Time To Seek Out The Brain

Peaceful days blossomed across Soul Society for just a few years over a century following the Rukongai's rebellion. The Seireitei's rebuild had been going flawless, giving Head-Captain Tōshiro Hitsugaya high hopes for the future. Everyone seemed to be at harmony and were able to live among each other peacefully. As with the Seireitei's revamp, the Gotei 13 underwent major changes as well. Former captains dying, some resigning, and others just no longer having the will to fight. With this vacancy became a thing and just as they did were filled as well. Among these vacancies was also the Twelfth Division.

The Division got completely shafted and a new leader was bought forth by Head-Captain Hitsugaya. She was appointed the new captain of the Twelfth Division and the President of the Shinigami Research and Development Institute.

"Captain Yoshida." A voice shouted within a facility. The place was large, entities roamed the facility all dressed on lab coats, something like that of a laboratory. "Captain, it appears as though the subject AB005 has rejected the drug." With the report, the man got closer to nearby one he'd been addressing as Captain.

It appeared as the Captain Yoshida was a woman. He hair, golden dancing and glowing thanks to the lights provided within the facility. "Interesting, it rejected, you said?" The man began to shake his head confirming what he said to be true. "That's fine. Try it on AB006. Be sure to use it the same way you did on AB005 without a single difference." Her tone and appearance made her identity quite clear, Kushina Yoshida, the current captain of the Twelfth Division. Following her previous statement, she placed her hair behind her ear, and threw a white glove similar to the one on her left hand onto her right.

"Wada, I'll proceed with **Kaizai**."

Another of these divisions that needed to be filled was the Thirteenth Division. It has been recently filled with a new captain. It has been just days since his appointment and his reveal of his Bankai to his fellow captains. It had been temporarily banned shortly after by Central 46 due to the extreme dangers it could pose, and they are under review of it to see if it should be lifted or not. The name of the Shinigami Kamui.

Kamui sighed as he moved about his barracks, with his new captain's haori on. He thought back to his Bankai being banned. *"You are not to use this ability without the approval of Central 46. Failure to comply will result in severe punishment. Wait until our final verdict on it."* Their voices rang in his head. "If I possibly can't use my Bankai, I am handicapped should a large attack happen. I need to do something," Kamui sighed. Looking back up, he saw from his window the 12th Division barracks. Seeing them churned his mind, remembering many inventions to come from their group. "They could be of help..." Kamui called for Lieutenant and left them in charge, saying he had an errand to run.

Entering the building, some Shinigami bowed to the Captain. Kamui waved. "No need for that, I simply request to meet with your Captain, I have an important question."

## To Be Sought Out

Kushina could hear the annoyance being made through her ear piece and attempted to ignore it. A colleague of hers came rushing towards her. "Captain Yoshida, Captain Kamui is here to see you, he said he has a question for you, an important one."

"Interesting, an important question you said. Did you by chance catch the question?" He nodded his head left and right, signifying he did not. "Then how can you exactly conclude the question is important?" Turning around in her chair she faced the table she'd been sitting at previously and lifted a test tube. She slowly dropped some of the liquid residing within the test on a clear dish. "Oh? Interesting. Not exactly what I was going for, but it works."

Kamui began to walk past the 12th Division member. "Captain Yoshida, my sincerest apologies if I am interrupting your work." Kamui looked down at the dish to see if anything noteworthy was going on to the naked eye. "I am here to ask if you could assist me in something. It is related to my recent ascension to the Captain position."

The liquid remain in it's droplet like state for quite some time on the dish. Not flattening out one bit. "Yes, yes." She mumbled under her breath before finally realizing Kamui was within her presence. "Right, Captain of the Thirteenth Division himself; Kamui, a fine man you are. You've come seeking out my assistance, how so? Keep in mind, your interruption of my preservation liquid will not go unpunished."

"It is in terms of my abilities. When they evaluated my abilities to become the Captain of the 13th Division, I presented my Bankai to the head captain and other present captains. Shortly after, while I received the promotion, Central 46 called me to their seats. There, they told me I was not to use my Bankai unless I had direct permission from them." Kamui explained, recounting the events.

Kamui let out a sigh of annoyance. "As you can see, this limits me compared to other captains, and I fear for an even like the Quincy war or Aizen's attack, that I will be a nuisance. What I wanted to ask is if you have any tool or device I can use in place of my Bankai, something that can at least make do until I get permission to use my full abilities?"

"Interesting, I see, Kamui. But listen, the abilities of your bankai," Kushina faced the captain and began to look at him from the top of her glasses, "will never be granted permission. Seeing as to how somehow, someway, the Soul Society was able to even win against the Quincy, the approval of your bankai, would need a threat on the scale of Aizen or higher." Kushina burst out into laughter, "But what do I know? I'm just a low scientist."

She pushed her glasses back closer to her face, and slide her chair to the other side of the table. "You said you need something that could help you in the place of your bankai. A captain's bankai is the epitome of their power. It's considered the highest peak for a soul. I don't think I have something that could "replace" that, Kamui."

"It doesn't need to be a perfect 'replacement' to my Bankai. It just needs to be something I can use to help me. Something that compliments my Shikai and Zankensoki abilities," Kamui tried to explain to the Captain. "I understand a Bankai is the strongest tool a Shinigami has, but it's a tool I can't use under normal circumstances. Surely their is something that can help me, and I am willing to help you in return should you ever need it."

Kushina's smile began to widen more than it did when she burst out into laughter. "Someone willing to be a test subject without being asked to, Captain Kamui you truly are something, you know! How can I turn down such an offer? Follow me captain." Kushina's chair began to slide across the ground as if it were being controlled remotely. Soon they would reach a part of the facility that contained numerous pod looking constructs.

"Wada!" She shouted to the man standing in front of a specific pod. "Ready Modification Pod 15 for Captain Kamui. Okay Captain, here's the deal, I've been working on this superhuman drug. I've been feeding it to various souls within the outer areas of Rukongai and each proved more powerful than the last. As a result, I had to kill them off. However, I know trusting this power to a comrade should serve no problem." She stopped mid sentence, "Ah, it appears the pod is ready, will you please."

Kamui looked around as he followed Kushina. He listened to her speak as he eye different strange things in the lab. As the pod was handed to him, Kamui's face became a worried expression. "Events in the Rukongai calling for death... this is strange. However, I've come this far and I should trust you." Kamui slowly walked into the pod.

"Well, of course this was all done without the Head-Captain's permission." She joked knowing he wouldn't be able to hear her behind the glass. The man she called Wada approached her. His glasses sat on his face perfectly and his white hair complemented her own. "I told him I'd be giving him Kaizai, however I have a different plan. Wada prepare the *black pill*, we'll call Captain Kamui, "AB007"."

"Wait but captain, ABs zero through six have all died, we still don't know as to why. No a single showing life expectancy past a couple days. This is extremely costly! Not only will we be down a pill, but we lose a captain and Head-Captain Hitsugaya won't stand idle." Wada continued on about his concerns for the situation.

The women showed no interest however, and tapped one of the many buttons along the side of the pod. "Okay, Captain Kamui. I'm going to drop the pill in. Once you see it, go ahead and swallow it. It'll have to well, let's say, *marinate* into your soul, and you'll have to rest in this pod for about five hours at the max." Kushina pressed the button again causing the glass of the pod to close. She then brought her hand out in front of her face and tapped on the top of her glove. A holographic screen appeared in front of her as well as numerous coding and variable unknown to those that weren't her.

As the window opened and he received orders from Kushina, he swallowed the pill that was dropped within the pod without hesitation. In the matter of seconds, Kamui doubled over in pain. "What the hell is this-" Kamui tried to ask as he clutched his heart, but white fluid came from his mouth. The mess began to cover his face, forming into a mask. Kamui let out a deep growl and locked his gaze on Kushina. Kamui began beating on the door. Cracks began to spread through the door.

## Empty Out Your Soul

Wada jumped back as Kamui's new appearance caught him off guard, as well as the banging of the door. "Captain Yoshida, what is this? Violent behavior is expectant, but this. This white substance that's forming, what is it?"

"Wada, no time for your rhetorical questions. That mask is quite clear isn't it? It's the mask of a... Hollow."

Kamui roared, the angered sounds moving through the cracks, growing steadily louder outside the room. Finally, the glass shattered, and the being that was shaped like Kamui jumped out with a might leap, landing on a table and destroying it and its contents with a *smash*. Kamui locked hi gaze upon Kushina again and let out a snarl before he began to charge a Cero. The beam fired forth from Kamui's hand as his mask hardened. It formed fully with with a single black dot in the center. From it, ripples grew and proper eyes holes formed. The substance began to trail down his limbs and torso as he Hollowfied more.

"This is, Hollowfication." Wada stated as he gazed upon Kamui's continued transformation. "Captain, I'll start the restraining process. There's a 58% percent chance of success, but we lose nothing from tryi-"

The young scientist found himself cut off by his captain throwing her hand out in front of him. The Vixen shouted, "Restrain him? Now why would we go on to do such a thing," Kushina threw her hands up towards Kamui's new form. "..When one of the most magnificent beings in creation is standing right in front of us!? I want to take him for a test drive! Turn on the reiatsu blockers so that those outside of these walls are unable to detect anything unusual." Within seconds Kamui's palm was filled with a blast of energy. "A cero, right off the bat! INTERESTING, Captain Kamui, you've truly made me cast my doubts aside with your current form."

"Captain Yoshida, be careful." Wada states. He then reached for some sort of technological tablet resting on the table and jumped back from the two. At the moment he landed, the beam was launched from Kamui's hand and headed straight for Kushina, and anything in it's path would be obliterated.

Quickly the woman threw the back of her haori over her frontal view. The blast was minimized and the only thing that took damage where a few nearby desk and other pods had flipped over. Bodies fell from the pods lying naked on the ground. "How is this Kamui? It's a Super Durable Haori I created to be able to defend me from the attacks of even an Arrancar's Gran Rey Cero. It's also a bit shock absorbent as well, but that feature could use some work. Wada, I've also found a solution as to why AB000-AB006 were all failures. My **Kurojō** was all used on what, Arrancar, correct? They were the only ones less likely to be known missing from Hueco Mundo, it was too enticing. You can't give Hollows abilities, to something ALREADY possessing said abilities. Subsequently they gained power ups, rather than actually getting anything new."

As Kushina continued on, she sounded more and more excited with each passing sentence. "Though the malfunction is something that remains unanswered, but that's something of the past." Kushina threw the glove on left hand to the ground revealing a ring resting on her finger. "Show me more, Kamui."

Inside of Kamui's head, he laid on the ground covered in white goo, much like the substance forming him into a hollow. As he could barely move, Tokeishi appeared. "Kamui, what is happening?" the stoic spirit asked.

"Hell if I know but get me out of here!" Kamui demanded. Taiyōsan struck the substance, but it proved fruitless. Nothing seemed to happen, except for it re-positioning itself. As this happened, a figure began to form. It looked exactly like Kamui, except in all black and white and its hair down. The only other color on it was the gold in its eyes. A hellish aura surrounded it. "Hello, bunk mates! I'm taking this vessel over, though. Call me Hollow Kamui!" the creature said with glee as a sword formed in his hand.

Outside, Kamui roared once more. The building shook as a result. The Hollowfying creature grabbed for the sword on his waist, and charged towards Kushina. Kamui made a wide slash, aiming to cut the woman in half as he used his open hand to attempt to punch the woman in the face. The white substance hardened on his hand, making sure the strike would cause great pain. the beast showed no rhyme or reason, it simply acted as a beast trying to kill what it thought was its predator. Such was natural, for a Hollow to despise a Shinigami.

"This is bad, Captain Yoshida. I'll start the procedure!" Wada, the man from before shouted out of concern. He began to touch against the tablet swiftly.

"Third Seat, Wada. I gave you a simple task, did I not. Stand back." Placing her hand over her ring she chanted, "Shine bright and illuminate the Heavens, Amaterasu!" A light engulfed her entire hand as well as a vicinity of the room around herself. As the light would clear, Kushina's Zanpakutō would be seen blocking both Kamui's slash and punch. Had it not been for such a wide and long blade, Kushina would have had to make a sacrifice of which blow she'd allow herself to take.

"Tch," The vixen's entire body was thrown back a bit from the sheer force of Kamui's blows. *"Had it not been for Amaterasu, I'd be nothing right now."* She thought to herself, regaining her composure. "Wada, how long until one notice?" The man threw up one finger on one hand, and three fingers on the other. She simply responded by nodding back at him. "Alright Kamui, you have about thirteen minutes before the field drops, the others detect you, and they try to kill you. If you don't mind, I'll be taking six of those minutes to analyze you. Don't worry though, I'll reward you by allowing you to have seven minutes to try and fix yourself." Reaching into her lab coat she pulled out a needle.

Inside his mind, Kamui struggled as the slime hardened around him more. "What are you doing, who are you?" Kamui said as he stopped momentarily. "I am you, a darker you. Your mind isn't all 'hope and the Shinigami way' as much as you like to put yourself on a pedestal to think, sweetie. I am the embodiment of your fears, hate, and hidden feelings. I am Hollow you, I am Hollow Kamui. As I have said, I am also the new captain in this ship."

Taiyōsan didn't move. He spirit stared at the two Kamui. "He is correct, Kamui. He is you. I have sworn my loyalty to you before in achieving your blade. He is you, and this is your struggle. I cannot help this time. Prove yourself to be the better Kamui." The spirit formed a blade and slashed through the slime to release Kamui, but faded away. Kamui stood and drew the blade on his waist.

"Alright Hollow Kamui, let's see who the one in charge truly is!"

Kamui jumped back from Kushina. He paused momentarily, the very instance that Kamui became free in his mind. The Hollow outside mirrored his spiritual components within and grabbed on to his sword with a more traditional grip. The Hollow was adapting.

Kamui let out a creaky roar as energy released from the blade. Tokeishi became activated, the Shikai was in affect. The horrid Hollow ran forth, but not like before. No, this time, the beast was far faster. This was the power of Shunpo and Hollowfied speed in one, melding into one power. In an instant, Kamui was above Kushina. The beast dropped with the sword aimed downward to impale the Captain.

It was all too fast for Kushina, even she couldn't comprehend the speed of the Captain. The downward strike from Kamui would land spot on, cutting the woman down from her head to her stomach. Blood gushed out from the wound, tons of it all over the facility. Holding her face Kushina let out wild pant and grunts. "Interesting, you're growth rate is exceptionally high. Wada, my next move will be my last. After that restrain him until time is up. Once the others reach the barracks and if he isn't back to himself, assist with killing him."

With the same hand she held the previous needle with she pulled another one. This one however was filled with an orange substance. "Alright Kamui, it was fascinating learning what you are capable. I'll be collecting my sample now, and leaving the rest to you."

The Hollow before Kushina simply growled as he began to take a pouncing position.

Within his mind, the two Kamuis fought back and forth. Every strike was mirrored, every attack cancelled out. "Perhaps you aren't as weak as I thought, but I will take you Kamui, I will!" roared Hollow Kamui as he dropped down and did a sweeping kick. This caused Kamui to lose balance and begin falling. As he fell, Kamui put one of his arms down to catch himself as he used it to propel into Hollow Kamui.

Kicking his Hollow self in the gut, the creature had the breath knocked out of it and he dropped his sword. "Fast reflexes, I will admit-" Hollow Kamui said as Kamui kicked him in the ribs to send him flying. Kamui grabbed the Hollowfied version of his sword and snapped it over his knee. "Alright, you took my blade. Today, you proved your superiority in this battle. I will never die though, Kamui. I am now part of you. Every time you fall, I will be there to use you as a platform to get up in your place. You can't get rid of me!"

Kamui was panting. "I don't want to. I want to see my darkness, my shortcomings, so that way I never fall into them. I don't want to destroy you, my Hollow self. I want to work with you. You are me, surely my dreams are in you. Even the darkness in me must see things similarly to me. I want to see time give rise to goodness, what do you feel?

"I want to see time consume creation. Destruction is the true power of your sword,, everything will fall Kamui. But... you have maintained your power. I will not be your partner, Kamui, but I will lend you my power to destroy evil, so I can at least achieve that. Just know, Kamui, I will destroy you. I will gain control, and when I do, good and evil will both fall by my blade." Hollow Kamui began to fade, his energy going into the forest, into some dark area to rest and restore itself, and to plot its takeover.

As the Hollow pounced toward Kushina, it roared in agony as it fell to the ground with a thud. It writhed on the ground as it slowly grabbed the sword that fell beside it. Grabbing it in a reverse position, the Hollow slammed the pommel in his face, shattering the mask. Kamui's left eye was revealed, and it returned to its normal color. "I guess we are past the point of no return. This beast will always be in me," Kamui said in pain as he teared another shard of the mask off.

"You're back?" Kushina's voice questioned, but it wasn't coming from the spot she stood. Kushina's body was covered by a bright light and disappeared a few moments later. "Ah, so you didn't even need to full time. Can't expect anything less from a captain, but now..." Kushina appeared behind Kamui with the empty needle held high. Quickly stabbing the needle into his neck, she drew blood from him. With the other one she stabbed into the other side of his neck, injecting something into him. "Do me a favor Kamui, and just got to sleep without fighting it please. Wada, grab him and place him in a new pod. AB007, was a success, but I need to analyze him a little bit more. Changes in blood, DNA alteration I want to know EVERYTHING. Place a Nano-Surveillance camera in him."

Kushina's blade lit up and changed back to its sealed state of a ring. Placing the white glove from before back on her hand to conver it she turned her back. "This has been an interesting day, indeed. Kurōjo, isn't simply a power up pill, but a pill that grants Hollowfication. I will learn the in and outs of evolution to every being."

Kamui breathed in and out as he had the needles attack him. As the Shinigami named Wada approached him, Kamui allowed the camera to be used but pushed him away before he could help him up. Kamui stood up on his own. "After I wake up, I want an explanation as to why... why this? Why a Hollow?" Kamui staggered forth into the chamber, tearing off shards of the Hollow material as he did. Kamui at this point was just trying to make sure he would survive this ordeal. Kamui got on the ground and quickly fell asleep.

"Very well." She nodded her head and began to head the opposite direction of the pod prepared for Kamui.

## Here Is How This Works

Hours passed and the team used every second Kamui spent sleeping analyzing him. "Soon he'll be waking."

Kamui was in his inner world, resting against a wall. Lava formed on the floor began to swirl in a form, and Taiyōsan appeared. "I see you came out victorious Kamui, I am happy. I am not sure the Hollow version of you would be as interesting to talk to," Taiyōsan said as he sat beside his master.

"No one can match my charm, not even me." Kamui said with a light smile. "He is still here Taiyōsan, and we have to deal with him. He is no mere version of me or just a Hollow. Darker energy clings to him. I need to talk to Kushina. I have to make sense of this." Kamui looked at the ceiling as he began to fade.

"We will find something out master, we will purge that darkness from your soul. Be it cleansing the Hollow or cutting it lose, you will find a way. You don't let yourself ignore things like this. You are waking up, find out what you can. Farewell for now, master."

As Kamui left, the Hollow reappeared. "The darkness in me is not all Kamui, that is true. However, this Hollow will make it become his, Hell will take this vessel for our needs," the Hollow eyes flared red before turning gold. The Hollow seemed confused. "I reformed faster than I anticipated. So you are our Zanpakutō. I should get to know you as well."

"Maybe someday, Hollow, the day you are loyal to Kamui as well. Until then, I can't trust the demonic powers in you." Tokeishi extended his hand, and Hollow Kamui froze in place as robes of lava tied around him, forming into an cage of igneous stone. Taiyōsan grabbed the spirit and place it deep in a volcanic cave, but left enough of a hole in time to allow the Hollow energy go to Kamui for his needs and so he can actually learn to use it. "Let Kamui figure this out soon..."

Kamui awoke. His eyes were black and gold for an instant, but he blinked and they returned to normal. Kamui opened the pod door. "Captain Yoshida, explain what the hell happened to me."

As the door to the pod opened smoke escaped the inside. The entire staff turned their heads to watch Kamui emerge. Captain Yoshida strolled through the aisle, dressed completely different from how she was when he fell asleep. She found herself dressed in a night robe, which had four electrodes coming from the neck portion and connected to Kushina's temples.

"Interesting, you've awaken, Captain Kamui! Answers, answers, you want answers! Now that you've you been injected with the antibiotics to help fight off your Hollow form for a while, I guess we can speak." Somewhere behind Kushina in the distance, you could hear a chair rolling. Soon the chair would reveal itself next to Kushina and she took a seat. "I'm sure you're familiar with the concept of "Hollowfication" right?" She began, slowly lowering her head to rest it on the back of the chair. "Once I tell you this, this information can never leave your lips." Her face was serious and almost demonic in a sense.

"Yes, for a while now. I've been researching Hollow and their behavior. I told you I was going to give you a Superhuman drug, which, technically isn't incorrect. This drug, made Hollows one hundred times stronger than they were before. A mere Hollow in the World of the Living, could be on par with an Adjuchas-level Menos. I was able to make this *pill* from the reiatsu of an extremely power Arrancar. Kamui..." She stated leaving off the title, "This Arrancar was something even among my imagination. It was beyond that of a "Vasto Lorde". Maybe this is why it has failed so many times in the past. You can't be expectant of something to evolve past it's current form if all you're doing is fueling it with what it's basis is. Instead of evolving these Hollows were just getting stronger, so strong that the reiatsu had begun overloading their bodies. Causing them all to die. You've been knocked out for about an hour and a half, so I didn't possess much time to look deeply into it before you woke."

The Captain began to touch against one of the electrodes on the left side of her temple. "However risky, I fed you one of these pills. For the purpose of evaluation alone. You became a Hollow, and now have access to Hollowfication. A little while ago you were using about ten percent of this Hollow's power, due to you trying to fight it off." Kushina began to hold her hands out in front of her, "With years and training, who knows how powerful you can... TRULY BECOME!! YOU'VE GAINED THE POWER YOU CAME AND SOUGHT OUT, CAPTAIN KAMUI! YOU'VE EVOLVED PAST SHINIGAMI, AND ON THE PATH TO A NEW DOMAIN." She shouted out in a mad scientist tone, letting out a loud mad laugh. "Was that too cliche? It was my sorry attempt at mimicking Aizen, with a little bit of Mayuri. Regardless... these Hollow with power that exceeds that of a Vasto Lorde is nothing to take lightly. Half of the division members I took with me to Hueco Mundo died instantly. I was unable to find out if there were more, but..."

She pointed towards a large tinted glass container in the distance. "It's there. He's in an unconscious state right now, I had to create a tranquilizing preservation liquid just for him, which was what I had been working on when you entered. What I'm using now is too weak, he regains consciousness every two days. As he is, he's no threat. And if he were to rise, we have measures for taking him along with everyone within the Twelfth Division barracks down with him. So don't fear a rebellion. Hopefully I summed that up for you, Captain."

"So rather than telling me up front the idea from the start, you tricked me into becoming a Hollow. I don't... I don't know what to think." Kamui sat down in, and was clearly not at ease. A Hollow. The enemy that Shinigami hunted. The beasts Kamui wanted to investigate as part of his new command of his Division. This was the only benefit, he himself now had a Hollow within him. "I don't know if I should thank you for fulfilling my request or be angry of the deception. Whatever the case, how will I be sure this Hollow won't consume me fully, spirit suicide."