The Gates of Hell were like a mirror. Through the crack between the doors, Muten Natsu glimpsed what lay inside.
In the darkness woven from blood and fire, there was another Hōgyoku, with tentacles stretching from it inside the gate.
When Muten Natsu reached for the Hōgyoku outside, a hand inside the gate reached for the Hōgyoku within.
Muten Natsu's hand passed straight through the Hōgyoku outside, as if through an illusion.
But the hand inside grasped the Hōgyoku within the gate and lifted it before its face.
The pitch-black Hōgyoku gave off a faint glow, illuminating the face of the person holding it.
The instant Muten Natsu saw that face clearly, his pupils contracted.
It was... his face.
Or rather, the person inside the gate looked exactly like him.
So Muten Natsu's vision had not been linked to the eyes on the gate after all. He really had seen what was inside the Gates of Hell.
There was someone inside, someone who looked exactly like him, climbing the steps within the gate and standing before it just as he did.
The man's face was expressionless. Holding the Hōgyoku in his palm, he raised his left hand and swept it upward.
The blood-red and pitch-black forces coiling around him twisted together, stretched upward, and turned into a sharp ray of light that severed the chains binding the two gates.
Creak!
Freed from their restraints, the two gates immediately began to open, the gap between them widening more and more.
"Uu... rr... hmhm... hahahahahahahahaha!!!" A huge blood-red face emerged from the bottomless darkness behind the man inside the gate. Its deep laughter thundered through the air, and its golden eyes locked firmly onto Muten Natsu.
There was no time to think about the cause of all this chaos. Muten Natsu pressed his Hell Flame-wreathed hands against the gate and struggled with all his strength to stop the Gates of Hell from opening.
His skin was rapidly devoured by the Hell Flames and transformed into immense power.
But it still was not enough. Muten Natsu clenched his teeth as the muscles of his arms swiftly vanished under the burning Hell Flames.
The raging Hell Flames eroded Muten Natsu's body while forming translucent flesh to fill in his limbs.
"Muten!" Orihime Inoue noticed Muten Natsu's condition, set Nell down, and rushed up the steps. "Sōten Kisshun. I reject!"
A golden, spindle-shaped barrier enveloped Muten Natsu, helping his ruined body regenerate at once.
The erosion of the Hell Flames and Orihime Inoue's healing reached a delicate balance for the moment. Wrapped in black flames, Muten Natsu growled and exerted more force, gradually slowing the opening of the Gates of Hell.
Pitch-black phosphoplasm spilled from the Gates of Hell, and the impact it formed left Sōten Kisshun on the verge of collapse.
"Shiten Kōshun!" Orihime Inoue released Shun Shun Rikka, placing it in front of Muten Natsu to block and disperse the phosphoplasm.
The pressure on Muten Natsu eased at once, and he forcibly halted the massive doors of the Gates of Hell.
They could do this.
Rukia Kuchiki's suspended heart finally settled a little. With Orihime Inoue's help, Muten Natsu should be able to close the Gates of Hell.
But at that moment, a terrifying Reiatsu descended from above, shattering several stone pillars outright.
It was as if an abyss had fallen upon them. Even the view before Rukia Kuchiki's eyes darkened.
"This..." Uryū Ishida's body trembled, and he only barely managed to stay standing with Yasutora Sado's support. "What is this Reiatsu...?"
Boom!
A figure smashed through several layers of brick and stone as it fell. The instant it hit the ground, the blood it spat out stained a large stretch of the floor red.
"To think you would end up in such a miserable state, ne." Mayuri Kurotsuchi glanced at the figure. "Kenpachi Zaraki."
With a wound on his chest deep enough to expose bone, Kenpachi Zaraki lay on the ground, his open eyes dull and empty.
"He already did it..." Brick and stone crumbled into ash beneath the crushing Reiatsu as black feathers drifted down from above. "The absolute limit of what he could do."
Ulquiorra descended from the sky. His once-black hair had turned snow-white, and the two horns on his head had vanished. In their place were two horn-shaped flames, black within and ink-green without.
Around the Hollow Hole at his collarbone, veins bulged. At the center of the Hollow Hole, a pitch-black orb floated.
Two pairs of black wings spread from his shoulders and waist. As they beat, black feathers scattered. A long tail swayed behind him, its tip burning with the same flame as the one above his head.
As he drew closer, the pressure from that terrifying Reiatsu grew even heavier. Even Yasutora Sado's body began to tremble, and his armor spread uncontrollably over both arms, growing wildly as if stimulated until it reached his chest.
Nemu Kurotsuchi stepped in front of Mayuri Kurotsuchi, staring at Ulquiorra with vigilance.
"Don't block me!" Mayuri Kurotsuchi shoved Nemu Kurotsuchi aside roughly, his excited eyes wide open. "So this is what you look like after obtaining the power of Hell? Fascinating... The Hollow Hole exists because of the incompleteness of the Soul. The power of Hell uses that incompleteness to lodge itself inside your body, but it is only a false filling. That is why the Hell Core floats within the Hollow Hole instead of fusing with it... How does it feel right now? Do you hear anything? See anything? What exactly does it feel like, ne?"
At a time like this... that was what he cared about?
Ulquiorra realized that Mayuri Kurotsuchi was someone as obsessive as Kenpachi Zaraki.
The difference was that Kenpachi Zaraki was obsessed with battle, while Mayuri Kurotsuchi thirsted for the unknown.
In meaningless lives, everyone struggled to find meaning for themselves.
"There is no need to be nervous..." Ulquiorra noticed the growing radiance around Uryū Ishida and the armor that had already extended up to Yasutora Sado's neck. "You are not my objective."
Amid the flurry of black feathers, Ulquiorra had already mounted the steps. As his wings beat, an ink-green light separated from his pitch-black wings and flew toward Muten Natsu.
A biting chill surged. Ice pillars shattered along with an ice wall as Rukia Kuchiki barely blocked Ulquiorra's attack, raising her blade to protect Orihime Inoue and Muten Natsu behind her.
"With your power, what you did just now was already your limit." Ulquiorra raised his hand, light gathering at his fingertip. "Step aside now, and there is still time."
"I'm not..." Rukia Kuchiki's breath was faint as she forced out the words. "I'm not standing here so I can step aside."
The Hell's Eye on Muten Natsu's forehead turned, locking onto Ulquiorra behind him. In an instant, the flesh of his arms vanished, and surging Hell Flames condensed into translucent arms filled with terrifying power.
"It's useless..." Ulquiorra flicked his arm, and ink-green light erupted from his fingertip, scattering the approaching pink petals.
"Bankai." Byakuya Kuchiki's level voice rang out. "Senbonzakura Kageyoshi."
The vast pitch-black space was instantly dyed pink by scattering cherry blossoms. Sharp blades of light crossed and struck Ulquiorra's body, forcing him away from the steps.
"Muten! Rukia!" Renji Abarai controlled Hihiō Zabimaru and smashed through the wall. "We're here!"
On the way over, he had developed a new way to use Hihiō Zabimaru. Gripping his staff, he controlled Hihiō Zabimaru to fly through the air, carrying Byakuya Kuchiki, Ichigo Kurosaki, and Hanatarō Yamada with him.
It felt strange, almost like grabbing his own hair and pulling himself into the air, but it did work.
Black wings beat, raising a gale that scattered the pink petals. Ulquiorra looked at Byakuya Kuchiki. "With power at that level, you will only end up the same as that Captain."
His voice stopped abruptly. A violent blade of light bloomed together with an eruption of savage Reiatsu, cutting off one of Ulquiorra's wings.
"I only took a little nap..." Kenpachi Zaraki's chest wound was deep enough to expose bone, but the smile on his face grew wilder. "How could you go looking for someone else behind my back?"
"You can still stand..." Ulquiorra's severed wing regenerated. "How did you manage that?"
"If the fight isn't over yet," Yachiru Kusajishi reminded him, "you can't get careless."
"Exactly!" Kenpachi Zaraki lunged at Ulquiorra like a demon, pressing the jagged blade against Ulquiorra's body and driving him through the wall.
Byakuya Kuchiki was about to pursue them when he suddenly saw another face appear over Ichigo Kurosaki and Renji Abarai's faces.
Two black, one-eyed faces covered their faces, giving off a pink glow.
That was...
Byakuya Kuchiki raised his hand and sent Senbonzakura toward the two of them, but a familiar voice suddenly sounded beside his ear.
"As expected of a Captain." Zommari appeared beside Byakuya Kuchiki, seated cross-legged atop a blooming lotus. Golden eyes lined his entire body along the contours of his muscles. Four black, one-eyed faces floated at his sides. Four arms grew from his shoulders, and three golden eyeballs hovered behind his head. Strange flames, black within and pink without, clustered one after another around his neck like a necklace. "Your first thought was to look after your squad members."
The fluttering Senbonzakura flew toward Zommari, and Byakuya Kuchiki immediately blocked the other man's line of sight.
"The correct response." Zommari formed seals with all four hands. "Until just now, it was correct."
An invisible force seized their bodies, and the three people once marked by Zommari were instantly sent flying backward.
Byakuya Kuchiki raised his hand and controlled Senbonzakura to push Zommari toward him. "Senkei: Senbonzakura Kageyoshi!"
Countless petals spiraled upward, turning into thousands of pink blades suspended in the air. They formed a four-layered ring-shaped barrier, trapping everyone inside.
The three eyes behind Zommari's head turned, releasing pink light that wove into complex patterns. Beams of light struck the barrier but failed to pierce it. "You intend to bind my power inside... the correct response."
The three who had been thrown back crashed into the barrier. Byakuya Kuchiki opened his hand, and a blade fell into his grasp.
"But now that you have done this," Zommari said, pointing to the side, "how will you stop him?"
A pitch-black blade split open the device containing Szayelaporro. Nnoitra kicked the unresponsive Szayelaporro. "Tch. Still can't move, huh."
Black armor covered his body. Pitch-black curved blades extended from the wrists of both arms. A long scorpion-like tail dragged behind him. On his back, flames black within and golden without condensed into four insect-jointed limbs shaped like sharp-tipped claws. The crescent horns on his head were also burning with eerie flames.
"Like I said... Nell." Nnoitra looked at Nell in her child form. "You've been away from Las Noches for far too long. The current Espada are completely different from back when you were there!"
Rukia Kuchiki tightened her grip on her Zanpakutō, her eyes trembling.
So this was... the Espada's power after the Gates of Hell opened?
...
Boom!
Mashiro Kuna kicked Wonderweiss, folding his body in half as he slammed into the ground. The massive impact left a wide depression in the earth.
"Ah..." Wonderweiss climbed back up and reached toward the approaching Mashiro Kuna.
Mashiro Kuna hit Wonderweiss's cheek with another side kick, sending him spinning through several low buildings.
"Mashiro!" Kensei Muguruma warned. "Fighting an enemy at this level will burn through your stamina. Put your mask back on before your time runs out!"
"Pfft. Kensei, you're so dumb." Mashiro Kuna planted her hands on her hips. "Have you forgotten how long I can usually stay Hollowfied? Fifteen hours! Against someone like this, I can last until midnight!"
"Waaah!" Wonderweiss charged again.
"You're so annoying!" Mashiro Kuna grabbed his head and slammed him into the ground.
"Uwaaaaaah!" Wonderweiss cried out as he got up, reaching for Mashiro Kuna.
"Take this, Mashiro Super Cero!" Mashiro Kuna kicked out, releasing a glowing green curtain of light.
Purple light gathered in Wonderweiss's mouth, condensing into a Cero that canceled out Mashiro Kuna's Cero. He used the opening to close in and threw a punch.
Mashiro Kuna tilted her head to dodge, but from the corner of her eye, she caught sight of black flames surging over Wonderweiss's hand.
That was...
The black flames touched the mask on her face, and cracks instantly appeared in it.
Mashiro Kuna's speed dropped sharply, and in the next instant, Wonderweiss's fist struck her.
"Waaaaah!" Blood splattered across Wonderweiss's face, and he broke into a delighted smile, cheering as he swung his fist again.
Bang!
Kensei Muguruma blocked Wonderweiss's attack with one hand while wrapping his other arm around Mashiro Kuna.
"Huh?" Wonderweiss stared at him in confusion.
"Sorry." Fury burned in Kensei Muguruma's eyes. "I'm not going to hold back just because you're a brat!"
With a swing of his arm, he threw Wonderweiss away.
A string of thunderous crashes rang out as Wonderweiss smashed through a building and fell into the rubble.
Kensei Muguruma leaped onto a tall building and carefully set Mashiro Kuna down.
"Ken... Kensei..." Mashiro Kuna's voice was faint. "Just now... were you avenging me?" She struggled to lift the corners of her mouth, revealing an awkward but very happy smile. "Hehe..."
"What are you so happy about...?" Kensei Muguruma frowned. "Idiot. Who would avenge an idiot like you? I just didn't like him."
"See... you're angry again..." Mashiro Kuna coughed up blood. "You look so cool when you're angry..."
"Then just lie there and watch." Kensei Muguruma drew his Zanpakutō. "Bankai. Tekken Tachikaze!"