"Retsu Unohana, Captain of the Gotei 13's Fourth Division."
Unohana spoke first: "This is the Tenth Division's Captain, Shiba Isshin; and he is Kenpachi Zaraki of the Eleventh Division."
She introduced herself and the other two. Then, "So… Mr. Arrancar, can you tell us how your mask was damaged?"
The question was simple but carried a faint pressure.
Yoshio was immune to that. He'd met too many powerful and too many who hid their strength; he didn't care.
Even so, he was not Unohana's match right now.
But he believed she wouldn't attack him. Since she put aside the title of the Kenpachi and became "Retsu Unohana," she was essentially dead to battle. She wouldn't fight anyone except Zaraki.
Even during the Karakura battle, when other captains were defeated—when even Captain-Commander Yamamoto fell—she silently stood by.
So Yoshio did not fear her. "Arrancar is an apt name. They're Menos Grande who tore their masks."
His tone turned cool. "But you're asking the wrong person. Though there are many Arrancar in Hueco Mundo now, I have no connection to them."
"Hmm?" Unohana and Isshin frowned. Wasn't this Arrancar together with another one before?
Yoshio had no intention to explain, but after fighting Kenpachi his favorability toward Zaraki had actually gone up.
Outrageous. As long as you can give Kenpachi a satisfying fight, does it matter if the opponent's a Hollow?
The increase was small, but it showed Yoshio a path to the ["Rampage"] skill.
So he continued, "I only know those Arrancar come from Las Noches. There's a King of Hueco Mundo inside, but I haven't dealt with him."
"How about this…"
A thought occurred to him. He sheathed his Zanpakuto and put some distance between them.
"Why don't we cooperate?"
"Cooperate?" Isshin was stunned. "Hollows become Arrancar and get this… cultured? Not just stronger, but more rational too…"
Their stereotype of Hollows was devouring, evil, enormity, destruction. Powerful Hollows could communicate, but with their fundamentally opposed ideologies, conversation was meaningless.
Shinigami–Hollow exchanges were basically just generating hostility and trading sneers.
Isshin never imagined he'd hear the word "cooperate" from a Hollow.
"Oh? How?" Unohana was unbothered. After more than a thousand years, she'd seen all kinds; her psychological tolerance was high.
"I know your Shinigami have an organization called the Research and Development Institute. Give me their research data, and… I'll help you investigate the recent Arrancar phenomenon in Hueco Mundo."
"I'll discuss this with Captain Kurotsuchi," said Unohana. "If we agree to cooperate, how do we contact you?"
"Let's meet here again," Yoshio said blandly. Then he looked at Zaraki. "Next time we meet, show me your true strength."
With that, Yoshio used Sonido and vanished.
In a blink, only three Shinigami captains remained.
"This is unbelievable."
After Yoshio left, Isshin said in disbelief, "Have Menos Grande gotten this clever?"
"He even wants Captain Kurotsuchi's research data? That's a bit… well…"
Isshin thought, then squeezed out four words: "Too studious, huh?"
"This shows Arrancar are no longer like Hollows used to be," Unohana said, staring in the direction Yoshio left. "We'll have to be more cautious dealing with them."
In the past, one only needed to fight Hollows.
If you were stronger, you won.
But after seeing Yoshio, they believed that once Menos Grande become Arrancar, they evolve high intelligence rather than being instinct-driven degenerates.
Communication is one thing, but asking for Mayuri Kurotsuchi's research data? What does that mean? It means Hueco Mundo has, to some extent, the potential to nurture civilization.
Why have Shinigami suppressed Menos Grande in recent years?
In the past, even a Gillian Menos Grande was beyond Shinigami's capability; the Royal Guard had to intervene.
But now Shinigami could handle Gillians fairly easily, and even higher Menos were manageable.
Why?
Technology, of course.
Ever since Oetsu Nimaiya invented the Zanpakuto thousands of years ago, Shinigami combat power skyrocketed.
Before Zanpakuto, a Baraggan-class Menos Grande could sweep Seireitei.
After Zanpakuto, even ten Baraggans might not force out Zero Division.
From that perspective, Oetsu Nimaiya was a great benefactor to the Gotei 13.
Now, if Hollows, armed with intelligence, invented weapons analogous to Zanpakuto…
Would the Shinigami's situation regress to millennia or even eons past?
In truth, Shinigami, Hollows, and Quincy have always been in a development race.
Initially, Hollows were strongest by nature, born with Resurrección, super high-speed regeneration, Garganta, sensory nerves, Cero, Sonido, and more.
Later, Shinigami developed Zanjutsu, Hakuda, Hohō, Kidō, Hell Butterflies, Senkaimon, reishi threads, Zanpakuto catching up to become the strongest in the Three Realms.
Eventually the Quincy upgraded their bloodline, gained Schrift and Vollständig, and developed methods to steal Bankai, making them the strongest race.
Hollows, bound by their innate depravity and acting on instinct, failed to evolve and fell behind.
Now, from their exchange with Yoshio, they sensed that this new breed of Hollow had the potential to become the Three Realms' overlord again.
Thinking this, Isshin couldn't help saying, "Should we really cooperate with that guy? If he gets Captain Kurotsuchi's data, something even more terrible might happen."
Unohana couldn't decide either.
What Arrancar in Hueco Mundo most lacked was foundational knowledge and tech accumulation. If Angra Mainyu obtained Mayuri's research, it would fill centuries of gaps for them.
And all that… just to get info on Arrancar?
"We'll wait for Captain Kurotsuchi's opinion," said Unohana. "Through his surveillance bug, he should already know what happened here."
"That guy…" Isshin frowned, but mindful Mayuri might be listening, he changed the subject: "What is Kisuke Urahara trying to do? Has he abandoned being a Shinigami? Is he mixed up with Hollows now?"
Unohana said nothing. Her contact with Kisuke was limited, but while he served as captain she hadn't thought him a bad person.
Studying Hollowfication—perhaps that was just research drive. What researcher doesn't have it? Is Mayuri really better than Kisuke?
But now, this had gone beyond "research desire."
"Let's head back."
After speaking, Unohana glanced stealthily at Zaraki.
Since the fight with Yoshio, Zaraki had been silent. He wasn't interested in anything outside of battle.
Still…
That Hollow was sharp. First meeting and he already noticed the power buried in Zaraki.
Unohana sighed inwardly. She wanted to pass the full name of Kenpachi to him—but now was not the time…
And so, the Shinigami left.
…
Yoshio appeared more than fifty kilometers from the Negar Ruins. To him, the earlier deal was win–win.
He was Angra Mainyu, but also Yoshio Kamado. He already had Arrancar data in his head.
Trading some of that in exchange for unknown data was good.
He was very interested in Mayuri's "artificial soul" research—especially the Nemuri Project with unlimited self-evolution.
The Daireishokairō forcibly recorded everything that happened in Seireitei, but Mayuri clearly hadn't recorded those matters, or had evaded recording by some method.
Mayuri was connected to Central 46; even making Shinigami into living bombs brought no punishment. Modifying the Daireishokairō entries wasn't far-fetched.
His research was always top secret.
If he could use this opportunity to get Mayuri's research, it would be a big win.
He already had a large amount of Kisuke Urahara's research. If he also obtained Mayuri's, he'd have the distilled essence of the two great Shinigami scientists.
Then his research capacity would skyrocket—he might even create superior things.
Still pondering research data, Yoshio stopped walking.
"Come out."
He looked into the distance. As his words fell, a black cat came padding over.
"How did you find me?"
The black cat was, of course, Yoruichi Shihōin.
In feline form, Yoruichi approached. "I used special methods to null my spiritual pressure. In theory it shouldn't be detectable."
Onmitsukidō had ways to nullify one's spiritual pressure without lowering combat capability. As former head of Onmitsukidō, Yoruichi knew the secret well.
Yoshio was a bit surprised; he hadn't expected Yoruichi to come find him.
He was also somewhat moved. His identity was bound to Aizen, so he couldn't gain favor with Aizen's enemies. But his Arrancar identity wasn't bound to any faction yet.
Could he use this identity to gain Urahara's goodwill?
Yoruichi's Shunpo wasn't the point, but Urahara's "Universal Countermeasure" soul ability was truly god-tier.
Earning Urahara's favor would be as hard as climbing the sky, but you have to start somewhere.
He wouldn't force it. For someone like that, pressure only breeds suspicion.
Better to have him approach, then build goodwill and rapport through several collaborations.
Thinking this, Yoshio said, "Have you heard this saying. When you gaze long into the abyss, the abyss also gazes into you."
"…" Yoruichi paused, then murmured, "You're not like other Arrancar—you're rather literate."
"To me, those Arrancar are merely incomplete forms," Yoshio said flatly. "Their masks have shattered, yes, but that's their only similarity to me."
In truth, that wasn't wrong. With the exception of Starrk, other Arrancar weren't complete forms.
Strictly speaking, one must wait for Aizen to extract the Hōgyoku from Rukia Kuchiki and then fuse the two Hōgyoku; only then could the Hōgyoku fully Arrancarize a Hollow.
Having been at Urahara's side for years, Yoruichi understood.
Seireitei had stirred up a huge operation to hunt her and Urahara—they couldn't have missed this point.
So when Seireitei moved, Kisuke did too.
He knew Central 46 and the Gotei wouldn't believe him. They could only try to expose the true mastermind—at least, Aizen Sōsuke…
They also had to avoid an all-out deathmatch with the Gotei 13; if it came to that, there'd be no reconciliation.
Especially with the Visoreds involved…
Thus, when the Shinigami entered Hueco Mundo, Urahara sent Yoruichi to infiltrate and use special methods to surveil the Shinigami.
Unohana's conversation with Yoshio had been under Kisuke and Yoruichi's surveillance.
It was precisely because she sensed Yoshio was different that Yoruichi approached.
But even with her pressure nullified, she couldn't hide from Yoshio.
Because besides sensing spiritual pressure, Yoshio had a divine skill—
Malice Sense!