Bleach: Awakened — Chapter 82 - The Candid Gin Ichimaru

"Not at all!" Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck patted her chest with a confident grin. "Those big shots who've earned the Espada title are seriously strong!"

"According to Lord Aizen, the top-ranked Espada are even stronger than Soul Reaper Captains!"

"Is that so?" Ichigo looked on with surprise. "Did Aizen broadcast that one too?"

"That one? No." Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck smiled with easy simplicity. "I can't really explain why, but... that's just how it is!"

"Oh. Okay." He laughed a little and pointed at the structure rising in the distance, completely out of place against the endless white sand. "That's Las Noches over there, right?"

"I can sense spiritual pressure, but it's being heavily interfered with. Is it made from some kind of special material?"

The essence of his spirit form was at the Transcendent level, but in this ordinary state, Ichigo's perception, spiritual sense, and available power were like everything else about him, operating at the absolute limit of his species.

"Seems like it."

Sensing the enemy's disappearance, the giant worm burrowed up through the white sand looking thoroughly deflated, and crept fawningly toward Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck and the others.

"Then let's keep moving!" Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck laughed without a care in the world and climbed back onto the giant worm. "Let's go give Lord Aizen a surprise!"

"Yeah!" Ichigo called back. "A surprise!"

'More like a shock... an unknown Soul Reaper barging into Las Noches with that kind of power, Aizen's probably going to think he's an enemy...'

That was what Pesche Guatiche thought, but didn't dare say out loud. What Ichigo had just done had rattled Pesche thoroughly. Pesche figured that fighting alongside Dondochakka Birstanne could hold its own against an Espada, but facing Ichigo? There was no confidence there at all.

Before long, the giant worm reached the outer edge of Las Noches. Before Ichigo could say a word, Dondochakka Birstanne opened wide, and the worm burrowed skillfully into that open mouth and vanished in moments.

"What the... your stomach can actually fit something that big?" Ichigo's mouth twitched. "Are all the Hollows in Hueco Mundo like you two...?"

"Hiya." At some point Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck had climbed onto Ichigo's back and gave a pat on his shoulder, radiating a this-is-just-how-things-are energy. "We're small fry—no real fighting ability—but we're useful in plenty of other ways!"

"Like my saliva can help heal injuries! After you fight the Espada I can patch you right up!"

"...Thanks. But no need."

"Hehe! No need to be so polite with me!" Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck laughed with complete guilelessness. "But you should get on Lord Aizen's good side first!"

"Otherwise the Espada can go berserk and start killing people! Very scary!"

"Hmm. The way you say that—sounds like you've actually met the Espada before."

"No no, I haven't! This is just basic common knowledge for small fry!"

"I see..."

Talking like that, the two arrived at the outer wall of Las Noches. Ichigo extended his left hand and pressed his palm flat against the wall, sensing its composition.

"Not Sekkiseki like in Soul Society. It blocks perception to a significant degree, but can't effectively isolate spiritual pressure."

With that settled in his mind, Ichigo pressed his palm in hard. The wall before him crumbled instantly, leaving a clean rectangular gap two meters wide and two meters tall.

"Wow!" Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck exclaimed. "Ichigo, you're amazing!"

"It's nothing. Just a small trick for applying spiritual pressure, only learned it not long ago." Ichigo smiled and stepped inside. "Stay close to me, or you'll be spotted easily."

"Got it!"

The instant Ichigo stepped into Las Noches, a terrifying surge of spiritual pressure flashed and vanished. Invisible ripples spread outward. Pesche Guatiche and Dondochakka Birstanne both shuddered involuntarily, looking thoroughly shaken, while Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck followed in with an expression of total innocence.

"Hurry up! Pesche! Dondochakka Birstanne!"

"...Y-yeah! Okay!"

The Espada's council chamber.

"Report!"

The voice came from the Espada's council chamber. Sosuke Aizen's brow furrowed by an imperceptible fraction, then a warm, utterly emotionless smile settled back onto his face.

"Come in."

"Yes!" An Arrancar pushed open the door and approached the long table, bowing respectfully. "Lord Aizen, we've just detected that an unidentified presence has killed Runuganga and broken into Las Noches!"

"Oh?" Sosuke Aizen asked, mildly surprised. "No visual on their appearance?"

"None." The Arrancar seemed puzzled as well. "After we detected that Runuganga had been killed, we immediately pulled up the footage from the central hall."

"But all we could see was the wall suddenly developing a clean gap for no apparent reason, and then the central hall feed went dark."

"That does sound a bit familiar, Lord Aizen." Gin Ichimaru's fox-like face curved into a pleasant smile. "Something like this happened in Soul Society not too long ago, didn't it."

"...What are you getting at, Gin?"

"I'm thinking, could it be that person? Karakura Town's number one." Still smiling, Gin Ichimaru said the name that sent a chill through everyone in the room. "Ichigo Kurosaki. Has come to Hueco Mundo."

"After all, barring anything unexpected, that inexplicable crushing pressure from ten days ago, that was his."

A brief silence. Sosuke Aizen laughed softly. "The spatial lockdown is still in effect. That kind of situation won't arise."

"Perhaps it's simply some Hollow with a special ability looking to join us."

"That's probably not it." Gin Ichimaru's smile deepened. "After all, if it were a Hollow, it wouldn't have killed our Runuganga, would it?"

With Sosuke Aizen's silence, none of the Arrancar present dared fill it. Setting aside the inexplicable terror of ten days ago, the enemy was someone Sosuke Aizen had no desire whatsoever to face head-on, someone who had only been returned to Hueco Mundo through careful scheming. That alone said everything about what they were dealing with.

Everyone seated here was an Arrancar, but at their core they were all Hollows. One in particular, a certain stout, dark-skinned elder, had arrogance and brutality carved into his very bones. If even the king that such a figure submitted to had reacted that way to someone called Ichigo Kurosaki, then what chance did the rest of them have? They'd be throwing their lives away.

"It doesn't matter." After a long silence, Sosuke Aizen turned the Hogyoku over in his hand. "Even if Ichigo Kurosaki has come, it changes nothing."

"The Hogyoku will awaken very soon. When it does, he will simply remain in Hueco Mundo forever."

"Still, based on what happened ten days ago." Gin Ichimaru said it plainly, without any softening. "That Ichigo Kurosaki seems to have advanced even further down the path of the Transcendent."

"After all, when he was in Soul Society, he never even used his Bankai."

"...It doesn't matter, Gin." Sosuke Aizen smiled with quiet confidence. "The Hogyoku's power is beyond anything you can imagine."

"No matter how powerful the enemy, they will only meet their end at the hands of the me who has fused with the Hogyoku."

"Return to your respective areas for now." Sosuke Aizen rose to his feet. "Prepare to receive the enemy. Once combat is detected, converge immediately."

"If it truly is Ichigo Kurosaki, even without using the power of a Transcendent, not one person in this room would be a match for him."

➤ Next: Fine, Let It All Fall Apart