BLEACH: UNOHANA RETSU IS MY WIFE

"By the way… this is Hueco Mundo, right?"

A voice broke the silence as the 11th Division shinigami gradually acclimated to the dense concentration of Reishi in the foreign world.

"Are you stupid? Didn't you feel those two chilling Reiatsu earlier?"

another snapped back, clearly annoyed.

"If this really is Hueco Mundo, why haven't we seen a single Hollow since we got here—aside from the overwhelming presence of that Great Hollow?"

the first shinigami pressed, still puzzled.

The responding officer hesitated, then frowned.

"…Now that you mention it, you're right. We haven't seen a single Hollow. Could it be… that the Hollows sensed our captain's spiritual pressure and are too afraid to come near?"

"That's odd. Ordinary Hollows aren't that sensitive to Reiatsu…"

the questioning shinigami muttered, still unconvinced.

"Everyone! Listen up—!"

Suddenly, Araki, the captain of the Hueco Mundo subjugation team, climbed atop a large stone slab, using it as an impromptu podium.

"Oh! The captain's about to speak!"

someone shouted as the Division members gathered swiftly, forming ranks with their squad leaders: Captain Taketsuna, Zenjoji Arihime, Nigu Saizo, Kumen Iyotetsu, and Shijima Chigiri all taking position.

Araki's voice rang out calmly,

"I'm sure you've all noticed… Since we arrived, not a single Hollow has shown themselves. Strange, isn't it?"

A wave of nods passed through the crowd.

"Actually, the reason is quite simple…"

Araki said, smiling faintly as he gestured behind him toward a looming shadow in the distance.

"That forest right there—'The Forest of the Great Hollows.'"

The moment the name was spoken, the atmosphere shifted. Several Shinigami shuddered.

"Forest… of the Great Hollows?"

someone echoed with dread. The name alone was enough to sap the color from several faces.

"That's right," Araki continued, serious now.

"That forest is a den of monsters. Hollows are cannibalistic by nature. That place isn't just dangerous for us—it's dangerous for them, too. Weaklings stay away. The strong venture in. That's why we haven't seen any ordinary Hollows—because we're surrounded by predators too powerful to waste time on us."

He paused, his voice dropping an octave.

"Many of the Hollows in that forest are on the verge of evolving into Gillian—or beyond. Some are already what we call 'Great Hollows.'"

What Araki didn't say was the true cause of the eerie emptiness: the monstrous Hollow Jijiba had already devoured every being in a wide radius.

Gasps spread among the shinigami. For many, this was their first real deployment into such treacherous territory.

"Think of it like this…" Araki said.

"To the Hollows, that forest is what Seireitei is to us. It's where the strong rule. And that—" he pointed behind him, "—is exactly where we're going. Our mission is to subjugate these so-called Great Hollows."

"Get ready!" he bellowed.

"This isn't a training exercise. You won't be fighting ordinary Hollows—these things are stronger than Gillian. Some rival captains. Some might surpass them."

A heavy silence fell. Then—

"Gulp!"

A synchronized swallow from several seated troops.

Everyone knew: Gillian alone could wipe out most seated officers. They had high-level spiritual pressure and access to powerful Cero blasts. To face something stronger than that… was madness—or glory.

And for the 11th Division, it was both.

"OHHHHHHH!!"

The shinigami erupted in wild cheers, eyes blazing with battle lust. The call of war had awakened the beast in them.

Araki smiled, unsheathing his Zanpakutō.

"Bankai."

In an instant, the sky above Hueco Mundo shimmered as if split by dawn. The radiant release of Araki's Zanpakutō bathed the white sands in prismatic light, washing over the division like a divine tide.

"Glass Pond."

With a single tap of his blade on the white ground, an enormous bath-like structure made entirely of transparent crystal glass emerged—vast, serene, filled with water generated by absorbing Reishi from the surrounding Hueco Mundo air.

"…This water pool~"

Unohana's eyes narrowed, gazing at the crystalline structure before her with faint suspicion.

Araki laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Ahem… It's… uh… inspired by your Bankai and the hot springs in the royal airship…"

Unohana said nothing, but the glint in her eyes said everything.

"The hot springs on the plane? Those only came about after I taught Kirinji how to behave with my Bankai," Unohana said with a faint smile, eyes glinting with quiet menace.

"Before I beat him down, he was known throughout Soul Society as the head of a notorious biker gang! He used that lightning speed of his to run wild across the Rukongai."

Unohana's tone was serene, but Araki felt a chill run through his spine. Clearly, Kirinji had once tasted her wrath—and painfully so.

"Anyway," Araki turned the topic back to the matter at hand, "this pool I've set up is filled with healing water. As long as you're not dead the instant you're hit, it can restore even fatal injuries..."

"Of course, that only works if there's enough Reiatsu stored in it. So—if you want that water flowing, go Hollow hunting! The more Hollows you toss into this pool, the stronger the healing effect becomes."

The Shinigami surrounding the pool listened in astonishment as Araki explained its mechanics.

"Oh, one more thing..." he added suddenly, raising his glass lantern toward the sky.

In the next instant, shimmering characters appeared in the air above the pool, like projections from the Dangai Precipice World: translucent letters bearing the names of the 11th Division members and captains, each followed by a glowing zero.

"What is that?!"

"These letters?" Araki blinked innocently. "I'll show you. Wait here."

Before anyone could react, he vanished—gone without a trace.

"Huh?! Where did he go?" murmured the stunned Shinigami.

Roughly five minutes passed. Then, with a ripple of static, Araki returned.

"Captain, where did you—?"

"Shh... Look up."

The Shinigami obeyed. Their eyes widened as they noticed dark objects descending from the sky—hulking black figures with skeletal, clown-like masks and long, pointed noses.

One by one, they crashed into the pool below with splashes and sickening cracks.

"Gillians?! So many of them?! Wait—did the Captain just kill all of them in five minutes?!"

They stared, speechless. The massive Menos-class Hollows that once symbolized terror were now cannon fodder. What Araki had accomplished in minutes would take most squads hours.

Of course, it wasn't that he could only kill thirty-two Gillians in five minutes—it was simply all he found during that time.

"Congratulations, Captain Araki! You've eliminated 32 Gillians. That's 320 points!"

The glassy surface of the pool spoke in a cool, mechanical voice, and at that moment, the transparent panel above the water shifted. Araki's name lit up in gold at the top, next to a glowing 320.

"As you can see, that's how it works," Araki said casually, brushing dust off his haori.

What he had just introduced was a point-based combat leaderboard system—something pulled straight from the world of gacha games and cultivation manhua, millennia ahead of its time.

"This is fucking cool!"

The Division 11 shinigami finally exploded with excitement.

"I'm gonna make fun of whoever's got the lowest points today!" one yelled and took off toward the Great Hollow Forest.

"No way we're letting him get ahead!"

The rest of the division followed like a stampede, eyes gleaming with bloodlust and ambition. What was once a forest of fear was now nothing more than a treasure trove of experience points.

Even the veteran squad leaders—like Taketsuna, the executor—were twitching with barely restrained hunger for battle.

"Retsu," Araki said, turning to the calm woman beside him, "these maniacs are in your hands. Don't let them die."

"Understood. Leave it to me."

Unohana nodded without hesitation. She trusted Araki. If this was his plan, she would make sure it worked.

"Now then…" Araki rolled his shoulders, the aura around him sharpening like a blade. "Time to go Hollow King hunting. Let's see if I can find that bastard Barragan…"

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