Under the pitch-black canopy of the sky, even the moonlight was obscured.
The massive army of Las Noches, kicking up swirling clouds of dust, surrounded the battlefield. Countless crimson gazes instantly fell upon Szayelaporro.
Emboldened by the towering figure on the throne of white bone, these Adjuchas—who would normally tuck their tails and flee at the sight of a Vasto Lorde—now possessed the courage to face Szayelaporro directly.
"It has been a long time, Szayelaporro."
A skeleton draped in a thick purple cloak sat upon the throne. Beneath him, materialized pitch-black Reiatsu held him aloft in absolute reverence, his burly figure resembling an unshakable mountain peak.
Slender, bony fingers propped up his hollow skull. Within his deep eye sockets, clusters of soul fire burned fiercely, emitting a flickering glow.
"I imagine you didn't mobilize such a massive force just to catch up on old times, did you?"
Szayelaporro raised his eyelids, calmly meeting the gaze of Baraggan on the bone throne.
"I was merely curious about who you were fighting just now. Judging from the aura of the Reiatsu..."
"Soul Reapers."
Szayelaporro frowned, recalling how he had been completely suppressed without any ability to fight back before his Resurrección, as well as those piercingly accurate words.
More than the gap in their strength, he actually cared more about what Aizen had said.
He had thought everything was under his control, but in reality, those images were merely what the other party wanted him to see.
His surveillance bugs hadn't fooled them at all.
From the very first moment he peeked, that man had already noticed him.
The mere thought of it filled Szayelaporro with an unspeakable sense of frustration.
They were both researchers, yet his methods had been effortlessly dismantled, and to this day, he still had no idea what methods the other party possessed.
From beginning to end, Aizen had only cast two inconsequential Hadō.
Rather than attacks, they were more like insults.
From start to finish, the man had maintained a condescending posture, like an adult watching a child play.
"After a hundred years, have the Soul Reapers brazenly invaded Hueco Mundo once again?"
A deep, heavy voice echoed like an evening bell. Although the skeletal face showed no change, the undisguised anger in his tone was palpable.
"They are treating us with far too much contempt."
"It seems that unless we teach these fools a profound lesson, they will never learn to restrain themselves."
Szayelaporro remained silent, seemingly lost in thought.
Baraggan also appeared quite patient. The other party was a Vasto Lorde on the same level as himself, worthy of being treated with caution.
Szayelaporro's furrowed brows suddenly relaxed. A barely noticeable hint of mockery flashed through his golden eyes, and the corners of his mouth curled up slightly, as if he were stating something entirely ordinary.
"Baraggan Louisenbairn."
"As the King of Hueco Mundo, are you interested in advancing to a higher level?"
Baraggan: "?"
In the desolate Outskirts District of the Rukongai, a pitch-black spatial rift silently tore open.
A thread of Reiatsu perception was released. After a rough scan confirmed there was no one nearby, two figures stepped out from the Garganta.
"Sora, I truly didn't expect you to know how to assess the situation."
A hint of relief flashed across Aizen's face. He hadn't expected this notoriously reckless guy to refrain from immediately charging in and clashing with the Menos Grande.
"What kind of talk is that!"
Naraku Sora declared loudly, "Do I look like a brainless brute? Bullying the weak and fearing the strong—oh, wait, no—knowing when to yield and when to stand tall has always been my code of conduct!"
Aizen twitched the corner of his mouth, revealing a slightly disdainful smile.
"Actually, leaving was the right choice. Judging from the scale of the Reiatsu at the time, it was likely the King of Hueco Mundo, Baraggan, who discovered our battle with Szayelaporro."
"Thus, he led the Menos Grande of Las Noches to surround us. Not just from the front, but the left, right, and rear were all saturated with the Reiatsu of Menos Grande."
"Baraggan probably wanted to sit back and watch us tear each other apart, waiting for both sides to suffer heavy losses before taking us all down in one fell swoop, thereby solidifying his throne as the King of Hueco Mundo."
"I must say, during the time Arturo was sealed, the wear and tear on his soul was indeed severe. Despite all of them being Vasto Lorde, both Szayelaporro and Baraggan are a significant cut above him."
"Not to mention Szayelaporro after his Resurrección."
A look of pity appeared on Aizen's face.
If Baraggan hadn't arrived in time, with him and Naraku Sora joining forces, they might very well have been able to take Szayelaporro down.
It was a shame to lose such premium experimental material.
Seeing Aizen's expression, Naraku Sora expertly patted him on the shoulder and comforted him:
"If we failed this time, there's always next time. At worst, when our powers are fully realized, we'll just wipe out Las Noches entirely."
"When that time comes, we'll leave the ugly ones for your experiments, and use the good-looking ones to fill the vacancies in the Shino Prison."
Aizen: "..."
He took a deep breath, suppressing his rising blood pressure.
Ignoring a certain someone's nonsense, Aizen put on a thoughtful expression.
Judging from their exchange during the battle, Szayelaporro had actually been cooperating with Tsunayashiro Taketori for a long time. Furthermore, the Adjuchas that had appeared at the Yokota Manor back then was sent by him.
Speaking of which, in terms of pure scientific talent, Szayelaporro was not much inferior to Kurotsuchi Mayuri and Urahara Kisuke; in certain aspects, he might even surpass them.
In a barren land like Hueco Mundo, where both knowledge and materials were severely lacking, he had managed to develop all sorts of black technology through sheer effort. His research capabilities were evident.
For example, the surveillance bugs, long-distance communication methods, and so on.
Now, with Tsunayashiro Taketori's support, it seemed perfectly reasonable that he had developed a method to create Arrancar.
It was just unclear whether Szayelaporro, left alone to face the army of Las Noches after the two of them departed Hueco Mundo, would end up clashing with Baraggan.
He wondered what kind of changes would occur in that desolate landscape the next time they visited Hueco Mundo.
For some reason, Aizen felt a bit of anticipation toward it.
Over the next few days, Naraku Sora completely quieted down.
Every day, aside from leading a group of Soul Reapers in intense, competitive training, he focused on researching how to develop even more powerful techniques—such as fusing Shunkō and the Lightning Release Mode into one.
After squeezing Urahara Kisuke and Kurotsuchi Mayuri for ideas, coupled with Yoruichi's efforts, there was already a glimmer of success. He only needed to deduce it step by step to accomplish this grand undertaking.
From time to time, he would also subject the newly joined Great God Omaeda to hellish special training, striving to fulfill his father Marechinmoshin's expectations as soon as possible.
Even though Naraku Sora had specifically controlled the training intensity within a reasonable range, it was still far too hellish for Omaeda Marechiyo, who had lived a life of luxury and comfort all year round.
To this day, he couldn't understand why the Genryū training had to begin at the crack of dawn.
Gripping weighted training swords and standing in the courtyard waiting for the sun to rise, he sweat profusely.
After just one day, Great God Omaeda was crying and begging to leave this hellish place.
In response, Naraku Sora simply took him for a stroll through the underground prison. After that, Marechiyo obediently accepted the special training and never dared to complain again.
Sure enough, this place was literal hell.
However, Naraku Sora's quiet behavior made Yamamoto somewhat anxious. He found it hard to accept for a time, terrified that his disciple was plotting another scheme to annihilate a noble family.
Although most nobles already kept a respectful distance from Naraku Sora, there was no shortage of idiots who couldn't grasp the situation, constantly dancing on the edge of Soul Society's laws.
They completely disregarded a certain someone who viewed protecting order as his life's creed.
To this, Yamamoto merely watched with indifference.
He watched as they marched step by step toward the abyss of their own destruction.
Even the Tsunayashiro family, the symbol of the highest status in Soul Society, had been annihilated. Did they really think things were still the same as before?
On the morning of a certain holiday.
Naraku Sora skillfully slipped into the Squad 1 barracks and headed straight for Yamamoto's study.
He was about to push the door open and barge in, but just as he reached the entrance, he heard a familiar voice coming from inside.
"Oh my, the Head Captain doesn't seem to take my words seriously."
"It is not that I do not take them seriously. I merely find them too sensational to accept all at once."
"I am not joking with you. This is an imminent threat to Soul Society, several times more severe than those so-called rogue Soul Reapers."
Naraku Sora naturally recognized whose voice this was. Driven by curiosity, he pressed his ear against the door, carefully listening to their conversation.
However, right at that moment, the study suddenly fell silent. Only the faint crackling of the hearth and the sound of boiling water could be heard.
The tightly shut door was suddenly pulled open. Naraku Sora stumbled forward, his entire face burying directly into a soft, fragrant expanse.
A steady heartbeat echoed in his ears.
From behind the pristine white haori, a skeletal arm reached out, pulling a certain someone up from her embrace.
"Sora, eavesdropping on classified intelligence will send you to the Samghata Hell."
Raising his head, Senjumaru's half-smiling expression entered his vision. She didn't seem to mind his rude behavior just now.
"Then I'll just listen openly."
Naraku Sora grinned, walking straight into the room and taking a seat with practiced ease.
Watching his rebellious disciple who completely treated the place as his own home, Yamamoto's eye twitched. The reprimands he was about to utter died in his throat.
Seeing this, the corners of Senjumaru's mouth curled up slightly. She sat back in her seat and continued the previous topic.
"According to the results of my observations, after such a long period of accumulation, the Reishi circulation between Soul Society and the World of the Living is now on the verge of collapse."
"The cycle of souls has stagnated. A massive number of Hollow souls have vanished, and the balance has been severely disrupted."
"Through my calculations, I have set the resulting threshold as the Shutara Scale."
"If this state continues, I fear the world will revert to the Primordial Age."
"A truly world-ending disaster..."
After her explanation, Senjumaru picked up the teacup from the table and took an elegant sip.
Yamamoto frowned deeply, seemingly pondering a solution.
After a brief moment of thought, a look of sudden realization appeared on Naraku Sora's face. He looked at Senjumaru beside him and whispered:
"Bad—ahem, Prison Warden, are you talking about the Quincy?"