Mental Training

The Espada were seated in the Throne room as Aizen sat upon the throne, All around the room no one was really paying the Orange haired girl in the center of the room any mind. This captured Aizen's interest as he expected some unrest from the Arrancar because they just risked their lives for a useless girl.

Espada Cero sat slightly lower and to the Right of Aizen as she looked at Orihime, her cyan eyes scanning the human with interest as she munched on a snooker doodle. "Luppi, Aaroniero, report." Saying this, her eyes locked onto the Two Espada, Luppi took a step forward and recited what happened in the world of the Living.

"Soul Reapers below the rank of Captain aren't worth deploying an Espada. Aaroniero has shown us that only the Captain Rank is threatening to beings of our power. Fraccion and Below can deal with the seated officers and other soul reapers, 3 or more Faccion should be able to stall a Captain however they will be fighting with their lives on the line." After giving his report Luppi gave an analysis of what he thinks would be the optimal deployment of forces in the future.

He then turned his head to Orihime and Frowned but didn't say anything as he waited for Layla to respond. "I Agree with your assessment, we also have the advantage of being unknown, the only Espada that has revealed their Resureccion is Number 9. Grimmjow has revealed a few of his moves, therefore he is on their radar due to him outranking all the Espada we sent to the world of the living with the exception of Ulquiorra.

Moving forward, we will go dark. With the capture of this human, we have become targets, knowing the attitude of the Substitute Soul Reaper Ichigo Kurosaki. It is highly likely that he will attempt to find his way to Hueco Mundo, he will succeed as there is a very intelligent man in the world of the Living that he is an acquaintance of. So to prepare for the aforementioned event all Arrancar are to standby, while training is permitted, do not do anything too crazy as we will need all Espada at maximum battle capacity."

Her eyes scanned the room as the 9 lower-ranking Espada nodded their heads in understanding. "Mhmm." Grunting in response Layla sat back as she reached into her snack bucket for another cookie.

Orihime looked at the female Espada that clearly commanded the respect and fear of the other Espada, her light eyes making contact with the Cyan eyes of the one seated above. Her body felt like it had fallen into a sink hole with no bottom as the power behind that gaze crushed her slowly. Her heart sped up as her breathing quickened, falling to her knees on the stone floor she felt as if her very life was at risk just from that brief moment of eye contact.

Looking at the human that was now sprawled out on the ground Layla smirked "Ulquiorra she will be your responsibility, she is permitted to roam the grounds of Las Noches. No harm is to come to her, other than that I really don't care what you do as Lord Aizen has already briefed you on the expected results." Munching on her Snack Layla stood up and walked towards the exit leaving the meeting behind. The Espada watched her back as she left, once it was out of sight their eyes snapped to the girl in the center of the room.

"She is quite a pretty girl, I just don't understand why she was brought here," Luppi said as he walked up to Orihime, with his left hand in his pocket he ran his right hand through her hair as he stared into her eyes. "The poor thing is like a deer in headlights, unable to even protect herself, why did Aaroniero risk his life for her?"

Luppi's eyes glanced up in the direction of the Throne just to see that there was no longer anyone seated there. "It seems he won't answer our questions either." Luppi looked at the human once more, lost interest, and left the throne room while the other Espada were having various discussions.

"Lady Layla seems to be in a poor mood, I wonder what happened?" Tier said this as she directed the question towards Hexxius and Nel.

"Well, she didn't think that Lord Aizen would continue to show interest in this human. Her power is actually an interesting one, She can reject all phenomena and return something to its original state. It is indeed impressive however with the medical Palace that Ulquiorra is in charge of, her powers are completely unnecessary. Ulquiorra has found a Hollow with similar power, in fact, They are much more practical as well. However, It seems Aizen is more interested in collecting new data rather than being practical. So she is angry but she has more important things to keep in mind." Nel says this as she looked at the Human.

Grimmjow on the sidelines thought back to the last time Lady Layla was angry and shuddered. 'She hasn't been angry since our training days.'

Thinking back on the training Grimmjow was both grateful yet at the same time frightened. In order to make the Espada understand the true meaning of Battle Layla took them to Hell.

"Warfare is based on deception, while battles are won by individual and Group merits. A battle between beings with powerful Spirit Energy is a battle between Spiritual Pressure, you can have a technique that can control the mind of your enemy but if their spiritual Pressure is more powerful than yours, it may not take effect." Looking at the Young Arrancar around her Layla made sure that they were all paying attention before she continued.

"In Hell, there are many beings that at one point terrorized the world. Each of you has your strengths and your weaknesses, the purpose of this is to enhance your strengths while minimizing your weaknesses to increase your overall combat prow- Grimmjow do you have a problem?" Layla stopped as she looked at Grimmjow's scowling face.

"What is the point of this? The Strong will devour the weak, that is how it has always been! This is fucking stupid!" A strong Spiritual pressure came down on him bringing him face-first into the ground.

"You are the fucking stupid one! Do you think Raw power is the only way? There are many examples of the weak overcoming the strong, and these strong individuals are usually the ones that think like you." Layla walked up to Grimmjow and picked him up by the Neck.

"You are weak. I am Strong. That's the only thing probably going through your mind right now huh? That's because you have the IQ of a fucking goldfish, I don't want nor desire you to fear my power. What I want is you to respect me and I will respect you, if you don't understand that then I will have to do some mental training."Luckily there were in Hell where screams were just a normal day-to-day thing.

Espada Cero's "Mental Training" was nothing more than disciplinary acts that she took to correct a deficiency. When teaching the Arrancar hand-to-hand combat, sword techniques, and evasive measures the best way to learn is through pain. Her attacks were swift and merciless, there were zero wasted movements as she always chose the most effective place to strike.

Grimmjow was usually her victim, the other Arrancar learned quickly that she was not one to tolerate mistakes when lives were on the line. Yet Grimmjow was stubborn.

A Mocha colored hand made contact with a porcelain jaw, with an audial pop Grimmjow was sent flying across the skull covered plains of Hell. "Too Slow, Again."

Nel, Hexxius, Tier, Ulquiorra, Luppi, Zommari, Szayelaporro, and Aaroniero stood on the sidelines and watched as the 5th Ranked Espada was treated like a dog toy. Tossed around like a toddler as he failed to comprehend Layla's simple explanations. "Again." That word along with her stoic face was engraved into their minds as her stamina seemed endless.

"You simpleton." There was no malicious intent behind the words yet the lack of emotion in them seemed far, far worse. It caused a sense of fear the Arrancar thought they lost as they looked on at the "Sparring" session.

"Combat is the foundation of your existence, as a Hollow, you had to fight to survive. Then we made you an Arrancar, instinctively you should understand how to use your Zanpakuto because at one point it was a part of you. Yet, here you are sprawled out on the ground gasping for breath because you continue failing to protect your weak points. Right now this toxic sense of masculinity that seems to exuberate your very being will get you killed, I am not the Hollow that you Lorded over like a King. You are my subordinate." Her spirit energy leaked out slightly as she struggled to control her anger as she looked at Grimmjow.

"One thing that I hate more than anything is a Leader that doesn't understand that you must fall in line at some point in your life. Just like a Leader that doesn't understand that leadership goes both ways, I learn from you and you learn from me. To me, these existences are nothing more than leeches that give nothing but expect everything. It's disgusting." Her Spiritual pressure continued to rise as her eyes narrowed further, looking at Grimmjow as if he was a roach that crawled on the wall.

Nel and Hexxius erected a barrier to keep the Spiritual Pressure radiating from Espada Cero from crushing the Lower-Ranked Espada.

"If you wish to die so badly I can end you right here, right now. It will mean nothing to me like blowing out a candle. However, if you wish to be someone that the old you could only dream to be, you will do as I say and Learn. Don't for a single second think that you aren't replaceable, just as easily as I discarded the previous Espada I can dispose of you, do not mistake my Kindness for weakness. Do you understand Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez?" The image of the angry Cero Espada was imprinted into the minds of all Espada, her hair flowing freely due to the fluctuation of spirit energy, her Cyan eyes glowing in the darkness as her arms were crossed under her breasts. Her stature was small but her presence was something none of them could ignore.

"I Understand." Cold sweat poured off Grimmjow in buckets as he felt his body being crushed under the paw of a divine beast. When he made eye contact with Layla this facade that he built when dealing with other Hollow cracked and shattered.