Sora took out a faintly glowing thorn from the knapsack.
His spiritual sense could perceive the dense Hollow reishi contained within it.
It felt somewhat like the remains of a Hollow, and a very powerful one at that.
Yoruichi Shihōin scratched her face with her index finger, recalling what had happened in Hueco Mundo. "It's something I found deep in the Forest of Menos. I don't know what it is either..."
"We sometimes organize teams to explore the forest."
"Once, during a mission, I ran into some trouble and got separated from my companions."
"I lost my way while looking for them and accidentally wandered into the depths of the forest."
"There, I came across a patch of something that was emitting a dazzling light."
"When I got closer, I found it was a thicket of glowing thorns."
"The thicket was huge, like a small mountain."
"I don't know why, but when I stood in front of it, I felt an inexplicable impulse, a craving. I went crazy, wanting to throw myself into the thorns."
"When the 'Tenzen Heisō' woke me up... I found that my skin had already been pierced by the thorns," Yoruichi said, a look of lingering fear on her face. "If I had taken a few more steps inside, I probably would have been skewered into a hedgehog!"
"The Forest of Menos is really dangerous!" Kana Azashiro exclaimed. "So these thorns..."
"Of course, they're the ones that pierced my skin. I broke them off and brought them back," Yoruichi said.
"These glowing 'thorns' might be a type of Hollow, or the remains of one," Sora's expression shifted slightly. He thought of the future story of the Arrancar, Ulquiorra.
Ulquiorra had reached a semi-Arrancar state through a thicket of glowing thorns.
Sora knew of only three ways for a Hollow to become an Arrancar: the Hōgyoku, reaching a certain limit as a 'Vasto Lorde'-class Menos, and the glowing thorn thicket in the Forest of Menos.
If the thorns Yoruichi brought back were indeed from Ulquiorra's place of transformation, then they were something well worth investigating.
"Yoruichi, can you still find that place?" Sora asked.
"No problem. That place is very strange, and I thought I might come back again someday, so I left a marker when I left!" Yoruichi said with certainty.
Sora nodded lightly. He planned to have Yoruichi take him there to see it. The glowing thorn thicket might be hiding some kind of secret.
...
Several days later, Sora and Yoruichi arrived in the Forest of Menos.
Sora wanted to see the place where she had discovered the glowing thorns.
They had already ventured deep into the forest, and the cries of Menos could be heard everywhere.
"ROOOAR—" A Gillian opened its mouth wide, and a red Cero began to gather.
ZAP—
A flash of lightning passed, and Yoruichi's figure appeared behind the Gillian.
Lightning coiled around her body. The spiritual pressure erupting from her shoulders intertwined with the thunder, looking like a pair of wings made of light.
The Gillian's movements stopped abruptly, and a crisp sound came from within its mask.
CRACK—
A clean cut appeared on the mask, and the entire large mask was sliced in two.
BOOM—
The Cero in the Gillian's mouth lost control and exploded.
Yoruichi's figure once again transformed into a bolt of lightning, shooting towards the top of a stone tree.
Sora was standing on that tree, testing the results of her training.
The lightning dissipated, and Yoruichi's figure appeared before him.
"Professor—" she said excitedly, "wasn't I amazing!"
Sora rubbed her head and said with a smile, "Very amazing. Your 'Shunkō' is becoming more and more skilled, and you've even combined it with your Zanpakutō's ability. This has raised your speed to almost another level. I'm afraid most vice-captains would not be your match."
Yoruichi now had a good relationship with 'Nekonaki' and could already integrate her Zanpakutō's lightning power into her 'Shunkō.'
It was even stronger than the 'Shunkō' released using lightning-based Kidō, which had greatly increased her strength.
Yoruichi said with a grin, "It's all thanks to you, Professor. Otherwise, I might not have made up with 'Nekonaki' yet."
"You have grown a lot. I am very pleased," Sora nodded and continued, "How much farther is it to the glowing thorn thicket?"
"Let me see. Before I left that place, I marked the location with an Onmitsukidō tool." Yoruichi took out a rod-shaped object. After unscrewing the cap, some dyed reishi floated out and drifted to the right.
A moment later, the reishi in the distance turned from blue to dark red. The dyed reishi at the front had reached the marked area.
Yoruichi looked at the rod in her hand. It had a scale that showed how much reishi had been released, which could be used to estimate the distance.
"It's very close. About three thousand six hundred meters away," she said.
"Then let's keep moving," Sora said.
The two followed the direction of the dyed reishi, moving quickly. They soon reached their destination.
On a nondescript stone tree, a nail-like object was stuck. When the dyed reishi touched this marker, it turned dark red.
Sora paid no attention to the marker. His gaze was already captivated by a light in the distance.
In front of them was a patch of translucent objects emitting a dazzling light.
Sora found that the reishi in this area was abnormally active, causing great interference to his spiritual sense.
But as a captain-level powerhouse, Sora could still sense a spiritual pressure fluctuation from the glowing object, and it was coming from deep underground.
Sora's eyes narrowed. This thing was probably alive!
It was just that due to the environmental interference, he couldn't confirm what level of creature it was.
"Professor, the glowing thorns were broken off from this thing. They're very hard. I had to use my full strength just to break off the ones that were stuck in me," Yoruichi said.
"Be careful. This thing is probably alive. It might be a Menos Grande," Sora warned.
The two slowly approached the light source.
As they got closer, the glowing object became clearly visible.
A dense mass of thorn-like spikes, emitting a dazzling light, formed a jungle of thorns.
Standing before it, Sora felt a strong impulse well up within him—a desire to throw himself onto those spikes.
"This thing is affecting my mind!" Sora's spiritual pressure surged, and he instantly cleared his head.
He turned his head and saw that Yoruichi's golden eyes had lost their focus. She had been enthralled and was slowly approaching the thorns.
Sora reached out, placed a hand on her back, and infused his spiritual pressure into her body.
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