"Isane, we will take turns restoring Vice-Captain Amamiya's reiryoku. It will be more efficient this way," Captain Retsu Unohana instructed her lieutenant, her voice calm but firm.
"Yes, Captain!" Isane Kotetsu replied promptly, moving to stand behind Amamiya Miyako.
"Thank you for your assistance, Lieutenant Kotetsu," Miyako said with a grateful smile.
"Not at all," Isane replied, a slight blush on her cheeks. "This is all to defeat Aizen. We can't do much else while trapped here in Hueco Mundo, so giving our spiritual energy to you is the most important task."
"But we cannot afford to be too optimistic," Miyako countered, his expression turning serious. "The situation in the Human World is likely dire. Even with the Captain-Commander and the others there to intercept Aizen, the outcome could be catastrophic."
"Miyako, aren't you being a bit too pessimistic?" Rukia asked, puzzled. "The Captain-Commander prepared everything in Karakura Town. Aizen's main forces are only the top three Espada, plus Tōsen and Ichimaru. The Gotei 13 still has numerous Captains and Vice-Captains there."
"If Aizen is making his move now, it means he is fully prepared," Miyako explained, his voice low. "And perhaps... the defeat of his own subordinates is all part of his plan." His greatest fear was that Aizen intended to use the top three Espada as the final nourishment for the Hōgyoku. With the power of Kyōka Suigetsu, he could orchestrate such a betrayal without anyone realizing it.
Just then, a new, even more oppressive spiritual pressure descended from the sky above Las Noches. It was so heavy and malevolent that it seemed to snatch the very breath from their lungs.
A moment later, Orihime Inoue gasped, her hands flying to her mouth. "Kurosaki-kun!" she cried out, her voice trembling with panic.
"Orihime, what's wrong with Ichigo?!" Tatsuki Arisawa demanded, grabbing her friend's arm.
"Kurosaki-kun's spiritual pressure... it's fading!" Orihime looked up towards the source of the terrifying reiatsu, her eyes wide with terror. She turned to the group, her voice desperate. "Please! Can someone take me up there?!"
"I'll take you, Inoue," Uryū Ishida stated grimly. After observing Miyako's use of Hirenkyaku, Uryū had managed to grasp the fundamentals, allowing him to glide through the air and carry another.
"Tatsuki, you should stay here. I'm going to help Kurosaki-kun," Orihime said, her voice firm despite her fear.
"...I understand," Tatsuki replied, clenching her fists. She knew she would only be a liability in a battle of this scale. Staying put was the best way to help.
"What a fascinating Hollow reiatsu," Mayuri Kurotsuchi mused, his scientific curiosity piqued by the overwhelming pressure from above. "I've been lacking in quality specimens since arriving here. Nemu! Prepare the equipment. We are going up!"
Kuchiki Byakuya was already moving, his expression as stoic as ever, but his speed betrayed his concern. He, too, had felt the sudden, alarming weakening of Ichigo's spiritual pressure, buried under an ocean of Hollow energy. They had assumed it was an even match, but it seemed the Cuatro Espada, Ulquiorra, was a far more formidable opponent than anticipated.
Miyako wanted to stop them, but he had no valid reason. How could he explain that a Hollowfied, berserk Ichigo was about to achieve a monstrous victory?
Uryū and Orihime were the first to arrive at the topmost battleground. The scene that greeted them was one of utter devastation and horror.
Ulquiorra Cifer was transformed. His form was a stark palette of black and white, with massive, bat-like wings and a long, prehensile tail. Black tear-like stains streamed from his eyes, giving him the appearance of a fallen angel or a demon. Most horrifying of all, he held an unconscious Ichigo by the throat, his other hand poised for a final, killing strike.
Seeing Ulquiorra standing triumphantly over her friend, Orihime screamed.
"No! Stop! Please, stop!"
Ulquiorra ignored her plea. He aimed a single finger at the center of Ichigo's chest. "Cero," he stated flatly.
A jet-black beam of energy, a Gran Rey Cero, lanced out, piercing clean through Ichigo's torso. Ulquiorra then casually tossed the lifeless-looking body from the great height.
Orihime's scream was one of pure despair. She used her Shun Shun Rikka to create a cushion of golden light, catching Ichigo's falling form. She immediately summoned Tsubaki and the others, crying, "Sōten Kisshun! I reject!"
A golden dome enveloped Ichigo, but no matter how hard she concentrated, the gaping hole in his chest refused to close. Her powers, tied so intrinsically to her will and belief, were failing her as her spirit shattered under the weight of the horror before her.
"Inoue, get back!" Uryū shouted, drawing his Seele Schneider. He stared at Ulquiorra, cold sweat beading on his forehead. The spiritual pressure radiating from the Espada was on a completely different level from anything he had ever felt.
"How unexpected. I thought you were the most rational among them," Ulquiorra remarked, his hollow eyes scanning the new arrivals. "To throw your lives away so pointlessly against an enemy like me... No, wait." He sensed two more powerful reiatsu approaching. "Are there still more?"
In a flash of pink petals and a blur of motion, Byakuya Kuchiki and Mayuri Kurotsuchi arrived.
"Mayuri, see to Kurosaki Ichigo. I will handle him," Byakuya commanded, his voice icy as his gaze locked onto the transformed Arrancar.
"Tch. Understood," Mayuri grumbled, striding over to where Orihime wept over Ichigo. Seeing even her unique powers fail, he knew the situation was critical. "Nemu! The flesh-regeneration serum. Now!"
"Mayuri-sama, Kurosaki Ichigo's chest has been completely pierced. The serum's effectiveness is—"
"I am aware! But we must try! If he dies here, a great many people will have a monumental headache."
As Mayuri worked, a figure flashed past him. The feeling of that spiritual pressure was...
"My, my," Mayuri muttered, his eyes narrowing as he glanced behind him and saw Byakuya, a line of blood now trickling from his forehead. "This is a most troublesome development."
"Until Sōsuke Aizen returns, I will eliminate every last one of you," Ulquiorra declared from his Segunda Etapa form, a state of power unknown to the Soul Society. His strength was now unparalleled. Byakuya, caught off-guard by the immense speed and power difference from their last encounter, had been sent flying with a single, casual blow.
"Bankai," Byakuya intoned, not daring to hold back any longer. "Senbonzakura Kageyoshi!"
Countless giant blades materialized behind him, shattering into a beautiful, lethal storm of billions of pink petals that surged towards Ulquiorra like a tidal wave.
But the Senbonzakura's speed was nothing before Ulquiorra's Sonído. In the blink of an eye, the Espada vanished from the path of the blades and reappeared directly in front of Byakuya, his finger already leveled at the Captain's chest, a Cero beginning to glow at its tip.
Byakuya's calm facade shattered into pure astonishment. He hadn't even perceived the movement.
The Cero fired.
But when the light faded, all that remained was a white Captain's haori, shredded and burning, pierced by the destructive beam.
Ulquiorra slowly turned his head, his empty eyes finding Byakuya standing a short distance away, having shed his outer garment in a last-second substitution technique.
"How many more layers will you shed to escape death?" Ulquiorra asked, his voice a chilling monotone.