Strange Behaviour

A/N: This mini-arc In this Volume won't take as long as it sounds, so no worries. However, I won't be rushing through it for storytelling's sake.

The Shinigami around them just stood there struck. This was the first time they had seen nearly everyone gathered in one place. It was both bringing them hope but also bringing them a sense of terror. After all, why would all of them need to gather unless it was something serious? Rei took this time to walk up closer to the hole in the ground.

'It's not being sealed back up?' Normally Rei wouldn't worry too much about damage to the Soul Society. Due to the barrier, he made Reishi naturally built up and repaired any damage automatically. But this was different, the hole had not been fixed, and it was remaining open. 'Reiryoku?' Lining the rim of the hole, Spiritual Energy resembling that of a Hollow's remained.

It was probably what was keeping the hole from closing, but that in itself opened up an entirely different issue. 'A Menos Grande has appeared meaning Hollows are evolving… But how the hell did I not sense them. I swept over this area entirely. There's no way they could… Unless.' Rei's eyes widened slightly as he stood up and jumped into the hole without warning.

"Where is he going?" Zabuza watched Rei jump as he narrowed his eyes. "Maybe he noticed something strange?" Shisui said this as he looked around. "In any case, this is a lot of damage. I never thought the Hollows would get so aggressive." Seemingly distracted, Seiki suddenly remembered something. "Wait, wasn't Ino supposed to be here?"

Hearing Ino's name, one of the Shinigami snapped out of their amazement. "Right! She ran off in that direction to distract a large number of Hollows. It's been over half an hour!" Hearing that, a look of seriousness dawned on everyone's faces. "Why didn't you say that before!" Seiki barked at him as his Reiatsu spiked and rushed off.

"Haku go with him, make sure he doesn't get himself killed." Haku nodded, hearing Zabuza as he rushed off behind Seiki. Underground Rei was still falling as he did; he felt the clean and clear Reishi that normally filled the Soul Society slowly change. It was becoming denser and more violent as if it was adapting to an entirely new environment.

Finally, Rei spotted a blue light appear below him as the darkness retreated slightly. Narrowing his eyes, he slowed his descent, coming out of the other end of the hole. When he did, his eyes grew as he clenched his fist. "So I was right… Dammit!" Rei yelled while clenching his teeth. Without another second wasted, he flew at full speed back up.

Compared to the fall down, it only took him a minute to reach the top again. When everyone saw Rei fly out of the hole so violently, they all looked at him as he landed. "What happened?" Shisui was the first to ask as Zabuza listened from the side. "It's an underground Cavern." Rei's words caused Shisui to look confused. "What are you talking about?"

Rei bit his lip as he continued. "When I built the Soul Society here I did it because it seemed ideal. I cleared out the land and built on top of it… But I never investigated what was under it." Rei wasn't stupid. He knew that there would be Ninja capable of burrowing underground, so he extended the wall deep underground as well along with the barrier.

However, what he saw was beyond just a cave, and it also explained his failed searches. He saw a cavern spanning for god knows how far in every direction he could see. The dark wasn't so much of an issue for him, and he could see rather well even in pitch blackness. But that still didn't help him see the end of it.

"It could only stretch across the western side or it might span the entire Soul Society or more. Either way that's not even accounting for how far down it might go." This was where the Hollows were coming from and where they were going. They were breaking through the ground of the Soul Society and going into these Caverns.

There they would meet one another and be capable of evolving undisturbed. And this must have been going on for months. Rei simply didn't sense it due to him always focusing his searches above ground. Listening to Rei, both Shisui and Zabuza's faces twisted. This was bad… Extremely bad.

"Then… This wasn't a random attack?" Shisui asked cautiously as Rei looked back at the Spiritual Energy keeping the hole from repairing itself. "No, whatever did this was intelligent. It knew how to keep the hole from repairing itself. That plus the fact both Hollows and a Menos Grande appeared the way they did…" It was planned all of it no doubt in Rei's mind.

"From what you said only Adjuchas or Vasto Lorde would be able to show intelligence. So which is this?" When Zabuza asked that question, Rei remained silent. He honestly couldn't give a clear answer and could only hope it was the first one Zabuza mentioned. "In any case for now." Rei gathered Reiryoku in his hand before swinging towards the hole.

The Spiritual Energy keeping the hole from repairing itself was washed away instantly, and soon after, Reishi could be seen condensing. "Zabuza until repairs are complete I want your entire Squad guarding the west side especially this area." Zabuza gave a light nod as Shen looked over next to Shisui. "Where did Seiki go?"

Shisui pointed in the direction both Seiki and Haku went as he explained. "Apparently Ino offered to distract a majority of the Hollows that attacked by herself." Rei didn't need to hear the rest as he looked in the direction Shisui pointed. "Make sure news of this does not spread beyond the Squad's and into the public. This is important… Also, speed up our progress on Kisame."

With that, Rei's figure disappeared after using Flash Step. Having gotten a head start, Seiki was ahead of Haku by quite a lot and was the first to sense what was up ahead. "More of them?" Preparing to fight, Seiki prepared to swing his Zanpakuto at a moment's notice. However, as he approached the Hollows, he was sensing his gaze froze.

Standing on top of a roof a few hundred meters away, he could see Ino lying seemingly unconscious on the ground. However, five Hollows were standing still around her. They made no attempt to attack or even seemed to notice she was there. "What are they doing?" Seiki heard Haku's voice as he appeared next to him.

"I have no clue but I'm putting an end to it." No matter what, Hollows were dangerous. Seiki dashed off from on top of the roof, landing on the street the Hollows were on. As he approached, all of the Hollows seemed to notice him. Their eyes locked onto his figure, and all of them seemed to move to block him.

However, despite moving, none of them actively care to attack him. "This day just keeps getting weirder!" Holding his Zanpakuto by its hilt, Seiki threw towards one of the Hollows near the front. Like a boomerang, it cut through the air and flew directly towards its mask. However, unexpectedly just before the attack hit, the Hollow raised its arm to guard its head.

Seiki's Zanapkuto ripped straight through the Hollow's arm, causing it to fall to the ground as his Zanapakto returned to him. "Huh?" This time Seiki stopped as he stared at the Hollow. The Hollow had guarded itself against his attack by protecting its most vital area. Normally there wouldn't be any reason to seem impressed; it's a basic fighting instinct.

However, Hollows didn't have the instinct to preserve their lives due to the fact they were not intelligent at this level. The Hollow's arm hitting the ground caused a loud tremor. Having been lying on the ground, the tremor caused Ino's entire body to jump. "Huh?" Opening her eyes in a jolt, she immediately sat up. "What happened?"

Looking around, Ino's eyes froze as she saw multiple Hollows around her. 'These… These are the Hollows I controlled?' She had managed to fight off the remaining five Hollows using the ones she controlled; however, shortly after, her mind finally gave in. She couldn't keep her control on all five of them stable, and eventually, her consciousness returned to her original body.

However, if that was the case, the Hollows should have gotten their instinct to devour back and attacked her right away. Peering past the Hollow's she spotted Seiki and stood up. "Ino your awake good hurry and get over here." Seiki waved her over as Ino looked at him confused and then at the Hollows in front of her. "But…"

"Just hurry, the Hollows are guarding you for some reason." Seiki was rushing her because he had no clue what was going on. The Hollows were acting strange, and he wanted Ino a safe distance away from them before he acted. Ino hesitated slightly before she began to make her way past the Hollows while cautiously watching them.

Seeing Ino move, the Hollows made no actions against her but simply stared at her calmly. They continued to do so until Ino made her way to Seiki's side. Haku, who was watching from a distance, only felt more and more confusion built. 'What's going on with these Hollows? Their acting strange.'

It was then that both Seiki and Haku sensed Rei coming from behind them. After sensing him, he arrived in a matter of seconds, floating in the air. His gaze quickly swept over everyone, but he immediately frowned. Spotting Seiki and Ino, he landed next to them while keeping an eye on the Hollows in front of them. "Are you okay?"

Ino nodded. She had checked herself the moment she got close to Seiki and found nothing was wrong with her physically. "Good." Having verified that, Rei raised his hand towards the Hollows. Crackling blue lightning began appearing around Rei's hand as he spoke. "Hado #33" Ino's gaze fell on Rei and then back at the Hollows before saying something. "Wait!"

Rei halted for a second as Ino said something. "These ones are acting weird. I think they guarded me while I was unconscious. It's strange." Hearing that, Rei showed a clear look of confusion on his face. "I think it's true. That one didn't even attack back when I cut its arm off. Plus they didn't try to stop her or hurt her."

Haku had made his way down as well and heard what they were talking about. "We still don't understand much about Hollows. This could be a good chance to study them closer if they're going to be passive." It had been hard for any of them to look at Hollows, especially due to how violent they were up close.

Trying to capture them could lead to unnecessary injuries, so they didn't try and simply eliminated them. But hearing they had a chance now, Rei began canceling his Hado as the blue lighting around his hand faded. "That's true..." Hesitating for a moment, Rei spoke again. "Bakudo #63: Sajo Sabaku."

Holding out his hand flat to the Hollow's five ropes made of yellow energy seemed to appear out of thin air around them. Clutching his hand closed, the ropes immediately began to wrap themselves around the Hollows restricting all of their limbs. "There this Bakudo can't be escaped using physical strength alone so they should be safe to move later."

Hearing that, Seiki, Ino, and Haku all finally let their guard down. Even now, the Hollows were not resisting their binding and simply stared at Ino. "For now let's all return to the Central Building. It's going to take time figuring out what's going on here." Everyone nodded as Rei glanced at the Hollows one last time.

Reaching into his clothes once more, he pulled out a piece of paper. 'Ren I'm going to need you to meet me in the courtyard. I want you to run a test on something… Also, I need you to check someone for abnormalities.' Rei's eyes lingered on Ino as he imprinted that last part. Crushing the paper, the message was sent as all of them left the area.