After finally managing to placate Soi Fon…
Watching her disappear into the distance, Shimo let out a long breath and rubbed his temples hard.
"…I'd better hurry and find Mayuri."
In the next instant, his figure flickered—and vanished from where he stood.
With Shunpo pushed to its limit, he arrived at the Departnt of Research and Developnt in no ti.
Coming here again, Shimo noticed soone… distinct.
Bright, two-toned hair—gold and green—so eye-catching it was almost impossible to ignore.
Third Seat of the Twelfth Division… Akōn?
Shimo paused briefly, recalling a few details about him.
"…Another one I'll need to keep an eye on."
But Shimo didn't dwell on it.
There were more important matters at hand.
When he t Mayuri again, the man was as "normal" as ever—acting as though nothing unpleasant had ever happened between them.
"Has the Garganta stabilized?" Shimo asked, scanning the lab. He didn't see any obvious apparatus.
Mayuri tapped a long fingernail against his own temple—thunk, thunk—as if his skull were hollow.
"There's a small problem."
"Although the recon team provided precise coordinates, that point seems to be suffering reiatsu interference."
"If we can't lock on, there's a very real chance that once we enter Hueco Mundo… we'll be randomly displaced."
Shimo frowned. As soone who actually dealt with spatial phenona, he knew exactly what "random displacent" could an.
If they landed sowhere in Hueco Mundo, fine—dangerous, but manageable.
But if the reishi currents twisted the passage…
They could be thrown into an unknown region.
Or worse—
…into the reishi turbulence itself.
"Forget the coordinates the recon team provided." As the leader of this expedition, Shimo made the call imdiately.
"Lock onto the area near the Forest of nos."
"After I returned from Hueco Mundo last ti, the Fourth Division should've handed you those coordinates. You have them, right?"
Mayuri leaned back with arms crossed, posture grotesquely theatrical.
"Seems like I do."
Then he rolled his chair to the console and began typing—fast, precise, almost like he was playing an instrunt.
"Ha—found it!"
"I'll test the targeting function now."
He pressed a dark green button. Instantly, a strange spiritual pressure fluctuation appeared in front of them.
On the screen, a training field sowhere within the Twelfth Division distorted—space broke into blocky fragnts that fell away like shattered tiles, revealing a black, deep Garganta.
"…Success."
Mayuri's grin split nearly to his ears.
"Training Ground No. 9 has a captain-class pressure simulation."
"This Garganta isn't just locked onto a coordinate—it can also withstand the spiritual pressure output of multiple captains."
He paused, then added quickly, "Of course, you can't fight inside the Garganta."
Shimo nodded. He was genuinely satisfied with Mayuri's work.
Maybe because he'd been exposed to Shimo's abilities, Mayuri's spatial research had advanced to the point where he wasn't much worse than Urahara Kisuke.
Shimo could open a Garganta using incantations himself…
…but why do the work when you have a perfectly usable tool?
Besides, Mayuri didn't resist at all.
If anything, he was thrilled.
"New specins…" Mayuri stared at the black opening on the screen, his smile turning feverish. "How delightful."
---
Three days passed in the blink of an eye.
At dawn—just as the sun crept over the horizon—the Hueco Mundo expedition force assembled in the Seireitei's First Division courtyard.
Shimo swept his gaze over the group, confirming numbers.
Fourth Division: Unohana Retsu.
Isane remained behind due to combat limitations, tasked with overseeing the Integrated Relief Center in Unohana's absence.
Sixth Division: Kuchiki Byakuya, and Abarai Renji.
Eleventh Division: Zaraki Kenpachi and Kusajishi Yachiru.
(The latter's combat power… could be ignored for now.)
Twelfth Division: Mayuri Kurotsuchi and Nemu Kurotsuchi.
Shimo lingered a mont, expression turning faintly strange.
A light scan of Mayuri's reiatsu revealed sothing abnormal—a chaotic mixture, like a stew of incompatible spiritual signatures packed into one body.
Rembering Mayuri's obsession with self-modification, Shimo couldn't help a shiver.
So he's emptied his entire stockpile just to catch new specins…
Nemu's spiritual pressure also felt… off.
Can't fit more into himself, so he's using Nemu as storage?
The thought alone made Shimo's skin crawl.
For this "father and daughter," he preferred to keep his distance.
Yamamoto looked over them, tapping his staff.
"Captain Kurotsuchi. The targeted Garganta—ready?"
Mayuri's grin turned sharp.
"It's complete."
"But the recon team's coordinate had interference. At Captain Shimo's suggestion, I switched the target to the Forest of nos area."
At the ntion of the location, Kenpachi responded imdiately.
"Forest of nos…"
"The place Ashido stayed, right?"
Before anyone could answer, Yachiru—perched on his shoulder—chirped excitedly:
"That's right, Kenny! Your mory's way better than before!"
Kenpachi's face darkened.
"Shut it, Yachiru."
"Too much noise."
Yamamoto considered briefly, then said, "If it is Captain Shimo's recomndation, I will not interfere."
"Then—this first expedition force to Hueco Mundo…"
"Led by Captain Shimo of the Third Division. Four captains in support, with four lieutenants accompanying them."
His staff struck the ground with a heavy THUD.
At once, Mayuri began chanting in a rasping, unsettling voice that echoed across the courtyard:
"My right hand is the stone that bridges worlds. My left hand is the blade that binds reality. The black-haired shepherd is hung from a chair…"
"Stratus clouds co, and I strike down the ibis!"
"Garganta—open!"
The device in Mayuri's hand—absurdly like a flashlight—lit up and shone onto the open space ahead.
Shimo wiped sweat that wasn't even there.
It really is a flashlight…
The light struck—and the Garganta fully ford.
That deep, yawning darkness sent a chill crawling up the spine.
Shimo stepped forward first, stopping before the threshold.
"Yoruichi-neesan, Nel—let's move."
Yoruichi and Nel nodded together, following at his back.
The three stepped into the Garganta as one.
The others followed in turn.
Silence hung over the First Division courtyard.
Even now, those left behind couldn't help but worry.
After all…
That was Hueco Mundo—the Hollows' ho territory.
---
Hueco Mundo
Sand hissed and shifted. Dead branches and loose stones scraped across the ground. Massive rocks shed dust under the constant Hueco Mundo wind.
Small animal-like Hollows burrowed beneath the sand, searching for scraps—
Then, in an instant, they sensed sothing.
They fled.
Within seconds, the area for dozens of ters held not a trace of weaker spiritual pressure.
Then the spirit particles density in the air spiked sharply.
Space tore open—darkness blooming like a wound.
Shimo and the others walked out.
Captain-class spiritual pressure didn't even need to be released deliberately. Their re presence purged the surrounding Hollows.
"This place is even more desolate than I expected," Yoruichi said behind Shimo.
"Looks like the coordinates are a bit off."
Shimo extended his senses, locating the Forest of nos.
"The real Forest of nos is still about ten kiloters forward."
Mayuri's targeted Garganta still wasn't precise enough.
"And the Visored?" Mayuri asked, barely containing his impatience. "I want to see those Shinigami with Hollow power already."
"No rush." Shimo exhaled slowly, voice steady.
"Before we rendezvous, I'm making one thing clear."
"This operation follows my command."
"If anyone violates orders… don't bla for being harsh."
That was aid squarely at Mayuri and Kenpachi.
The others wouldn't deliberately go against Shimo.
Those two, though?
They were the unstable elents of the group.
"Heh. Fine," Mayuri cackled. "Then hurry and give the orders, Captain Shimo."
"Are we fighting? Or eting those so-called Visored?"
Kenpachi made a dismissive sound—but didn't oppose Shimo.
Shimo's eyes passed over them, then he said, "First, we check the rendezvous point."
Everyone nodded. No objections.
The Visored hadn't returned to Seireitei—they were entering Hueco Mundo through Urahara's thods.
After Shimo's ssage, both sides had agreed on two nearby coordinates.
If Mayuri's targeted Garganta hadn't drifted slightly, they would've linked up already.
Ten kiloters was nothing for this group.
As they moved, Shimo noticed the nostalgia in Nel's eyes.
As a forr resident, she had lived in Hueco Mundo far longer than she ever had in the Human World—or Seireitei.
This place carried too many mories.
Returning here inevitably stirred complicated emotions.
"Nel," Shimo said suddenly.
She looked up with a bright smile, staying close to his side.
"Mm! I'm here, Shimo!"
Shimo smiled back.
"I'll always be by your side."
Nel's eyes lit up, and she nodded hard.
"Nel too!"
The faint lancholy vanished instantly.
Soon, they reached the agreed location.
To Shimo's surprise—
The Visored were already waiting.
But they hadn't sent everyone.
Only four had co:
Hirako Shinji.
Kensei Muguruma.
Lisa Yadōmaru.
Love Aikawa.
Three forr captains among them—solid.
Shimo was satisfied.
Hirako, as always, wore a casual Human World shirt, grinning with his teeth pressed tight together in that unmistakably eerie way.
"Yo. Long ti no see!"
Unlike Hiyori Sarugaki, Hirako didn't have deep hatred for Shinigami.
He could still face forr colleagues.
"It has been a while," Unohana said softly. "I'm relieved to see you're still alive."
Comrades from over two hundred years ago standing before her again—her expression shifted slightly.
But Unohana's control was impeccable; she returned to calm in an instant.
Hirako's grin faded into respectful composure. He bowed his head a little.
"Captain Unohana… just like before."
He knew her seniority—and what kind of person she truly was.
So in front of her, he put away the jokes.
Shimo glanced at the residual spiritual pressure in the air and understood the Visored had arrived only monts earlier.
"Looks like Kisuke's targeted Garganta is still better than yours, Mayuri."
Mayuri's face—rarely—twisted in annoyance and anger.
"That damnable man…"
Hirako's eyes slid to Shimo.
He rembered the "negotiation" back at their base in the Human World.
Just thinking of it made his molars ache.
Shimo's strength was the biggest reason they dared stand in Hueco Mundo at all.
And so Hirako's smile returned—strange as ever.
"Captain Shimo…"
"What do we do next?"
---------------------------------///
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