"Mashiro!" Mashiro Kuna curled herself up, then suddenly sprang upward and landed a kick on the giant monster's body. "Super Kick!"
Boom!
The giant monster's body bulged violently upward, and like a burst water balloon, it sprayed blood across the sky.
Immediately after, its bloated body split apart as well, sending chunks of flesh flying everywhere.
"Oh my." Gin Ichimaru smiled. "Taken care of that easily... Hooleer was Wonderweiss's favorite, you know. What a..."
Before he could finish, with Kaname Tōsen no longer blocking him, Shinji Hirako attacked Sōsuke Aizen again.
The blade extended, forcing Shinji Hirako back, and Gin Ichimaru stepped in to block him. "...pity."
"Gin Ichimaru..." Shinji Hirako looked at this former squad member, and the first time he had met him rose unbidden in his mind.
He had graduated from the Shin'ō Academy in just one year at such a young age, and had become a Seated Officer as soon as he joined the Division.
Shinji Hirako had thought well of him. He had sensed that Gin carried a lot on his mind, but did not seem like a bad person at heart.
He never imagined... the day would come when they crossed blades.
"Wah..." Wonderweiss stared blankly as Hooleer collapsed into a pile of torn flesh, his mouth hanging open. "Oooooooaaaaaaah!"
A purple Cero began to gather, but before it could fire, Mashiro Kuna kicked it apart.
So strong...
Tōshirō Hitsugaya gripped his Zanpakutō with both hands. After freezing Harribel earlier, he had released his Bankai to conserve his strength for a confrontation with Aizen.
He glanced at Lisa Yadōmaru and Hiyori Sarugaki beside him, and an idea came to him. "There's something I'd like to ask..."
Hiyori Sarugaki cut him off impatiently. "What is it?! Make it quick!"
"Could I leave this one to you?" From the strength the Visored had shown, Tōshirō Hitsugaya felt they should be able to hold Harribel off. "I want to face Aizen..."
"What? What did you just say? Are you stupid?! We came here to take down that bald bastard Aizen!" Hiyori Sarugaki fired back without pausing. "We only helped you because you were in trouble. Why should we let you fight Aizen first?!"
"Ah... right... y-you're right..." Tōshirō Hitsugaya had expected her to refuse, but not this fiercely. "I was too impatient. Just pretend I didn't say anything."
"Pretend you didn't say anything? You said something wrong, and now I'm supposed to forget it? The least you could do is apologize!"
Tōshirō Hitsugaya guiltily looked away. "I... I'm sorry!"
"What? I can't hear you! Even if you don't show much on your face when apologizing, you should at least look at the person you're apologizing to! A little brat like you is wearing a Captain's Haori? Are you really a Captain? You look like a fake! I don't get it at all. Did you only become Captain because you got lucky? Is that why you're so full of yourself? No wonder you'd say something that ridiculous, you bald bastard! Bald bastard, bald bastard, bald bastard, bald bastard, bald bastard, bald bastard! Shorty!"
Bang!
Tōshirō Hitsugaya grabbed Hiyori Sarugaki by the collar. "You're the short one!"
"Huh? Huuuh?" Hiyori Sarugaki's eyes widened. "You want a fight? Come on, you little brat. I'll take you anytime!"
"You're the one who wants to fight! I already apologized, but you just keep going..."
"I'm going ahead." Lisa Yadōmaru flashed forward toward Harribel and swung her katana.
Tōshirō Hitsugaya and Hiyori Sarugaki glared at each other, then immediately followed.
"Long time no see," Hachigen Ushōda said as he came to Suì-Fēng's side. "Miss Suì-Fēng."
"Huh?" Marechiyo Ōmaeda looked incredulous. "Captain, you know him? Who is this flashy old guy..."
Bang!
Suì-Fēng punched Marechiyo Ōmaeda, cutting him off. "I don't know him. I've never seen him before."
"I knew you would say that..." Hachigen Ushōda closed his eyes. "Because you must believe we're no good."
Before being harmed by Sōsuke Aizen, Hachigen Ushōda had been the Vice-Commander of the Kidō Corps.
In a sense, the Kidō Corps and the Onmitsukidō that Suì-Fēng belonged to were both organizations directly under the 1st Division.
When the Onmitsukidō carried out missions, they often needed members of the Kidō Corps to accompany them for specialized tasks such as opening passages, maintaining barriers, and performing seals.
Hachigen Ushōda's defection was a major blow to the Onmitsukidō.
On one hand, the Onmitsukidō's loyalty came under suspicion. On the other, the fact that the Visored managed to escape also reflected the Onmitsukidō's incompetence.
Of course, the most important thing was...
Yoruichi Shihōin had abandoned Suì-Fēng and left Soul Society in order to save the Visored and Kisuke Urahara.
Whether they defected or not did not matter. What Suì-Fēng absolutely could not tolerate was that they had dragged Yoruichi Shihōin into it.
Moreover, the Visored and Kisuke Urahara were close friends, and Kisuke Urahara was the person Suì-Fēng hated most.
Whether he defected or not did not matter. What Suì-Fēng absolutely could not tolerate was that he had taken Yoruichi Shihōin away.
"But now is not the time to discuss that..." Hachigen Ushōda opened his eyes. "Miss Suì-Fēng, I have a plan that requires your cooperation."
"I..."
Hachigen Ushōda added, "I know you don't want to work with someone connected to Urahara like me, but if I..."
"...Have you finished discussing it?" Baraggan raised Gran Caída. "I have given you more than enough time. Surely you can bring me something interesting."
Hachigen Ushōda pressed his palms together, light crossing between his fingertips. In the next instant, a blue-green barrier appeared, like three rectangular prisms intersecting as they sealed Baraggan inside.
"Is that... all?" Baraggan erased the barrier beside him with a single swing of his axe. "Do you think Kidō does not age? How absurd."
Baraggan walked slowly through the air. "Humans live and die. Birds and beasts perish as well. Grass and trees are no different. Before death arrives, everything must go through aging. Kidō is the same. Perhaps you can extend the time Kidō lasts, but you cannot stop it from disappearing."
Hachigen Ushōda clapped his hands together, then spread them apart. White boards split into several pieces, blocking the space before him and forming a wall.
"Brethren-in-arms withdrawing for the distance of 8 sun and standing still; blue bolt, white bolt, black bolt, red bolt; sinking into the ocean together seeking redemption." Hachigen Ushōda pushed both hands straight forward. "Ryūbi no Jōmon!"
More white, plank-like objects rose upright, piecing the white wall together into a massive city gate. Hachigen Ushōda waved his large hand, and a long bolt stretched across it.
And this was only the beginning.
"Kokō no Jōmon!"
A circular black iron gate formed in another direction.
"Kigai no Jōmon!"
A hexagonal blue glow shone, constructing a brown wall.
"Hōyoku no Jōmon!"
Flames surged forth, extending red wooden slats that spread like wings before folding together into an umbrella shape.
"Shijū Saimon!"
The Reiatsu spilling from the four gates linked together, forming a dark cube that sealed Baraggan completely inside.
"Hahahahahahahahaha!!! Ridiculous! Pitiful!" Baraggan sensed the power flowing through the barrier. The four gates had formed a cycle, with Reiatsu circulating inside to slow the aging. "After all that effort to create this barrier, all it can do is buy time. It cannot seal me in!"
"I never... intended to seal you in." Hachigen Ushōda manipulated Kokō no Jōmon and opened it. "This is to contain the force of the explosion."
Suì-Fēng's previous attack had failed to harm Baraggan because, before it struck him, Baraggan released his power and caused Jakuhō Raikōben to age and explode far away from him, avoiding most of its destructive force.
But now things were different.
"Swear it!" Suì-Fēng positioned Jakuhō Raikōben in the center of Kokō no Jōmon. "Starting tomorrow, for one month, you will keep Kisuke Urahara locked inside your barrier."
Hachigen Ushōda gave a solemn promise. "I swear."
"Good!" A smile bloomed across Suì-Fēng's face. "Go, Jakuhō Raikōben!"
BOOM!
The violent explosion made the rectangular Shijū Saimon swell outward, clear cracks appearing across its surface.
Terrifying power surged and collided within, all of it bearing down on Baraggan's body without even the slightest bit leaking out.
"He's really in for it now..." Starrk withdrew his gaze and raised Lilynette in his hand.
"Crush Down." Love Aikawa leaped into the air. "Tengumaru!"
The enormous black spiked club came crashing down from above. Starrk fired repeatedly, releasing Cero after Cero, but the club blocked them with ease.
"How could something like that work?!" Love Aikawa smashed a skyscraper apart with one blow, then swung Tengumaru in a wide sweep behind him.
Starrk had not expected such a massive weapon to be so nimble. He had no choice but to abandon his attack and dodge aside.
"Play, Kinshara!" Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi swung his golden whip, chasing after Starrk's figure.
Starrk frowned. "You can keep up with Sonído?"
"After all, an Arrancar's Sonído makes a distinctive sound." Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi moved his arm. "It may evade search, but if you pay close attention to the strength and frequency of the sound waves, you can roughly determine its exact position."
The golden whip struck Starrk and sent him flying, embedding him in the ground.
"Starrk!" Lilynette shouted in pistol form. "What are you doing?!"
"They're strong..." Starrk struggled to climb back up. "They hit hard, and they're fast too..."
"You're stronger! You're number one! Aizen-sama knows how strong you are. That's why he made you the First! Hurry up and finish them!"
"But if I do that..." Starrk hesitated. "We'll end up..."
"If you don't go all out, we won't even make it that far!" Lilynette's agitated voice suddenly calmed.
"Let's go... Lilynette."
Starrk looked up at Love Aikawa and Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi as they attacked. "Must be nice. Always acting together in pairs."
The magazines connecting his arms and shoulders burst with a deep blue glow. A distant wolf howl rang out, and wolves of blue light flew from the magazines, gathering densely behind Starrk.
"Let's go..." Starrk whispered. "Starrk."
The pack rushed forward, charging at Love Aikawa and Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi in the air.
The two of them instinctively sensed something was wrong and immediately put on their masks.
Kinshara danced through the air, shattering the wolves into fragments of flame.
But in the next instant, the blue flames gathered again, reforming into wolves.
"Those wolves..." Love Aikawa saw it clearly. "They don't disappear?"
"They do," Starrk said. "After they hit the enemy."
BOOM! BOOM!
One wolf closed in on the two and exploded, becoming a towering pillar of blue flame that connected sky and earth.
Love Aikawa dragged Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi out of it. "Damn it, those are Cero! Every single one is a Cero fired by that kid!"
Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi's mask was damaged. "Can a Cero really have that much power?"
Just one wolf had injured him badly, and there were still so many more around Starrk.
"That is not a Cero at all. I separate and tear apart pieces of my own soul. They follow me like kin, and I use them as weapons. Those wolf bullets are Starrk, and they are Lilynette." The gun that had been in Starrk's hand was nowhere to be seen. His fingers twitched slightly, his gaze distant and melancholy. "This is the power of us, the First Espada, Coyote Starrk and Lilynette Gingerbuck."
When was it that we first met?
He could no longer remember.
It had simply been during a long and lonely journey, on a road where he did not know why he was moving forward, in a place where he did not know why he had stopped, that another person suddenly appeared.
["Are you... the companion who split off from me?"]
["You're the one who split off from me... my companion."]
["Do you have a name?"]
["Lilynette... Lilynette Gingerbuck. I should be asking you your name. You were me just now."]
["Starrk... Coyote Starrk."] Starrk did not care who had split off from whom. As long as he was not alone, that was enough.
["Starrk... what do we do now?"]
["Anything."]
["Then where do we go?"]
["Anywhere."]
The wolf pack pounced on the enemy, detonating themselves and becoming terrifying attacks.
["Come with me... to the ends of the earth."]
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Blue pillars of flame swallowed the sky and crushed the ground.
"This can't keep going..." Love Aikawa leaped into the air. "Hifuki no Kozuchi!"
The massive Tengumaru came crashing down, and surging flames shot up into the sky.
In an instant, everything within sight was flooded with roaring crimson fire, engulfing the wolf pack.
The wolves leaped through the flames, dodging the terrifying impact.
Kinshara flew rapidly through the pack, piercing the wolves. With a light flick of Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi's finger, a terrifying wave erupted and detonated several wolves at once.