I'm in Bleach, starting with Unlimited Blade Works.

Furthermore, after an Adjuchas degenerates into a Gillian, even its own consciousness dissipates, turning it into a Gillian in the Great Hollow Forest who only possesses the instinct to devour.

Only those Hollows that successfully evolve to the Vasto Lorde level are free from this worry of regression.

After becoming Arrancars, these Arrancars no longer felt that constant fear of regression.

But who knows if, once his mask is shattered, he will start to feel the fear of regression again?

It was precisely because he wanted to understand this that Szayelaporro conspired with Nnoitra to severely injure Neneel's subordinates, the 30th Espada, and remove the masks of Pesser Cadise and Dondchaka Birstein in order to observe their condition and study whether they would degenerate due to the breaking of their masks.

After monitoring Neneel and the other two for a period of time, Szayelaporro discovered that after Pesser and Hadchaka's masks were torn off, their spiritual pressure had begun to dissipate.

If they don't fight, the two of them might be able to hold out for a while longer.

If they were to engage in a fierce battle and exhaust their spiritual pressure, these two might not even have a chance to regress into mindless Gillians; their entire bodies would dissipate.

On the contrary, Nineel, although her mask had been shattered by the 50th Espada Nnoitra and her spiritual pressure was still dissipating, as a Vasto Lorde-class Arrancar, did not drop in rank due to the breakage of her mask.

Furthermore, Szayelaporro discovered that Neneel's instincts still allowed her to absorb spiritual particles, and if this continued, Neneel might one day recover.

Szayelaporro is only an Adjuchas-class Arrancar. Once his mask is torn off, even if his condition is better than that of Pesser and Hadchaka, he will inevitably degenerate into a Gillian Hollow without any self-awareness.

That's why Szayelaporro was so terrified after learning of Arryn's punishment.

Betrayed by Szayelaporro, Nnoitra swung his crescent-shaped weapon at him.

"Kill you!"

"boom!"

A flash of golden lightning sent Nnoitra flying, crashing into the wall of Las Noches.

At this moment, the members of the Ten Blades realized that the golden lightning bolt they had just witnessed was actually a long spear radiating golden light.

Nnoitra was pierced through the chest by the spear and pinned to the wall of Las Noches.

"puff……"

Neutra coughed up a mouthful of blood, his eyes filled with horror.

No, it wasn't just Neutra who was horrified.

Apart from the First Espada, Koyat Stark, the Twentieth Espada, Barragan Ruizen, and the Fortieth Espada, Ulquiorra Cifer, the remaining five Espada were even more terrifying than Nnoitra.

The ranking of the Espada was determined by Aizen based on their strength.

The smaller the number, the stronger the strength.

In the past, competition was inevitable in order to obtain a higher ranking number.

After all, before them, there were Aizen's first batch of experimental subjects.

Those Hollows were the original Espada.

However, with their later additions, the original Espada were eliminated and became three-digit numbered Arrancar.

Because they had all fought together, they had a good understanding of Nnoitra, the Fiftieth Espada.

However, the more they learned about Neutra, the more terrified they became.

Although Nnoitra is only the 50th Espada, this does not mean that Nnoitra is not strong; rather, it is because the four Espada ahead of him are too strong.

While Nnoitra's attacks aren't particularly impressive, his steel armor is undoubtedly the strongest defense among all the Arrancar.

Even Grimmjow, the 60th Espada, couldn't inflict the slightest damage on Nnoitra without releasing his Zanpakuto.

But now, Neutra is pierced by a golden spear.

If it were them, could they survive this attack?

The key point is that none of them discovered who launched the attack.

Could there be other powerful figures hidden around Lord Aizen that they don't know?

“Nnoitra, I don’t object to you killing each other; after all, it’s an instinct of the virgins.”

"However, the Espada is a team I painstakingly built. If you can find people stronger than them to join me after you kill the others, I will forgive your sins."

"If you cannot bring me stronger Espada, and dare to attack other Espada and weaken the power of my forces, then accept my punishment."

After saying that, the golden spear that had pinned Nnoitra to the wall dissipated into spiritual energy, and the severely injured Nnoitra fell off the wall and crashed to the ground with a thud.

Ignoring Nnoitra, Erin glanced at the Espada present.

"Everyone, this world will undergo tremendous changes in no more than a hundred years."

"And change means war."

"Gentlemen, be glad that you are following behind me and can participate in this transformation and witness the change of the world's king."

"However, if you are not strong enough and I abandon you halfway, I will not stay here and wait for you."

"Now, go back and prepare. In a hundred years or a few decades, our battle will begin."

"Yes, Aizen-sama."

"Ulquiorra, you stay here. I have something to tell you."

"Yes, Aizen-sama."

After the other Espada had left, Erin said, "Ulquiorra, the strength of the 9th and 10th Espada is not sufficient to serve as Espada."

"I hope that after I leave, you can find one or two capable people to replace them."

"As you command, Aizen-sama."

The reason Erin entrusted the task of finding a new Espada to Ulquiorra was because he remembered that the tenth Espada, Yammy Rialgo, had always been Ulquiorra's sidekick.

There must be some special connection between the two.

Although Erin didn't know what the connection was, it didn't stop him from entrusting the task of finding Yammy to Ulquiorra.

As for the Ninth Espada...

That guy is still in Soul Society, and Erin hasn't spent much time paying attention to him.

If he grows up, Erin will naturally use the Hogyoku to help him become an Espada and give him a place among the Espada.

If they cannot grow up...

He's just a mere Espada who's destined to die; he's dispensable.

Although it had little impact on Erin's plans.

……

Seireitei, the house of rotten wood.

Erin sat cross-legged on the floor in front of the courtyard and used his sword technique to enter his own unique barrier.

With her eyes closed, Erin opened her arms.

An immense spiritual pressure erupted from Erin's body, forming a golden pillar of spiritual energy that shot straight into the sky, with blue patterns spreading from it into the inherent barrier.

"Buzzing..."

After these patterns were engraved into Erin's Infinite Blade Works, the nine Zanpakuto soared into the sky, radiating dazzling light.

Finally, it revealed its latest form, transforming into beams of golden light, which, according to their strength, were inserted into the sword mound.

"This, this is?"

At the very top of the Unlimited Blade Works mound, a cross-shaped wooden yoke stands tall, and a figure is bound and fixed to the yoke by chains.

Former captain of the 5th Division, Aizen Sousuke.

On the cross, Aizen's sealed pupils trembled, as if he had seen something extraordinary.

As the creator of the Espada of Hueco Mundo, Aizen had an extremely thorough understanding of the abilities of his Espada.

If he wasn't mistaken, the abilities and shapes of those nine Zanpakuto were similar to those of his nine Espada.

No, it's not just similar, it's practically identical!

But how is this possible?

Hollows that have become Shinigami, also known as Arrancars, do not have the ability of their Zanpakuto to be released, but rather to "Resurrect"!

It means to completely liberate oneself in one's true form.

This is a completely different concept from the Zanpakuto of the Shinigami (Death God).

Why would the Espada's Zanpakuto appear here?

……

Due to the difference in strength, Aizen was unable to force Erin to use his other Zanpakuto abilities after being pulled into the Reality Marble. Erin defeated Aizen completely with just Hakuda and Shunpo.

Furthermore, it was sealed on the Sword Hill.

Over the years, Aizen Sousuke has also discovered some secrets of Erin's world.

On this sword hill, he sensed many familiar auras.

That was the aura of other Shinigami Zanpakuto.

This includes his own illusions and fleeting dreams.

Unfortunately, the illusions in this world will not respond to Aizen Sousuke's call, nor will they give him any reply.

However, precisely because of this, Aizen Sosuke speculated that this world contained all the Zanpakuto of the Shinigami in the Seireitei.

In order to investigate the secrets of the Soul King, Aizen once secretly entered the Great Spirit Book Corridor and looked through a lot of information there.

Aizen also learned some of the secrets of Zanpakuto.

He knew that the first batch of Zanpakuto were forged by the "Sword God" Nimaiya Ohetsu using the souls of some powerful Shinigami. Because these Shinigami possessed powerful characteristics in certain aspects, the abilities of these first Zanpakuto were extremely strong.

Chapter 197 Lessons from the Past?

Over hundreds of thousands of years, these Zanpakuto have had numerous masters, earning them formidable reputations and becoming the "strongest" in their respective domains, leaving behind their own legends.

Later, Nimaiya Oetsu's forging skills improved even further. He no longer used powerful souls to forge finished Zanpakuto, but only forged semi-finished Zanpakuto—Asauchi.

Such unfinished asauchi requires the Shinigami to cultivate the "spirit" within the asauchi through their own "sword Zen" training, allowing it to grow.

Once the spirit within Asauchi matures, Asauchi is upgraded to a "Zanpakuto".