Zanshin

After passing through the iron bars and entering the depths of the forest, the clamor gradually faded.

The air gradually became fresher, free of the marketplace stench from before.

After entering the forest, the three raised their guard another level and watched their surroundings.

Grimmjow in particular, his ears kept twitching.

Even the faintest sound could not escape his ears.

To be safe, Aizen took out Kyoka Suigetsu and hung it at his waist in case of emergencies.

The tranquil forest was filled with Soul Beasts.

Some hid behind leaves, some lurked in the grass, and some lay in ambush beneath the soil.

One earth-yellow, bull-shaped Soul Beast was a fearless calf.

It stepped out from its hiding place and openly watched Aizen and the others.

Whoosh!

Grimmjow dashed forward in a single stride, baring his sharp claws as he reached for the bull-shaped Soul Beast's belly.

He grinned coldly, his hand plunged into the beast's abdomen and wildly stirring its insides.

Already wracked by pain and unable to resist or even howl, the bull-shaped Soul Beast died at once. It swayed before collapsing to one side.

"Tch!"

Grimmjow withdrew his blood-smeared hand and disdainfully kicked the bull-shaped Soul Beast's corpse.

"So weak!"

As he spoke, he took out the small knife he had bought in Notting City and began cutting up the bull's body.

Aizen gave Grimmjow an indifferent glance but said nothing.

Still, Grimmjow's habit of attacking without a word displeased Aizen somewhat.

After the bull-shaped Soul Beast died, a yellow soul ring rose beneath it. Aizen tried bringing his Zanpakuto close to the soul ring.

As expected, the Zanpakuto directly absorbed the soul ring, while an additional 372 soul coins appeared in the system.

According to the Soul Beast guidebook he had bought earlier, this bull-shaped Soul Beast was an Earth Barbarian Bull that was nearly two hundred years old.

Aizen thought that a nearly hundred-year-old Soul Beast gave over three hundred soul coins.

Would a thousand-year Soul Beast be worth several thousand soul coins?

But by that calculation, a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast would only be worth one hundred thousand soul coins.

That was completely disproportionate to the price of over a hundred million soul coins for a Soul Reaper with the strength of a Titled Douluo.

Perhaps after a thousand years, soul coins were counted in units of ten thousand.

A ten-thousand-year Soul Beast might be worth millions of soul coins.

Then a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast could reach over a hundred million, perhaps even several billion.

Or perhaps five was the dividing line.

Five hundred, five thousand, fifty thousand.

Corresponding to one thousand, one hundred thousand, and ten million.

That should be right.

However, Soul Masters of equivalent strength yielded more soul coins.

It was probably because a Soul Master carried several soul rings, stacking the souls of multiple Soul Beasts while also possessing greater power. That was why Soul Masters were more valuable.

To find out whether his guess was correct,

he only needed to find a Soul Beast over five hundred years old and a thousand-year Soul Beast to verify it.

They continued deeper into the Soul Hunting Forest.

Until nightfall, Aizen and the others did not encounter any five-hundred-year Soul Beasts.

They encountered only a few hundred-year Soul Beasts, which also confirmed Aizen's theory.

A hundred-year Soul Beast was worth two hundred soul coins.

A two-hundred-year Soul Beast was worth four hundred soul coins.

From this, he could infer that between one hundred and five hundred years, each additional year was worth two more soul coins.

At night, Aizen, Ulquiorra, and Grimmjow found a relatively secluded spot to rest briefly.

They had not rested long when Grimmjow grinned.

"A pack of interesting little dogs has come to provoke us."

Aizen opened his eyes and saw seventeen pairs of dark green eyes watching them from the darkness as they slowly approached.

Ulquiorra and Grimmjow were about to act when Aizen stopped them.

"This is a good chance to test the Zanpakuto's abilities."

Those seventeen pairs of eyes belonged to seventeen wolf-type Soul Beasts: Netherworld Wolves.

Judging by their forms and strength, ten of the wolves were over a hundred years old.

Aizen slowly drew his Zanpakuto and held it upright before him, its blade aimed at the wolf pack.

"Shatter, Kyoka Suigetsu!"

In the wolves' eyes, Aizen and the other two appeared completely incapable of resisting.

The Wolf King at the head of the pack let out a howl, and the wolves surged forward together.

The Wolf King was the first to pounce on Aizen, who stood at the front, biting down on his neck as blood poured out.

Warm blood flowed into its throat, satisfying its hunger.

But this human was tenacious. He swung a blade at the Wolf King's belly with his backhand.

The Wolf King easily dodged it, then bit down on Aizen's thigh again.

In the Wolf King's eyes, these three humans were incredibly tenacious.

They killed many of its subordinates one after another.

By the time the three humans died, only four wolves, including itself, remained standing.

The Wolf King was exhausted in both body and mind. It licked its fur and walked over, ready to enjoy its dinner.

Suddenly, one of the wolves beside it pierced its belly with a wolf claw.

It seemed to hear a crack beside its ear.

The scene before its eyes changed. The wolf claw embedded in its body was no longer a wolf claw, but a human hand.

All three humans were alive, while all of its subordinates had died. It could not believe such an ending.

In the end, it too failed to escape death. With questions it never understood even in death, it fell into a pool of blood.

"Tch, how boring. This is no different from beating wooden stakes!"

Grimmjow flung away the Wolf King hanging from his arm.

Without even washing his hands, he lay down on the ground, folded his arms behind his head, and went straight to sleep.

Aizen briefly gathered the souls of all the dead Netherworld Wolves and converted them into soul coins.

It had been a fruitful day. The system balance now held over 2,300 soul coins.

Seeing so many soul coins, Aizen made a plan.

Including himself, he would gather seven people in preparation for the upcoming Soul Master Competition.

Those seven people had to be selected carefully.

To summon a specific Soul Reaper, he had to prepare the number of soul coins corresponding to that Soul Reaper's weakest stage.

That was clearly beyond Aizen's current capabilities.

So he could only rely on luck.

He used one hundred soul coins for a random summon.

Unfortunately, his first summon in the Soul Hunting Forest was terribly unlucky. He summoned an unknown Soul Reaper.

"Makoto Saburo?"

Looking at the unfamiliar man before him, dressed in a Shinigami Uniform, Aizen found himself in a difficult position.

Especially because this was a man, not a child, and he did not possess Innate Full Soul Power. He was only Level 16.

This system could even summon trash?

Because of his experiences with the first two summons, Aizen had thought the Soul Reaper Summoning System would only summon Soul Reapers ranked as seated officers or above.

It seemed he had misunderstood.

A random summon for one hundred soul coins.

If the summoned Soul Reaper was worth more than one hundred soul coins, they would appear as a child or young person.

If they were worth less than one hundred soul coins, they would appear in their final form, as an adult.

Aizen set him aside and continued summoning.

Ten summons in a row, yet every one of them was a Soul Reaper above Level 10 but below Level 20.

They were all crooked and ugly, their strength too pathetic to look at.

So many adults had suddenly appeared.

Moreover, these people had no awareness of their situation and began chattering among themselves in the Soul Hunting Forest.

Grimmjow woke from his sleep, furiously grabbed one of the men, and crushed him to death with a single claw!

"To make noise instead of staying quiet in a dangerous place? Die!"

The dead man's soul turned into several soul coins and entered Aizen's system.

Aizen frowned deeply and looked at Grimmjow.

"These are living lives!"

Grimmjow disdainfully spat onto the corpse.

"Lives? Being born means death. The only difference is whether you die early or late. The strong can choose the right to die for themselves, but the weak cannot. Since they are weak, they must accept the rule of the strong!"

"The weak are only useful when they are dying for someone or flattering someone. The rest of the time, they are annoying garbage."

As he spoke, Grimmjow killed every one of the men who had been making noise.

Only three men remained, trembling as they looked at Aizen.

Aizen did not stop him throughout the process. He did not know whether he should have.

When he summoned them, Aizen had found them disgusting.

Because in Aizen's eyes, they were burdens, rotten wood that could not be carved.

He had considered abandoning them.

But the conscience he once possessed kept him from doing so. Instead, he chose to keep them.

In truth, even if Grimmjow had not acted, Aizen had found them noisy and wanted to make them be quiet.

They were not strong enough, had no potential, lacked discipline, and had no awareness of their own place.

Like garbage, they irritated him just by being in sight.

This was something he had never felt with Ulquiorra and Grimmjow.

At that moment, Aizen suddenly understood. He, too, was filled with such prejudice.

Back when he had been weak, he had wanted to satisfy everyone.

But now that he was strong, he looked down on the weak.

If they had no value to exploit, then they had no value in existing.

Grimmjow had taught Aizen a lesson through his actions.

There was no need to keep the weak or those without value.

Aizen raised Kyoka Suigetsu and slashed down.

The last three summoned Soul Reapers collapsed limply to the ground.

At that moment, Aizen felt no discomfort at all. Instead, he felt the joy of breaking through the rules.

Aizen Sousuke compatibility has reached 40%. Hakuda talent awakened.

Rustle, rustle—

Just after Aizen finished killing the remaining Soul Reapers, an unusual sound came from the nearby bushes.

"Who's there?!" Grimmjow instantly rushed out.