"Ha ha…"
"Hahahahahaha!"
"In that case, let me show you."
Nnoitra laughed with a wild edge in his voice.
"Pray, Santa Teresa!"
Countless enemies had fallen under his released form. If their bones were stacked together, they would form a mountain of the dead.
The broken arms and limbs scattered across the sands of Hueco Mundo piled into mounds. Weapons stuck into corpses like jagged markers pointed toward the unchanging night sky where the pale moon hung endlessly over the desolation.
From atop that mountain of bodies stood only one figure: Nnoitra Gilga.
When the smoke from his transformation cleared, his full form became visible. Though still humanoid, he now possessed four arms, each gripping a massive scythe. Every rotation of those blades carried killing intent sharper than steel. A bony protrusion resembling a devil's horn pierced through his skull and jutted out to both sides.
At first glance, he resembled a grim crescent moon, radiating death and despair in equal measure.
Pesche and Dondochakka, standing nearby with Nelliel, were visibly shaken.
"What? He actually has four arms!"
"And those blades… they're massive!"
"Didn't he lose an arm earlier? It already grew back!"
"The regeneration is insane."
"This spiritual pressure… could this be the released form of an Espada's Zanpakutō?"
"Can Yuta-dono really stop that?"
Nelliel clenched her fists tightly at the question, her teeth pressing into her lip. Just then a firm voice carried across the air beside them.
"Don't worry. Yuta will be fine."
They turned toward the sound and saw a tall woman with dusky skin, piercing golden eyes, and a lithe physique. Her tight-fitting clothing emphasized her agility, and her long purple hair was tied back neatly into a ponytail. Bandages wrapped across her palms as she stood with arms folded.
Nelliel's heart whispered silently: "So his name is Yuta…"
---
"Super-speed regeneration?"
Yuta observed Nnoitra's arm reforming and immediately understood the ability. For him, with his own immortal body, such a technique was little more than a curiosity.
Still, there was no denying that Nnoitra's Hierro was formidable.
[You have successfully mastered Super-Speed Regeneration]
[You have successfully comprehended Hierro]
The principle of Hierro lay in compressing one's Reiatsu into the surface of the skin, hardening it into a near-impenetrable defense.
When Hollows were still Gillians, their massive bodies lacked density in Reiatsu, leaving them vulnerable to being cut apart despite their size. Even a massive frame offered little protection from a captain-level strike, and their bulk only made them slower targets. But once evolving into smaller forms of Adjuchas and eventually Arrancar, their concentrated Reiatsu reached terrifying density, turning their skin into armor ordinary blades could never cut.
Most Arrancar, however, sacrificed super-speed regeneration in exchange for such durability; the dense Reiatsu made recovery far more difficult.
Nnoitra was different. He possessed both the strongest Hierro among the Espada and the ability to regenerate at abnormal speed, making him far more dangerous than most of his peers.
The defensive principle reminded Yuta of the Quincy's Blut technique.
Blut could be divided into Blut Vene, a defensive application that hardened the user's blood vessels against external force, and Blut Arterie, an offensive application that enhanced physical attacks.
If Blut Vene were layered with the defensive principles of Hierro, Yuta wondered what kind of unbreakable defense could be achieved.
---
"How is it? Are you afraid?"
Nnoitra grinned, his wild laughter still echoing.
"Four arms aren't even my limit!"
Two more arms burst from his back, bringing his total to six. Each wielded an enormous scythe.
"Fall into despair!"
His laughter cut the air as he dug his foot into the ground of Las Noches. With a deafening crack, stone shattered beneath him and his body shot forward like a cannon round, six blades arcing straight toward Yuta.
Confidence swelled in his chest. From his perspective, Yuta hadn't even moved. Surely the boy had frozen in terror.
Pathetic human. To think you could stand against an Espada.
The scythes descended like guillotining strikes.
Nelliel's eyes widened, her body instinctively stepping forward as if preparing to release her own sealed power to protect Yuta.
But something made her pause.
The impossible happened in front of them all.
"What?!"
"No… that can't be!!"
Nnoitra's eyes bulged wide with disbelief. His tongue stretched out as he screamed, the tattooed "5" upon it twisting with his expression.
The blades that should have cleaved Yuta apart stopped short at his face and failed to cut through even his eyes-the weakest point of any body.
"Why?!"
"Why can't I cut you?! Not even Hierro can stop an attack like that at point blank!"
His strikes clashed again and again against what appeared to be only the delicate shield of Yuta's eyelids and mask, yet the scythes cracked and splintered instead.
Glowing blue spirit particles pulsed visibly beneath Yuta's skin, coursing through his veins like circuits of power. His dark eyes lifted slightly with calm disinterest as he glanced at Nnoitra.
The Espada staggered backward instinctively, a predator suddenly made prey by something he could not comprehend. Retreating hastily, he watched in horror as the Zanpakutō in his hand fractured into fragments and collapsed into dust.
He stared at his empty hand, his confidence breaking as swiftly as the weapon had.
"Is he… even human?"
From the shadows, Szayalaporro Granz froze as well. His mask fragment, styled like the bridge of glasses, was adjusted unconsciously as his normally smug face twisted with something rare-shock.
He spoke under his breath, unable to contain his fascination.
"What in the world… is that ability?"
"Such defense... to surpass even the Espada's Hierro?"
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