A few days ago, a white panther-like Menos broke into Las Noches.
"So I hear you've picked a new king?"
Grimmjow stood atop the towering walls of Las Noches, one foot planted on the throat of an Adjuchas in the shape of a hulking gorilla.
After Barragan's fall, Las Noches had plunged into chaos.
Ambitious Hollows flocked to the palace, each one dreaming of sitting on that now-vacant throne.
Grimmjow had quickly adapted to the Forest of Menos after arriving, entering another growth phase.
But when he heard whispers of a new ruler in Las Noches, he came charging back—to issue a challenge.
"Y-Yes..."
The gorilla Hollow could barely breathe, claws pressed tight against his neck.
"Guess this trip wasn't a waste... heh."
Grimmjow's feline grin widened, flashing sharp fangs.
"If I devour your king, maybe I'll finally evolve into a Vasto Lorde!"
One thing still gnawed at him: before entering the Forest of Menos, he had suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of a Vasto Lorde-class Hollow.
He had to get stronger. He had to pay that humiliation back—with interest.
He gave the defeated Adjuchas no further glance before vanishing in a flash.
Once inside Las Noches, Grimmjow quickly locked on to the strongest Reiatsu signature—it pulsed from the central palace.
With a single leap, he landed at the entrance to the grand hall.
"Quite the show you're putting on," he scoffed. The palace was massive and ornate, but he couldn't care less. All he lived for was power—and battle.
"Yo! Where'd this little panther come from?"
"Come to pledge loyalty to Las Noches?"
The two Hollow guards at the door had already spotted him.
Shff—
Grimmjow vanished. The next second, the two guards crashed to the ground.
"Las Noches... isn't so impressive after all."
He found the Menos here no different from the ones in the Forest.
The inside of the palace hadn't changed much. Only the master had.
At the far end of the hall, seated on the throne, was a towering Hollow with twin horns—and four arms.
"I've come to challenge you!" Grimmjow shouted into the chamber. "The so-called king of Las Noches!"
"Insolent fool."
The seated Hollow narrowed his eyes, voice low and cold. "You deserve death."
As soon as he spoke, a pack of Hollows descended on Grimmjow.
"Cowards..."
Grimmjow's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Can't fight one-on-one, can you?"
Outside Las Noches, Nanatsuki, Nel, and Harribel arrived.
"There's someone familiar inside," Nanatsuki said to Nel. "Remember that panther-like Hollow you once beat up?"
Nanatsuki had long known Grimmjow was imprisoned here. That was why he chose now to bring Nel and Harribel to reclaim Las Noches.
Back when they first met, Nanatsuki had already considered taking Grimmjow as a disciple.
But at the time, Grimmjow couldn't take human form, and Nanatsuki lacked a Hōgyoku, so there was no way to properly train him. Instead, he left behind a shadow to mark his location—waiting for the right time.
"A panther I beat up?"
Nel blinked, trying to recall.
Grimmjow hadn't made much of an impression. To her, he was just another defeated Hollow—not worth remembering.
"Let's head in. You'll remember when you see him."
Nanatsuki led the way into the heart of the palace. Most of the Menos now gathered there.
"Hahahahaha...!"
"You're seriously trying to challenge Lord Nnoitra?!"
"ROAR!!"
Laughter and snarls echoed from the throne room. Metal clashed, something struck a wall.
There were no guards at the entrance. The trio walked in directly.
Inside, a crowd of Menos had gathered around a cage.
Nanatsuki immediately recognized the material: Sekkiseki.
On the throne sat a Hollow he identified at a glance.
"Nnoitra Gilga... the former Fifth Espada."
So he'd taken over Las Noches.
Nanatsuki had no intention of recruiting him.
From his memories of a past life, Nnoitra was the type to backstab his own allies.
In the original timeline, it was Nnoitra who ambushed Nel—shattering her mask and drastically weakening her.
Grimmjow was now locked inside a Sekkiseki cage, his body pierced by sharp pins of the same material.
He had come to challenge the new ruler of Las Noches… and Nnoitra, lacking any sense of honor, had sicced an entire gang of Hollows on him.
Outnumbered and overwhelmed, Grimmjow had been defeated and thrown into the cage for the others' amusement.
"I remember now!"
Nel's eyes softened with pity. "That's the little panther Sensei healed before! Poor kitty..."
"Who are you people?!"
The Menos finally noticed the newcomers.
Nanatsuki wore a hooded cloak that concealed his identity. The Hollows didn't recognize him as a Shinigami.
Nel and Harribel were cloaked too—but didn't wear hoods.
When the Menos saw their small masks and humanoid figures, the laughter in the hall abruptly stopped.
Only Grimmjow's stubborn crashing against the cage bars echoed through the silence.
"Va...Vasto Lordes?!"
Deep, primal fear of superior Hollows rippled through the crowd.
CLANG—
None of the Menos even saw the blade move.
Suddenly, Grimmjow's cage was split in two.
"Grimmjow. Do you remember me?"
Nanatsuki knelt before the white panther, voice low and even.
From under his hood, his face emerged—the face Grimmjow could never forget.
"It's you!"
Grimmjow would never forget the Vasto Lorde Hollow who had crushed him.
Nor the Shinigami that Hollow had called "Sensei."
"So you do remember."
Nanatsuki smiled faintly as he pulled the Sekkiseki pins from Grimmjow's body.
"Ugh..."
Grimmjow winced. The barbs tore out chunks of flesh with them.
"Don't move!"
Nel's blade flashed through the air—landing before Nnoitra.
He'd been trying to slip away while everyone's focus was on Grimmjow.
Coward.
"Someone like you has the gall to call himself a king?"
Nel's tone dripped with disdain.
"A man who abandons his allies doesn't deserve the throne."
Harribel stepped forward as well.
They had only come to Las Noches on Nanatsuki's orders.
They didn't care about this place.
But now, seeing the so-called King of Hueco Mundo flee in fear, leaving his comrade to rot—they could no longer ignore it.