"?!"
"He's actually that arrogant?"
"This Espada's really planning to catch Getsuga Tenshō with his bare hands?"
"Doing that is basically spitting in the face of every strong opponent who's fought Kurosaki Ichigo up to now!!"
The viewers were stunned.
No one had expected this from Ulquiorra, who usually looked so quiet and taciturn, never bothering with trash talk.
Yet his actions were even more arrogant than words.
He was blatantly treating Kurosaki Ichigo as if he were nothing.
The moment this scene appeared in the countdown video, it naturally stirred up public outrage.
Zaraki Kenpachi was the first to grumble.
"Tch… what's this guy putting on airs for? The Espada ranks stopped being a secret ages ago!"
"Where does some trash Arrancar who can't even crack the top three get the guts to show off like this?"
Kenpachi sneered, convinced Ulquiorra was just bluffing.
After all—
Back in the earlier countdowns—
Coyote Starrk and Tier Harribel, the two top-three Espada, had already been shown on the battlefield in Karakura Town.
And they had been taken down in turn by Tōshirō Hitsugaya and Shunsui Kyōraku.
Ever since then—
The Espada had lost all sense of mystery.
Nobody really felt like they were that overwhelmingly strong anymore.
On top of that—
Almost everyone knew that in the later Thousand-Year Blood War storyline, if you looked over the entire Arrancar army…
Only Grimmjow, and Grimmjow alone—
Got any real screen time at all: trading blows with Urahara Kisuke and killing a squad of twelve Schutzstaffel soldiers.
Aside from that—
The other Espada were basically wiped out. You barely even saw their faces again.
Under that premise—
Watching Ulquiorra act cool right in front of them, doing something none of the others would dare try—
Naturally rubbed Kenpachi, one of Kurosaki Ichigo's rivals, the wrong way.
"Heh…"
"This guy's probably one of the three Arrancar in Las Noches who's most desperate to be chosen by Aizen, huh?"
Under his straw hat, Shunsui Kyōraku shook his head and said with open disdain, "No wonder his attitude's so arrogant. He's completely inherited Aizen's contempt for Shinigami."
At this moment—
Whether you looked at the scene itself—the massive crimson Getsuga Kurosaki Ichigo unleashed already filling the entire screen—
Or at Ulquiorra's rank—
Only two numbers higher than Grimmjow's—
Shunsui simply didn't believe that, in terms of strength, Ulquiorra could completely crush Kurosaki Ichigo.
There was no way he was that far ahead.
Absolutely impossible.
There was just no way that…
After hacking and slashing his way here, getting stronger every step of the way—
Kurosaki Ichigo's power would still be less than one of Ulquiorra's hands.
That would be way too fake!!!
————————
Meanwhile—
While everyone was arguing—
On the screen, the enormous Getsuga Tenshō swept forward in a crushing wave.
Under countless watching eyes—
It slammed straight into Ulquiorra's hierro-coated palm.
Boom!!!
The blast of dust and wind shook the picture, making the translucent projection tremble violently.
Ulquiorra's figure was forcefully driven back, unable to completely withstand the impact.
He was pushed back again and again!
"Tch…"
"So it really was just for show, huh?"
"Told you… Arrancar are all trash."
"During the Thousand-Year Blood War they're not even qualified to step onto the battlefield!!"
Inside the icy fortress of Silbern, the silver castle of the Wandenreich—
Lille Barro let out a cold laugh, his eyes filled with scorn.
Just a moment ago—
Even he had been fooled for a second—
He had actually thought Ulquiorra might be strong enough to block Getsuga Tenshō with one hand.
Now it was obvious…
It had just been a bluff.
Looks like the Espada, one after another—
Were all the same kind of posers: acting tough without the power to back it up.
Embarrassing.
No wonder the viewers were roasting them.
"Ulquiorra…"
"I've never even heard that name before, and he's clearly not the strongest Arrancar."
"He's probably going to get beaten by Kurosaki Ichigo, don't you think?" Lille Barro said coolly.
He likewise saw no reason to believe Ulquiorra's strength or abilities were anything special.
To be fair…
Right now—
Ulquiorra hadn't even released his Resurrección. He hadn't so much as drawn his Zanpakutō.
But for the Espada and Arrancar—
Resurreccións were already played out.
They'd been shown so many times that the visual impact had worn off.
There was nothing special about them anymore.
There was no way—
That this one Arrancar, Ulquiorra—
Would suddenly bring something completely new to the table with his Resurrección, right?
On that point—
Lille Barro refused to believe it.
————————
Next—
Under the mocking gazes of the pure-blood Quincy of the Wandenreich—
The footage continued.
Ulquiorra's expression shifted. First he switched from one hand to both.
After bracing for a moment—
His white Las Noches uniformed body was blasted away.
The sweeping wave of Getsuga—
Together with the raging dark-red reiatsu—
Triggered a massive explosion of force.
The blast tore through row after row of towering stone pillars—
Until Ulquiorra finally vanished into the cloud of dust, temporarily offscreen.
In contrast, Kurosaki Ichigo—
Still gripped Tensa Zangetsu, his Hollow mask intact.
The slim black "tuxedo" of his Hollowfication fluttered in the roiling wind.
He stood there like a victor—winner and loser clearly defined.
Ulquiorra's attempt to show off, only to be blasted away, made his defeat look even more pathetic.
The first ones to feel disappointed and upset at this scene—
Were naturally his own kind.
The Arrancar and Hollows watching from Hueco Mundo, who had seen the whole fight from start to finish.
"What?"
"Ulquiorra… that's it?"
"You really bombed out there!"
"Looks like you're actually the most embarrassing one out of all of us!!"
Nnoitra laughed viciously.
His single eye gleamed with glee.
He was more than happy to see Ulquiorra humiliated, and he let out a long breath of relief.
Back in the "Nozarashi" ranking round—
He'd been one-shotted by Zaraki Kenpachi wielding his sword with both hands.
Ever since then—
Nnoitra had been a constant target of mockery, branded the most disgraceful of the Espada.
Forget the other races—
Even his fellow Hollows and Arrancar treated him like trash.
Too weak.
Not worthy of the spotlight.
Just a walking embarrassment to Hueco Mundo.
Luckily—
Ulquiorra seemed to have just done almost the exact same thing.
He'd jumped in out of nowhere—
Inserting himself between Kurosaki Ichigo and Grimmjow's grudge match.
And now he'd been "three-slash KO'd" all the same.
At least for the moment, with the dust cloud still hanging on screen—
On Ichigo's side—
The mask had cracked, his Hollowfication had faded, and he was already getting ready to leave with Nel in his arms.
No matter how you looked at it—
It sure looked like Ulquiorra had lost.
That was the only reason Nnoitra dared mock him out loud.
"That's right…" Grimmjow didn't miss his chance to stomp on Ulquiorra either. He shot him a feral grin and jeered,
"That's what you get for stealing someone else's prey."
"Ulquiorra, from now on, you're the one the viewers are going to brand with the word 'weakling'!"
However…
As soon as those words left his mouth—
Grimmjow's voice had barely had time to echo through the air—
When the situation suddenly flipped.
————————
At this moment—
On the screen—
"Nel, you okay?"
"Let's go. We need to move—time's tight!"
"We have to hurry and meet up with the others…"
Just as Kurosaki Ichigo reached out with one hand—
Scooping up the tiny Nel and getting ready to leave the area—
Something happened.
Boom!!!
A surge of reiatsu exploded, blowing the dust cloud away.
A sharp green light cut through the air, dispersing the lingering shockwaves.
Ulquiorra's silhouette emerged from within.
Not only was he still standing—
Even his hierro-clad body didn't show a single wound.
Only his white uniform had a few rips.
Overall—
It was as if nothing had happened.
Kurosaki Ichigo's "all-out strike" hadn't posed any threat to Ulquiorra at all.
"You've got to be kidding…"
"The gap is that big?!"
In the World of the Living—
Inside Urahara's shop—
Kurosaki Isshin stared, dumbfounded, as a wave of dread welled up in his heart.
Hollowfication.
Getsuga Tenshō.
Those were already his son Ichigo's biggest trump cards.
And even so—
They hadn't injured the enemy in the slightest.
That could only mean that the difference in reiatsu between them was colossal.
Far beyond what Hollowfication alone could hope to compensate for.
Sure enough—
Barely had that uneasy thought arisen—
When Ulquiorra's cold declaration of the hunt came from the speakers.
"Kurosaki Ichigo…"
"So that was your full power just now? What a disappointment."
His voice was flat and devoid of emotion.
The very next second, Ulquiorra lifted a finger.
Facing the camera head-on—
He unleashed a brutally powerful dark-green Cero.
Boom!!!
The roar shook the heavens.
In less than a second—
Green light filled the entire screen.
Kurosaki Ichigo's body was swept up in the blast wave—
Blasted straight out of the underground chamber.
In an instant, half his outfit was blown away.
He looked utterly ragged.
In stark contrast to earlier, he tumbled across the air, body twisting as he tried desperately to escape.
"Yare yare…"
"Captain Aizen, as expected—Ulquiorra is still the most reliable of them all."
"From this round of the countdown onward, he's one of the rare opponents who actually overwhelms Kurosaki Ichigo completely."
Beneath the throne—
Gin Ichimaru spoke with smiling, narrowed eyes.
While he was talking—
Ichigo took another beating.
His body was blasted away again, hurled clear across the desert, and finally smashed into the side of a towering pillar nearby.
Before the crowd could even fully process what had happened—
He crashed to the ground amid the explosion's shockwave.
Coughing blood from his injuries—
Half of his body pinned under a massive chunk of stone—
He looked utterly miserable, too battered to move.
He had been completely crushed.
"This can't be happening…"
"Kurosaki Ichigo… it looks like he's cornered!"
"In a cramped space like that, and seriously wounded, he can't even run!"
"The tables turned way too fast! It hasn't even been three minutes…"
"The main character, Kurosaki Ichigo… is actually on his knees!!!"
Moments earlier—
The viewers' mockery of Ulquiorra had been deafening.
Now their shock had multiplied several times over.
It was terrifying.
Even Grimmjow—
In both of his fights against Kurosaki Ichigo in the World of the Living—
Had only managed to push Ichigo back, forcing him into a corner.
And in one of those battles, after losing an arm, Grimmjow had gotten his head caved in when Ichigo entered "infinite Hollowfication mode"—
The so-called "king of three seconds," instantly reversing the fight and pounding him bloody.
No one had expected that…
When it came time for Ulquiorra to block Ichigo's path—
He would win so cleanly, so violently, with such overwhelming dominance.
The fight went by so fast—
The audience barely had time to open their mouths to comment before it was already over.
It was absurd.
It even made people start to wonder whether Ulquiorra's rank was wrong.
Had Aizen messed up the order again?
Could it be that this guy was actually the true No. 1—
The strongest Vasto Lorde in all of Hueco Mundo?
Because otherwise—
A beatdown this one-sided…
Surpassed any opponent Kurosaki Ichigo had faced so far.
"Captain Kuchiki…"
"Doesn't the atmosphere feel… off somehow?"
"Could it be that Kurosaki Ichigo… is really going to get killed?"
Inside the First Division barracks—
Renji Abarai swallowed hard, his eyes wide with panic.
At that moment—
As he spoke—
Ulquiorra tore open the front of his uniform, revealing the number "4" carved into his chest.
Then—
Facing the camera—
He walked step by step toward Kurosaki Ichigo, leaving him with no way out.
It was as if—
For the first time ever, Ichigo had truly been driven into a dead end.
"No way…"
Byakuya Kuchiki's eyes widened.
He too was shaken.
Shocked by the crushing pressure Ulquiorra exuded.
But out of pure habit—
And judging from the previously revealed plot—
Byakuya instinctively shook his head.
"As the protagonist, Kurosaki Ichigo won't be killed that easily."
"Not even I, nor the entire Gotei 13, in his rookie days…"
"Were able to accomplish that."
His tone was firm.
To achieve that with a single blade—
Was something not even Hōgyoku-empowered Aizen had managed.
Let alone—
One of Aizen's subordinates, just another Arrancar in the Espada.
However…
In this world—
There is never any shortage of people getting slapped in the face by reality.
And this time was no exception.
The next clip completely plunged the entire Bleach world into utter shock.
————————
"It's over…"
"The alarm has sounded."
With that cold voice—
And under Kurosaki Ichigo's wide-eyed stare—
Ulquiorra's arm-blade punched straight through his chest.
Right in front of the camera, a hole was torn clean through Ichigo's torso.
His chest was ripped open, a bloody cavity gaping where his heart should be.
"Kurosaki Ichigo…"
"You can't defeat me."
"Even if you manage to stand up a thousand times… your fate is to die here in Hueco Mundo."
"This is the end."
The camera zoomed in—
Framing Ulquiorra's face.
The two streaks of dark green "tear marks" running down his cheeks stood out starkly.
In the dim light—
They gave off a chilling, inhuman aura.
Cold, merciless, killing without hesitation.
Shlkk—!!
Blood sprayed in a line as Ulquiorra tore his arm free.
The crimson arc splashed across the ground.
Kurosaki Ichigo's body was nailed in place for a heartbeat—
A huge, whirlpool-like wound yawning in his chest—
His eyes frozen wide open, neck rigid—
Until his body finally collapsed with a crash.
"No way…"
"Kurosaki Ichigo… really got killed?!!"
"That No. 4—Ulquiorra!!!"
"He actually soloed the protagonist! He forced Kurosaki Ichigo into a corner and finished him off!!!"
After a brief moment of silence—
All the viewers, all the powerful beings watching—
Completely lost their minds.
"Holy—!!"
"What the hell?!"
"This is insane!!!"
"Kurosaki Ichigo really got taken out?!"
"Did his protagonist halo just shatter?!"
"Ulquiorra actually did it!"
"He's rewriting history!!!"
"Wait, no—look!"
"From Kurosaki Ichigo's body…"
A massive amount of black particles, carrying the power of death, poured out of the gaping wound, dispersing into the air and fading away.
What did that mean?
It meant that—
He really had been killed.
At the very least, in that moment, he was on the brink of certain death.
The main character—
Had truly fallen.
(End of Chapter)
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