Starting as the mastermind behind Naruto

Chapter 628 Welcome, Your Excellency, to the World of the Void!

The present world.

Just as Orochimaru and Aizen Sousuke of Hueco Mundo thought they could outmaneuver each other, Uehara Naraku and a group of Shinigami of different kinds arrived in the human world.

The present world of Bleach has a modern feel to it, and here Uehara Naraku finally gets to experience the conveniences of modern urban life again.

Uehara Naraku stood in front of a supermarket checkout counter, holding a can of cola, fumbling in his pockets trying to pull out some money…

It's a bit of a pity.

The person who prepared this outfit for him did not prepare any money for him.

Until the supermarket cashier looked at the sunny young man with disdain, stopped waiting for Uehara Naraku to pay, and rudely took the Coke from the counter, waving at Uehara Naraku, this poor wretch, to get lost immediately...

This is incredibly embarrassing.

Fortunately, just then, a figure appeared beside Uehara Naraku and paid the bill for him, which made Uehara look less embarrassed...

When they met in a secluded spot, the figure's body gradually transformed into a black and white silhouette, its face twisted in a sinister smile: "Hehehehe... I thought you were going to kill him... Yu Yi... you've really become quite magnanimous..."

It was Black Zetsu.

Or rather, it is a combination of Black Zetsu, White Zetsu, and a Hollow.

Compared to his time in the other world, Black Zetsu has finally obtained his own power. He can use the abilities of Shinigami as well as Hollows.

Similarly, it also gained the power of the Dark-Dark Fruit!

The will created by Kaguya Otsutsuki can merge with any species and has become an assistant to Uehara Naraku in detecting any information in the world.

Hearing Black Zetsu's slightly disgruntled mockery, Uehara Naraku shook his head to himself, pulled open the can in his hand, and slowly said, "There's no need to fuss over small things. I'm not a bad person..."

"Hehehehe..."

Black Zetsu simply smiled and remained silent.

Uehara Naraku tilted his head back and took a sip of cola, nodding contentedly. He then turned to the black-and-white figure and asked, "How's the situation in Hueco Mundo?"

"Everything is just as you planned."

Black Zetsu reported the current situation in Hueco Mundo to Uehara Naraku in a sinister voice: "That brat Aizen Sousuke has already devised a plan to destroy the Great Forest of Menreiki, targeting Orochimaru..."

After speaking, the figure's smile became even more sinister, as if it had witnessed something that it could no longer suppress: "Hehehehehe... However, Orochimaru also obtained all the details of the Great Hollow Forest Collapse Plan..."

"and then?"

Uehara Naraku opened a can of cola.

"Then the most interesting thing happened..."

Black Zetsu's smile grew increasingly strange, and he could barely contain his laughter: "Aizen Sousuke doesn't believe the plan to destroy the Great Forest of Menreiki will succeed. He seems to have other ideas of his own. Just as you arranged, Aizen Sousuke suspects Orochimaru has been monitoring him all along..."

When talking about this, Black Zetsu even showed some admiration for Uehara Naraku's wickedness: "That's really going too far, hehehehe... making me appear wearing Orochimaru's sloughed snake skin when Aizen Sousuke might have realized someone was watching him..."

This is really embarrassing.

In order to ensure that Aizen Sousuke would focus his attention on Orochimaru at this time, Uehara Naraku had arranged all of this long ago.

After Aizen Sousuke's immense spiritual pressure awakened, Black Zetsu began secretly framing Orochimaru, allowing Aizen Sousuke to occasionally discover Orochimaru's shed snake skin...

In that case...

Aizen Sousuke's gaze will definitely be fixed on Orochimaru.

That's why Aizen Sousuke immediately tried to rush to Hueco Mundo after learning of Orochimaru's whereabouts, because Aizen Sousuke believed that Orochimaru was the one who had been watching him since he was a child!

Such a nightmarish character…

How could Aizen Sousuke possibly let him go!

Compared to others, Orochimaru would definitely be more likely to attract Aizen Sousuke's attention, and it would also provide some convenience for Orochimaru to join Aizen Sousuke's camp in the future...

"Um."

Uehara Naraku nodded slowly, gazing at the distant sunset, and said softly, "We don't need to go too far... After their conflict ends, let's tell Orochimaru about this, at least explain my intentions, so he won't be unhappy..."

Uehara Naraku chuckled and continued, "If we tell Orochimaru now, he might not be able to accept being framed. Once it's all over, he'll definitely be more accepting..."

"..."

Black Zetsu's expression was somewhat strange.

Did this person think before they said those words?

Having traveled through so many worlds, aside from Konan, Kaguya Otsutsuki, and Nagato, who else could become happy when they met you?

And has this person forgotten what terrible things they did to Orochimaru?

They already caused Orochimaru a lot of trouble in the ninja world, and now they want to pin the blame for monitoring Aizen Sousuke on Orochimaru in this world...

That's fine...

What does it mean to accept something after it happens?

No one could accept something like this...

To be honest, Black Zetsu thinks they should have discussed this with Orochimaru much earlier. If Orochimaru disagreed, they should have just beaten him up…

Where do you find people who immediately try to pin the blame on others?

This behavior is worse than forcing someone to accept an arrangement!

Really...

They're completely inhumane.

Black Zetsu overestimated Uehara Naraku.

Uehara Naraku slowly finished his cola, then suddenly turned to speak, "By the way, after you're done with your business in Hueco Mundo, if you have some free time, you could take some time to study..."

"Hmm... what should we study?"

"Learn some modern knowledge..."

Uehara Naraku tossed the can into the trash can, then squinted at Black Zetsu with a bright smile: "Like, how do you bankrupt a supermarket? As for the test subject, let's choose the one where we just bought our cola!"

"..."

Black Zetsu seemed unable to look Uehara Naraku in the eye.

The mother really should come and discipline her eldest son. Is Uehara Naraku even capable of anything... how can he be so petty...?

It was all for naught that it thought Uehara Naraku had changed...

Yes.

Things have indeed changed.

They've become more petty.

However, destroying a supermarket is a trivial matter. Compared to that, the upcoming clash between Aizen Sousuke and Orochimaru in Hueco Mundo is the real big deal.

Because this time…

Many secrets will be revealed through Orochimaru!

Although these secrets were actually deliberately leaked to Aizen Sousuke.

The Great Void Forest.

When Aizen Sousuke arrived with Tosen Kaname, Ichimaru Gin, Ulquiorra, and Koyatai Stark, a group of Arrancar were there to greet him.

"Lord Aizen."

A Hollow Arrancar stood before Aizen, Sousuke, and the others, and said softly, "Lord Orochimaru asked me to greet you. Please follow us into the Underworld."

"…good."

Aizen Sousuke adjusted his glasses and nodded.

Since conquering Hueco Mundo on the surface, Aizen Sousuke had not paid much attention to the underground, always believing it to be a desolate place.

However, as Aizen Sousuke followed this Arrancar, he discovered that the place was indeed gradually taking on a social character, with groups of Gillian Hollows working there under the control of a group of Adjuchas-level Hollows…

It looks like…

It was still the lowest level of slave society.

Because it's difficult for Gillian Hollows to awaken any will, they can only be used as the lowest-level tools. Perhaps only after Orochimaru's Hollow Fusion experiments become widespread will these Gillian Hollows be of any use.

"This graduation assessment will last about ten days..."

As the Hollow Saint led the way, he quietly explained the special exam to Aizen, Sousuke, and the others: "All new Hollow Saints will participate; currently, there are about 180 participants..."

"One hundred and eighty people?"

Aizen Sousuke's brows furrowed slightly.

This number was a bit beyond his expectations.

Because it is extremely difficult for a Hollow to transform into a human form, and the danger is even far greater than that of a Shinigami transforming into a Hollow, this makes Hollow Arrancars seem very precious.

However, Orochimaru was just a test...

That would allow them to produce 180 Hollowfied Arrancars!

This number is really not low at all; it's just unknown how many Adjuchas-level mid-tier Hollows and Vastod-level high-tier Hollows are included...

but…

An introduction will be available soon.

"Only eleven Adjuchas-class Hollows are participating in this assessment. The rest are all experimental subjects of Lord Orochimaru's newly cultivated Gillian Hollows. The experiments on Gillian Hollows had not been successful before, but a breakthrough was achieved last month..."

It was precisely because of the success of the Gillian Hollows experiment that there was hope for the social structure of Hollows, since the vast number of Gillian Hollows within Hueco Mundo constituted the massive population of Hollows.

The few Adjuchas and the even fewer Vastods are far from being able to evolve into a new social species...

At this point, the Arrancar leading the way suddenly chuckled: "However, the power of the Gillian isn't that weak... None of those chosen by Lord Orochimaru as test subjects are weak."

"Chosen by Orochimaru...?"

A faint smile flashed across Aizen Sousuke's face.

That sounds... kind of interesting!

The person Orochimaru chose...

It really makes me incredibly curious...

How exactly does Orochimaru select his candidates?

The Hollow leading the way didn't notice anything amiss with Aizen and continued explaining the new Hollow's exam to Aizen Sousuke.

The entire exam was divided into three sessions.

The first test was a written exam, which mainly assessed whether each Hollow's intelligence and psychology were normal. This written exam was not as simple as you might imagine!

Or rather...

This is an exceptionally rigorous exam.

Compared to the latter two sessions, the written test was far more difficult.

Because if you are eliminated in the written test...

That means that the eliminated Hollows will be failed experiments, and their future fate will be determined. This is also a kind of survival of the fittest!

After all, what Orochimaru wanted to cultivate was a normal Arrancar army that could obey commands, or even a completely new species, not some crazy army!

If an Arrancar's intelligence and mental fortitude are insufficient, they can only be classified as a lower-tier Arrancar. Only those Arrancars with satisfactory intelligence and mental fortitude are qualified to proceed to the later stages of the examination…

The second exam will be held in the Great Void Forest.

The entire underground Hollow Forest was not completely conquered by Orochimaru, because there is a constant stream of souls entering Hueco Mundo and turning into Hollows. This is a hell that can never be conquered!

The exam content was very simple.

A group of two-person pairs of Arrancar who have passed the first exam will compete for scrolls from their fellow test-takers in the dangerous Forest of Menreiki!

Because Akatsuki members operate in pairs...

This can also be seen as cultivating reserve forces for the Akatsuki organization.

As for the third exam...

It's a battle between individuals, of course.

Whether it's cooperation or anything else, only power is a truly eternal topic. Only by possessing great power can one have value!

The third exam will not be about winning or losing.

Judging from Orochimaru's attitude, he must also hope for the emergence of a group of excellent Arrancar and Hollows, rather than a bunch of tools that can only use Cero.

After listening to Orochimaru's instructions for the three tests, Aizen Sousuke felt a little strange. Come to think of it, Orochimaru's performance seemed quite good...

If more and more new Arrancar and Hollows are born in the future...

It's even quite possible that a huge new social organism could form, and it seems like we could hold more of these tests to change the status quo of Hueco Mundo through survival of the fittest.

As the ruler of Hueco Mundo…

It would be great if Hueco Mundo could become as prosperous as Soul Society.

"We've arrived."

As the Hollowfied Arrancar who was leading the way came to a stop, the group finally arrived at their destination: a towering tower located in the Hollow Forest.

This tower was clearly built a long time ago.

I just haven't been able to use it much before.

Aside from the graduation exams for the Arrancar, they don't usually appear here. Most of the time, they just stay in Orochimaru's underground base to train. Perhaps only the new student exams for the Arrancar can be considered a major event for these Hollows.

Aizen Sousuke slowly raised his head, looking at the hundreds of strangely shaped Arrancar near the tower. These were all Arrancar trained by Orochimaru…

The number is indeed astonishing!

As expected of someone who has been hidden in Hueco Mundo for thousands of years, he has actually completed the transformation of a Hollow into a Shinigami. This is something that Aizen has to admire...

Aizen simply couldn't figure out how Orochimaru had been trained—whether he had used the legendary Hogyoku... or some other method...

Just as Aizen Sousuke was still pondering, a sinister and eerie laugh suddenly reached his ears: "Hehehehe... Truth is never on the surface... Welcome, sir, to the world of Hollows."

Ah... I want to see the light show!

(End of this chapter)