"Aaroniero, you really are pathetic."
A mocking voice came from inside the Cero, and following several footsteps, the people inside the Cero finally revealed their true appearance.
Ei's eyes widened.
One, two, three... three more have arrived!
And they seem to be on the same level as this glass tank monster.
Although Ei looked rough, he was extremely meticulous in his actions.
He immediately noticed the similarity with Aaroniero.
That was the number carved onto their bodies.
The glass tank monster's number was No.9.
As for these three, one was No.6, one was No.7, and one could not be discerned on the surface.
But since they appeared together, it proved they belonged to the same hierarchy, meaning the number might be hidden somewhere, just not visible.
Ei's eyes slightly widened. What exactly did these numbers represent?
Status? Strength?
But regardless of which it was, it spelled trouble for the Land of Lightning.
Just one No.9 had already given him a massive headache.
If he hadn't found his weakness, he probably wouldn't have known when he could stop his actions.
Yet, just as he was about to see hope, three more individuals of the same rank had arrived.
Furthermore... No.6, No.7... if his guess was correct, these two guys might be even trickier to handle than the glass tank villain.
Plus, there was still one enemy whose number was unknown.
Ei first looked at the man clamping down on his arm.
That massive physique made it hard for him to breathe.
Moreover, this guy was the one whose number couldn't be seen.
Yammy looked contemptuous and sneered: "To be forced into this state by trash like this, Aaroniero, you should just be removed from the Espada list early. The weak do not deserve to be Espada alongside me!"
The Arrancar inside Aaroniero's glass tank showed an angry expression, but before he could say anything.
Yammy suddenly exerted force with his giant hand.
Crack, crunch—
Ei's bones made a sound of unbearable stress. His expression changed, and the next second, he was suddenly slammed hard into the ground by Yammy!
Bang!
A muffled sound rang out, kicking up a cloud of dust.
But soon, the dust was dispersed by lightning, revealing Ei, who looked like a Thunder God controlling lightning.
Ei's face was solemn. He spoke in a deep voice: "Just who exactly are you people!"
"Hey, hey, you've been fighting Aaroniero for so long, and he hasn't told you who we are?"
Grimmjow grinned, looked around, but failed to find any other strong individuals, feeling slightly displeased. He then spoke:
"Las Noches' Sixth Espada, Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez! Hurry up and send out your strong fighters to have a fair fight with me!"
Las Noches? Sixth Espada?
Ei frowned deeply.
Although he didn't know what Las Noches was, it was certainly the sphere of influence for these Hollows.
And the Sixth Espada corresponds exactly to the number on his body.
Does that mean whatever rank you hold in Las Noches, the corresponding number is carved onto you?
Although he had gained some understanding, it wasn't much.
Moreover, the situation has now changed from a one-on-one fight to a one-against-many!
This put him in a difficult spot.
Although Ei was very confident in his own strength, he hadn't been able to defeat Aaroniero in their exchanges; instead, Aaroniero had learned quite a few abilities from the Cloud Ninja.
It had taken several days just to find his weakness.
Now, he had to start all over again, and the difficulty had increased by three stars.
At the same time.
The Land of Lightning, Kumogakure.
Biju Jinchuriki Laboratory.
Boom!
After the Third Raikage once again suppressed the rampaging Eight-Tails, his secretary came over and reported, "Lord Raikage, another incident has occurred domestically!"
The Third Raikage's brow furrowed, and he asked, "Didn't the Intelligence Analysis Department already figure out the weakness of that glass jar? Has Ai still not resolved it?"
Tsk, the Third Raikage was displeased.
How can my own son be such a failure?
The secretary shook his head and replied, "No, Lord Ai was about to succeed, but three comrades suddenly arrived and rescued the glass jar!"
The Third Raikage's eyes widened. "Three more?"
"Damn it, these Hollows have set their sights on our Land of Lightning, haven't they?!"
The Third Raikage glared angrily. Initially, he had somewhat believed the Uzushigakure' explanation.
After all, the Uzushigakure had indeed been helping other small nations deal with the Hollows in their territories recently.
But these Hollows were relentlessly targeting the Land of Lightning, which puzzled the Third Raikage.
They hadn't provoked the Hollows at all, had they?
Why were they causing trouble for them without reason?
If they were the mindless, monstrous Hollows, it would be understandable.
Just like the Hollows in other countries, attacking a Ninja Village for food would be excusable.
But this group in the Land of Lightning was clearly organized, disciplined, and premeditated.
Moreover, that Humanoid Hollow possessed intelligence equal to a human's; it couldn't possibly be unaware of the Land of Lightning's strength.
Yet, they continued to harass the Land of Lightning without any logical reason.
Furthermore, the only power the Land of Lightning had recently provoked was the Uzushigakure.
Therefore, the Third Raikage strongly suspected that these Hollows were connected to the Uzushigakure!
Perhaps they were sent by the Uzushigakure specifically to cause trouble!
Moreover, he reviewed some recent information about the Ninja World.
Although the Ninja World had never discovered creatures like Hollows before, ever since the Uzushigakure was rebuilt...
A profession called Shinigami had risen in the Uzushigakure.
Following that, the appearance of the Hollows occurred!
If this had nothing to do with the Uzushigakure, he would twist his head off and let the master of the Uzushigakure kick it like a ball!
The Uzushigakure definitely harbored some unspeakable secrets!
Perhaps they were conducting horrific experiments, and these Hollows were the products of those experiments.
Plus, those few Humanoid Hollows, just like the Shinigami, all wielded swords!
Hiss—
After this line of thought, the Third Raikage suddenly understood everything.
Temporarily suppressing the matter, the Third Raikage put on his Raikage Battle Robe again and said, "The Eight-Tails Jinchuriki experiment will stop for now. I'll go deal with those nuisances first."
"Also, arrange for the Hidden Cloud Ninja Army to head to the battle location!"
Since they came to fight right at his doorstep, the Third Raikage wouldn't bother with one-on-one combat.
If they came, they would suffer the righteous group attack of the Kumogakure!
The secretary bowed his head and said, "Yes, Lord Raikage!"
Just as the Third Raikage was about to leave, he suddenly turned around.
He took the little girl from the laboratory with him.
"I will take the Two-Tails Jinchuriki with me for now. It's a good chance to test the Two-Tails' strength against them!"
The Two-Tails Jinchuriki was considered the Land of Lightning's greatest recent gain.
But it was merely a coincidence; it wasn't because their Sealing Technique had achieved a Breakthrough.
The success of this Two-Tails Jinchuriki was entirely the result of the Two-Tails Matatabi's compromise.
It was because the hosts of the Two-Tails Matatabi Jinchuriki kept being replaced, dying one after another, and it had grown tired of it.
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