"Soul Eater."
Yekawa looked down at Osaki Masahiro's corpse and activated the ability without hesitation.
A dark golden vortex rose silently behind him. The fallen Captain's body began to dissolve into spirit particles, breaking apart layer by layer until he was completely devoured.
"…This is…"
After fully absorbing Osaki Masahiro, Yekawa sensed that although his spiritual pressure had increased, the improvement itself was not dramatic. Yet what truly stirred him was not the slight rise in Reiatsu, but the subtle transformation occurring deep within his soul.
For a fleeting moment, he felt dazed.
It was as if the Hollow mask fused to his face had loosened ever so slightly.
Realizing this change, Yekawa's eyes widened with ecstasy.
"So that's how it is…"
"If I devour enough Shinigami through Soul Eater, I might be able to tear off my mask and become an Arrancar naturally… just like Starrk."
The discovery sent a surge of exhilaration through him, and he threw his head back, releasing a long, resonant howl that echoed through the Great Hollow Forest.
As for devouring Shinigami, Yekawa felt no psychological burden whatsoever. He had already been reborn as a Hollow. Devouring souls was instinct.
He was not slaughtering innocent spirits in the Human World.
By Hollow standards, he was practically virtuous.
And besides What did the devouring of souls by the Menos Grande Yekawa have to do with the Shinigami Ito Makoto?
…
Inside a hollowed tree within the Great Hollow Forest, Amagai Shūsuke stared at the twelve light points glowing in his palm.
The brightest one flickered.
Then dimmed.
Then vanished completely.
"…Captain Osaki is dead."
He had never imagined that before their expedition could even establish a foothold, their Captain would be eliminated by a mysterious Menos Grande.
Hiding within the tree hollow, Amagai recalled that overwhelming, suffocating spiritual pressure. His entire body trembled.
"I must become stronger."
"Stronger than that Menos Grande."
"Stronger than anyone."
"Only then can I take my revenge."
The reason he had volunteered for the Hueco Mundo Expeditionary Force was simple constant life-and-death battles against Menos would temper him into something greater.
His goal had always been singular.
Revenge.
A secret buried deep within his heart.
He sought vengeance against the strongest Shinigami of the past thousand years Yamamoto Genryūsai for his father.
That was why he joined this force with a survival rate lower than one in ten.
If slaughter was the path to strength, he would walk it without hesitation.
"As long as I obtain Captain-level power… and with this blade… my revenge will succeed."
His gaze fell upon the strange steel-fork-shaped weapon at his waist, a peculiar light flashing in his eyes.
"The Bakuyōtō… the blade capable of sealing a Zanpakutō…"
But suddenly
It was gone.
Amagai's pupils shrank.
He looked up.
The Bakuyōtō, the secret he had guarded more carefully than his own life, was now in the hand of the very Menos Grande he feared most.
Yekawa examined the steel fork curiously.
So this was the Bakuyōtō the weapon once capable of sealing Ryūjin Jakka itself.
If it could seal Yamamoto's flames, then logically…
"It should be able to seal Kyōka Suigetsu as well."
Yekawa's eyes narrowed thoughtfully.
He did not intend to rely solely on it.
But one more preparation meant one more layer against Aizen.
"Give me… spiritual pressure…"
A faint voice seemed to echo from the blade itself, demanding energy.
Yekawa's gaze sharpened.
"This thing… is alive."
The Bakuyōtō did not feel like a weapon.
It felt like a parasite.
Without hesitation, arcs of dark golden lightning burst from his palm, coursing violently through the steel fork.
The blade trembled.
Then fell silent.
"You behave once you're disciplined."
"You Hollow! What nonsense are you spouting?!"
Amagai could no longer remain hidden.
His greatest secret had been exposed effortlessly. Panic surged through him.
He drew his Zanpakutō and charged.
"Sever, Raikazuchi!"
The blade transformed into a hooked weapon wreathed in flickering flames.
With a roar, Amagai rushed forward.
Yekawa merely flicked his hand.
"Bang!"
Amagai was blasted backward, smashing into the massive tree trunk and leaving a deep crater.
At this point in time, Amagai had only recently joined the expedition. The Captain-level strength he later displayed in history was still far beyond him. Now, he was merely a high-ranking seat officer not even Vice-Captain class.
Naturally, he stood no chance.
"Amagai Shūsuke."
"Your father, Kisuke Amagai, died at the hands of Yamamoto Genryūsai."
"You joined the Expeditionary Force to grow stronger and avenge him."
"You colluded with Yunoi of the Kasumioji Family to obtain the Bakuyōtō."
"Am I wrong?"
Yekawa spoke casually, idly spinning the weapon in his hand.
Amagai slowly pulled himself from the hollow, his pupils trembling violently.
"How… do you know that?"
These were secrets he had never told anyone.
Was this Menos reading his mind?
Yekawa sneered inwardly.
An omniscient perspective was truly convenient.
"How I know is irrelevant."
"But if you submit to me, I can grant you the power to fulfill your revenge."
"How about it?"
"Submit… to you?"
Amagai froze.
He hated Yamamoto beyond words.
Yet to borrow the power of a Hollow
That thought alone shook his foundations.
"What? Still clinging to your Shinigami pride?"
"Still unwilling to dirty your hands with Hollow power?"
Yekawa's half-smile cut deeper than any blade.
Amagai fell silent.
He had been born and raised in Soul Society.
Hollows were evil.
That was the truth engraved into his bones.
Even in desperation, he had never considered cooperation.
"If you insist on seeing the world in black and white…"
"Then you will never defeat Yamamoto Genryūsai."
The words struck him like thunder.
"Hollows and Shinigami both exist within the Three Realms."
"If they exist, there is reason."
"Not all Shinigami are righteous."
"Not all Hollows are evil."
"This world is not black or white."
"It is gray."
"Power itself carries no morality. It depends entirely on who wields it."
"If you cling to pride and abandon your revenge…"
"I can end you here."
Dark golden lightning surged along Yekawa's right arm.
Amagai's expression twisted.
Resistance.
Conflict.
Then
Understanding.
After a long silence, he dropped to one knee.
"My Lord… grant me strength."
"Help me take my revenge."
Before he could react, Yekawa flicked a compressed lightning sphere straight into his mouth.
Amagai choked, instinctively clutching his throat.
Then he laughed bitterly.
From this moment forward
There was no turning back.
He had stepped aboard Yekawa's ship.