Chapter 347: The Gotei Returns to Hueco Mundo
"The other party has returned to Hueco Mundo."
Upon hearing Ulquiorra’s report, Mazuru’s cold gaze flickered slightly, the light of insight flashing behind those half-lidded eyes.
After Roka took Picaro to the World of the Living, Mazuru had taken a brief interest in the situation. He had casually extended his spiritual perception, keeping half an eye on the movements of that peculiar arrancar. Yet what surprised him wasn’t that Roka dared to go to the World of the Living—it was that she had left so soon, bypassing it entirely and heading straight for the Soul Society.
That act was nothing short of insanity.
After all, Soul Society was the very heart of the shinigami world—their seat of power. Despite the fact that Mazuru himself had utterly crushed the Soul Society’s last expeditionary force, even defeating the formidable Yamamoto Genryusai, the old warhound of the Gotei 13—he never dared to underestimate them. They were resilient. Adaptive. Dangerous.
"First she brazenly infiltrates the Soul Society, and now she returns to Hueco Mundo as if it were nothing." Mazuru murmured aloud. "What is she playing at?"
Standing nearby, Ichimaru Gin narrowed his fox-like eyes, a ghost of a smile tugging at his lips. "You’ve been quite taken with her movements lately, haven’t you?" he said. "That little arrancar. Roka. You think she’s acting on her own?"
"I may have an idea of her intentions." Mazuru replied coolly, but did not elaborate further. Instead, he turned toward Ulquiorra.
"Ulquiorra, continue observing her closely. I want her every step reported."
Hueco Mundo was vast—a desolate sea of sand, stretching endlessly under a blackened sky. Yet there were territories few dared venture into, such as the Forest of Menos, home to the towering Menos Grande.
It was a cursed region where spiritual pressure hung heavy like a leaden fog, a place teeming with Gillian and Adjuchas-class hollows.
Szayelaporro had once called this forest home—long before he was recruited by Baraggan and became one of the Espada. He had not chosen it for comfort or familiarity. No, the forest was functional.