As morning arrived, the sunlight shone through Ichigo's room's widows on top of the shinigami boy's face. Making him mumble in discomfort, before opening his eyes.

'Huh…so it's morning already, eh?' Ichigo tiredly said as he got out of his pajamas, took a nice long shower, into himself into his Quincy uniform, and headed downstairs to the kitchen, wondering what strange alternate-world scenario he would have to deal with today.

However, when he arrived there, he was greeted by another alternate counterpart of one of his friends.

Uryu Ishida.

He dressed in the standard Sternritter uniform with a white trench coat, belt, buckle, pants, and shoes. But it also looked much more decorative than most other uniforms the elite Quincy wore. Likely to show off his higher status among them. It had a star emblem on the right side of the shirt, a black cape hung around his shoulders, and a golden chain hung over the left side of his chest. While still having the same comb blue hair and thin time glasses that Ichigo recognized.

'Good morning Kurosaki' Uryu greeted while he sat at the house table and ate a piece of butter toast and Ichigo, though he should have expected something like this. He couldn't help but be surprised by his alternate friend's sudden presence.

'Uh hello, Ishida' Ichigo greeted awkwardly.

'Oh, come, Ichigo, don't be rude; this is your lifetime companion who rarely visits us anymore' Masaki scowled at her son, who turned his head away in embarrassment.

'Oh, don't be so harsh on him Ms. Kurosaki, after all. Due to my duties as the white prince and as successor to the grandmaster of the holy kingdom. It is only natural that we don't see each other that often' he pointed out evenly and then took another bite from his toast.

'So, I believe that a nice little outing to the soul society should make up for a lost time.'

Masaki then beamed her face up. 'That is an excellent idea, Uryu. Do you think so, too, Kurosaki? I mean, you can even see your two sisters again!'

Ichigo remained silent as he took in everything his alternate mother and Ishida said.

'A visit to the soul society of this world would be interesting, and seeing what my two sisters are up to would be a double bonus on top of that….' Ichigo, however, then shot a look of concern as he then turns his eyes at Ishida. 'However, I can expect that there is more to this than just a friendly outing. Properly having something to do with me dealing with Grimmjow'

But then the hybrid shrugged. 'Eh, whatever, it's not like I have anything better to do here'

'Sure, let's do that' Ichigo agreed bluntly. At the same time, Uryu pushed up his glasses and gave his peer a look of bemusement.

Meanwhile...

Within the desert sands of Hueco Mundo, It was by law and nature that the strong devoured the weak and the weak followed the strong. But none in the realm's history could have held the title of the strongest as so absolute as Baraggan Louisenbairn.

As a Vasto lord who governs senescence, the great hollow king made all of Hueco Mundo his palace. The menos forest served as his garden, the endless white desert above his playground, and the night sky itself made into his ceiling when he turned the moon from a crescent white to full blood red.

Then lying below the moon was the palace of Las Noches. A gigantic colosseum that stretched for dozens of miles on end served as his throne and where all his subjects live and kneel before it.

Thus naturally, within the center of the Palace of The Night Barragan sat on a central throne that stood above all those that followed him.

The Hollow King himself took the appearance of an aged man draped in leather armor and wore a fur cape connected by a golden chain draped over his shoulders and arms. Along with his broken mask fragments that stick out over his head like a makeshift crown.

Beneath him was his army of Arrancars, all of who vary in size, appearance, and shape. Yet every one of them held great and terrible power. But soon, they backed themselves away in the presence of one that stood above almost all of them—all the while bowing towards his lord.

'Ulquiorra Cifer...' Barragan muttered in an even yet cold tone. 'Tell me...how did the test run of the Segunda Etapa unfold?'

The pale Espada then raises his head. 'It exceeded all exceptions, your majesty. For its power was more than enough to overwhelm Bambietta Basterbine in single combat. Unfortunately, during the conflict, we lost the 10th Espada Grandfisher to an agent of an xcuation. While Grimmjow himself was defeated by Ichigo Kurosaki despite him using his Segunda Etapa.'

Barragan then grumbled. 'Grandfisher's loss was unexpected but hardly a concern' He then focuses his eyes on Cifer. 'What I want to know is how Ichigo could have defeated Grimmjow. Considering that he should be more than match a match for him now'

Ulquiorra stood silent for a moment and nodded. ' Very well...' the pale Espada then plucked out one of his eyeballs, crushed it in his hands, and shattered its remains across the rest of the court. Enabling them to see the events of Ichigo and Grimmjow's fight themselves.

'As you can see,' Clifer narrated as the scene played out before their eyes. 'Kurosaki was able to battle evenly against Grimmjow until he exploited the latter's lack of control over his power' The scene then switches to Ichigo unleashing his Getusha Jushiro and cutting down the 5th Espada 'However, he was only able to do so by channeling another power within himself' the stoic man then narrowed his eyes. 'The power of a Shinigami...that is untainted by sin.'

The rest of the Arrancar immediately mumbled in confusion and concern before Barragan raised his right hand to silence them.

'Untainted by sin, eh?' the Hollow King questioned amusingly. 'Well, that is certainly interesting, knowing the history of that race.'

Ulquiorra nodded 'Indeed your highness however, the most concerning thing to report isn't even that...it's the fact that Ichigo was holding back the vast majority of that Shinigami power when he defeated Grimmjow'

Barragan then widened his eyes in surprise upon hearing what the fourth Espada said. 'So this brat has suddenly become that powerful?' He thought as he folded his hands. 'But even then, that doesn't make any sense. From the latest reports, I have gathered from my spies. Kurosaki, has never once shown unlocking with this new Shinigami power of his, let alone training and honing it, and yet...'

The old Vasto lord then analyzed the images in his eyes once again before they faded away.

'Whoever this Kurosaki is. He is likely an imposter. Perhaps a mod soul of some sort...' he pondered but shook his head. 'But even so, that wouldn't explain his taintless Shingmai powers. So he is likely something else entirely.'

Barragan then let out a sigh. 'No matter, he concluded while leaning back in his chair. 'For there are more important things to worry about from this child than just his origin.'

'Ulquirroa...' the king called, and the Espada stood up. 'Is any way to properly estimated just how much this Ichigo was holding back aside beyond just saying the majority?' he questioned. 'Because I want to know how much of a threat this boy is to my war effort'

'I am afraid it would be nothing more than speculation, your majesty,' The pale man answered dejectedly. 'Given how much he suppresses it. I am afraid we will only get a true estimate of his power by forcing him to release it fully.'

Barragan stared at Clifer for a bit before nodding.

'So it seems...very well,' He said before stepping off his throne. ' I will organize a hunting party to the world of the living to determine how powerful this...Ichigo is in to further test out the Segunda Etapa among the other Espada'

The ancient hollow then stared up at the moon. 'Either way, I will know exactly what my men and I are up against.'