In the Laboratory.
"You really move fast. You just mentioned this two days ago, and now you're already acting on it," Sora said with praise.
"I naturally have to take the Professor's instructions seriously. Besides, I had already made some preparations in this area," Sōsuke Aizen said softly.
In front of them was a transparent, multi-sided container. At its center floated an orb giving off a blue glow.
The Hollowfication vaccine they developed a while ago was just a by-product of researching the Soul King's power.
Sōsuke Aizen had now successfully combined some fragments, creating a prototype of the Hōgyoku.
"So this is the key to breaking the limits of a Shinigami... the Hōgyoku."
Sora picked up the container holding the 'Hōgyoku' and used his spiritual perception to sense its subtle fluctuations.
"The 'Hōgyoku' hasn't reached its limit yet. It shouldn't have that kind of power right now," Aizen said.
This 'Hōgyoku' could only be called a prototype. It was still far from the complete 'Hōgyoku'.
After all, Aizen had only used some of the Soul King fragments to make it. They hadn't even used up all the fragments they found in the Tsunayashiro clan.
"We are on the right path. Reaching the end is just a matter of time." Sora put the Hōgyoku down and picked up the data next to it.
"This is a set of data I collected from testing the 'Hōgyoku'. Its enhancement effect on Hollows is extremely significant," Aizen said with a faint smile.
"We already have the ability to mass-produce Arrancars."
Now that they had created the Hōgyoku, they had to focus on how to use it to strengthen Shinigami and Hollows.
Sōsuke Aizen used a very direct method: implanting the Hōgyoku into a Hollow's body.
The current Hōgyoku had limited power and couldn't affect a Hollow unless it was implanted.
"Not bad... Just a few days after implantation, an Adjuchas-class Hollow evolved into an Arrancar."
Sora nodded slightly and asked, "Is that test subject still around?"
He wanted to see the Hollow's condition. If this evolution method was safe, he could let Harribel evolve into an Arrancar.
Although Harribel already had a human form, she wasn't actually in her Arrancar form yet.
"It is." Aizen nodded. "I wanted to set up a few more control groups and test it again. After I took the Hōgyoku out, I locked it in the prison."
Sōsuke Aizen led Sora to the room in the lab where they held live test subjects.
"It's not often you see a Hollow this quiet."
Sora looked inside. A sturdy-looking male Arrancar was sitting quietly on the bed.
The room was just a normal room, but the Arrancar inside sat on the bed with no intention of escaping.
"In his world, he's still in the Forest of Menos."
"I see. You used Kyōka Suigetsu to hypnotize him."
Sōsuke Aizen opened the door, but the Arrancar was completely unaware of the two of them.
The next moment, the Arrancar turned its head, staring intently at the two people who had suddenly appeared.
"Die, Shinigami!"
After becoming an Arrancar, the Hollow's strength had increased, and his ego had grown with it. Facing two Shinigami, he attacked without hesitation.
The Arrancar charged at them. However, from their perspective, the Arrancar was just spinning in circles.
"It seems that even evolving into an Arrancar doesn't increase their intelligence."
Sōsuke Aizen shook his head, disappointed.
"This Arrancar's Spiritual Pressure is impressive. Even in the Forest of Menos, a Hollow with this much Spiritual Pressure is very rare."
Sora sensed the Arrancar's Spiritual Pressure.
"His Spiritual Pressure did grow a lot. It's already close to the Third-Rank Spiritual Class."
Aizen nodded and slightly modified the illusion the Arrancar was seeing, sending it to the lab's training ground.
The Arrancar began fighting imaginary enemies in the training ground.
It had no idea it was trapped in an illusion, showing off its full power right in front of Sora and Aizen.
"It doesn't look like there are any side effects. Go ahead and set up ten more control groups," Sora said after watching for a while.
"No problem. I've already prepared plenty of Hollows."
Sōsuke Aizen nodded.
After Sora finished observing the Arrancar, Aizen moved on to the next project.
They went to another room. This one held several incubation tanks, each containing a sleeping Hollowfied creature.
"These are by-products from the Hollowfication vaccine research. They couldn't survive the process and instead fully transformed into Hollows," Aizen explained.
"Next, I'll test the 'Hōgyoku's' compatibility with them. The 'Hōgyoku' can turn Hollows into Arrancars. So... what changes will it cause in these Hollowfied Shinigami?"
Aizen looked at the Hollowfied Shinigami in the incubation tanks, a look of inquiry in his eyes.
"It will probably make them stronger, too. But I doubt they'll regain their sanity..."
Sora's gaze slowly swept over the Hollowfied Shinigami.
When his eyes landed on one of them, his attention was instantly captured.
The appearance of that Hollowfied Shinigami felt familiar. It was a Hollow covered in pitch-black armor, but its inside was white, and it had a pair of bull-like horns on its head.
White!
A thought flashed in Sora's mind.
This Hollowfied creature looked just like the 'White' from his memories—the Hollow inside Ichigo Kurosaki.
"Raise the priority of this project. After you finish testing the Arrancar control groups, focus all resources on this."
Sora thought of the 'Path of Transcendence' mission. To complete it, he needed to train disciples to their absolute limit in three areas: Shinigami, Hollow, and Quincy.
The Shinigami side was fine; Aizen had that covered.
For the Hollow and Quincy, Sora would have to figure it out himself.
For Hollows, he could try using the 'Hōgyoku' to push Nelliel or Harribel to evolve into their Hōgyoku forms.
For the Quincy, their limit was Yhwach. The four Quincy disciples he had recently taken on didn't seem like they had the potential to grow to Yhwach's level.
But Ichigo Kurosaki did have that potential. If he could take Ichigo as a disciple, he might have a chance to complete the 'Path of Transcendence' mission.
...
Soul Society, a remote area of the Zaraki District.
A cloaked Kisuke Urahara arrived in a grove of dead trees.
A plain, unremarkable tree blocked his path, but he didn't stop. He just kept walking forward.
The tree in front of him was like an illusion. Kisuke Urahara passed right through it and disappeared.
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