The Great Forest of Menos, Black Night Jungle.
As its name implied, this place was eternally shrouded in darkness, a realm where not a single ray of light could ever reach.
"My King, the surrounding Adjuchas have already been dealt with as you commanded."
An Adjuchas in the form of a massive crimson goat standing roughly three meters tall and five meters long spoke respectfully to Raizen Kō, lowering its head in clear submission.
This goat-like Hollow, now calling itself Rojo Capra, was one of Raizen's newly acquired subordinates. Much like the strange fish-type Adjuchas Giwa Barnes, it had swallowed one of Raizen's condensed spheres of lightning Reiatsu and was bound to him both in fear and loyalty.
During these past few days within the Great Forest of Menos, Raizen had encountered more than a dozen Adjuchas that ruled over the area. Aside from Rojo Capra and Giwa Barnes who wisely chose submission the remaining ten or so had been thoroughly devoured and converted into pure Reiatsu within Raizen's body.
"My King, please reconsider! This Black Night Jungle is rumored to be the territory of another Vasto Lorde besides yourself!" Giwa Barnes warned anxiously.
Clearly, both Adjuchas believed without question that their overwhelmingly powerful master was a true Vasto Lorde, the pinnacle of Hollow evolution.
They had no idea that Raizen Kō was, in truth, still classified as a Gillian.
"If you two lack the courage to follow, then wait for me outside."
Raizen easily understood the hidden fear in their words. These Hollows had submitted through force alone, and their loyalty was still fragile. Expecting them to risk their lives for him so soon would be unreasonable. Thus, he chose to leave them outside the borders of the Black Night Jungle.
Before stepping inside, Raizen turned back toward them with a faint, dangerous smile.
"Also… don't wander too far from me. If I can no longer sense your Reiatsu, the lightning spheres embedded in your bodies will probably become quite unstable."
The moment they heard this, both Hollows froze in terror.
"Of course not, my King! We would never dare flee!"
"We will wait right here for your victorious return!"
Ignoring their frantic reassurances, Raizen simply scoffed, activated Sonido, and disappeared into the depths of the Black Night Jungle.
"Caw… Caw…"
Within the jungle, the eerie cries of crow-type Hollows echoed endlessly.
Raizen paid them no attention. With only a slight release of his Reiatsu, the scattered crow Hollows immediately fell silent in fear. After he passed by, they merged together, forming a massive grotesque crow-shaped Menos.
It trembled violently while staring in the direction Raizen had gone.
"Caw… another one… another one…"
Continuing deeper, Raizen noticed that the towering trees gradually grew shorter and more twisted. Droplets of spirit particles clung to their branches like glistening dew.
Countless small bat Hollows hung upside down from the limbs, their eyes tightly shut.
The moment Raizen entered their territory, however, they were instantly awakened by the overwhelming pressure of his Reiatsu.
Hundreds of thousands of glowing green eyes locked onto him at once.
"SCREEEECH!"
The bats let out piercing shrieks, their combined voices forming waves of sonic energy that rushed toward Raizen.
"Noisy pests."
Threads of dark-golden Reiatsu began to rise from Raizen Kō's body. The energy grew denser and more intense until it formed a massive pillar of light that shot upward, momentarily illuminating the eternally dark Black Night Jungle.
Overwhelmed by this terrifying pressure, the countless bat Hollows scattered in panic, throwing the entire forest into chaos.
"Still refusing to come out?"
Raizen gazed calmly at the enormous cavern ahead an abyss that looked like a bottomless black hole and spoke in a quiet, steady voice.
Suddenly, a surge of deep green Reiatsu erupted from within the nest.
The power was immense.
A Reiatsu completely on par with Raizen's own flooded outward like a tidal wave, clashing directly against his dark-golden aura.
"Such powerful spiritual pressure… truly worthy of a Vasto Lorde."
Raizen carefully sensed the opponent's Reiatsu and realized with slight surprise that it was equal to perhaps even marginally stronger than his current level.
When Raizen first became a Gillian, his Reiatsu had only barely reached the threshold of a lower-tier Captain-class Shinigami.
Now, after continuous devouring and growth, his power had firmly entered the realm of high Third-Class Captain-level Reiatsu.
Yet even with that level of strength, he still found himself slightly suppressed.
"As expected of a true Vasto Lorde."
The moment he recognized the unique deep-green Reiatsu, Raizen already knew the identity of the being hidden within the darkness.
Before long, a swift afterimage shot out from the cavern.
When it came to a halt, Raizen saw him clearly.
A humanoid figure, completely white, with a physique nearly identical to that of a human.
Its entire body was covered in smooth white keratin, save for the folded bat-like wings on its back.
Deep green eyes shone coldly like emeralds.
On the left side of its chest, where a heart should have been, lay a large Hollow hole.
Its white mask, shaped like a bat's face, bore two deep green tear-like markings trailing from its eyes down to its jaw.
"It really is you… Ulquiorra Cifer," Raizen thought, unable to suppress a trace of excitement.
"Who… are you?"
Ulquiorra spoke slowly and emotionlessly, clearly unused to conversation after years of isolation.
"I am Raizen Kō the one who will one day rule Hueco Mundo."
Raizen pointed his blade forward confidently.
"I have come to conquer you. Submit to me, and I will lead you toward discovering what you have lost your heart."
The instant the words left his mouth
"Whoosh!"
Ulquiorra vanished.
With an explosive Sonido, he appeared directly in front of Raizen. His slender hand, sharp as a blade, shot toward Raizen's chest without hesitation.
"I knew you'd respond like this."
Ulquiorra's habit of piercing holes through opponents clearly hadn't developed recently.
"I already have a Hollow hole in my abdomen. I don't need you adding another one!"
Raizen let out a fierce shout. In a flash, he drew the Asauchi at his waist still sealed within a plain wooden scabbard and slashed directly at Ulquiorra's incoming hand.
Pfft!
A deep wound opened across Ulquiorra's left palm, blood splattering into the air.
Yet within seconds, the flesh wriggled and closed completely.
Speed Regeneration just as Raizen expected.
Realizing his attack had failed, Ulquiorra immediately retreated, putting distance between them.
Raizen, however, felt his blood boil with excitement.
Gripping his blade tightly, he bared his teeth in a grin and activated Sonido in pursuit.
The battle between two future legends of Hueco Mundo had only just begun.