The vast space was silent, save for the flowing seal spiritual patterns casting a faint blue light on the walls of killing aura stone.
On the central platform, the unconscious Vasto Lorde Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck (Nelliel) lay on a cold, specially made restraint table, her azure hair spread out in disarray, her bronze skin covered in scars.
Itachi stood to the side, his expression calm and rippleless, but the faint, almost imperceptible scent of blood and the desert sands of Hueco Mundo lingering around him revealed just how tragic the fierce battle in the depths of Hueco Mundo had been.
Hiroki paced to the front of the restraint table, his fingertips brushing against the edge of the shattered mask; the metallic touch was bone-chillingly cold.
He looked at Nelliel's still-furrowed brow in her unconscious state and sighed softly.
"Tsk, it seems she took quite a beating... As expected, even an existence like this cannot escape defeat and death when faced with the Uchiha Clan's hunt."
Izumi stood silently behind him to the side, her eyes calmly sweeping over Nelliel's broken mask and Hiroki's slightly furrowed brow.
Fugaku, Yashiro, Shisui, Inabi, Tekka, and other core Uchiha were scattered around like silent statues, the atmosphere heavy and focused.
Yoruichi, in her black cat form, poked her head out from Hiroki's wide haori, her golden-brown cat eyes sharply scanning the Vasto Lorde on the restraint table before glancing at Itachi.
Although she had known this would be the outcome, seeing a top-tier Menos Grande beaten nearly to death and dragged back still gave her quite a shock.
Was this the strength of the elite under Hiroki's command... and his purpose?
A Hollow's power stems from a combination of instinct and innate Spiritual Pressure. While incomparably powerful, it lacks systematic tempering and exquisite tactical coordination. Like a brute with a divine weapon, when facing a warrior who truly masters technique and strategy, defeat is no surprise even if their Spiritual Pressure is slightly inferior.
As a Vasto Lorde, Nelliel's strength undoubtedly belonged to the peak of the Captain-level, but her fighting style... many rough spots could still be seen.
He had long since seen through the characteristics of the Hollow species.
Even one as strong as a Vasto Lorde, with the terrifying foundation of First Class Spiritual Pressure, their track record before those veteran captains was indeed appalling.
Their techniques were crude, their tactical literacy almost non-existent, knowing only how to rely on instinct and a torrent of Spiritual Pressure to crush others.
When they encountered calculating and experienced tactical masters, they often became lambs to the slaughter.
That Nelliel could save her life under the elite squad led by Itachi (albeit miserably) was already a testament to her sufficiently powerful vitality.
"Forget it, the Battery Project will be put on hold for now."
Hiroki waved his hand; seeing Nelliel looking like a piece of shattered fine porcelain, he felt a rare trace of compassion.
"Give her a full treatment; don't leave any lingering issues. Since she was captured by chance... let's strike while the iron is hot and 'Arrancarize' her."
As the word "Arrancar" was spoken, the temperature in the entire space seemed to drop a few more degrees.
Yoruichi's cat ears pricked up alertly.
"The timing is just right." Hiroki's gaze swept over all the Uchiha elites present, an elusive curve forming at the corners of his mouth.
"The test subjects and the researchers are all here. Prepare to launch the 'Hollowification' project."
He turned to Izumi, his tone returning to an absolute command: "Izumi, begin."
"Yes, my lord," Izumi replied without hesitation, swiftly taking out a stack of documents shimmering with a dark blue reishi glow from the Patterned Scroll she carried.
This was precisely the precious result obtained from Aizen—the core technology and data on how to guide Hollow power to merge into a Shinigami's soul and create controllable Arrancars.
It was covered in dense spiritual scripts, formation configurations, energy circuit diagrams, and a large number of research records regarding soul critical points.
Izumi's eyes instantly became as focused as a precision instrument; she quickly flipped through the documents, her fingertips gliding over key pages to confirm the steps.
Invisible Spiritual Pressure gathered around her, transforming into the ability to decipher this forbidden knowledge.
"Begin the operation."
Everyone's gaze focused on the area of killing aura stone floor in front of the platform that had been specially cleared.
The first to undergo the Hollowification experiment was, naturally, Uchiha Itachi, who had just performed a great service.
He calmly walked to the center and sat cross-legged. His Sharingan activated on its own, the three tomoe slowly rotating in his crimson eyes, emitting a sense of absolute rationality and order, as if to bring the impending chaos under control.
Following the guidance in Aizen's data, Izumi's hands quickly formed complex and profound hand seals.
Her Spiritual Pressure precisely outlined a formation core composed of pure energy, enveloping Itachi.
The formation lit up with a faint blue light, reflecting off the killing aura stone walls as a deep spatial ripple began to undulate.
Next, Izumi carefully guided the primal power of the Hōgyoku within the formation, slowly injecting it into the core of Itachi's soul through specific circuits.
"Chiii—!"
The air suddenly shrieked! A terrifying energy, completely different from a Shinigami's Spiritual Pressure and filled with violent, greedy, and destructive auras, suddenly erupted from within Itachi!
That power submerged him in an instant!
The visible dark-red Spiritual Pressure, like a roaring hurricane with the intent to tear through space, raged outward, slamming into the protective barrier jointly set up by Fugaku and the others, stirring up violent ripples!
The Uchiha elites looked solemn, their hands holding the barrier steady with even greater force.
At the center of this violent energy field, Itachi's body trembled violently, as if countless earthworms were wriggling under his skin.
His Mangekyo Sharingan erupted with even more intense light, forcibly suppressing the churning Hollow instincts within his body!
On his face, bony matter surged wildly from the depths of his flesh like a living thing, twisting and condensing!
Crackle! Crackle!
In just a few breaths, a hideous, cold, and hard pale mask with unique spiral patterns completely covered Itachi's handsome face!
The Spiritual Pressure belonging to the Hollow finally stabilized. Although it was still filled with a sense of wild power, it was tightly bound by his strong will and the power of the Mangekyo, no longer surging in disorder.
It was a success!
A white bone mask with spiral-shaped carvings, cold as a Shinigami's judgment.
Itachi slowly stood up, his figure wearing the Hollow Mask standing quietly in the center of the storm.
The tyrannical Hollow Spiritual Pressure and his own steady, heavy Shinigami Spiritual Pressure began to blend and harmonize under his precise control, and an aura far more complex and powerful than that of an ordinary Shinigami spread out.
A nearly imperceptible curve appeared at the corner of Hiroki's mouth.
As expected of Itachi, his control over power was unparalleled, and the fusion process appeared incredibly "smooth."
However, why did it feel like the patterns on the mask were much fewer than those of Huang Quan?
Habitually, he called up the system panel with his mind to directly check Itachi's current status:
[Name]: Uchiha Itachi
[Status]: Spiritual Pressure fusion stable (Hollowification state)
[Spiritual Pressure]: Second Class (Hollowification state)
[Skill Levels]:
Hand-to-hand combat: S
Shunpo: S
Kido: SSS
Zanjutsu: A
[Talent]: Mangekyo Sharingan
[Equipment]: sword of totsuka (Sealing Sword), yata mirror
However, when Hiroki's gaze swept over the "Spiritual Pressure: Second Class (Hollowification state)" column, the curve at the corner of his mouth instantly froze!
Huh?!
What's going on?!
Second Class? After such a successful Hollowification, how could his Spiritual Pressure level still remain at Second Class?!
Theoretically, he should have touched the threshold of First Class, or at least had a significant improvement! The panel showed that the Hollowification state was very stable, with no rejection reaction... Could it be... An ominous guess instantly struck Hiroki's mind.
"System!" he immediately questioned sharply in his heart. "Itachi's Hollowification was clearly successful, so why hasn't his Spiritual Pressure level jumped?!"
The cold system prompt sounded in the depths of his consciousness, the words clear but making his heart sink:
"[System]: Detection complete. Subject Uchiha Itachi's Hollowification fusion completion rate is 99.7%, and his Spiritual Pressure attributes have undergone a beneficial qualitative change. The current level assessment is accurate."
"[System]: The 'Hōgyoku (Kisuke Urahara Version)' used by the user is an 'incomplete form,' and the power of creation and breakthrough it contains has a theoretical peak upper limit. The 'Hollowification/Arrancar' effect it catalyzes cannot achieve the 'essential Spiritual Pressure leap' defined by this system."
"[System]: Hint: Only by fusing the 'Hōgyoku (Aizen Version)' held by Aizen Sōsuke, combining the two gems to complete the Creation Law Chain, or exchanging for the use of this system's 'Complete Version Hōgyoku (One-time use)' permission, can a cross-tier Spiritual Pressure breakthrough (such as Second Class to First Class) be achieved."
"[System]: Advice:'System products are bound to be high-quality.' Please choose experimental auxiliary materials carefully."
Hiroki's face instantly became very ugly.
He stared intently at the glaring "Second Class (Hollowification state)" on the status panel.
So that's the root of the problem!
That guy Urahara Kisuke... he cursed fiercely in his heart.
That useless Urahara Kisuke! After all these years, he couldn't even produce a usable finished product!
"Heh... semi-finished product..." Hiroki muttered to himself, his voice cold as ice.
However, what must be used must be used.
He couldn't afford a complete version that cost 1 million points per use.
Although it didn't meet expectations, the increase in Spiritual Pressure was still real.
In Itachi's current state, just looking at his Spiritual Pressure, he was much stronger than before.
Even though they were both Second Class Spiritual Pressure, the gap within that level was still quite large.