"Time-type abilities…"
"Is that… another power from the domain of God?"
Generally speaking, Fullbring manifests when a person awakens a fragment of the Soul King.
However, there are exceptions, such as Orihime and Chad. In the original work, their Fullbring abilities were awakened through the fusion of the Hōgyoku's power within their bloodline and the Soul King factor, which ultimately led to the manifestation of their own Fullbring.
In other words, this power originates from their lineage.
So if Orihime could awaken a Fullbring, then her brother Sora, who shared the same bloodline, could naturally awaken Fullbring as well.
Especially under the stimulus of Hollowfication—this dual impact had allowed Sora to awaken a rather impressive ability.
Of course, since Sora was currently comatose and undergoing reconstruction surgery, no one yet knew exactly what his Fullbring ability looked like in practice.
But judging from the results so far, it was almost certainly related to time.
Orihime had already died; her soul had left her body. Naturally… this kind of death could be healed. As long as the chain of causality remained intact, a shinigami could still use special Kidō to return her soul to her body and resurrect her.
However, Sora wasn't a shinigami, nor had he used Kidō to save Orihime. Instead, he had reverted Orihime's soul.
He had caused Orihime's soul to regress to the state it had been in five minutes earlier, when she was still alive. That was how she had been brought back.
This ability to rewind time did not affect the entire world—it only affected a specific target, reversing that target's personal timeline.
Still, in one respect, Sora had misunderstood.
Half a day later, Sora awoke.
But Yoshio hadn't dragged him back from the Hueco Mundo.
With a snap of his fingers, a crisp sound rang in Sora's ears, and at the same time, golden light erupted from his body.
The shock made Sora's entire body shudder as the mask on his face began to peel away again!
With a series of cracking sounds, Sora's mask gradually shattered and finally fell to the ground completely, leaving not a trace of a Hollow mask on his face.
Yoshio narrowed his eyes, observing and recording every detail of Sora's transformation.
Even Angra Mainyu, who had already transcended, still had remnants of his mask on his face.
But Sora was different. There was not a hint of a mask left.
This wasn't because Yoshio had used the Hōgyoku to make him into a shinigami or Quincy. He had merely activated the Seed of Light within Sora's body.
Yoshio had planted seeds of light in many people. But those seeds remained dormant; unless strongly stimulated from the outside, they would barely merge with a soul, and couldn't even release a fraction of their true power.
Tokinada Tsunayashiro, a being fused from evil nodes, had discovered the Seed of Light in the people of Karakura long ago. After all, the residents of Karakura were, by their nature, the complete opposites of these corrupt nodes.
But the Seed of Light was, in truth, purified from those same evil nodes. So despite being opposites, the two still had a subtle connection.
Just like Sora now—when he became a Hollow, parts of the Seed of Light inside him had already been contaminated.
In theory, if Sora had returned to Hueco Mundo and lived in that corrupt environment for a while, his Seed of Light would have been completely tainted.
What Sora didn't know was that Yoshio had been watching him the whole time.
When Sora returned to Hueco Mundo, Yoshio intercepted him directly and dragged him off to the Lonely Hell.
Thus, Sora would never return to Hueco Mundo again.
Tokinada's actions had served as a powerful external stimulus for the Seed of Light. The approach of the evil nodes and a series of strong outside shocks had activated the energy buried within the seed.
Eventually, the Seed of Light was fully awakened, producing either an ego or a new type of Fullbring.
Moreover, Sora's existence itself represented an entirely new race. People like Yoshio were delighted to see such a new species emerge.
He was starting to feel more and more like that perverted woman, Kurotsuchi Mayuri. Had he become a mad scientist himself?
"Mr. K… Kamado?"
At this moment, freed from his spiritual restraints, Sora was initially dazed. Even after regaining his sanity, he still didn't understand what had happened. But then he caught sight of Yoshio's true appearance—a man in a white coat.
When he manifested in the real world as an executive of Brainleaf, he usually operated through special artificial bodies completely different from his original form.
But as a pure spiritual being, Yoshio naturally appeared in his true form.
Yet Sora had recognized him in an instant?
Interesting. Could it be that Sora's Fullbring wasn't the Time he'd hypothesized?
Well, even if Sora saw through him, it wasn't a big deal. He was going to find out sooner or later anyway—and once he did, it would be easier to recruit him.
"Surprised?"
Yoshio's tone was calm, but his gaze was sharp.
Sora, however, was completely rattled. He remembered everything: how he had completely lost it, transformed into a serpentine monster, and even… killed Orihime.
If Ichigo and Orihime hadn't managed to wake him, he could have done countless, unspeakably insane things.
After regaining awareness, he'd crushed his own mask and should have been dragged into the Hollow world by that great suction force.
So why had he ended up here?
Was this the Hollow world?
But Yoshio clearly wasn't a Hollow.
Yoshio explained, "Those monsters with masks on their faces… they roam all over the world."
Sora didn't know what to say.
"You might not believe it yet," Yoshio continued quietly, "but once you become a full-fledged employee of Brainleaf, everything will become clear to you."
Sora still didn't fully understand what was going on, but he knew one thing for certain: Yoshio had saved both him and his sister. For him, becoming a regular employee—or even dying for him—wouldn't be too much to ask.
Needless to say, the fact that he'd been able to regain his sanity and break free from that monstrous form was obviously thanks to Mr. Yoshio as well.
As Yoshio spoke, Sora's eyes began to change.
It was as if the image of a clock face had appeared around his pupils. In his left eye, the hour, minute, and second hands all rotated counter-clockwise, while in his right eye, they didn't rotate but ticked forward in discrete jumps.
To Yoshio's knowledge, most Fullbring techniques used some object the user possessed as their ability core. A visible object was easier to form emotional attachments to—like love or pride—so it was more likely to become a Fullbring focus.
Among those who used parts of their own body as the medium for Fullbring, the only one he could immediately recall was Chad.
Chad had named his Fullbring "Brazo Derecha de Gigante" and "Brazo Izquierda del Diablo," and in essence, it had awakened from the pride he took in his dark skin as a mixed-race human.
Sora, on the other hand, used his eyes. Yoshio suspected this was because Sora wanted to use those eyes to keep watching over Orihime's growth, so his eyes had become the part of his body he'd imbued the most feeling into and thus the core of his Fullbring.
Even if this power only affected a single target at a time, the very fact that it intruded into the domain of time already made it completely broken.
Tsukishima had once said that those who meddle with time are eventually devoured by the god of time. Sora's power clearly wasn't at that level yet—but Orihime's ability was also god-tier, and she could still use it fairly easily.
Maybe it's just a matter of effort?
As Orihime's brother, Sora wielded a god-domain power himself, yet he seemed to suffer none of the severe backlash.
Sora was clearly a talent with great potential. If properly trained, he might become extremely useful.
Not to mention that he was now a special existence among the three worlds—the only Hollow who had fully broken through the barrier and fused completely with the Seed of Light. Yoshio speculated that even if others managed to fuse a Seed of Light and become Hollows, they'd never achieve the same result as Sora.
In the original story, Sora had been the one who, by sheer willpower, resisted his Hollow instincts and shattered his own mask!
Wasn't he technically the first Arrancar ever shown in the manga?
That kind of willpower was rare even among humans.
"No wonder you could break free of that illusion," Yoshio said with a faint smile.
"But you'll definitely meet your sister again one day. Before that, you should train hard here so that you'll be able to protect Orihime."
…
While Yoshio was speaking with Sora, Hitsugaya Tōshirō in the human world was having an online conversation with the Commander-Captain in Soul Society.
Hitsugaya and Kuchiki Rukia were standing in the shinigami base in Karakura. In front of them was a huge television screen showing the images of Yamamoto Genryūsai and Kurotsuchi Mayuri.
Yamamoto and Mayuri were both in Soul Society, but they were not standing together; instead, they appeared in separate frames.
Yamamoto was on the left and Mayuri on the right.
"Ubuginu was once a minor noble family that served the Tsunayashiro clan," Yamamoto said in a low voice. "But they died out long ago. As of now, they should already be extinct."
Even so, Rukia had gleaned a few bits of information during the battle. She had at least learned that the boy who'd attacked her was called Hikone Ubuginu.
Soul Society had started their investigation from these two leads.
Hitsugaya was somewhat surprised. "Does this have anything to do with the Tsunayashiro clan?" he asked.
Yamamoto shook his head. "No. When the incident occurred, all members of the Tsunayashiro family were within their compound. None of them had entered the human world."
"Was he lying about his identity then?" Rukia said, a bit at a loss. But what was the point of using a fake name? If he didn't want to reveal his real identity, he could've just kept his mouth shut.
Was he trying to misdirect the investigation? But there was no need to reveal a name that could be so easily checked.
"Hmph, that just means you lot are incompetent," Mayuri sneered. "You're clearly captain-level shinigami, yet the two of you couldn't even capture a pair of criminals."
Yamamoto snorted coldly. "Even if Captain Hitsugaya bears some responsibility, Captain Kurotsuchi, you were clearly present at the time as well. Why didn't you coordinate with him to capture the enemy?"
"My mission was to investigate, not to fight. That's what you said back then, remember? How long has it been that you've already forgotten, Commander-Captain?" Mayuri wasn't the least bit afraid of Yamamoto. If anything, he gave a cold smirk. "In times of emergency, we have to be flexible. Captain Yamamoto, do you really not understand such a simple principle?"
"I'm a scientist, not a strategist," Mayuri added, "unlike you—"
Before he could finish, another person appeared on the screen. The image instantly split into three parts.
It was the 5th Division Captain, Aizen Sōsuke.
"Commander-Captain, I hope I'm not interrupting," Aizen said after logging in.
After the incident, the Gotei 13 had sent the 5th and 8th Divisions to the human world to investigate the traces of the previous battle.
"From our analysis and comparison," Aizen reported, "it appears that while Tokinada's reiatsu bears the essence of a shinigami, that is merely a disguise. In truth, his reiatsu is completely that of a Hollow."
"An Arrancar?" someone asked.
"No," Aizen replied, "it's closer to a pre-era Hollow."
When we compared it with Kyōraku's reiatsu, we found records of a similar pressure in the past—emanating from a strange reiatsu that had appeared in the place he was investigating back then."
Aizen continued, "The 10th and 13th Divisions have been guarding Karakura diligently. The reiatsu of the Hollows they've killed has all been purified and dispersed within the town."
"Even if we corrected the situation through the remedial classes, if the numbers get too large, the accumulation will still cause a massive distortion of the three worlds centered around Karakura, and eventually, the collapse of the three worlds will begin there."
The consequences, he said, would be severe. Kurotsuchi Mayuri seemed to agree with Aizen's assessment and fell silent.
This was a blatant, open-air conspiracy. They all knew that the death of Hollows in Karakura would increase the density of spiritual nodes there—but even so, they had to eliminate Tokinada.
"If that's the case, why not just take him out?"
"Because of his extreme pollutant nature," Mayuri said in a low voice. "For Hollows, it's 'food.' But for any life form outside the Hollow category, it's 'poison' and 'corruption'!"
"An ordinary shinigami would be infected by that evil power the moment they made contact, and they'd transform into a monster."
"Reclaiming a single piece of Hollow bait requires enormous resources and time. More importantly, the enemy can apparently create such bait with ease."
"Even if we recovered all the bait in Karakura, the other side could just fill it all back in again shortly after."
"Therefore, the only fundamental solution is to control the mastermind behind the scenes. Recovering the bait is just a temporary patch."
"There is another way," Aizen said at that moment. "If they're using the deaths of Hollows in Karakura to distort the three worlds, then we can erect a barrier to block Hollows from entering Karakura from Hueco Mundo."
"That would also cut off the lure that draws them into the 'vacant seat' around Karakura."
This wasn't impossible. For example, the Seireitei itself was protected by a similar spiritual membrane.
Yamamoto fell deep into thought. Aizen's proposal was indeed feasible, but to construct such a massive barrier would consume staggering amounts of manpower and resources.
In fact, they had once implemented something similar before—to deal with the vengeful spirits that had emerged from the Department of Research and Development. Back then, they'd relied on the financial backing of the Kuchiki clan and practically the entire manpower of the Gotei 13 to finish construction in a short time.
Without support from the wealthy Kuchiki family, it would have taken much longer.
"In that case," Yamamoto concluded, "the construction of the barrier will be left to the 5th Division, with the Kido Corps assisting."
"The 10th and 13th Divisions will continue taking turns guarding Karakura. The Research and Development Department will immediately analyze the composition of these Hollows and develop items to quickly neutralize their effects. At the same time, the other divisions will focus on tracking down Tokinada's whereabouts!"
Later, alone in his office, Yamamoto brooded in silence.
For the past century, Soul Society had been anything but peaceful. Incidents kept breaking out one after another, to the point that things were even more chaotic than a thousand years ago.
He opened a letter and skimmed its contents, frowning.
The distortion in the three worlds was growing ever more severe, and the level of danger had reached the maximum tier. Central 46 had ordered him to eliminate the anomaly as quickly as possible.
If necessary, special measures could be enacted.
Yamamoto knew exactly what those special measures meant.
Spiritual particle density in the three worlds was increasing—and they needed a way to reduce it.
The simplest solution was to start a massacre.
Based on the current spiritual particle levels in the Karakura region, killing 100,000 souls would be enough to restore balance to the three worlds.
But this approach only treated the symptoms, not the root cause. Unless they dealt with Tokinada controlling everything behind the scenes, no matter how many souls they killed, it would mean nothing in the long run.
Now, two of the three pillars of balance were wobbling. No wonder Central 46 was panicking.
Most people might not feel it yet, but this was already a crisis great enough to destroy the three worlds.
In this situation, Yamamoto could no longer afford to simply stay put.
He would have to move in person.
…
Events began to unfold rapidly.
Just three days later, news reached them from the outside world:
The Tyrant had appeared again!
Yamamoto decided not to send anyone else. He would personally resolve this.
But even if he left now, just how secure could a defense thrown together in such a rush really be?
A single intruder easily slipped into the 1st Division barracks and reached the interior without anyone noticing.
That intruder was none other than Tokinada Tsunayashiro.
"Arrogance and pride are your greatest weaknesses, Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni."
The gangster-like Tsunayashiro chuckled.
The Tyrant in the human world was only his proxy. From the start, his true objective had been to lure Yamamoto out into the human world.
As the last surviving member of one of the Five Great Noble Houses, and the head of the Visuals Department surveillance responsible for monitoring Soul Society, Tsunayashiro Tokinada knew almost all of Soul Society's secrets.
Accordingly, he knew very well what was hidden in the 1st Division.
It was common knowledge that Soul Society had at least once created a Ōken, and that there was at least one unused Ōken still in existence.
This Ōken left no trace in any written records. In all of Seireitei, only Yamamoto Genryūsai knew where it was.
Not even Central 46 knew the location of the Ōken, so naturally even as the last scion of the Tsunayashiro, Tokinada had been in the dark.
But after watching Soul Society from the Entertainment Hall for so many years, Tokinada Tsunayashiro had already formed certain suspicions about where the Ōken might be hidden.
He simply hadn't cared about it in the past.
But now, he was very interested.
He had thrown the three worlds into turmoil in order to accomplish three goals.
First, by turning Karakura into the point of distortion for the three worlds, he would trigger a chain reaction of collapse starting from Karakura, ultimately bringing this world to ruination.
Only someone like Tokinada Tsunayashiro, with his unparalleled understanding of death and the inner workings of Soul Society, could have conceived such a plan.
He knew that the anomaly in Karakura's structure would make the Gotei 13 nervous, and even unsettle Central 46.
Once that happened, Central 46 would inevitably urge Yamamoto into action—and the Commander-Captain, who seldom left the 1st Division compound, would be forced by their orders to go to the human world.
"Hmph, and then… you're mine."
Except—
Suddenly, he heard a voice behind him.
"I don't think it's that bad, you know…"
But when Tokinada had arrived, he had already confirmed that Yamamoto was gone from 1st Division.
Furthermore, the tone and attitude of the speaker were completely different from Yamamoto's.
Tsunayashiro's expression turned cold and gloomy.
Was someone plotting against him?
Using him?
?!
His pupils shrank. In the next instant, he swung his purple greatsword at… another version of himself.
At the same time, the fake Tokinada also summoned a purple greatsword identical to his. The two blades crashed together with a thunderous impact…
In that moment, the entire 1st Division compound began collapsing. A tremendous force erupted, turning into a pillar of violet light shooting straight into the sky. Not only the 1st Division barracks, but also the surrounding buildings crumbled one after another.
But the very next second, yet another blast of power erupted, and a colossal shockwave blew both figures far away.
When the dust finally settled, not a single silhouette remained.
"Q-Quick… hurry and inform the Commander-Captain!"
…
…
…
Yamamoto's face was dark as thunder.
The other captains of the Gotei 13 stood behind him at that moment.
They all gazed at the ruins that had once been the 1st Division's barracks, their hearts weighed down with heavy shame.
This was a disgrace.
An enormous disgrace.
The entire Gotei 13 had been toyed with like fools by some bastard calling himself the Tyrant, as if they were nothing more than clowns.
Yamamoto struck his cane hard against the ground. The deafening sound echoed everywhere, making many nearby shinigami bow their heads in mortification.
He turned and said coldly, "I don't care to investigate specific responsibilities. I myself cannot shirk blame for this. Right now I only want to know the Tyrant's exact whereabouts."
"How was he able to swagger into Seireitei, into the 1st Division, and then leave unharmed after destroying the barracks?"
Because the reiatsu that had erupted inside the 1st Division belonged only to Tsunayashiro Tokinada, they had no idea that the power was actually caused by a clash between two individuals.
They mistakenly believed that the Tyrant had forcibly unleashed this reiatsu in order to destroy the Kido barriers.
This was beyond shameful—it might as well have been a loud, resounding slap across Yamamoto's face.
The Ōken had been stolen.
This was the most important artifact of all. Possessing the Ōken meant having the means to enter the Soul King's Palace.
"Commander-Captain…"
At this point, Yoshio spoke up. "Since the enemy now holds the Ōken, shouldn't we notify the big shots of the Zero Division and have them go on alert? We also need to prepare our defenses."
Yamamoto nodded. "Of course. From here on, the entire Gotei 13 will enter a state of full alert. All divisions not on special missions are to focus on protecting the Soul King Palace's security until Tokinada shows himself again."
"Yes, sir!"
The captains responded in deep, solemn voices.
Aizen said softly, "That was… a little over the top."
Yoshio knew what he meant.
Because that second Tokinada had been his doing—it was Grand Fisher.
After devouring large numbers of Hollows and receiving the amplification of the Hōgyoku, his strength was no longer at the level of just an 8th Espada.
He simply didn't care about rank numbers.
Now, Grand Fisher had taken on a new name for himself: Beelzebub.
His ability was called Faceless.
He could disguise himself as anyone and use their powers, similar to the Sternritter twins.
Except—
Unlike the Lloyd brothers, he could not only copy people who already existed, but even mimic people who never existed in this world at all.