"Shopkeeper, I'm back again," Tsuna called as he pushed open the door of Urahara Shop.
"Ah, Tsuna-kun. What brings you here? Or have you finally taken a liking to one of my products?" Urahara Kisuke said with a laugh as he walked out.
"If there was something worth buying, I would've bought it already. Where is everyone else?"
"They went to the warehouse with Tessai to restock," Urahara replied.
"Perfect. Then I need your help with something."
"My services are very expensive, you know," Urahara said, pretending to make things difficult.
"No problem. Put it on Kurosaki Ichigo's tab," Tsuna replied casually before calling outside.
"Inoue-niisan, you can come in now."
Inoue Sora's spirit floated into the shop.
At first he hadn't wanted to enter—the instinct of his soul told him that this place was extremely dangerous.
"A spirit? Performing Konsō shouldn't require my help, should it?" Urahara said, lowering the brim of his hat slightly.
"Well, here's the situation…"
Tsuna carefully explained Sora's decision.
"Becoming a Hollow, huh?" Urahara circled Sora thoughtfully.
"Your obsession must be incredibly strong."
"However, I must say—it's meaningless. Hollows are born when a soul develops a hole in its heart. Once the heart is lost, maintaining rationality is almost impossible."
Urahara turned to Tsuna.
"Tsuna-kun, in this matter I have more experience than you. Just perform Konsō."
"For an ordinary soul, that's true," Tsuna replied. "But Shopkeeper… what if Inoue-niisan has the potential for self-Arrancarization?"
"Arrancar?"
Urahara raised an eyebrow with sudden interest.
"That's an interesting term. A Hollow that breaks its own mask?"
"Exactly," Tsuna said.
"This could be one of the only two Hollows in history capable of doing it naturally. Otherwise, I wouldn't have agreed to help him."
"Only two?" Urahara asked immediately.
"And the other one?"
"The strongest being in Hueco Mundo, probably," Tsuna said lightly.
"So? Interested?"
"A Hollow with the potential to become a powerhouse in Hueco Mundo…" Urahara murmured.
Then he suddenly straightened up and spoke with exaggerated righteousness.
"Very well. I'll assist for free this time. However, you must bear the consequences of the experiment yourselves."
"Of course. I've already warned him."
"Inoue Sora, correct? Please follow me."
Urahara tapped his cane.
A hidden doorway opened in the wall.
Tsuna and Sora followed Urahara through a long dark tunnel until they arrived in a room filled with strange instruments.
It was clearly Urahara's laboratory.
Urahara activated a machine.
A huge container lit up. Inside floated a white, unknown lump of flesh that resembled something taken from a Hollow's body.
"This is a purified piece of Hollow flesh I extracted," Urahara explained.
"Enter the container and let your spirit body touch it. It will merge with your soul and begin the process of Hollowfication."
He opened a hatch in the tank.
Sora glanced at Tsuna.
"Orihime… I'll leave her in your care, Tsuna-kun."
Tsuna waved his hand dismissively.
"Take care of your own sister. Remember Inoue Orihime—and survive."
Sora bowed deeply to both of them.
Then he jumped into the container without hesitation.
The moment he entered, the power of the Hollow began to erode his soul.
The Chain of Fate on his chest instantly disappeared.
A Hollow Hole opened in its place.
A horrifying scream echoed from the tank.
white Hollow matter burst from the fleshy mass, completely engulfing Sora.
Twisted limbs began growing from his body as he started transforming into a Hollow.
"Tsuna-kun doesn't seem surprised at all by my laboratory," Urahara said casually while pressing several strange buttons.
"Well," Tsuna replied, "if someone like you—who possesses so much black-tech—didn't have a research lab, that would be stranger."
"I assumed you would be more resistant to experiments like this," Urahara said.
"If possible," Tsuna replied calmly, "I'd prefer that your experiments respect life a little more."
He didn't pursue the topic further.
Instead, he drew his Zanpakutō and spoke the release command of his Mist attribute Shikai.
A trident appeared in Tsuna's hand.
He stared at the container, ready to act at any moment.
"Tsuna-kun, please be careful with my equipment," Urahara said quickly.
"These instruments are very expensive."
"Relax. I'm not planning to smash anything. Just taking precautions."
Tsuna leaned the trident against a nearby table.
As time passed, the Hollow inside the tank gradually took shape.
Its appearance was exactly the same as the one Sora would become in the original story—
a humanoid upper body with a snake-like tail, gray and orange in color. Behind the mask, Sora's familiar hairstyle was still visible.
However, just like in the original timeline, Sora had completely lost his sanity.
He had become a Hollow driven only by instinct to devour.
He repeatedly slammed himself against the container, trying to attack Tsuna and Urahara.
"Looks like it failed, Tsuna-kun," Urahara said calmly.
Experimental failure was nothing unusual for him anymore.
"No," Tsuna said.
"Let me add a little extra ingredient."
He kicked the trident into his hand.
He had already prepared for this possibility.
Now it was time to reveal his backup plan.
The moment Tsuna slammed the trident against the ground—
Sora's world changed.
The laboratory disappeared.
Instead, he found himself standing inside the small home where he and Orihime had once lived together.
Inside the house, Orihime looked at him gently.
"Welcome home, big brother."
Just like she used to when greeting him after work, she smiled and walked toward him.
She didn't react to his monstrous appearance at all.
Instead, she raised her hands as if to take the briefcase he used to carry home.
In the next moment, Sora saw another version of himself—tired and exhausted—returning from work.
He watched as that version of himself shared stories of his day with Orihime.
The ordinary scene was so simple… yet it slowly calmed Sora's frenzied mind.
He didn't know why he had stopped attacking.
He only felt that he should quietly protect this moment.
Then a cold voice pierced through the illusion.
"Inoue Sora! Remember what matters most!"
"Inoue Orihime!"
Under Tsuna's warning, the madness in Sora's eyes gradually faded.
"I… am… Inoue… Sora…" he muttered.
The scene changed again.
A timid little girl appeared in front of him—Orihime as a child.
Then another Orihime appeared beside him—her present self.
Another version appeared on his other side—Orihime as a high school student.
One after another, different versions of Orihime surrounded him.
All of them were illusions created from Tsuna's memories.
Each one called out softly:
"Big brother…"
With every call, Sora's gaze became firmer.
Finally, the surroundings turned dark.
One last figure appeared before him.
Orihime stood there wearing a white bridal kimono.
She pointed shyly to the ornament on her head.
"Big brother… could you place the tsunokakushi on me?"
Crack.
A fracture appeared across Sora's Hollow mask.
As more visions of Orihime's future life appeared, the cracks spread further and further.
When all the Orihimes appeared together once again—
The mask shattered completely.
The face revealed beneath it was Sora's own.
Peaceful. Relieved.
The different visions of Orihime represented the very thing Sora had longed for before his death—
To witness her growth.
Because that wish had finally been fulfilled, he had achieved something unprecedented.
Self-Arrancarization.
"Fascinating," Urahara Kisuke commented.
He had watched Tsuna's entire process carefully.
To be honest, he hadn't believed it would succeed.
Yet the Hollow had truly broken its own mask and regained its sanity.
Out of pure curiosity, he was already tempted to start experimenting—though he still needed to consider Tsuna's reaction.
"Congratulations, Inoue-niisan," Tsuna said, returning his Zanpakutō to its sheath.
"Thank you very much, Lord Tsuna… Lord Urahara," Sora said respectfully.
He knew that without these two, he would never have regained himself.
"Save the gratitude for later," Tsuna replied.
"You're still a Hollow. Even if you can maintain your sanity, your current strength isn't enough to freely visit Orihime."
"You might get eliminated at any time."
"First, focus on getting stronger."
"Once your power increases, you'll eventually regain a more human form. Visiting Orihime will also become easier then."
"Please guide me, Lord Tsuna," Sora said, bowing deeply.
"Not me," Tsuna replied, pointing beside him.
"Lord Urahara will handle it."
Then he turned to Urahara.
"Shopkeeper, leaving Inoue-niisan to you shouldn't be a problem, right? You've been itching to experiment for a while now."
"Oh my, Tsuna-kun," Urahara said with a grin.
"Aren't you afraid I might perform some strange experiments on him?"
"If possible," Tsuna replied, "please help him evolve to the Adjuchas level first."
"In exchange, you can collect whatever experimental data you need. That seems like a fair trade."
When it came to Hollow evolution, Tsuna admitted he had no expertise.
Sora quickly demonstrated the social instincts of a former salaryman.
He immediately turned toward Urahara and bowed respectfully.
"Please take care of me, Lord Urahara!"
"Very well," Urahara said with a satisfied smile behind his folding fan.
"Let's begin an interesting experiment."
"Well then, I'll leave you two to it," Tsuna said, raising his phone.
"Ichigo and the others are already asking where I went."
Before leaving earlier, he had sent Tatsuki a message asking her to stall Orihime.
Now Tatsuki and Ichigo had already left Orihime's house and were impatiently messaging him.
Urahara tapped his cane again, opening another hidden passage.
"I won't see you out, Tsuna-kun."
After meeting up with Tatsuki and Ichigo, Ichigo immediately asked:
"Tsuna, where did you go? And what about Inoue's brother? What happened to him?"
Even someone as straightforward as Ichigo could tell that Tsuna's sudden disappearance meant Sora hadn't simply passed on.
"Give it some time," Tsuna said.
"When your Fullbring training starts showing results…"
"I'll take you to see him."
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