Clatter!
Boom!
The moment Baraggan's skull hit the ground, his entire skeletal body collapsed with it.
Soon after, both the skull and the massive skeleton crumbled into ash and scattered into the air.
The mighty Emperor of Hueco Mundo had been killed by Ryūjin so effortlessly.
"That terrifying Hollow… Captain Ryūjin killed it just like that?"
"How exactly did Captain Ryūjin do it?"
Tōshirō Hitsugaya, Rangiku Matsumoto, and Kenpachi Zaraki stood frozen in shock as they stared at the ashes dissipating across the ground.
None of them could process what had just happened.
Why had Baraggan suddenly withdrawn that terrifying black mist the moment Ryūjin attacked?
It almost looked as though Baraggan had willingly cooperated, practically handing Ryūjin the kill himself.
But everyone present knew that was impossible.
There could only be one explanation.
Captain Ryūjin had used some unknown method.
At that moment, the group realized Ryūjin was far more powerful and mysterious than the rumors within Soul Society suggested.
At the very least, he clearly was not some brute like Kenpachi Zaraki who only knew how to charge into battle headfirst.
Ryūjin possessed terrifying abilities beyond Hakuda.
It was just that his physical combat strength alone was already enough to crush most opponents, making everyone assume Hakuda was all he relied on.
That had to be the truth.
Hitsugaya and the others gained an entirely new understanding of Ryūjin.
[Ding! The host has defeated the Emperor of Hueco Mundo, Baraggan, and received the reward: Baraggan's Death Chant!]
While the others remained stunned by Baraggan's instant death, the system notification rang inside Ryūjin's mind.
He had finally obtained Death Chant.
An absurdly overpowered ability.
"This trip to Hueco Mundo really wasn't a waste. Aizen, you bastard really are a walking treasure chest."
Ryūjin almost laughed to himself.
Aizen had painstakingly planned everything, only to hand Ryūjin a massive reward instead.
If Aizen learned the truth, he would probably lose his mind on the spot.
"What's going on?!"
"Baraggan's spiritual pressure… why did it disappear?!"
Elsewhere within Hueco Mundo, Aizen's expression finally broke.
Shock.
Confusion.
Disbelief.
For someone who always kept everything under control, such an expression was incredibly rare.
Just moments ago, he had clearly sensed Baraggan activating Death Chant and completely overwhelming Kenpachi Zaraki and Tōshirō Hitsugaya.
Once those two had been forced back, Ryūjin stepped in.
Logically speaking, Baraggan should have crushed him with ease.
Although Aizen had defeated and controlled Baraggan, he had never underestimated him.
On the contrary, Aizen understood Baraggan's strength better than anyone.
Without Kyōka Suigetsu, even Aizen himself was not confident he could defeat Baraggan.
So how had Baraggan's spiritual pressure vanished the moment the battle escalated?
There was only one possibility.
Baraggan was dead.
But that made no sense.
How could Baraggan die so quickly after activating Death Chant?
Even Aizen could not understand it.
Still, one thing became painfully clear.
His scheme against Ryūjin had failed once again.
For the first time in a very long while, Aizen felt slightly lost.
Since Baraggan was already dead, there was no point hiding anymore. Aizen immediately headed toward Ryūjin and the others.
"Captain Ryūjin, Captain Hitsugaya, I'm relieved everyone is safe."
Aizen wore a pleasantly surprised expression, though secretly he was carefully examining the lingering spiritual pressure in the area.
His heart sank slightly.
Baraggan's spiritual pressure was still present.
If Baraggan had simply left, the traces should have faded rapidly.
The current situation suggested something else entirely.
Baraggan's body had likely decomposed into reishi after death, slowly dispersing into the environment.
That was bad news for Aizen.
"I sensed an enormous burst of spiritual pressure from this area earlier. Now Captain Hitsugaya and Vice Captain Zaraki are here as well. Did something happen?"
After exchanging a few greetings, Aizen pretended to ask casually.
Kenpachi Zaraki could not be bothered answering him.
Hitsugaya, however, explained seriously.
"A terrifying Hollow appeared here earlier. I've never encountered anything like it before. Its strength completely surpassed the Captain level."
He was obviously referring to Baraggan.
"A Hollow that powerful?" Aizen widened his eyes in fake surprise. "Could it have been a legendary Vasto Lorde?"
Most Hollows in Hueco Mundo were ordinary Hollows.
Among Grand Fishers, the most common were Adjuchas.
Although they possessed tremendous spiritual pressure and massive bodies, they lacked intelligence and were relatively slow. Even ordinary lieutenants could deal with them.
Higher level Adjuchas were much rarer and more dangerous, though Captains could still handle them without much trouble.
As for Vasto Lordes, they were practically legends.
Almost nobody had ever seen one.
A Hollow surpassing Captain level could only be something of that class.
"A Hollow like that actually appeared in Hueco Mundo…" Aizen muttered. "What happened afterward? Did you drive it away?"
"It was killed by Captain Ryūjin," Hitsugaya answered directly.
"Killed by Captain Ryūjin?"
Aizen's eyes widened again.
This time, his shock was genuine.
Ryūjin Uchiha had killed Baraggan?
How?
Even Aizen had no reliable answer against Death Chant. The ability was nearly impossible to counter.
Yet Ryūjin killed Baraggan in such a short amount of time.
"I still underestimated Ryūjin Uchiha."
Aizen sighed inwardly.
He originally believed he had already given Ryūjin enough attention.
Clearly, he was still far from understanding him.
After that, the mission within Hueco Mundo continued.
However, after witnessing Baraggan's death, Aizen temporarily abandoned any plans of targeting Ryūjin further and stopped sending additional Hollows after him.
Most of the previous Hollows had already been swallowed by the spiritual pressure storm anyway, while the remaining ones were cleaned up by the divisions.
Eventually, everyone discovered a massive dimensional rift deep within Hueco Mundo.
It was clearly the root cause behind the Hollow disturbance.
"This rift was likely formed over time by the constant impact of spiritual pressure turbulence."
After investigating the area carefully, the group reached that conclusion.
With that, the Hollow incident was officially resolved.
Ryūjin, Hitsugaya, and Aizen gathered their division members, counted the casualties, coordinated with the surviving members of the Boundary Patrol Special Task Force, and returned to Seireitei.
Because of the severity of the incident, none of the Captains rested after returning.
Instead, they immediately headed to the First Division headquarters to deliver their report.
"A massive dimensional rift formed through long term spiritual pressure turbulence? So the Boundary Patrol Special Task Force failed in their duties?"
Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto slowly opened his eyes, a sharp light flashing within them.
"Captain Commander, this was not negligence on their part," Hitsugaya explained immediately. "The rift was located deep within Hueco Mundo, beyond their patrol range. If the three of us Captains had not gone together, we never would have investigated that far."
"I see."
Yamamoto nodded slightly.
"In that case, I will arrange a full inspection of Hueco Mundo to prevent this from happening again."
Then his expression turned solemn.
"Now tell me about that Vasto Lorde."
Even Yamamoto could not remain casual when discussing a Hollow of that level.
"That Hollow was discovered by Captain Ryūjin first, and he was also the one who killed it. Captain Ryūjin should report the details."
Hitsugaya looked toward Ryūjin.
Ryūjin did not waste words and calmly explained everything that happened.
"Captain Ryūjin, the Hollow you encountered was Baraggan, the Emperor of Hueco Mundo."
Yamamoto's voice became noticeably heavier.
Even he felt cold sweat forming on his back.
If he had known an existence like Baraggan was present, he never would have sent only three Captains.
That would have been suicide.
At minimum, he would have personally gone himself.
"What?!"
Hitsugaya and Kenpachi were both shocked.
So that skeleton monster was actually the ruler of Hueco Mundo.
No wonder he was so terrifying.
They had long known Hueco Mundo possessed a king who ruled over the Hollows, but because Baraggan rarely appeared outside Hueco Mundo, very little information existed about him.
None of them expected to encounter him personally.
"Still, the fact that the three of you managed to kill the Emperor of Hueco Mundo is quite surprising."
Yamamoto looked at them with obvious astonishment.
"Captain Commander, you misunderstood," Aizen suddenly corrected him. "It was not the three of them working together."
"Captain Ryūjin killed Baraggan alone."
"What?"
Yamamoto's eyes sharpened instantly as he stared directly at Ryūjin.
For once, even the Captain Commander could not remain composed.
What Ryūjin accomplished was simply unbelievable.
"Captain Ryūjin, explain the details of your battle with Baraggan."
"Captain Commander, honestly, I just got lucky."
Ryūjin had already expected this questioning long ago and prepared an excuse beforehand.
"I suspect Baraggan was already injured before the battle began, which made his spiritual pressure unstable."
"It caused a brief interruption in that decay ability of his."
"I simply seized the opening and killed him immediately."
Ryūjin spoke naturally, making the explanation sound completely believable.
Yamamoto: "…"
Hitsugaya: "…"
Aizen: "…"
Could something that ridiculous actually happen?
The mighty Emperor of Hueco Mundo dying because of bad timing sounded absurd.
Especially to Hitsugaya.
He originally believed Ryūjin had used some mysterious ability to force Baraggan to withdraw Death Chant.
But Ryūjin now claimed Baraggan's spiritual pressure became unstable because of hidden injuries.
Still, Hitsugaya truly had not seen Ryūjin use anything besides that single sword strike.
An awkward silence filled the room.
Yet after thinking it through carefully, everyone realized there was seemingly no other explanation.
After all, Baraggan was not an existence three ordinary Captains should have been capable of killing.
Even Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto himself was not fully confident he could defeat Baraggan.