"You have a method to contact the other members of the Expeditionary Force, don't you?"
"Summon them here. In return, I will grant you a new power one that transcends the limits of a Shinigami. What do you say?"
Yekawa looked at Tsubaki Izusuke with a faint smile.
He already knew the Expeditionary Force carried a special Kidō link that allowed them to sense and regroup. If he used Tsubaki as bait, he could gather them all in one place and eliminate them in a single sweep.
After devouring Captain-class Shinigami Osaki Masahiro, Yekawa had developed a certain appetite. While the remaining dozen Squad Members were not Captain level, each possessed the strength of front-line seated officers.
To Yekawa, they were premium nourishment.
They might not be enough to complete his Arrancar evolution outright, but they would undoubtedly accelerate the process.
"What? Even now, you hesitate to betray your comrades?"
Yekawa's tone sharpened slightly.
On the surface, he remained calm. But if Tsubaki dared utter even a half-formed refusal, Yekawa would devour him first.
At worst, he could allow his clone to slowly track the others one by one. It would simply take more time.
"Yes… Lord Yekawa."
Fortunately, Tsubaki did not choose foolishly.
He extended his right hand. With his left index and middle fingers pressed together, he touched the eleven flickering light points hovering above his palm and transmitted his voice through the implanted Kidō.
"Captain Osaki has fallen. The mysterious Menos Grande has departed. All remaining Squad Members rendezvous at my location immediately."
The eleven lights instantly began converging toward a single point at remarkable speed.
Several hours later, the first figure in a Soul Reaper uniform arrived.
"Tsubaki Izusuke! Are you injured?"
It was a middle-aged Shinigami. The concern in his voice revealed deep familiarity.
"I'm fine, Senior Higashino…"
Tsubaki replied, his tone faintly distracted.
"I never imagined Captain Osaki would fall. That Menos Grande… such pressure I've never experienced anything like it."
Higashino clenched his fists.
"Once I master Bankai, I will return and avenge the Captain."
One after another, the remaining members arrived.
Through their Kidō connection, they had already sensed Osaki's extinguished spiritual signature. Grief flickered in their eyes but not fear.
Every Shinigami who stepped into Hueco Mundo had long since cast aside life and death.
"The Captain is gone," Higashino said solemnly. "Among us, Tsubaki Izusuke is the strongest and the most level-headed. From this point forward, he leads."
"I agree."
"I agree."
Voices rose in unified assent.
No one objected.
Hearing this, Tsubaki slowly drew his Zanpakutō and raised it high.
"Since you all place your trust in me, I will not refuse."
In the next instant
He reversed his grip and drove the blade straight through Higashino's chest.
"Why…?"
Higashino's eyes widened in disbelief.
"Don't blame me…"
Tsubaki's voice trembled, yet his gaze hardened.
"I need power. Only this way… can I obtain revenge."
The remaining ten Shinigami reacted instantly, but before they could surround him, a dark shadow flashed across the clearing.
"Splat."
In a single breath
Eleven bodies fell.
Unmoving.
"Well done, Tsubaki Izusuke."
Yekawa emerged from the shadows, satisfied.
"Hahaha… dead… you're all dead!"
Tsubaki stared at the corpses of his comrades. There was no sorrow in his expression only manic laughter.
Yekawa ignored the madness.
Behind him, a dark golden vortex manifested once more.
"Soul Eater."
The fallen Shinigami dissolved into reishi, drawn into the swirling void and consumed entirely.
"Yes… this feeling…"
The surge of Shinigami spiritual pressure once again ignited that peculiar transformation deep within him.
"My mask… it loosens further."
When the last trace of reishi was absorbed, Yekawa clearly sensed progress.
A decisive step toward Arrancarization.
His mood brightened.
"Tsubaki Izusuke. The power I promised you shall receive it now."
A tiny crystal glowing with faint blue light appeared in his palm.
This fragment had been acquired by his clone during its first arrival in Soul Society from within that aberrant Giant Hollow.
A suspected fragment of the Hōgyoku.
The clone had immediately transferred it to the main body.
Now was the perfect opportunity to test its authenticity.
Under Tsubaki's stunned gaze, Yekawa formed his hand into a blade and thrust it directly into Tsubaki's chest, embedding the crystal within.
"Ah!"
Tsubaki collapsed to his knees, roaring in agony.
From the wound, a thin white substance began to seep outward gelatinous, bone-like.
It surged across his torso and climbed toward his face, swallowing half of it.
"Lord… Yekawa…"
His voice quivered.
"Do not resist," Yekawa said calmly. "Embrace the power that surpasses Shinigami limits."
The white substance spread completely, encasing Tsubaki within a hardened oval shell.
An egg.
Silence lingered.
Crack.
A fissure split across the bone-like shell.
The crack widened rapidly, spiderwebbing across the surface before the entire structure shattered violently.
From within stepped a transformed figure.
He held a Zanpakutō.
A jagged white mask covered his face. Crimson spikes protruded along his limbs. A Hollow hole had formed in his chest.
Yet beneath the distortion, traces of Tsubaki Izusuke remained.
"ROAR!"
With a feral howl, he lunged at Yekawa.
Yekawa's eyes gleamed.
"It worked…"