After making all the necessary arrangements for his seclusion, Natsuro casually picked a spot beneath the oasis and carved out a cavern to serve as his meditation chamber.
"I never thought I'd end up founding an organization…" Natsuro muttered as he gazed at the eternally dark sky above.
He knew very well why he had accepted Ulquiorra's suggestion to become the organization's leader.
As time went on, he found himself drifting further and further away from the Soul Society.
If his deeds were ever revealed whether it was his Hollowfied Zanpakutō or his unauthorized intrusion into the Great Spirit Book Gallery, either one alone would be enough to brand him a traitor.
With his strength, execution might be difficult… but centuries, even millennia, locked in the underground prison of the Shin'ō Academy were entirely possible.
Would he ever willingly accept such punishment? Of course not.
Natsuro stopped thinking about it. He didn't particularly care about this world's politics anyway. This "organization" was, in a sense, just his way of securing a backup plan for himself.
Shaking his head, he sat cross-legged upon a stone bed, placed Meikyō Shisui across his lap, and closed his eyes, entering the inner world of his Zanpakutō.
"You have come," said the woman in courtly robes, it was Meikyō Shisui's spirit, bowing slightly to him.
Natsuro smiled faintly. "I thought you might have more to say to me."
The woman in ornate dress smiled back. "There's no need. There will be plenty of chances in the future."
Natsuro nodded. "Shall we begin?"
Meikyō Shisui nodded, and then, within that inner world where she had always been present, her figure suddenly vanished before his eyes.
An instant later, a terrifying suction force erupted from the Zanpakutō, greedily drawing spiritual energy from Natsuro's body.
He tested it briefly. With his current level of control, if he willed it, Meikyō Shisui couldn't take even a drop of his power.
So this wasn't a one-way process, he could stop it at any time.
Still, the strength of that pull was enough to forcibly drain energy from anyone with weaker control.
Then Natsuro released all restraints on his spiritual power, and at once, endless waves of energy poured into Meikyō Shisui like a flood.
At the same time, throughout Hueco Mundo, an enormous current of spiritual energy began to flow toward his location.
Natsuro was unaware of the disturbance outside. He didn't care either, his focus was entirely immersed in the world within his Zanpakutō.
The space was empty now. The familiar figure that usually awaited him there had disappeared. He wondered briefly if she would ever return.
Then, in his hands, another Meikyō Shisui appeared.
This period of seclusion was, in truth, primarily for Meikyō Shisui's sake, she was now in a state of deep sleep, absorbing his spiritual power.
There wasn't much he himself needed to do, just provide the energy. If he grew bored, he could enter sleep himself and let his body's instincts handle the process.
But he didn't choose that path. Instead, he spent his time within the Zanpakutō's world practicing swordsmanship.
Even though this was only his spiritual form, he soon found himself in a pure state of concentration, utterly immersed in the heart of Meikyō Shisui.
He felt no emptiness, no sense of time slipping by.
Eventually, he even began to forget the passage of time altogether, devoting himself wholly to the way of the sword.
Outside, Starrk and the others suddenly sensed the immense spiritual current rippling through the air, and they were stunned.
Natsuro had only just begun his seclusion, and already this surge of energy had appeared.
There was no question who was responsible for a spiritual flow that could shake all of Hueco Mundo.
Starrk and Ulquiorra exchanged glances and sighed helplessly. Since Natsuro was meditating here, they couldn't exactly relocate.
This spiritual flow completely exposed their position. Soon, countless Hollows would be drawn toward them.
But none of them... Starrk, Ulquiorra, or Harribel were particularly worried.
The three of them alone were enough to fear no one.
Ulquiorra, after all, had once defeated the so-called "King of Hueco Mundo." Their numbers might be small, but their power was overwhelming.
So they stopped worrying. If trouble came, they would face it head-on.
And as expected, before even a full day had passed, numerous Hollows began flocking toward the Akatsuki's base, following the scent of that immense spiritual energy.
Most of them were low-tier Gillian-class Menos.
The weaker Hollows likely didn't even make it close, devoured by others long before reaching the area.
As the horde of Hollows approached the Akatsuki's territory, ready to break in and seek the source of the energy, a crushing spiritual pressure erupted from within.
Before they could take even a single step forward, several of the advancing Hollows were obliterated on the spot, their souls scattering under the weight of the reiatsu.
The one who acted, of course, was Starrk. This kind of thing was his specialty.
In the past, it would have been accidental, he couldn't control his reiatsu properly. But now, he could. This time, it was intentional.
Judging from the way those Hollows had charged in mindlessly, they clearly lacked intelligence, and therefore, they didn't meet the organization's standards for potential comrades.
Harribel had suggested showing mercy, but both Starrk and Ulquiorra agreed they needed to make an example, to strike hard and establish dominance, discouraging any future intruders.
In the end, Harribel said nothing more. She was, after all, just one member, and her three companions weren't even official members of Akatsuki yet.
All she could do was watch as it happened.
Starrk's actions had the desired effect. After that display, most Hollows dared not approach the Akatsuki's base again and quickly scattered.
But the peace didn't last long.
The remaining Hollows soon discovered that as long as they stayed outside the Akatsuki's boundaries and didn't enter, the group wouldn't interfere.
And so, many began settling nearby.
The reason was obvious, the spiritual energy in the area was exceptionally dense, thanks to Natsuro's ongoing absorption.
The closer one got to him, the stronger the spiritual concentration became.
For Hollows, such density was invaluable.
Within the Akatsuki's base, where the concentration was highest, Starrk, Ulquiorra, and Harribel all benefited as well.
Starrk and Ulquiorra made the most progress, while Harribel seemed to have reached her current limit, without completing her Arrancar transformation, her growth had stalled.
Yet becoming an Arrancar was far from easy.
Starrk's transformation had been a fluke; his immense reiatsu naturally crushed weaker Hollows around him, but even then, his breaking the mask had been an act of self-restraint, to suppress his own power.
Had he not met Natsuro and the others, Starrk might have spent eternity keeping himself weakened to endure his loneliness.
Now that his soul was whole again, his true potential was finally awakening, his strength increasing even faster than Ulquiorra's.
Ulquiorra, too, had achieved partial Hollowfication by chance, after being rejected by his "comrades," he had torn away part of his mask, though never fully removing it.
After meeting Natsuro and Starrk, Ulquiorra finally began to pursue the path of true Arrancar evolution.
Since he had already once broken his mask in the past, the difficulty of fully becoming an Arrancar was much lower for him than it would be for others.
Harribel, however, had neither Starrk's innate, overwhelming reiatsu nor Ulquiorra's fortuitous circumstances. For her, achieving that transformation would be unimaginably difficult.
Even with guidance from Starrk and Ulquiorra, she still could not grasp the true method of breaking the mask.
Becoming an Arrancar was far more than just removing the mask, it was a transformation of existence itself.
Aside from her personal training, Harribel also took on another role within Akatsuki.
Starrk had noticed that though she was quiet and reserved, she was extremely cautious and reliable and above all, deeply protective of her three companions.
Eventually, Harribel became the one responsible for assessing and testing potential new recruits to Akatsuki. She carried out this duty with remarkable diligence and seriousness.
Unfortunately, despite having a proper examiner, very few new members could actually be accepted.
High-intelligence Hollows were exceedingly rare. Only those who had reached the Vasto Lorde level generally possessed true intellect.
But Vasto Lordes were the highest class of Hollows, and extremely scarce. When Natsuro i had searched Hueco Mundo before, it had taken him an enormous amount of time and sheer luck just to find Starrk, which said everything about how rare that level truly was.
Even Adjuchas-class Hollows were uncommon, and among those, not all possessed genuine intelligence.
And even if they did have intelligence, their thinking was often too deeply corrupted by Hollow instincts. The endless hunger, hatred, and greed.
For that reason, the vast majority of Adjuchas didn't meet Akatsuki's standards for membership.
Sometimes, after probing a candidate's mind, Harribel would be so disgusted that she almost wanted to "keep" them there permanently, in other words, end them on the spot.
Such Hollows, if allowed into Akatsuki, would only bring chaos.
Fortunately, Harribel understood that killing candidates during assessments would only harm the organization's reputation, so she restrained herself and let them go.
Still, she absolutely forbade those types of Hollows from lingering near Akatsuki's territory, fearing they would cause trouble.
Of course, not all candidates failed. Some, rarely, did meet the criteria.
But below that level, the Gillian-class Hollows, the number of those with proper reasoning or restraint was almost nonexistent.
Only the few who disliked fighting retained enough clarity to think; the rest, given time, would likely evolve into Adjuchas.
For the vast majority of Gillians, nothing remained but pure Hollow instincts. So finding even one acceptable candidate among them was practically impossible.
Harribel often sighed at how troublesome this recruitment duty was. She had never seen so many Hollows in one place before.
Of course, Akatsuki didn't conduct recruitment every day.
Harribel needed time to train too, so she only held assessments periodically, after enough candidates had registered.
As for collecting the names of applicants, that was handled by her three companions.
Occasionally, some foolish Hollow would try to bully them, thinking they were weak.
For those idiots, Harribel's answer was simple, she reduced them to dust.
Once, she had avoided killing others to gain strength, believing such power was impure. But now, this wasn't about power, it was about protecting her comrades.
Through her time with Starrk and Ulquiorra, Harribel had come to understand something important:not killing an enemy didn't make them grateful, it only gave them time to plot revenge.
And so, this was Harribel's monotonous yet busy daily life.
As for Ulquiorra, he had fewer duties than Harribel, but he spent his days constantly refining his control over his power. He had nearly succeeded, but the immense spiritual density caused by Natsuro's ongoing seclusion accelerated Ulquiorra's own reiatsu growth, making complete control even harder.
Still, he never gave up. He truly wanted to go to the Human World one day, to seek the "heart" that Natsuro had spoken of.
Starrk's situation was similar: he too worked on mastering his spiritual power.
However, compared to Ulquiorra, Starrk's progress was faster, though he wasn't nearly as desperate about it.
He had no reason to go to the Human World, so he devoted his energy to refining his reiatsu and pushing his strength even further. Not necessarily to surpass Natsuro, but at least to avoid falling too far behind him again.
And so, Akatsuki continued to function steadily, facing no major crises.
It wasn't that other Hollows didn't covet their strength, it was simply that with three Vasto Lorde–class Hollows guarding the organization, Akatsuki's position was absolutely unshakable.
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