After a while, Unohana's thoughts drifted to Hueco Mundo. She frowned slightly.
"Cole, are you planning to head back to Hueco Mundo again?"
At the words "Hueco Mundo," Cole perked up, turning to her with bright interest.
"What's this, Hana-nee—got addicted already? I knew you liked all kinds of…. You're a total maniac for—"
Thud!
Face flushing, Unohana pressed her bare foot down on Cole's face.
"Even if your feet are pretty, I'm not into that," he mumbled. "Mind easing up?"
"Serves you right for saying I'm 'addicted'…"
Her cheeks burning, Unohana ground her toes against his cheek a few times before speaking again.
"I'm just worried. If you go to Hueco Mundo and run into Aizen, what then? Are you planning to take him on alone?"
"Me? Alone?"
Cole gently took her foot, playing with her toes, and chuckled. "Hana-nee, you're overthinking it. I'm not dumb enough to charge Aizen head-on."
Aizen was a walking cheat code. If he hadn't run into an even bigger cheat named Ichigo, he might really have ended up sitting on the Throne.
Going head-to-head with that? Not a chance.
"Then why go back? To enjoy the scenery?"
Unohana eyed him skeptically. She didn't buy that his motive could be that simple.
Cole laughed, buried his head against her soft chest, gave a playful bite, and spoke around it:
"Please. I'm going to be a good son and serve Mom properly over there."
"Mm…"
Unohana arched her neck, face blooming scarlet, her big toe flexing tight.
Several seconds passed before she caught her breath, hugging his head close, voice breathy.
"D-Don't say such nonsense…"
"Okay, okay, I'll stop teasing you."
Cole tipped his head back, lying on the ground again. "I'm going to check the reiryoku over there."
"Reiryoku?" Unohana panted lightly, puzzled.
"Mm."
A glint flashed in Cole's eyes. "I've noticed this: Hueco Mundo's overall reiryoku density is lower than Seireitei's, but it's astonishingly even. Even the Forest of Menos outclasses most of Rukongai."
"That's only natural."
Unohana, still a little flushed, nodded. "Seireitei's density is so high because the Kido Corps' barriers siphon reiryoku from the entirety of Soul Society."
Cole wasn't surprised.
Soul Society was shaped like a ring—Seireitei at the center; Rukongai's four districts stretched to the edges.
The farther from the center, the thinner the reiryoku; the closer to the center, the denser.
In other words, even a fool could tell Seireitei hogged the world's reiryoku.
Hueco Mundo was different—no unified rule.
Neither under Barragan nor now under Aizen did Las Noches monopolize reiryoku.
That opened a door for him—enough to execute his plan.
Hearing him out, Unohana seemed to catch on. She stared, surprised.
"Cole… you aren't planning to set up a barrier in Hueco Mundo to absorb all of its reiryoku, are you?"
"Why not?"
Cole's gaze burned.
It was a keystone he'd long prepared—if he pulled it off, he'd gain an inexhaustible current of reiryoku.
Seireitei might gorge itself on the world's reiryoku, but Seireitei was huge; most of that power merely bled into the air, and only a sliver got forged into bricks and wards.
For him to absorb it there would be a pain—and he'd have to wait on the Shinigami's construction—terrible efficiency.
Hueco Mundo, though, was pure survival of the fittest. If you had strength, you had permission.
If he succeeded, his ever-heavier Ruyi Jingu Bang would hit its limit form and force out a bankai.
Unohana's blush faded as she grew thoughtful.
"But have you considered this? No matter how you do it, you'll end up at odds with Aizen."
"That part doesn't worry me."
Cole smiled, lips quirking. "I've made preparations. I'll act while Aizen is away from Hueco Mundo."
In the original timeline, Aizen left Hueco Mundo for a whole day.
If Cole seized that window and dominated the realm's reiryoku, even one hour of absorption from an entire world would be astronomical.
Unohana nodded. "I see. But how will you deploy a barrier in such a short time?"
Barriers weren't like a quick kido—they took months or even decades to lay down.
Urahara's underground space, the Vizards' warehouse pocket—those were labors of years.
Cole raised his right hand; thumb, index, and middle fingers pinched and parted.
A thread of white light spun into a perfect cube, rotating between his fingers.
Unohana reached out, startled. "A barrier—cast instantly? How?"
How else? He'd dumped points straight into barrier arts.
Cole crushed the white cube and smiled. "Let's just say my barrier craft isn't shabby. With you helping, we can pull in a massive amount of reiryoku fast."
Unohana nodded slowly, a faint smile on her lips. "So absorbing reiryoku makes you stronger."
Cole lifted a brow; it didn't surprise him that others had put it together—Kisuke and company had likely figured it out even earlier than Unohana.
And so what?
Was anyone capable of swallowing all the world's reiryoku in one gulp?
Unohana's eyes curved, voice teasing. "And your swordsmanship leapt because of that, didn't it?"
"Of course. It's one of my tricks."
He admitted it easily. In a world where Shinigami powers came in every flavor, his wasn't even the strangest.
"Quite the trick."
Unohana licked her lips, excitement blooming. The stronger Cole grew, the more delicious the wounds he carved into her in battle—and the more her own sword would sharpen, until she finally surpassed the boy before her.
Suddenly, a soft gasp escaped her; cheeks flushed anew as she stared at the domineering boy sitting astride her chest.
"Cole…"
"Mom, I've got more than one trick, you know."
He grinned. "Open wide—and try this one."
At the same time—
In Karakura Town, a certain street corner.
Space tore open in an inky black rent. Ulquiorra stepped out in a white coat; beside him loomed Yammy Llargo.
Yammy scratched at his scalp, annoyed. "What's the deal, anyway? Why's Aizen-sama sending us to snatch a few brats?"
Ulquiorra took a step forward, voice flat. "Unclear. It's an order from Aizen-sama; that's enough. We'll seize the human first."
"Fine."
Yammy's eyes drifted over the crowds in the street; he licked his lips.
"Think we can wait a few minutes?"
Human souls didn't matter to an Adjuchas-class Hollow like him—
but the taste was exquisite. And right now… he was a little hungry.
"After the mission."
Ulquiorra was already at a high window.
Inside the room, Tatsuki lay on her bed, feet kicking idly as she watched TV.
At last she rolled over with a grumble.
"Stupid Cole. Orihime's back, Ichigo's back, Chad's back, even that transfer student's back—why isn't he? Did he really go to that Soul Society place? I thought only the dead could go there…"
"When Cole gets back, I'm making him explain everything about Soul Society. Are Shinigami there like the legends—"
Her pupils suddenly shrank.
The windowpane—
shattered with a crack.
"Who's there!?"
Tatsuki slid to her feet in an instant, dropping into a karate stance.
The glass hadn't broken on its own—the shards had slammed across the room as if launched from outside.
Yet she hadn't seen anyone.
On the sixteenth floor, no less.
A Hollow?
"Tatsuki Arisawa."
Ulquiorra's voice was indifferent. He tapped her neck with two fingers.
She crumpled, unconscious.
…
At the Vizards' hideout—
Hiyori, Lisa, Hachigen, and Mashiro were killing time in the warehouse when—
boom.
The barrier gate exploded inward under a single kick. Yammy strode in, laughing.
"So it's you lot—the Shinigami with Hollow masks!"
The four snapped alert, eyes narrowing at the massive intruder.
"A Hollow!?"
"Not quite…"
"That reiatsu feels off."
"Almost like a Shinigami…"
Yammy didn't bother with chatter. He bellowed, reiatsu blasting outward.
"Listen up, Shinigami! I'm the Décima Espada—Yammy Llargo! Get ready; I don't do mercy!"
"So it is a Hollow…"
Fury flared in Hiyori's eyes. She ripped her zanpakuto free, stamped forward, and slashed down with a roar:
"Bite him apart—Orochi (Great Serpent)!"
Her asauchi-form blade warped in an instant into a jag-toothed cleaver.
Yammy didn't even draw his own weapon; he thrust out a thick forearm and caught the blade bare.
"Die!"
Hiyori's eyes flashed cold—she meant to hew straight through his limb.
Clang—!
Metal shrieked.
Hiyori's pupils blew wide.
He'd blocked her slash with his arm—without so much as a scratch.
Yammy laughed and swept his arm; Hiyori shot across the room and cratered into the wall.
"Gh—!"
She slid down, spat blood, and forced herself up, teeth clenched.
"Careful—his Hierro (Iron Skin) is insane!"
Insane was an understatement.
Other than Cole's, she'd never seen skin this hard—hundreds of times tougher than the Hollows she'd faced before.
Lisa gritted her teeth and flicked a glance to Hachigen and Mashiro; the three moved as one.
"Crush him—Tetsu-Akatombo (Iron Dragonfly)!"
Lisa's blade unfolded into a three-meter polearm—broad, paddle-like at the tip—
and she cleaved for Yammy's skull like wielding a war halberd.
Mashiro snapped her mask on in an instant, body flashing overhead; her right heel arced down and detonated with emerald light.
"Mashiro Super Cero—Shiro Chōkyū Cero (White Super Hollow Flash)!"
Hachigen thrust out a palm, chanting:
"Hadō 63: Raikōhō (Thunder Roar Cannon)!"
...
(End of Chapter)
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