Bleach: The Strongest Shinigami

Las Noches. The Arrancar Research Laboratory.

Upon receiving Aizen's message, Akira rushed through a Garganta to the lab, filled with curiosity.

In the vast laboratory, grotesque Hollows bustled about, carrying equipment for the experiment.

Szayelaporro, serving as the assistant, gave directions with obvious excitement. Participating in the Arrancar experiment filled him with unprecedented honor.

His relationship with Aizen differed from Akira's. As fellow scientists, Szayelaporro had witnessed Aizen's brilliance firsthand during their collaborations.

At first, he had shown defiance toward Aizen. But after seeing the man's experimental results and data, Szayelaporro immediately submitted, declaring Aizen as his lifelong leader. He even claimed he would betray Las Noches if Aizen required it.

Then he felt Reiatsu so overwhelming that it made Las Noches tremble, as if the sky itself was collapsing.

Szayelaporro would never forget Aizen's gaze in that moment — indifferent and contemptuous, like observing an insect he could crush at will.

An icy chill crawled up his spine to the crown of his head. He thought his life would end there.

Fortunately, Aizen merely taught him a small lesson. Since then, Szayelaporro never mentioned such things in Aizen's presence again.

"Yes, put it there. Move this five meters to the left. No, you fool, it's backwards. Did Grimmjow eat your brain?"

Grimmjow, positioned as a test subject, looked up: "?"

After the preparations were complete, everything stood ready for the Arrancar experiment. Under watchful eyes, Aizen activated the equipment and gestured for the first subject to enter the spotlight.

A nervous rhinoceros Hollow with zebra stripes stepped forward. Aizen pressed a button on the control panel, his face expressionless as metal ground against metal.

To Akira's surprise, a railgun-like device slowly oriented itself, locking onto the rhinoceros Hollow in the spotlight.

Without warning, a beam of light struck the test subject with perfect accuracy.

The rhinoceros Hollow showed no initial reaction, but soon its Reiatsu began surging exponentially — like a truck accelerating at full throttle toward the heavens.

Its massive striped body began to twist as white bone matter proliferated. Intense pain spread beneath flesh and skin, consuming the Hollow's sanity. Soul-deep agony escaped in unbearable wails that echoed through the laboratory.

Szayelaporro studied the screen intently, his brows furrowed.

"Lord Aizen, the situation is concerning. Both soul and body have reached their limits. Most critically, the Reiatsu has hit its threshold. If this continues..."

Before he could finish, the rhinoceros Hollow let out a sky-piercing roar, its already massive body beginning to expand, as a brilliant pillar of Reiatsu shot toward the sky.

Szayelaporro's pupils contracted, and just as he was about to activate the defense system, Aizen stopped him.

"Akira, it's yours."

Iron light burst forth instantly, accompanied by grinding chain links that drowned out the rhinoceros Hollow's agonized roars.

Under Szayelaporro's stunned gaze, Akira drew his sword, released it, and threw it in one fluid motion.

Black chains emanating a faint light instantly wrapped around the rhinoceros Hollow. The surging pillar of Reiatsu was immediately suppressed, and its painful howls began to diminish.

Szayelaporro's pupils contracted as he recalled Akira's Zanpakutō ability — Reiatsu Suppression.

He had personally experienced that overwhelming suppression power. Back then, despite his Reiatsu far exceeding Akira's, he had still been mercilessly suppressed. Now their Reiatsu levels were nearly equal, or perhaps Akira's had even surpassed his.

Szayelaporro shuddered at the thought of facing those iron chains again. He'd likely not survive two rounds against that brute — first the chain binding, then instant bone crushing. One hit would finish him.

"Lord Aizen, you anticipated this from the beginning, didn't you?" He watched the gradually stabilizing rhinoceros Hollow with admiration, "The principle of Arrancarization is breaking through a Hollow's soul limitations, but it's essentially just increasing Reiatsu. Since it comes from an external force, suppressing the surging Reiatsu prevents death, even if Arrancarization fails. All we risk is minor pain. As expected of Lord Aizen — a perfect solution."

His face beamed with reverence, as if Aizen were a guiding light. Such ingenious thinking was beyond his own capabilities.

The first Arrancar experiment failed. The weakened rhinoceros Hollow was carried away — its soul and body too damaged to attempt Arrancarization again for ten years.

"Next." A flicker of disappointment crossed Aizen's eyes before he smoothly continued the experiments.

Seeing that the rhinoceros Hollow had survived with only minor weakening, the hesitant Hollows gathered their courage, their expressions hardening with resolve.

What's a little pain? If others can endure it, so can we!

After three more failures, success finally came with Nirgge Parduoc. Under the surging spiritual pressure, his mountain-like frame visibly shrank as dense cracks appeared in his bone-like mask.

Crack!

When the breaking sound rang out, Nirgge's new form emerged.

He stood much taller than ordinary humans, with his mask reduced to the jaw, two rounded horns on either side, and surging Reiatsu that swirled around him, distorting the air.

Nirgge reveled in the power flowing through his body, convinced he was now terrifyingly strong, strong enough to kill with a single punch. He looked up toward Akira, who stood grinning at the front.

Their eyes met. An indescribable chill crept from the soles of his feet up his spine to his head. It felt like being stared at by death itself.

Nirgge's legs weakened — perhaps because he had just evolved and wasn't yet accustomed to his new form.

This was ridiculous. Earlier, when drinking and eating with His Majesty, he hadn't felt anything special, so why did he now feel even more terrifying after becoming stronger?

He suddenly remembered something Akira had once said:

"Right now you're just an Adjuchas — your perspective is narrow. It's normal that you can't distinguish between strength and weakness. When you someday evolve to Vasto Lorde or gain Arrancar powers, you'll feel like a mayfly gazing at the sky when you see me."

He hadn't understood those words before, but now, with his power increased several fold, he finally comprehended.

So that's it. Before, he hadn't even qualified to look up to Lord Kisaragi.

With Nirgge's successful case, the subsequent Arrancar experiments proceeded more swiftly. Though the failure rate remained high, several successful transformations occurred in succession.

Among them, Grimmjow proved most noteworthy.

As the strongest in this batch of experiments, the disturbance from his transformation far exceeded the others. His surging pillar of Reiatsu tore off the laboratory's metal roof, shooting into the deep night sky and making all of Las Noches shake with his rebirth.

The Panther King is born!

Countless gazes turned toward the blue pillar of light, misshapen faces filled with wonder. Such a dramatic transformation kindled their anticipation for the Arrancar experiments.

Upon completing his Arrancarization, Grimmjow's first thought was to challenge the strong — to face those who had beaten him before, like Akira who stood watching with amazement.

Their eyes met, and both instantly understood each other's intentions.

Seeing that this round of experiments was nearly complete, Akira glanced at Aizen, who silently nodded.

The two figures left the laboratory arm in arm, heading outside Las Noches.

Szayelaporro brought his data recording equipment and appeared at the battlefield's edge using Sonído.

For a scientist, every piece of data was crucial — especially for successful cases like Grimmjow.

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"Grind…"

⤫ Resurrección: Pantera ⥤ Returning Blade: Panther King! ⤬

As the release command rang out, blue Reiatsu enveloped Grimmjow's body, transforming into a howling tornado.

In an instant, a panther-man covered in white form-fitting armor appeared before Akira.

Compared to his pre-Arrancar state, his Reiatsu was overwhelmingly stronger. Akira couldn't measure exactly how many times stronger, but he sensed that the current Grimmjow could easily tear apart his former self.

Similar to a Shinigami's Bankai, once mastered, battle power would increase several or even tenfold.

The battle was about to begin.

Facing Akira, Grimmjow showed no carelessness, immediately unleashing his strongest technique—

⤫ Desgarrón ⥤ Panther King's Claw! ⤬

Huge blue light traces extended from his ten fingers, emanating a sharpness that seemed capable of tearing apart space itself.

Grimmjow initiated Sonído, the explosive sound echoing across the battlefield like a battle cry. When he reappeared, he was already before Akira, his claws radiating blue light at point-blank range.

The claws descended toward the chest cavity with deadly precision and ferocity.

Faced with such an attack, Akira showed no intention of dodging. With a vicious grin, enormous power mixed with Reiatsu flowed through his body, concentrating in his fist at the moment of impact.

A sharp crack echoed from Grimmjow's black claws.

The bone fracture came first. Then searing pain shot through his arm as it twisted unnaturally — like a car crashing into a building at 180 miles per hour. Flesh tore, blood sprayed, and white bone fragments mixed with blood plasma drenched the panther-man.

Defeated in a single strike — a loss without suspense.

Watching from the side, Szayelaporro's mouth twitched — their lord was becoming more monstrous by the day.

Or rather, "monster" was the most fitting description for one called Akira Kisaragi.

"The intensity is barely acceptable, and the power is quite good. But the purity is still lacking." Akira shook his head in disappointment, "Trying to reach the top in one step isn't advisable. For now, your suitable opponent would be, hmm, the pink chinchorro would be perfect."

He pointed at Szayelaporro observing from afar.

Szayelaporro was also a Hollow who had achieved Arrancarization through technology, though at the Vasto Lorde level. While not particularly skilled in combat, his base capabilities could still overwhelm Grimmjow. Combined with his unique abilities, he'd make the perfect training partner.

Grimmjow endured the pain of his broken arm, using High-Speed Regeneration to recover, consuming vast amounts of Reiatsu.

If he was honest with himself, he was questioning his existence as a Hollow. He'd thought evolution would help him overcome those above him, yet he couldn't even withstand one punch from Akira.

Indeed, you have to take things one step at a time.

With this thought, Grimmjow's gaze toward Szayelaporro gained a fiercer edge.

You'll be my stepping stone to becoming the strongest!

Szayelaporro: "..."

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In the time that followed, Aizen gathered experimental data, optimized the Arrancar experiment process, and revealed his latest creation to Akira.

A massive blue-purple sphere.

"What is this?" Akira poked it curiously, finding it as hard as a Vasto Lorde's Hierro skin.

"A special creation formed from the souls of hundreds of Shinigami and Hollows." Aizen explained, "It's also the main material for the Arrancar experiments. I've named it — the Hōgyoku."

Seeing his friend's proud expression, Akira applauded supportively, "As expected of Sōsuke, whose wisdom is second only to mine, you've even managed to create the Hōgyoku!"

After a moment of silence, Aizen suppressed his murderous intent toward his only friend and sighed helplessly, "However, my research during this period has revealed that I cannot perfect the Hōgyoku — it remains only a prototype. This is the main reason for the low success rate of the Arrancar experiments. If we could complete it, our plan would take a major step forward."

Akira pondered thoughtfully.

He remembered clearly that in the original story, the Hōgyoku was completed jointly by Aizen and Kisuke.

Although Aizen now had his help, they were still stuck at a crucial point.

Could it be because of the Soul King fragment?

Akira recalled that the Soul King's fingertip in Rangiku's soul was crucial for creating the Hōgyoku, but due to his interference, Aizen hadn't moved against the girl.

However, to compensate, he had provided Aizen with considerable amounts of the Mimihagi's power of "Stillness" for research.

With Aizen's intellect, he should be able to identify the problem.

But it seemed they were still missing the most crucial person.

It was time to drag Kisuke into this.,

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