Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom or Bleach.

Legend:

"Someone is talking."

'Someone is thinking.'

"A technique is being used."

While Danny and his friends were battling the Ghosts of Amity, the rest of the Spiritual World did not stand idle. Already events were occurring that would alter the wheels of fate forever.

Chapter 16: Interlude

Inside the main building of Las Noches was a room that everyone knew about but few were allowed to enter. This was because that this place was the fabled meeting hall where the Espada gathered when their leader summoned them. If you were allowed inside the room then you could see that it was enormous. The walls and ceiling seemed to stretch towards the sky and were a dark blue color while the floor was composed out of numerous dark-purple tiles. In the middle of the room was a lengthy, silver table at the foot of a large throne, this was where the Espada sat when their lord Aizen called upon them.

Currently sitting within the high-backed, dark-blue chairs around this table were the current generation of the Espada, bar the Tercera Espada since she was on a mission. Their leader, Sōsuke Aizen sat upon his throne as he watched everyone within the room. What surprised the Espada was the fact that all of the Privaron Espada were also in attendance, something that had never happened before.

"Welcome ladies and gentlemen…" Aizen greeted with a small incline of his head. "Before I call this meeting to order, I would like us all to drink some tea."

Aside from Aizen, everyone in the room grimaced; including the two Shinigami traitors besides him. They had all tasted Aizen's so-called 'tea' numerous times in their careers and it wasn't a drink that they wanted to have again. In fact, the Privaron Espada had thought that they would never have to taste it again which was the only bonus that was given to them when they were demoted. At this point most of the inhabitants in the room began to envy the missing Tereca, since she wasn't there to suffer along with them and drink Aizen's tea.

On the other hand if they didn't drink the 'tea' they would offend Dios Aizen, and that was something that they didn't need. So, they swallowed their distaste and disgust of the drink before them and choked down the nasty concoction.

Finished with his own tea, Aizen placed his cup down on the table. "Now, wasn't that nice?" He waited until each of his pawns had murmured their agreement before he frowned, getting into his serious mode. "The reason that I have called you all here is because I have realized that, while you are all are of better quality than the standard Shinigami, I have not organized you to maximize your strength."

This admission caused the most of the Arrancar in the room to look at each other with shock or speak out their confusion. Having helped bring them to this level of power, Dios Aizen should've known that such an admission was a sign of weakness on his part. In fact, if they didn't know that he could probably wipe the floor with them, that admission could have led some of them to try and end his life. Luckily, they knew better than to do that.

"Now, now, everyone... calm down." Aizen said after a moment of listening to his underlings chatter. In an instant, everyone straightened in their seats and shut up, not wanting to inflict Aizen's wrath upon themselves. "To overcome this blatant oversight on my part, I have begun to create 'branches' of our army. These branches include a Science Division, a Medical Division, an Exploration Team, and an Infiltration Squad."

It was at that point that the two figures standing behind Aizen's throne-like chair took a step forward, becoming visible to the occupants of the room as their forms came into the light.

The first figure had his eyes narrowed into slits, pale skin, and chin-length silver hair. He was wearing a long white robe over his normal Shinigami hakama along with black tabi with white waraji. The hilt of his Zanpakutō was visible sticking out from under the robe through the opening down to his waist. He was Gin Ichimaru, the traitorous Taichō of the Gotei 13's 3rd Division.

The second was a man with dark skin and had his hair done up in dark-brown braids. He was wearing a white, sleeveless coat over black hakama, white boots, longer gloves, a band-like visor over his sightless eyes, and an orange rope coming from his right shoulder running across his chest to under his left arm. With this outfit, he carries his Zanpakutō in a loose grip in his white gloved hand. This man was Kaname Tōsen, the traitorous Taichō of the Gotei 13's 9th Division.

Tōsen turned his blind gaze towards Szayel Aporro Grantz, the Octava Espada and leader of the Science Branch. "Szayel while you have already have a functional science division, Aizen-sama has decided to expand it so that you will have a lesser amount of work to do and can focus on the things that he needs you to create." Then, seeing Szayel about to interrupt, he continued on. "Do not worry, those helping you will not be inadequate as Aizen-sama has personally trained both of them."

"While I am grateful that Dios Aizen wants to help my division, I believe I can oversee it on my own." Szayel remarked in a semi-polite tone which was marred by the angry frown on his face.

"Szayel..." Szayel froze as the full force of Aizen's Reiatsu came to rest upon him, the sheer pressure of it all making him gasp before he began to choke. Aizen watched his pawn squirm for a bit before he lifted his Reiatsu, allowing him to take in deep lungful's of air. "Let that be a warning to you, Szayel. You do not question my orders. You have no say in who I put into your division."

With that Aizen made a small gesture to the entrance of the room as the doors to the meeting hall slid open and two new Arrancar walked in.

The first of the Arrancar was a middle-aged man that had silvery-brown hair, a brown mustache, black eyes, and cream-colored skin. He was wearing lab-coat over the standard Arrancar outfit as well as a pair of black boots. His mask fragment took the form of a white monocle that was placed over his right eye while his Zanpakutō took the form of a fountain pen that was tucked into the pocket protector of his coat.

The second Arrancar was a teenaged boy with medium length curly red hair, blue eyes, and pale skin. His outfit consisted of an ankle-length buttoned up lab-coat, black boots, and purple gloves. His mask fragment took the form of white glasses with thin gray lenses in between them. His Zanpakutō took the form of a large silver wrench that was strapped to the side of his pants.

Tōsen nodded his head in greeting to the two Arrancar, "These will be your fellow co-leaders of your science division Szayel. They are Genio—" The mustached Arrancar inclined his own head. "—and Dexter." The red-haired Arrancar frowned.

"I don't..." Szayel slowly said as he glared at the two Arrancar from underneath his pink bangs. "Need help managing my division. As a perfect individual, I don't need it. I can manage my own division by myself!"

Dexter tilted his head to the side at Szayel's declaration, "You are a 'perfect being'? That's quite an assumption you have there..." The lenses of his glasses glinted as he lowered his head. "I mean, assuming that you are perfect makes you imperfect since perfection leads to stagnation. This will be detrimental to your division as stagnation leads to no new scientific discoveries." He 'hmmed' in thought. "Maybe you're not a scientist after all..."

"Now, now—" Genio began in a thick German accent, trying to defuse the situation.

"How dare you, you little **!" Szayel roared, jumping up from his seat with murder in his eyes. "How dare you accuse me of not being a scientist!?I have discovered and invented more in my short time as an Arrancar then you will your entire life!"

"I have serious doubts about that for I am Dexter, boy genius, and my intellect is far beyond your own." Dexter said as he folded his arms in front of his chest, his tone was a bit smug.

"I'll kill you!" Szayel, who was well beyond his breaking point, shouted before he drew his Zanpakutō and vanished within a burst of Sonido. He then appeared directly above Dexter with his Zanpakutō poised to strike. "I'll kill you, you little **!"

Dexter's eyes widened in slight alarm as the sword descended towards him. Dexter now began to realize that he may have taken things way too far with Szayel. However before Szayel could decapitate him, Szayel's sword was blocked by another. Tōsen's robes slowly fluttered from the sudden movement as the man was radiating no small amount of disappointment and distaste for the Arrancar in front of him.

"That is enough, Szayel." Tōsen warned with an angry frown. "As Aizen-sama said, you have no say in this matter. Genio and Dexter will become your equals in the science division and you will get along with them. You shall do nothing to hurt them or experiment on them. If you do, then I'll personally see to your punishment myself."

Szayel scowled before he reluctantly walked back over to his chair. Tōsen then dismissed Genio and Dexter, telling them that an Arrancar outside of the room would lead them to the labs of the science division.

"Well!" Gin clapped his hands together, turning his head to view those still in the room with his fox-like grin. "I guess that I should tell ya all 'bout the Exploration Squad, hm?" Suddenly, he spun around before he pointed at one of the Espada. "You'll be leading 'em, Aaroniero Arruruerie!"

Aaroniero Arruruerie was a tall Arrancar that was wearing a dress garb that covered his entire body as opposed to the normal jacket and hakama that most other Arrancar wore. He was also wearing a frilly, white nobles' coat that acted as his replacement jacket with a single white gentleman's glove. The odd thing about him was the fact that his face was covered with an elongated white mask that had eight holes on it.

"Hm. An 'Exploration Team'?" Aaroniero asked in slight interest.

Aizen nodded his head, "Yes. You will be leading a team to further explore Huceo Mundo, since we only know a small fraction of its geography. Not only will you map it, you will also bring back Hollows that catch your interest or that you believe can further help our army." He leaned his chin onto his interlaced fingers. "Is that acceptable?"

"Of course, Dios Aizen."

"Very well, Aaroniero. I will leave to you your choice of recruits for this division but... I would also recommend that you allow Cirucci Sanderwicci to join your division, as she would be able to provide aerial support."

Cirucci perked up at the mention of her name. 'I can't believe that Dios Aizen personally recommended me for one of these new branches, especially one that could very well turn into one of the most important ones...' Turning in her chair, she gave Aaroniero a small nod. "If you'll have me, I'll give you my very best.

"Your skills would be very appreciated, Cirucci." Aaroniero responded to the Privaron Espada.

"Good. Now, onto the next branch that I am assembling; the medical corps. As the reason why we need medics is so blatantly obvious, I won't bore you with the details..." Aizen paused for a moment. "The leader of this division will be Victor." One of the Privaron Espada was startled in his seat. "—He shall be in charge of recruiting Arrancar to the Medic Corps, as well as training them into sufficient medics."

"Why do we even need a Medic Corps anyway?" An Arrancar with short and messy, sky-blue hair and eyes questioned with a challenging smirk. "I mean, our Hierro prevents most attacks from even touching us!" He paused before glaring at one of the other Arrancar in the room. "And we can regenerate the wounds that we do receive."

"Didn't I just say that it was 'blatantly obvious', Grimmjow?" Aizen asked with an annoyed glare. "You fail to understand that there are people that can cut through your Hierro and damage your bodies. Even with your regeneration, it won't matter if your internal organs were damaged or destroyed." He tilted his chin, "Would you care for me to demonstrate, Grimmjow?"

With his eyes widened with fear Grimmjow fell back into his seat with an almost unnoticeable shake of his head. This seemed to appease Aizen, if only for now, who then turned towards Victor and asked him if he felt up to the task of leading the Medic Corps.

Victor was an Arrancar with slicked-back black hair with three strands hanging over his right eye. Like most lower-ranked Arrancar, he was wearing the standard Arrancar uniform but he had modified it into a surgeon's uniform. The only other thing of note about him was the numerous stiches all over his body and the two, bolt-like mask fragments on his neck. His Zanpakutō took the form of a small scalpel, which glinted in the dim light as he fiddled with it.

Victor bowed to Aizen in gratitude. "Thank you Dios Aizen. I shall not disappoint you."

"I'm sure that you won't because, if you do, I will be most displeased with you, Victor..." Aizen replied with a minor dose of his Reiatsu to get his point across; if Victor disappointed him, he death was assured. "Gin?"

"Oh, is it my turn 'gain? Well, here goes nothin'..." Gin muttered to himself. "The next team will be a special 'ivison of the Medic Corps... ta Poison Squad... When Aizen-sama attacks the Gotei, tis squad will go and poison several sectors of the Rukongai, so as ta distract the Shinigami... They'll also useful in dealing wit counteractin' and developin' new poisons." He grinned. "Ta leader of this division will be little Loly Aivirrne-chan."

At the sound of her name, Loly Aivirrne looked up from her place next to Dios Aizen, eyes widening before she blushed. 'Yes, yes, yes! Gin must've told Dios Aizen about the time when he stumbled on me practicing with my Resurrección!' She sighed internally, picturing Aizen looking at her with a warm smile. 'I'll make you proud and then—' She closed her eyes and squealed a fangirl squeal.

"And the final branch that Aizen-sama is creating will be the Infiltration Squad. This squad will have two goals; to thoroughly infiltrate the Rukongai so to allow the Poison Squad entry points into it and to infiltrate the Human World. Like it or not, we will have to be using stolen Human supplies until we can manage to produce them on our own." Tōsen said solemnly. "The leader of this division will be Anguila Cielo."

From within the shadows a form materialized, revealing it to be a female Arrancar, this was Angulia Cielo. Anguila Cielo was an Arrancar with dark skin, short dark-brown hair, and orange-colored eyes. She was wearing the standard outfit that all Arrancar wore, though the sleeves of her jacket appeared to have been ripped off. Like the absent Tercera Espada, Anguila's mask fragment took form as a mask over the lower half of her face, though it also covered the bottom of her ears. Her Zanpakutō took form as a long dueling sword that was strapped to the right side of her hip.

"Thank you for this opportunity, Dios Aizen." Anguila said softly in a low monotone voice.

"You're welcome, Anguila." Aizen responded before he began to stand from his chair. "You will find packets regarding what I expect from each division in each of your chambers..." Pausing, he addressed everyone in the room one last time. "I expect each division up, running, and preforming to my expectations within a three month period." Gin and Tōsen fell in behind him as he began to walk towards the exit.

"You're all dismissed."

XXXXXX

(Las Noches—Science Labs—Szayel's Lab)

"How dare that little brat?" Szayel howled as he threw one of the numerous beakers around him towards the wall. When the beaker hit, it shattered before its contents exploded in a green flame. "Saying that he was more intelligent than me!" He slammed his fists on down on the counter, creating dents in the metal.

For the next five minutes, Szayel vented his frustration and rage by destroying everything around him. When he was done, hundreds of glass shards lay scattered over the floor, mixing with the numerous multi-colored liquids that were once within them.

Now more calm, rational thought began returning to the pink-haired Espada. "... I'll prove to that little ** that I am the better scientist. Then after I've made him admit it..." His eyes flashed. "I'll kill him."

"Lumina! Verona!" Szayel called out to his Fracción.

At his call, two short and obese Arrancar emerged from the shadows. He pointed towards the mess on the floor and told them to clean it up before he turned his back on them. He knew that Lumina and Verona had enough competency to at least clean up but, even if they reacted negatively with the chemicals on the floor, he could always make more of them.

Right now though, he needed to start working on something that would show that inferior 'scientist' how wrong he was.

XXXXXX

(Seireitei—The Shinigami Research and Development Institute)

Within his own personal lab, one could find Mayuri Kurotsuchi standing before a computer screen with a slight frown on his face. On the screen were a number of small boxes, each of them holding the verbal reports that Murasaki had sent over his Denreishinki.

Over the past two weeks, he had begun to grow suspicious of these reports. And today he had discovered that while the reports were indeed spoken by Murasaki, they seemed to be on a loop. The center 'themes' of this loop seemed to be 'low Hollow activity' or 'no sign of the Hollow'.

'Which is a blatant lie of course. Did whoever must be controlling Murasaki think that I wasn't going to continue monitoring Amity Park?' Shaking his head, he snorted. 'The fools! Why would I not monitor the city? It's a good thing that I have done so, or else I wouldn't have noticed the continuing amounts of Reiatsu that escape from the town.'

What was special about the readings that Mayuri had discovered is that, at times, they fluctuated. Sometimes his division's Reiatsu and Reiryoku-detecting equipment detected nothing abnormal while at other times his equipment detected a noticeable amount of Hollow and non-Hollow Reiatsu. Further study and comparison of these samples showed that the town's level of Reiryoku never wavered, meaning that there was one Hollow living in a town that was rich in foreign Reiryoku.

This could only mean that there actually was a Hollow in Amity Park and was somehow controlling Murasaki to send in false reports. Further study of the non-Hollow Reiatsu that his equipment had detected led him to an amazing discovery; it didn't match a Hollow, Shinigami, Quincy, or a Human. It was different. Unique even.

"Hehehehhehehehehehehe... I can't wait until I can send Nemu out there to get some samples..." Mayuri snickered with an enormous grin on his face. "It'll be fun to discover all about the non-Hollow thing that's in Amity Park..." A thought hit him then which caused him to frown. " I can't let him know or else he'll try and stop me. Hmph. He's better off knowing without anyways..."

But that thought also brought into the question of how he would be able to get to Amity Park without anybody noticing. It would be extremely odd and suspicious if one of the Taichō or fukutaichō of the Gotei 13 left for a small uninteresting town and he couldn't risk them finding out what he was doing.

'What to do. What to do…Aha! I know. While I and Nemu wouldn't be able to go, there is another way that I can get the data that I need.'

Recently, he had developed a non-painful and invasive germs that, when placed in living tissue, would continuously send him information regarding the tissue. Among this information was data about the specimen's temperature, overall health, its 'mood', and basic information on what the specimen was doing at the time. If he could put these germs into a small robot or even a nanobot, then he would be to find and then 'infect' the Hollow and non-Hollows of Amity Park.

And, once he did that, he would be able to learn everything about them. "Hehehehehehheheehehhe." He chuckled as he began pressing a series of buttons on his computer. "... Enjoy the peace that you have had so far my newest experiment, because it won't last long..."

XXXXXX

(Illinois—Amity Park—Sensei's Dōjō)

Near the Amity Park mall, just past one of the more high traffic areas of the town, was a fairly unnoticeable building that housed a very important individual. This bullring was Sensei's Dōjō and belonged to the local karate master of Amity Park, Sensei.

The building itself was two stories in height and painted a rich brown with the words 'Sensei's Dōjō' five feet above the glass doorways. The inside of the dōjō had tan walls and floors, with the floors having dark-brown walkways separating the room into two neat halves for the students. In the front of the room was a slightly raised platform in which Sensei usually stood.

Currently on the floor of the dojo were about thirty students of multiple ages dressed in white Karate Gi's and belts of varying colors. Their eyes were locked on Sensei as he led them through their session, each of them copying what he did to the best of their abilities.

Sensei himself was a somewhat short man with salt-and-pepper colored hair. He had two different colored eyes but this was not due to genetics; his left eye was a dark brown color while his right was milky white with a long, thin scar over it. He was wearing a white Karate Gi with a black belt wrapped around his waist and thin sandals on his feet. Most of his attention was on the student's in front of him as he closely watched them cycle through their kata's but a small portion of his mind was contemplate on one of his missing student's, Danny Fenton.

At the moment, Sensei was just wrapping up his last session of the day so with some final words of wisdom Sensei dismissed his students and started walking into the back of the building. As he walked into the back room of his dojo, he contemplated the mystery of his missing student. While he knew that Danny had a pretty hectic schedule, even more so than the average teenager, he also knew that Danny had never missed practice before today. And, considering all the recent spiritual activity in the area, that said a lot to the gravity of the situation at hand.

"I'd thought that would never end..." A voice seemed to say from out of nowhere.

At the sound of the voice, Sensei whirled around only to see a miniature vortex of sand had appeared in the middle of his office. The sand collapsed in on itself and began to assume into a figure that Sensei knew all-too well; the Ghost known as Cinq.

Sensei inclined his head to the ghost, "What do I owe the pleasure of your appearance… my friend?"

"The nature of your missing student; Danny Fenton. I'd thought that you'd like to know where he is..." Cinq trailed off at the end, putting a finger to the edge of his mask. "That is... if you want to know what happened to him..."

"Where is my student Cinq?" Sensei asked, his tone as cold as ice.

"Technus has left the Ghost Zone and has captured him. From what I've gathered, he's planning to use Danny to empower one of his machines." Cinq said informatively to the old man.

Sensei's eyes narrowed in anger at what he was told, "I'm going to go save my student Cinq?"

"No. You need not worry about Danny Fenton Sensei. Right now his two Human friends along with a Ghost that he's recently befriended are storming Technus' temporary Headquarters." He paused for a moment as if in thought. "And they're about to awaken their true potential and powers."

"... They have powers?" Sensei asked.

Cinq looked at him for a moment, "Of course they do, Sensei. Not in the same group as the ones that you developed. But then again, your parents never encountered a Hollow. Let alone survived an attack made by a Hollow when your mother was pregnant."

Sensei didn't say anything right away. Instead, he turned around and stared at the outfit that was hanging on a mannequin that was standing behind his desk. The outfit itself consisted of a series of brown, kimono-like robes over one another, a wide-brimmed straw hat, white obi, white tabi socks, and geta. All in all, it was just a traditional monk's outfit but to Sensei it represented a whole life that he chose to live.

"I never wanted to put any of my students in danger..." He turned to Cinq before his eyes narrowed. "If Danny and his friends get hurt or... worse... and I could have prevented it, I will have your head."

Cinq didn't verbally respond to Sensei's anger but by the minor fluctuation of his ectoplasm indicated that he understood what he was saying. He merely inclined his head towards Sensei, acknowledging his words, before his body began to dissipate into countless sand particles. Soon the sand itself vanished into thin air, leaving Sensei alone in his office.

XXXXXX

(Southeastern Wyoming—Amtrak Train Station)

Sitting in the Amtrak station on the very edge of Wyoming were three very familiar Arrancar who were waiting for their Dama Harribel. Tier was purchasing the tickets for their next train ride as the three Fracción watched over their luggage. The area that they were currently sitting was fairly quiet and out of the ways of the normal traffic of the station. This was fine with the three of them since none of them wanted to have to deal with the Humans at this point.

The reason for their increased agitation, even more so than normal, was because each one of them knew that their mission was taking too long. While they knew that it was necessary to remain in their Gigai so that the Soul Society wouldn't be able to detect them, it made the mission that much harder to complete. It didn't help that the Arrancar they had been sent out to find seemed to be countless states away from where they had first appeared in the Human World, leaving them to use Human transportation to track him/her down as to not attract the attention of the local Shinigami.

"If I have to spend one more night hunting for that god-damned Arrancar..." Apacci growled as she laid sprawled out on the bench.

Sung-Sun raised a delicate eyebrow at Apacci, "You'll do what, exactly? You know that Dios Aizen wants this Arrancar and, if we don't return with it, he'll be most displeased with us..." Both Mila Rose and Apacci shivered at the thought of displeasing Aizen. "While Dama Harribel might escape with a light punishment, what do you think will happen to us?"

Even though they knew the answer to Sung-Sun's question, neither Mila Rose or Apacci responded. If they failed this mission, Dama Harribel could get demoted or even be made into a Privaron Espada. They on the other hand, weren't that powerful individually and were therefore expendable to Dios Aizen. He could decide to end their lives at any moment and he would if they gave him enough reason to.

"Come on you three." Tia's voice snapped all of them out of their morbid thoughts. Looking up, they saw Tia standing in front of them, bag slung over her shoulder, with four tickets in her hand. "I have the tickets; let's go."

"Of course, Dama Harribel." All three of the Fracción replied.

Tia frowned at the response of her Fracción, "I thought I told you three not to call me that on this mission. In the Human World, especially here, for you to address me with such honor when I only appear a few years older than you."

"We understand... Da- Tier—"

"No, for the course of this mission, I would prefer if you didn't address me as 'Tier'..." Dama Harribel interrupted. "I would prefer if you addressed me as Tia from now on." Looking at them, her usually ice-cold gaze softened. "You three have stood at my side for numerous decades and have helped me out on numerous occasions. You can call me Tia because I consider you all my trusted comrades."

Apacci, Sung-Sun, and Mila Rose were gob smacked. While they had always known that their Dama had cared for and protected them, they hadn't known that she considered them her trusted comrades, their Dama's way of saying friend. To hear that from her moved them greatly, bringing them to the verge of tears.

However, before any of them could speak out, a nearby device began blaring. Apacci, Sung-Sun, and Mila Rose's eyes widened at the familiar sound while Tia quickly retrieved it from her pocket and silenced it. She then flipped it open as a picture of the US appeared on the screen. The screen then zoomed inwards before a red circle appeared around the middle and upper regions of Illinois. "Our target is releasing enough Reiatsu that his coordinates have just become clear."

Apacci jumped up from her seat, punching her fist. "Yes!"

"So, we can finally complete this mission?" Sung-Sun asked Tia.

"I suppose we could... if we could use Sonido." Tia said with a small frown. "It seems that our target is in the state of Illinois." The joyous faces of her three Fracción faded at this realization, and for good reason. "At our current speed, it would take days for us to reach our target."

Apacci was stunned, "But... We can't let him get away from us! Not now! The signal has never been this strong before!"

"I'm afraid that we have no choice but to Apacci..." Tia said, frowning. "Like I said, we would have to use Sonido to get there... something we cannot use without risk of the Soul Society detecting us." She looked away from Apacci, "And even with Sonido there is no guarantee that we will reach the target before it decides to move again."

"But... This is the first time the signal has been so clear! What if the target is in trouble?" Apacci asked in desperation. "All this time, the target has been safe and we couldn't get a good read on it... but now its releasing so much energy that we have gotten a reading on it!"

Tia's frown grew, "It has occurred to me that may be the case but we cannot simply reveal our presence based on something that is true or not. If we did, Soul Society would detect us and come down on us full-force."

"... Tia..." Sung-Sun said, obviously uncomfortable with addressing her superior so, so informally. "What if we could use Sonido without the Soul Society detecting us... Anakonda has recently taught me... a variation of Muda that I could cloak us with..."

Hearing this, both Mila Rose and Apacci became a bit skeptical. 'Muda' was a technique that Sung-Sun could use after shedding her skin which would then cover her and those around her within a dome. Because of the barrier of sensory-blocking Reiatsu and optic camouflage her skin provided, those within the dome would concealed and invisible. However, because of this, Muda was known as a stationary technique.

So, what could Sung-Sun's Anakonda have taught her to make it useable in this situation? "It is called Camuflaje Óptico." Sung-Sun began to explain, looking down. "It would allow me to cloak us in a barrier that would prevent Soul Society from detecting us... though, to do this, we won't be camouflaged as if I used Muda."

"That's stupid then! What use is that if we could be seen?" Apacci spat out.

"I wasn't finished." Sung-Sun retorted with a brief glare before she looked towards Dama Harribel. "If we used Sonido or even Chōkasoku, then our movements will be blurred enough so that no one will be able to see us, let alone identify us."

There was a brief pause, "Why have you never mentioned this ability before, Sung-Sun?"

"Like I said, I've only recently learned it from Anakonda..." Sung-Sun said before she sighed. "Also, there is one more draw back; I can only use Camuflaje Óptico for a time based at the speed I'm travelling at. Meaning that, the faster I go, the less time I'll be able to use it."

"I see..." Tia muttered, eyebrows scrunched together as she thought on what to do. "... Pick up your bags and follow me..." As her three obeyed, she spared Sung-Sun a look. "We'll be using Chōkasoku so we'll be able to extend the duration of time in which you can use your Camuflaje Óptico."

The three Fracción cheered—well, Mila Rose and Apacci cheered—at this. Tia had agreed to use Sung-Sun's new technique to get to the Arrancar! Their mission would soon be complete.

XXXXXX

(Unknown Location)

In a darkened room, a single robed figure could be seen sitting upon a throne though it appeared to be asleep if the deep steady breathing was any indication. Grumbling to itself, the figure shifted around before it eyes snapped open revealing a pair of silver eyes. The figure seemed to stare off into space for a second before a cruel smirk spread across its face. With a snap of its fingers an orb of white fire was created within its palm which the figure then stared into deeply.

"So, everything is starting to come together, is it? It seems the wheels of fate are finally in motion..." The figure mused aloud to itself.

With another snap of its fingers the orb of flame flew from its grasp and expanded to become a roaring inferno of white flame. After a bit the fires died down and revealed an ornate chess set. On this set were numerous chess pieces of varying color, though all were made out of fire. The figure then watched as one of the pieces on its side moved forward with an amused expression on its face.

Techniques:

1. Muda (Molting): A technique in which Cyan Sung-Sun sheds her skin, which then proceeds to envelop a dome-shaped area around her, rendering the space invisible and concealing those within. It works through a combination of optic camouflage and a barrier of Reiatsu that blocks sensory abilities.

2. Camuflaje Óptico (Optical Camouflage): A moving variation of Sung-Sun's Muda. The name of this technique is ironic sense it sacrifices Muda's optical camouflage in exchange for keeping the sensory-blocking Reiatsu barrier while moving. The duration in which this technique can be used depends on the speed that Sung-Sun is travelling at.