Hueco Mundo Needs Freedom

10 advanced chapters on my Patreon: Fiction Haven

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While rushing through Garganta, Retsu admired the Reiryoku path that Ichigo created. She knew how immense his Reiryoku was. She couldn't even fathom how much he had. The thick and smooth path that he created showed how much control he had over his Reiryoku. It had only been a few weeks since he focused on controlling his Reiatsu, but he was already at the level of stronger Captains. His monstrous growth was both praiseworthy and terrifying.

"Judging from how she reacted, she had never seen you wearing the mask," Yoruichi commented, breaking the silence.

"I had been spending my time training away from her up till then," Ichigo responded. "Besides, I don't think showing it to her earlier would change anything."

"She wouldn't have been as shocked if you had done that," Yoruichi reasoned.

"I don't want to waste my time on something that trivial."

"Okay, Mr. Efficient," Yoruichi quipped sarcastically.

Ichigo snorted in amusement which sounded threatening because of his mask. Silence wrapped around them once again. They didn't have much to talk about and the girls also wanted to let Ichigo fully concentrate on his mission. Before long, they saw an opening ahead. They sped up and passed through the opening.

As soon as they got out of Garganta, they were greeted by a dark sky and a desolate landscape. They had arrived at Hueco Mundo, the world of eternal night. The white sand reflected the light of the hollowed moon in the sky. It was mesmerizing, but one would easily get bored of it. The monotony made Ichigo understand why Hollows always looked for trouble.

"Now, where are we going?" Yoruichi voiced out.

"Menos Forest," Ichigo answered.

"Do you know where it is?" Retsu asked curiously.

"No, I am just going to the place with the most Gillians."

The conversation stopped and Ichigo started moving. Yoruichi and Retsu closely followed behind him, letting him take the lead. They were sensitive to Reiatsu but in a world flooded with raw, chaotic, Reiatsu; they couldn't sense the Gillians as well as Ichigo. Everything felt the same to them. Only Adjuchas-class and above were discernable to them.

After running for a few minutes, they encountered a fish-looking Hollow. It was eating another Hollow when they approached it. The Hollow was shocked beyond belief the moment it registered their presence. It had never thought it would see a pair of Shinigami and an Arrancar standing side by side in front of him."

"W- What are you doing in this place!?" it exclaimed in panic.

"We need some information," Ichigo calmly said which sounded threatening to the Hollow.

"What information do you want?" it asked suspiciously.

"Where is Menos Forest?"

"H- Huh? Why would you want to go to such a dangerous place? I heard a Vasto Lorde is controlling it."

Ichigo didn't say a word as he stared at the red eyes of the Hollow. It unnerved the Hollow so much that it immediately sputtered out the location of Menos Forest.

"H- Head South and you will find a tunnel leading to the underground. You just have to follow the path and you will find Menos Forest."

Ichigo nodded appreciatively. "Thank you."

The Hollow was quite taken aback. It had heard that Arrancars were a stuck-up bunch. It was not surprising given that they had the power to back up their arrogance. A humble Arrancar was a peculiar sight, on the other hand.

"Well, you're—"

Slash!

Before the Hollow could reply, it was split in two by Zangetsu. It was in disbelief but not completely surprised. Hueco Mundo only had one rule: the strongest survived. It was already used to the dog-eat-dog world, so what Ichigo did was understandable.

"I- I already gave you information, though…"

However, it still felt like it had been wronged.

Yoruichi and Retsu watched the scene in mild amusement. They didn't have any sympathy toward the Hollow, but they admitted that Ichigo was diabolical for what he had done. Of course, they didn't think it was wrong. With the information of the Menos Forest's whereabouts in their hand, the group resumed their travel.

A series of Shunpō later, they found the tunnel leading to Menos Forest. Fortunately, the Hollow didn't lie to them. Ichigo and the girls could feel the concentrated Menos' Reiatsu right below them. Without wasting any more time, they rushed inside. Darkness surrounded them for a few minutes until they entered the forest.

Two notable things from the forest were the Menos Grandes and the gigantic trees made out of quartz. They could only look around in fascination for a few seconds. The Menos didn't leave them alone as soon as they registered their Reiatsu.

Swoosh!

A Cero beam headed in their direction, prompting Ichigo to raise Zangetsu to block it. The Cero split in two as soon as it made contact with Zangetsu. Ichigo could barely feel it touching his Zanpakutō. As soon as the Cero ended, Ichigo used Sonido to get in front of the Menos. He slashed the longer Zangetsu upward, bisecting the Menos cleanly.

Something roared in his mind. His Hollow side erupted in joy. A manic grin rapidly crept up his face as his primal instinct flared. His face would have looked as scary as his mask if he hadn't worn it. Several Cero beams came at him from various directions. Reacting quickly, he dodged the beams and came at the closest to him.

With a series of hacks and slashes, he killed all of the Menos attacking him in three seconds. Yoruichi and Retsu watched the scene in silence from a distance. The Menos completely forgot about them as soon as Ichigo went wild. Ichigo's movements still possessed the grace that they admired, but the aura he exuded was purely savage. They briefly wondered if Ichigo was still in control.

"He is moving," Retsu remarked as soon as Ichigo rushed to the North.

"It seems he is still in control over his body," Yoruichi concluded.

"Fortunately."

Even though Ichigo's purpose in coming to Hueco Mundo was to kill as many Hollows as he could to evolve his Hollow power, attracting a lot of Menos Grandes at one point would not be a wise decision. Aizen had some influence over Menos Forest, so the anomaly would attract his attention. Therefore, they needed to keep moving to prevent the Menos from clogging their way.

Yoruichi and Retsu followed after Ichigo, making sure to keep some distance from him. They could take care of the Menos, but that would reduce Ichigo's gain. Therefore, they did their best not to get involved. Hiding their presence, they watched as Ichigo cleaved through the helpless Menos. Even the stronger ones could do nothing to him.

Grr…

The ground rumbled before an unearthly roar reverberated throughout the forest.

"Who is invading my territory!?"

Yoruichi and Retsu immediately tensed up. They squinted their eyes to observe the owner of the roar, worried that it might be one of Aizen's lackeys. It was a snake-like Adjuchas. It was half as tall as the Menos Grande, but its Reiatsu was five times more intense. The surrounding Menos went still as they retreated behind the Adjuchas' back.

Unimpressed, Ichigo tilted his head upward, looking at the Adjuchas in contempt. "Who are you?"

"You haven't heard of White Noise? It is no wonder why you act so foolishly insolent," the Adjuchas, who proclaimed himself to be White Noise, scoffed.

Ichigo managed to sound unimpressed even without saying anything. He pointed the longer Zangetsu at the Adjuchas and shot a reddish-black Cero. The beam pierced through the snake-like Adjuchas before it could react. The Adjuchas hadn't even recovered from its shock when Ichigo appeared in front of its head and planted Zangetsu into its forehead.

Red Reiryoku traveled through Zangetsu into Ichigo's body. The Adjuchas roared both in indignation and pain as it quickly lost its power. The Menos in the surroundings panicked. They screamed and shot beams of Cero at Ichigo, trying to save their lord. It was useless. The Adjuchas had already dispersed before their Cero could touch Ichigo.

Ichigo dodged the Cero and wildly swung his twin Zanpakutō horizontally in opposite directions. A gigantic, curved reddish-black Cero hit the surrounding Menos, disintegrating them upon contact. The Cero exploded afterward, destroying some of the gigantic trees. Silence reigned over the forest as the explosion ended.

Roar!

The silence only lasted a few seconds as other Menos came running in Ichigo's direction. Ichigo briefly cast a glance at the approaching crowd of Menos before dashing in the opposite direction where he sensed a stronger presence.

Retsu and Yoruichi quickly followed after him. They also could sense the presence, so they were quite worried this time. They weren't afraid that Ichigo wouldn't be able to handle the Hollows. They knew he was more than capable of taking care of a few Vasto Lordes at once. They just worried that whoever they would encounter was Aizen's lackey.

They were naturally on high alert, ready to take action at a moment's notice. Therefore, when they sensed a presence closely following them, they didn't hesitate to use lethal force.

"Wait, I am an ally!"

They were equally surprised and confused when the human-sized Hollow took off his skin and head, revealing a very human feature underneath. He even dressed like a Shinigami.