Baraggan did not stop Ise Nanao from escaping.
To him, a small fry like Ise Nanao wasn't worth the effort to chase and kill.
"Your subordinate will be killed by me."
Baraggan simply stated, "This is the gap between our forces—not just our individual strengths, but the strength of our subordinates as well."
"Nanao won't be killed that easily." Kyōraku Shunsui knew Baraggan had underlings, but they weren't far from the temporary base. As long as Nanao bought a little time, someone would naturally come to assist her.
In comparison, the battlefield here was far more terrifying.
This guy is strong!
Especially his unique power—the destructive force was utterly terrifying. If Nanao had stayed here, she'd probably be trapped on the outskirts and end up dead or severely injured!
Even he would have to use his true strength to deal with this guy.
"Aren't you going to make a move?"
Baraggan looked at the motionless Kyōraku Shunsui and said, "Or are you hesitating because you don't understand my power?"
"Not at all." Shunsui casually adjusted his hat brim and said lightly, "I was just thinking, if I don't move and you don't move, we can drag this out longer."
"Even though this is Hueco Mundo, dragging it out should be more advantageous for me, right?"
Indeed, although this was Hueco Mundo, it wasn't too far from the Shinigami's temporary base, and the abnormal reishi here would easily be detected by the captains at the temporary base.
In other words, if the battle continued, Kyōraku Shunsui's reinforcements would arrive soon!
A flash of cold indifference, even disdain, appeared in Baraggan's eyes as he condensed a purple death energy in his hand.
"If dragging it out can bring reinforcements... then I'll kill you first..."
"Then, I'll kill the Shinigami who come to support you. It's that simple."
At that moment, an extremely powerful reishi erupted from Baraggan's body, so strong that it made Kyōraku Shunsui's eyes widen involuntarily!
Boom!
With the massive explosion of reishi, Baraggan's body began to change.
He had previously looked like an old man, but now he transformed into a massive skeleton wearing a crown and black robes, somewhat resembling the mythical depiction of a Shinigami.
He pointed at Kyōraku Shunsui with his pale finger, completing his Resurrección.
"Arrogante."
"This... what is this?" Kyōraku Shunsui forced a smile. "Do you Arrancar have such killer moves?"
However, he received no answer—only Baraggan suddenly appearing behind him!
Baraggan reached out, seemingly trying to touch Kyōraku Shunsui's body.
With his power, a single light touch would cause Kyōraku Shunsui's body to fall into a state of decay.
But Kyōraku Shunsui's Shunpo proficiency was extremely high; before Baraggan could touch him, he vanished from his spot.
In an instant, he appeared in Baraggan's previous position.
It was as if the two had swapped places. Kyōraku Shunsui looked at the surprised Baraggan and said, "It seems your strength doesn't match your boasts, Arrancar."
"..." Baraggan fell silent, and upon hearing Kyōraku Shunsui's words, a surge of anger welled up in his heart.
He hated Shinigami, especially that look in their eyes! That look that didn't take him seriously at all!
"I see... Although you're just a Shinigami, your strength is indeed impressive."
Baraggan's killing intent surged, and in the next moment, a massive amount of death energy spread from his body.
"Respira."
That purple death energy caused everything around it to decay rapidly—even the reishi sand, which was made of reishi itself, seemed to rot quickly under this power!
So fast!
Kyōraku Shunsui watched the approaching death breath, feeling both surprised and relieved.
Thank goodness he was the one targeted; if it were another captain, they probably couldn't handle this Arrancar at all!
In terms of speed alone, there were probably very few in the entire Seireitei who could dodge this death energy!
And earlier, when he suddenly appeared, Kyōraku Shunsui even felt his body go numb, as if trapped in a special paralyzed state, making his reactions and speed extremely sluggish.
The opponent not only had extraordinary speed but could also slow him down—such an enemy... was truly terrifying for a Shinigami!
And now, the death energy spreading from Baraggan was abnormally terrifying, not only possessing powerful aging properties but also spreading at an incredible speed.
Facing such an enemy, getting close was probably impossible.
In this situation, skills like Sōgyo would likely be ineffective, as they required close-range attacks.
That left only Bankai. If he used Bankai, he should be able to defeat the opponent.
But the problem was, he was just an imaginary body; using Bankai would consume a massive amount of reishi, and without reishi replenishment, he would dissipate.
Not yet, not yet. His goal hadn't been achieved; he couldn't disappear yet!
Thinking this, Kyōraku, who was distancing himself from the death energy, suddenly stopped.
He turned, fiercely swinging his Zanpakutō toward the surging death energy.
This swing wasn't to dispel the death energy, but countless threads emitting white and pink light extended from the blade.
These threads instantly enveloped Baraggan at the center, forming a massive cage.
"Foolish, do you think a Shinigami's abilities won't decay?"
"I didn't expect that, Mr. Arrancar."
After Kyōraku Shunsui finished speaking, he continued, "Matter decays, but what about games that have been passed down?"
"Games?"
"Katen Kyōkotsu. You, as a Menos Grande, probably haven't played this game—it's a bit troublesome."
Shunsui stood outside the birdcage and suddenly transformed into thousands of figures, as if countless shadows split from his body, rotating around Baraggan.
"Only if both sides understand the rules can it be called a game, so in battle, you still have to explain your abilities to your opponent."
As Shunsui spoke, the shadows extending from him seemed to come alive, speaking along with him.
At this moment, it was as if twisted demons and monsters were whispering together: "The game rules are: One child plays the 'ghost,' blindfolded and singing, while others circle around him. After the song ends, everyone stops. If the 'ghost' can guess who's behind them, they win, and the guessed person becomes the 'ghost.'"
"Boring."
Baraggan manipulated the death energy toward the pink and white threads, but as the death energy approached, the woven Katen Kyōkotsu seemed to grow farther away, always maintaining a certain distance from Baraggan.
"Didn't I tell you? Only by completing the game can you escape the 'ghost' role and leave the cage!"
After saying that, Kyōraku Shunsui and the countless shadows sang together once more.
"Kagome, Kagome"
"Katen Kyōkotsu"
"When will you come out?"
"The night before dawn"
"The crane and turtle slip"
"Who's behind you?"
Baraggan was arrogant but not foolish. As the King of Hueco Mundo before Aizen's arrival—before Aizen broke their masks and granted them wisdom and power—he was actually an extremely rare Menos Grande with intelligence.
So, although he outwardly dismissed Kyōraku Shunsui's ability, after seeing that his death breath couldn't break through the Katen Kyōkotsu, he had firmly memorized Kyōraku Shunsui's words.
He knew that while this guy's ability looked scary, as long as he followed the game rules, it would be simple to counter.
So he had been listening to the shadows and Kyōraku Shunsui speak. Although they spoke simultaneously with nearly identical voices and rotated at incredible speed, Baraggan still accurately judged the lyrics sung behind him.
Next, he just needed to say, "Who's behind you?" to break the setup!
However, before he could finish, he heard Kyōraku Shunsui speak first.
"I'm sorry, you can't answer, can you?"
Pfft!
In the next instant, a blade pierced into Baraggan's body!
!
Even Baraggan's hollow eyes filled with shock. He immediately spread his death breath behind him, but that area already contained extremely powerful death energy. Before the new death breath could spread, the blade piercing his body turned to ash!
"..." Kyōraku Shunsui looked at the motionless Baraggan and slightly furrowed his brows. This guy's vitality is really tenacious. No, it's not just tenacity.
This guy's ability could even corrode a Kidō blade; the knife formed by the Katen Kyōkotsu had been corroded before fully piercing his body, so only a tiny portion of the power damaged this Arrancar.
Kyōraku Shunsui's ability was 'games,' and these games were 'unfair games.' As the ability's user, Kyōraku Shunsui naturally held the advantage.
First, he could explain the ability after using it, gaining a first-mover advantage.
Second, he could freely control the game's progression.
The game rules couldn't be changed, but the process could be manipulated.
In theory, when activating the Katen Kyōkotsu ability, he should give the central 'ghost' time to speak and guess who's behind them. However, Kyōraku Shunsui finished the song and, without waiting for Baraggan to speak, directly judged Baraggan as having failed because he didn't guess!
And the loser of the Katen Kyōkotsu game must accept the punishment for failure.
Different lyrics had different punishments. For example, the punishment for Kyōraku Shunsui's chosen "Who's behind you?" was a backstab on the ghost!
This also fit Kyōraku Shunsui's battle aesthetic. Rather than head-on clashes, he preferred stabbing in the back. Since they were on the battlefield, one shouldn't think of fair fights—ambushes, assassinations, and poisoning were the most efficient ways to kill!
But he had still underestimated Baraggan; this guy's ability was too much of a counter to him!
And now, Baraggan was thoroughly enraged. He hadn't expected that after personally taking action, not only could he not quickly defeat this Shinigami, but his own body had been injured by the Shinigami!
"You... ant!"
The long-forgotten pain made Baraggan furious: "I'll make you die in the most painful way!"
He extended his hand, and in the next moment, white bones extended from his palm, instantly forming a massive battle axe!
The moment the battle axe appeared, the surrounding death breath seemed to grow even denser, and even the nearby reishi became dim.
This guy is serious!
Kyōraku Shunsui knew his earlier attack had enraged this Arrancar, but...
He sensed Nanao's reishi and found that she seemed to be in battle as well.
But it was okay; besides Nanao, there were other lieutenant-level reishi present, so there shouldn't be a problem.
However, they weren't too far from this position now. With this Arrancar's speed, as long as he wasn't distracted, he could reach that battlefield quickly.
It seems...
He had no choice but to use Bankai...
Kyōraku Shunsui felt a bit regretful; he also wanted to take this opportunity to find Lisa.
Kyōraku Shunsui gripped his Zanpakutō tightly; he was already prepared to use Bankai.
However, at that moment, a Garganta appeared behind Baraggan.
The Garganta was like a monster's mouth, and from that deep darkness emerged an Arrancar Menos Grande.
Kyōraku Shunsui's expression turned completely serious because he had seen this Arrancar Menos Grande before.
When the second Hueco Mundo Dispatch Team returned, Shiba Isshin had described this Menos Grande; he was the first Arrancar they discovered in Hueco Mundo!
"Starrk, what are you doing here?"
That's right, the newcomer was Starrk. Seeing him arrive, Baraggan said coldly, "This one is my prey."
Starrk looked somewhat sleepy and said listlessly, "I'm not here to steal your prey; I'm here to save your life."
"What did you say?"
A dangerous aura emanated from Baraggan as he said coldly, "Who do you think you are?"
"Do they have some conflict?" Kyōraku Shunsui noticed the tense atmosphere between them and commented.
"Say whatever you want." Starrk glanced deeply at Kyōraku Shunsui and said, "Weren't you about to use Bankai earlier?"
"...Oh, you noticed." Kyōraku Shunsui placed his right hand on his straw hat and said lightly, "Can you tell me how you knew?"
"It'd be weird to tell you." Starrk said, "Our objective has been achieved; there's no need for you to use Bankai anymore."
"Let's go."
Finally, he said two words to Baraggan: "The boss is back; he already knows about your unauthorized actions."
With that, he ignored Baraggan's reaction and entered the Garganta, returning to Las Noches himself.