Hueco Mundo, surface.
Swish!
Two figures suddenly appeared.
It was Toshiro and Ashido.
After leaving the Forest of Menos and returning to the surface, Toshiro also released his Bankai.
Fully releasing Bankai placed a great burden on Toshiro's body. Therefore, unless necessary, Toshiro wouldn't maintain it intentionally.
Seeing Toshiro revert from an adult's body back to his original form, Ashido finally couldn't hold back his questions. "Hitsugaya, what happened to you just now? Why did your body suddenly grow?"
"Oh, you mean that sudden growth? That's because of my Bankai," Toshiro said casually.
"Bankai?" Ashido asked, puzzled.
Although Shinigami Zanpakuto releases varied widely, with all sorts of strange abilities, Ashido had never seen one that could make a person's body suddenly grow.
"Yeah, it's a side effect of 'aging' from the complete Bankai release."
"My Zanpakuto, Hyorinmaru, is the Strongest Ice-type Zanpakuto, but its power is too immense. Once fully released, my body rapidly grows in an instant to adapt to the powerful force, transforming into an adult's body," Toshiro explained.
"I see," Ashido nodded.
The power was so great that his body had to grow rapidly to adapt. Ashido couldn't help but mentally praise Toshiro's Zanpakuto as extraordinary.
"Speaking of which, I haven't seen the world outside the Forest of Menos for several hundred years. But it's still as desolate as before, deserts everywhere. Doesn't seem to have changed much..." Ashido carefully surveyed the surroundings, finding them unchanged as before. He was about to sigh when he suddenly spotted a vast complex of palaces in his line of sight.
"That is!" Ashido exclaimed, staring at the palace complex.
"That's Las Noches," Toshiro answered.
"Las Noches!" Ashido said in surprise.
Ashido naturally knew of Las Noches. Teres Holcan and the others who fought Toshiro and Ashido earlier were tasked by Las Noches with guarding the Forest of Menos.
Ashido had even seen its original appearance himself. Precisely because of that, he found it unbelievable. This was completely different from the Las Noches in his memory!
Several hundred years ago, what Ashido saw was less a palace and more like ruins.
But now, Las Noches had become a genuine palace complex, and unimaginably vast and majestic at that.
"Well, it started around two years ago. Las Noches underwent reconstruction and was completed in less than a year, becoming what you see now," Toshiro explained.
Although the current Las Noches was enormous, its construction from start to finish took less than a year.
After all, Hueco Mundo had countless Hollows to serve as labor, so it didn't take much time.
But Ashido was somewhat puzzled. "Did the King of Hueco Mundo, Baraggan, suddenly change his aesthetic sense? Otherwise, why didn't he reconstruct it centuries ago but started two years ago?"
What Ashido didn't know was that Baraggan's aesthetic sense naturally hadn't changed. The problem was, the current King of Hueco Mundo wasn't Baraggan anymore.
What Las Noches looked like after reconstruction wasn't up to Baraggan.
"Well, who knows?" Toshiro said noncommittally.
Toshiro hadn't decided whether to tell Ashido about Aizen yet.
"Alright, Ashido. We should head to the Hueco Mundo Expeditionary Force's camp now. We're not far from Las Noches here. Better leave early," Toshiro said.
Aizen wasn't at Las Noches now. The others left behind didn't concern Toshiro, but he was about to return to the Soul Society and had no mind to go cause trouble at Las Noches.
Moreover, earlier, Toshiro had sensed the general situation at Las Noches.
Although Aizen wasn't there, most of the Espada were already in position. For Toshiro to single-handedly take on the entire Espada, plus the numerous other powerful Hollows in Las Noches… with his current strength, he had no chance of winning.
"Mm, alright. Let's find the Hueco Mundo Expeditionary Force now," Ashido said, nodding at Toshiro's words.
Although Ashido didn't know about the Espada, in his view, the King of Hueco Mundo, Baraggan, plus his powerful subordinate Hollows, constituted a massive force. He and Toshiro, while strong, were better off not provoking them if possible.
Thus, Toshiro and Ashido began heading towards the Hueco Mundo Expeditionary Force's camp.
…
Las Noches, a majestic palace.
"Baraggan-sama, that Shinigami has left the Forest of Menos. Should we send someone to pursue and capture him?" One of Baraggan's Fracción reported to Baraggan, seated high on his bone throne.
Earlier, when Toshiro blasted a hole in the ground with his reiatsu to enter the Forest of Menos, Las Noches detected him.
After all, Toshiro's entry point wasn't too far from Las Noches, and Las Noches now strictly monitored and managed a large area centered around itself.
Baraggan, seated on his bone throne, contemplated for a while, then finally said, "Well, let him go."
Although Baraggan deeply hated Toshiro, who had defeated him and nearly killed him, ranking second only to Aizen on his list of people to kill, he knew he currently wasn't Toshiro's match.
One-on-one, he couldn't defeat Toshiro. If he included other Espada, Baraggan naturally had confidence in keeping Toshiro here.
However, firstly, with his pride, he disdained teaming up with others to gang up on Toshiro.
And most importantly, even if he wanted other Espada to help, it was impossible.
Although he was the Segunda Espada, the Espada were all unruly individuals. The others didn't give Baraggan any respect. Moreover, Aizen had warned the Espada regarding Toshiro: let things take their course and no need to actively provoke him.
Although Baraggan didn't care about Aizen's orders, the other Espada wouldn't risk Aizen's punishment to help him deal with Toshiro.