"You're really a cold-blooded person."
Rukia walked over, elbowing Yoshio and mocking: "Matsumoto Rangiku is in there, right? You two have a pretty good relationship, don't you?"
Yoshio, however, said casually: "With two Captains there, if they can't even protect their own subordinates, then the Gotei 13 is too useless."
"Hehe, aren't you worried that guy will cause trouble?"
Yoshio said: "With us here, if he can still cause trouble, then we're too useless."
"Alright, stop worrying. We still have two people to find."
"Who?"
"Of course, the two people you're looking for." Yoshio said gravely, "Shiba Kaien and Abarai Renji."
"Ha..." Rukia couldn't help but laugh, "You think I'm as stupid as my main body? I don't care about their lives at all!"
Yoshio glanced at her and said: "Yeah, you don't care about them, but your main body does. You wouldn't want your main body to live in regret forever, right?"
"..." Rukia immediately wiped the smile off her face.
She looked deeply at Yoshio and said: "You know... I really hate your eyes right now."
"Hm?" Yoshio asked puzzled, "My eyes?"
"Yeah." Rukia looked seriously at Yoshio and said gravely: "Those eyes of yours that seem to see through everything!"
"...Is that so?" Yoshio smiled awkwardly, "I've never thought that."
"Maybe." Rukia didn't think more about it and said: "Hueco Mundo is your territory—finding people should be your job, right?"
"Of course." Yoshio shrugged.
It seemed Dark Rukia said her ability was to appear beside any deceased person, but there were distance limits—at least for now, she couldn't directly appear beside Renji or pinpoint his location.
Honestly, this spatial movement ability was quite similar to Dark Rukia's in the movie.
Not just the appearance, but even the abilities were very alike, making Yoshio wonder if there was some real connection between the two.
Of course, the birth methods of these two Dark Rukias were completely different.
In the movie, Dark Rukia's birth was very complex—
First, Kisuke Urahara's experimental subject, Parasite Hollow, parasitized a pair of Shinigami siblings, then through those siblings, integrated into Rukia's body.
That's when Dark Rukia was born.
In other words, that Dark Rukia was actually composed of four different souls.
Parasite Hollow, the Shinigami siblings, and Rukia herself...
So Dark Rukia had various abilities like spatial movement and memory erasure.
The current Dark Rukia was produced when the Hōgyoku read Rukia's own desires and attracted Hollow White to transfer into her.
After Hollow White entered Rukia's body, under the Hōgyoku's influence, it had a special interaction with Rukia's own soul, fusing to form a 'second personality.'
So, theoretically, the two were completely different.
But why they had such similar appearances and abilities was beyond Yoshio's current understanding.
"Starrk, help take care of White, then you guys head back to Las Noches first. I'll take Rukia to find my subordinates."
Starrk was still sitting, while Yoshio disappeared with Rukia.
"Shiba Kaien's reiatsu... has disappeared."
Dark Rukia couldn't help but say: "Did you do something?"
"This has nothing to do with me..."
Yoshio said softly: "I haven't been in Hueco Mundo long—I wouldn't interfere with the Hueco Mundo Dispatch Team's affairs."
He now had no idea what Dark Rukia's true thoughts were.
Although she always belittled her main body and pretended not to care, Yoshio knew there was another such person in the original work.
Isn't there a Hollow White inside Kurosaki Ichigo?!
That's right—they didn't care about the people Kurosaki Ichigo cared about, but they cared about Kurosaki Ichigo!
Dark Rukia said she didn't care about Renji and Shiba Kaien, while Rukia did, but perhaps she still cared a lot about her main body.
"Is that so..." Rukia nodded, seemingly believing Yoshio's words just like that.
The two traversed Hueco Mundo, gradually searching for traces of Abarai Renji.
Actually, Yoshio had sent people to look for Renji before and knew the approximate location. Combined with Rukia's ability, finding Renji wasn't difficult.
…
About a day after leaving the ruins, they found Renji.
Renji was now in a Forest of Menos.
Forest of Menos were one of Hueco Mundo's specialties. In this vast desert, there were no cacti or such plants; instead, there were pale white plants.
These plants were composed of quartz-like structures, and some existed in Las Noches as well.
These plants could be used to hide one's presence. It seemed Renji wasn't stupid—he knew to conceal his tracks in Hueco Mundo.
But this also meant he was evading attacks from something.
"Strange... this reiatsu... what exactly is going on?"
Rukia frowned: "It's similar to Shiba Kaien's reiatsu—hasn't he died?"
"..." Yoshio was silent for a moment; of course, he had sensed this spiritual pressure too.
He couldn't help but say: "This reiatsu isn't just similar—it's... almost identical."
That's right, this reiatsu was identical to Shiba Kaien's, but according to Aizen, Shiba Kaien should have met with misfortune.
In other words...
Was it the former Ninth Espada, Aaroniero Arruruerie?
Aaroniero was a very special existence among the Espada because he was merely a Gillian Menos Grande, the lowest level of Menos Grande.
He became an Espada because of his excellent potential—he was a 'cannibal'!
A cannibal Hollow was a very special type of Hollow because...
He could evolve infinitely!
He could infinitely plunder the abilities and memories of the Hollows he devoured, growing without limit.
It seemed he had already devoured Shiba Kaien—whether he devoured Metastacia was unknown...
Cannibal Hollow...
This kind of Hollow was quite interesting—able to grow infinitely and gain more and more abilities, wasn't that a lot like himself?
However...
Having just one existence like him was enough.
"I'll go save Renji. You handle that guy?"
Yoshio said to Rukia.
"Why should I do something so troublesome?" Rukia's gaze stared straight ahead, seeming somewhat vacant and lifeless.
"You can't..."
As soon as Yoshio spoke, he had already moved.
"Is it okay to appear in front of Renji in your current state?"
"That would scare him to death."