Alert

Yami was lying on the floor with Yoruichi standing over him as one of her feet was on his chest. The young shinigami was covered in bruises while his teacher was untouched.

"Hmm. This technique you made is not bad. It can serve as a good basis but it is lacking in several departments. Similar to my original Shunko. But overall, I can't discount that the pros outweigh the cons."

Yoruichi had taken her time to study Yami's technique. His use of it was almost enough to push her to use the first stage of Shunko but due to the short time limit he had on it, she was able to endure until he ran out before beating him senseless.

"But you do know just how dangerous a technique like this is within Soul Society, right?" Yoruichi asked with full seriousness.

Yami looked up and nodded. When he first came up with the concept of the technique, he knew that it would be dangerous. He had based it on Hollows after all. Some people might even suspect that he had somehow done illegal experiments on himself using Hollows.

"I know that. But even then, I need to continue using it. I feel like this is the best path for me. Like it's the only way I will be able to surpass you, Yoruichi," Yami told her the truth.

Yoruichi took her foot off of Yami and rubbed the back of her head. She felt both guilty and proud. She was so strong that even without her zanpakuto, her strength was enough to make a potential captain develop a risky technique to catch up to her.

"Fine. But make sure you come to me if you ever reach a bottleneck or it starts to overwhelm you."

Yami stood up and dusted himself off.

"I will. Thanks."

Yoruichi began to pat Yami's head affectionately. If Soi-Feng was like a little puppy that would always curl up next to her, Yami was a cat that was usually very prideful and only occasionally showed her affection.

"Any name for this technique?"

"Hmm. I'm calling the initial technique..."

--- 5 Years Later ---

A large cloud of dust appeared in the middle of Hueco Mundo. Grimmjow's fraccion watched on from a distance as the panther king clashed with the executioner one more time. Shawlong and the others watched the battle in amazement.

"It has been 25 years. And in that time, our king has grown tremendously because of that shinigami. We must thank him in the future," Shawlong commented as he observed the fight.

"What do you mean?" Edrad asked. "Our king has simply been using him as a way to ease his boredom."

The other members of Grimmjow's group said words of agreement. None of them saw that it was the rivalry between the pair that made Grimmjow grow so fast. None except for Shawlong. He could see the way that Grimmjow had learned to fight in a superior way.

Grimmjow was no longer fighting like a normal Hollow. Like as he slashed down at Yami with one of his claws. The Adjuchas did not put all of his strength into the blow and try to crush Yami's defense but instead attempted to disarm the Shinigami by striking at an angle. His body also moved more agilely. He no longer used just his strength to move around but instead, let all of his muscles move as one while he hunted his prey.

'This was not something he would have learned by just continuously battling other Adjuchas. Our king is evolving.'

The duo clashed once more before backing away from one another. Both of them were covered with injuries but it definitely looked like Grimmjow was more seriously injured. The number of wounds on his body was at least double those on Yami's.

"It seems like I can at least claim to be on the level of a captain now. At least in terms of swordsmanship and control of my reiatsu. Thanks, Grimmjow," Yami sincerely thanked the Hollow. Even though he was training under Yoruichi and practiced on his own, because he was no longer in charge of the Executive Militia, the amount of live combat practice he had gotten had decreased significantly. Having a variety of opponents with various fighting styles was the best way to improve so being able to battle Grimmjow and Kaien at least kept him fresh.

"Tsk. You annoying bastard. You *huff* have just been using me for training? How *huff* how dare you treat a king this way?" Grimmjow complained while lying on the ground.

Yami laughed in his head. Grimmjow was complaining about it but he was doing the same thing to him. He was about to say something back when he felt several reiatsu approaching them.

Grimmjow and the Adjuchas under him also sensed the reiatsu. Each of them stood up and looked towards the east where they were coming from.

Crossing the sands, a large mantis-like Adjuchas and several smaller Adjuchas that resembled various animals were approaching them.

Yami brandished his sword while all of the Hollows began unleashing their reiatsu. This was typical Adjuchas procedure to warn others that they were entering their turf. With a size of 6 like Grimmjow's, most others would back off and move in a different direction.

But this group didn't. Which could only mean one thing.

"Since they don't want to end this peacefully, looks like only blood can be shed. Mind if I join in?" Yami asked. Since this was not technically his fight, he had no right to force himself into the battle. It was a fight between Hollows after all.

But he had grown closer with each member of Grimmjow's fraccion, even if most of them still did not approve of him on the surface. He didn't want to see any of them die pointlessly. And he had also just finished battling with Grimmjow leaving the other with injuries and less energy than he would usually have. He would feel guilty if anyone died because he had caused Grimmjow to be exhausted.

"Fine by me, Kobayashi. Just make sure you don't battle the big one. He is my prey," Grimmjow also knew the seriousness of the situation so he didn't mind letting Yami assist him. As much as his pride as a warrior did want him to ask for assistance, his pride as a king made him think of the bigger picture.

"No promises. I will simply cut down whoever is foolish enough to stand in front of my blade."

"Annoying bastard."

And so the Shinigami and Adjuchas charged into battle against the other group of Hollows. The sand of Hueco Mundo were covered in blood once again.