"Acting all mysterious…" Yoshio curled his lip.
"If you don't want to say it, don't. It's not like I'm dying to know."
This time, Hollow White's favorability toward him wasn't that high.
The first Hollow White's rapid rise in favorability was purely because it contained a fragment of Yoshio's soul.
No. 2 Hollow White had no fragment of Yoshio's soul, so everything returned to normal.
Moreover, the second Hollow White hadn't fully transformed yet—it hadn't even generated a Souls Ability.
Once it did, Yoshio might glean some clues from it.
And those clues didn't take long to arrive.
…
About a month later, Yoshio returned to the lab.
He found the second Hollow White no longer in the cultivation tank but moved to another device that could hold it upright, filled with some unknown fluid.
Yoshio looked over and found that the second Hollow White's Souls Ability was ["Cocoon Transformation."]
[Cocoon Transformation: usable upon reaching a new realm. Once activated, a white cocoon envelops the user. After breaking out, the user's spiritual pressure, cutting power, speed, defense, recovery, etc., are all enhanced.]
["Note: the stronger the user, the longer it takes to break out."]
"…," Yoshio stared at the ability, practically drooling.
I want it. I want it. I want this ability!
Glancing at Aizen standing nearby, he couldn't help asking, "Captain Aizen, is No. 2 complete?"
Aizen nodded. "Whether we can call it a finished product still requires further testing."
"How about I handle the testing?" Yoshio said. "I don't have much going on these days—why not let me oversee No. 2's growth?"
To obtain No. 2's Souls Ability, he'd need to spend more time with it; otherwise, how would he raise its favorability?
Hence his suggestion to Aizen.
"Rare to see you so enthusiastic," Aizen smiled. "I was planning to assign this to Gin, but since you've volunteered, I'll entrust it to Yoshio-kun."
"Thank you, Captain Aizen," Yoshio said gratefully. "Then I'll trouble you to cover for me with your ability. Daytime is enough—if someone invites me for a drink, I'm still going."
"Heh… you've been getting along with Kyōraku lately," Aizen quipped.
"Not really. Captain Kyōraku isn't exactly easy to deal with."
After a few more words, he left the lab.
From now on, Yoshio would likely spend most of his time there.
Outside, Aizen would use Kyōka Suigetsu to create a decoy to stand in for him.
All Yoshio had to do was focus on bonding with Hollow White.
Thinking this, Yoshio walked up to Hollow White.
According to Aizen's notes, the second Hollow White was formed by fusing and converting the souls of one hundred and thirty-three shinigami, and at birth already possessed spiritual dominance and the combat power of a stationed captain.
Whether from a technical standpoint or the quality and quantity of the souls composing its spirit, No. 2 was superior to No. 1.
The only edge the original Hollow White had was the [The Animals] made with a fragment of Yoshio's soul.
Yoshio had wanted to further raise the first Hollow White's favorability, but before he got far, it was implanted into Rukia Kuchiki's body. Who knows what she'll become.
Following Aizen's plan, Yoshio sent the second Hollow White to the Human World.
No. 2 would capture souls in the Human World—be they human, Shinigami, or Hollow…
Yoshio's job was to record all its combat data and observe all its changes.
It was dull work, especially because No. 2 Hollow White didn't communicate with him.
It had intelligence, and it grew smarter in battle, but it seemed unable to speak.
Even so, Yoshio didn't lose heart; he kept patiently keeping it company.
…
Time flowed by in that companionship.
Yoshio stayed in the lab most of the time, occasionally going out drinking with Rangiku and others.
As time passed, Tōshirō Hitsugaya graduated.
Yes—the prodigy Tōshirō Hitsugaya graduated from the Shin'ō Academy, prompting a recruiting scramble.
But Hitsugaya decided to join the Fifth Division—after all, Yoshio had brought him out of the Rukongai.
By the time he left the Academy, Hitsugaya had already mastered Bankai. Yoshio was amazed by his unbelievable talent.
Even he himself, by repeatedly using Hitsugaya's [Child of Kirin] talent, felt he was close to Bankai level.
This wasn't to say [Child of Kirin]'s boost was inferior to Hitsugaya's; rather, Yoshio studied a wide array of things, not just trainig.
He often used that ability to read, study various theories, and research Zanjutsu, Hakuda, Hohō, and Kidō. Those activities took about a third of the ability's uptime.
The remaining two-thirds went to enhancing mental power and communicating with his Zanpakutō.
And the skill had a one-day cooldown.
Still, though he hadn't mastered Bankai, Yoshio's actual strength wasn't tightly bound to Bankai.
He had many soul techniques, quite a few combat-related; even without bankai, his combat power wasn't below some captains.
On the day Hitsugaya graduated, Yoshio took him to the Sixth District for a good meal. After they parted, Yoshio returned to the lab.
Through surveillance, he discovered Hollow White seemed to sense something, opened a Garganta, and entered Hueco Mundo.
Fortunately, Aizen's monitoring was flawless; even in Hueco Mundo, surveillance was perfect.
In Hueco Mundo, Hollow White went still again.
"What's it doing?" Ichimaru Gin asked, curious.
"It's searching for something," Yoshio said. Having spent so much time with No. 2, he understood some of its thoughts.
Even if it couldn't speak, Yoshio could grasp its meaning.
Hollow White was looking for something—something that had piqued its interest.
"Interesting—something that can attract Hollow White…"
Aizen walked over then; their little group had all arrived.
Aizen looked at the screen. On it, Hollow White seemed to have located its target and began to move.
"Looks like whatever it is has quite the pull," Yoshio said.
Then he saw Hollow White stop in a certain area. He narrowed his eyes at the two people on the opposite side of Hollow White on the screen.
"It's you…"