Hueco Mundo, Great Hollow Forest.
Yekawa sat atop a massive rock, eyes closed in quiet recovery, sensing the immense spiritual pressure flowing through his limbs and bones.
Suddenly, a dark golden pillar of Reiatsu surged upward from his body.
"My King's spiritual pressure is thirty to forty percent higher than it was three years ago. He can now be considered a true powerhouse even among Vasto Lorde."
The strange fish, Jiwa Barnes, stared in Yekawa's direction, his eyes filled with complex emotions. Reverence was present, but fear outweighed everything else.
Yuan Puck, the fiery red goat beside him, added eagerly:
"My King, with your current strength, you should be able to go to Las Noches and challenge Baraggan."
Before he could finish, Jiwa Barnes smacked his tail over the goat's mouth.
"Shut up! Baraggan's Las Noches has hundreds of Adjuchas. If My King listens to you, are you planning for the two of us to fight a hundred enemies?"
Startled, Yuan Puck stood upright and hurriedly covered his mouth with both hooves. At the same time, he nervously glanced toward Yekawa, afraid he had been overheard.
"Am I… stuck in a bottleneck?"
Yekawa frowned slightly.
Three years had passed since his clone in Soul Society had become Fourth Seat of the Eleventh Division. During these three years, Yekawa's life had followed the same cycle: fight, then devour.
Unfortunately, most of the Hollows he consumed were Gillian. True Adjuchas were extremely rare.
At his current stage, Yekawa realized that his spiritual pressure was only about thirty to forty percent stronger than when he fought Ulquiorra. No matter how many Gillian he devoured, his power no longer increased.
He immediately understood that he had reached a bottleneck.
There were only two ways to break through it.
The first was to devour a Vasto Lorde.
The second was to devour dozens, or even hundreds, of Adjuchas at once.
"Devour a Vasto Lorde…"
The thought barely formed before Yekawa shook his head.
Finding an Adjuchas was already difficult. Where would he find a Vasto Lorde?
As for Ulquiorra, the only one he knew, he had already undergone Arrancarization. Even after three years of growth, Yekawa could not guarantee victory against him.
The first option was impossible.
As for the second, the only place in Hueco Mundo capable of gathering so many Adjuchas was Las Noches.
With his strengthened Reiatsu, Yekawa's senses were exceptionally sharp. He had clearly heard the earlier conversation between the fish and the goat, but he was too lazy to comment.
Still sitting with his eyes closed, he suddenly turned his head.
One glance was enough to make both Hollows tremble.
"Should I just eat these two wastes? They are Adjuchas, after all…"
"Forget it. Even if their spiritual pressure increased tenfold, it still wouldn't help me break through."
"What those two idiots said isn't wrong. With my current strength, even if I defeat Baraggan, facing him and hundreds of Adjuchas at once would be…"
"Unless… Baraggan isn't in Las Noches."
Suddenly, Yekawa recalled events from the original timeline.
When Aizen first entered Hueco Mundo, his first destination had been Las Noches.
After falling under Kyōka Suigetsu, Baraggan had personally slaughtered most of the Adjuchas there, leaving only those who happened to be away alive.
"Maybe I can take advantage of that chaos."
"According to the feedback from my clone, the timeline is approaching Aizen's arrival."
With that realization, Yekawa made his decision.
He opened his eyes and stood.
In a flash of Sonido, he appeared beside the goat and the strange fish.
"Congratulations on your awakening, My King. Your boundless spiritual pressure makes me tremble. It is my greatest honor to serve you."
Jiwa Barnes bowed exaggeratedly.
During these three years, his strength had barely grown, but his flattery had improved tremendously.
Yuan Puck, on the other hand, kept repeating:
"Hail My King!"
"Hail My King!"
Yekawa felt a headache coming on.
"If you two can't praise properly, just shout 'My King is awesome' from now on."
They did not understand what "awesome" meant, but if the King commanded it, they obeyed.
"My King is awesome!"
"My King is awesome!"
"Enough. Stop shouting. Get ready. We're leaving."
Yekawa cut them off.
"Leaving? My King, where are we going?"
Jiwa Barnes asked carefully.
A half-smile appeared beneath Yekawa's mask.
"To Las Noches, just like you suggested."
"Ah, My King, spare—"
Before he could finish, Yekawa grabbed Jiwa Barnes with one hand and Yuan Puck's tail with the other.
In a burst of lightning, the three shot into the sky, heading toward the desert above the forest.
Bang!
A deafening explosion erupted across the quiet desert.
Sand and dust filled the air.
A dazzling dark golden pillar of light burst upward, piercing the clouds.
Moments later, a bone-spiked fish and a fiery red goat were thrown aside, rolling dozens of meters.
The light faded.
A pitch-black humanoid figure stepped forward.
Yekawa.
"Desert… I'm back."
He spread his arms, feeling the dry wind brush against his face.
Compared to the dark, sunless forest, he preferred this endless pale wasteland.
"The Reishi concentration is high. Las Noches must be close."
Sensing the dense spiritual particles, a smile formed beneath his mask.
The pale centipede armor on his back writhed.
It split into countless tiny centipede Hollows, each only a few centimeters long, and scattered toward the direction of highest Reishi density.
These were new clones.
Unlike Ito Makoto, who carried Adjuchas-level power and soul essence, these were created from mere wisps of Reiatsu.
They were weaker than even Freshman Hollows.
But that was enough.
Their only purpose was surveillance.
Especially…
To observe the moment when Aizen arrived at Las Noches.
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