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The sudden appearance of the black cavity dropped the atrium's atmosphere into a heavy silence. Faces turned grim as the assembled Shinigami watched the expedition force preparing to step out. The danger was palpable; no one present needed reminding that this mission carried risks close to certain death.
Moyu, however, betrayed no hesitation. Once Nilu arrived at the First Division's barracks, he glanced at Rangiku and spoke in his usual calm tone.
"Rangiku, Nilu—let's go."
With that, he stepped into the swirling maw of the cavity without a backward glance. The two followed immediately, as if the decision had already been sealed long ago. The others hesitated only briefly before disappearing into the darkness as well. When the last of the force had passed through, the oppressive silence deepened across the atrium. Even hardened captains felt unease.
Sui-Feng's gaze lingered on the black maw, her heart weighed down with conflicting thoughts. Be sure to come back alive...
—
Hueco Mundo.
Endless white desert stretched beneath a colorless sky. Quartz trees, twisted and towering, loomed across the wasteland like petrified guardians, some crowned with jagged boulders. Hollows crawled, slithered, and hunted within the labyrinth, preying on weaker spiritual presences to feed their own growth. Yet in this instant, the forest stilled. Instinct screamed danger, and violent waves of spiritual energy scattered the lesser Hollows in all directions. Sand churned into whirling clouds, and within moments the desert lay empty, scrubbed bare of their presence.
Then space itself fractured. Cracks spiderwebbed outward like glass under a hammer, growing until they yawned open in jagged black lines. Darkness leaked from within, swallowing light. It was no natural garganta, but a boundary passage designed by Urahara Kisuke—his "custom" black cavity. Unlike the Arrancar's stable garganta, this construct was volatile, unstable in its structure. Step wrongly within, and even a captain could lose themselves forever in the void.
From the rent in space, Moyu and the others emerged. Merely standing there, their unconsciously released spiritual pressure sent the few lingering Hollows fleeing faster.
"Oraah, what a place." Zaraki Kenpachi slung his Zanpakutō over one shoulder, eyes gleaming with wild hunger. "The air stinks of battle already."
Kusajishi Yachiru leaned over his shoulder, giggling. "Xiaojian looks happy!"
"Tch, shut it." Zaraki clicked his tongue, though the feral grin stretching his face made his words hollow. To Yachiru, his harshness never carried real weight.
Moyu studied the wasteland in silence before releasing his own spiritual sense into the air. The flow was chaotic, currents clashing violently, scattering any trace of order. His brows drew together.
"The spiritual currents here are completely disordered. Pinpointing Aizen or the Espada's exact location will be difficult."
The others extended their senses as well, but the results were the same—confusion, static, distorted echoes swallowed in the clashing tides.
Unohana's expression barely shifted, though her eyes sharpened. "If so, we may be left wandering blind in search of him."
Kotetsu Isane tried to adapt, weaving bakudō into her sensing technique to chase for a trail of Aizen or Gin. Yet her effort collapsed almost instantly. Her reiryoku traveled less than a hand's span before fracturing into nothing, cut apart by the turbulent streams.
"N-no good..." she admitted awkwardly, glancing at her captain.
Moyu gave her a dry look and sighed. "Did you truly think it would be that simple? If ordinary sensing or bakudō worked here, then Kyoraku's earlier reconnaissance would have proven all of Seireitei incompetent."
Isane flushed scarlet, biting her lip, while Unohana remained composed, her expression unreadable.
"Then how do we find them?" Yachiru's carefree voice rang across the barren desert, bright even in that oppressive world.
Moyu turned to the tall woman at his side. "Nilu, I'll leave that to you."
"Of course!" she replied without hesitation.
Moyu himself didn't know the exact location of Las Noches, but Nilu did. Once an Espada, her memory of Hueco Mundo's geography was precise despite her otherwise scatterbrained demeanor. With her leading, their path would not be as hopeless as it seemed.
The group pressed forward, cutting through the desert toward the inner circle.
—
The Forest of Menos Grande.
Moyu's blade cleaved cleanly through an advancing Adjuchas, scattering fragments of its mask into the sand. His frown deepened. The further they advanced, the thicker the resistance became. Hollows surged at them relentlessly, mindless in their suicidal charges.
The quartz forest stretched in every direction, towering trees locking them into a labyrinth where Gillians lurked like shadows and Adjuchas prowled in swarms. The density was staggering, far beyond what Moyu had encountered during his earlier investigations here. It was as if the forest itself had mutated, spawning armies beyond reason.
For Rangiku and Isane, every step forward was a battle. Their reiryoku strained as they forced down wave after wave of Gillians. But what froze Isane more than the enemy was the sight of her own captain.
Unohana Retsu moved like death incarnate. The kindly smile that normally softened her features was gone, replaced by the cold stillness of a blade honed by centuries. Her spiritual pressure uncoiled like a vast ocean, saturated with suffocating killing intent. Wherever her blade swept, Menos corpses piled, a silent testament to the true identity of the First Generation Kenpachi. For Isane, the revelation was terrifying—her gentle healer of a captain, now revealed as the most efficient butcher of them all.
Nearby, Zaraki Kenpachi rampaged like a beast unchained. Laughter and roars spilled from him as he hacked through Gillians with raw brutality, his presence tearing open swathes of the forest. Yet even with both Kenpachi unleashed, progress remained slow. The sheer volume of Hollows turned the forest into an endless mire of battle.
"What a nuisance," Moyu muttered after dispatching another Gillian with a single stroke. "If this continues, we'll be stalled here forever. For a herd of this scale... unconventional methods are needed."
Kotetsu Isane and Rangiku stared, wide-eyed, as Moyu raised his palm to the sky. Fingers spread, his voice rang clear and cold above the roaring Hollows.
"Hadō #88—Hiryū Gekizoku Shinten Raihō!"
A thunderous roar split the forest as reiryoku blazed forth, drowning the quartz trees in a torrent of destructive light.
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