Bleach [120-121] (Patreon)

Chapter 120: Kisuke Urahara's Gold-Star Fighter Training Program

The outside world naturally had no idea what was happening inside the Wandenreich.

And everything that happened outside had already reached a conclusion.

After Kisuke Urahara and Sōsuke Aizen finished their conversation, the war abruptly ended.

The Visoreds in the Human World retreated, and the Espada in Hueco Mundo pulled back to Las Noches.

And just like that, it ended!

The besieged Captain in the Human world let out a sigh of relief, and so did the Captain in Hueco Mundo.

The people Kisuke Urahara had arranged hadn't even arrived yet, and the Espada besieging them had already withdrawn.

After that, several captains in the Human World gathered together.

Everyone bore marks of battle—especially Ichimaru Gin, who looked badly injured.

Originally, Kisuke Urahara's target this time was Ichimaru Gin.

On the surface, it was about dealing with Aizen, but the fake Aizen couldn't truly be eliminated; if something really happened to the fake Aizen, the real Aizen would have no reason to keep using that disguise.

Then Aizen might well take the playacting seriously and wipe out all the captains under siege in Hueco Mundo.

That would be counterproductive. So from the start, besieging the fake Aizen was just for show—the real target was Aizen's subordinate, Ichimaru Gin.

But Ichimaru Gin wasn't ordinary—especially with several captains nearby; if they moved, the captains moved too.

Aside from the initial ambush on Ichimaru Gin, it turned into a melee.

Gin's injuries came during the opening sneak attack and the encirclement.

Though the enemy had the numbers, Aizen alone pinned down two extremely powerful captains, Kisuke Urahara and Hirako Shinji, and the rest of the forces were even more mismatched in strength.

There were eight Visoreds in total, but only four were captains; three others were lieutenants, and along with a former Kidō corps lieutenant, Hachigen Ushōda, who wasn't good at combat and didn't participate at all.

In other words, the pressure on Ichimaru Gin wasn't as heavy as imagined.

What's more, they had hypothetical constructs of Kyōraku Shunsui and Jūshirō Ukitake helping them.

However, after the battle, the virtual bodies of Kyōraku Shunsui and Jūshirō Ukitake also disappeared.

Now, only the original four captains remained.

Komamura Sajin said in a deep voice, "In the end, Kisuke Urahara and the others still escaped!"

"I don't think it was just us…" Aizen said then. "The other captains must have been besieged too; otherwise someone would have come to support us long ago."

"After the battle ended, Kyōraku and Ukitake vanished," Kuchiki Byakuya said. "Does this have anything to do with Kisuke Urahara?"

"For something like that… shouldn't we ask Captain Kurotsuchi?" Though injured, Ichimaru Gin's tone was still light. Narrowing his eyes, he said, "What a cunning bunch, targeting us like that."

"Of course. After all, there are only four captains here," Aizen said. "Though we don't know why the enemy withdrew, I think we should return to the Soul Society immediately and report this to Captain-Commander Yamamoto."

"What a pity Captain-Commander Yamamoto must guard the Soul Society. Otherwise, if he were here, dealing with these traitors would be easy," Gin waved and smiled.

Right now, only Captain-Commander Yamamoto was left in the Soul Society; he couldn't leave lightly, or who would protect it?

They are the Gotei 13—guarding Seireitei is their main duty. They can't abandon Seireitei over Kisuke Urahara, can they?

He didn't know the captains in Hueco Mundo were besieged, but he could see the Human World's situation and still didn't act.

Now the captains had to report in.

The four captains conferred and finally decided to have the 5th Division remain in the Human World for now, act cautiously, and avoid exposing themselves to Kisuke Urahara and the others; the remaining captains would first return to the Soul Society.

They at least had to figure out what on earth had happened.

Why did Kyōraku Shunsui and Jūshirō Ukitake disappear? Why did Kisuke Urahara suddenly show up and then vanish just as suddenly?

But no matter what, there was one thing they could be sure of.

Namely, Kisuke Urahara and the others really had researched "hollowfication," just as previously judged!

Because in the battle, many of those captains and lieutenants used hollowfication.

That evil spiritual pressure was definitely not fake.

"Where were you just now?"

After the other fifty-six squads withdrew, even the 5th Division dismissed a large number of members, leaving only the 45th squad's mounted officers and above stationed in Tokyo.

Then Tōshirō Hitsugaya headed to Yoshio.

During the earlier fight, Tōshirō Hitsugaya hadn't intervened lightly—by the time he arrived, the battle was nearly over.

"No need to worry about the captain's side. They mainly targeted the captains. I'm not injured."

Yoshio reached out a wicked hand and ruffled Hitsugaya's hair like petting a cat.

Hitsugaya disdainfully slapped Yoshio's hand away. "I didn't ask whether you were injured."

"Tsk, you're not asking?" Yoshio said. "You'll be transferred to the Thirteenth Division when you get back. From now on you can't touch me like this anymore—hands off!"

He reached out again, pressed his hand on the black-line-streaked Tōshirō's head, and said, "I'm not your pet!"

He immediately used Shunpo to open distance from Yoshio.

With a look of regret, Yoshio said, "Sigh, you really have grown up—won't even let me get close now."

Veins popping on his forehead, Hitsugaya turned around. "I'm going to the captain. You stay here and get sentimental."

With that, he chained Shunpo steps toward Aizen.

Yoshio smiled and didn't follow. His attention was on his imaginary body, Angra Mainyu.

….

Hueco Mundo.

Because of Aizen's and Yoshio's orders, the Espada, who had thoroughly suppressed the captains earlier, had to stop. Even though they felt they had the upper hand, they could only withdraw helplessly.

In truth, only a few were truly unwilling.

At least the top-ranked Espada—Starrk, Nelliel, and Halibel—had no objections. If even they didn't object, the remaining Arrancar's dissent was meaningless.

As they left, Angra Mainyu, who had been watching from afar, also prepared to leave.

He was Yoshio's insurance left there—mainly to see if anyone would die.

He wasn't trying to babysit—he just hadn't yet acquired these people's Souls Ability!

Even if they were going to die, they should at least wait until he permanently obtained their Souls Ability!

Some abilities he didn't need, true, but many he desperately wanted!

Once his favorability reached eighty, they could die the next second—but at least not the second before!

If they died, wouldn't he lose out on an ability for nothing?

Thankfully, that didn't happen. The Gotei 13 captains who remained in Hueco Mundo were all elites!

Kyōraku Shunsui, a healthy Jūshirō Ukitake, Shiba Isshin—these were very powerful captains.

Mayuri Kurotsuchi goes without saying—the king of black tech. Aside from being somewhat disadvantaged against Ishida Uryū, at other times he could even face down the Left Arm of the Soul King head-on.

Suì-Fēng's raw power was relatively weaker, but her speed was lethal. As long as it wasn't a monster like Baraggan or Starrk, her speed wouldn't easily lose.

Tōsen Kaname… as for that traitor, nothing more needs to be said.

The Espada were strong, but aside from Starrk, the rest weren't as powerful as in the original's Karakura Town battles.

If they truly clashed, it would be hard to say who was stronger!

After leaving, Angra Mainyu headed to the Negal Ruins.

Soon after, he met Kisuke Urahara there.

It was as if they'd had a tacit understanding—after the war ended, they both came here.

Yoruichi had seen him before. Back then, Yoruichi wanted Angra Mainyu to meet Kisuke Urahara, but he refused.

He said if Kisuke Urahara wanted to meet, he should come himself.

And now, he had come to Hueco Mundo in person as agreed.

"So you're Kisuke Urahara."

Angra sized him up and said:

"I'm curious as well. We already have near-complete Arrancar," Kisuke Urahara said. "You shouldn't have been created by Mr. Aizen. With his current technology, he can't create Arrancar of this caliber."

Arrancar completeness varied. As in the original, Aizen had created Arrancar before the plot began.

But only after obtaining Urahara's Hōgyoku and fusing two Hōgyoku into a new one could he create fully complete Arrancar.

In Urahara's view, the current Arrancar were incomplete.

Among them, only Angra Mainyu and Starrk had very high completeness.

From the earlier battles, Urahara believed that he, Aizen, and Mayuri had all been collecting data on both sides.

Aizen had just started creating Arrancar and wanted to use the war to evaluate their power and observe experimental data.

Data on the Visoreds appearing in Karakura Town had likely also been collected by Aizen.

No helping it—observation is something both sides can do. If Urahara could observe, so could Aizen.

For scientists, as long as there's data, everything can be discussed.

"As for Arrancar, I've figured it out. As to how I became an Arrancar…" Angra Mainyu said flatly, "That's my secret. Why should I tell you?"

"I can more or less guess," Urahara said.

"I know you previously infiltrated the Soul Society and that the Tsunayashiro family secretly collected Soul King fragments. If I'm not mistaken, you used Soul King's power to complete your Arrancar metamorphosis, didn't you?"

That wasn't the truth, but the interpretation worked.

So Yoshio said nothing, and Urahara took the silence as confirmation.

Urahara continued, "Soul King's power is miraculous—virtually omnipotent. How about we cooperate? If you still desire 'evolution'."

Urahara's words were very tempting, and Angra Mainyu was genuinely intrigued.

He had considered joining Aizen's Arrancar army to hitch a ride on Aizen's Hōgyoku for enhancement.

But if Urahara could do the same, cooperating with him wasn't impossible.

So he asked, "What can you do? And what do I do?"

"What can you do" meant what Urahara could do for him—how he could evolve.

"What do I do" meant what he needed to do to receive that help.

"I need 'reinforcements' and 'power,'" Urahara said gravely. "Because of this, I discovered a terrifying force lurking within the Three Realms."

"Oh?"

"My research into the Quincy started long ago," Urahara said bluntly. "Over two hundred years ago, the Soul Society exterminated the last remaining Quincy, and most of their corpses were shipped to the Research and Development Institute."

"Even after leaving the Soul Society, I continued researching human and Quincy souls in the Human World."

Yoshio knew this.

For instance, the vaccine that allowed the Visoreds to survive their hollowfication process was made from Quincy spirit arrows and human souls.

In that sense, Urahara was not a merciful man; human souls were merely research materials to him.

No helping it—his abilities were that strong.

This world itself was built on mountains of corpses and betrayal; the Soul Society, as the protagonist faction, was particularly corrupt and dark. Naturally, Urahara wouldn't stay untainted.

So, in the Human World, Urahara immediately thought of the Wandenreich at Suì-Fēng's disappearance site.

Professional to the core.

Urahara's Quincy research was evidently far ahead of Mayuri's.

Mayuri had studied Quincy for a century, and even after witnessing the Wandenreich's first attack, he still didn't realize they existed in the shadows of Seireitei.

Well, perhaps the Quincy Mayuri analyzed were too weak.

"After this war, I can confirm…the Quincy still exist and have amassed considerable power."

Clever, but…

"What does that have to do with me?"

Hands in his pockets, Angra said coolly, "By your account, they're just cowards hiding in the shadows."

"Quincy and Hollows are natural enemies," Urahara looked at Angra Mainyu, serious. "Which means they will certainly try to eradicate all Hollows!"

"…" Angra frowned.

Seeing his attitude soften a little, Urahara said, "By comparison, perhaps even Mr. Aizen's matter can be set aside for now. Compared to Mr. Aizen's designs, the Quincy's aims are far more sinister."

Heh—so you also know what Yhwach wants?

What an interesting world—Aizen knew Yhwach's goal, Urahara knew it, but Yamamoto, who fought Yhwach himself, didn't know what he wanted.

What a brute…

Yoshio reminded himself he mustn't become a thug.

But Urahara had a point.

Aizen only wanted to replace the king of the Three Realms, while Yhwach wanted to destroy the Three Realms—that was indeed more evil and outrageous than Aizen.

Thus, after hesitating, Angra Mainyu said, "So your idea is…"

"Let's cooperate. I can lead you to a higher realm of power—you'll become our main force against the Quincy!"

To deal with the Quincy, one must rely on Hollows!

In fact, Urahara hadn't yet discovered that Hollow power is toxic to Quincy; he just instinctively felt that since the Quincy were obsessed with eradicating Hollows—so fanatically that they'd rather be destroyed than reconcile—that obsession was terrifying.

The Hollow void must contain something that counters Quincy.

That was Urahara's belief.

As a scientist, he believed there are solutions to all things; there is no invincible power in this world. No matter how strong something looks, it must have a weakness.

In other words, if you seize that weakness, even the strongest will crumble.

Yoshio suddenly realized he'd grasped a great opportunity.

First, Kurosaki Ichigo hadn't been born yet.

This meant that all factions believed they lacked a top-tier combatant.

After all, from birth to adulthood, Ichigo had been watched by Urahara, Aizen, and Yhwach. His existence was a key piece for all three.

Now, all three lacked that piece!

Without Kurosaki Ichigo—but with an early discovery of the Quincy—what would Urahara do?

Of course, he would use Hollow power! In fact, he could only use Hollow power!

This made Urahara's approach far more reasonable: to deal with the Quincy, he wouldn't hesitate to deploy Hollow power like his own—and even claimed he could elevate him further…

Yoshio instantly understood: Urahara wanted Angra Mainyu to become his top enforcer. But was he so sure a Hollow would obey him?

That said, Urahara did understand Hollow psychology—their obsession with evolution was frightening. Aside from the outlier Starrk, which Hollow didn't yearn to evolve?

Ironically, the one least desirous of evolution—Starrk—evolved naturally, while those yearning for evolution needed outside help.

Not the only irony here.

Back then, millions of years ago, people feared Hollows—leading to the birth of the Quincy progenitor, the Soul King's opposite, to eradicate them.

And now, millions of years later, people feared the Quincy and planned to use Hollow power to fight them?

One must say, people's positions are remarkably flexible.

Chapter 121: Kisuke Urahara Shows His Power—Two Kinds of Hollow Segunda Etapa?

Sadly, people's positions can never be as mercurial as Yoshio's.

Yoshio was a Shinigami in the Soul Society, a Hollow in Hueco Mundo, and in the Wandenreich he would be a Quincy!

Triple investment—no matter who wins, he wins!

Only, as a Shinigami, he invested in Hueco Mundo; as a Hollow, he invested in the Soul Society. Would he invest in the Wandenreich once he split off as a Quincy?

Angra looked at Urahara with curiosity. "I'm not interested in your grand rhetoric. But if you can help me evolve, I can help you."

"I'm not like other Hollows—at the very least, I'm cooperative."

Urahara smiled, then pressed a button. A Garganta tore open behind him.

"Aizen just lifted the barrier on Garganta around Hueco Mundo, so the Garganta tunnel I built is still unstable. Let's leave here first."

"If you want to go to the Human World, I can open one for you," Angra said, but he still followed Urahara inside.

After all, his Garganta only went to Karakura Town, while Urahara's led straight to their destination.

See what Urahara wanted to do first.

Just as Urahara said, his Garganta tunnel wasn't stable, but sufficient for the two of them to escape.

Exiting the Garganta, Angra realized they were in Urahara's underground training field from before.

Come to think of it, Urahara's house—the Urahara Shop in Karakura Town—had already been exposed. This guy dared to stay in Karakura Town? He was bold.

The underground training ground was like another world—no matter how it was outside, inside there were blue skies and clouds, vast and open.

Honestly, the space Urahara created looked better than the Wandenreich's.

The Wandenreich had ice shards everywhere overhead!

"As expected of the Soul Society's great genius," Angra praised. Urahara replied, "I'm just an ordinary shopkeeper now. As for 'genius of the Soul Society'—let's forget that title."

As they spoke, he led Angra to an open area.

There were two items there.

"This is…?"

Angra already knew what they were when he saw them, but considering his Arrancar status, he still asked Urahara.

"Tenshintai and Reversal Body."

Urahara said, "The former is a special spiritual apparatus that can forcibly materialize a Shinigami's Zanpakuto spirit and make it submit. The latter is a special gadget I developed based on the former. Those counterfeit captains that appeared outside were made with this little tool."

Angra was surprised. "These are Shinigami tools, right?"

He was somewhat surprised; Tenshintai was an Onmitsukidō special device—he hadn't expected Yoruichi Shihouin to swipe it at such a time.

Yoruichi really had sacrificed a lot for Urahara.

Unaware of the Arrancar's thoughts, Urahara nodded. "Yeah. But Arrancar aren't the same as Hollows, so I'm curious whether Arrancar can use these tools."

"Oh?" Angra sneered. "Am I your test subject?"

"Interested in trying?"

"Splendid…"

Angra drew his Zanpakuto. It was pitch-black, like a black blade from One Piece; look closely and the blade seemed to flow like liquid.

Drawing the Zanpakuto meant he was ready to fight.

To be honest, Urahara's idea greatly piqued his curiosity.

Shinigami who trained with Tenshintai awakened Bankai; with Reversal Body, they produced "man-blade fusion" phantasms.

What would happen with him, an Arrancar?

Urahara told Angra how to use the tools: just stab his Zanpakuto into the bone frame of the Tenshintai, and Urahara would maintain its operation as a third party.

He told Angra that the Tenshintai could only be used once.

But it was designed for Shinigami—even if a Shinigami didn't awaken Bankai in that training, their growth would skyrocket—in combat technique and in spiritual force.

After all…

Battle itself is the best training to promote growth in spiritual force.

Angra perceived this: any artifact that could boost his spiritual pressure was a good artifact!

With that in mind, he stabbed his Zanpakuto into the Tenshintai.

In the next moment, the Tenshintai toppled, and black sludge oozed out from it.

Excitement—or joy—flashed across Urahara's face. It seemed his hypothesis was right.

Arrancar were still Hollows, but they possessed a Shinigami component and could use the Tenshintai!

But when Shinigami used Tenshintai, their Zanpakuto spirits materialized.

When an Arrancar used it, what appeared was…

The Hollow's true body?

Watching the Tenshintai exude more and more black sludge, Urahara observed carefully.

The battle data he'd obtained on the Espada…

Frankly, it was hard to analyze.

Because of Aizen's Kyōka Suigetsu, the observed data had naturally been affected by it.

Back then, those Arrancar had come disguised under Kyōka Suigetsu!

But now, Angra Mainyu's battle data was the key to analyzing Arrancar!

Staring at the black mud forming before him, Angra said, "I have to defeat this thing, right!!"

"Compared to Shinigami, yes," Urahara said beside him. "For a Shinigami's Bankai, you need 'materialization' and 'submission' of the Zanpakuto spirit. Tenshintai helps force 'materialization,' and by defeating the opponent, you achieve 'submission.'"

"There are other methods to make them 'yield' without defeating them."

"But for an Arrancar, it's all still a mystery."

Angra looked at the black mud. "This thing doesn't look communicative at all!"

Indeed, although this black sludge was his true body, at this moment he could only feel endless malice from it—no trace of reason.

When it fully emerged, the black slurry surged like a roaring sea toward him.

He used Sonido to dodge, but countless tributaries branched out of the sludge like tentacles and swept at him.

Angra swung his blade. In an instant, black reishi carved a crescent that swept across, severing all nearby tendrils!

Yet at the cut cross-sections, mouthlike structures appeared.

Buzz!

Masses of reishi gathered within. Yoshio's pupils dilated. This was…

Black Cero?!

Normally, "Espada"-class Arrancar in released states could only use "Black Cero," and it was even stronger than Gran Rey Cero.

But now this black mud was about to fire dozens of Black Cero at once!

That was cheating!

And in theory, even he, in release, couldn't fire that many Black Cero!

He pointed his blade downward and whispered, "Surge, O sea of darkness."

In an instant, his Zanpakuto shattered, and his body began to change.

This was an Arrancar's Resurrección!

Resurrección, also called sword release, returns an Arrancar to their original form.

As Angra activated Resurrección, his body writhed, spreading like the black sludge pouring from the Tenshintai!

Urahara watched the battle.

Even he had never seen such a strange Menos Grande.

In fact, not all Menos Grande take animal or living forms.

Occasionally, some Menos Grande are natural substances.

Urahara occasionally received intel from the Soul Society. In a recently serialized novel there, abilities were categorized as:

Paramecia, Zoan, and Logia.

Hollows could also be grouped into three: humanoid Menos Grande with special powers, beast-form Menos agile and strong like animals, and the extremely rare natural-form Menos!

For example…

A special Menos whose essence was sand!

Yet even those special Menos were still substances found in nature.

But Angra Mainyu's true form resembled a Logia-like fluid—but wasn't any natural substance.

Not sand, not ocean, not wind…

It was a black liquid, but certainly not oil.

Angra's essence was more like an embodied emotional existence—steeped in malice, saturated with rot and filth.

Thinking that, Urahara had another hypothesis.

Did a Hollow's Resurrección involve special emotional factors?

Angra's essence was almost malice incarnate—yet he himself didn't seem to harbor random hostility. His behavior seemed at odds with his nature.

Then, if he didn't rely on outside force, would that cause him to be eroded during Resurrección?

However…

Even knowing this, self-resurrecting Arrancar still couldn't be mass-produced.

After all…

Hollows are heartless beings that obey their desires; asking them to violate their own desires is too difficult.

If such an effort could be made, Urahara could create another Hōgyoku himself.

As he watched the two masses of black mud fight, Urahara gradually discovered Tenshintai's usage for Arrancar.

For Shinigami, Tenshintai materializes the Zanpakuto spirit; for an Arrancar… it seemed to materialize the Arrancar's essence!

Not only Urahara noticed this—Yoshio had noticed too.

Although both sides were black sludge, the opponent fought purely by instinct, driven entirely by malice.

Boom—boom—boom!

Explosions echoed in succession—Cero, Gran Rey Cero, and Black Cero intertwined and detonated, shaking the entire underground training ground.

Neither could overcome the other, but the opponent's malice and corruption seemed to infect Angra himself.

Funny—he was the embodiment of evil, yet he was being "corroded" by an even more evil version of himself.

In theory, his ability should render them mutually ineffective—both were evil—but in comparison, he found the other was more evil! Or rather, the other should be corroded by him too—yet the other simply didn't care!

While the "corruption" was mild, he could indeed feel the change, while the other was unmoved—pure malice itself.

In fact, when Angra tried to taint the opponent with malice, it only grew stronger. So he stopped using malice for pollution.

Instead, he used will to purify that corruption. With each purification, he felt changes in his body, and his reishi increased accordingly.

The two black sludges fought for a day and a night. In the end, the black mud created by "Tenshintai" vanished.

"Hm?"

In the midst of the fight, Angra couldn't help looking at Urahara with displeasure. "What are you doing?"

"Your soul burden is near its limit. Rest for now."

Urahara said, "Right, let's talk about the changes."

Angra hadn't felt fatigue during the fight, but hearing Urahara, he realized his soul did seem close to its limit.

Although Tenshintai was maintained by Urahara's spiritual pressure, it was ultimately his soul that split it off.

And on closer look, fine sweat beaded Urahara's brow—maintaining Tenshintai had consumed a lot of stamina.

"Any findings?" Angra walked over to Urahara and looked at the instrument recording his battle data.

Urahara said in a low voice, "I observed an Arrancar's Resurrección—its principle should be similar to our Shinigami Shikai, but the power amplification is closer to our Bankai."

Remarkable.

Yoshio had read the Shinigami manga and knew he was right.

An Arrancar's Resurrección operates on Shikai principles but boosts combat power near Bankai levels.

He hadn't expected Urahara to grasp so much from observing only a few Arrancar battles.

Resurrección is the Zanpakuto returning to its true form; Shikai is the Asauchi transforming into a true Zanpakuto—both are returns to essence.

Thinking of this, Yoshio's yearning for Resurrección deepened.

Urahara continued, "I think that since Resurrección is like Shikai, then Hollow 'Zanpakuto' should also possess something akin to a Shinigami's 'Bankai.'"

"You mean… Segunda Etapa?" Angra Mainyu decided to tip Starrk off later, and said, "I've actually seen an Arrancar similar to me. I heard from Baraggan that this Arrancar seems to have the ability to revive again after Resurrección."

"Segunda Etapa?" Urahara paused, then nodded. "Yes, you can call it that."

He put away the instrument and led Angra to a pavilion nearby. On a stone table sat a computer-like device.

Urahara went over, plugged his instrument into the computer port, and streams of data instantly flowed across the screen.

At the same time, he offered a startling conjecture. "But I think Hollow Segunda Etapa should have two forms—and these two can even stack."

"?" Angra was surprised and excited. Indeed, finding Urahara was the right choice.

Aizen had researched Hollow-Shinigamification, but it was essentially for his own evolution; he hadn't pushed Arrancar research to higher tiers.

But Urahara was different—now that he wanted Angra to be a key asset against the Quincy, he'd put in real effort.

Who knew whether Urahara would still go all-out after Kurosaki Ichigo was born.

Maybe he would—after all, even they couldn't predict the future perfectly.

Angra asked, "What are the two Second Stages?"

"Resurrección reveals the true form. At that point, a bifurcation appears."

"Hollows are beings of desire—driven by instinct—fallen souls without hearts." Even in front of Angra, an Arrancar, Urahara still said that.

But it was true; most Hollows admitted they were fallen souls, and many believed themselves beyond saving.

Seeing Angra unmoved, Urahara continued, "After Resurrección, Hollows become different from before—they fall into a state similar to Shinigami and gradually gain a 'heart.'"

"Your Zanpakuto is your heart."

A Hollow's heart becomes a mask, the mask becomes a Zanpakuto—so calling the Zanpakuto the heart isn't wrong; in fact, a Shinigami's Zanpakuto is also an extension of the self.

Compared to Shinigami, the Hollow's extension is even more thorough.

"So the two paths are: continue pursuing your inner self… or continue adhering to pure instinct."

Urahara said, "That's how I envision the two forms of Segunda Etapa."

Angra frowned, thinking of Ulquiorra—the only Arrancar in the original who displayed Segunda Etapa.

According to the lore, Ulquiorra temporarily grasped that power in his battle with Kurosaki Ichigo, seeking his own "heart" in that fight.

So he fit Urahara's "continuously seeking the inner self" evolution path.

Then he recalled another Ulquiorra concept proposed by the Shinigami author in original art—originally a game plot. Even with authorial backing, Angra hadn't paid it much mind.

But hearing Urahara now, he couldn't help recalling that setting.

Ulquiorra's new form was "return the world to nothingness"!

Isn't that exactly Urahara's "adhering to instinct" Segunda Etapa?

Kisuke Urahara… truly a genius!

Angra Mainyu knew Urahara had said so much at once for an important reason:

To display his capability to Angra—to make him know and believe that by following Urahara, he could ascend to a new level!