The Hōgyoku Is placed Within Me

Soul Society, an underground base somewhere in Seireitei.

Under the surveillance screens, two men in white captain's haori stood before them, staring at the display.

"Yeah, it's Hollow White, a Vasto Lorde-class Arrancar. Even through the screen, this monster-like Reiatsu brings a sense of despair. So terrifying."

Ichimaru Gin smiled and glanced at the man beside him.

"Gin, don't worry. Even if it's not perfect whiteness, it won't have the slightest impact on our plan."

Aizen adjusted his glasses and displayed a gentle smile. "The eyes of the Soul Society will be focused on the World of the Living for a long time. In the coming days, we'll have plenty of space to do many things."

"They trust their eyes too much, but sometimes, you have to close your eyes to see the true essence of things."

Aizen's tone was calm.

"You're really scary, Captain Aizen."

Ichimaru Gin praised with a sly smile.

"More than that, I'm curious about how far Kuchiki Shinji can go."

The pupils behind Aizen's glasses remained still, but a slight upward curve formed at the corners of his eyes.

---

Karakura Town

"Reiatsu of this level... What kind of monster is this...?"

Matsumoto Rangiku was drenched in cold sweat, her body trembling.

Inside the mall, a steady stream of passersby suddenly froze, their eyes going blank before collapsing one after another.

Then, a blue-purple Reiatsu exploded, covering all of Karakura Town.

Soon, the suffocating and destructive Reiatsu was completely blocked.

Matsumoto Rangiku clutched her chest, gasping as if she had been suffocating.

"Are you alright?"

Shinji had already stepped away from Kurosaki Masaki and was holding Matsumoto Rangiku by the shoulders, checking on her.

Among the three present, Matsumoto Rangiku had the lowest Reiatsu.

Even from a distance, this overwhelming pressure had left her in a weakened state.

If she had been exposed to it for much longer, she might have died.

As for the ordinary people in Karakura Town, they wouldn't have lasted even a few seconds if Shinji hadn't released his own Reiatsu to suppress it.

"What kind of monster is this? This Reiatsu is even more terrifying than that Arrancar called Nnoitra!"

Kurosaki Masaki's expression was serious as her short orange hair fluttered. She rushed to the window and looked outside.

But all she saw was a layer of misty white fog.

"When did it start fogging up...?"

"The Hollow that appeared this time is probably a Vasto Lorde-class Arrancar. It's much stronger than that Nnoitra."

Shinji's gaze darkened.

With Reiatsu this strong appearing in the spiritual hotspot of Karakura Town, and given the timeline, this must be the emergence of "Hollow White."

But…

Why now? Couldn't it have waited until he returned to Soul Society?

Shinji sighed in frustration.

If Hollow White had reasoning, then it was on a completely different level than Nnoitra.

Even Ulquiorra, a Vasto Lorde-class Arrancar, was powerless against Hollow White, let alone Nnoitra, who was merely an Adjuchas-class.

To be honest, Kurosaki Masaki had been incredibly lucky to defeat Hollow White in the past.

If it had reasoning, there was no way she could overpower it.

The group rushed toward the source of the Reiatsu, but when they arrived, it was already gone.

All that remained was a massive crater in the ground.

"Hollow White" had vanished.

"Disappeared?"

Matsumoto Rangiku tried sensing its presence but found nothing. She was shocked.

"It must be hiding its Reiatsu."

Shinji narrowed his eyes.

Right now, Hollow White wasn't fully "mature," so it would normally rampage uncontrollably, attacking anything in its path with instinctive aggression—hunting down powerful Reiatsu to consume.

At the moment, it had likely gone into hiding to recover.

"I need to report this to Soul Society immediately!"

Matsumoto Rangiku scratched her head, looking frustrated.

She had just wanted to enjoy her vacation. Why did this have to happen?

And wasn't the frequency of incidents in Karakura Town a bit too high?

This town was cursed.

Shaking her head, she nodded at Shinji and disappeared in a flash of Shunpo.

"I need to inform my people too. Mr. Renji, make sure to invite me next time."

Kurosaki Masaki grinned and gave Shinji a playful wink. "Also, learn to be more assertive with girls."

With a teasing laugh, she vanished into the mist.

"Was that… an invitation?"

Shinji touched his nose with a strange expression.

So that's the real reason Kurosaki Masaki dislikes Shiba Isshin?

Because he had saved her twice, and now she was interested in him?

As Shinji pondered, he walked down the street.

Suddenly, a small figure dashed through the thick fog and crashed into him.

With a thud, the figure fell to the ground and immediately started crying.

"Huh? A human child?"

Shinji was taken aback.

It was a little girl with green hair and golden-green eyes, wearing a tattered blue coat that covered her entire body. Her cheeks were marked with rose-colored horizontal lines.

She seemed to be crying from the pain of the impact.

"Are you okay?"

Shinji extended his hand to help.

Then, something struck him—ordinary humans couldn't see Shinigami.

Yet, the little green-haired girl in front of him had clearly heard his words and was looking right at him.

And on her face…

"Is that… a mask?"

The green-haired little loli in front of him had a scar extending from her forehead to the right side of her nose, and a skull-like mask covering her head.

"Is that... an Arrancar?"

An illusion, it must be an illusion. No matter how far I walk, I keep running into Arrancars.

Shinji stared at the sky expressionlessly. Although there was fog above, blocking his view, he couldn't see anything.

Then, he looked down again.

The little green-haired loli was still staring at him, sobbing pitifully.

"An illusion. This must be an illusion."

Shinji rubbed his face expressionlessly, then looked down again.

The little green-haired loli's eyes welled up, and it looked like she might start crying again at any moment.

"Damn it!"

Shinji cursed.

It really was an Arrancar!

Why does he run into an Arrancar every step of the way? This Karakura Town is cursed!

Shinji was confused, but now he finally understood why the Fifth Espada, Nnoitra, had suddenly appeared in the human world, seemingly searching for something.

It was obvious now—he had been looking for the little green-haired loli in front of him, Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck!

The former Third Espada of the original Espada Legion, a female Vasto Lorde-class Arrancar!

Due to his deep-seated discrimination against women and hatred of those stronger than him, Nnoitra envied all beings stronger than himself. After failing in his challenge against Nelliel and being spared by her kindness, he believed that she was looking down on him.

Because of this, his hatred for women intensified. Nnoitra eventually teamed up with another Espada member to ambush Nelliel when she was unguarded, shattering her mask and leaving her severely injured.

Due to her broken mask and the loss of her Reiatsu, Nelliel degraded from a Vasto Lorde-class Arrancar to an Adjuchas-class Arrancar, shrinking into a childlike form and losing all her memories, adopting the name "Nel."

Perhaps, after sensing Nelliel's Reiatsu again, Nnoitra flew into a rage and, unable to suppress his killing intent, pursued her into the human world, determined to finish her off.

"So why are you here?"

Shinji held his forehead, feeling a headache coming on.

The little green-haired loli in front of him was startled by his expression, flinched, and then burst into tears. "Nel is scared! Are you going to kill Nel? Nel only came here because she was hungry and looking for food! Nel hasn't hurt anyone!"

Looking at the frightened, trembling child in front of him, Shinji felt a bit exasperated.

She had obviously encountered people wearing clothes like his before.

Those people had called themselves Shinigami, and whenever they saw Hollows, they would kill them without hesitation.

"So, the reason those people in this town were weakened but not seriously harmed was because of you."

Hearing this, Shinji suddenly understood.

No wonder those humans had only been temporarily weakened rather than suffering fatal injuries—they would recover with just a little rest.

It was because their attacker had been Nelliel, an anomaly among Hollows.

Among all the Arrancar, even among the Espada, Nelliel was an outlier.

Despite being born a Hollow, Nelliel was genuinely kind and deeply valued loyalty. She despised meaningless battles and refused to harm the innocent. She would never attack a weak opponent unless provoked and would not forgive anyone who hurt her friends.

Because of this, Nelliel had deliberately avoided killing those humans.

"You came here to find food to replenish your strength..."

Shinji glanced at the crack in Nelliel's mask and immediately understood.

Hollows were a cruel race.

To evolve, they had to devour their own kind, absorbing and plundering other Hollows' Reiatsu in order to continue growing stronger.

If a Hollow stopped consuming others, even a Vasto Lorde-class Arrancar's strength would gradually weaken, eventually degrading back to an Adjuchas-class Hollow.

Nelliel, who had been severely injured and regressed, had lost the Reiatsu needed to hunt in Hueco Mundo.

And the worst part?

She had become the perfect prey for other Hollows.

To any Menos Grande, devouring Nelliel—who still carried remnants of her former Vasto Lorde power—could provide them the opportunity to evolve into a Vasto Lorde themselves.

This put the current powerless Nelliel in extreme danger.

Seeking nourishment, she had come to the human world, but only absorbed small amounts of human soul energy—further proof of her gentle nature.

"You... are you going to kill Nel? Nel is so hungry."

Nelliel wiped her tears and sobbed. She was clearly terrified, yet her voice remained gentle.

"Ah... why would I kill you?"

Shinji squatted down and stroked her green hair—it felt surprisingly nice.

"No... you're not going to kill me? But every Shinigami Nel has seen before always killed Hollows without hesitation..."

Nelliel gradually stopped crying and looked up at Shinji with curiosity, still sniffling.

"I'm different from those guys." Shinji smirked and said softly, "There are dangerous people among Shinigami, but there are also kind ones among Hollows. Those two things aren't contradictory."

"Do you want to come with me?"

Shinji held out his hand, his gaze sincere.

This was an incredible opportunity.

Nelliel was powerful, loyal, and knew how to repay kindness. Once she accumulated enough Reiatsu, she would eventually regain her true form—returning to her Vasto Lorde-class Arrancar state.

At that point, she would be an absolute powerhouse.

At this stage, among all the current Shinigami captains—excluding Yamamoto and Aizen—none of them could confidently say they could defeat Nelliel.[T/N: Bruh ]

"Will there... be food? Nel is really, really hungry."

Nelliel clutched her stomach, looking at him with pitiful eyes.

Even though she had lost her memory, her instincts were still urging her to consume more "food" to regain her power and return to being a Vasto Lorde.

"Of course. I'm not the type to let my companions go hungry."

Shinji smiled and nodded, his eyes filled with genuine warmth.

"Then... Nel will follow you! You don't even have to feed Nel a lot, just don't let Nel starve!"

Nelliel was easily satisfied.

The thought of no longer having to worry about hunger, no longer having to hide from her own kind, and no longer fearing Shinigami trying to kill her made her smile brightly, her eyes curving into crescent moons.

Then, she slowly placed her small hand into Shinji's.

Seeing this, Shinji couldn't help but smile.

Perfect.

Loli—ah, no, a Vasto Lorde-class Arrancar had been successfully recruited.

From this moment on, Shinji had gained a top-tier combat asset at his side.