"What... what is this thing?"
The moment this mask appeared in the center of the cultivation tank, Yakushi Kabuto involuntarily stopped what he was doing and stared blankly at it.
The bone mask, pure white interspersed with black patterns, was a full meter in length and width, appearing completely unsuitable for a human face; a sharp horn, over a foot long, extended upward from the center of the brow, and its teeth-like lips and bone sutures were clearly visible.
Supported by the continuously input negative energy, the edges of the mask were constantly deforming and wriggling, resembling a living creature.
Yakushi Kabuto believed that his thirteen years of life had given him broad experience, and he had seen all sorts of horrific sights.
But inexplicably, the moment he saw this bone armor mask, an indescribable sense of fear welled up in his heart.
This inexplicable feeling made his heart tremble.
Before he could move further, he felt a warm hand gently rest on his shoulder, and a calm voice said: "There is no need to fear, Kabuto-kun."
"The fear you feel is merely a slight overflow of the power of the box of ultimate bliss."
Yakushi Kabuto was stunned by the words.
The instant the hand pressed on his shoulder, that intense fear seemed to be suddenly dispelled from the depths of his heart.
He first took a deep breath, and only then softly inquired: "Aizen-sama...?"
Aizen Sōsuke adjusted the thick black frames on his face, explaining in a gentle tone: "Hollow."
"Let us name it thus for now."
"To be precise, this is a 'catalyst' formed by the negative aspect of extreme souls merging with the special negative energy stored within the box of ultimate bliss, ultimately using White Zetsu cells as a vessel."
"Currently, it cannot be considered a complete entity."
Yakushi Kabuto unconsciously widened his eyes, staring at him blankly.
The combination of negative energy and souls.
Monsters?
No, the truly strange thing is—can human souls actually transform into this appearance?
When he followed Orochimaru-sama back then, he conducted many human experiments.
If human negative emotions could truly twist a person's soul to this extent, shouldn't they have been torn apart long ago?
As if seeing through the young man's confusion, Aizen carefully clarified: "Not everyone can transform into this appearance."
"If it weren't for the appearance of the box of ultimate bliss and the special energy conversion mechanism within it, I would likely have had to search for a long time to achieve this level."
As he spoke, he couldn't help but turn his head to look at the massive box behind him, sighing softly: "It truly lives up to its reputation as a 'Sage Tool'."
— According to the current records held by the Grass Hidden Village, the box of ultimate bliss was a weapon owned by the Six Paths Sage in ancient times.
However, even Yakushi Kabuto could tell that Aizen-sama's voice carried somewhat more complex emotions.
Regardless, this adult was clearly much happier than usual.
"Converting human souls into..."
"Hollow?"
Uchiha Itachi also stood nearby, looking at the mask in the cultivation tank with a slight frown.
Just by looking at this mask, he could roughly imagine how terrifying the "complete" form described by Aizen-sama would be.
"What is the meaning of this?"
"Aizen-sama."
Aizen did not mind the slight, unintentional contempt in his tone, and said gently: "If it were merely the Hollow itself, it would indeed be meaningless."
"However, if this type of monster could universally be born from human souls, the world would become different."
"At that time, Itachi-kun."
"What function do you think we Ninja will be assigned?"
Listening to Aizen's words, Uchiha Itachi subconsciously followed his train of thought deeper.
Monsters born from human souls.
Ninja who possess power and are vastly different from ordinary people.
Humans who fall into a situation of mutual slaughter because they lack external enemies... His eyes immediately lit up.
"The function of the Ninja!"
"Are you saying that if we have these monsters as 'external enemies,' we can escape our current state of self-inflicted exhaustion?"
"That is only partially correct, and 'escaping self-inflicted exhaustion' is not the precise description." Aizen Sōsuke smiled gently, raising a finger. "To be accurate, we will be assigned another function by the collective group of humans, one that goes beyond mutual slaughter."
"I see!"
Upon hearing this, Uchiha Itachi's eyes shone astonishingly bright.
Aizen-sama truly is changing this Ninja World step by step, just as he said!
Unfortunately, although what Aizen Sōsuke said was true, it was only a part of the truth.
His gaze was profound as he looked at the mask that was deforming and wriggling.
For him personally, the function of the Hollow was more about changing the destination of human souls after death in this world.
The legacy left behind by the Six Paths Sage is truly vast.
So much so that even by taking over only a small portion, he was able to achieve tremendous breakthroughs in a very short time.
At the same time, his internal vigilance toward this potentially existing enemy deepened.
If the souls of humans going to the Pure Land were the source of his energy, then he had to cut off that source.
If he could go a step further, he would even hope that every living person could be equipped with a Zanpakuto, marking all souls with his brand from the very beginning.
However, the path must be taken one step at a time.
At the very least, he currently lacks a space, like the Pure Land, capable of storing this excess energy.
"Aizen-sama."
Just as he was thinking this, he heard Yakushi Kabuto inquire with some confusion: "Although the experiment was successful, judging by the mask alone, it should still be a semi-finished product, right?"
"If we want it to become a complete 'Hollow,' do we need to continue feeding it human souls?"
"The first Hollow born in the world cannot be completed merely by feeding it ordinary human souls."
Aizen said this, shaking his head slightly.
However, it was clear that he had prepared for this long ago.
After the two young men beside him cleared the way, Aizen opened the cultivation tank and, using Chakra to guide it, allowed the massive bone mask to float into his palm.
With his other hand, he lightly drew a line in the air.
Immediately following this, under the astonished gazes of Uchiha Itachi and Yakushi Kabuto, a scar-like mark appeared in the previously empty void, gradually tearing open with Aizen's movement, forming a dark, deep void.
Aizen extended his arm, holding the bone mask toward the void.
The next moment.
The entire mask was swallowed by the void.
"Buzz—!"
Hidden Mist Village, Mizukage's office.
Mr. Uchiha Obito, as usual, sat cross-legged in the Advisor seat next to the Mizukage, somewhat distractedly looking at the Akatsuki Organization's financial report for the current quarter on the table.
Ever since his last attempt to sneak attack Konoha ended in a crushing defeat at Aizen's hands, he had remained thoroughly silent for a period of time.
It wasn't that he didn't want to cause trouble; he was genuinely afraid.
An old acquaintance who inexplicably popped out of a random corner was able to completely defeat him in one go.
Such a devastating failure forced Uchiha Obito to review his previous life, which had been neither smooth nor easy.
First, there was Uchiha Madara, hiding in the deep mountains plotting to hypnotize the entire world; then there was Pain, who was granted the Rinnegan and claimed to be a god; and during the process of recruiting Akatsuki Organization members, he encountered various strange yet astonishingly powerful monsters, not to mention Minato-sensei, who could hit him even on their first encounter back then...
Based on intelligence gathered previously and recently from Konoha, he also discovered a celestial monster capable of taking down the Nine-Tailed head-on, as well as the box of ultimate bliss that the Konoha Shinobi Clans had somehow transported.
It was fine when he didn't think about it, but now, upon careful consideration, Uchiha Obito suddenly realized that there might be a few too many powerful figures hidden in this Ninja World.
The reason he has been able to continue his evil deeds safely until now doesn't seem to be due to his strength, but rather because there are too few individuals among these monsters who are proficient in spatial abilities.
Of course, none of this is important.
The most important thing is that the stab the bastard Aizen Sōsuke plunged into his eye earlier still hasn't shown any reaction.
This has become his biggest worry now.
Now, Uchiha Obito felt like a blind man with a timed explosive tag stuck to him.
He neither knew where the explosive tag was nor when it would explode; he only had a vague yet strong sense of foreboding.
"Damn it!"
"What the hell is going on!"
After only turning two pages in the ledger he held, he grew impatient, irritably tossing the book aside and rubbing his messy hair while standing by the window.
Only Yagura, behind the desk, remained peaceful and undisturbed, quietly signing the documents in his hand as if completely unaware of his presence—though it was unclear what documents there were left to sign in this Hidden Mist that had been closed off for so many years.
"Obito?"
Zetsu noticed his actions and looked up at him in confusion: "You aren't still worrying about the thing in your head, are you?"
"I already told you, since nothing has happened for so long, it must just be your imagination!"
His tone was carefree: "Speaking of which, what does an illusion feel like? Is it like pooping?"
"Sigh! You wouldn't understand!"
Uchiha Obito waved his hand irritably.
Ever since he woke up this morning, he had a strong sense of foreboding, like someone was staring at his junk while he was peeing.
An indescribable annoyance.
But if he were to point out a specific problem, nothing seemed strange.
This feeling made him restless.
That Aizen guy, the stab he plunged into his eye back then, what exactly was it...
Just as Uchiha Obito was agonizing over this thought.
"Thump."
Abruptly, a sound like a heart beating pierced his ears.
Uchiha Obito, standing by the window, suddenly stopped all movement.
"Obito?"
Zetsu had not yet noticed his abnormality and asked again, confused.
"Thump-thump."
The drumming heartbeat grew increasingly clear in Uchiha Obito's ears, and his breathing became faintly rapid.
If someone were standing in front of him right now, they would see the Sharingan in his right eye socket suddenly begin to twist and connect, spontaneously forming the Mangekyo pattern, even without him injecting any ocular power.
"Thump-thump-thump-thump-thump—!"
The dull drumming grew stronger. Uchiha Obito felt his consciousness blurring, and all his subjective will seemed to be swallowed by his eye in that instant.
His hand instinctively covered his eye; the intense feeling of exhaustion and detachment made him unable to stop himself from collapsing to his knees.
"Obito? What is this..."
Zetsu finally realized something was wrong with him, quickly stepped forward to his side, and supported his shoulder.
However, Uchiha Obito seemed to have been drained of his bones, completely lacking strength, only maintaining the trembling motion of covering his right eye.
In that instant, his entire spirit seemed to return to the dimension unique to Kamui.
However, this Kamui dimension, which belonged only to him, was no longer dark and gloomy, filled with gravestones as it once was.
Without him realizing it, a gigantic pale tree, composed entirely of pure white matter, its roots covering countless gravestones, its branches extending and stretching, and fully entwined within the flowing Chakra, now stood tall in the center of this Kamui dimension.
Tall, thick, and gnarled with roots.
Uchiha Obito stood blankly before this pale tree, staring in astonishment at this thing that was not part of his Mangekyo.
"What... what exactly is this thing?"
Although it was only a tree, he could clearly feel the endless, intense emotions emanating from within it, all of which originated from himself.
Resentment, hatred, fear, cowardice, jealousy, and the despair of wanting to destroy everything.
This tree seemed to have been intrinsically cultivated by these negative emotions unique to him, growing rapidly at an unbelievable speed until now.
Yet, he himself had been completely unaware.
"How is this possible?!"
Almost subconsciously, Uchiha Obito wanted to deny this bizarre reality.
However, just as he was thinking this, his mind suddenly recalled the stab Aizen had mercilessly plunged into his eye that night.
"Could it be... that time?!"
He suddenly realized.
Unfortunately, whatever Uchiha Obito wanted to do now was useless.
The moment he realized this, a circular void abruptly opened in the center of his Kamui dimension.
Extending from that void was a gigantic, hideous mask.
"What is going on now?!"
Uchiha Obito was already mentally exhausted by these successive anomalies, yet his spiritual body seemed fixed in place, able only to watch the scene unfold, like a predetermined audience member.
The moment that mask appeared.
"Buzz—!"
The entire Soul Tree, cultivated entirely by negative emotions, seemed to have found its unique origin.
In an instant, the depths of the entire Kamui dimension seemed to be swept up in a terrifying storm.
Endless pure white branches suddenly began to writhe, shooting out rapidly toward the mask like fluid, emitting bursts of piercing whistles.
The frantic wind plastered Obito's clothes tightly against his body, his long hair felt as if it were being torn from his scalp, and countless gravestones shattered and collapsed beneath the flying Soul Tree, turning into large patches of dust floating in mid-air, sweeping into gray-black surges.
Accompanying this, a strong Pain, as if his entire soul were being ripped apart, assaulted Uchiha Obito's mind.
"Ah... Ah ah ah ah ah!!!"
Amidst the piercing wails, the pattern of the Mangekyo Sharingan reflected the two dimensions: the inside and outside of Kamui.
Zetsu, in the Mizukage's office, only saw Uchiha Obito suddenly collapse to his knees, and then abruptly begin screaming violently.
Endless white substance continuously spewed forth from his eye, forming viscous, fluid-like traces that covered the surface of his body.
That mournful roar seemed to penetrate to the very depths of the soul.
"Obi... to...?"
The moment they saw this scene, both Black Zetsu and White Zetsu were stunned.
Confused and helpless.
"The Soul Tree, cultivated from the heaviest and most complex negative emotions, using a soul artificially split into two halves as its vessel."
"Coupled with the Hollow's Mask, which is sufficient to absorb and form based on all this."
"The final result is..."
"The first Hollow born into this world."
Aizen Sōsuke stood quietly in the laboratory; the void torn open before him still hadn't closed, and he murmured softly.
Yakushi Kabuto and Uchiha Itachi did not know what had happened, but merely watched the scene quietly, vaguely sensing that something major had occurred.
"But unfortunately."
"What I need is not the existence of this Hollow."
"But the 'concept' of the Hollow."
Aizen Sōsuke said this, gently drawing the blade as if explaining to the asauchi held horizontally before him.
Only this time, the release command from his mouth was slightly different from before.
"Sink, Kyōka Suigetsu."
When he drew the sword again, what appeared in his hand were two sharp blades, one long and one short.
"Kyōka" and "Suigetsu."
He raised the short blade in his hand toward the dark void, lightly thrusting it forward and then slashing downward vertically.
It was as if the blade pierced the separation between illusion and reality.
In an instant.
A tremendous roar penetrated the entire laboratory, and endless light and darkness surged forth, piercing everything before the eyes of the three people present.