Time flew by; ten years had passed since Ito Makoto joined the Fourth Division as its Vice-Captain and Ronan subjugated Nel.
During these ten years, Ito Makoto had more than once implored Retsu Unohana to teach him Zanjutsu, from initially probing to later pestering her relentlessly, yet Retsu Unohana never took the bait, firmly asserting that she was not skilled in Zanjutsu.
Although Ito Makoto did not learn any Zanjutsu from Retsu Unohana over the decade, she wholeheartedly taught him Kido, which included not only healing-oriented Kidō but also Hado and Bakudo!
Yes, Ito Makoto's greatest progress in the Fourth Division over these ten years was surprisingly in his Kido!
His own Reiatsu also advanced by leaps and bounds during this decade; even without borrowing Reiatsu from his main body, his own Reiatsu had already reached the peak of Fourth Class Reiatsu three years ago, just a hair's breadth away from the true Squad Captain Third Class Reiatsu, and he was now on the verge of entering Squad Captain Reiatsu.
Meanwhile, Ronan, his main body far away in Hueco Mundo, had obtained the third spirit king fragment from the small centipede clone left with Ginjō Kūgo; now, Ronan was only one last fragment away from achieving a perfect Arrancar.
...
Hueco Mundo, Great Hollow Home.
The Great Hollow Home, located at the southern end of Las Noches, was initially just a low-lying hill, originally Halibel's habitat.
Now, ten years later, under the leadership of Ronan, a few Vasto Lord, and a host of Adjuchas, it had been transformed into a magnificent underground palace.
"Lord Ronan, recently there have been many Arrancar appearing in the direction of Las Noches. I initially thought new Vasto Lord had spontaneously become Arrancar, but after several investigations, I learned they were incomplete Arrancar Adjuchas!"
Ronan sat on a stone chair in the center of the underground palace, while Starrk sat to his left.
Since the Great Hollow Home was founded by Ronan, many Vasto Lord and Adjuchas referred to Ronan as the leader of the Great Hollow Home, and even Starrk, currently the strongest in the Great Hollow Home, also addressed Ronan as Lord.
The bonfire in the underground palace flickered, illuminating the ferocious mask on Ronan's face, covered in dark golden patterns.
"No need to worry, Starrk. Those so-called Arrancar are merely clumsy imitations of you!"
Ronan spoke calmly, not putting those suddenly appearing Arrancar in his eyes at all!
Just as the two were conversing, an Arrancar Reiatsu surged skyward, reverberating throughout the entire underground palace.
The moment he felt this Reiatsu, Ronan first paused, then a slight smile curled his lips:
"Here it comes. Why is it so many years earlier than in the original work? Is it because I gathered all these Vasto Lord?"
At the entrance of the Great Hollow Home, an Arrancar with a sword mark on its mask, in a half-human, half-shark form, was wantonly releasing its violent Reiatsu.
This Arrancar was one of the Adjuchas who had followed Baraggan to attack Halibel back then.
At that time, he had offended Halibel with his foul mouth and was half-killed by a single sword strike. After he became an Arrancar, he immediately came to seek revenge on Halibel.
If it were according to the original plot, Aizen Sōsuke should have appeared at the final critical moment, instantly killing him with a single stroke and then successfully subjugating Halibel.
If calculated by the original timeline, this event should have occurred at least decades later, after Nel was ambushed by Nnoitra and Szayelaporro and fell out of the Espada.
But now, Nel had not even become an Arrancar yet, and this guy had already become one, which couldn't help but surprise Ronan.
So, Ronan directly transformed into a bolt of lightning and appeared at the entrance of the Great Hollow Home. The Adjuchas who were blocking this Arrancar at the entrance, including the white snake Hollow Sun Sun, the red goat Puck, and the strange fish Barnes, all knelt in reverence upon seeing Ronan.
Over these ten years, under Ronan's leadership, after forming the Great Hollow Home, they no longer needed to be trapped in the daily struggle of ignorance. These ten years were also the most stable ten years they had spent in their long Hollow lives, and the name of the Great Hollow Home even once overshadowed Las Noches!
Therefore, everyone in the Great Hollow Home was wholeheartedly convinced by Ronan!
"Mere Vasto Lord, quickly make her get out here and die!"
The shark Arrancar's violent Reiatsu erupted all around him, almost solidifying, and pressed down on the numerous Adjuchas and Ronan.
"This Reiatsu?"
Ronan carefully sensed the Reiatsu emitted by the shark Hollow. It was much stronger than the two that had attacked Nel ten years ago, and it had indeed broken through the limitations of an Adjuchas, reaching a level where it could barely fight a Vasto Lord, but it was far from reaching the level in the original work where it could suppress an un-Arrancar Halibel.
"Indeed, because of me, the event was brought forward, but his development didn't keep up?"
After understanding the crux of the matter, Ronan lost interest in playing with this incomplete Arrancar.
He just glanced at him and then sneered:
"There are plenty of Vasto Lord in my Great Hollow Home. Which one are you looking for?"
"Everyone, a guest is looking for a Vasto Lord. Won't you show yourselves?"
As soon as Ronan finished speaking, three massive Reiatsu pillars of light rose from within the Great Hollow Home behind him. These three Reiatsu came from Halibel, Nelliel, and Ulquiorra, respectively.
"This… how is this possible?"
Just as the shark Arrancar was stunned, a fourth Reiatsu rose! This Reiatsu belonged to the fully Arrancar Starrk. Feeling this vast and profound Reiatsu, he was so scared that his legs trembled.
After feeling these four terrifying Reiatsu, the shark Hollow's initial ecstasy from gaining immense power upon becoming an Arrancar was long forgotten. He immediately took a Sonido step, intending to flee.
But after taking seven consecutive Sonido steps, he found that he hadn't moved an inch. Instead, his body had shrunk to the size of a mosquito and was held in the right palm of the mysterious humanoid Great Hollow.
With a single squeeze of Ronan's right hand, the shark Arrancar, who had just been so arrogant, was crushed by Ronan like a stink bug!
Adhering to the principle of not wasting, Ronan still absorbed him with Soul Eater! However, this incomplete Arrancar provided him with very little improvement.
After killing the shark Arrancar, Ronan did not relax. Since this Arrancar could appear here at this moment, it was naturally Aizen's doing, which meant Aizen was watching nearby!
Suddenly, as if on a whim, Ronan looked towards the empty space ahead, a slight smile on his lips:
"Thunder Sea Domain!"
In an instant, dark golden lightning pillars rose from around the Great Hollow Home, intending to destroy everything outside the Great Hollow Home's underground palace!
The Great Hollow Home was Ronan's lair, so he had naturally long since planted lightning seeds all around. Once a powerful enemy arrived, activating them directly could catch the opponent off guard!
Even when Ronan was a Gillian, this move had simultaneously killed over sixty Adjuchas in Las Noches. Now that Ronan had advanced, using this move naturally doubled its power!
Even if three to five ordinary Squad Captains from Soul Society came together, the moment they stepped into his pre-arranged Thunder Sea Domain, they would probably perish instantly!
But Ronan knew very well that this move could not kill Aizen Sōsuke. He didn't expect to kill Aizen with it; he merely wanted to give Aizen a warning!
Indeed, Aizen, who had concealed his form with Kido, quickly became visible under the lightning. However, looking at the dark golden thunder sea filling the sky, Aizen still had a faint smile on his lips, remaining as composed as ever.
"Hado #90 — Kurohitsugi!"
As Aizen's words softly fell, a giant, pitch-black, square coffin hundreds of feet tall instantly formed, with many equally black spikes embedded in it.
"Bang!"
The endless thunder sea and the giant Kurohitsugi both exploded. The giant Kurohitsugi vanished into nothingness, and the eighty-one lightning seeds Ronan had planted earlier also completely disappeared.
In an instant, a terrifying hurricane swept across the world.
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