Bleach: Reborn — Chapter 180 - The King Returns

A silent moonlit night. A breeze swept across the silver sea of sand, kicking up a pale haze of dust. Beneath a wind-sheltered boulder, Mizusue stirred awake in her Shihakushō. The moment her eyes opened, her hand went for her Zanpakutō, and found nothing.

She rose. Someone had tucked her under this massive rock, carefully concealed. Her Zanpakutō, Kanzaki-hime, lay beneath another boulder two or three meters away. Beside it sat a dozen small jars. She recognized them, spoils her squad had collected, the jars containing Hollow Beast genetic material. Behind the rock lay two mangled corpses, incomplete, with Hollow Masks draped over their faces. The masks were already fading.

Mizusue stared, stunned. Then she stepped closer and saw words scratched into the ground.

Lady Mizusue, I am sorry. By the time you wake, I will have already left.

"Tsuki?" She knew the handwriting. Wayne's. The strokes were rushed, she could feel the urgency in them. Beside the message, a small pool of fresh blood had dripped onto the ground. He'd been injured. No time to treat the wounds. Just scrawl a letter and go.

Forgive me for leaving without a word. I had no choice. We were ambushed by several Adjuchas. Everyone died. When I found you, you were already unconscious. I got you out, but I couldn't carry you far. I hid you here. The bodies and masks are all I could bring back. I placed the masks on the corpses to mask the Reiatsu from your body and theirs. I don't know if it will work.

"That child..." Her brows drew tight. She understood now. Wayne had drawn off every last Hollow Beast alone, to save her. He'd risked his life to bring back the masks and what remained of their comrades.

Alone, I can move more freely. Trust me, I won't die that easily. I still have too much left to do. Don't worry about me. I'll stay in Hueco Mundo and keep training. Until we meet again. Or until I learn to open a Senkaimon myself. This mission wasn't a total failure. We saved the genetic material Captain Mayuri Kurotsuchi needs. Take it back. I look forward to seeing you again.

, Tsukishiro Hinamori

"How can one person possibly..."

She stepped out of the makeshift shelter. Beyond the rocks, she saw only the deadwood forest they'd fled from. Nothing else. No sign of life anywhere.

"Tsuki..."

She thought back to the battle. He'd been saying something to her, words she couldn't make sense of. Then she'd sensed it: over ten crushing Reiatsu signatures bearing down on them. Her vision went dark. She lost contact with everyone. Trapped in some kind of barrier.

Not long after, a mid-class Adjuchas had burst in. She was a healer, not a fighter. After a few exchanges, it swatted her unconscious. When she woke, she was here.

"He broke the barrier. He pulled me out."

She smoothed the writing from the ground, erasing every trace. Then she gathered the jars Wayne had left, grabbed the mangled corpses and masks, and used Kanzaki-hime to tear open the Senkaimon. She had to go back now. Report. Rally a search party. Find him.

A flash of brilliant light, her Zanpakutō pierced through space. She leapt into the Senkaimon and left Hueco Mundo behind.

Not far away, on a higher rock formation, a rat-like Hollow Beast rubbed its face as it watched the light fade beneath the boulder. Then it turned and scurried into the distance.

"Sir, she's gone." Moments later, Timd twitched alertly, receiving the message from his clone. He reported at once.

Wayne nodded. "Let's move. We keep going."

"Yes!"

Inside the Garganta, Wayne advanced with the assembled Hollow Beasts. He'd laid enough groundwork with Mizusue. Now he was heading back to the Forest of Menos with Jekain and the others. Two reasons he'd spared her life. First: gratitude. She'd looked after him all this time. Second: Soul Society needed someone to carry the report. And having her report back would serve as cover, proof he wasn't dead. When he returned to Soul Society later, he'd still have room to maneuver. No one could corner him with questions.

For now, he was breaking away. His first objective back in the Forest of Menos was simple: use the Hollow Beasts' power to strengthen his Zanpakutō. Here, he could absorb Reishi freely through Soul Absorption. Devour Hollow Beasts outright. Use their spiritual power to replenish his own.

Jekain had filled him in on the rest. The castle Wayne had poured everything into building, someone else was living in it now. Didn't matter who. He'd destroy them regardless. To do that, he needed strength, and fast. So he'd laid out a multi-stage plan.

Step one: return to the Forest of Menos and reunite with his old comrades.

The journey through the Garganta took about half a month, roughly the same time it had taken Jekain's group to reach him. Clearly, that Hollow Beast named Kent hadn't wasted a second. He'd gone straight back to report. That was how Jekain had mobilized so quickly.

When they finally entered the forest, every Hollow Beast there rushed to the Garganta's opening. Timd's clone had already relayed everything. At first, the Hollows hadn't believed it, a Hollow Beast reborn into a Soul Reaper? Impossible. But the moment Wayne appeared and released all the Reiatsu sealed inside his Zanpakutō, every Hollow Beast who'd once followed him dropped to the ground. Their voices shook. Their Reiatsu surged. Some let out keening cries, years of waiting finally given release.

ROAR!

Hovering in midair, Wayne looked down at his comrades. Emotion surged through him. He let his Hollowfied form take over and loosed a long howl at the sky.

"Comrades — I'm back!"

"Our King returns!"

The roar rose in unison. At the front, hundreds of Hollow Beasts had tears in their eyes. This was their King. His form had changed, but he was still their King. Further back, the newer recruits looked on in confusion. Why were their seniors kneeling to a Soul Reaper? But as more and more high-ranking figures gathered behind him, the truth settled in. This Soul Reaper was their true King.

"Comrades — for decades, you've held our last home. Rest assured. One day, we will return to our castle in Hueco Mundo. We will return to the bastion where we knew glory. Believe me. That day is not far."

ROAR!

Every Hollow Beast howled. This was their King's promise. As long as it came from him, they would return to their former glory. That near-blind trust, that absolute faith, had long since been carved into their minds.

Whatever their King spoke would one day become reality.

After the brief welcome, Wayne followed Jekain's group to the forest's core.

"Jekain. How long until the next Forest of Menos War?"

Seated at the highest position, Wayne surveyed his surroundings. Little had changed since he'd left. The only difference: the towering tree that anchored their stronghold had grown even taller over the decades.

"My King, we no longer wage the Forest of Menos War." Jekain bowed his head.

"Oh? Explain."

"After we fought from the Central Forest to the Northern Forest, the ruler of the Southern Forest was blown to death by our Hollow Beast Mines. We then conquered the Southern Forest directly. All three Forests of Menos now belong to us. The so-called war is now only a training exercise. We no longer fight to the death."

"Hm. You've accomplished a great deal in these decades."

"Only thanks to what our King brought us."

"In that case... my plan to use the war to absorb spiritual power — it's off the table?"

"How could it be, my King?" Timd cut in. "After you left, we stockpiled hundreds of Gillians each year as a source of new strength. All three forests did the same. After all these years, aside from what we consume daily and the ones with evolutionary potential we keep, the rest are corralled and raised right here. Give us half a month, my King, and we can gather every existing Gillian from all three forests for you. Rough estimate — over ten thousand, if we mobilize them all."

"Not necessary." Wayne shook his head. "No need to weaken our foundation for my sake. Thirty percent will do. Start with this forest's Gillians as nourishment. Transfer half from each of the other two forests to serve as reserves. And while I'm absorbing Reishi, Jekain, I need you to seal off this space. I don't want my Reiatsu fluctuations exposed. Timd, gather intelligence on whoever's occupying our castle. Once my absorption is complete, we counterattack."

"Yes, my King."

Under Wayne's orders, every Hollow Beast sprang into motion. Jekain and Timd had their assignments, but the others worked too. Combat units went hunting, to sharpen themselves and to supply Wayne with Adjuchas-class spiritual power. Production units, under Timd's direction, continued developing new Hollow Beast weapons. Tools for the harassment campaigns to come.

With Wayne's return, the entire faction seemed to come alive again. The newer recruits didn't fully understand what was happening, but one thing was clear. As long as their King was here, this faction would rise. No more suffering under other powers.

Soon, under Jekain's arrangements, Wayne entered a massive cavern Mude had constructed. Jekain sealed the space completely, not a trace of Reiatsu could leak out. Then, one by one, Gillians were funneled inside.

At his current level, the spiritual power Wayne could absorb by slaying Hollow Beasts with his Zanpakutō was pitifully small. The blade's function was purification, not devouring. But here, with no other Soul Reapers to interfere, he could liberate his Zanpakutō freely. He could use the Hollow Beast Reiatsu of his Hollow projection to devour the Gillians outright, no rejection from his body's internal power. Converting spiritual power from chaos to order took time. But converting the Reiatsu inside him, working with his Zanpakutō, into chaos? That was fast. The only problem was that doing so would expose his Hollow Beast Reiatsu. Easy for Aizen to detect. That was why he'd never dared try it in Soul Society.

But here?

He felled a Gillian with one slash. Grabbed its Hollow Mask. Shoved it into his mouth without a second thought. Compressed. Converted. Once the process was done, he'd reorder the Reiatsu in his body, restoring it to Soul Reaper Reiatsu. The Hollow Beast Reiatsu, after conversion, would automatically flow into his Zanpakutō, strengthening the Hollow Beast state sealed within the blade.

A single Gillian couldn't give him much power at this stage. But there were over a thousand of them here. Enough to restore a significant portion of his strength. No river swells without gathering every stream. At this stage, this was the surest path.

And so the long absorption began. Wayne sank back into the rhythm he'd once known during his secluded cultivation.

One day. Two days. One month. Two months.

As time passed, he grew sharper at converting between the two Reiatsu types. At first, he could only absorb one Gillian's Reiatsu per day. Now, he could handle over ten. Considerable progress. One day, he'd be able to rely on his conversion ability alone, swallow a Hollow Beast whole in his Soul Reaper form without its Reiatsu tearing apart the spiritual order inside him.

Time flowed on. And Wayne kept growing stronger.

Watching his gradual progress, Jekain and Timd exchanged a glance. Neither spoke, but the excitement in their eyes said everything. They believed it with absolute certainty.

The day they reclaimed their castle was coming.

➤ Next: Counterattack — Clash