"Don't waste your effort."
Yumichika said calmly, "Once captured by my Ruri'iro Kujaku, you are like a bird in a cage, a sparrow in a net, with no chance of escape."
"Because, your Reiatsu will be absorbed by my Zanpakuto, transforming into blooming flowers."
Yumichika pointed to the many bulges on the light bands formed by his Zanpakuto and said to Edrad, "See? When all these flower buds fully bloom, it will be the moment your life ends."
"Dammit!"
Edrad roared in anger, but a loud voice could not improve his situation.
A large amount of Reiatsu was being drawn from Edrad's body, causing countless flower buds to sprout on the green light bands formed by Yumichika's Zanpakuto, Ruri'iro Kujaku.
Then, under the nourishment of the Reiatsu, these flower buds bloomed at a speed visible to the naked eye.
After these petals fully blossomed, Edrad, who had released his Resurrección, directly dissipated into black Reishi.
"One down..."
Yumichika reached out and plucked a blossoming Reishi Flower from Ruri'iro Kujaku, placed it by his lips, and lightly inhaled.
Instantly, this Reishi Flower transformed into blue Reishi and was consumed by Yumichika, restoring most of the Reiatsu he had previously expended.
The flowers bloomed by Ruri'iro Kujaku absorbing Reiatsu could be directly eaten by Yumichika to replenish his own Reiatsu.
In other words, as long as Yumichika wished, he could maintain his peak condition at any time.
"I wonder how the other companions are doing..."
Boom-
Ikkaku thrust his spear, the violent Reiatsu forming a shockwave that pierced through Shawlong's body, blasting him far away.
"Too weak! Too weak! Too weak!"
Spinning his Hozukimaru in a flourish, Ikkaku said to Shawlong, "Don't you have any stronger people over there?"
"I finally get to come to the Living World for a fight. If I only encounter a weakling like you, I'll be very disappointed!"
"Pfft-"
Shawlong spat a mouthful of blood, emerging from a large hole in a building.
'This guy is so strong!'
He never expected this loud and boisterous fellow to be much stronger than he had imagined.
When his Zanpakuto was not released, the two could fight back and forth.
But after Ikkaku released his Zanpakuto, his fighting style changed greatly, and his strength increased significantly.
After Ikkaku's Shikai, Hozukimaru becomes a long spear, which can also split into a three-section staff connected by chains.
After Bankai, Hozukimaru transforms into three giant blades.
Therefore, what Kyoya taught Ikkaku was not simple swordsmanship… it also included the giant race's ultimate technique, [Hakoku]!
In fact, it was just as Kyoya had guessed.
In the way of the sword, Ikkaku's talent was not very high.
But when learning [Hakoku], Ikkaku progressed rapidly.
Later, Ikkaku even gave up the way of the sword, focusing solely on cultivating [Hakoku].
Nowadays, the shockwaves Ikkaku casually thrust out were no less powerful than the slashes of other Great Swordsmen.
Although in terms of sharpness, a Great Swordsman's slash would definitely be stronger-
However, the force of a shockwave was something a slash could not match.
Take Shawlong, for example.
As an Adjuchas-class Arrancar, his strength was enough to rank among Captain-level.
Yet in his battle with Ikkaku, he was severely injured with a single blow.
"Of course, the more important thing is..."
Koufang's mind flashed with Grimmjow's figure.
As Grimmjow's followers, they had determined that Grimmjow had the potential to evolve into a higher-level Menos Grande, a Vasto Lorde, and could become the 'King' of Hueco Mundo.
Therefore, they offered parts of their own bodies for Grimmjow to consume, allowing him to grow faster.
As Adjuchas-class Menos Grande, if they wanted to evolve, they had to maintain the integrity of their own bodies.
Once certain parts of their bodies were devoured by other Menos Grande, it meant that Hollow's soul was no longer complete, losing the possibility of advancing to the highest-level Menos Grande, Vasto Lorde.
Moreover, Adjuchas who stop evolving would also regress into mindless, instinct-driven Gillian-class Menos Grande if they did not continuously feed.
However, Shawlong and the others did not wait for Grimmjow to evolve into a Vasto Lorde-class Menos Grande… their group, along with Grimmjow, was captured by Aizen and became test subjects for creating Arrancar.
In the end, Grimmjow, relying on his powerful strength, made it into the ranks of the Espada.
And these followers of Grimmjow became his Fracción.
Shawlong felt that as a follower of Grimmjow, even if he died in battle, he could not made Grimmjow lose his reputation.
"If people found out that Grimmjow-sama's followers did not let their opponent enjoy the fight to the fullest, I'm afraid even Grimmjow-sama would not spare us."
The Shinigami before him possessed a pure fighting heart, just like Grimmjow.
So he felt dying at the hands of Ikkaku was not much different from dying at Grimmjow's hands.
"Come, let's begin the second round."
"Snip… Tijereta!"
Boom!
Golden Reiatsu erupted from Shawlong's body. The mask covered his entire head, with only a few slits at the eye positions.
The five fingers on both hands had turned into over one-meter-long bone blades, and a bone whip extended from behind his tailbone.
After Resurrección, the injuries Shawlong had sustained earlier were completely healed. With a casual wave of his hand, five golden Reiatsu Blades shot towards Ikkaku.
"Hahaha, now that's more like it!"
"Let's fight to the death!"
Ikkaku gripped his spear with both hands, thrusting out a shockwave to shatter the five Reiatsu Blades, then charged towards Shawlong with overwhelming force.
Boom!
Boom boom boom boom...
For a time, the sound of explosions was unceasing.
After Resurrección, Shawlong fought fiercely with Ikkaku in his Shikai state.
When Yumichika arrived and saw Ikkaku having so much fun, he could not help but shake his head.
"That Ikkaku, really..."
"There are a few big shots among those guys."
"Wouldn't fighting those guys be more fun than fighting this one?"
However, even as he said this, Yumichika had no intention of interrupting Ikkaku's battle.
"I hope when Ikkaku comes to his senses, the others will leave an opponent for him..."
…
"Strangle… Trepadora!"
The bloodied Séptima Espada, Luppi Antenor, missing one arm, raised his Zanpakuto with his remaining right hand and roared. Violent Reiatsu erupted from his body.
When the Reiatsu dissipated, eight furry tentacles appeared behind Luppi.
After Resurrección, Luppi's left arm did not regenerate, but his other injuries showed no trace.
"Huff huff huff..."
Luppi bent over, then, under his control, the eight tentacles behind him spun rapidly like the propeller of a windmill.
"Die!"
"I am the strongest!"
"Whirling Arm Array!"
Amidst Luppi Antenor's screams, he controlled the rapidly spinning tentacles to charge towards Hitsugaya ahead.
As an Espada who constantly sought to climb higher, Luppi hated geniuses the most.
Grimmjow was a genius, so he became stronger than him after becoming an Arrancar.
The little punk in front of him was also a genius… from his physique and face, one could tell his true age was no more than fifty years.
But even so, he was almost instantly killed by this guy?
"If you are truly the strongest, that's really great."
Hitsugaya said solemnly.
If the Arrancar in front of him was not lying, then this attack by Aizen on the Living World was nothing much.
But if this guy was wrong, and among the Arrancar who came to the Living World this time, there were some stronger than him, then the others probably would not fare too well.
After all, based on Hitsugaya's judgment, the guy he was fighting, after Resurrección, was not weak even among Captain-level.
In Kyoya's categorization, this guy might have already touched the level of the third tier.
Of course, because this guy's ability was relatively straightforward and not some tricky ability, compared to the true Captains of the third tier, he fell short considerably.
Even some Captains of the fourth tier, if their Zanpakuto abilities were good, could turn the tables on him.
Raising his Zanpakuto, Hitsugaya called out its name.
"Sit Upon the Frozen Heavens… Hyorinmaru!"
Boom!
As Hitsugaya swung, over a dozen ice dragons, each over ten meters long, rushed towards Luppi.
Boom boom boom boom boom!
The ice dragons collided with Luppi's rapidly spinning tentacles, erupting in violent shockwaves.
After colliding with Luppi's tentacles, these ice dragons not only possessed great force but also carried freezing cold that spread towards his tentacles, seemingly intent on completely freezing Luppi.
Boom-
Luppi's Reiatsu erupted. He controlled his tentacles to attack each other, shattering the ice on them.
"You bastard-!"
Having his ultimate move broken so easily drove Luppi into a greater frenzy.
Immediately, he stopped using his tentacles to spin and attack. Instead, he retracted them, then suddenly launched them at Hitsugaya.
"Lance Tentacle!"
Boom boom boom-
The eight tentacles pierced through the air, unleashing powerful attacks, seemingly intent on smashing Hitsugaya to pieces.
Seeing this, Hitsugaya gripped his Zanpakuto with both hands. Blue ghostly light gathered on Hyorinmaru, finally released by Hitsugaya in a slash.
"Frozen Sword Wave-"
Swish-
The blue slash instantly passed through the tentacles. Under Luppi's horrified gaze, all the tentacles he used to attack Hitsugaya were severed.
Moreover, icy cold spread from the wounds of the tentacles, instantly completely freezing even his body.
"How is this possible?"
Witnessing this scene, Luppi's eyes widened.
One must know, after Resurrección, although his tentacles looked cute and fluffy, their hardness was no less than steel.
But tentacles of such strength were actually severed by a single sword slash?
"Ah, ah ah ah ah ah ah-!"
Boom!
Amidst furious roars, powerful Reiatsu erupted from Luppi's body once again, shattering the ice covering him.
But as this ice shattered, Luppi's body was also left full of holes.
Hitsugaya's Hyorinmaru's ability was to directly condense water vapor within a certain range into ice.
His Frozen Sword Wave was the release of Hyorinmaru's water-condensing-into-ice ability through a flying slash.
The moment the slash hit the enemy, Hyorinmaru's water-condensing-into-ice ability would directly freeze the enemy's blood containing water vapor, instantly killing them.
If Luppi had not shattered the ice on his body earlier, he would have truly been killed outright.
But even though Luppi shattered the ice, because this ice was condensed from the blood within his body, it also caused considerable damage to himself.
"I will, I will kill you!"
"You have no chance!"
Hitsugaya now pointed his Zanpakuto directly at Luppi.
"Hail Flower Dragon!"
Whoosh-
A blue light flashed. Hitsugaya's body appeared behind Luppi.
Boom-
Then, Luppi's body was suddenly frozen by an ice cross flower.
Subsequently, crack after crack appeared on this ice cross flower. With a whoosh, it shattered into countless ice fragments.
As for the Séptima Espada, Luppi, frozen within Hail Flower Dragon, had already vanished along with these ice fragments.
…
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
In the sky above Karakura Town, two figures weaved past each other.
Strangely, although both held Zanpakuto, every time their blades struck the opponent's figure, it would dissipate into an afterimage.
Swish-
Swish-
Finally, the initial probing ended. The two figures in the sky revealed themselves, looking at each other solemnly.
"I am the Octava Espada, Zommari Rureaux. Might I ask which Captain of the Gotei 13 you are?"
"Sorry, I am not a Captain of the Gotei 13."
Ichinose shook his head.
"Oh? Someone like you isn't a Captain yet?"
Zommari frowned. "I am the fastest among the Espada, and you can keep up with my speed. You shouldn't be a nobody."
"If not for your gender being wrong, I would have thought you were the Captain of the 2nd Division."
"I heard from Aizen-sama that the best in Shunpo among your Gotei 13 is the Captain of the 2nd Division."
"Indeed, within the Gotei 13, the Captain of the 2nd Division has the best Shunpo."
"But outside the Gotei 13, there are those whose Shunpo is stronger than the Captain of the 2nd Division!"