Shadow turned his gaze to another area. A soul that had devoured dozens of its kind began to gather under an unseen force, as many souls screamed and struggled while a mutation took place. Their twisted bodies fused together, swelling rapidly like an inflated balloon as scattered spirits were forced into a single form.
A huge bloated figure several meters tall slowly took shape. A white bone mask with only a mouth spread across where a face should have been. It had no hands or feet, only a black body that looked like it was wrapped in a dark robe.
A newly formed lower Great Hollow had successfully transformed. It let out a deep hollow roar and moved clumsily, instinctively searching for more souls to stabilize itself. With its mouth open, it greedily swallowed several spirits that failed to escape.
The devoured spirits collapsed and broke apart like sand towers, turning into murky mental energy that flowed into its mouth. The body of the Hollow swelled as it released a satisfied low sound. Shadow's eyes flickered slightly as he observed, noting that it had already gained a rudimentary physical form, clearly different from the lower Great Hollow he had previously forced into existence with points.
Before, when he transformed Karin's mother into a Hollow, he used points to forcibly catalyze her into a Great Hollow. As a result, she could not touch physical objects and could not be struck by ordinary weapons or Ninjutsu. Now, however, the Great Hollow created through Orochimaru's soul devouring and the Box of Ultimate Bliss possessed partial physical substance, allowing it to damage objects and be affected by certain Ninjutsu and weapons.
"Still, a Great Hollow born this way is already a completely different being from the original spirits that still had memories," Shadow reflected. The earlier case of Karin's mother retained some memory, emotion, and reason. These Great Hollow, however, had their memories, emotions, and personalities torn apart, rearranged, and fused until they were fully twisted into new existences.
With that thought, Shadow looked toward yet another area. To lower Great Hollow, ordinary spirits were the lowest form of food. But in this space, there were predators higher up the chain.
A roar echoed as a figure with arms and legs grabbed several fighting spirits and crushed them into Sui fragments. It absorbed the scattered mental energy released after smashing them apart. Compared to lower Great Hollow, it was not tall, but its build was thick and powerful, already close to human shape and intelligence.
A hollow Void Hole sat in its abdomen. A bone mask covered its entire face, with two cold crimson lights shining from within. It moved swiftly and precisely, weaving through countless souls.
Where it passed, spirits vanished as if blown out like candles in strong wind. There was no doubt this was a mid level Great Hollow. A single lower Great Hollow required dozens of ordinary Ninja spirits to form and usually acted only on instinct, without true self awareness.
However, if one soul among the fusion far surpassed the others in will and strength, a lower Great Hollow with individual awareness could form. Only such special lower Great Hollow could grow by devouring others of its kind and eventually evolve into a mid level Great Hollow. Although the face beneath the mask could not be seen, Shadow knew very well whose core consciousness it was.
It was once the White Fang of Konoha. It was Sakumo Hatake.
Sakumo Hatake had already lost almost all memory, leaving only the strongest obsession and the desire to devour Wang to occupy the body. It seemed to sense the presence of new prey, and the head snapped toward the two newly born lower Great Hollow. The two crimson points that served as eyes flared at once.
The burly humanoid body turned into a fading afterimage and crossed the distance in an instant. It appeared before the two lower Great Hollow without a sound, like a ghost stepping out of the dark. The distance was so close that it was almost face to face.
The two lower Great Hollow had been tearing at each other, but when Sakumo Hatake appeared, they sensed danger and turned on instinct. In Sakumo Hatake's eyes, they were only slow targets.
It raised the right arm covered in bone armor, and the entire arm and hand became a pale blur. A shrill screech rang out, sharp enough to slice the air.
A soft hiss followed. The hand blade passed like an illusion, leaving a clear sound as if fabric had been neatly split.
The strike cut straight down the center of one lower Great Hollow's bone mask. A perfect vertical crack appeared on the pure white surface, as smooth as a mirror.
kacha.
A faint cracking sound echoed. In the next moment, the mask split cleanly in two and slid to either side, revealing not a face but pure black shadow behind it.
Bang.
It was like a filthy water bag being punctured, as the mental energy that formed the lower Great Hollow burst apart. Facing that mass of energy, a powerful suction surged from the Void Hole in Sakumo Hatake's abdomen and dragged it in with greedy force.
It tilted its head slightly and let out a low, satisfied sound, like a beast after feeding. Its presence grew heavier, and the pale bone armor on its face and arms took on a thicker sheen.
Shadow watched the cruel yet ordered act of devouring, appreciating this scene he had personally pushed forward under the name of evolution. His eyes shifted slightly at that moment, as if noticing something new.
The aura from Sakumo Hatake spread like a cold tide, making the restless spirits around it tremble and retreat on instinct. Yet the other lower Great Hollow standing before it did not move at all.
"Hm?" Shadow raised a brow, and through the feedback of the Box of Ultimate Bliss he sensed intense hatred within that lower Great Hollow. It had been buried deep within the fused mass of souls, but it awakened when it felt the familiar presence of Sakumo Hatake.
The hatred inside that lower Great Hollow was amplified by the Box of Ultimate Bliss until it overpowered the instinctive fear a lower Great Hollow should feel toward a mid level one. After finishing its feast, Sakumo Hatake also fixed its gaze on the remaining prey.
"No… impossible…"
The soul of the lower Great Hollow trembled violently, and the voice from behind the mask was filled with biting resentment. "Who are you… who are you… Sakumo… who is Sakumo?"
Having long since lost all memory and emotion, Sakumo Hatake tilted its head. "Sakumo," it repeated in a flat tone, as if reading an unrelated code.
It did not try to recall what the name meant, only to grasp the meaning of the sound itself. Now that it had become a mid level Great Hollow, it possessed basic intelligence.
But it had devoured too many souls, and countless memories were mixed together until everything from life before was gone. No, to be precise, aside from the desire to grow stronger and survive Wang, only one name remained in its mind.
Kakashi Hatake.
It did not even know this was a name, only that it was carved deep into its soul. So it could not recognize the lower Great Hollow before it, nor understand what the other meant by Sakumo.
The desire to devour overwhelmed any urge to explore, and it raised its arm again. At that moment, Shadow spoke.
"Enough."
The two words carried an unquestionable will. Sakumo Hatake's movement froze for a brief instant.
Shadow appeared beside Sakumo Hatake, and with him came another figure. It was the mother of Karin, who had previously been transformed into a Hollow.
Compared to the burly Sakumo Hatake, her figure was slimmer and taller. Only the lower half of her face was covered by a mask, forming a more human, female outline with smooth and strong lines.
The pale bone armor did not cover her fully, instead fitting like a tight battle skirt over vital areas and leaving the waist, arms, and legs exposed. Long red hair fell to her waist, a deep Void Hole was visible in her left palm, and the number 1 was marked at her collarbone.
Mid level Great Hollow could retain some traits from life, though their forms were still twisted and covered in bone. Because she had been directly transformed with points, she still held her memories, but her former name no longer mattered.
Now she was called Whirlpool, the number 1 Blade of the Espada. As a lower Great Hollow created through points, she was the earliest to evolve into a mid level one.
The so called Espada referred to the ten strongest Hollow, ranked from 0 to 9 by strength. The order was not fixed, and those with lower ranks could challenge higher ones to advance.
At present, the Espada only had Whirlpool. When Sakumo Hatake evolved further, it would also be given a name and a seat among them, but not yet.
"Leave this one to me," Shadow said.
The fierce aura around Sakumo Hatake faded, and it lowered its head in submission. The hollow eye sockets of its mask faced Shadow, showing obedience toward Zetsu.
"Yes," it rasped. "I follow your will."
Because their obsessions differed, these Hollow could show different temperaments. Yet their obedience to the one before them was carved into the deepest part of their souls.