"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?!