Kaito was strolling when he spotted the library nearby which peaked his interest since he hadn't been to the library ever. His time as a soul meant that he was always trying to use combat strategies and quick solutions to try dealing with the situation in front of him. Realizing that he could always have a better chance at surviving with information beforehand he decided that he would check out the library, also it was going to be beneficial for him to read up on some material anyway since he had to still learn a few more things before he would consider himself informed enough to graduate. At least if anything, increasing his knowledge of the world around him he could come up with answers that would be more diverse in their efficiency to accomplish the desired goal. It was this kind of training that he liked the most out of all the different training he could be doing since it required the least amount of physical work.

Sighing with relief Kaito walked into the library not really knowing what to expect from the place considering that he was still only an academy student, "Excuse me" he said to the librarian in the front desk that was to his immediate right upon his entry of the library. He waved his hand as he sauntered over to her, "I'm new an academy student so what resources am I able to use?" he asked to the lady without much enthusiasm. The lady's eyes fluttered numerous times at his inquiry as if it were something out of the ordinary, "Oh great, looks like I got a winner" he thought as he struggled to keep from rolling his eyes. "Here, you are supposed to look at the basics of hollow information as an academy student" the lady said with a lot of attitude in her voice. He couldn't help, but look at the woman with a look of complete disregard for her life.

Finally he found himself a nice seat with a view that faced him towards the window. He cracked the book open as he tried to see what he could learn, "Chapter 1: What is a hollow" and Kaito couldn't help, but to chuckle at the title since he was pretty sure that he had an idea of what a hollow was. The only thing that he needed to know about hollows was that they were negative souls and that they needed to be killed, but as he read on he realized that the book had a lot more to offer than just that basic explanation. "Hollow are a race of creatures which are born from Human souls who, for various reasons, do not cross over to Soul Society after their death and stay in the Human world for too long. They are corrupt spirits with supernatural powers that devour the souls of both living and deceased humans." the book introduced him. Since he was knew he didn't really have that much insight into the ideas and concepts behind hollows and their origins.

He nodded his head in agreement as he read the rest of the chapter, "The majority of ghosts peacefully move on to the Soul Society after their deaths. Some, however, stay in the living world to fulfill certain goals, such as looking after a loved one, protecting a particular location, or pursuing a grudge from beyond the grave" he read which made sense to him since now that he thought about it. Even though it didn't give him direct combat battle strategy it gave him insight into the psychology of the hollow mind. "However, with only limited abilities to interact with the living, and by definition tied to their goals, many ghosts find they are unable to cope when their loved ones move on or old enemies forget them. At this point, some will become dangerously obsessed with fulfilling those goals, even if the means to fulfill them renders the soul empty: for example, killing anyone who comes near a loved one, in order to keep them from hurting that person. In doing so, the ghost warps into a hollow and, ironically, often makes the focus of their obsession into their first victim." he kept reading, moving to the next part of the chapter as he prepared to learn something more.

There was a throbbing in his eyes probably from reading too much so he took a break and put his head on the desk, "Man, this was tougher than anything I have had to deal with so far" he complained to himself. Of course there was lots of useful information in the book, but it was just so much stuff to absorb all at once. "I guess I have no choice, but to start reading again" he decided as he started flipping through the pages. "The process by which a soul becomes a hollow usually takes a year, reflected by the length of the soul's chain of fate, which resides in the center of their chest. The Chain of Fate slowly corrodes over time, reflecting the degradation of the soul's ties to the living world." he pondered about the last part trying to understand everything he read. "The process can be accelerated under certain conditions, such as being attacked by a Hollow, giving into extreme despair or through the use of certain spiritual powers. When the chain completely decays, they become a Hollow when a hole opens up on their chest, where the chain was attached" was what the last part of the chapter said. Kaito's eyes glazed over as he lost the ability to maintain focus so he put his head down on the desk so that he could get some sleep.

+2.5 intel

Finally he stirred, his eyes fluttery with sleep, "How long have I been knocked out?" Kaito asked as he rubbed away the drool that had developed in a steady stream from the corner of his mouth. The incandescent lights of the library didn't exactly bring much comfort to his adjustment to the light that had to be made when one wakes up. Shaking his head, he looked outside the library window to see that it was still light outside and that it wasn't as late as he had initially thought it was. He sighed since this also meant that he wouldn't be given the chance to just leave and go to sleep in his bed, "I can't fight the urge to learn" he thought miserably. While he didn't make a big deal out of being stuck reading a book about hollows, Kaito was visibly bummed out as he opened the book and began reading the chapter he had left off on.

"Chapter 2: Behavioral patterns of Hollows and Dealing With a Hollow In A Combat"he read to himself as he tried to learn more about the hollow species that he was destined to fight against. Kaito could tell that it wasn't going to be fun reading these stories despite what he wanted to learn about the evil presences that would inevitable become part of the main reason for his existence. "Once a soul becomes a hollow, it is driven by an eternal and insatiable hunger to devour other souls, living or dead, to fill the void caused by its descent. While their former obsession often becomes their first target, most Hollows will eventually become mindless creatures concerned only with finding the most potent souls to devour. Stronger and more evil hollows are often able to retain some of their intelligence in Hollow form, making them more dangerous than the average hollow." Kaito read on with shock in his eyes as he learned more and more about the creature that had plagued the shinigami race since the very beginning. The horrible origins of a monster unfolded right before his very eyes.

The next sub chapter that Kaito would be reading was focused upon how a shinigami could go about destroying a hollow and a this Kaito's left eyebrow arched ever so slightly as he realized how helpful this chapter could be to him. "I wonder whether there is an easy method to killing such monsters that are beyond rehabilitation" he pondered as he scratched his chin in genuine interest. "Evil souls that vary widely in looks and abilities. Hollows are feared as evil spirits or monsters. Their faces are hidden by strangely shaped masks. These masks are formed to protect the naked instinct that is left in a being after the loss of its heart, and in some ways is the tangible form of the Hollow's madness." This part of the reading disturbed him because he had seen numerous examples of masks and for them to be an example of its madness, Kaito wasn't sure that he could completely kill the hollow without reason to do so, but he read on, "The masks of different hollows can differ greatly in shape and form, but they are always white and skull-like. The masks also obscure the original identity of the hollows. The mask can be shattered, temporarily allowing the Hollow to regain its original identity, but it will regenerate after a short period once the Hollow takes over again."

Kaito stopped here to think about everything that he had learned about the hollow's making and structure, "To think that such a monstrosity could be made naturally..." he wondered to himself as his hair fell over his face messily, "That could have been me as well then..." he realized quickly as he stared at his hand. It bothered him deeply as he stared off into space, wondering just how easily he could have fallen into the madness of a hollow. "Hollows have widely varying physical characteristics and powers, and few of them ever appear the same." Breathing loudly, Kaito continued to read on despite the sick feeling that welled up in his stomach. "In terms of appearance, hollows can range in appearance from furry through lizard-like to outright demonic. Hollows also vary in size, though it tends to be fairly consistent amongst the various classifications of Menos. In Hueco Mundo, some hollows are no larger than common pets. Most common hollows are about twice the size of an adult human, though it can vary to a degree."

Finally Kaito had come to the part that would finally serve his the best throughout the entire ordeal of having to read this book, "That lady really played a sick joke..." he whispered under his breath. Grumpily he looked back into the book to see what it had to say about the proper and most efficient ways were to slay a hollow. "Hollows are usually killed by splitting their mask and head in two, but most wounds that would be fatal for a human will effectively dispatch them. When this is done by a shinigami's zanpakutou, the hollow is not truly killed; its spirit is purified of the sins it committed as a Hollow. This allows the spirit within to enter the Soul Society as a Plus. In cases where a hollow committed great sins as a mortal, its purification will summon the gates of Hell, through which the soul is dragged to its punishment." Reading the latter made Kaito feel better about going around slaying hollows and he decided to end there because he didn't want to read anything that would upset him for the duration of his rest.

+2.5 intel, i think your smarter than Kaiyo now

Huffing to himself as he tried to go over everything that he had learned in his head, "Jesus...hollows are really miserable creatures after all" he thought as he stared at the elaborate library ceiling pictures. He couldn't say that the information that he was learning was useless because the fact of the matter is that in provided Kaito with the information that he had been searching for in order to come up with even more unique combat strategies. What was bothering him was that his own existence had been something of luck or at the very least a roll of the dice, "I could have been a hollow...and then I would be the getting hunted...Living a brutal, violent afterlife" he contemplated. Not knowing what was truly bothering him about what he had just read Kaito decided that he would crack the book open once more for the day and then he would leave so that his brain would be able to get some rest.

Since he had ear marked the page that he had been reading, Kaito knew exactly where to turn so that he could look at the rest of the hollow destruction chapter. He knew that it explained more than just how to kill a hollow so he decided that he would start there and then move on to the other chapters. "...When a hollow is killed by a Quincy, however, it is destroyed, soul and all; presumably, its body becomes spirit particles which disperse afterwards, which has potentially disastrous effects on the spiritual balance of the worlds." At least Kaito could understand why it was more beneficial for shinigami to do the slaying of hollow since in the past he had complained to his teacher that there wasn't any need for shinigami to always be on call since there were humans with extraordinary reiatsu and Quincies to slay hollow as well. He decided to examine the book to see what it said about the effects of hollows being killed by extraordinary humans that weren't Quincy, although he had a guess on what it would say. "The effects of other spiritual powers on Hollows are unknown, partly due to the fact that such occurrences are rare." Although Kaito wasn't satisfied with that answer he realized that it was the truth and it couldn't be helped so he looked at the next topic.

There was an italic that told him to check the index of the book on a strange classification of hollow that he had never heard about, "What the hell is a demi-hollow?" he wondered as he flipped to the back of the book. "A demi-Hollow is an earthbound spirit who is evolving into a Hollow. It usually takes a while for the earthbound spirit to fully transform into a Hollow, but this process can be sped up by forcing the hole in their chest to open. The demi-Hollows are held down by chains, usually to somewhere they consider to be their territory. They are usually only seen when a human steps on their territory and cannot be easily sensed by shinigami." Kaito didn't know what to make of this, but as an academy student it at least helped him in the sense that he would know what he was up against rather than simply running in and hoping that his current power would be enough to overcome a dire situation. While he was glad that he knew this he hated the fact that it seemed almost as if there were an insurmountable amount of dangers that he would have to worry about, which meant more work for him as a shinigami.

Kaito brought his attention back to the book and he was intrigued greatly by the topic of the next chapter, "Chapter 3: Classification of Hollow" it read in big bold letters. Just from basic teachings in class, the highest level of hollow that Kaito knew about was the Gillian class hollow and he was sure that those must be among the strongest of hollow since they were so big and possessed incredible amounts of reiatsu. "Though most Hollows are simply transformed human souls, a sub-group of Hollows known as Menos exist." The chapter started off with nothing that surprised Kaito, "Menos are conglomerations of hundreds of normal Hollows, resulting in a single composite entity of far greater strength than any normal Hollow. Menos are created when the void within an ordinary Hollow's heart becomes so substantial that Human souls are incapable of sustaining it, at which point it begins devouring fellow Hollows. These cannibal Hollows are attracted to one another, and a mass inter-devouring follows, resulting in a Gillian." With this part of the introduction read Kaito was ready to skim over since he was sure that it was simply just a summary of what a Gillian's psychological breakdown was and he could read that in the deeper part of the chapter, but then as he was skimming over the words, something caught his eye.

Kaito's eye widened at what he read, his fingers gripped the table in disbelief as he looked more closely at the print that was after the description of Gillian class Menos, "I-I-Impossible" he said without thinking anything. "Following this transformation, the Gillian can evolve twice more, first into an Adjuchas and finally into a Vasto Lorde, provided certain conditions are met." Kaito couldn't believe he was reading, "Adjuchas? Vasto Lorde?" he mouthed the words as if they were a curse that if said out loud would be unleashed upon him. He read on feverishly trying to understand what exactly he was reading, "Menos evolution is not only contingent upon the Menos eating other Hollows, but also upon the Menos' ability to avoid being eaten. If another Hollow succeeds in devouring even a part of their body, evolution becomes impossible for the one which was wounded this way. Menos-class Hollows are considered so dangerous that Soul Society sends only highly trained shinigami teams to handle them. These incursions seem to be rare, however, as Menos rarely leave Hueco Mundo unless attracted by large sources of spiritual power or encouraged to by other forces." Kaito sat back in his chair, his body covered in a cold sweat as he realized that Gillian were nothing, but the tip of the iceberg. "Just what the hell are they training us to deal with?" he thought as he stared off into space trying to cope with the information that he had learned.

(ooc: yeah, he's really racking up the experience points. Has enough for shikai now.)

+3 intel

Kaito tried to deal with the current knowledge of what he had just read, "There are even stronger things than just Gillian?" he thought as he sat holding his head in his hands. He was sure that his fellow academy students had no idea that such things existed since it wasn't something that he remembered being taught in class. It rocked Kaito to his very core that something like that could even occur since just a Gillian class hollow had to be taken down by a seated officer, "I wonder what the hell could take down an Adjuchas...or even a Vasto Lorde?" he wondered as he raised his head up once again, brushing away the beads of sweat from his forehead. It didn't matter at this point, Kaito would simply push to become strong enough to deal with such things, but before he obtained that strength he needed the knowledge to know exactly how to hit them.

Turning back to the chapter, Kaito looked solemnly down at the book in front of him thinking of how much trouble it was going to be once he became a shinigami. He sighed and turned back to the page that talked about the different levels of the Menos group of hollows. The first level of the Menos hollow was the Gillian, "Well, here I go...this should prove to be troublesome knowledge as well" he thought to himself. "Gillian, also called Menos Grande, are the weakest class of Menos and the first stage of Menos evolution." Upon reading this fact Kaito gulped, "The Weakest Class...?!" he asked himself as he tried to deal with the reality of the situation. "They are giant in comparison to other Hollows, dwarfing even the largest standard Hollows by at least the size of a two-story building, but lack agility and intelligence. They also have long tongues capable of breaking a fellow hollow's mask. While a Gillian-class Menos is quite powerful, they are still much weaker than a shinigami lieutenant. While the last sentence offered a little comfort to Kaito, that still meant than anything less than the second strongest person in a squad might have problems with them, "Well, that's provided that your even at the level of the average lieutenant" he gloomily considered.

Focusing back on the book in front of him, Kaito continued to read the knowledge that seemed to bite at his brain like needless because of how surreal the feeling was to have such knowledge. "Though Gillians usually have no personality to speak of, which makes them dangerous since they have no mind of their own, one of the many Hollows that comprise it might gain control over the new entity, reflected in the unique mask it wears in comparison to a normal Gillian. Only these Gillian variants have the potential to evolve into Adjuchas-class Menos. The evolution is facilitated by the continued cannibalization of fellow Hollows, even other Gillians." Kaito rubbed his hand over his face as he realized that hollow truly were a race based upon brutality and violence. Again the thought of the chances of becoming a hollow were just as good as the chances of being a Plus or shinigami. He touched his own heart, vowing to protect it since it was the gateway that kept him from becoming a monster that lived only for bloodshed, "I can't let my heart be taken away for that is the only difference between us and hollows" he told himself emphatically as he looked down at the book once again.

The next class of the Menos family that Kaito would read about was the Adjuchas class hollow. He had gotten over his shock of there being a hollow class beyond that of a Gillian, but he leaned forward in his chair so that he wouldn't miss a single word about these particular monsters. He wanted to be ready to handle them when the time came, even if it meant that he would have to go against an Adjuchas one on on. "Adjuchas are the middle class of Menos in terms of power, and the second stage in the Menos evolution. Adjuchas can vary radically in appearance, anywhere from bulky humanoids to more animalistic shapes. Unlike the Gillians, they are roughly human-sized though a few could be much bigger. They are also much smarter than the Gillian class, and have the power to challenge a captain. It is also likely they could fight evenly with at least a shinigami lieutenant." Kaito wasn't surprised that just the middle class of hollow would be able to go against hollow; it didn't surprise him that the opponents that they were training to deal with had powers that were just as capable as the powers that resided in Soul Society. Kaito realized that he had been a bit naive in his belief that a hollow could never stand on the same footing as a shinigami, "In terms of combat, hollow may be naturally superior to the shinigami" he observed.

"Adjuchas-class Menos are much smaller in population compared to the Gillian class, due to the rarity of any one Hollow being capable of overwhelming the many other Hollows that comprise the body of a Gillian. Furthermore, the Adjuchas must continue to devour Hollows, or its mind will be absorbed by the other Hollows comprising its form and it will revert back into a Gillian. The subsequent lack of an individual will also preclude the reverted Gillian from becoming an Adjuchas again." That was what the last paragraph on Adjuchas explained and that was enough for Kaito. By the time he had finished reading the last couple of sentences it was night time and he was tired from reading about the horrors of going up against a hollow. One thing that he was glad for was that he now possessed the knowledge to at least comprehend what he was up against even if he didn't have the power to face it. To Kaito there was nothing more dangerous than going against an enemy that you knew nothing about, "Although having power makes people seek out the thrill and rush of fighting a opponent that is equal in strength to them" he noted quietly to himself as he disappeared into the darkness of the night.

It was about 5 in the afternoon and Kaito had just woken up from his slumber from last night. Rubbing his eyes and mouth to clean away any debris that might have been stuck to him from his sleep, "What...what time is it?" Kaito asked even when he knew no one was listening. Suddenly he knew that he was late and that the library was about to close since it closed early on days when the other squads were working on squad communication training, "How could I have overslept?" he said. He quickly threw on his academy uniform so that he could run to the library once again so that he could at least finish the book that he had been reading yesterday. While he was a bit excited for what he was going to learn about today, he was also a bit nervous since the shock of reading about the higher class adjuchas was enough to shock any normal shinigami. Finally he crashed through the library doors and immediately ran to the front desk where the same female librarian was sitting with a smug look on her face, "Can I get that book that you gave me yesterday please?" he asked her. She gave him a snotty look since he looked a bit unkempt because he just woke and gave him the book, "We close in two hours so you should hurry" she said to Kaito's retreating back.

Kaito worked his way to a table that he could sit quietly alone and read the book without any type of interruption. Once he found one that worked, he sat down and quickly turned to the pages where he had left off yesterday, "Time for the last classification of the Menos" he whispered to himself. "Vasto Lorde are the very most powerful class of Menos, and the final stage in the Menos evolutionary line. They appear almost completely humanoid, and surpass an average captain-Class shinigami in power, skill, and speed." Kaito broke out into a cold sweat as he read this last part since it meant that to take on a hollow of this level would take skills that far beyond even what that girl, Kaiyo possessed. Kaito imagined what it would be like to go against something that even a captain couldn't handle, "Unreal, I can't believe that something like that even exists in the hollow family" Kaito thought to himself. "Vasto Lorde are the least common form of Menos, but the exact population is unknown. Apart from the need to cannibalize even more Hollows, any special requirements for the creation of a Vasto Lorde are unknown." With that classification of hollow, the chapter was done and Kaito was now more on his toes than he ever was before and he had good reason to be.

The next chapter dealt with hollow abilities, it was titled "Chapter 4: General Hollow Abilities And Powers". The title kept Kaito interested as he got ready to crack open the chapter that would give him even more knowledge than he could have hoped for. "Like shinigami, hollows have a multitude of combat skills and abilities, most of which are usually unique to specific Hollows." Kaito sighed at this first sentence simply because it didn't make him feel any better about trying to defend against the hollow abilities, but he continued to read on anyway, "The more powerful hollows, however, have access to a range similar techniques of greater power or use than their own unique skills. Hollows usually acquire energy to power their abilities by devouring souls, but smaller ones can also ingest energy from the atmosphere when in realms with high concentration of spiritual energy, such as Hueco Mundo." This reminded of an experience that he had in the past when he was nothing, but a soul in Rukongai. He shrugged that memory off as he turned to begin reading about the first abilities that the hollow possessed in their arsenal of abilities.

"Soul-Body Separation: Middle class hollow have been seen using this ability, though presumably all hollows have the ability. This technique allows a hollow to forcibly extract a living spirit from his/her body. It is usually not used because hollows tend to go after Pluses, who have no physical or living body to speak of. The soul is still attached by the Chain of Fate and can be saved, but if it is broken then the soul can prevent the Encroachment so long as he/she is placed inside a soulless body or animal." Kaito wondered if it was possible to use the same method on a hollow, which would mean that instead of fighting them their soul would instantly be purified by the shinigami, who extracted it. Kaito scribbled this idea down on a peace of paper that he had been carrying with him, so that he could go back to the idea at a later time. "It seems as though shinigami have reverse engineered this ability, as shown with the Skull Symbol. It may or may not be possible that this ability could also extract a shinigami from their gigai, but this would obviously prove harmful to a Hollow." Kaito was intrigued by this technique since it was different from any technique he had heard of a hollow having, while it can be used in an evil manner it could have many positive applications. Scratching his chin he began to imagine some uses of his own that he could use it for.

After awhile, Kaito returned back to the book to read about the next ability that the common hollow had at its disposal. "Acidic Touch: Many hollows have displayed this ability, although it is implied that all hollows possess this power. When a hollow grabs a human with their hands, the spot where the person was grabbed is shown to get burned as if acid were poured onto it. These wounds seem to allow the Hollow's reiatsu to seep into the person, causing great pain to the victim. The wounds can heal if given enough time though, and it is unknown if this ability works on shinigami or other spiritually powerful beings." Kaito definitely had never heard of a shinigami being affected by this technique and once again found himself intrigued by the unique abilities that a hollow could use, "I wonder if there's any way to harness these capabilities..." he thought as he stared off into space.

(OOC: Obviously a lot of Intelligence here, but I also wanted to point out the brilliant use of kido. Judge as you see fit though. I'll just keep lining them up for ya.)

"Drip...Drip...Drip", Kaito didn't know what the noise was, but it loud and annoying; more importantly it was taking up all his focus and he couldn't seem to find the source of it. Suddenly Kaito felt something wet on his forehead and he opened his eyes, "I was sleeping?..." he asked out loud to no one. He still felt the wet feeling on his forehead so he reached his hand up to see what it was and it was then that he noticed the trail of drool that trailed from his mouth all the way up to his forehead. "Eh...?." was all that Kaito could muster before he jetted to the bathroom, on his way tripping over someone's foot which made him fall on his face. "Dammit it all..." he muttered as he rushed off to the bathroom to take care of his drool disaster. After everything was taken care off, Kaito calmly sat back down in his seat making sure not to look anyone in the face in case he was catching any strange looks, "No more distractions...I want to get this done so I can graduate by the end of the week" Kaito chastised himself.

Scratching his head as he tried to figure out how he had fallen asleep in the first place, Kaito remembered what he had been thinking about beforehand, "Ah, yes. I was reading about some general skills that most of the higher level hollow have" he thought. Turning back towards the end of the book Kaito went to the page that he had earmarked so that he could continue reading from where he had left off, "...Cero is a highly-powerful and relatively-swift energy blast that can be fired from various body parts, such as mouth, tongue, hand or fingers." Kaito knew well of this technique since it was the linchpin of a Gillian's fighting power; the ability to use cero. He continued reading, "Only Menos and Arrancar have so far been shown to use Cero attacks, and it appears that stronger entities can use it more efficiently and forcefully." Kaito stopped when he read this part because he had come across a word that he had no memory of ever learning or hearing of in academy class, "Arrancar?..." Kaito thought as he tapped his chin trying to figure out what that word referred to. He decided maybe it was another name for a Menos and he turned to the back of the book to look at the index to see if it had anything to say about what an arrancar was, but to his puzzlement the word didn't come up and at all and there wasn't any explanation at all for what it was, "Strange..." Kaito thought as he frowned at the book. He would finish out the book and look up this word later.

"Cero also requires some time to be used effectively, so the enemy must be either not moving or busy with something else, or too badly wounded to even simply dodge it, with the exception of a few Cero techniques and users. Additionally, there exists quite a number of variations of Cero, which are usually unique to the Arrancar using it." Again seeing the word "arrancar" made Kaito suspicious, but he decided that he would move on because at the moment the book that he was reading had nothing on information about arrancar. "High-Speed Regeneration is the ability that allows a hollow to heal any injuries very quickly. Hollows outside of the Menos class who exhibit this ability are very rare; and even then it is usually exclusive to the Gillian Class. For some reason, they seem to lose this ability once they evolve to Adjuchas Class" Kaito was pretty well read on this phenomenon as well since on an academy trip that he was dragged on once the head of the trip ended up getting killed because he had gotten careless after wounding a hollow and forgetting to finish it, but Kaito shook his head to ride himself of the memory since he had more important things to do than take a trip down memory lane.

Getting up quietly, Kaito walked to the front desk with the book so that he could return it to the librarian and also so that he could make it seem as though he were leaving for good, but in truth he had much bigger plans than to be walking around at home aimlessly. As soon as he got outside, he went around the side of the building where he knew that no one was present and lowered his reiatsu to the best of his ability. Then he focused himself with a quick breath and calmly looked around the area to make sure that no one was watching even going so far as to see if he could pick up any reiatsu nearby. Once he felt sure enough that no one was watching Kaito muttered, "Bakudo # 26, Curving Light" as he felt his reiatsu coating his body causing the light to bend around his body. Kaito was well aware of the kido that he was using so it was naturally his choice to use in this particular scenario; the kido using reiatsu made it so that his body neither absorbed nor deflected any light rather the light simply bent around him making him seem to disappear since there was no light coming from him or in him. Smiling at the cleverness of the kido, Kaito quietly walked back into the library making sure that he didn't get noticed as he made his way to the section where only seated officers of the Gotei 13 were allowed. He quickly scanned the area although he knew that at this time of day the officers were probably on a mission or resting up for their next mission.

Finally he found a book on theory that seemed to be relatively new in the section that he had found the book and he looked at the book's title, "Removal of the Mask : The Horrible Evolution Of a Beast" and underneath it said something about arrancars. Kaito knew that this was the book that he wanted, but he knew that there was no possible way that he could read it here so he cast the kido spell from earlier on the book as well hoping that it would work out how he planned it to. Since he had cast the bakudo on the book he couldn't maintain the kido on his own body as well so he once again became visible while the book became invisible, sighing at the annoying nature of the technique Kaito walked back towards the front desk calmly making his way towards the doors. The librarian furrowed her brows when she saw him coming towards the doors again, "Didn't you just...", but Kaito quickly answered her, "I actually thought I would quickly check on a book that I wanted to read, but you don't have it so it's fine". His cool demeanor would have won him an award for best acting; at least in Kaito's opinion it would have. He made his way out of the library with the forbidden treasure in his hand as he hurried home, "Well...I guess this means I can sleep in for the next couple of days as I finish reading this bad boy..." he said as he clenched the book tightly to his being.

once again sorry for the wait but worth it for a massive
+5 intel on this ^_^

As night time descended and Kaito had time to do whatever it was that he wanted to do, he plopped into his room area bed and threw the covers over his head so that he could read the book in a somewhat private area, "Now, to figure out what these arrancar things are" he thought. His curiosity could very well have jeopardized his graduation status, but Kaito was never one to shy away from trouble especially trouble that didn't require him to have to do any work which was essentially what was the case here. Touching the golden cover of the book, Kaito checked the book to see if any kido spells had been attached to it that would alert officials of the books removal or something of that nature. While Kaito felt that he was relatively safe, he wasn't keen on taking the chance that he overlooked something simply because it was a kido technique and not something else. Checking both with his reiatsu and his hands, Kaito scoured every inch of the book trying to make sure that it was safe enough to read without have the Gotei 13's finest burst into his room and rip him to pieces.

Sighing and pushing the thought of being caught out of his mind, Kaito turned to the front of the book and began to think about all the things that he would find this book, "I hope these arrancar things aren't any worse than the adjuchas or vasto lorde hollow that I read about the other day..." he whispered to himself. "An Arrancar is a Hollow that has removed its mask and has gained shinigami-like powers. The word Arrancar has the verb meaning "to remove" or "to rip off" which is a reference to an Arrancar's removal of its Hollow mask. The rise of these beings came simultaneously with the retrieval of the Hōgyoku and Aizen's emergence into Hueco Mundo." Kaito had remembered that his teacher had once told him about a severe crisis that involved several captains and even some lieutenants; he remembered that it is now regarded as one of the greatest threats ever posed to Sereitei. It made him cringe as he thought about what would happen to the Sereitei if it was forced to go through another disaster like that especially with the entire place really being in a state of recovery. Kaito realized that the power levels of the Gotei 13 were still returning back to their previous levels since the other heroes died.

Returning his thoughts to his book in front of him, Kaito turned to read more about the capabilities of the arrancar that had plagued Soul Society and even to the extent that the threat spread out to the real world, "They must have been very powerful..." he thought. With a solemn look he read on about the next evolution in the hollow chain and all he could hope was that it was simply the history books talking to him and not a reality that he would have to deal with pretty soon. "There has always been a small number of incomplete arrancar in existence, but after Aizen brought the Hōgyoku to them, they were able to completely transform into true arrancar. An average Hollow that removes their mask would have to at least be Menos-level or stronger." Kaito blinked as he remembered what it meant for a hollow to be considered a Menos in the first place and the fact that they could do more than evolve from there scared him. "Few Hollows have the potential to remove their masks naturally, and even if they manage to do so, the change in power may not be significant. Regardless, naturally occurring arrancar exist within Hueco Mundo. Sōsuke Aizen was able to artificially create arrancar with the Hōgyoku, which also unlocked much more of their potential than a natural transformation would. The process of turning a Hollow into an arrancar is called shinigamification."

Not knowing what to think about the information that he was reading he pressed forward reading about how the hollow could still force their own evolution without evolving into a greater Menos. He read the start of the first chapter, "Chapter 1: Hollows and Arrancar" and he wasn't sure if he even wanted to know the difference between the two since in his mind they were still monsters. Eventually he decided that he should read the differences anyway so that he could know what it was that he was dealing with when the time came. "Hollow differ from arrancar in numerous ways. The first of these ways would be that being that arrancar have a humanoid form. Arrancar assume a humanoid form, as opposed to the animal-like or monstrous forms seen with Hollows. Upon becoming an arrancar, the chances of a Hollow gaining a humanoid form increase with their intelligence; only vasto lorde-class Menos will definitely assume a humanoid form. This new form will retain remnants of their past selves, like fragments of their removed masks and a Hollow hole." He looked down at the rest of the paragraph as he became more and more curious about this breed of hollow or whatever they were.

"While some Arrancar prefer to conceal these remnants, others choose to hide their faces completely to escape unwanted attention. Most also have a colored marking of some sort on their face, though some only gain these markings upon the release of their zanpakutō." At the last word, Kaito stopped because he wasn't sure that he had read it correctly as he reexamined the text to see if he had been hallucinating, but it was true the book had said that arrancar had zanpakutou and it gave Kaito chills as he thought about these monsters that could imitate shinigami so thoroughly. He thumbed through until he found the section that spoke about the arrancar's zanpakutou, but he didn't read it right away because he heard someone coming in to do bed checks so he tucked the book under his shirt and laid down on top of it. Soon he drifted off to sleep as he thought about the arrancar and their capabilities; abilities that may be out in Hueco Mundo building up just as the Gotei 13 was regaining its own strength.

Good Job!

+2 to Intelligence

It had been awhile since Kaito had cracked open the book about the abilities and descriptions of arrancar; this was mostly due to his unforeseen graduation from the shinigami academy to the Gotei 13, where he was made into the 3rd seat of the 3rd squad. Now that he wasn't pressured into having to read anything for the sake of getting smart enough to graduate, Kaito decided that it was okay for him to check out the book once more so that he could once again become acquainted with the evolution of hollow. Another perk to being the 3rd seat of a squad was that he now had no need to hide the book that he had illegally checked out from the library as an academy student; he could now read the book out in the open as he made his way doing the menial errands that were required of a third seat. It was on a fine, breezy afternoon, only one week after Kaito had graduated and even shorter after Kaito had finished his first mission in the real world that Kaito carried the golden book out in the open. He was simply going to check to see if he had made enough earnings from his one and only mission as an academy student to buy the bamboo blowpipe that he had been wanting to buy since he had first seen it.

With the sun overhead providing a general warmth that wasn't too overbearing in its effect, Kaito walked down the row of convienant stores that had become one of the huge improvements in the Sereitei in the last century he had heard, but all of this escaped him as he turned the page of the book he had gone through so much trouble to get. "The arrancar that were under Aizen's command have a standard theme for their clothing. Their uniforms consisted of a white jacket, black sash, white hakama, and black and white boots that bear an opposing similarity to a shinigami's sandals; in essence, the uniforms are basically inverted shinigami uniforms" he read completing the section that he had started off reading before. It was then that he looked up and saw that he had only a couple of blocks before he would be at the store with the blowpipe that he desire so he looked back down into the book to continue reading. "While most of the arrancar either developed or retained their own personality traits, the majority, not all of arrancar that were seen appeared to be similarly proud, cold, cruel, ambitious, impatient, selfish, overconfident, and ruthless suggesting that their hollow nature is still a large part of their mental makeup." When Kaito read this he was a bit taken aback as he thought about what it would mean for a hollow to develop the powers of a shinigami yet still retain the core of their savage nature. As he rounded a corner he realized something about hollow, "Since it is possible in nature for hollow to become arrancar, it must mean that arrancar are still hollow, just evolved hollow in a sense; more suited to killing..." he thought grimly.

The store was now only a few shops down so Kaito hurried returned his gaze back down to the pages as he struggled to make his way through the busy Sereitei streets hoping that he didn't get knocked over in the fray, "...Though not elaborated upon, not all arrancar that resided in Hueco Mundo were loyal to Aizen. They prefered not to interfere with his plans, presumably because of Aizen's immense amount of power and army of servants." Kaito had now come to the store that held his dream blow pipe and he walked inside to find that there was a decent sized line, but that didn't stop him as he eyed the blow pipe that was still there. He decided to pass the time continuing to read, "...it is for that reason many naturally-evolved arrancar, namely those that relish battle felt it necessary to align themselves with him to obtain more power. While some arrancar chose to follow Aizen in the hopes he will deliver them salvation, others allied with him purely out of respect..." as Kaito stepped forward in the line, he pondered that last statement. It struck him odd that beings of such savage and violent nature could actually become capable of respecting a shinigami; a member of the race that they should be opposed to in every aspect of their existence. It made him wonder who the traitor Sousuke Aizen was and just how powerful a shinigami he must have been to turn Soul Society upside down with the help of hollows on his side, "To think that someone so powerful was the enemy of the Gotei 13...I see why there is such a need for more powerful people now..." he thought.

He was now at the front of the line and the clerk was asking him what he wanted to which Kaito promptly ordered the blowpipe that he had been wanting ever since he was a young academy student. As the clerk wrapped the it in brown paper Kaito took out his recent earnings from the Quincy mission and the advance that he received for becoming the 3rd seat of the 3rd squad, "About time..." he sighed as he passed the money forward. With that payment he was now completely broke, but it didn't matter as he quickly unwrapped the bamboo blow pipe and placed it delicately into his mouth, "Now, I can really consider myself a shinigami..." he thought as he glanced back down at the book that he was reading. "Chapter 2 : The Ranking System of Arrancar", Kaito read as he turned the page that explained the brief connection between Aizen and the arrancar, but then he realized that it must have been Aizen who set up the ranking system that he was reading about. Gripping the blowpipe in his teeth he gently rolled it around from side to side as he continued walking with his head in the book; narrowly avoiding colliding with other rushing shinigami in the market square of Sereitei. "Section 1: Espada" he read as he made his way to the entrance of the squad 3 barracks that had become his home in the past few weeks.

Since Kaito had things to do once headed to the barracks he decided that he would read the short description of who the Espada were before going inside and being forced to check in with the lieutenant about the work that he would be doing the next couple of weeks. "The Espada were the top-ranked arrancar in Aizen's army. Each Espada member is chosen for their superior combat ability and then assigned a number from 0 to 9 (with 0 being the strongest, while 9 being the weakest) that indicates their rank and relative power level, which is tattooed somewhere on their body", the book stated as Kaito slowed his steps so that he could take his time entering the barracks. "...each Espada embodied an aspect of death, which tied into their personalities, beliefs and powers. The Espada were given control over the Números and were regarded as the strongest Arrancar in existence. Similar to the power gap between captains and lieutenants in the Gotei 13, the strength, speed, intelligence, and power of the Espada far surpassed that of the average Número." As Kaito closed the book that he was reading, he wondered where he would have fallen in terms of the ranking of the arrancar and he realized that he wouldn't have been very close at all in terms of his level of strength. This only made him more determined to learn about the arrancar that were once the biggest threat that Soul Society had every faced.

Excellent! +2 to Intel

(Intelligence please. Thank you judges)

Kaito continued to walk through the shopping area with his head buried in the book after he left with his new bamboo blowpipe, but his focus was completely riveted to the book explaining the structure of the traitor Sousuke Aizen's militia that opposed the Gotei 13 just 300 years ago. "...being Aizen's most direct subordinates the Espada were privy to several of Aizen's plans and most intimate secrets, such as his goals of destroying Karakura Town and creating the King's Key and the location of the Hōgyoku within Las Noches..." he read as he continued to stroll through the Sereitei. He didn't bother to respond to people who recognized him in the crowd because of the information that he was viewing; it fascinated in a way that he couldn't exactly understand. "This Aizen...why did he even want the Hōgyoku?...and the King's Key?...", many questions like these popped into his head as he ran his fingers over the page with his crimson eyes locked in deep thought as he tried to figure out the rationale behind the entire plot. It made Kaito frustrated that he couldn't even come up with a man's thoughts even though he wanted to be regarded as one of Soul Soceity's greatest minds, but he stopped wondering and went back to reading the book. "Their immense amount of power and leadership status among the arrancar also grantedeach Espada the authority to exert command over Aizen's other forces within Las Noches: the Números, the Exequias, and their own Fracción. Unlike their Gotei 13 counterparts, there seemed to be a sort of hierarchy among the Espada; a higher-ranked member apparently could give orders to lower-ranked members." Kaito continued to read.

As far as the information about the espada, the book didn't seem to have much more information about their strengths and different abilities although Kaito was sure that the information was even more classified than a 3rd seat officer could get to, but he was fine with that. He glanced at the next ranking of the army of Aizen, "Numeros" and he also saw the word "Fraccion" next to it and his curiosity got the better of him as he decided to move on reading about the arrancar army. "The Números were assigned a two digit number at birth from 11 to 99 to indicate their age with Número 11 being the oldest and Número 99 being the youngest" he read. It surprised Kaito that the structure of the arrancar army that Aizen had set up resembled the Gotei 13 structure in many ways, but he still found it also to be superior in the notion that there was a definite order structure even among the higher ops. Even with this order it didn't stop the underlings from dividing themselves into different levels of power to separate themselves in hopes of becoming strong enough to become something more than what they were currently.

"The fighting ability of the Números was thought to be superior to all other arrancar, except for the Espada or any arrancar that may have been removed from that level of status under strange circumstances or even those that were demoted as well..." Kaito glanced at the information, but didn't form any opinions about it. "The strongest Números were chosen by the Espada to become their Fracción. The Espada, Grimmjow owned the oldest among the Números as fraccion implying that they were among the first arrancar to be made..." this also didn't elicit any specific emotion or notion of curiosity in Kaito, but it did create a better understanding of the way in which the structure had been set up. It didn't seem as if the promotion or demotion of the arrancar were based upon their standing with the other members of their class or ranking rather it was based solely upon their combat strengths. In truth this made sense to Kaito in a militaristic sense since he was an avid shougi player which was also based upon the logics of war, "It would seem that Aizen had no intention of keeping the arrancar around very long or else he must have chosen to leave them to their own growth hoping that they would breakdown eventually..." Kaito deduced as he continued to the next section of the book which was labeled, "The basic combat abilities of arrancar", which naturally intrigued Kaito immensely since he had received a thorough education about their history and structure.

"Like shinigami, arrancar have a multitude of combat skills and abilities, some of which are similar to those of the former, and some of which are variations on ordinary Hollow powers..." the chapter started and Kaito could already feel the anxiety build up inside of him as he turned the page to find out what exactly the powers of these mutants were. "Bala is an arrancar alternative to Cero. The technique hardens the user's Spiritual Pressure and fires it like a bullet..." this statement made Kaito's eyebrow furrow in curiosity. While he understood the need to be versatile in battle, he couldn't possibly understand what possible good could come from not using an ability that was as powerful as Cero, but he went on reading. "...although it is weaker than a normal Cero it moves about twenty times faster and can be fired at a much higher rate but the damage is much the same. Stronger arrancar can also fire a more powerful Bala, while retaining its twenty-fold speed..." and Kaito paused as he read the last part of the statement. He now understood why this technique was so powerful, "In other words in some cases it is can be as powerful Cero yet still move twenty times faster than the normal Cero..." he thought as his eyes widened slightly. Not wanting to draw attention to himself, Kaito continued walking as he opened the book once again trying to see what other abilities an arrancar could use while the whole time he wished that he would never run into one since it would probably be his last encounter as well.

"Most Arrancar have the ability to seal their power within a zanpakutō. Upon releasing their zanpakutō, they gain all of their former unique hollow abilities back, essentially 'resurrecting' their old selves..." and this is where Kaito's attention peaked because he wasn't sure of how their zanpakutous played into their structure. "...when using this ability, they essentially combine their human form and their hollow form, incidentally increasing their power considerably. As another note, when an Arrancar uses their Resurrección, it heals all minor wounds..." the book finished leaving Kaito in absolute sureness that he never wanted to go up against an arrancar without back up. Blinking a couple of times in surprise, Kaito had found himself in front of his housing complex although he had no recollection of ever deciding to go there, but he also didn't ignore the fact that it might be a sign. Opening the door to his sleeping quarters, Kaito sighed as he threw the book on the desk by his bed wondering just what it would mean if Soul Society had to go against the hollow race once again at the heights of their power.