used Destruction Death Ray, but also the 'Strongest Defense' he'd gotten from Hinamori. Damn it, he couldn't be so reckless from now on!

Thinking of this, Gaoyu felt like speeding back, but considering Aizen might be observing him from the shadows, he warned himself again in his mind.

Maintain your image, maintain your image, maintain your image!

Without an image, Aizen wouldn't care about you!

If you want to gain Aizen's favor, being a sycophant is definitely not the way; Aizen wouldn't look down on someone who just throws themselves at him.

He had already figured it out: to gain Aizen's favor, he first needed to get Aizen to notice him.

How to get Aizen to notice him?

It wasn't necessarily about appearing exceptionally powerful.

He could also appear exceptionally mysterious!

Given Aizen's personality, he wouldn't immediately resort to torture to find out who you are. He would believe everything is within his grasp and slowly enjoy the game of uncovering your secrets.

Let him dig; let him dig slowly. The more he digs, the higher the chance of gaining his favor.

When the time is right, and he has enough leverage to converse with Aizen...

He would then reveal his hand and say, "Oh, what a coincidence, you also dislike the Soul King... uh, you also dislike the Soul King. Me too. Let's go kill our way to the Soul King Palace together and seize that throne!"

The effect would surely be better than him directly approaching and fawning over Aizen... probably.

Therefore, Gaoyu returned to RinAn at his usual speed as if nothing had happened, passed through the White Road Gate, and returned to Seireitei.