Minoru nodded while still fighting the urge to chuckle, "Of course. A world-class tailor will be sent here within the hour. They can recreate whatever style you prefer, using reinforced, mana-conductive fabrics if you wish."
He cleared his throat and his expression turned serious as he looked between the two powerhouses. "I should also explain... as S-Rank level assets, you won't be called for every minor Gate that opens. The Association handles the trash. You two are our 'Secret Trump Cards.' But," he added, noticing the creeping boredom in Grimmjow's eyes, "you definitely won't be left out of the fun. When an S-Rank threat or a special operation arises, you'll be the first ones we call."
Grimmjow let out a sharp laugh, his blue eyes flashing with predatory anticipation, "I like that. I like that very much. Just make sure the 'fun' isn't another bunch of weakling like those oni or overgrown dogs. I want something that actually bleeds well."
———-
The moment the heavy doors of the gate clicked shut and Minoru's car faded into the distance, the atmosphere in the room shifted instantly. The suffocating, "Hollow" pressure vanished.
Grimmjow doubled over, clutching his stomach as he burst into a loud, raucous laugh. "Holy shit! Keeping that facade up is freaking tough!"
Ulquiorra didn't laugh, but a genuine, small smile cracked his pale lips, a sight that would have given anyone in the a certain universe a heart attack if they saw it, "That's easy for you to say," Ulquiorra said, his voice dropping the monotone edge, "This face literally isn't allowing me to show much expression. I feel like I'm wearing a porcelain mask."
"Tell me about it!" Grimmjow grinned, stretching his arms behind his head. "It's like the body is influencing how I act. I find myself wanting to growl at people for no reason. But man..."
Ulquiorra let out a short chuckle and for the love of God, it was like a sound that felt entirely alien coming from his throat, "It's incredible. I'm able to think in ways I never thought possible. My mind is like a supercomputer." He clenched his hand into a fist, staring at the pale skin. "I feel so much power in me, Grimm... it's like I've taken a tanker load of cocaine, but without any of the side effects. I feel infinite."
Grimmjow laughed and Ulquiorra could see his eyes bright with excitement. "Oh yeah? Well, the best part is this..."
Without warning, Grimmjow's feet left the polished floor. He drifted upward, floating casually a few feet in the air as if gravity was merely a suggestion. "I can fucking fly now! No planes, no wings, just pure 'fuck you' to physics!"
Ulquiorra watched him for a second before his own body drifted off the ground as well. He hovered mid-air, matching Grimmjow's height, and smirked at his brother.
Floating there in the middle of a multi-million dollar foyer, defying gravity like it was a minor suggestion, the two brothers let the reality of their situation finally sink in.
They occupied the bodies of two of the most terrifying entities in bleach fiction, but at their core, they were still just human teenagers. Most people would expect them to be brooding and stoic 24/7, but realistically? Anyone who gets reincarnated from an average orphan into a world-ending nuke is going to take a beat to appreciate the upgrade. To act like it wasn't the coolest thing in history would be lying to themselves.
"You know," Grimmjow said, drifting onto his back in mid-air as if he were lying on a couch. "Silver lining of being orphans back home? At least we don't have to worry about anyone crying over us being dead. No parents to leave behind, no siblings to mourn."
Ulquiorra's smirk softened into something a bit more pensive. "Yeah... I guess. Except for our friends. They'll be messed up for a while." He looked out at the mist-covered mountains with his green eyes glowing faintly. "But they'll get over it. They'll grow old, live their lives, have kids... They'll forget us eventually. That's just how it goes."
The room grew quiet for a moment as the weight of their old lives lingering in the air like a fading scent. It was a heavy thought, being a ghost in one world and a god in another.
"Well," Grimmjow said, flipping upright with a sudden burst of energy, shaking off the sentimentality. "New reality, new everything, I guess. Might as well get fully immersed in the role. No point in looking back when we've got all this."
Ulquiorra nodded, turning toward the grand staircase to explore the rest of the fortress. "Agreed."
"Hey, hey, brother!" Grimmjow suddenly zipped in front of him, hovering at eye level with a manic glint in his eyes. "I just thought of something. I wonder what would happen if we both fired our Ceros at each other? Like, full power. Think we'd crack this city or maybe the continent?"
Ulquiorra stared at him with a deadpan expression that was 100% authentic to his new face. "Oh no you don't. That would bring way too much attention, and the collateral destruction would be catastrophic, you idiot. We just got this house; I'd like to sleep in a bed tonight, not a crater."
Grimmjow's face fell and his shoulders slumped, "Tch. Killjoy. Always the logical one."
"But," Ulquiorra added, his voice dropping an octave as a dark, competitive spark lit up his eyes, "doing so inside a high-rank Dungeon... that is another story entirely."
Grimmjow's dejection vanished instantly, replaced by a shark-like grin. "Ohhh, you are so on! I'm gonna blast that green light of yours right out of the sky."
As they moved further into the estate, Grimmjow let out a bark of laughter. "And man, that little show we put on back at the Guild? The 'clash of titans' act? Classic. I thought that secretary was actually going to pass out."
Ulquiorra chuckled, "Did you see the look on that guy Reiji's face? He looked like he was trying to calculate his life insurance policy with his eyes."
"Priceless," Grimmjow cackled. "Absolutely priceless."
—————
Three hours after the heavy leaving the Blue Moon estate behind, the atmosphere back at the Draw Sword Guild headquarters was suffocatingly tense.
Goto Ryuji sat at the head of a massive table, his silhouette framed by the sprawling Tokyo skyline. Around him sat his elites, the S-Rankers who represented the absolute pinnacle of Japan's military might. His assistant moved silently around the room, distributing thick files to each member. Minoru, Kanae, and Reiji didn't even bother opening theirs; they had lived the nightmare firsthand.
"We have an alliance," Goto began, his voice carrying a noticeable tremor of tension, "Earlier today, the third raid team was sent to the Oni Dungeon with Minoru as the spearhead. What they found was completely unforeseen, tge dungeon turned out to be a falsely classified dungeon."
He leaned forward with sharp eyes, "Inside then dungeon, he encountered two independent individuals. They claim to have been transported there from a rift in the Amazon rainforest. They are not registered with any association on this planet."
Kenzo Tanaka spoke up, his brow furrowed in confusion. "A rift? In the Amazon? I've never heard of a Gate or a Rift acting as a long-range teleportation hub. Is that even scientifically possible?"
He looked toward Minoru, who was staring fixedly at his drink, "I only saw them there, Kenzo," Minoru said quietly. "I can't speak to the truth of their origin, only to the reality of their existence."
"Their power is..." Goto paused, choosing his words carefully. "...beyond our current classification system."
The room erupted in a low murmur of disbelief. Akari blinked, leaning back in her chair. "Beyond our classification? Sir, they're S-Rankers, sure, but beyond? Isn't that a bit of an exaggeration?"
"The measurement orb shattered when the blue-haired one merely touched it," Kanae interrupted, her voice tight with lingering dread. "He didn't even strike it. He just... leaked energy into it."
"Holy shit," Kei whispered, his eyes widening. "They're that powerful? An S-Rank orb?"
Reiji leaned forward, the look on his face was grim and his hands clasped tightly together, "Sir, with all due respect, I still believe bringing in outsiders we cannot control is a massive risk. Especially now, with the situation we are facing. We know nothing of their true intentions."
"It is a risk we have to take, Reiji," Goto countered sharply. "We cannot afford to let a rival guild or worse, another nation get their hands on them. The arrangements are finalized. They are independent consultants under our shadow."
Kei turned his gaze to Minoru. "Go on, Minoru. What did you actually see in that dungeon?"
Minoru exhaled, his mind flashing back to the cold, emerald light and the shattering of the Boss. "I saw a man catch an S-Rank blade with his bare hand, I saw the other one warp the very air until the monsters couldn't breathe, I saw alot of things and how they both decimated armies of monsters without much trouble and the powers they have? Well let's just say it's going to take more than one of us to deal with one of them. In short, I've never seen anything what they can do."
"Are they Mages? Or Power-types?" Kenzo mused.
"I'm not sure," Minoru admitted. "Maybe both? They don't seem to have the limits, or at least none that I know of."
Goto tapped the table, signaling an end to the speculation. "Be that as it may, we have other matters to attend to. We will monitor the 'Espada brothers' for now."
He tapped his tablet, and a holographic map of the sea between Japan and Korea flickered into life above the table. The image zoomed in on a darkened landmass.
"We've just received formal word from the Korean Hunters Association," Goto said, his voice turning icy. "They are officially requesting our assistance with the fourth attempt at the Jeju Island cleansing and the containment of the Deep Dweller if possible."
The silence that followed Goto's announcement was heavy, pressing against the walls of the room like a physical weight. Jeju Island was no longer just a failed raid site; it had become a graveyard for legends and a breeding ground for a nightmare that refused to stay contained.
The mutated ants had already begun their aerial excursions, terrorizing Japanese coastal prefectures, but the recent intelligence suggested something far more sinister.
"And it's not just the sky anymore," Goto's female assistant added as she pulled up a series of grainy, high-resolution satellite thermal captures, "The Deep Dweller threat is confirmed. We believe a sub-strain of the colony has evolved specifically for aquatic mobility. They've changed their chitinous structure to survive the crushing depths of the Korea Strait."
She zoomed in on a massive, undulating shadow beneath the surface of the dark water, several miles off the coast of the island. "Something else is down there. Something huge. It's territorial, and it's effectively blockading the southern shipping lanes."
The S-Rankers stared at the screen. To a Hunter, the unknown was the greatest enemy, and the Deep Dweller was a variable that had even the boldest among them feeling a chill.
"The evolution rate of the ants on Jeju has spiked exponentially. They are no longer a local nuisance; they are an extinction-level threat to the entire East Asian region. The Koreans aren't just asking for help, they're desperate."
Goto leaned back in his chair with his fingers interlaced. He looked at the faces of his elite, the men and women who were supposed to be the strongest in the world.
"The Jeju Island raid was always going to be a gamble," Goto murmure as a cold, calculating smirk playing on his lips. "A move that could either cement our dominance or ruin us."
He stood up, the authority of the Draw Sword Guild radiating from him.
"But with our current numbers... and the Espada brothers in our shadow... we aren't just going there to play the role of the 'helpful neighbor.' We are going there to show the world, the Association, China and America that Japan holds the keys to a power they cannot even comprehend. We will let the Koreans tire themselves out against the swarm, and then we will unleash our wrath to finish what no one else can."
He looked directly at Reiji, whose face was still set in a mask of grim concern.
"Reiji, send the official communication. Tell the Koreans the Draw Sword Guild accepts their proposal for a joint raid. But make it clear that we will be bringing our own 'special consultants' as well. Ensure the paperwork lists them as independent contractors under my personal jurisdiction."
Reiji nodded, though his hand hesitated for a fraction of a second over his tablet, "Understood, sir, I'll prepare the dispatch immediately."
Goto turned his gaze back to the holographic map, specifically the dark, swarming mass of Jeju Island. "Let them evolve," he whispered to the empty air. "It only makes the demonstration more convincing."