Conversely, Raizen Kō, hidden deep within the outer desert of the New Territory, remained completely unaware of everything that was unfolding in the Land of a Hundred Hollows' Mutual Devourment.
The birth of abnormal Menos, the intervention of Adjuchas, the silent gathering of storms in the depths of Hueco Mundo—none of it had yet reached him.
At this moment, he was still tirelessly hunting among the lowest ranks of existence.
Freshman Hollows.
His Reiatsu continued to grow steadily, his massive frame lengthening little by little with each successful hunt, the dark golden lightning patterns along his carapace growing denser, more refined.
In the endless white desert, predation never ceased.
A snake-shaped Hollow, nearly four meters long, had coiled tightly around a pig-shaped Hollow, its pale body constricting with savage precision. The snake's segments twisted repeatedly, its muscles bulging grotesquely, and then—
"Crack!"
A dull fracture echoed through the sand.
The pig-shaped Hollow's ribs shattered inward, its spiritual structure collapsing instantly as its soul dispersed into scattered Reishi. Death came without ceremony.
Just as the serpent opened its jagged maw, preparing to feast, the sand beneath it trembled violently.
Without warning, a colossal white centipede tail erupted from below.
Dark golden lightning coils spiraled tightly around the armored segments.
BOOM!
The impact slammed the snake Hollow deep into the sand, burying half its body beneath the shifting dunes.
"Hsss—!!"
The serpent shrieked in agony, thrashing wildly as it struggled to rise.
A massive humanoid torso slowly emerged from the sand behind it.
Raizen Kō's pale mask gleamed under the ghostly light of Hueco Mundo, his eyes calm, observant, almost amused.
"Oh? For a mere Freshman Hollow… to remain conscious after a full tail strike from me…"
He tilted his head slightly.
"You can be proud of that much."
Admiration did not halt execution.
Golden lightning flared violently along his centipede segments as he brought his tail down once more.
Zzzzzzt—!!
A sharp electrical scream tore through the air.
The scent of scorched flesh drifted across the dunes.
The snake Hollow's body convulsed once… then fell completely still.
Raizen Kō stared at the charred remains, exhaling faintly.
"…Seems I overcooked it."
Unbothered, he opened his maw and swallowed the entire corpse in several heavy gulps, cheeks bulging grotesquely before slowly settling back into place.
Moments later, he turned toward the pig Hollow's corpse nearby, dragged it closer, and devoured it just as efficiently.
"Snake hunts pig… Raizen Kō hunts both."
He patted his armored abdomen contentedly.
Unknowingly, two full months had passed since his arrival in this world.
He had long since adapted to the law of Hueco Mundo.
The hunger.
The silence.
The endless devouring.
At times, fragments of his former life surfaced—games, animation, crowded streets, laughter, women, warmth.
"…The Human World still exists."
If he could one day become a high-ranking Menos… then an Arrancar…
Perhaps.
Just perhaps.
"…I could walk among humans again."
The thought lingered briefly.
Then he shook his head.
"Meaningless fantasies. Without strength, everything here is just delusion."
In Hueco Mundo, only evolution granted freedom.
He was about to resume hunting when a faint disturbance reached his senses.
Sand shifting.
Reiatsu rippling unnaturally.
"…Movement ahead?"
Raizen Kō instantly activated Camo, suppressing his Reiatsu to the brink of nothingness, sinking shallowly beneath the sand as he advanced.
What entered his vision moments later caused his thoughts to freeze.
A dog-shaped Hollow, small and battered, fur yellowed and matted with blood, was fleeing desperately across the dunes.
An invisible force lashed at it.
Crack—!
The dog Hollow leapt aside just in time, a translucent whip barely missing its skull, before an unseen giant flung it violently through the air.
The creature crashed heavily into the sand.
Raizen Kō's mind trembled.
"…Dahuang…?"
Memory surged.
A small yellow dog from childhood.
Growing up together.
Warm evenings.
A blood-soaked leash.
The resemblance was uncanny.
Only the faint bone mask on its brow and the Hollow hole through its abdomen shattered the illusion.
"…No. Just another Freshman Hollow."
The invisible predator did not kill it.
It played with it.
Tormenting.
Mocking.
Raizen Kō narrowed his eyes.
Its Reiatsu… clearly above his.
But not unreachable.
"If I strike first…"
Decision formed instantly.
His right index finger pierced through the sand.
Black-red Reiatsu condensed at its tip.
Whoosh—!!
A blazing Cero tore through the air, barely grazing the fleeing dog Hollow's tail before blasting past it.
The heat alone melted the tail clean off.
"Yelp—!!"
The wounded dog rolled desperately aside.
Behind it—
ROOOAR—!!!
A monstrous silhouette revealed itself.
A gigantic dark-green Chameleon Hollow, towering five meters tall, body stretching nearly thirty meters long, emerged fully into view.
Two massive bone lances jutted from its forearms.
Its scarlet tongue, half-melted and mangled from the Cero, hung uselessly from its mouth.
Cold reptilian eyes locked directly onto Raizen Kō's position.
"…Not a lizard. A chameleon."
Giant Hollow class.
One full rank above him.
But crippled.
The creature roared furiously.
"WHO DARES INJURE THIS LORD?! I'LL RIP YOU APART—!!"
An intelligent Hollow.
Exactly what Raizen Kō had sought for months.
He remained silent.
The sand shifted behind the beast.
Golden lightning erupted.
BOOM!
His tail slammed into the Chameleon Hollow's flank, launching its massive body tumbling across the dunes.
"CURSE YOU—!! I'LL KILL YOU—!!"
Raizen Kō did not answer.
While the Hollow convulsed helplessly under lingering electrical paralysis, Raizen Kō surged forward, erupting from the sand directly before it.
Lightning now flowed not only through his tail
but across his entire body.
Clenching both fists, arcs of dark gold wrapped tightly around his arms.
His evolution had advanced further than he realized.
ORA—! ORA—! ORA—!
Each punch detonated like a cannon.
The Chameleon Hollow's soft underbelly ruptured again and again, Reiatsu exploding outward with every impact.
Blood sprayed violently.
Dark green.
Corrosive.
Zzzzt —!!
Raizen Kō hissed sharply.
"…Acidic blood."
His fists smoked, flesh sizzling under the corrosive fluid.
The damage slowed his strikes.
But his eyes burned brighter.
Cold.
Focused.
Hungry.