Sadly, people's positions can never be as mercurial as Yoshio's.
Yoshio was a Shinigami in the Soul Society, a Hollow in Hueco Mundo, and in the Wandenreich he would be a Quincy!
Triple investment—no matter who wins, he wins!
Only, as a Shinigami, he invested in Hueco Mundo; as a Hollow, he invested in the Soul Society. Would he invest in the Wandenreich once he split off as a Quincy?
Angra looked at Urahara with curiosity. "I'm not interested in your grand rhetoric. But if you can help me evolve, I can help you."
"I'm not like other Hollows—at the very least, I'm cooperative."
Urahara smiled, then pressed a button. A Garganta tore open behind him.
"Aizen just lifted the barrier on Garganta around Hueco Mundo, so the Garganta tunnel I built is still unstable. Let's leave here first."
"If you want to go to the Human World, I can open one for you," Angra said, but he still followed Urahara inside.
After all, his Garganta only went to Karakura Town, while Urahara's led straight to their destination.
See what Urahara wanted to do first.
Just as Urahara said, his Garganta tunnel wasn't stable, but sufficient for the two of them to escape.
Exiting the Garganta, Angra realized they were in Urahara's underground training field from before.
Come to think of it, Urahara's house—the Urahara Shop in Karakura Town—had already been exposed. This guy dared to stay in Karakura Town? He was bold.
The underground training ground was like another world—no matter how it was outside, inside there were blue skies and clouds, vast and open.
Honestly, the space Urahara created looked better than the Wandenreich's.
The Wandenreich had ice shards everywhere overhead!
"As expected of the Soul Society's great genius," Angra praised. Urahara replied, "I'm just an ordinary shopkeeper now. As for 'genius of the Soul Society'—let's forget that title."
As they spoke, he led Angra to an open area.
There were two items there.
"This is…?"
Angra already knew what they were when he saw them, but considering his Arrancar status, he still asked Urahara.
"Tenshintai and Reversal Body."
Urahara said, "The former is a special spiritual apparatus that can forcibly materialize a Shinigami's Zanpakuto spirit and make it submit. The latter is a special gadget I developed based on the former. Those counterfeit captains that appeared outside were made with this little tool."
Angra was surprised. "These are Shinigami tools, right?"
He was somewhat surprised; Tenshintai was an Onmitsukidō special device—he hadn't expected Yoruichi Shihouin to swipe it at such a time.
Yoruichi really had sacrificed a lot for Urahara.
Unaware of the Arrancar's thoughts, Urahara nodded. "Yeah. But Arrancar aren't the same as Hollows, so I'm curious whether Arrancar can use these tools."
"Oh?" Angra sneered. "Am I your test subject?"
"Interested in trying?"
"Splendid…"
Angra drew his Zanpakuto. It was pitch-black, like a black blade from One Piece; look closely and the blade seemed to flow like liquid.
Drawing the Zanpakuto meant he was ready to fight.
To be honest, Urahara's idea greatly piqued his curiosity.
Shinigami who trained with Tenshintai awakened Bankai; with Reversal Body, they produced "man-blade fusion" phantasms.
What would happen with him, an Arrancar?
Urahara told Angra how to use the tools: just stab his Zanpakuto into the bone frame of the Tenshintai, and Urahara would maintain its operation as a third party.
He told Angra that the Tenshintai could only be used once.
But it was designed for Shinigami—even if a Shinigami didn't awaken Bankai in that training, their growth would skyrocket—in combat technique and in spiritual force.
After all…
Battle itself is the best training to promote growth in spiritual force.
Angra perceived this: any artifact that could boost his spiritual pressure was a good artifact!
With that in mind, he stabbed his Zanpakuto into the Tenshintai.
In the next moment, the Tenshintai toppled, and black sludge oozed out from it.
Excitement—or joy—flashed across Urahara's face. It seemed his hypothesis was right.
Arrancar were still Hollows, but they possessed a Shinigami component and could use the Tenshintai!
But when Shinigami used Tenshintai, their Zanpakuto spirits materialized.
When an Arrancar used it, what appeared was…
The Hollow's true body?
Watching the Tenshintai exude more and more black sludge, Urahara observed carefully.
The battle data he'd obtained on the Espada…
Frankly, it was hard to analyze.
Because of Aizen's Kyōka Suigetsu, the observed data had naturally been affected by it.
Back then, those Arrancar had come disguised under Kyōka Suigetsu!
But now, Angra Mainyu's battle data was the key to analyzing Arrancar!
Staring at the black mud forming before him, Angra said, "I have to defeat this thing, right!!"
"Compared to Shinigami, yes," Urahara said beside him. "For a Shinigami's Bankai, you need 'materialization' and 'submission' of the Zanpakuto spirit. Tenshintai helps force 'materialization,' and by defeating the opponent, you achieve 'submission.'"
"There are other methods to make them 'yield' without defeating them."
"But for an Arrancar, it's all still a mystery."
Angra looked at the black mud. "This thing doesn't look communicative at all!"
Indeed, although this black sludge was his true body, at this moment he could only feel endless malice from it—no trace of reason.
When it fully emerged, the black slurry surged like a roaring sea toward him.
He used Sonido to dodge, but countless tributaries branched out of the sludge like tentacles and swept at him.
Angra swung his blade. In an instant, black reishi carved a crescent that swept across, severing all nearby tendrils!
Yet at the cut cross-sections, mouthlike structures appeared.
Buzz!
Masses of reishi gathered within. Yoshio's pupils dilated. This was…
Black Cero?!
Normally, "Espada"-class Arrancar in released states could only use "Black Cero," and it was even stronger than Gran Rey Cero.
But now this black mud was about to fire dozens of Black Cero at once!
That was cheating!
And in theory, even he, in release, couldn't fire that many Black Cero!
He pointed his blade downward and whispered, "Surge, O sea of darkness."
In an instant, his Zanpakuto shattered, and his body began to change.
This was an Arrancar's Resurrección!
Resurrección, also called sword release, returns an Arrancar to their original form.
As Angra activated Resurrección, his body writhed, spreading like the black sludge pouring from the Tenshintai!
Urahara watched the battle.
Even he had never seen such a strange Menos Grande.
In fact, not all Menos Grande take animal or living forms.
Occasionally, some Menos Grande are natural substances.
Urahara occasionally received intel from the Soul Society. In a recently serialized novel there, abilities were categorized as:
Paramecia, Zoan, and Logia.
Hollows could also be grouped into three: humanoid Menos Grande with special powers, beast-form Menos agile and strong like animals, and the extremely rare natural-form Menos!
For example…
A special Menos whose essence was sand!
Yet even those special Menos were still substances found in nature.
But Angra Mainyu's true form resembled a Logia-like fluid—but wasn't any natural substance.
Not sand, not ocean, not wind…
It was a black liquid, but certainly not oil.
Angra's essence was more like an embodied emotional existence—steeped in malice, saturated with rot and filth.
Thinking that, Urahara had another hypothesis.
Did a Hollow's Resurrección involve special emotional factors?
Angra's essence was almost malice incarnate—yet he himself didn't seem to harbor random hostility. His behavior seemed at odds with his nature.
Then, if he didn't rely on outside force, would that cause him to be eroded during Resurrección?
However…
Even knowing this, self-resurrecting Arrancar still couldn't be mass-produced.
After all…
Hollows are heartless beings that obey their desires; asking them to violate their own desires is too difficult.
If such an effort could be made, Urahara could create another Hōgyoku himself.
As he watched the two masses of black mud fight, Urahara gradually discovered Tenshintai's usage for Arrancar.
For Shinigami, Tenshintai materializes the Zanpakuto spirit; for an Arrancar… it seemed to materialize the Arrancar's essence!
Not only Urahara noticed this—Yoshio had noticed too.
Although both sides were black sludge, the opponent fought purely by instinct, driven entirely by malice.
Boom—boom—boom!
Explosions echoed in succession—Cero, Gran Rey Cero, and Black Cero intertwined and detonated, shaking the entire underground training ground.
Neither could overcome the other, but the opponent's malice and corruption seemed to infect Angra himself.
Funny—he was the embodiment of evil, yet he was being "corroded" by an even more evil version of himself.
In theory, his ability should render them mutually ineffective—both were evil—but in comparison, he found the other was more evil! Or rather, the other should be corroded by him too—yet the other simply didn't care!
While the "corruption" was mild, he could indeed feel the change, while the other was unmoved—pure malice itself.
In fact, when Angra tried to taint the opponent with malice, it only grew stronger. So he stopped using malice for pollution.
Instead, he used will to purify that corruption. With each purification, he felt changes in his body, and his reishi increased accordingly.
The two black sludges fought for a day and a night. In the end, the black mud created by "Tenshintai" vanished.
"Hm?"
In the midst of the fight, Angra couldn't help looking at Urahara with displeasure. "What are you doing?"
"Your soul burden is near its limit. Rest for now."
Urahara said, "Right, let's talk about the changes."
Angra hadn't felt fatigue during the fight, but hearing Urahara, he realized his soul did seem close to its limit.
Although Tenshintai was maintained by Urahara's spiritual pressure, it was ultimately his soul that split it off.
And on closer look, fine sweat beaded Urahara's brow—maintaining Tenshintai had consumed a lot of stamina.
"Any findings?" Angra walked over to Urahara and looked at the instrument recording his battle data.
Urahara said in a low voice, "I observed an Arrancar's Resurrección—its principle should be similar to our Shinigami Shikai, but the power amplification is closer to our Bankai."
Remarkable.
Yoshio had read the Shinigami manga and knew he was right.
An Arrancar's Resurrección operates on Shikai principles but boosts combat power near Bankai levels.
He hadn't expected Urahara to grasp so much from observing only a few Arrancar battles.
Resurrección is the Zanpakuto returning to its true form; Shikai is the Asauchi transforming into a true Zanpakuto—both are returns to essence.
Thinking of this, Yoshio's yearning for Resurrección deepened.
Urahara continued, "I think that since Resurrección is like Shikai, then Hollow 'Zanpakuto' should also possess something akin to a Shinigami's 'Bankai.'"
"You mean… Segunda Etapa?" Angra Mainyu decided to tip Starrk off later, and said, "I've actually seen an Arrancar similar to me. I heard from Baraggan that this Arrancar seems to have the ability to revive again after Resurrección."
"Segunda Etapa?" Urahara paused, then nodded. "Yes, you can call it that."
He put away the instrument and led Angra to a pavilion nearby. On a stone table sat a computer-like device.
Urahara went over, plugged his instrument into the computer port, and streams of data instantly flowed across the screen.
At the same time, he offered a startling conjecture. "But I think Hollow Segunda Etapa should have two forms—and these two can even stack."
"?" Angra was surprised and excited. Indeed, finding Urahara was the right choice.
Aizen had researched Hollow-Shinigamification, but it was essentially for his own evolution; he hadn't pushed Arrancar research to higher tiers.
But Urahara was different—now that he wanted Angra to be a key asset against the Quincy, he'd put in real effort.
Who knew whether Urahara would still go all-out after Kurosaki Ichigo was born.
Maybe he would—after all, even they couldn't predict the future perfectly.
Angra asked, "What are the two Second Stages?"
"Resurrección reveals the true form. At that point, a bifurcation appears."
"Hollows are beings of desire—driven by instinct—fallen souls without hearts." Even in front of Angra, an Arrancar, Urahara still said that.
But it was true; most Hollows admitted they were fallen souls, and many believed themselves beyond saving.
Seeing Angra unmoved, Urahara continued, "After Resurrección, Hollows become different from before—they fall into a state similar to Shinigami and gradually gain a 'heart.'"
"Your Zanpakuto is your heart."
A Hollow's heart becomes a mask, the mask becomes a Zanpakuto—so calling the Zanpakuto the heart isn't wrong; in fact, a Shinigami's Zanpakuto is also an extension of the self.
Compared to Shinigami, the Hollow's extension is even more thorough.
"So the two paths are: continue pursuing your inner self… or continue adhering to pure instinct."
Urahara said, "That's how I envision the two forms of Segunda Etapa."
Angra frowned, thinking of Ulquiorra—the only Arrancar in the original who displayed Segunda Etapa.
According to the lore, Ulquiorra temporarily grasped that power in his battle with Kurosaki Ichigo, seeking his own "heart" in that fight.
So he fit Urahara's "continuously seeking the inner self" evolution path.
Then he recalled another Ulquiorra concept proposed by the Shinigami author in original art—originally a game plot. Even with authorial backing, Angra hadn't paid it much mind.
But hearing Urahara now, he couldn't help recalling that setting.
Ulquiorra's new form was "return the world to nothingness"!
Isn't that exactly Urahara's "adhering to instinct" Segunda Etapa?
Kisuke Urahara… truly a genius!
Angra Mainyu knew Urahara had said so much at once for an important reason:
To display his capability to Angra—to make him know and believe that by following Urahara, he could ascend to a new level!