"You have a method to contact the remaining members of the expeditionary force, do you not?"
Raizen Kō's golden eyes rested calmly upon Tsubaki Izusuke.
His tone was not threatening.
It did not need to be.
"Call them here," he continued, voice smooth as still water. "Gather them all. In return, I will grant you power that transcends the limits of a Shinigami."
The air in the Forest of Menos felt heavy.
Tsubaki Izusuke's throat tightened.
He understood what this meant.
Captain Osaki was dead.
The expeditionary force had lost its pillar.
And the being standing before him was no ordinary Adjuchas.
It was something far closer to the apex.
"What?" Raizen Kō tilted his head slightly. "Even now, you hesitate to betray them?"
There was no anger in his voice.
Only inevitability.
If Tsubaki refused, he would be devoured.
And Raizen would simply hunt the others one by one through Reiatsu tracking.
The result would not change.
Only the method.
"…Yes, my lord."
The words came out hoarse.
Tsubaki extended his right hand. Spiritual markings flared faintly across his palm a communication Kidō imprint issued to members of the expeditionary unit.
Small points of light shimmered above his skin.
He spoke clearly:
"Captain Osaki has fallen. The Menos has withdrawn. All remaining members converge at my location immediately."
The lights began shifting.
Closing in.
Raizen Kō observed silently.
Good.
Captain-class Reiatsu had refined his core.
But eleven seated officers
That would accelerate the process further.
Hours passed.
One by one, Shinigami appeared through Shunpo.
Among them was a middle-aged officer addressed as Higashino.
"Tsubaki!" Higashino approached swiftly. "Are you injured?"
"I'm fine," Tsubaki replied quietly.
Higashino's jaw clenched.
"For Captain Osaki to fall… That Menos must have been approaching Vasto Lorde."
There was grief in his voice.
But not fear.
Every Shinigami who volunteered for Hueco Mundo understood the survival rate.
They came prepared to die.
As the final member arrived, Higashino turned to the group.
"With the Captain gone, we require command structure. Tsubaki Izusuke you possess both the judgment and strength to lead."
Murmurs of agreement followed.
Tsubaki slowly drew his Zanpakutō.
Raised it high.
"I will "
His blade reversed.
And pierced directly through Higashino's chest.
The sound was sickeningly clean.
Silence froze the clearing.
"…Why?" Higashino whispered, blood spilling from his lips.
Tsubaki's eyes trembled.
"I need power… Only power can bring revenge…"
The remaining ten Shinigami reacted instantly
But too late.
A shadow blurred through them.
Raizen Kō moved without theatrics.
Without spectacle.
Sonído.
Precise.
Lethal.
One breath.
Eleven bodies collapsed.
The difference in Reiatsu density was insurmountable.
The forest fell silent once more.
"Well done," Raizen Kō said calmly.
Tsubaki began laughing.
It was not triumph.
It was collapse.
A mind cracking under pressure.
Raizen ignored it.
He raised his hand.
"Soul Eater."
The dark-gold vortex manifested again.
One by one, the fallen Shinigami dissolved into reishi, drawn into him.
This time
The effect was clearer.
The influx of structured spiritual matter reinforced his internal balance.
His mask shifted.
Not visibly.
But spiritually.
A subtle thinning.
Like brittle porcelain developing fractures from within.
Adjuchas approaching the boundary.
Not yet Vasto Lorde.
But closer.
He exhaled slowly.
"Yes… this is refinement."
Devouring low-tier Hollows expanded quantity.
Devouring Shinigami improved composition.
Two different evolutionary vectors.
Raizen turned toward Tsubaki.
"You desired power."
Tsubaki dropped to one knee.
"Yes… grant me strength."
Raizen studied him.
A Shinigami's soul structure resists Hollowfication naturally.
But under sufficient external stimulus
Forced mutation is possible.
He extended one clawed finger.
Dark-gold Reiatsu condensed into a compressed sphere.
Not the Hōgyoku.
That artifact existed solely within the possession of individuals such as Sosuke Aizen and Kisuke Urahara.
This was different.
A parasitic Hollow seed.
Raizen thrust his hand forward
Piercing Tsubaki's chest.
The compressed Reiatsu embedded directly into his soul core.
Tsubaki screamed.
His Reiatsu destabilized instantly.
White substance began leaking from his wound
Mask materialization.
A forced Hollowfication.
His body convulsed violently as his Shinigami Reiryoku clashed against invading Hollow Reiatsu.
"Do not resist," Raizen instructed. "Embrace it."
The white material spread across Tsubaki's face, forming jagged bone plating.
A Hollow hole burned open in his chest.
His spiritual pressure surged wildly, oscillating between Shinigami and Hollow polarity.
Then
Silence.
His body became encased in a cocoon of hardened mask substance.
An incomplete metamorphosis.
Cracks formed across its surface.
"Crack."
The shell shattered.
A figure emerged.
Mask covering half his face.
Hollow hole stabilized.
Red spikes protruded along his forearms.
His Zanpakutō remained in hand.
Hybrid.
Unstable.
A failed Arrancar.
But beyond standard Visored classification.
He roared.
And charged Raizen Kō.
Raizen's eyes gleamed faintly.
"It succeeded."
Not true Arrancarization.
Not yet.
But proof of concept.
A Shinigami forcibly rewritten at the spiritual level.
Raizen did not draw his blade.
He simply stepped forward to test his creation.
Evolution was no longer limited to himself.
Now , he could manufacture it.
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