"No need to worry. No need to fear." Ulquiorra looked at Tōshirō Hitsugaya from afar, his arms covered in black fur. "This is not my Resurrección. I'm only drawing out a small part of my Zanpakutō's power and using it, something similar to your Shinigami's Shikai."
The freezing wind howled, hardening into ice that sealed his wounds. Ice wings spread from Tōshirō Hitsugaya's back, steadying his body.
"But you'll still worry. You'll still be afraid." Ulquiorra appeared in front of Tōshirō Hitsugaya. "Because just drawing out a fraction of that power is enough to kill you, even in Bankai."
Ulquiorra swung the eerie green Moonlight Sword in his hand and thrust it toward the center of Tōshirō Hitsugaya's collarbone.
"Shunkō!"
Violent lightning crashed down without warning. The clothing across Yoruichi Shihōin's shoulders and back tore apart, exposing taut brown skin. Thunder wrapped around her fist as she drove it forward, shattering the Moonlight Sword and forcing Ulquiorra back.
The air creaked under Ulquiorra's feet. "Yoruichi Shihōin."
"I was dropping off some kids, so I'm a little late..." Yoruichi Shihōin gave a light laugh, electricity spilling from her body and lashing the air with sharp crackles. "You've really made a mess of things here."
Tatsuki Arisawa stared at the savage beast towering between the high-rises, her gaze trembling.
Even though Yoruichi Shihōin had taken her far away, she could still see that enormous figure, so huge it inspired despair.
Unlike the Hollows she had seen before, that monster looked semi-transparent, as if it had been cut off into another space.
Orihime... is she over there?
She has to fight something that terrifying?
Tatsuki Arisawa shuddered as suffocating pressure bore down on her.
Twisted cracks appeared in the air. Through them, the monster's body could be seen clearly.
It was as if whatever had originally sealed its power was breaking apart under the impact of that terrifying force.
Tatsuki Arisawa looked at the club members beside her. They had already lost consciousness in the earlier shock.
If that sealed power burst out completely, they would probably all end up dead on the spot.
Ever since she gained the ability to see Hollows, Tatsuki Arisawa had realized the world was nowhere near as safe as she used to think.
But for it to be this dangerous was beyond anything she had ever dared imagine.
What... what are we supposed to do?
As the cracks grew larger and breathing became harder and harder, the despair in Tatsuki Arisawa's heart deepened.
It felt as if everything had been swallowed by darkness.
Was this what a dying hallucination felt like?
No...
This wasn't a hallucination.
Surging Spirit Ink rose up and covered the warped cracks in the air.
The once-vague seal now became clearer and clearer as the Spirit Ink spread through it.
The flowing Spirit Ink traced the outline of the spatial seal, and the thick black ink gradually took on the texture of bandages.
Raku Zetsu!
It had originally been a Kidō used by Retsu Unohana to seal Muten Natsu's out-of-control power. After being improved by the Kidō expert Nanao Ise, its difficulty had been lowered, and only after long practice had Muten Natsu finally managed to master it.
Its essence was similar to Spirit Ribbons, manifesting scattered spiritual energy and using it to seal one's own power.
At that moment, Muten Natsu used Spirit Ink to saturate the frozen space, then turned the spiritual energy released by the ink into bandages, completely confining the violent Reiatsu unleashed by the Arrancar's Resurrección within the bounds of the frozen space.
Tatsuki Arisawa suddenly felt lighter, nearly stumbling.
As she looked at the layers upon layers of black bandages hanging in the air and sensed Muten Natsu's familiar Reiatsu, the fear and unease in her heart calmed at a miraculous speed.
Muten Natsu was here. He had already started moving.
"Hm?" With his height advantage, Yammy noticed the change around them at once. He had been about to attack Kisuke Urahara, but instinctively stopped and looked around. "This is..."
"Jaula Tentáculo!" Luppi paid no attention to the changes around him. Rangiku Matsumoto alone was already enough to disgust him, and now Orihime Inoue had appeared, someone no weaker than Rangiku Matsumoto. Without hesitation, he unleashed the full power of the eight tentacles behind him. "Die!"
The extending tentacles closed in like a cage. Just as Orihime Inoue raised her hand to use Shun Shun Rikka, she sensed the change in the surroundings.
"Tsugi no mai, Hakuren!" Rukia Kuchiki swung her sword, unleashing an avalanche of freezing air to meet the eight tentacles. The glittering ice lasted only an instant before the tentacles shattered it.
The scattered shards of ice reflected dazzling colors in the sunlight, and a deep black streak cut straight through them.
All eight tentacles were severed at once, writhing as blood sprayed from them.
"Huh?" Luppi stared blankly at the dark figure ahead. "You... what did you do?"
"I should be the one asking..." A skull mask covered Muten Natsu's face, and black karmic flames burned over it in eerie silence. "What are you doing?"
The air exploded beneath his feet as Muten Natsu appeared in front of Luppi, raising Myōki high before bringing it down.
The three tentacles crossed in front of Luppi for defense were cut through almost at the same instant. Luppi used Sonído to evade, but the moment he steadied himself, a wound split open across his shoulder and blood came pouring out.
"What a handsome big brother..." Luppi pressed a hand to his shoulder wound as the tentacles behind him writhed and stretched, returning to their original length. "I'd love to see how much of that good looks you've got left once you're a corpse!"
Dense clusters of sharp spikes suddenly burst from the ends of the writhing tentacles. Luppi dropped low, all eight tentacles spinning wildly. "La Hélice!"
Shrill screams overlapped into a harsh, grating sound that set teeth on edge. The wildly expended Reiatsu whipped up a storm, and the rapidly spinning tentacles looked ready to shred everything they touched to pieces.
Muten Natsu raised a finger. The layers of black bandages covering the sky split apart, separating into dense, intricate characters that converged around Luppi.
Bakudō #1: Sai!
The spinning stopped abruptly.
Muten Natsu seized that instant and brought his blade down, severing one tentacle.
But just as he moved to cut the second, thick pink mist suddenly burst from the wound where the first tentacle had been severed.
"Szayelaporro asked me to pass along his regards!" Luppi swung his remaining tentacles, releasing even more pink mist and completely swallowing Muten Natsu inside it. Then the tentacles drew tight, their gathered power exploding in an instant as they stabbed crisscross through the pink fog. "This poison will make your body lose its sense of Reiryoku, and without Reiryoku, that means... what?!"
"Means what?"
Cold karmic flames instantly devoured all the pink mist. The rising fire was absorbed by Myōki, and a black slash swept across, cutting down every tentacle at once. Behind the mask, Muten Natsu's blood-red eyes fixed on Luppi, and his cold voice carried a faint, layered growl.
"These things don't work on me. Since I can't experience their exact effects for myself... I'm actually pretty curious."