Hirako Shinji's sleep was agonizing. He felt as though he had been thrown into a stone mill, repeatedly crushed and ground into meat paste several times over.
Meanwhile, Naraku Sora was standing to the side, letting out eerie chuckles. Aizen was also there, admiring the scene while spouting nonsense like, "Captain, I am doing this all for your own good."
The intense pain nearly caused Hirako Shinji's mind to collapse, but a voice in the bottom of his heart told him that he had to hold on, that he had to fight to survive.
One day, when he saw Head Captain Yamamoto again, he would recount the numerous crimes of Naraku Sora and Aizen Sōsuke one by one, and see them properly punished.
He would strive to get them both sentenced to execution!
Relying on this firm obsession, Hirako Shinji endured the pain that ordinary people could not bear.
With his facial features contorted, he opened his eyes.
What greeted his sight was an extremely wicked and ugly face.
Seeing that the person had woken up, Naraku Sora grinned and said, "Captain Hirako, you're awake."
"The surgery was very successful. You are now a girl."
"?"
Hirako Shinji's pupils shrank. Unable to maintain his composure any longer, he instantly panicked.
The crimes of these two men were too numerous to count. Not only did they collaborate with the Arrancar of Hueco Mundo, but they also captured a Captain-class Soul Reaper without authorization to use as an experimental subject.
Compared to all that, turning him into Hirako Maki was nothing.
Ignoring the urge to angrily denounce Naraku Sora's evil deeds, Hirako Shinji hurriedly sat up, turned around, pulled open his hospital gown, and looked down.
Phew—
'It's still there. Thank goodness.'
Breathing a sigh of relief, Hirako Shinji finally recovered from his panic. He turned his head and glared fiercely at a certain someone.
"Damn it, what exactly did you do to me?"
Naraku Sora's lips curled up. "Why don't you feel it carefully for yourself and find out?"
Hearing this, Hirako Shinji frowned tightly, subconsciously falling into deep thought.
If he remembered correctly, in the last second before he lost consciousness, Aizen seemed to have shot him with something, and then his own power began to swell.
'Body modification?'
'Or is it a taboo experiment targeting the soul?'
Hirako Shinji tried to stimulate his Reiatsu. Something inside his body seemed eager to break out, and his Reiatsu was more active than ever before.
Instinctively, he placed his hand over his face and gently clawed at it.
A massive amount of white chitin surged from his palm, instantly forming an armor-like mask that covered his face.
At this moment, Hirako Shinji felt his Reiatsu skyrocketing rapidly, as if there were no upper limit, continuously climbing higher and higher.
Ever since he became a Soul Reaper Captain, the improvement in his strength had been as slow as a crawling turtle. Every little bit of progress required a massive amount of time and energy.
But now...
The exhilarating sensation of his power increasing made him involuntarily immerse himself in it.
But at the same time, an imperceptible trace of brutality was also breeding deep within his heart.
Hirako Shinji subconsciously looked to the side, only to see a ferocious white bone mask reflected on the screen of a nearby instrument.
He froze for a moment, and the phantom reflection opposite him also froze in place.
"It seems the Hollowfication surgery was perfect."
Not far away, Aizen walked over slowly, admiring the panic flashing through Hirako Shinji's eyes.
"..."
A trace of panic flashed across Hirako Shinji's face beneath the mask. "Aizen, what is that?"
Facing the questioning, Aizen didn't show a hint of displeasure. He smiled and explained:
"By injecting the power of a Hollow into the soul of a Soul Reaper, one can destroy the boundaries of their own soul, thereby breaking through their shackles and acquiring power."
"In short, Captain, you have now mastered the power of a Hollow."
Hirako Shinji's pupils shrank.
Even though he was mentally prepared, hearing the detailed explanation still made his heart skip a beat and sent him into a panic.
Being able to increase his power was naturally excellent, but if the price was becoming a monster that was half Soul Reaper and half Hollow, then things were a bit dire.
Although the Central 46 was all dead now, a new one would be selected sooner or later.
'Once the new Central 46 learns that I have mastered the power of a Hollow, I will definitely be executed as a Hollow. That bastard Aizen actually dared to do such a thing to a colleague!'
Heavy golden Reiatsu began to release unconsciously, causing the ground beneath his feet to emit overwhelmed groans. Visible air currents swirled around Hirako Shinji's body.
A pair of golden eyes locked onto the figure in front of him.
"Has the degree of Hollowfication intensified?"
Aizen analyzed calmly, "It seems excitement accelerates a Soul Reaper's acceptance of the Hollowfied state."
"I'll kill you!"
Feeling his swelling power, Hirako Shinji's confidence also swelled several times over. He drew his Zanpakutō backhand, preparing to deliver a vicious strike to the guy making sarcastic remarks in front of him.
However, just as he took a step forward with his right foot, terrifying Reiatsu erupted from Aizen's body.
Boom!!
Before Hirako Shinji could even react, he was smashed into the ground once again by this suffocating pressure.
Instinctively, he erupted with even more Reiatsu, attempting to resist Aizen.
Yet no matter how hard he tried, the Reiatsu pressing down on his body felt like a towering mountain, completely unshakeable.
Hirako Shinji's eyes were filled with astonishment.
Before undergoing the Hollowfication surgery, he couldn't withstand Aizen's Reiatsu. As it turned out, even after Hollowfication, he still couldn't withstand it.
'Then what was the point of the pain I suffered earlier? Just how strong is this bastard?'
"Are you in pain? Are you in despair?"
An ethereal voice rang in Hirako Shinji's ears.
"Do you want to make that guy Sōsuke pay the price?"
"Come, accept my power, and let us take revenge on this world!"
After saying these words, Naraku Sora quietly stepped away after his work was done.
Hirako Shinji's gaze gradually grew firm. His right hand gripping the Zanpakutō continuously exerted force, his knuckles turning white as bone matter surged from his pores.
It silently covered his palm and was still surging toward other parts of his body.
Hirako Shinji could clearly sense that the Hollow power within his body was continuously rising, and an indescribable sense of elation bred from the bottom of his heart.
His arm twisted irregularly, as if it had become a wrung-out towel, and the sound of bones shattering rang out incessantly.
Following the call in his heart, Hirako Shinji let out an angry roar:
"Invert and go mad, Sakashima Happō!"
His Reiatsu suddenly collapsed like mud, and various parts of his body underwent twists that defied human limits, like a Rubik's Cube being pieced together.
In the next second, Hirako Shinji broke free from the confinement of Aizen's Reiatsu, transforming into a warrior clad in white bone armor, standing tall upon the collapsed earth.
Reiatsu as thick as liquid continuously vibrated around him.
The exaggerated transformation attracted the gazes of everyone in the room.
The moment his Resurrección was complete, Hirako Shinji felt more powerful than ever before.
Reiatsu poured endlessly from every cell, converging into a surging river within his body.
'Wielding such powerful strength, what else in this world can stop me? Even someone as strong as Aizen can easily be crushed into meat paste!'
The moment this thought popped up, Hirako Shinji had already moved.
Sakanade, adorned with white bone spikes, slashed down viciously at Aizen in front of him!
Then he saw Aizen standing motionless in place, as if scared silly, merely raising his right hand and extending a single finger.
Clang!!!
The resounding clash of metal echoed throughout the massive laboratory, and visible ripples frantically spread outward with the point of impact at the center.
Aizen calmly watched Hirako Shinji, who was close at hand, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly.
Immediately after, his first two finger joints slowly bent down and rested on the blade of the Zanpakutō.
In the next second, the white bone armor let out a shattering sound, and a massive amount of blood sprayed out like a fountain!
Hirako Shinji's eyes widened, his gaze filled with utter disbelief.
"..."
Hirako Shinji fell weakly. Only then did Aizen's voice ring out in front of him:
"Although I helped you open your narrow field of vision, it only allows you to clearly see the massive gap between us."
"Nothing more."
Hearing Aizen's words, Hirako Shinji's pupils quaked.
This time, he truly saw it clearly. The massive gap in strength filled his heart with despair, to the point where he couldn't even muster a single thought of resistance.
Hirako Shinji knelt on the ground, raising his head with some difficulty:
"Do you know that doing this will cause the hard-won order to collapse..."
"Captain Hirako."
Aizen softly interrupted the other party's words, as if stating an established fact:
"All great works require sacrifice to be forged. You may not be able to understand us, but you must obey."
Hirako Shinji's breathing stalled, completely at a loss for words.
'He isn't even pretending anymore. What else can I say?'
"Alright, that's enough testing for today."
Naraku Sora raised his hand to signal. Urahara Kisuke very sensibly stepped forward and stuffed the incapacitated Hirako Shinji into a straitjacket.
"Captain Hirako, we'll see you tomorrow."
Naraku Sora looked at the immobilized Hirako Shinji, grinning and revealing a confident smile.
Hirako Shinji remained expressionless, as if he had completely lost his will to fight.
Soon, all the lights were turned off, and the laboratory fell completely silent.
An unknown amount of time passed. In the darkness, Hirako Shinji suddenly opened his eyes, the corners of his mouth curling into a triumphant smile.
"They have no idea what they've actually created."
After a burst of rustling sounds, a figure quietly left the laboratory under the moonlight.
At the same time, in another laboratory, Naraku Sora leaned close to a screen, watching the footage on it, and grinned at the figure beside him:
"Kisuke, what did I tell you? Mr. Hirako isn't the type of person to give up easily."
Urahara Kisuke shook his head helplessly.
'Mr. Hirako, your physical health is already very poor, so moving forward, you absolutely must ensure your mental health.'
Hirako Shinji carefully avoided all the places where Reishi surveillance might have been set up. After leaving the Shino Prison, he instantly burst forth with astonishing speed.
He sprinted wildly along the spacious road toward the direction of Squad 1.
This time, even if it meant self-destructing and laying all his cards on the table about undergoing the Hollowfication experiment, he had to make those two guys pay the price.
'Head Captain, you have to stand up for me!'