Cero, the flash of the Hollow, is a beam-like blast used by Menos, formed by highly concentrating Reiatsu.
A Hollow's body is constantly edging toward collapse, continuously leaking Reiryoku into its surroundings.
Cero is a beam unleashed by forcibly gathering that escaping Reiryoku and compressing it madly to the critical point before letting it erupt.
It is the technique closest to the essence of a Hollow's power, and also a Hollow's instinct.
Its destructive force comes mainly from compression, but because of that very process, Cero requires a certain amount of charge time before it can be fired.
In most battles, there are very few good chances to charge it.
Now, under the pressure created by Rin'en Bokukō, compressing and charging it became exceptionally easy. Grimmjow curled his five fingers, and the crimson light in his palm burst forth, turning into a surging torrent that blasted straight through Rin'en Bokukō's skull.
The beam shot into the sky, grazing past Muten Natsu's body and scattering the drifting clouds. Grimmjow burst out through the sea of spiritual ink and raked his claws toward Muten Natsu.
Muten Natsu raised a hand and swept it across his face. Wisps of black mist gathered into a skull mask, while the ink patterns flowing across it turned into black smoke and rose into the air. As the skull mask's teeth snapped shut, they transformed into raging Hell Flames!
The spiritual ink filling the sky was set ablaze. Amid the dancing black flames, the already-dispersed Rin'en Bokukō took shape once more.
Forged from Hell Flames, Rin'en Bokukō looked even more savage. Sharp scales grew across its massive head, and infernal fire surged and flowed through the gaps between them.
With a violent roar, the burning Rin'en Bokukō caught up to Grimmjow even faster. Before he could reach Muten Natsu, it bit down on him in one gulp. Boom!
Grimmjow had no time at all to break free. The instant the abyssal jaws snapped shut, the burning Rin'en Bokukō exploded with a deafening blast, flattening a huge stretch of the surrounding buildings into ruins.
If space had not already been frozen in advance, who knew how many people that strike might have killed.
"Damn it..." Grimmjow, mangled and covered in blood, fell from the sky and reached for the Zanpakutō at his waist. "You actually..."
His movement halted.
Muten Natsu had already turned and walked away without even looking back.
"Get back here!" Grimmjow shot into the sky. "Where the hell are you going now?!"
The Hell's Eye on Muten Natsu's forehead turned and fixed on the distance.
It wasn't that he didn't want to finish Grimmjow off. It was just that he had something more important to do right now.
He had never expected the Arrancar who came this time to be this strong!
"Hey, hey, hey!!!" Yammy chased after Yumichika Ayasegawa, who was supporting Ikkaku Madarame up ahead. "Wasn't the Eleventh Division supposed to be the combat division? Then why are you running?"
He suddenly threw a punch, and the red light flaring from his fist flew toward the two of them.
Yumichika Ayasegawa dragged Ikkaku Madarame aside to dodge, but he was still caught by the force of the blast and stumbled.
"Hahahahaha!" Yammy kept throwing punches, one red burst after another streaking through the air. "This move is called Bala. It's also a concentrated Reiatsu attack. It's not as powerful as Cero... but it's twenty times faster!"
Dodging became harder and harder for Yumichika Ayasegawa. He tried again and again to widen the distance, only to be driven back each time by the Bala.
"That's enough... Yumichika." The fingers of Ikkaku Madarame's hand tightened around Hōzukimaru. "This is fine."
"Ikkaku." Yumichika Ayasegawa let go of him and stepped aside. "So you really are..."
"Hm?" Yammy sneered. "Realized you can't escape, so you gave up running?"
"Who told you... I was running?" Ikkaku Madarame straightened up. "This distance should be enough. No one will notice me here."
"Oh?" Yammy looked at him with interest. "You've still got a move you haven't shown yet?"
"Watch carefully..." Frenzied Reiatsu burst from Hōzukimaru in Ikkaku Madarame's hand. "And don't tell anyone else."
The violent Reiatsu whipped up a storm that became a tornado, with crimson lightning twisting through it.
"Bankai." A heavy howl tore through the storm, and Ikkaku Madarame's obscured figure became clear once more. "Ryūmon Hōzukimaru!"
"Bankai?" Yammy stared at Ikkaku Madarame ahead of him. "Isn't that something only Captains can do?"
In Ikkaku Madarame's left hand was a broad, heavy cleaver. In his right, he gripped a giant blade like a door-sized shovel. At the end of the wide blade and handle was an equally oversized counterweight, from which extended a thick chain connected to the huge dragon-crested axe strapped across his back.
Without the Shihakushō covering him, Ikkaku Madarame's thick muscles and bulging veins stood out even more clearly. Combined with the blood from his earlier wounds, he looked even more ferocious.
"Now this..." Yammy drew his blade. "Looks a little interesting."
"How interesting it really is..." Ikkaku Madarame raised both weapons. "Why don't you find out for yourself!"
In the next instant, a howling gale chased after Ikkaku Madarame's figure and met the blood spraying from Yammy's shoulder head-on.
"You actually... cut through my Hierro?" Yammy's astonished gaze lingered for a moment on the wound on his arm, then the figure that had been chasing the hem of Ikkaku Madarame's clothes suddenly turned behind him, and the massive cleaver came crashing straight at his face!
Yammy had only just raised his Zanpakutō to block the cleaver when his arm suddenly sank under the weight. The giant shovel-like blade had dropped from above and struck the arm holding his sword.
Only then did he realize that Ikkaku Madarame had not attacked while holding the cleaver at all. He had thrown it at Yammy.
Because of its terrifying weight, the blow had been especially heavy, making Yammy mistakenly think Ikkaku Madarame was still holding the hilt.
But under cover of that strike, Ikkaku Madarame had grabbed the giant shovel-like blade with both hands and brought it down from above, smashing it hard into Yammy's arm.
"Damn it!" Yammy roared and punched the giant blade away, glaring at the blood gushing from the wound on his arm. "You bastard!"
"Hey, hey, hey. Don't be shocked too soon..." Ikkaku Madarame grabbed the giant axe on his back with both hands and swung it violently. "This is only just getting started!"
"Getting started?" The muscles in Yammy's arm writhed as he forced fragments of the giant blade out of the wound. "With that pathetic little attack of yours?"
Although his Hierro had been cut, the instant his fist smashed into the giant blade, Yammy had already figured out the weakness of Ikkaku Madarame's Bankai.
Compared to before, Ikkaku Madarame's destructive power had increased tremendously after activating Bankai.
But all of that came at a price.
Ikkaku Madarame's speed and strength had barely improved at all. All the overwhelming power released by Bankai had been poured into increasing Ryūmon Hōzukimaru's destructive force.
Yammy glanced at the battered giant blade.
Because everything had been devoted to destructive power, Ryūmon Hōzukimaru had almost no defensive strength at all.
Yammy could smash it apart with a single punch!
"Power gained by sacrificing everything... and this is all it amounts to?" Yammy felt drawing his Zanpakutō had been a little unnecessary. "All you managed to do was leave a scratch on me."
"Didn't I tell you? This is only just getting started. Hōzukimaru isn't like me. It's the slow-burn type." Ikkaku Madarame bared his teeth in a grin. "Even though it's gone Bankai, it still hasn't fully awakened."
Yammy noticed the dragon crest on the giant axe gradually turning crimson. Even someone as slow as him could now sense that Ikkaku Madarame's Reiatsu was steadily rising, growing more and more dangerous.