In the crowd, Kensei Muguruma narrowed his eyes.
For some reason, he felt that the group of Hollows opposite them was harboring an unwarranted amount of malice specifically toward him.
'What is going on?'
He had been recuperating from his injuries lately. Before that, he was busy handling the affairs of Squad Nine, and even further back, he had only spent a few days training in the Rukongai.
He hadn't even been to the World of the Living, let alone come face-to-face with any Hollows.
The space between the Soul Society and Hueco Mundo was often unstable, so Hollows would occasionally invade the Rukongai.
However, these extermination missions were usually carried out by lower-seated officers. A Captain would only step in if they encountered a Menos Grande-class enemy.
Yet, judging from the mission reports, any Menos Grande that appeared in the Rukongai had been snatched up by those inhuman bastards from the Shino Prison.
Even though he was the Captain of Squad Nine, it had been a long time since he had seen a Menos Grande.
Let alone form any grudges.
'So, where is this baseless malice coming from?'
While he was lost in thought, Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez had already launched the first attack. He flicked his long sword, pointing it directly at Kensei Muguruma in the crowd.
"You there, the white-haired guy! Come fight me!"
However, before he could finish his sentence, a green-haired little girl suddenly dashed out from the side, jumping up to smack Grimmjow on the head.
"You bastard, didn't we agree that I get to fight that guy?"
"Whoever gets to him first claims him."
"Damn it, since when is there a first-come, first-served rule for this?"
Ignoring Lilynette, who was still smacking his head, Grimmjow grinned. Completely disregarding the stares of the others, he used Sonído to dive forward, instantly charging into the ranks of the Soul Reapers.
Immediately after, he unleashed his Reiatsu without a word of warning. A brilliant pillar of light instantly blew the others away.
Sensing Grimmjow's immense strength, a surge of fiery excitement welled up in Kensei's heart.
'As expected of Hueco Mundo's core forces.'
'Any random one of them is at the Captain level or higher.'
'Now I can finally have a satisfying battle!'
'I lost my previous fight against the sinners of Hell, but this time, I'll win it all back!'
'I will restore the honor of Squad Nine!'
Boom!
A dazzling pillar of Reiatsu erupted into the sky, violently tearing a rift through the azure canopy and instantly dominating half the heavens.
A heavy pressure bore down on them, causing the sandy ground to cave in significantly.
But Grimmjow showed no fear; instead, a look of sheer exhilaration spread across his face.
'This is more like it!'
'Fighting guys like Starrk and Baraggan offers absolutely none of the thrill of a real deathmatch.'
'Every time I finally develop a new technique and go all out, those two just tear it apart in the most boring way possible. There's no sense of rivalry at all.'
'But the enemy in front of me is different.'
'Even though he's a bit stronger than what I saw in the footage, judging by his Reiatsu and stance, he barely qualifies as a worthy opponent.'
'I just hope his endurance has improved as well.'
'Otherwise, if he starts wailing at the drop of a hat during the fight, it'll be too pathetic to watch.'
A fierce fighting spirit surfaced on Kensei Muguruma's face. He immediately raised his right hand, curling his fingers into a tight fist.
Cyan winds swirled around his arm, bursting forth recklessly like a rocket thruster, propelling his right arm forward with a howling gale.
No one knew just how much effort he had put in recently.
He had always kept Senior Kumoi Entetsu's "earnest teachings" close to his heart!
Facing the heavy punch that tore through the air with the sound of ripping silk, Grimmjow did not retreat. Instead, he advanced, pulling his right arm back before throwing a raw, unembellished punch to meet it head-on.
Bang!
Amidst the dull, heavy thud, an astonishing shockwave swept out in all directions, kicking up layer upon layer of sand.
After a brief stalemate, Kensei Muguruma was the first to be sent flying backward, plowing a deep trench through the sandy surface.
He lifted his head, looking at his opponent in astonishment.
"This power..."
Grimmjow stared excitedly at Kensei in the distance, his smile savage and thrilled.
"You're a bit stronger than I expected, but if this is all you've got..."
"Soul Reaper—"
"You're going to have to atone for your actions!"
As his words fell, he abruptly drew his sword. A smear of crimson blood splattered across his palm, staining it.
A torrent of dazzling blue light surged forth, instantly condensing into a massive blue sphere. Twisted, jagged patterns scattered across its sides, and the surrounding space emitted a scalp-tingling creaking sound.
Gran Rey Cero!
Kensei Muguruma's expression changed drastically. Not daring to slack off in the slightest, he responded with his full strength. The moment he drew his blade, his surging Reiatsu erupted like a tidal wave, howling as it rushed in all directions.
"Bankai—"
"Tekken Tachikaze!"
Unlike the enemies he had encountered in the past, there was no gradual escalation. After the initial probe, it immediately turned into a life-and-death struggle where both sides revealed their trump cards.
The sheer pressure radiating from his opponent alone was enough to make one's heart pound in fear.
Kensei knew very well that if he only used his Shikai, he would absolutely be killed right here and now.
The Zanpakutō in his hand vanished, replaced by two knuckle blades with toothed handguards. His arms were covered in iron-colored treads that extended all the way behind his shoulders.
Visible gales of wind raged around him, ravaging the already devastated desert.
He swung his knuckle blades in rapid succession. In an instant, dozens of wind blades tore across the sandy ground, carving deep trenches before merging together at the edge of his vision into a massive, sun-shaped wave of sword pressure.
This was a new technique he had developed under the guidance of Kumoi Entetsu.
By unleashing the explosive power of his Bankai in an outward projection, as long as he punched fast enough, he could even destroy a city in an instant.
Although he was a bit rushed for time, it was enough to counter that unprecedented flash of a Cero.
The two attacks collided instantly!
BOOM!!!
Amidst the deafening explosion, the roars of the two men echoed through the clouds as a visible shockwave spread in all directions.
The ground fractured, and a howling hurricane rose from the earth.
Within the surging, intense light, Grimmjow closed the distance. Enduring the aftermath of the explosion, he dashed right up to Kensei Muguruma, his sinister grin mere inches away.
"Soul Reaper, your combat awareness..."
"...is terrible!"
Without a moment of hesitation, he stomped hard on the ground, cracking the earth beneath him. At the same time, a streak of blue light shot straight toward Kensei, engaging in a brutal, physical collision.
Bang!
Kensei felt as if he had been rammed by a herd of maddened bulls. Unadulterated power surged, and a terrifying shockwave erupted the moment they collided.
His skin cracked, and blood splattered.
His figure tumbled like a rolling gourd, skipping across the uneven sandy surface like a stone on water.
With just a momentary lapse in focus, he was left covered in wounds, nearly losing his ability to fight entirely.
Disappointingly, upon landing, Captain Kensei still let out a cry of pain.
This caused Grimmjow to frown deeply.
'How can a proud warrior show such a weak side to his enemy?'
'No wonder Lord Naraku always looks so exhausted.'
'Having such a deadweight for a teammate is truly a stroke of terrible luck.'
"Trash. Pathetic wailing won't earn you any pity from your enemies; it will only excite them more."
Grimmjow rebuked him sharply. Spreading his right hand in front of him, he aimed at Kensei, who had just managed to stand up, and fired a Cero directly at him.
At the same time—
"Grind, Panther King!"
Reiatsu enveloped his body as he instantly entered his Resurrección state.
When the light faded, a brand-new Grimmjow appeared on the desert sands.
He possessed a sleek, streamlined physique and sky-blue hair that reached his waist, exuding a trace of absolute brutality amidst his wild demeanor.
"Keeping a guy like you around, who loses his will to fight at the drop of a hat, is just a waste of food."
"I might as well finish you off on behalf of the King!"
Feeling the berserk killing intent washing over him, Kensei's pupils shrank drastically.
"Can we just not fight?"
Coyote Starrk scratched his head, looking utterly lethargic.
"Honestly, we could just wait for them to decide a winner, and then settle our own match with rock-paper-scissors."
Kyōraku Shunsui, wielding his dual blades, let out a helpless sigh.
"If you're willing to let my junior martial brother go, then we really don't have to fight."
"Junior martial brother?" Lilynette tilted her head, looking confused.
"Well, the Soul Reaper you guys forcibly took away using Negación. His name is Naraku Sora."
Kyōraku shifted his footing, using his body to conceal his shadow cast by the moonlight.
"Hah, Sora is actually... Mmph, mmph!"
Before Lilynette could finish her sentence, Starrk clamped a hand over her mouth.
Kyōraku gave the two of them a strange look, feeling that something wasn't quite right.
"Idiot Lily, don't go blabbing everything to the Soul Reapers."
"They are the enemy right now, the enemy!"
Having lived in Las Noches for many years, Starrk understood one principle very clearly.
That was, if you offended Naraku Sora, usually nothing major would happen; at most, you'd just get a beating.
But if you offended the second-in-command, Aizen Sōsuke, your future days would be very miserable.
Whether you'd even live to see the sun the next day would be a question.
Hadn't all those Menos Grande who spouted arrogant nonsense or secretly betrayed Las Noches vanished without a trace, one by one?
Considering that discarded materials were occasionally hauled out of the laboratory, the fate of those Hollows was easy to imagine.
"That's enough idle chatter."
Starrk realized he couldn't continue slacking off. Although he hadn't detected anything, it was highly likely that Las Noches was monitoring this battle.
Therefore, not only did he have to fight, but he had to do it beautifully.
At the very least, he needed to display the imposing might of Las Noches.
Thinking of this, Starrk raised his finger and casually fired a shot behind him without even looking.
A pale blue Cero burst from his fingertip, instantly obliterating the shadow that was trying to sneak up on him and blasting a massive crater in the ground.
"Tell me, do all Soul Reaper Captains have such a despicable fighting style?"
Kyōraku raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Don't misunderstand, I'm the only one who likes doing this."
Before he even finished speaking, he abruptly spun his dual blades. Hadō #78: Zangerin, formed from Kidō Reiatsu, tore through the air without any warning.
It hurtled straight toward Starrk and Lilynette, who were standing in place.
In response to this Hadō, a curtain of Cero light instantly dyed the sky.
The moment their Reiatsu collided, the war had truly begun.
Unlike what the Soul Society had just experienced.
This time, both sides exercised restraint, neither unleashing their full strength right from the start.
The Arrancars were wary because these Soul Reapers were their King's colleagues; if they actually went for the kill, it would be hard to explain later.
As for the Soul Reapers, they were worried about subsequent operations. Moreover, Hueco Mundo was the Hollows' home turf. If they exhausted their spiritual power, they might end up getting themselves killed instead of rescuing their target.
This resulted in a battle that, despite looking incredibly fierce and full of flashy attacks, actually had zero casualties.
On a distant sand dune, Naraku Sora watched the intense battle, itching to join in. Such a grand spectacle without him, the main character, felt as bland as instant noodles without the seasoning packet.
"I advise you to put away those inappropriate thoughts."
Aizen didn't even bother to look, already knowing that a certain someone was contemplating something dangerous.
"If you go out there now, you'll only end up completely exposing Las Noches to the Soul Society."
"Those stubborn, old-fashioned Soul Reapers won't be able to handle such shocking news all at once. When that happens, trying to balance both sides will become extremely difficult."
"For the sake of our future plans, you'd better save those little schemes of yours."
Hearing this, Naraku Sora shook his head, his boiling enthusiasm reducing to nothing but a helpless sigh.