Bleach [102-104] (Patreon)

Chapter 102: Sneak Attack on the Tsunayashiro Clan

It's hard to say clearly who created these Hollows.

Perhaps Aizen wanted to completely bind Kisuke Urahara and Hueco Mundo together, so he devised this trick: the moment the Shinigami came to the Human World to investigate, they'd be attacked by Hollows.

However, a few Menos Grande were definitely not enough to deal with Yoshio.

"Sit Upon the Frozen Heavens, Hyōrinmaru!"

At that moment, Tōshirō Hitsugaya had already released his Zanpakutō.

Facing a few Menos Grande, with his strength, it was naturally no problem.

Yoshio didn't go to help. After all, he was responsible for covering the rear while Tōshirō Hitsugaya was responsible for opening the way—that was how it should be.

Don't be eager to do work that isn't yours.

Just do your own job well.

Yoshio directed the squad to exit the Dangai. By the time the Shinigami had settled in, Tōshirō Hitsugaya's battle was already over.

"Running into Menos Grande right off the bat—feels like bad things are coming."

Tōshirō Hitsugaya flew back and said with a grave expression.

"Don't worry," Yoshio said breezily. "Four captains came to the Human World, and Captain Aizen is here too. If anything happens, there'll naturally be a taller guy to shoulder it."

"By the way, where's Hinamori?"

Before they arrived, the Hinamori had already been patrolling on Sector 26.

"She's in Tokyo Sector 26, not the same sector as ours. She's under Captain Kuchiki's command right now."

Tōshirō Hitsugaya complained, "You're a lieutenant—shouldn't you at least care about your own squad members?"

"Who says I don't know? I was just testing you," Yoshio said.

"Let's split up and search now. Remember—report to the safe house every day, whether you find clues or not."

The Seireitei had established safe-house-like areas in many cities of the Human World to facilitate contact between Shinigami on assignment and the Seireitei.

For an operation of this scale, those safe houses would naturally be activated.

Reporting once a day was mandatory—if no one reported, that signaled a problem, and they could directly home in on that area.

"What about you?"

Watching the squad members gradually disperse—some alone, some in small groups—to carry out their tasks, Tōshirō Hitsugaya looked back at Yoshio again.

"Me?" Yoshio yawned, looking a bit sleepy. "I have to wait here for Captain Aizen. Until he gets here, I'm the team commander. Have you ever seen a team commander personally go out to search?"

"…" Hitsugaya sighed. "Then I'll go first. If I find a lead, I'll come back for you."

"No problem."

Yoshio waved a hand. Tōshirō Hitsugaya used Shunpo and vanished after a few flickers.

Watching Tōshirō Hitsugaya leave, the smile on Yoshio's face gradually faded. He slowly closed his eyes and shifted part of his consciousness into Angra Mainyu's body.

Although he could do many things at once, it was always more comfortable to devote more focus rather than only half.

Now, among the captains of GoteI 13, only first and second were left. The remaining Suì-Fēng is just an imaginary body. This is the best time to go to the Seireitei and pick up the leftovers.

However, considering Angra Mainyu's combat power was currently extremely low, he still needed to act cautiously.

Although Yoshio and Angra Mainyu were one entity, their Souls Abilities were not shared.

To put it another way, only when someone's favorability toward "Yoshio" reached 80 or higher would he permanently gain that person's Souls Ability. In this case, this person's favorability exceeded 80 toward "Yoshio," but not toward "Angra Mainyu."

Therefore, Yoshio could use the other party's Souls Ability, but Angra Mainyu could not.

In other words, if Angra Mainyu also earned Tōshirō Hitsugaya's favorability, he would be able to use Child of Kirin.

Of course, Angra Mainyu could also gain others' favorability—but Souls Abilities he obtained would not be usable by Yoshio.

Unless Yoshio activated "Spirit Merge," reintegrating Angra Mainyu into his body, thereby permanently obtaining the Souls Abilities Angra Mainyu had acquired.

However, with Yoshio as an insider, Angra easily breached the Shakonmaku and infiltrated the Seireitei.

He first snuck into the Tsunayashiro Clan.

In that sense, the destruction of the Tsunayashiro Main Clan was also to Yoshio's advantage.

For example, many secrets controlled by the main family had already been lost before the Tsunayashiro branch family learned of them.

Much of the treasure they held also had not been handed to the branch.

So the branch needed time to excavate the secrets the main family once controlled.

And since it was about digging up secrets, naturally you couldn't have too many outsiders around.

In such circumstances, even risky moves were taken—in pursuit of profit and status, what was life worth?

Thus, under these conditions, Yoshio could easily infiltrate the "Tsunayashiro Clan."

Most importantly, Yoshio had previously entered the Tsunayashiro Clan under the identity of Tsunayashiro Muneyoshi. He knew the family's layout and even the location of the Third Treasury.

In fact, the location of the Third Treasury was very well hidden. If not for Tsunayashiro Tokinada leading the way, Yoshio would have had great difficulty finding it.

And the treasury's main gate had excellent security measures. Yoshio didn't know if there were other ways to open it, but at the time, it was opened with the gatekeepers' blood.

Those gatekeepers were, of course, dead—but that didn't matter; Yoshio had the ability of Appearance Mimicry.

He had arranged everything in advance before leaving.

He used Appearance Mimicry to transform into that gatekeeper's likeness, then collected some of his own blood.

With that blood, he could open the Third Treasury's gate and devour the soul king fragments within.

But when Yoshio arrived, he found the Third Treasury already surrounded.

Indeed, while the location was hidden, a thorough search by the Tsunayashiro branch family now occupying the estate could still find it.

However, they had no way to open the main gate and were likely still seeking a method.

But he had already sentenced the Tsunayashiro branch family to death.

Yoshio's current form was a mass of black sludge. He simply loosened his body and surged toward the crowd.

At first, they didn't notice the black mud on the ground, but as Yoshio writhed, the guards naturally sensed something was off.

"Who's there?!"

A guard shouted, but before his voice fell, the black sludge pounced. A great mass of viscous black liquid slammed the guard to the ground, wrapping him like a giant slime!

And then…

Digest!

Chapter 103: Devouring the Soul King Fragments

"Ah!"

The Shinigami swallowed by Yoshio let out a miserable scream, but the sound didn't travel far, as if swallowed by the black sludge itself.

However, the guard wasn't alone—three more black-clad figures instantly rushed over.

Yoshio enveloped the black-clad guard's body. Black mud surged into him, and in an instant his body turned utterly pitch black—even his eyes became deep and hideous black.

Before the other three could react, Yoshio directly controlled the guard to swing his sword and cut the three down in a flash.

In truth, after the main family was exterminated, the Tsunayashiro branch family had done an excellent job protecting themselves.

But the branch family's quality was inherently lower than the main family's. And now, because they needed to unearth the main family's secrets, they had temporarily sent "outsiders" away, leaving most remaining people of little value.

Only an insider like Yoshio could obtain such information.

This is the terror of a spy: knowing your weak points, then striking!

Moreover, Yoshio was certain that doing this wouldn't cause the Hollows to wreck his plan, since the Hollows also needed someone to take the blame now.

Who better than himself—a Hollow—to shoulder it?

After finishing, Yoshio controlled the guard toward the gate.

He poured out the blood he'd prepared, opened the Third Treasury's gate, and from his body extended countless black tendrils of sludge that snaked deep into the chamber, retrieving three exquisite treasure boxes.

Having done so, he left the man's body and quietly slipped out of the Tsunayashiro Clan.

Through prearranged gaps in the Shakonmaku, Yoshio opened a Garganta within the Seireitei and headed to Hueco Mundo.

As mentioned before, the Seireitei had a Shakonmaku designed to block external reishi from entering. So normally, Hollows couldn't open a Garganta directly into the Seireitei and couldn't leave directly either.

But this thing had loopholes.

With prior preparation to the Shakonmaku, one could pass through directly.

In the original story, Aizen did exactly this; otherwise, those Menos Grande couldn't have so easily torn the space above, brought down the Shakonmaku, and carried off Aizen and the others.

Yoshio could naturally do the same, so he now opened a Garganta and traveled to Hueco Mundo.

Upon arriving in Hueco Mundo, he took out the three chests from his pitch-black body.

These three chests contained soul king fragments—of course, only a portion collected by the Tsunayashiro Clan over millions of years.

As Suì-Fēng had said earlier, there was already a seventh treasury.

While not every treasury necessarily held soul king fragments, he likely had more than just these three boxes in hand.

Still, however many he obtained, it was best to eat them first.

His body was still too weak—so weak that Yoshio truly felt uneasy.

In fact, because Angra Mainyu and Yoshio's favorability were tallied separately, Angra Mainyu could also generate Souls Abilities.

But his spiritual power was currently too weak, like Yoshio's had once been; he still couldn't possess a Souls Ability.

Once he devoured the spiritual power within these soul king fragments, that might change.

This was one of a Hollow's advantages; for example, it's not so easy for Shinigami to utilize the power of soul king fragments. If the Tsunayashiro Clan could simply devour them, they would have done so long ago.

But Hollows were different—Hollows were born to eat, eat, eat. The Soul King was even the natural enemy of Hollows, and soul king fragments naturally held a powerful allure to them.

A Hollow that devoured soul king fragments could more easily digest the potent energy within.

So Yoshio directly opened one of the boxes.

The box was unusual: it had a combination lock, and the password was Tsunayashiro Muneyoshi's blood. Probably not just Muneyoshi; other key Tsunayashiro figures could open it too.

When Yoshio had examined it earlier, he noticed a blood groove, so he intentionally kept some of Tsunayashiro Muneyoshi's blood. He hadn't been certain before, but when he placed the blood in and it unlocked, he let out a sigh of relief.

If it hadn't opened, he wouldn't have been anxious; he could always drag it back to the lab and study it slowly. As long as the technical skill was sufficient, nothing was unopenable.

Of course, it being this easy was convenient.

Yoshio looked at the gleaming fragments in the box. His Hollow instincts told him he had to devour their power!

It was the most primal impulse—the desire to evolve—driving Yoshio to draw one fragment into his body at once!

There were ten fragments in one box, each only as big as a pinky nail.

Yoshio didn't rush to eat them all; he ate just one first.

At once, he felt a surge of powerful spiritual pressure pour into him. This power resonated within him and began to transform his body.

As the spiritual power surged, Yoshio also felt a kind of pleasure—a happiness—like someone starving finally eating something delicious, or like seeing water in the desert!

He found his body's area increasing. Previously, he was about the size of a person lying on the ground; now he had swelled to the size of a bed!

If he kept devouring, wouldn't his true form become a sea of black sludge?

And with just one soul king fragment devoured, Yoshio obtained a Souls Ability he considered to be "All the World's Evil."

All the World's Evil: Grow stronger by absorbing malice, and infuse malice into others.

Since it was his Souls Ability, it was naturally permanent.

This power fit Angra Mainyu's identity perfectly.

The ability to absorb resentment was already great. At this stage, he could only absorb malice aimed at himself, but by the description, he'd be able to absorb any malice in the future.

Even if the malice wasn't directed at him, as long as it existed, he could absorb it.

If he could absorb the malice of everyone under heaven, then while he wouldn't be truly invincible, he'd be close, wouldn't he?

Besides devouring resentment, he could also implant resentment into others.

Simply put, he could "turn people black."

Moreover, this "blackening" could be directed.

For example, if Yoshio absorbed Grimmjow's malice toward Kurosaki Ichigo and transferred that malice to Inoue Orihime, then even if she previously liked Kurosaki Ichigo, she would develop malice toward him—without changing her feelings toward anyone else!

Of course, he could also indiscriminately transfer malice to Inoue Orihime, which would "blacken" her more or less across the board.

Or, if he transferred Aizen's malice toward the Soul King to Yamamoto, then Yamamoto might replace Aizen in attacking the Soul King Palace.

Looks like I'm walking further and further down the villain's path.

That feeling arose within Yoshio.

After slowly digesting the power of that one fragment, Yoshio continued devouring, consuming all ten fragments in the first box before finally stopping.

At that moment, he felt his inner spiritual pressure rapidly ballooning, and his body growing ever larger—already reaching the size of a lake.

On the white sands, vast pools of black sludge appeared like ink.

Then, those pools rapidly began to shrink, the contained spiritual power compressing, growing smaller and smaller.

At last, the mire returned to about five or six square meters. From the ever-shrinking pool, a humanoid being emerged and finally stood up.

But the being had no features, and below it was still a puddle of black sludge like a shadow.

"Adjuchas… easy enough, isn't it?"

Yoshio said with considerable delight.

He had gulped down ten soul king fragments. Though each was tiny—pinky-nail size—the ten together held immense spiritual power.

This surge of spirit power propelled Yoshio to the Adjuchas class of Menos Grande, and his spiritual power was by no means weak among Adjuchas either.

Of course, the breakthrough to Adjuchas wasn't as hard as to Vasto Lorde.

Generally, a Gillian Menos Grande that kept devouring would eventually become an Adjuchas.

However, once at Adjuchas, it was quite possible to stagnate. Devouring had attribute requirements, and talent was decided from the start. At the Adjuchas stage, if one couldn't become a Vasto Lorde, then no matter how many Menos one devoured, further evolution would be impossible.

And once devouring stopped, they would regress.

After regressing back to Gillian, they could never become Adjuchas again, and might even lose their intelligence!

This was the Hollow's most intense, primal fear!

Yoshio indeed couldn't be sure whether this Hollow incarnation of his had the potential to evolve into a Vasto Lorde. But even if not, it didn't matter—because he was born an Arrancar.

Because his soul is composed of hollow factors split from the soul of a Shinigami, he is a naturally occurring Arrancar. As an Arrancar, he naturally has evolutionary paths beyond just Hollow Devour.

To let stagnating Menos Grande evolve again was a meritorious deed in the Hollows' eyes. So although Aizen treated the Espada as pawns, the Espada were still very grateful to Aizen.

"Still… pretty good."

Feeling the power of this body, Yoshio couldn't help but feel a rush of joy.

Such a rapid rise in strength in a short time brought an addictive sensation—being ruled by joy and euphoria.

It's not hard to understand why Aizen seemed to lose his reason after evolving with the Hōgyoku.

At that time, Aizen must have been even more excited than Yoshio was now.

After all, I haven't felt any limits myself yet, while Aizen was stuck for hundreds of years. During the battle in Karakura Town, he broke through in one stroke, and then kept improving continuously.

From a Shinigami's limit to the Hōgyoku's stages one through five—five upgrades in such a short time—anyone would be ecstatic.

Because he planned a second round of looting, although the reishi from the first box's fragments hadn't fully digested yet, he opened the second and third boxes.

A full thirty soul king fragments—an immense flood of spiritual pressure surged into Yoshio, and in an instant, the reishi storm that had just calmed raged within him again!

Boom!

A violent surge of spiritual power shot skyward, as if punching a hole through the heavens, blasting straight into Hueco Mundo's crescent moon!

With the increase in spiritual power, Yoshio's body began to transform again. The body once sculpted of black sludge grew more humanlike; facial features appeared, and the black mire at his feet visibly shrank.

Now the black mire beneath him was only a meter in diameter. Whenever Yoshio moved, the mire moved with him.

"That's enough."

Yoshio murmured, "With my current strength, I should have no problem becoming an Espada, right?"

The corner of his mouth curled. With his spiritual pressure at this level, he could carry out the second heist.

He again exploited the Shakonmaku's weak point to open a Garganta and enter the Seireitei.

He appeared near the Tsunayashiro Clan once again, and activated the Hollow reiatsu detection, sensing a rather strong spiritual pressure within the Tsunayashiro estate.

Suì-Fēng…

Indeed, he hadn't shown up at the Tsunayashiro Clan for quite some time, so they had surely discovered the Third Treasury had been robbed.

Naturally, they'd be more concerned about security, and it made sense for the Onmitsukidō to protect them.

He needed to finish this quickly…

Suì-Fēng wasn't scary—because she herself was only an "imaginary body." Her motives were unclear, but she certainly wouldn't act like the real Suì-Fēng and obey orders.

The trouble was, Yamamoto Genryūsai was still in the Seireitei. If this dragged on and Yamamoto came, it would be bad.

Yamamoto's strength was still far too great—well beyond what Yoshio could handle at this stage.

He wasn't thinking of dealing with Yamamoto at all. What a joke—he'd been in this world for not even ten years!

So if Yamamoto came, he'd have to retreat!

Whether or not he got what he wanted, whether or not he killed members of the Tsunayashiro branch family—he had to leave!

This time, he had to strike decisively!

To that end, Yoshio didn't even conceal his presence!

He appeared at the Tsunayashiro estate's main gate. In an instant, countless shadows surged from his body!

The darkness roiled like great waves on the sea, surging toward the Tsunayashiro estate, rumbling as it crashed upon it. The black ocean seemed poised to drag the opulent residence into an evil, unknowable realm!

Chapter 104: Dragging the Tsunayashiro Clan into a Sea of Evil!

"Stop!"

The moment the black ocean appeared, the astounding spiritual pressure was sensed by Suì-Fēng inside the residence.

She roared, but before she could act, the black sludge had already surged in. The entire estate seemed to be drawn into a vortex on the sea's surface, about to be swallowed by the abyss!

Suì-Fēng used Shunpo to appear outside, where she saw Angra Mainyu.

Angra Mainyu's appearance naturally differed from Yoshio's—he was taller than Yoshio, with red eyes and long black hair.

He held a Zanpakutō, pure pitch black, seemingly flowing, with a chaotic, evil aura seeping from the darkness.

Seeing him, Suì-Fēng's pupils widened; she had never seen such a strange Hollow.

"Kisuke Urahara's accomplice?!"

Suì-Fēng suddenly spoke with deep hatred. "Sting all Enemies to Death, Suzumebachi!"

Facing Yoshio, whom she suspected to be Kisuke Urahara's ally, Suì-Fēng immediately released her Zanpakutō and charged at him!

Yoshio seemed to understand what made Suì-Fēng so determined; was it her hatred for Kisuke Urahara?

No matter—he had no intention of fighting a captain here.

Yoshio's main body had trained Shunpo to great proficiency, while Angra Mainyu, being a split body, naturally focused on honing Sonido.

Among all martial skills, speed is most important!

At the same time, Yoshio sensed Suì-Fēng's deep malice toward Kisuke Urahara. He greedily absorbed it and activated Sonido, arriving within the Tsunayashiro estate.

There were still quite a few branch members of the Tsunayashiro Clan. Seeing the black ocean suddenly surge in, they knew it was an attack and immediately launched an assault on Yoshio.

Though they lacked Zanpakutō, they had basic combat skills and were elite death squads.

They attacked without regard for their lives, but in front of him, they couldn't withstand even a single move!

Yoshio cut a Tsunayashiro member cleanly in two. On the far side of the bisected corpse was Suì-Fēng; through the sundered body's center, Suì-Fēng thrust at Yoshio!

Yoshio parried with his blade—he knew Suzumebachi's trick, Nigeki Kessatsu; if he was stung in the same place twice, he was done!

"Do we have to go all-out, impostor?"

Yoshio murmured to Suì-Fēng, "How about we cooperate? I'll tell you where Kisuke Urahara is, and you let me go."

"Besides, you should hate the Tsunayashiro Clan too, right?"

Suì-Fēng's pupils contracted. She asked in a low voice, "Are you Kisuke Urahara's subordinate—or his enemy?"

"Don't know. But I know where he is," Yoshio said gravely. "Not just him—Yoruichi Shihōin is there too."

"Tell me. Where are they?!"

"Tokyo. I'll give you the exact location later."

"No problem," Suì-Fēng immediately began "fighting" Yoshio.

The two appeared to be in a fierce battle, but were in fact only using Sonido and Shunpo to shift positions repeatedly, while Yoshio, moving around, kept slaughtering members of the Tsunayashiro Clan.

Just as Yoshio's blade pierced another Tsunayashiro member, he suddenly felt a powerful burning sensation!

Suì-Fēng's face changed. "Captain-Commander Yamamoto is here! Quickly—where are Yoruichi Shihōin and Kisuke Urahara?!"

Yoshio looked around. Four-fifths of the Tsunayashiro estate had already sunk, with only a sliver left before his "All the World's Evil" completely swallowed it.

Yes—he planned to uproot the entire Tsunayashiro Clan!

Since he didn't know the exact locations of the Tsunayashiro Clan's other treasures, he might as well move the entire estate and search slowly later!

His current body was very convenient for such things—like an ocean that could contain anything.

Of course, entering his body meant being tainted by him. Not only life, but matter itself could be corrupted.

And now, only a little remained before this grand residence would be entirely submerged into him.

That old man sure came fast!

Yoshio said coldly, "Do me a favor—don't resist, and I'll tell you their location at once."

Suì-Fēng, an imaginary body dominated by malice and hatred for Kisuke Urahara, dropped her guard at once upon hearing this, saying nothing.

So Yoshio thrust his blade into Suì-Fēng's abdomen, and a surge of darkness spread from him into her belly.

The darkness rapidly invaded Suì-Fēng's body. She suddenly let out a scream.

"Ah!!!"

As if stimulated by something, Suì-Fēng's eyes turned utterly pitch black, without a trace of white.

At that moment, Yoshio activated his Souls Ability, "All the World's Evil," pouring malice into Suì-Fēng's body.

However, since Yoshio hadn't accumulated much malice, even if Suì-Fēng resisted, it wasn't enough to completely blacken her.

And Suì-Fēng still had self-awareness—she guessed what Yoshio intended: to use her to stall Captain-Commander Yamamoto.

Though tantamount to suicide, she would do anything to learn Kisuke Urahara's whereabouts!

Yoshio whispered, ""They're in Karakura Town."

With that, Suì-Fēng dashed toward the source of the searing heat.

"!"

Captain-Commander Yamamoto seemed not to have expected Suì-Fēng to attack him. He paused slightly; the attack he'd prepared had to be launched at Suì-Fēng first.

Boom!

Fierce flames engulfed Suì-Fēng; when they receded, her body looked charred, with copious black vapor seeming to evaporate from her.

Yamamoto ignored Suì-Fēng entirely and swung his sword at Yoshio again!

But Suì-Fēng's momentary interference was enough!

As the fire wave of Ryūjin Jakka roared in, Yoshio finally and completely devoured the Tsunayashiro Clan!

"Goodbye!"

Yoshio quickly opened a Garganta. At the instant the flames roared in, he vanished into it and disappeared!

Boom!

A massive burst of flame erupted at the former site of the now-vanished Tsunayashiro estate. With a thunderous roar, the violent blaze speared into the sky, as if even the clouds were melting!