With his Pesquisa fully open, Grimmjow locked onto Muten Natsu's Reiatsu. The air burst beneath his feet, and he shot out at once.
All this time, Grimmjow had replayed his fight with Muten Natsu in his head over and over.
["Actually, Muten Natsu should be much weaker than you. He just has more tricks. In your Resurrección state, you could kill him easily."]
Grimmjow thought Szayelaporro had only been half right.
Muten Natsu was weaker than him. He just had too many tricks, which made him troublesome.
But... even without Resurrección, Grimmjow could still kill him!
"Ah!" Yammy shouted in annoyance. "Wait! Hey! Grimmjow!"
But Grimmjow was already far away.
"That little bastard!" Yammy cursed, then turned to Wonderweiss, who was staring at the black opening of the Garganta as it slowly vanished. "Hey, rookie, let's go. How long are you planning to stand there spacing out?"
Wonderweiss paid him no attention, only letting out a vague sound. "Ah..."
"I think I get now why you like working alone." Yammy clicked his tongue. "Ul..."
"Grow. Hōzukimaru!" Ikkaku Madarame took the lead, releasing his Shikai and charging forward with spear in hand.
Clang!
Yammy did not dodge or evade. He did not even sway. He blocked Ikkaku Madarame's attack with Hierro alone, then cast a sidelong glance down at the bald man, his voice full of contempt. "What was that? A back scratch?"
"You look pretty tough to cut!" His attack having been stopped only made Ikkaku Madarame's eyes burn hotter with fighting spirit. "Third Officer of the Eleventh Division. Ikkaku Madarame!"
"Not even a Lieutenant, and Soul Society sends trash like you?" Yammy grinned savagely as he reached for Ikkaku Madarame's head. "Arrancar Diez (No. 10). Yammy Llargo. Judging by the look on your face, you probably don't even know what that number means!"
"One of the Espada..." Ikkaku Madarame dodged in a flash, the spear in his hand lashing out like a white serpent striking with its tongue as it stabbed for Yammy's throat. "Looks like I picked the right one!"
"You know I'm Espada and you still attack? Then it seems..." Yammy grabbed the spear blade in his hand. "You came here looking to die!"
"Finish this quickly," Ulquiorra reminded him. "Don't waste too much time..."
Their blades clashed. Ulquiorra's emerald eyes fixed on the white-haired boy in front of him.
"I am the Captain of the 10th Division, Tōshirō Hitsugaya!" Tōshirō Hitsugaya gripped his sword hilt with both hands. "Are you one of the Espada too?"
"Our target is Muten Natsu." Ulquiorra blocked Tōshirō Hitsugaya's attack with one hand on his sword. "You can only delay us. You cannot stop us."
"That's a shame. Matters concerning Shinigami aren't for Arrancar to decide." Tōshirō Hitsugaya gave a sharp cry. "Sit Upon the Frozen Heavens. Hyōrinmaru!!!"
Dark clouds churned, and the clear sky turned overcast in an instant as a biting wind howled through the air.
The moment Hyōrinmaru was released, even the weather changed with it.
Surging water mixed with ice and became a roaring ice dragon that lunged at Ulquiorra.
Ulquiorra swung the Zanpakutō in his hand to meet it, but before the two even collided, his entire arm was coated in white frost. Then the flowing water froze solid in the cold and sealed his whole arm in ice.
Tōshirō Hitsugaya swung his Zanpakutō, and the chain attached to the end of the hilt rattled loudly as it wrapped around Ulquiorra's arm. Hyōrinmaru's blade slashed for Ulquiorra's neck.
"If this is all you can do..." Ulquiorra gave his arm a shake, shattering the solid ice completely. He grabbed the chain and yanked, throwing off Tōshirō Hitsugaya's swing, then raised his sword and thrust toward Tōshirō Hitsugaya's chest. "Then you can't even delay us."
Tōshirō Hitsugaya knocked the blade aside and pressed forward. Several ice bullets appeared in the air and flew after him toward Ulquiorra.
Gunchō Tsurara!
Ulquiorra had just raised his Zanpakutō when the chain in his hand suddenly jerked. A cold wind blew the crescent blade at the other end, and that blade abruptly released piercing cold that blanketed a wide area.
Wildly spreading ice completely covered Ulquiorra and sealed him inside.
"Hyōryū Senbi..." Tōshirō Hitsugaya gripped Hyōrinmaru and thrust straight forward. "Zekkū!"
Ulquiorra had only just broken free of the ice when he was frozen again by the burst of cold released from Hyōrinmaru's tip.
A dense swarm of ice bullets surged toward Ulquiorra!
Seeing Tōshirō Hitsugaya gain the upper hand, Rangiku Matsumoto gripped her Zanpakutō and stared at Wonderweiss in the distance. "Can I cut this guy...?"
She really was not sure.
After Grimmjow left, the battlefield became four against four between the Shinigami and the Arrancar.
Ikkaku Madarame had immediately gone after the powerful-looking Yammy. Tōshirō Hitsugaya was fighting Ulquiorra, who seemed to be the leader. Yumichika Ayasegawa had picked the good-looking Luppi. That left Wonderweiss for Rangiku Matsumoto.
Rangiku Matsumoto could not get a read on him, and while she remained on full alert...
Wonderweiss was watching sparrows.
While everyone else was fighting fiercely, he was watching birds. Either he was so strong that he did not care about his enemies at all, or this was very likely some kind of act.
Rangiku Matsumoto did not dare act rashly. She decided to observe the battle around her first and step in to help if necessary.
"Bloom. Fuji Kujaku!" Yumichika Ayasegawa released the Zanpakutō in his hand. Fuji Kujaku spread into four sickle-shaped blades like a peacock fanning its tail, resembling the claws of a peacock. "Fifth Seat of the Eleventh Division. Yumichika Ayasegawa. Are you one of the Espada too?"
"My name is Luppi." Luppi tilted his head and smiled lightly. "Sooner or later, I'll return to the Espada."
Yumichika Ayasegawa attacked first. "So you're not one right now?"
"I was going to play with you a little..." A faint gleam appeared in Luppi's violet eyes. "What a shame."
"What a lovely face." He suddenly appeared in front of Yumichika Ayasegawa and reached for his face. "It makes me want to crush it to pieces!"
Yumichika Ayasegawa raised Fuji Kujaku to block, but Luppi merely flicked his hand and swept Fuji Kujaku aside with his sleeve.
"I thought it might have some strange ability..." Luppi let out a mocking laugh. "But all it did was change shape. Does something like this even count as Shikai?"
He kicked Yumichika Ayasegawa flying, then flashed behind him while he was still being knocked backward and drew his Zanpakutō from the pink sheath under his arm. "Still, since you're only the Fifth Seat, I shouldn't have expected too much."
Clang—!
Rangiku Matsumoto blocked Luppi's Zanpakutō and could not help feeling relieved by her earlier decision.
If she had not sensed something was wrong and rushed over to help at once, Yumichika Ayasegawa would probably have been in real danger.
"I've got to say, big sister..." Luppi narrowed his violet eyes and looked Rangiku Matsumoto up and down. "Your figure is incredible! So sexy! It makes me jealous... jealous enough to want to tear it apart!"
"Growl. Haineko!" Having seen his strength, Rangiku Matsumoto released her Shikai without hesitation. Her blade turned into scattering ash and enveloped Luppi within it. "Neko Rinbu!"
The ash whirled and danced like a tornado.
Then came the ringing sound of clashing steel. Cold flashes of light shone within the ash, dense and crisscrossing, slashing at Luppi inside.
That was Haineko's power. Once released, the blade turned to drifting ash, and anywhere that ash reached, Rangiku Matsumoto could strike simply by swinging the hilt.
A cold gleam flashed. Blood streaked across Yumichika Ayasegawa's face as he gripped Fuji Kujaku and stood in front of Rangiku Matsumoto. "I'm not dead yet!"
"Don't be so hasty..." Luppi's upper clothes were in tatters, but there wasn't a single wound on his body. "Your ability is pretty unusual, but its attack power is laughably weak. That counts as a Shikai? It seems my expectations for Shinigami were a little too..."
Thud!
A blood-soaked figure slammed into the ground, cutting Luppi off.
"Yammy!" Luppi shouted furiously. "Don't just throw trash over here!"
"You said it was trash," Yammy snorted. "So of course I threw it around."
"Ikkaku!" Yumichika Ayasegawa dropped down and caught the blood-covered Ikkaku Madarame.
"Hurry..." Ikkaku Madarame clutched the broken Hōzukimaru in his hand. "Get out of here..."
Yumichika Ayasegawa scooped Ikkaku Madarame up and ran into the distance.
"Hmph!" The air exploded beneath Yammy's feet. "Trying to run?"
"Hey! One of them is mine!" Luppi moved to chase after them, only for Rangiku Matsumoto to flash in front of him and block his path.
Misty ash curled toward Luppi as Rangiku Matsumoto swung her sword hilt. "I'm your opponent!"
"You think you can stop me?" Luppi sneered. "A big chest doesn't mean real strength. You're wearing a lieutenant's badge, but you're even weaker than that 5th Seat. Oh? Could this be a tradition in your 10th Division? After all, if the Captain is weak, there's no way the Lieutenant would be strong."
"As a Captain, you should have a duty to protect your subordinates. Clearly, not only did you fail to stall for time, you also failed to take care of your own men. The only thing waiting for you is the void of losing everything." Reiatsu erupted and crushed the solid ice. Ulquiorra stepped forward, and the ice projectiles near his body shattered one after another. "But there's no need to worry. That is a supreme kind of happiness. Once you've lost everything, you'll never lose anything again."
"It's no different now." Frozen wings spread behind Tōshirō Hitsugaya. The head of an ice dragon coiled around his right arm, its jaws clamped around the hilt of his sword, while its long icy tail lashed through the air. Three ice flowers floated behind him, spilling out a razor-sharp chill. "Bankai. Daiguren Hyōrinmaru!"
Frigid Reiatsu shot into the sky, and with every beat of those icy wings, the temperature dropped even further.
A Reiatsu as deep as the abyss descended. No matter how dull someone's senses were, they could not ignore it now.
…
Muten Natsu drove Myōki into the ground, and rolling spiritual ink lifted him into the air.
Rukia Kuchiki and Orihime Inoue stopped sparring and came over to Muten Natsu's side.
Kensei Muguruma frowned and warned them, "You've both used up a lot of energy. This isn't the time to fight."
"You're not much better off yourselves." Muten Natsu's gaze swept over the somewhat ragged members of the Visored Corps. Because Muten Natsu's Reiryoku was so abundant, practicing Hollowfication required several people to rotate in to keep the pressure high enough.
"We have no intention of helping a Shinigami!" Hiyori Sarugaki snorted.
"Funny, neither do I." Muten Natsu manipulated the spiritual ink, lifting himself along with Orihime Inoue and Rukia Kuchiki. "It's just that the person I want to help happens to be a Shinigami."
The spiritual ink surged, carrying the three of them out of the abandoned factory as they sped toward the source of the turbulent Reiatsu.
"I've been looking for you!" Grimmjow stood in the air, brows tightly furrowed, his sky-blue eyes locked on Muten Natsu. "Muten Natsu!"
Muten Natsu called softly, "Rukia..."
"Mhm." Before he could finish, Rukia Kuchiki already understood what he meant. "Orihime, let's head over there first and see if anyone needs healing. Leave this place to Muten."
Still worried, Orihime Inoue glanced at Muten Natsu, then nodded and wrapped her arms around Rukia Kuchiki's neck.
"This time..." Rukia Kuchiki gathered Reishi beneath her feet to form a foothold as she lifted Orihime Inoue into her arms. "Don't take too long."
"Mm." Muten Natsu waved a hand. "I'll be there soon."
"I'll send you there myself!" Grimmjow ground his fangs together. "You can reunite in the world of the dead!"
"Bankai." Thick spiritual ink poured from both arms, transforming into a rushing waterfall of ink. Muten Natsu raised Myōki and pointed it at Grimmjow. "Rin'en Bokukō!"
The spiritual ink churned, and within the flowing ink, Rin'en Bokukō swam as it greedily devoured Reishi, gathering power in an instant.
"That boring Bankai again!" Grimmjow snorted. "All flash and no substance!"
Rin'en Bokukō reminded Grimmjow of when he had still been a mid-level Menos Adjuchas. Compared to the other Adjuchas, Grimmjow had been pitifully small.
And yet that tiny version of him had still turned other Adjuchas into his food.
The savage Rin'en Bokukō thrust its head out from the waterfall of spiritual ink and opened its jaws to bite down on Grimmjow.
No matter how huge it was, it didn't matter.
Grimmjow's eyes narrowed.
What mattered in an attack was not how wide it reached, but the final result.
An attack that didn't hit was meaningless!
The air burst beneath Grimmjow's feet. With his speed, he could have dodged Rin'en Bokukō's attack with ease.
But...
Wisps of black mist gathered in the air and bloomed into intricate symbols.
Grimmjow's body went rigid. Both hands bent backward against his will, and his feet snapped together as well.
Bakudō #1. Sai!
Grimmjow unleashed his Reiatsu and instantly broke free of the binding.
Just in time... Damn it!
The restraint he had just broken returned at once. Dense layers of complex symbols drifted out of the waterfall of spiritual ink. The most basic Bakudō stacked over and over on Grimmjow's body, forcing him to take Rin'en Bokukō head-on!
The terrifying jaws of the abyss snapped shut. That familiar sensation descended again. Grimmjow felt as though he were falling into an abyss, as if countless fangs were grinding against his body and tearing open his Hierro skin.
Corrosive spiritual ink invaded through his wounds and ravaged his body.
"Damn it!" Violent Reiatsu burst from Grimmjow's fingertips. He curled his five fingers, crimson light gathering in his palm before erupting all at once. "Cero!"
Against the torrent of spiritual ink, and using its pressure to his advantage, Grimmjow completed the compressed charge-up for his Cero in an instant.
Crimson light burst forth with wild abandon!