Bleach [112-113] (Patreon)

Chapter 112: The Espada and the Royal Guard, Annihilate the Gotei 13!

"Third Espada, ranked Halibel."

Yoshio continued listing the remaining members of the Espada.

Originally, Nel and Halibel should have successively become the third Espada, but that was because Aizen had an obsession: only Vasto Lorde with the same death form could enter the Espada.

Yoshio had no such obsession!

Moreover, Hollows themselves possess multiple death forms, so Yoshio simultaneously designated them as the second and third Espada.

Once everyone's strength is ranked, other criteria can be considered later—there's no need to put the cart before the horse. For Hollows, for a rebel army, strength is absolutely the most important thing.

"Fourth Espada..."

As he spoke, Yoshio looked toward a child in Las Noches. The child seemed a bit scared and reserved, following behind Starrk.

He slowly said the child's name.

"Picaro."

Picaro had been introduced before, originally '102th', Picaro had served as an Espada, even as the second Espada.

However, Yoshio felt this must have been at a very early point; Baraggan was likely the first Espada, and Picaro the second.

When Starrk arrived, he became the first Espada, Baraggan became the second, and the original second Espada, Picaro, was demoted to a Three-Digit due to personality issues.

Picaro is a Vasto Lorde Hollow, a collective of countless child-like Hollows, naturally possessing extremely powerful strength.

It's just that because of his playful personality, like a real child, Baraggan never truly utilized him for missions, let alone Aizen.

But now, the Espada is his own force, and Yoshio doesn't care about such trivial matters. For him, ability is enough.

The rest is similar to the original work.

Fifth Espada, Nnoitra; Sixth Espada, Grimmjow; Seventh Espada, Zommari.

The eighth Espada was assigned to Loly Aivernne, and as for the ninth Espada...

"Yammy, you will be the ninth Espada."

Yoshio finally looked at a tall man.

The big man said irritably: "What did you say? Why do I have to be the last one?"

"The ninth Espada is indeed the last one, and the weakest, but it can also be the strongest."

Yoshio said: "This number can fluctuate. We all know your situation, so Captain Aizen gave you the largest number '9', and one level ahead is '10', which is '0'."

"That's right, levels 1-3 are ranked by combat power, but for you alone, I'm ranking based on 'evolution potential'."

Yammy, the zero Espada in the original work, but this time Starrk has Segunda Etapa, so making him the zero Espada would be disrespectful.

Apart from the zero Espada, the positions from one to eight aren't quite suitable, so Yoshio thought about it and gave the ninth Espada position to him.

Because the original ninth Espada was Aaroniero, but that guy had already been killed by Dark Rukia.

So, there was indeed a need to add an Espada representing 'potential', and Yammy was placed in that position.

Yammy still looked a bit unhappy, but he didn't say much more.

He knew his own situation; Yammy also knew that his ability was a bit troublesome to use, and his initial strength wasn't strong.

After arranging the personnel, Yoshio then thought that among the powerful Vasto Lorde, Szayelaporro and Ulquiorra hadn't been assigned yet.

Szayelaporro hadn't come out of the lab yet; once he does, he might compete with Starrk for the zero Espada position.

As for Ulquiorra, he hadn't arrived at Las Noches yet, so Yoshio couldn't assign him a position out of thin air.

However...

Thinking of this, Yoshio felt that Aizen might not even adjust the subsequent Arrancar joining the Espada army.

Some time ago, he completed the Water 7 arc of the Thousand-Year Blood War, which introduced the Four Emperors and mentioned that three of the Four Emperors were former Sternritter of the Quincy King.

Aizen saw this and seemed interested in things like the Sternritter, even asking Yoshio about his subsequent settings for the Sternritter.

His settings were as follows—

The strongest Quincy with the ability to vibrate space penetration, original Sternritter captain Whitebeard.

Beast Kaido, with tenacious vitality, growing stronger in battle, rumored to be the incarnation of the ancient divine beast Azure Dragon's heart.

Big Mom, with the ability to infuse souls into objects and devour others' soul power.

These three settings were changed compared to the original, but there were also parts Yoshio insisted on copying.

For example, BIG MOM. Her ability, honestly, is a bit similar to the big boss Yhwach's ability. Yoshio originally wanted to change BIG MOM's ability, worried that the Wandenreich's Yhwach would notice.

Later he thought, so what if it's similar?!

Anyway, since the Hōgyoku is already the main theme, why not go further!

After all, his identity as Yoshido Kamado is about 'playing ghost', well, not entirely 'playing ghost', but making others think on a deeper level.

And Aizen seemed very concerned about this information.

After interacting with Aizen for so long, Yoshio discovered that Aizen was indeed extraordinary.

For example, the entire Seireitei... even the entire Soul Society, including the Soul King Palace, probably few people know Yhwach's true purpose.

But through interactions with Aizen, Yoshio keenly noticed that Aizen seemed to know something about Yhwach.

At least...

He seemed to know that Yhwach wasn't dead, and that Yhwach's purpose was to create the original world—this fact...

Even Yamamoto, who fought Yhwach, the Captain-Commander, probably didn't know; perhaps only the monks in the Soul King Palace knew.

But Aizen didn't know where he got the information from...

Since Aizen believed Yoshio was part of the Soul King, and one of the Soul King's powers is 'foreseeing the future', then any information Yoshio recorded could be an interpretation of the future.

Yoshio thought Aizen probably believed that too.

Anyway, Yoshio felt Aizen might also form a four-person underlings.

It probably wouldn't be those two weak women named Loly and Menoly from the original.

Speaking of which, in the original, the Sternritter Quilge Opie mocked Aizen after learning his underlings consisted of two weak women.

Of course, that was just a difference in purpose.

In short, Aizen didn't need the Espada or Arrancar to truly help him defeat the Gotei 13.

For him, from the beginning, he only considered his own evolution.

Thinking of this, Yoshio continued:

"The Espada has been formed. You can freely choose your Fracción, and then..."

"Annihilate all the captains from the Soul Society!"

Aizen sat in his seat, observing the Espada with interest.

Looking at the killing intent they were emanating now, he also said: "This is your first battle after gaining new power; don't disappoint me."

Aizen knew Kisuke Urahara was waiting for him to make a move, waiting for the right moment, but Aizen wanted to force Kisuke Urahara to retreat.

Yoshio knew his intentions, so he issued the order to attack.

With seven squad captains almost all annihilated, could Kisuke Urahara remain indifferent?!

Chapter 113: Espada Peak, Locked on Karakura Town

Blaming this on Kisuke Urahara was very simple.

Even if Kisuke Urahara's information and thoughts could no longer be extracted from the Soul Society to create a corresponding imaginary body, and there were no suitable thoughts in the Human World to serve as the dominant consciousness for controlling the imaginary body.

However, Yoshio himself possessed transformation abilities.

Aizen certainly knew this; Yoshio's transformations were perfect, imitating reiatsu and abilities almost flawlessly.

There's nothing special about it.

The Sternritter, like the twin Y brothers, also have such abilities.

When Y brother transforms into Yhwach, not only does he gain his memories, but he can directly possess 70-80% of his power.

When Y brother transforms, he can even contend with the Gotei 13's Captain-Commander Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto!

Although he ultimately died under Yamamoto's blade, for an ordinary Sternritter, Y brother achieving this level was already impressive.

Yoshio's ability is similar to Y's, but he can't gain the opponent's memories, and in terms of power, it's an amplification based on his own foundation, not directly acquiring a certain proportion of the opponent's power.

Soul abilities naturally vary in strength; powerful soul abilities are rule-based.

For example, the Gatekeeper: once activated, as long as Yoshio doesn't allow others to enter the selected room, the only way for others to enter is to defeat Yoshio.

As long as Yoshio can't be defeated, then even...

He's not sure about the Soul King's situation, but he feels that even if Yamamoto activates Zanka no Tachi and slashes with a fifteen-million-degree flame sword, he couldn't enter a room guarded by the Gatekeeper.

As for those weak abilities, like the 'Sleep On Command' one he saw before, that's an extremely weak ability; Yoshio doesn't know what use it has.

Similar to the Appearance Mimicry ability, it can only be considered a decent functional ability, at least very powerful for framing and harming others.

He could completely transform into Kisuke Urahara to cause chaos, just like when he transformed into Yoruichi before, leading the Gotei 13 to now target Kisuke Urahara and his group.

…

After arranging the Espada, Yoshio let them choose their own Fracción.

However, as soon as the Espada was announced, fights broke out between them.

The reason for the fights was naturally dissatisfaction with others ranking above them, and some who weren't selected as Espada felt dissatisfied with those who were, thinking they were stronger, so why was that person above them, why was that person selected as Espada?

For example, Baraggan challenged Starrk; although Starrk had no interest in Baraggan's provocation, Baraggan insisted on fighting.

If Starrk didn't agree, he would attack Lilynette.

Hearing Lilynette's name, Starrk's gaze sharpened, and only then did he agree to fight Baraggan.

But if the two fought with their full power in Las Noches, Las Noches would probably be destroyed.

So they both activated Sonído simultaneously and rushed toward a direction far from Las Noches.

Besides Baraggan, Nnoitra was also unhappy that Halibel and Nelliel, two women, ranked above him, especially Nelliel, who had always looked down on him!

Loly Aivernne and Grimmjow also never got along; the former felt she shouldn't just be the eighth Espada, so she wanted to fight Grimmjow.

There were also those not selected as Espada, like Dordoni Alessandro Del Socaccio, who felt he had the ability to be an Espada and was unconvinced about being screened out, now wanting to defeat one of the Espada to prove he should be an Espada.

In short, although Yoshio had defined the Espada as a group, currently everyone in this group was unyielding to each other, and it didn't seem likely to settle down anytime soon.

For such a group, the best way to make them obey is with power.

As Ichimaru Gin said, each Espada is as powerful as a monster, and the only reason these monsters submit to Aizen is: power.

Kyōka Suigetsu's ability is indeed strong, but if Aizen only had Kyōka Suigetsu, many Espada would rather die than submit to him.

And obviously, in the eyes of these Arrancar, Yoshio didn't possess the same authority as Aizen, and Yoshio didn't want to manage the Espada's internal conflicts.

What did the Espada's internal disputes have to do with him? They weren't fighting him!

He was now thinking about one thing: should he let Angra Mainyu come to Las Noches? Perhaps then he could freely obtain Hōgyoku evolution like Starrk.

Yoshio had thought of this long ago: use Soul King fragments to advance to Vasto Lorde, then use the Hōgyoku to complete the evolution, allowing Angra Mainyu to gain extremely powerful and terrifying strength in a short time.

From an ordinary Hollow, even weaker than a Menos Grande cannon fodder, leaping to a top-tier Arrancar.

Though it couldn't be said to rival Starrk, at least it would be a high-level expert on the level of the top four Espada.

However, now Yoruichi had found Angra Mainyu, which made Yoshio believe he could use Angra Mainyu's identity to gain the favor of Yoruichi and others.

If Angra Mainyu came to Las Noches and accepted the Hōgyoku's power, it would be very difficult to gain favor from Kisuke Urahara's side afterward.

Yoshio fell into deep thought and ultimately decided that the immediate, visible benefits were more important.

And who said accepting the Hōgyoku's power meant he couldn't gain the favor of Yoruichi Shihōin and others?

Well, contacting Aizen and then approaching Kisuke Urahara would be a bit difficult, but no problem; if there's a chance later, he can just split off another imaginary body.

So, thinking of this, Yoshio still felt that the benefits he could get now were the real benefits.

Therefore, after returning to his room, he had Angra Mainyu head to Las Noches.

At this time, dozens of miles north of Las Noches, Baraggan was fiercely battling Starrk.

Facing Baraggan, Starrk couldn't be careless.

So, he directly fused with Lilynette, entering Resurrección mode—not Segunda Etapa, but the initial first-stage Resurrección.

Baraggan's speed was extremely fast, as shown in his battle with Kyōraku Shunsui; if not for Kyōraku Shunsui's equally impressive Shunpo skills, he would have been corroded into bones long ago.

But similarly, Starrk's speed was astonishingly fast!

Even without Resurrección, Starrk's speed far exceeded Zaraki Kenpachi and Kurosaki Ichigo, able to suddenly appear right under their noses, then instantly escape their attack range with Inoue Orihime and return to Las Noches.

This speed was already quite exaggerated.

Later, in the Karakura Town battle, this level of speed wasn't shown much, partly because he was fighting two top captains, Kyōraku Shunsui and Jūshirō Ukitake.

In the entire Gotei 13, these two should be considered the top combatants below Yamamoto, one being the next Captain-Commander, the other the host of the Soul King's right arm.

Secondly, Starrk wasn't fighting seriously at first; by the time he got serious, it was too late—Kyōraku Shunsui's Sogeki pierced his body, severely injuring him and causing him to lose Lilynette.

So now, facing Baraggan's attacks, Starrk still seemed at ease.

In terms of speed alone, Starrk was better than Baraggan.

Once his speed surpassed Baraggan's, Baraggan's death infusion couldn't threaten Starrk.

But similarly, Starrk could only keep dodging.

Infinite Cero barrage!

Starrk pulled the trigger, and instantly, hundreds of Ceros shot toward Baraggan!

Facing Starrk, who ranked above him and was the most unique Arrancar before, Baraggan naturally wouldn't underestimate him like he did with Shinigami; from the start, he used his Gran Caída.

As he swung his giant axe, purple death aura drifted out, instantly enveloping the Ceros and dissolving them at an extremely fast speed.

By the time the Ceros reached Baraggan, they had completely lost their power.

After the explosion, Baraggan emerged unscathed, looked at Starrk opposite him, and said: "What, is the zero Espada only good at running away?"

"Isn't that enough?" Starrk said calmly, "You can't beat me, and neither can I beat you."

"Hmph, as the peak of the Espada, is that what you think?" Baraggan snorted coldly, "If you're unwilling, hand it over to me! I am the king, ruling over you!"

"Don't you have a higher level of power?! Show it to me!"

Baraggan shouted loudly, "And then, I'll crush it all!"

"I can't take it anymore!"

Lilynette had already turned into the gun in Starrk's hand, but she couldn't help complaining: "Starrk, what are you doing? Hurry up and enter Segunda Etapa and beat this arrogant guy flat!"

"Don't suddenly speak."

Starrk tapped the gun stock, and Lilynette screamed again, "Who told you to touch me!"

"Idiot, haven't I always been touching you?"

"..."

Baraggan looked at the two Hollows suddenly arguing in the sky, his face darkening.

"If that's the case, then you two can die together!"

Baraggan instantly appeared in front of Starrk, swinging his massive greatsword. The power of death and decay entangled it; even a light touch would be enough to cause complete rot!

But the moment he appeared, Starrk, who was arguing with Lilynette, suddenly activated Sonído and disappeared in an instant.

"Again."

Baraggan looked at Starrk who appeared elsewhere, without any hesitation, releasing his death aura.

A purple death aura surged toward Starrk, covering the sky.

Starrk fired hundreds of Ceros again, continuous blue beams colliding with the surging purple aura, annihilating silently in an instant.

However, after firing the Ceros, Starrk didn't move again but pulled the trigger once more!

Boom boom boom boom!

In an instant, not hundreds, but thousands, two thousand Ceros shot from the gun muzzle!

"...!"

Baraggan couldn't help but be surprised at this point; such a number of Ceros had reached an exaggerated level!

But...

His death aura was absolutely powerful!

Baraggan manipulated the death aura to spread, but it was blocked!

!

"Is something wrong?"

Seeming to notice Baraggan's surprise, Starrk said faintly from opposite, "Your death aura can corrode all things, so conversely, all things are also corroding your absolute power."

"As long as there's enough reishi, it's enough to resist death..."

Starrk instantly appeared behind Baraggan, slowly adding: "It's that simple."

He raised his hand and fired a large number of Ceros again!

Baraggan manipulated the death aura to block again, but at this moment, the death aura couldn't advance an inch, as if blocked by the continuous Ceros!

"What?!"

This was something Baraggan never expected, because in his view, his death power was the most absolute force in the world, with nothing able to resist it!

But for Starrk, once he understood Baraggan's ability mechanism, it wasn't so troublesome.

The breath of death could indeed corrode all things, even reishi would age and corrode under the flow of time, but as long as enough reishi was provided...

If the breath of death was given reishi it couldn't 'digest' in a short time, the breath of death would 'stuff itself full'!

But satisfying Baraggan's breath of death was no simple matter. Baraggan himself was a top Vasto Lorde, and after Resurrección, his strength was even greater.

In terms of spiritual pressure alone, the Hollows stronger than him could be counted on one hand!

Not to mention possessing such large-scale spiritual energy release techniques.

High spiritual pressure doesn't necessarily mean high output; there's an issue of output efficiency.

Like in games, if you have a large mana pool, does that necessarily mean high damage output?

You need specific techniques, skills, and equipment to utilize that mana bar.

And coincidentally, Starrk possessed abilities of that level.

His spiritual pressure was above Baraggan's, and he happened to have a way to infinitely convert spiritual energy into output.

Perhaps a single Cero isn't very powerful, but dozens, hundreds, even thousands of Ceros gathered together—that's the truly terrifying power.

So, even without using Segunda Etapa, Starrk had abilities stronger than Baraggan's!

This is also why, whether in the original work or now, Starrk's ranking is always above Baraggan's!

Baraggan's face immediately became incredibly dark; although he was born with a skeletal face, a terrifying aura could still be felt from him.

Baraggan knew he had lost!

Although the two seemed evenly matched now, with him slightly at a disadvantage, in a real continued fight, it was unclear who would win.

But Starrk still had Segunda Etapa, with even greater strength; he truly wasn't a match!

Anger and unwillingness surged in Baraggan's heart!

It shouldn't be like this!

He should be the strongest Arrancar! The strongest Menos Grande!

He had dominated Hueco Mundo for tens of thousands of years; even that world-devouring Hollow back then couldn't do anything to him, and now he had to lose to this middle-aged, decadent-looking guy?!

"Hmph!"

Baraggan snorted coldly, instantly appearing below, standing on the reishi sand.

He quickly released his Resurrección state, returning to human form.

"Wait a bit; I hope you can maintain this arrogant attitude!"

Baraggan said coldly, then turned and left.

Starrk naturally didn't pursue, watching Baraggan go far before slowly landing on the ground.

Then he said: "Come out."

During the battle, he sensed other Arrancar nearby.

That wasn't strange; after all, he and Baraggan had made such a big commotion in their fight—it would be odd if it didn't attract other Menos Grande.

But this Hollow's reiatsu was strange; it was clearly an Arrancar, but from the aura, the completion seemed higher than the Arrancar in Las Noches. If anything...

It was very similar to his past self.

Could this be a kindred spirit?

Starrk felt a surge of excitement in his heart.

But at the time, he was fighting Baraggan, and he believed Baraggan had also noticed the Arrancar but didn't pay much attention.

Now that the battle was over, Starrk prepared to face the Arrancar.

Soon, Angra Mainyu appeared in front of Starrk.

At that moment, Yoshio felt a strange sensation in his heart.

Appearing before an acquaintance in another identity—how to describe this feeling...?

A bit weird.

But for the sake of extorting Aizen this time, such things didn't matter.

Starrk was also looking at Angra now, somewhat surprised, because he found that Angra's spiritual pressure was indeed that of a Hollow, but it lacked the 'chaotic' feel of Hollows.

Hollow bodies are products of devouring other souls, mixed with tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, or even more souls, so most Hollow reiatsu is chaotic and evil.

But Angra's reiatsu was very pure; although it felt undoubtedly like a Hollow, it also gave a Shinigami-like impression.

Starrk had a realization in his heart: could it be because of this that he, like himself, achieved autonomous Arrancar transformation?

Thinking carefully, during the time he underwent Arrancar transformation, he hadn't devoured other Menos Grande for a long time.

"You..."

And after the two met, the one who spoke first was Angra Mainyu; he looked at Starrk with some 'doubt' and 'curiosity', slowly saying: "You seem different from other Arrancar."

"You too," Starrk said slowly. "You're not a Hollow from Las Noches, are you?"

"Las Noches?" Angra said, "Isn't that the territory of the King of Hueco Mundo you were just fighting?"

Hearing this, Starrk confirmed that Angra had no relation to Aizen.

"It seems you are indeed like me," Starrk said solemnly. "Interested in joining Las Noches?"

Although Las Noches was now full of Arrancar, he felt a 'familiarity' from Angra.

Both were Arrancar, but perhaps only Angra was an existence like himself...

Angra couldn't help laughing. "You talk in an interesting way. We've just met for the first time. I don't even know your name, and you don't know who I am, yet you're inviting me like this?"

"No need," Angra said, then added: "But I'm interested in you. My name is Angra Mainyu. What's yours?"

"Coyote Starrk," Starrk also gave his name.

He had almost no friends in the past, so he naturally didn't know how to speak, especially how to talk to Hollows.

Hollows themselves are a group with not entirely normal thought processes; usually, they communicate through power.

"Those Arrancar came from Las Noches? But you seem different from them."

Starrk looked deeply at Angra; although curious about this Arrancar, he wouldn't spill everything.

Especially since Aizen wasn't ready to expose himself yet, their existence needed to be kept secret even more.

Starrk didn't open his heart to the suddenly appearing Arrancar, even if this Arrancar seemed different.

So he said: "If you want to know all this, come with me to Las Noches."

"Troublesome... Then forget it; I hate that kind of thing the most."

After saying that, Angra directly used Sonído and left.

Yoshio had indeed considered having Angra Mainyu join Las Noches to obtain Aizen's Hōgyoku enhancement, but it was best not to propose it directly.

Because "Aizen" and "Kisuke Urahara" alike are easily suspicious.

If you actively seek to join them, they'll only become wary.

Especially since Angra Mainyu appeared in the Soul Society, stole treasures from the Tsunayashiro Clan, and even had contact with the Gotei 13...

Aizen must be monitoring the Gotei 13's temporary base in Hueco Mundo; even if not, as a captain, he could learn some details upon returning to the Soul Society.

For example, the Gotei 13 had contact with Angra Mainyu...

So in this situation, Angra Mainyu actively appearing before Aizen might arouse his suspicion.

Therefore, it was best to wait for Aizen to invite Angra Mainyu himself.

And Yoshio believed Aizen would indeed do so.

After all, Aizen is very broad-minded; he would only think that even if the other party had some plot, he could see through it and suppress any ambitions from his subordinates.

Having been by Aizen's side for so long, Yoshio understood the captain quite well.

So...

All that was left was to wait.

Wait until Aizen finds Angra Mainyu, wait until Mayuri Kurotsuchi discovers that the Garganta's endpoint is...

Karakura Town!

...

"Karakura Town..."

The captains in Hueco Mundo gathered together. They had now learned the Garganta's destination from Mayuri Kurotsuchi.

"Why the Human World?"

Shiba Isshin frowned. "Are Kisuke Urahara and the others in the Human World now?"

"Whether they are or not, this is a clue." Mayuri Kurotsuchi revealed a sinister smile. "Even if it's a trap, it doesn't matter. If the enemy wants you to go somewhere, how can you not go?"