The approaching footsteps made Ailin's heart stir. This infinite hell could imprison almost any Soul Reaper, but there was one man it could never contain - the 8th Kenpachi, Sōya Azashiro.
Over a century ago, Azashiro had sought to transform all residents of the Rukongai into living weapons using his Zanpakutō's abilities. He intended to invade Hueco Mundo and purify all the Hollows there. In the process, he vowed to strictly control casualties in both realms, arranging for their forces to be mutually destroyed to ease the Soul King's burden.
However, the Soul King ultimately rejected this plan. Though he was struggling, the King had not reached the point of needing to exterminate countless souls to relieve his duress. If devoid of love for all beings, the Soul King would have broken free long ago, ignoring the three realms' survival.
Under the King's denial, Azashiro surrendered to Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto and was condemned to the infinite underground prison Muken. As an extreme threat, Azashiro was bound by the highest spiritual seals upon imprisonment. Yet with his unique abilities, he soon controlled and undid those very seals, regaining his freedom.
Still, recognizing his intent had defied the Soul King's will, Azashiro willingly remained imprisoned. To him, whether inside or out mattered little, as his synergy with the Soul Society allowed continual observation through its reishi. This time, he only emerged upon sensing the current Kenpachi's presence within Muken.
Hearing Byakuya's question, Yamamoto did not answer, his expression grave as he looked into the infinite depths before them. In the faint light piercing Muken, Byakuya saw the handsome man approaching.
"Head Captain Yamamoto, Captain Shihohin, Captain Kuchiki, it has been a long time."
"The 8th Kenpachi, Sōya Azashiro? You actually broke your seal?" Yoruichi said in surprise. "But I suppose with your abilities, there are no seals in this world that can bind you."
Over a century ago, when Azashiro's Bankai had possessed Kisuke Urahara's "Gigai" invention, it revealed his full power and history to Yoruichi and Urahara, leaving nothing hidden. Were it not for his later surrender, Urahara likely would have devised countermeasures against Azashiro's abilities to prepare for potential war.
"Azashiro?" Byakuya murmured, recalling the man whose self-imprisonment had led to Ailin becoming the 11th Division Captain under Retsu Unohana's recommendation decades ago.
Compared to then, Azashiro appeared unchanged. Seeing he could undo his own bindings, Byakuya realized just how outmatched he was next to these senior captains. At minimum, were he imprisoned in Muken, escape would be impossible.
"Soya Azashiro, why have you left your cell to come here?" Yamamoto asked sternly, eyes narrowing. "If your intent is to escape, I will have no choice but to end you here."
"Rest assured, Head Captain, I have no desire to flee at present..." Azashiro replied, making the captains' eyes twitch slightly at the implication of future intent. "Were it not for the current Kenpachi's arrival, I would not have revealed myself."
His gaze turned to Ailin. Soya Azashiro knew him well - they had both served as captains in the past, on equal standing. Later, perhaps sensing something, the Soul King had influenced Ginrei Kuchiki and Kisuke Urahara to exile Ailin from Soul Society briefly before changing course.
At the time, Azashiro believed Ailin was the King's chosen one. However, his observations revealed the true chosen seemed to be that 5th Division lieutenant, and now Urahara himself - he could sense the King's power resonating from them, not Ailin.
"Oh?" Ailin realized Azashiro's intent. "So you've come to uphold the Kenpachi tradition between us?"
"Correct. There can only be one 'Kenpachi' per era. Had you not come to Muken I would not be of the same time. But since you have, I am obliged to inherit the tradition from Kuruyashiki Kenpachi and fight you with all my power."
"Very well," Ailin nodded in agreement. "To be honest, becoming an 11th Division Captain and 'Kenpachi' without defeating you has always felt incomplete.
Head Captain, Yoruichi, Byakuya, Urahara - my apologies. I may have to miss Urahara's evaluation."
Nodding at them, Ailin turned to Azashiro. "Let's go deeper into Muken, Azashiro - this area is their battleground."
As they departed, Urahara turned to Yamamoto. "Shall we begin my evaluation then, Head Captain? I choose to challenge Captain Kuchiki."
...
After leaving the entrance, Ailin and Soya Azashiro were engulfed in total darkness, their vision useless. Only their spiritual perception remained functional.
After walking an indeterminate distance, Azashiro stopped. "Here should suffice."
"Yes, we're far enough that our reiatsu won't interfere with their battle," Ailin agreed.
Concentric golden ripples of spatial distortion appeared above Ailin's head, bathing the area in light that scattered the gloom. Azashiro extended his hand, coalescing dense reishi into a Zanpakutō blade.
Since achieving Bankai, Azashiro had never sealed his sword again, its form now fused to all of Soul Society's reishi - he could call upon it at will for battle by highly concentrating the spiritual particles under his control.
Azashiro had witnessed Ailin's abilities against Zaraki. Undoubtedly powerful, yet...strangely limited.
Golden lightning bolts erupted from the spatial distortions above Ailin, streaking towards Azashiro. As they neared, white reishi intermingled with the golden arcs. Once fully enveloped, the blades came under Azashiro's Zanpakutō's dominion.
Boom! Boom!
The now-controlled swords abruptly reversed course, colliding with Ailin's follow-up barrage in a massive explosion between them.
"Oh?" The sight reminded Ailin of the Fourth Holy Grail War's final battle - Gilgamesh atop a streetlight unleashing the Gate of Babylon, only for Berserker's "A Warrior Need Not Be Weaponless" to hijack and reflect those Noble Phantasms.
Sensing his Unlimited Blade Works had indeed fallen under Azashiro's control, Ailin made no further attempt to project them. With a subtle gesture, all blades - projected or hijacked - dissolved into dispersing golden reishi, the weapons withdrawn back into his innate reality marble.
Drawing the Zanpakutō at his waist, Ailin sensed Azashiro's reishi attempting to infiltrate and override his body. "Fascinating..." he mused. "Azashiro, while Kuruyashiki fell to that technique, it's insufficient against me!"
Boom!
Ailin's reiatsu erupted, shattering the intruding particles.
"Cough!" Azashiro coughed up blood.
When the reishi particles controlled by Azashiro infiltrated an object containing reishi, if that object was destroyed, Azashiro would suffer equal damage.
Azashiro wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, no longer attempting to control the reishi particles to invade Ailin's body. Indeed, his surprise attack that previously crippled the former Kuruyashiki Kenpachi proved ineffective against this young upstart.
This underscored the importance of intelligence on an opponent's abilities. Of course, it was also because Ailin's immense spiritual pressure allowed him to so easily crush Azashiro's reishi - against someone weaker, the outcome may have differed.
Whoosh!
With a burst of speed, Ailin's form blurred into an afterimage charging at Azashiro. Raising his reishi blade high, Azashiro met Ailin's incoming strike with a sweeping slash.
Boom!
A massive shockwave erupted from the clashing Zanpakutō, their intermingled white and golden reiatsu bathing the infinite hell in contrasting hues.
"Bakudō #96 - Ittō Kasō!"
The earth ruptured with an eruption of searing flames in the form of a colossal fire blade piercing the sky. Ailin's figure dissipated within the inferno, only to reappear behind Azashiro an instant later with his captain's haori gone.
"Shiho no San - Utsusemi!"
At the most perilous moment, Ailin had utilized the "Cicada" technique, using his reiatsu to create an afterimage of his shihakusho while his true self Flash Stepped to safety.
"I nearly forgot - besides your fearsome Zanpakutō abilities, you're also a Kidō master, Azashiro!" Unleashing the 96th Kidō without incantation demonstrated skill few among the Kidō Corps could match.
"Bakudō #4 - Byakurai!" Lightning erupted from Ailin's fingertips towards Azashiro.
"Bakudō #8 - Seki!" With a wave of his hand, Azashiro manifested a transparent barrier that batted aside the lightning blast with a backhand.
But following immediately after was Ailin's sword strike.
"Bakudō #81 - Danku!" A golden energy barrier formed before Azashiro, giving him a sense of security.
Yet in the next instant, that very Danku was shattered by Ailin's sword slash
***
What transpired in the depths of Muken remained unspoken by the captains. Neither Urahara and Byakuya's bout, nor Ailin's clash with Azashiro had the slightest impact on Seireitei - their isolated battles disturbed no reishi on the surface.
Yet judging by Byakuya's sour expression contrasted with Ailin's faint smirk, the outcome was self-evident.
The 8th Kenpachi Azashiro lived up to his fearsome reputation. However, from Ailin's perspective, his weaknesses proved critical.
Most severely - by leaving Bankai permanently released, Azashiro's body lacked reinforcement from compressed reiatsu. Thus after trading initial sword strikes with Ailin, he relied entirely on advanced Kidō, Zanpakutō techniques, and manipulating ambient reishi for ranged assaults.
Yet against Ailin, these efforts proved futile. Outmatched in close quarters with insufficient speed to evade, Azashiro ultimately fell to Ailin's swordplay and relinquished the Kenpachi mantle before going straight back to his cell to recuperate.
The next day, Kisuke Urahara took his place among the Gotei 13 captains as leader of the 12th Division.
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After Kisuke Urahara became the 12th Division Captain, Ailin knew the prologue of the Soul Reapers was about to unfold.
Mayuri Kurotsuchi from the Nest of Maggots in the 2nd Division, was released by Urahara to serve as his lieutenant.
Moreover, to ensure Mayuri worked diligently for him, Urahara made a wager with him:
While Urahara was the 12th Division Captain, Mayuri would devote himself fully as his subordinate.
Once Urahara was no longer the 12th Division Captain, Mayuri would take full control of the division, free to research, invent or create anything without interference.
Thanks to the efforts of Urahara and Mayuri, in just a few short years Soul Society's technology underwent a massive reform.
Especially the Department of Research and Development - their bulky old machines were replaced with computers featuring displays. Monitoring stations with spiritual particle sensors were installed everywhere, able to display live video feeds far more conveniently than before.
Additionally, Urahara invented the "Spirit Messengers" with communication and scanning capabilities. The Soul Reapers stationed in the World of the Living cherished these devices, drastically reducing time spent searching for Hollows.
It seemed everything was progressing smoothly. However, beneath Soul Society's calm surface raged tumultuous undercurrents.
In recent years, even without actively monitoring, Ailin noticed that virtually all Hollows entering Soul Society or the World of the Living were merely small or mid-level ones.
There had been no sightings of Gillian-class or higher-level Menos Grandes.
After so long, to the new students of the Spiritual Arts Academy and freshly recruited Soul Reapers, Gillian-class Hollows had become mere "legends."
Some more knowledgeable but inexperienced Soul Reapers, upon learning of the existence of the Royal Guard's Zero Division, even speculated that Gillian Menos and above were mighty foes only the Zero Division could handle. They spread such rumors to impress naive young women.
Unexpectedly, these tales found a market.
Some captains had heard such gossip, but to them it was just laughable hearsay.
If even Gillian Hollows required the Zero Division's intervention, didn't that make the Thirteen Court Guard Squads seem too weak?
The Forest of Menos in Hueco Mundo teemed with hundreds of thousands of powerful Hollows. If only the Zero Division could handle them, how many members would it need?
More than all Thirteen Court Guard Squads combined?
One captain's shaking head and bitter smile became the most compelling "evidence" validating these rumors among new Academy graduates and recent Squad recruits as unquestioned "legends."
Generally speaking, without Gillian-class or higher Hollows appearing, Soul Reaper casualties should have been effectively contained.
Yet puzzlingly, while the Hollows entering the World of the Living and Rukongai had become weaker, Soul Reaper casualties only increased.
To the upper echelons, losses among ordinary or elite Soul Reapers hardly mattered.
Had Ailin not paid casual attention, he likely wouldn't have noticed how many perished over the years.
However, Ailin knew the Hogyoku Aizen possessed had finally been fully awakened!
...
Clang Clang Clang
That day, the urgent summons for captains echoed once more throughout Seireitei.
After informing Haruko, Ailin swiftly made his way to the 1st Division barracks.
Soon, the thirteen captains of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads assembled in the meeting hall, lining up in order.
"My, it feels like over a decade since we last heard that urgent summons. When I heard it today I almost thought the 1st had gotten the signal wrong," Shunsui Kyoraku mused, fanning himself lazily.
Standing beside him, Ailin remarked, "Haha, Captain Kyoraku, not receiving a captains' summons for so long is evidence of Seireitei's peace, isn't it? If Seireitei reached the point of needing captains' meetings every day, I suspect it would already be on the brink of destruction..."
"Indeed, tranquility has long prevailed... But maintaining that peace is the very purpose of our existence."
"Silence!"
Seeming to hear the exchange between Ailin and Kyoraku, Captain-Commander Yamamoto barked sternly, his cane striking the meeting hall floor heavily.
Thud!
"I have summoned you captains here today because the 12th Division detected residual spirit particles and Soul Reaper garments while monitoring Rukongai. Captain Urahara, brief everyone on your division's findings regarding this incident."
"Yes, Captain-Commander."
Urahara stepped forward from the line of captains. "Fellow captains, our Department of Research and Development has concluded the owners of those garments had their souls utterly consumed in an instant, leaving only clothes behind...
We suspect some abnormally powerful Hollow may have evaded Seireitei's surveillance to openly attack Rukongai residents and the Soul Reapers sent to defeat it. Furthermore, this Hollow has likely been present in Soul Society for quite some time.
Our in-depth investigation revealed Soul Reaper casualties have been rising steadily for the past thirty years...
Yet according to our monitoring data, neither Soul Society nor the World of the Living has detected any Gillian-class or higher Hollows during that same period. Such losses are highly abnormal without more dangerous Hollows appearing.
Indeed, Soul Reaper casualties should have decreased without stronger Hollow threats. Based on the number of deceased Soul Reapers and Rukongai residents, this Hollow's power may have surpassed Gillian level, reaching Adjuchas rank..."
"Now that you've heard Captain Urahara's briefing, are there any captains willing to investigate and eliminate this supposedly hidden Hollow?" After the Captain-Commander's query, the gathered captains fell silent.
If the Hollow's activities truly were confined to a certain area, those present would gladly hunt it down. Even an Adjuchas-level Hollow posed no real threat to this assembled force of captains.
However, the very existence of such a Hollow remained unconfirmed speculation. Accepting this mission meant personally searching for leads - who knew when they might finally locate the target?
What a hassle...
The captains either grinned wordlessly, closed their eyes feigning sleep, or outright pretended deafness.
Their unified stance - you don't volunteer, I won't either.
"Hmph!"
Seeing the captains' reluctance, Yamamoto let out a cold grunt of displeasure. Then he started calling names.
"Squad 3 Captain Rojuro Otoribashi, Squad 5 Captain Shinji Hirako, Squad 7 Captain Love Aikawa, Squad 9 Captain Kensei Muguruma."
"Yes, Captain-Commander."
Summoned by name, the four captains stepped forward into the hall's center.
"I will task you four with this investigation. However, considering this search may not suit your strengths, I have procured two powerful assistants for you."
As he spoke, Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto raised his voice slightly. "Enter."
No sooner had the Captain-Commander's words left his lips than the great doors opened, two figures striding into the meeting hall's bright light.
"Captain-Commander Yamamoto."
The man in front, sporting a neat goatee and stern expression, wore a purple "koken" robe signifying his exalted rank as a master of Kido sorcery. A gnarled staff in his right hand marked him as the Grand Kidō Chief.
Behind him followed an immensely obese man in crimson garb, outweighing even the greatest master in the neighbouring Fifth Division's Kido Corps.
Like the other captains, Ailin studied the imposing Grand Kidō Chief Tessai Tsukabishi intently.
Although this was the first time most had seen the leaders of the Kidō Corps, Ailin was quite familiar with Tessai's current dignified demeanor destined to give way to bumbling servitude after these events.
"These two are the current Grand Kidō Chief Tessai Tsukabishi and his assistant, Hachigen Ushōda," Yamamoto introduced them. "For this mission investigating the 'vanishing souls' in Soul Society, they will assist you in locating and eliminating the Hollow responsible for devouring them."
"Yes, Captain-Commander Yamamoto."
"Hold a moment..."
Just as Hirako and the others were about to depart, Squad 8 Captain Shunsui Kyoraku raised his hand.
"You may require intelligence support from my Division during this investigation. Allow my lieutenant, Lisa Yadomaru, to accompany and aid your efforts. With her informant contacts, we're bound to uncover this hidden Hollow's whereabouts sooner."
"Much appreciated, Captain Kyoraku." After thanking him, Hirako went with the other captains to the 1st Division's waiting room, summoning Squad 8's Lieutenant Lisa Yadomaru to join their search party for Rukongai.
In the interim, Squad 9's Lieutenant Kuna Mashiro and Squad 12's Lieutenant Mayuri Kurotsuchi insisted on participating as well. Left with no choice, Hirako allowed them to come along too.
Once the captains had all departed, Squad 5 Lieutenant Sosuke Aizen pushed his glasses up, his expression one of benevolent calm.
The fish had taken the bait.
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