The Espada are Aizen's ten blades, but who are the brains behind Hueco Mundo? Enter the Cinco Grande, the Big Five, the Five Arrancar who control Hueco Mundo's decisions and strategies, although one member is really only about brawn. Aizen tells them of his plan and they discuss. The only Arrancar higher than them are the Espada...

Bleach 352: Enter the Big Five

The two double doors opened slowly, creaking loudly. Light flooded in. There was a large round table, with six chairs around it, one distinctly bigger than the rest. Five Arrancar walked in. They sat down at the table. One was young looking, with sharp black hair and a menacing grin. He had a very skinny body and a dagger attached to his sash. The dagger was bleach white and seemed to be the remains of his Hollow mask.

The one next to him was a girl, she had long emerald hair draping over her eyes. Her eyes however, were red. Unlike the young Arrancar, her Hollow mask wasn't a weapon, but instead a shield, fastened to her back. It had black markings on it.

The third Arrancar was a middle-aged male. He was draped in long, flowing Arrancar robes with sleeves that covered his hands. He wore glasses, and had long white hair. He had a complacent grin on his face and his Hollow mask wasn't visible.

The fourth was an old man, who much resembled Barragan. He had a grumpy expression and was quite large, though, unlike Barragan he had a scar going down his chest, which was revealed by his Arrancar jacket. He had large arms, which had white, rock hard gloves on, his Hollow mask.

The fifth was the tenth Espada, Yammy. They took their seats and Aizen came in through the door behind them.

'Good Evening, Cinco Grande.' He said politely. He took his seat, the tallest at the table. Everyone sat in silence for a moment.

'So, Aizen-sama.' Spoke the old man. 'I hear our fifth Espada was killed recently.'

'Ah yes, a tragedy I assure you Toden, however, I have plans to work around his failure.' Aizen reassured.

'Nnoitra was a strong fighter Aizen-sama.' Said the young man, playing with his dagger. 'You won't find another Arrancar with hierro like his.'

'How can you be sure, Ichika?' asked Toden. He looked at the Arrancar through his beady eyes. 'Have you seen every Arrancar?' Ichika sighed.

'I have not. Yet I knew Nnoitra through Tesla. You will not find another like him.' Ichika said simply. Aizen held up his hand.

'Please, Cinco Grande. Let us move onto more pressing matters. Would you do the honours, Gammatra?' he asked the tall man with white hair.

'Fellow Arrancar.' He began his voice similar to that of Jushiro Ukitake. 'You may be aware, the Hogyoku destroyed itself not days ago.' He stated. All eyes were on him.

'That means we no longer have the power of the Orb of Distortion. However, there was another orb created by Urahara Kisuke.' He explained.

The woman lifted her head.

'Kakuyuugou.' She said bluntly. They all looked at her. Aizen smiled.

'Do go on, Kyria.' He said.

'I heard about it from Halibel-sama.' She said. 'The Orb of Fusion.' Gammatra gasped.

'The power to fuse spirit particles?' he asked. Kyria nodded. Toden slammed his hand onto the table.

'Why do we need this? We have the girl! She is all we need!' he exclaimed. 'Are we going to abandon the King's Key then?'

'The King's Key is no longer my first priority. However, we may need to come back to it in the future.' Aizen said simply, closing his eyes.

'But what of the Shinigami? What are they to think?' Toden cried.

'Quieten down!' Yammy roared. Aizen coughed and they were silent, watching him.

'Thank you.' He said quietly, looking up at them all. 'Cinco Grande. The Kakuyuugou is crucial to my plans. I brought you all here today to see if there was any knowledge of it and it seems there was. I am glad.' He smiled. 'We must retrieve it. However at this point in time we do not have a location.' he said.

'The Research team will get on it, Aizen-sama.' nodded Gammatra. Kyria stood up.

'I will see if I can find anything else out from Halibel-sama.' She said. Aizen stood up, grinning.

'Good. If we have the Kakuyuugou, everything will fall into place. You will all soon know of my plans. For now Cinco Grande, continue to be the mind of Las Noches. Continue to make the decisions and choose the options.' He walked around the table and towards the door. He turned to them.

'And make sure you choose them right, friends.' He smiled. 'Karin Kurosaki is but one aspect of my ultimate goal.' He cast the doors open, admiring the view from the large glass window on the opposite side of the hall.

'Also, if anything about Kurosaki Ichigo arises, make sure it comes to me. Now that we have his sister, we cannot be sure of what he will do. Yammy, return to Ulquiorra for training. I will hold another meeting in the near future. For now, Cinco Grande, farewell.' He said softly, before leaving the room, and turning down the hallway.