Hueco Mundo.
A black rift suddenly appeared in the middle of the desert, and from it stepped out a casually dressed man, Natsuro.
Looking at the familiar landscape of Hueco Mundo, he couldn't help but feel a little nostalgic.
He hadn't expected that instead of Starrk and Ulquiorra coming to find him, it would be him returning to find them.
Then, Natsuro's spiritual pressure burst forth.
"Heart of the south, eye of the north, finger of the west, foot of the east, arrive with the wind and depart with the rain.
Bakudō #58: Kakushitsuijaku (Footprint-Attentive Pursuing-Sparrows)!"
Once again, he cast the spell to sense other spiritual pressures, but this time, it wasn't as effective as before. It could only give him a vague sense of direction.
"Still, not bad," Natsuro nodded to himself as he received the spell's feedback.
That feedback alone showed that Starrk and Ulquiorra's control over their spiritual power had improved considerably since the last time they met.
With that, he began moving toward the direction indicated.
...
In an oasis within the desert.
At that moment, Starrk was lazily lying on a chair made of fur when his eyes suddenly snapped open.
He could feel a familiar reiatsu probing his location.
Soon after, another figure approached him with both hands in his pockets.
"Ulquiorra, did you feel that too?" Starrk asked.
"Yes. That spiritual pressure, it should be Natsuro's," Ulquiorra replied.
"Yeah. Hard to believe it's been so many years, and he's back in Hueco Mundo again." Starrk smiled bitterly. "We were the ones who were supposed to go to the Human World to find him."
Ulquiorra fell silent. Gaining perfect control over their spiritual power had proven far more difficult than they'd imagined.
"Well, if he's come here himself, I guess things just got easier for me," Starrk shrugged, for reasons even he couldn't quite explain.
Ulquiorra gave him a sidelong glance but said nothing.
Before long, Natsuro arrived at the oasis. Following the vague direction from his spell, he soon spotted the area ahead.
Having wandered the deserts of Hueco Mundo before, Natsuro knew there shouldn't be any oases here, let alone...
He stared at the human-style buildings and the streams of water flowing from unseen sources.
"So these two built all this?" Natsuro muttered, half amused. "Guess they've learned to enjoy life."
He could sense both Starrk's and Ulquiorra's presences, along with four others that felt different from theirs, clearly Hollows but not Arrancars.
Had Starrk and Ulquiorra found four new companions in his absence?
Of those four, one had a notably strong reiatsu but the other three were much weaker, Gillians, most likely.
With those thoughts, Natsuro entered the oasis and made his way toward the central hall.
Before he reached it, the great doors opened, and out walked Starrk and Ulquiorra, faces he knew well.
"Long time no see, Natsuro" Starrk greeted him with a smile.
"Yeah, long time no see. I was half expecting you wouldn't welcome me," Natsuro joked.
"Of course not," Starrk said, gesturing for him to enter the hall.
"So this palace is your own imitation of human architecture?" Natsuro asked as he looked around. The decor inside was nearly identical to a human palace.
"Yeah. I've been to the Human World a few times and studied their structures," Starrk said with a sigh. "But I couldn't stay long each time."
"Every time, some Soul Reaper way weaker than me would spot me, and the moment they drew their zanpakutō, I'd just head back to Hueco Mundo."
He could easily have crushed those Shinigami, of course, but he had no intention of making enemies of them.
"I see," Natsuro nodded. "So what happened while I was gone?"
He was curious; something about them felt different now.
"Not much, really…" Starrk scratched his head.
"After you left, Ulquiorra and I went searching for new companions again, while also training to better control our power."
"But it's harder than we expected. Especially since our reiatsu keeps growing stronger all the time, making control even more difficult."
He sighed. If they still had the same spiritual power they'd had back when they first met Natsuro, they might have mastered it by now, but that wasn't the case.
Natsuro nodded. He had already guessed as much; he'd gone through the same thing himself when he first arrived in the world of the Soul Reapers. His power had grown too fast for his control to keep up.
He'd needed six full years at the Shin'ō Spiritual Arts Academy to stabilize it, something Starrk and Ulquiorra couldn't exactly do.
"And then, somehow, we ended up forming an organization," Starrk said, a confused look in his eyes.
Ulquiorra added, "Though to be precise, we don't even know when we formed one. But ever since we left Las Noches, rumors began spreading across Hueco Mundo, rumors of a group recruiting Hollows as comrades. That group... was apparently us."
Starrk nodded. They'd never intended to form anything like that, but somehow, the rumor had turned them into the leaders of a 'faction'.
At first, they hadn't paid much attention to it, until one day, a Vasto Lorde–class Hollow arrived with companions, asking to join them.
Starrk had wanted to tell them that no such organization existed, but Ulquiorra had stopped him.
Ulquiorra reasoned that it might actually be a good opportunity: if they built a reputation and personally vetted new members, it would be far more efficient than wandering Hueco Mundo aimlessly in search of worthy allies.
Starrk couldn't argue with that logic.
And so, this accidental organization truly came into being.
Fortunately, the Vasto Lorde who joined them turned out to be an excellent fit.
She even held the belief that power gained by killing others was impure, a conviction that resonated with both Starrk and Ulquiorra.
Her name was Tier Harribel.
When Starrk and Ulquiorra asked why she had come to them, her answer left them somewhat speechless.
It turned out that the rumor about their 'organization' had spread from Las Noches, and not to promote them, but to mock them.
The story had been twisted: two Arrancars searching for "comrades" and even "working with Soul Reapers," painted as traitors to Hueco Mundo.
Most intelligent Hollows believed that version. All except for Harribel.
When she first heard of the group's ideals, she felt a rare sense of resonance.
Even so, she hadn't planned to join, until circumstances forced her hand.
After she had refused Barragan's offer to serve under him, and even injured one of his subordinates, Barragan began harassing her constantly.
She wasn't afraid of him, but the harassment was relentless.
Worse, her three subordinates lacked her strength and were often injured because of it.
So eventually, she set her sights on the rumored 'organization.'
By sheer coincidence, she encountered Starrk and Ulquiorra during their search for allies, passed their tests, and joined them.
Only Harribel herself passed, however; her three companions lacked the self-awareness required. Still, Starrk and Ulquiorra didn't force her to abandon them.
"I see…" Natsuro said after hearing it all. "So this was all basically Barragan's doing, huh?"
A perfect case of "trying to steal the chicken and losing the rice," he thought, Barragan's meddling had ended up driving a powerful ally straight into Starrk's arms.
Just then, as Starrk and Ulquiorra finished recounting the story, Tier Harribel entered the hall with her three followers.
When her eyes met Natsuro's, she froze.
In that instant, she could tell, he wasn't a Hollow. He was… a Soul Reaper.
And she remembered the earliest rumors: that Starrk and Ulquiorra consorted with Shinigami.
She'd dismissed that as baseless gossip when she first arrived, having found no evidence of any Soul Reaper presence.
But now… she realized the rumors were true.
As for Natsuro, he too noticed Harribel at a glance. She had the form of a human, unmistakably female, with a figure that could easily make Rukia faint on the spot.
Her legs were wrapped in what looked like thigh-high boots that rose straight up to her upper thighs. Upon those boots were three vertical slits, reminiscent of shark gills.
Her upper body was clad in a tight-fitting blue garment that accentuated her prominent curves, with shoulder armor bearing sharp edges.
Attached beneath her right shoulder plate was a massive white bone sword, its blade marked by the same three vertical slits.
Above that, her face was concealed by a mask, and from beneath it spilled golden hair. Behind that golden hair trailed a white appendage shaped like a shark's tail.
Altogether, she exuded a strange, captivating allure.
Following behind Harribel were three ordinary Hollows, none of them humanoid. One was a lion with a golden mane, another a deer-like creature with a white skull mask, and the last a massive pale-purple serpent.
The moment those three saw Natsuro, unmistakable greed flashed in their eyes.
To any Hollow, the spiritual pressure of a Soul Reaper was a rich feast, and these three clearly weren't particularly intelligent.
They had probably only survived this long thanks to Harribel's protection.
Natsuro noticed the greed in their gaze but didn't take offense. Instead, he gave them a glance, and in that instant, the spiritual pressure he'd been suppressing flared out slightly.
At once, Harribel's pupils dilated as she felt the crushing weight of that overwhelming pressure.
If even she, who wasn't being directly targeted, felt that way, then one could only imagine how the three Hollows behind her felt.
In that instant, all three collapsed to the ground. Those with legs knelt in submission; the serpent, legless, pressed itself flat and flicked its tongue rapidly in a gesture of surrender.
"Hello," Natsuro said evenly, turning his gaze to Harribel. "I am the Soul Reaper from the rumors, Starrk and Ulquiorra's so-called collaborator, Natsuro Shindōkawa."
Harribel's entire body was tense, but she didn't respond with anger. After all, he could easily have killed her and her companions, yet he'd only used his reiatsu to subdue them.
That alone told her he bore them no real malice. If her subordinates hadn't shown that greedy impulse toward him, they likely wouldn't have received such a "punishment."
"Greetings," she replied, her tone unconsciously respectful. "I am Tier Harribel."
It was only natural, anyone facing someone who could kill them with ease would speak with respect.
"There's no need to worry," Natsuro said, glancing again at the three prostrate Hollows. "I haven't come here to change the purpose of this organization. You can continue to live here with them."
"However," he added with a faint smile, "you do need to teach them to control their impulses. Not everyone will be as tolerant of provocation as I am. If there's a next time…"
"There won't be a next time!" Harribel quickly assured him. Relief flooded her voice.
She'd grown quite comfortable living here, free from Barragan's harassment. If possible, she didn't want to lose that peace, and thankfully, this man seemed reasonable enough.
She understood the warning perfectly and promised firmly to discipline her three companions. She knew she had been too lenient before.
"Good," Natsuro nodded with a small smile. He could tell how much Harribel cared for her subordinates. That alone made her unlike most Hollows, and made her a valuable addition to the group.
Starrk and Ulquiorra exchanged surprised glances as they watched the scene unfold.
They could both tell... Natsuro had grown even stronger.
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