"So strong!!!"
"Ichigo… you almost ripped that Black-Winged Demon's entire side in half!!!"
In the high school campus of the living world.
Staring at Ulquiorra, whose arm had been violently torn off so that half his body was nothing but mangled flesh and blood…
Tatsuki Arisawa, Yasutora "Chad" Sado, and Orihime Inoue all stared wide-eyed, as if they were witnessing a bona fide miracle.
Too brutal…
A merciless slaughter…
If you said that, in the first half of this fight,
what the Black-Winged Demon had shown was merely the oppressive spiritual pressure unique to high-class Hollows—
Then just now, what Bullhead Ichigo did
was truly to show the audience what "violence to the extreme" really means!!!
No grappling.
No chance to counterattack.
Not even any trash talk.
From beginning to end, Bullhead Ichigo said nothing—he simply attacked, attacked, and kept on attacking!!!
Whereas the Black-Winged Demon,
who had been acting so arrogant before, looking down on humans with that lofty attitude—
From start to finish,
could only desperately try to fend him off.
Even his signature move—Cero Oscuras—had been blasted apart twice in a row.
The difference in power just wasn't on the same scale at all!
It felt like, in front of Bullhead Ichigo,
Cero Oscuras was nothing more than those little firecrackers kids throw on the ground during New Year's—no power at all.
By contrast, the crimson flash that Bullhead Ichigo fired—
That was the real nuclear weapon, blowing a hole straight through all of Hueco Mundo!!
"Yeah…"
Under his orange bangs,
Kurosaki Ichigo's eyes were burning with excitement.
As the person involved, looking at this brand-new Bullhead form,
he didn't find it frightening in the slightest.
On the contrary, he was thrilled, so excited that he practically threw himself into it,
imagining what it felt like to fight with that overwhelmingly violent style of Bullhead Ichigo.
Shinigami and Hollows are supposed to be two opposing forces, polar opposites.
Yet in Bullhead Ichigo's body,
the two were fused together perfectly, giving him absolutely overwhelming strength!
Compared to that,
those Gotei captains who'd trained for a hundred years and still only half understood their own Zanpakutō
felt like they were getting kicked all the way up to floor thirty thousand!!!
———
"At the same time."
Inside the First Division barracks.
The emotions of the Shinigami captains were exploding as well!
"This is too insane…"
"Captain Zaraki, I don't mean any disrespect…"
Ikkaku Madarame was drenched in cold sweat, speaking in a trembling voice.
"But if it came down to a sword fight, I feel like even you at your future peak might not be able to cut down Bullhead Ichigo!!!"
Yes—
Even in the future,
even after his Zanpakutō "Nozarashi" fully awakens—
Ikkaku still didn't think that Kenpachi Zaraki could hold out long against Bullhead Ichigo.
And he himself hadn't even noticed that,
ever since Bullhead Ichigo had burst into existence,
just watching these few rounds of footage—
His cold sweat had been pouring non-stop.
His shihakushō was completely soaked through; his whole body was dripping.
And that—
Was the instinctive fear response of a weak lifeform
when facing a being on the level of a creator-god.
An innate terror, surging up from the very depths of the soul!!!
In fact,
to exaggerate only slightly—
The only reason he hadn't dropped to his knees on the spot
was sheer dumb luck on Ikkaku's part!
Otherwise…
If that transparent barrier screen hadn't been there—
Not just him, but any other viewer with weaker spiritual power,
if they had to face Bullhead Ichigo head-on…
They would be crushed by his sheer presence alone!
Kneeling, suffocating, or even having their very souls explode—
Any of those outcomes was completely possible!!!
That was the sort of pressure
Bullhead Ichigo radiated—
an overwhelming aura that completely surpassed even the Black-Winged Demon!!!
"Tch…"
"Ikkaku… what are you talking about? If I haven't fought him, how would I know I'd lose?"
Kenpachi Zaraki grinned,
baring his neat rows of teeth.
On his face, those teeth looked like predator fangs bared in a wild snarl—
his fighting spirit had been utterly ignited by Bullhead Ichigo!
Right now,
Kenpachi had only one thought in his head—
If anything, he was actually a bit jealous of the Black-Winged Demon!
To be able to cross blades in an all-out duel with a monster like Bullhead Ichigo—
That was the greatest wish Kenpachi Zaraki had harbored
ever since he'd roamed the lawless Kenpachi District hundreds of years ago!!!
———
Meanwhile, back in Hueco Mundo.
The Hollows and Arrancar were having a completely different reaction—
their bodies literally stiff with fear, as if they'd even lost the courage to speak!
"Damn it…"
Nnoitra ground his teeth, his face flushed red.
Every sentence he forced out felt like it drained all the strength from his body.
He glared up at the screen,
watching Bullhead Ichigo's invincible figure, and roared,
"That monster… is he really the same kind as us?!"
"It feels like he only needs a single swing
to erase me from this world!!!"
As he got that last sentence out—
His massive scythe slipped from his hand and clanged onto the floor.
Nnoitra kept gasping for breath,
his arms and body trembling non-stop.
Bullhead Ichigo's sheer presence alone
was enough to rob him of the right to breathe!!!
Not far away,
Grimmjow's condition
wasn't much better.
Every hair on his body was standing on end,
making him look exactly like a blue cat whose fur had all puffed up.
Yes—
At this moment,
In front of Bullhead Ichigo,
Grimmjow was no longer the star of Hueco Mundo,
the future Vasto Lorde "Panther King" brimming with arrogance.
Instead…
He looked more like a Hachibi, a poor cat about to be scared into wetting itself.
Overwhelmed by fear,
some deep feline instinct had been triggered.
All he wanted to do was extend his claws,
dig a hole in the ground, and bury himself in it as fast as possible!
There was nothing he could do…
Bullhead Ichigo was just too terrifying!
Without any prior "desensitization training," there was simply no way to handle that!!!
In another corner,
Yammy, feeling suffocated from the pressure,
started outright blaming Ulquiorra to his face.
"I'm telling you… future you has got to be brain-dead, right?"
"Why the hell did you have to trade Cero blasts with that Bullhead Ichigo?!"
"Look at you now—got ripped apart with his bare hands, didn't you?
If you're weak, go train more, don't drag the rest of us down with you!!!"
You really couldn't fault Yammy for going off like that.
Even a big meathead like him,
whose pointed head seemed to have traded brain for muscles—
Even he understood that Bullhead Ichigo was simply unbeatable.
But in the video, the Black-Winged Demon looked like he'd lost his mind.
He just had to be stubborn.
He just had to prove himself a total scrub in front of Bullhead Ichigo!
It would've been one thing if he only got himself killed—
But dragging the entire Hueco Mundo down with him?
That was enough to make anyone's metaphorical balls ache.
Even through a screen,
they were still being crushed by Bullhead Ichigo's spiritual pressure!
Ulquiorra's fight was supposed to be his moment to shine—
But now it was nothing but a disastrous performance!
This guy was impossible to talk sense into.
Of course Yammy was going to yell at him!!!
"…"
Ulquiorra was speechless.
His emerald eyes swept around,
taking in the sight of his comrades all but knocked flat with fear.
That only made him even less able to say anything.
After all,
Ulquiorra himself knew very clearly that
after his second stage Resurrección,
the Black-Winged Demon wasn't like the other Arrancar.
He hadn't given up his high-speed regeneration
just to pursue more offensive power.
In other words—
Aside from his internal organs,
even his eyes and severed limbs could regenerate.
Because of that,
even if he were torn apart right now,
it didn't necessarily mean this battle was already lost.
But…
The enemy was Bullhead Ichigo.
The strongest substitute in history—
the pinnacle lifeform born from the fusion of Shinigami and Hollow!!!
This time, it was his arm being chopped off—
What about next time?
Who could guarantee that Bullhead Ichigo's next swing
wouldn't slice some other part of his body to pieces?
Ulquiorra didn't even dare imagine it.
He had absolutely no confidence left; all he could picture was his future self—
Engulfed in a screen full of explosions and fire,
Already turned into a black bat being roasted alive—
Completely at the mercy of his executioner!!!
"Sigh…"
At last,
He let out a depressed sigh.
Ulquiorra simply closed his eyes,
choosing to avoid reality by not watching the video anymore.
Right now,
If he had a choice,
He'd probably want to say something on behalf of all the poor "green guys" in relationships—
May this world
never again know bull-men like this!!!
———
Back in the video.
Under the audience's tense, adrenaline-spiked gazes,
This one-sided slaughter of a battle was still far from over.
"The greatest strength of my ability isn't attack—it's regeneration…"
The camera shifted,
focusing in on the Black-Winged Demon's torn-off arm.
In the next second, before the entire world's audience, who had never seen this coming—
Black fur sprouted from the wound.
Flesh and blood surged back into place,
and in the blink of an eye a brand-new arm had regenerated.
"Kurosaki Ichigo…"
"I don't know how you ended up in this form.
But if you stop attacking after only twisting off one arm…"
"There's no way you can defeat me like that!!!"
After delivering that arrogant speech,
The footage slowed down,
giving a close-up of the Black-Winged Demon's hands.
The hint couldn't have been more obvious—
The seasoned viewers immediately guessed what was coming!
"That motion…"
"Is he about to use a new technique?"
"Of course! The Black-Winged Demon's got another ultimate move!"
"Looks like he's finally going to open with his big finisher!!!"
Surprise.
Excitement.
The audience's anticipation shot through the roof once more.
After all,
A completely one-sided stomp isn't actually that fun to watch.
It's only when both sides trade blows and show off their moves
that a fight becomes really thrilling.
Even though—
Including Ulquiorra himself—
No one actually believed the Black-Winged Demon could still win.
But…
A flashy ultimate move,
Even if it was just a fleeting moment,
Was at least something to spice up this part of the story!!!
"Tsk, tsk…"
"The Black-Winged Demon's ultimate, huh?"
"Captain Aizen, you haven't seen this one either, have you?"
Gin Ichimaru once again played dumb and poked at the topic.
Only this time,
Aizen didn't respond.
From start to finish, his deep, sharp gaze
never once left Bullhead Ichigo.
Even though
What they'd seen so far
was already violent enough to shock the entire world—
Aizen still thought it wasn't enough.
He was more than happy to see the Black-Winged Demon use his ultimate move
to drag out the fight a bit longer—
Just so he could witness even more of Bullhead Ichigo's invincible battle style!!!
———
"Spear of Thunder!!!"
A shout rang out.
Spiritual pressure surged.
As the Black-Winged Demon swept both arms outward,
A solid beam of light gathered between his hands—
Condensing into a long spear of reishi
that radiated waves of pure destruction!
He raised his hand,
Gripped the shaft.
While making the motion of a throw,
the Black-Winged Demon said coldly, without a shred of emotion:
"Don't move. Stand right where you are."
"I don't want to throw this while you're too close."
As his voice fell,
His arm snapped forward and he hurled the spear—
The video camera tracked it at high speed.
The Spear of Thunder
howled through the sky, cutting across the air,
locking onto Bullhead Ichigo's silhouette as the distance shrank rapidly.
"Heh heh…"
"His form's pretty textbook…"
"Guess this Black-Winged Demon must spend a lot of time in Las Noches practicing javelin throws, huh?"
"Let's see if he can actually hit."
Wind roared.
The viewers could clearly see Bullhead Ichigo standing perfectly still,
showing no intention of dodging at all.
Against a stationary target like that—
If he still missed, the only reasonable advice
would be for the Black-Winged Demon to switch careers.
He could go try his luck in some space-shooter game instead!
Because with throwing skills like that,
he really wasn't cut out for actual sports.
Much less calling this an ultimate move.
It would be embarrassing!!!
And yet…
Reality decided to be ridiculous.
"Don't—!!!"
The air itself seemed to tear.
The Spear of Thunder streaked toward its target at breakneck speed.
But Bullhead Ichigo still didn't do a thing.
He simply stayed right where he was and tilted his head—just a little.
And just like that—
Completely unscathed, not even a thread on his clothes torn—
He let the Spear of Thunder graze past him.
In other words,
The Black-Winged Demon had whiffed his ultimate.
"Huh?"
"He missed when the guy wasn't even moving?"
"That's pathetic!!! At this rate, forget Bullhead Ichigo—my grandma could dodge that!"
"If the target's just standing there… anyone can avoid the Black-Winged Demon's big move…"
After a moment of stunned silence,
The uproar hit.
A torrent of mockery erupted, echoing through every corner of the Shinigami world.
Even though, afterward,
The Spear of Thunder slammed into the distant desert,
detonating in a terrifying explosion—
If you can't hit your target, what good is it?
The audience wasn't impressed at all.
Instead, they unanimously decided the Black-Winged Demon was simply flailing.
Every shot a whiff.
He looked like a second-rate actor pretending to fight!!!
———
"Hm?"
"Did I miss? It really is hard to control."
The Black-Winged Demon frowned.
Clenching his right hand, he summoned the skill again in frustration.
Above his palm,
A new Spear of Thunder appeared.
But before he could raise his arm
and try the same trick one more time—
"ROOOAAAR!!!"
Bullhead Ichigo's silhouette
suddenly appeared behind him.
A huge hand clamped down,
grabbing the Black-Winged Demon's head like a soccer ball.
With merciless brutality,
He dragged Ulquiorra through the air,
grinding him along a wall and carving a long trench into it—
Repaying everything Kurosaki Ichigo had suffered earlier,
Now,
With interest.
Several times more violent!!!
"That's it for him…"
"That Black-Winged Demon has become nothing but someone's personal toy."
"Seriously—strength, techniques, battle instincts…
He's being completely crushed by Bullhead Ichigo in every way!"
"This is the biggest mismatch I've ever seen!!!"
Back in the First Division,
Shunsui Kyōraku was dumbstruck.
The sudden gust of wind even blew the straw hat off his head,
but he didn't have time to care.
It felt too good.
The more brutally the Black-Winged Demon got beaten,
the more satisfied the Shinigami captains felt.
Not only was this avenging Kurosaki Ichigo,
It was also shattering the Arrancar's confidence through this one battle.
After all…
If even an Espada like that was getting stomped—
Then in the future, no Hollow in all of Hueco Mundo
would dare jump around recklessly again.
What's more—
Seeing with their own eyes how Kurosaki Ichigo,
With terrifying ease,
could summon this Bullhead Ichigo form through his invincible "Zangetsu"—
You could say that anyone who chose to stand against him
was basically asking to be turned into scrap.
Unless they wanted to repeat the Black-Winged Demon's fate—
getting beaten into the ground all over again!!!
———
After that—
Bullhead Ichigo even reached out with his bare hand,
gripping the Spear of Thunder and crushing it into nothing.
He shattered the very last bit of confidence
the Black-Winged Demon had left!!!
"BOOOOM!!!"
When the explosion's smoke finally dispersed,
The first thing to appear in the viewers' field of vision
was Bullhead Ichigo, facing the camera.
His storm-like black blade pointed straight toward the video lens—
And came crashing down without the slightest hesitation!
With a resounding "thud",
Bullhead Ichigo brought his foot down, heavy and merciless.
His entire sole stomped hard,
crushing the Black-Winged Demon's head flat.
His features warped, his face twisted.
Even his eyeballs were squeezed and burst!!!
Laughing madly with savage joy,
Bullhead Ichigo kept grinding his heel down.
That single, horrifying image
shook the entire world to its core!!!
(End of Chapter)
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