"Oh, Captain Ameki, you're here?!"

"I'm so sorry! I didn't notice you just now..."

As Ameki approached Araki and the others, Araki appeared surprised. He smiled and gave Ameki a light pat on the shoulder.

"So that's why he didn't call my name earlier," Ameki thought to himself with a bitter smile. Then he replied, "It's alright. I actually came to tell you—I've decided to accept your offer. I'll become your personal guard."

"Oh? Is that so? Very well."

Araki simply nodded and smiled again, saying nothing further.

The other captains, watching from the side, exchanged glances. They silently thought:

"Poor Ameki... Don't kid yourself. You've already been pushed aside."

Before long, the 11th Division's detachment returned from the Great Hollow Forest with their latest spoils.

"Captain! We've brought a Gillian corpse!"

The robust Shinigami shinigami marched forward, bearing the towering remains of a Great Hollow on their shoulders.

"Mm..."

Araki acknowledged them with a slight nod, then gestured toward the hot spring pool beside the camp.

"As you command!"

With a synchronized shout, the shinigami flung the enormous corpse into the pool.

"Gulp, gulp..."

The water began to churn ominously. Within moments, the Gillian's body had completely dissolved—gone without a trace.

"What the—?!"

The captains gasped.

"Wouldn't you all like to give it a try?"

Araki turned to them with an inviting smile.

The captains exchanged uncertain glances—but the temptation was overwhelming. One by one, they entered the pool.

"What... is this?!"

Shocked expressions returned to their faces as they experienced the miraculous sensation.

"This hot spring... it relieves fatigue, cures latent spiritual injuries, even strengthens spiritual pressure... It's even more potent than the rejuvenation springs at Kirin Temple..."

Captain Iwahara adjusted his glasses and murmured thoughtfully.

"Not just that!"

Obana Danjiro clenched his fists. As a master of fine muscle control, he could feel his body reacting to the spiritual water.

"It tempers the flesh. This hot spring... it's a tool for cultivation!"

Then he glanced at Araki.

"The source... It's the corpses of Great Hollows, isn't it?"

Araki smiled faintly.

"Correct."

The captains nodded. No further words were necessary.

From that moment on, the Great Hollow Forest gained four more elite Gillian hunters.

Hueco Mundo shuddered beneath their presence.

In the palace of Karakuya, the pressure on Baraggan Louisenbairn and his Adjuchas intensified. Gillian grew scarce. The hunters had outnumbered the prey.

This unbalanced situation persisted for a century—until Araki's Hueco Mundo Expeditionary Force finally withdrew from the Hollow realm and returned to Soul Society. Only then did the balance begin to restore.

From that time forward, the Great Hollow Forest witnessed a resurgence of Adjuchas preying on Gillian.

Years later, Aaroniero Arruruerie, the only Espada to evolve from a Gillian, would declare with a bitter laugh:

"When Hueco Mundo prospers, the Gillian suffer. When Hueco Mundo falls... the Gillian suffer still."

A Hundred Years Later – Great Hollow Forest

"We're heading back today, huh?"

"Yeah. Honestly, I'm a little reluctant to leave..."

"It's been nearly a hundred years since we saw Soul Society. I wonder what it's like now."

A group of battle-worn shinigami from the 11th Division strolled leisurely through the forest. Their black Shinigami uniforms were faded and torn, but their eyes held a calm experience. They walked as if they owned the land.

"Roar!"

A massive Gillian suddenly emerged from the dense trees, lunging at them.

"Whoa there! We're not here for trouble today. You'd best stay where you are."

Their expressions didn't change. They had survived Hueco Mundo for a hundred years. A Gillian was no longer a threat.

"Bind him! Enenra!"

One shinigami unsheathed his zanpakutō. Instantly, dark mist erupted into the forest, engulfing the Gillian. In the next moment, the fog morphed into hundreds of chains that wrapped around the beast.

"Hah!"

With a flick of the blade, the Gillian was hurled through the air and slammed into the ground.

Boom!

The creature collapsed, motionless.

"Back then, we'd have run for our lives against a Gillian..."

They stood in silence, reflecting.

"Now we can defeat them without breaking a sweat."

Without further ceremony, they made their way back to base.

Hueco Mundo Expeditionary Base – A Fortress Born of War

The structure they returned to was enormous—walls over a hundred meters tall surrounded a network of two-story barracks. This fortress had been built over the decades during their prolonged occupation.

At the central plaza stood the hot spring pool. Though once a battlefield miracle, it had long since become a symbol of the expedition's legacy. Now, obtaining spring water requires turning in Hollow corpses for points. Points were then exchanged in the rest buildings to access the water directly—distributed through the fortress-wide pipeline system.

The entirety of the 11th Division Expeditionary Force stood gathered before the pool.

At the podium stood their commander—Araki.

Beside him were his elite officers: Unohana Retsu, Saitō Furōbushi, and Kadori Batunsai.

"My shinigami! Time flows swiftly."

"We have fought in Hueco Mundo for a hundred years. It was us who kept the Great Hollows in check. It was us who slew the traitors who slaughtered the sages of the Central 46. It was us who held the line when even Captain-Commander Yamamoto himself turned his gaze away from this realm!"

"Now, with evil purged and the light of His Majesty the Soul King shining upon Hueco Mundo, our mission... is complete."

"We return not as survivors. We return as heroes!"

"Hyaaaah!!"

A deafening roar of approval erupted from the shinigami. Their eyes blazed with pride and joy.

But then... Araki's voice deepened.

"However..."

"While we shed blood in this forsaken land, others—traitors, opportunists, cowards—took advantage of our absence..."

"They invaded our home."

"Do you accept that?"

Araki then continued, questioning the 11th Division.

"No! Absolutely not!"

the shinigami replied in unison.

"What do you think we should do in the face of those villains?"

Araki nodded with satisfaction, then continued.

"Kill! Kill! Kill!"

The 11th Division shinigami, resembling demons, drew their Zanpakutōs from their waists. The endless murderous intent startled the dark clouds over Hueco Mundo, which instantly dispersed.

"We only have three things to do in Soul Society this time: Fair! Fair! Fair!"

Araki gazed at the shinigami he had carefully trained, his lips curling upward as he raised three fingers to the sky. He had nearly cleaned up Hueco Mundo. Now it was time to clean up Soul Society. He wondered if those lovely nobles would even sleep well tonight when they learned they were leaving.

Soul Society, Seireitei…

In the Gotei 1st Division barracks:

"Did you tell Araki about the 11th Division?!"

Genryūsai, standing in the empty headquarters room, asked Chojiro Sasakibe, who stood beside him.

"Yes!"

Sasakibe immediately approached Genryūsai.

Under the light, several distinct wrinkles could be seen on Sasakibe's face. He had grown considerably over the past century—and aged just as much.

"Hmm, that's right. It's time to teach those blind nobles a lesson."

"Otherwise, those arrogant nobles will truly believe I've become a puppet at their mercy!"

"No one seriously thinks that just because I accepted their sponsorship funds to build the academy and personally expelled all the 'weapons' that helped me conquer the world from Seireitei, I've transformed from a mountain tiger into a docile house cat, right?! Haha, ridiculous."

Yamamoto snorted coldly after hearing Sasakibe's words, his eyes flashing with a fierce gleam.

The Gotei 11th Division…

A tall man lay soundly asleep in the kenjutsu dojo.

Since Captain Araki had taken his men to Hueco Mundo, the 11th Division had been vacant. But the vast Seireitei couldn't be without a combat division for even a single day!

Therefore, Genryūsai had always ensured someone acted as captain of the 11th Division…

A few years ago, a high-ranking noble approached Genryūsai and, at a very high price, negotiated with him about installing a trusted aide within the Gotei 13.

Adhering to the principle of "take all the sugar, hit all the bullets back," Genryūsai—knowing Araki would eventually return—handed the 11th Division captaincy to the noble's chosen candidate.

This delighted the noble. According to Gotei 13 tradition, the captain of the 11th Division also earned the title of Kenpachi.

Every Shinigami who bore the title Kenpachi was hailed as the strongest in Seireitei, second only to Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni. The high-ranking nobles saw this as Yamamoto's attempt to win them over, and as a result, their pride swelled over the years—so much so that even the Five Great Noble Houses found them unbearable.

After being addressed as Kenpachi so many times, the man even began to believe it. He occupied the 11th Division's kenjutsu dojo for naps, disregarding the training grounds once sacred to true warriors.

And it was clear—this day would be his end.

"Captain! Captain-Commander Yamamoto has issued a summons for all captains to assemble at the 1st Division barracks to prepare for the return of the Hueco Mundo Suppression Team!"

"I heard the Suppression Team achieved unprecedented success—slaying the Great Hollow that once plagued Seireitei, razing half the Forest of Hollows, and eliminating countless other threats!"

A current 11th Division member rushed into the dojo, anxiously calling out to the man still lying on the floor.

"Huh? Didn't I already tell you? I'm not going!"

The so-called captain showed no sign of rising. He gave a few half-hearted instructions before rolling over and continuing to sleep.

"Captain, there are rumors… the leader of the Suppression Team is the former captain of the 11th Division. I really think you should go…"

The shinigami looked at his captain's arrogant demeanor with visible helplessness. It was exactly this arrogance that made the 11th Division so unpopular with the rest of the Gotei 13.

"Huh? Are you stupid? I'm the captain of the 11th Division now! Let that former idiot rot in Hueco Mundo! No one's taking my place!"

The tall man suddenly opened his eyes, his face twisted with anger as he grabbed the shinigami by the neck.

"Urgh…"

The shinigami struggled, but his strength was far too inferior.

Just then, a deafening roar erupted outside the 11th Division's main gate.

"Huh?!"

"What's going on?!"

The man dropped the shinigami and swaggered to the dojo entrance, throwing the gate open.

"Captain…"

He saw the current 11th Division shinigami collapsed on the ground.

"Huh?!"

Looking up, he saw a handsome young man with short, jet-black hair smiling at him.

"Are you the one who messed up my division like this?"

the man growled.

"This is your division? So you're the new captain of the 11th Division?"

The young man didn't answer directly. He responded with a question of his own.

"Isn't it obvious? As I said, I'm the captain of the 11th Division!"

the man snapped.

Swish!

A cold flash of steel sliced through the air the moment he finished speaking.

"Huh?!"

The man blinked. He raised a hand to his forehead—then stared in disbelief at the blood on his fingers.

"You—!"

Before he could finish, a torrent of blood burst from his body, and he collapsed to the ground. His face still bore the pride of someone who never believed death could touch him.

"It's not yours now,"

the young man said coldly, staring down at the fallen figure.

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