"That good-for-nothing Di Roy!" The Arrancar with the Hollow hole beneath his collarbone had an elegant, handsome appearance. His pale golden hair streamed behind him, and his deep purple eyes were full of disdain. The mask on the left side of his head was shaped like a single horn. "He begged us to bring him here, and this is the result... Even with Aizen-sama's help, a good-for-nothing is still a good-for-nothing."
Arrancar No. 15, Yylfordt Granz.
He stood in midair, looking down at the Urahara Store below.
It was hidden extremely well, but his battle honed instincts still let him discover the concealed place.
The presence had only flashed by for an instant, but there really was a fairly powerful Reiatsu here.
"Come out!" Yylfordt drew the Zanpakutō at his waist and casually slashed, sending sharp blade pressure at the shop. "Come out and fight me... hmm?"
The blade pressure seemed to strike some kind of barrier in midair and vanished without a trace.
"So this is... a barrier?" Yylfordt's lips curled upward as he dove down from the sky, only to be blocked just as he expected. "Interesting!"
His smile turned wilder as he swung his katana again and again. Strange light flashed through the air, until the outline of the barrier became clearly visible.
Inside the Urahara Store, Jinta Hanakari gripped his huge spiked club and kept Ururu Tsumugiya behind him. "Damn it, and it had to happen when the manager's away..."
"Jinta..." Ururu Tsumugiya's eyes filled with tears as she gently tugged at his clothes.
"Shut up! Let go!" Jinta Hanakari snapped irritably. "Listen up, Ururu. If the barrier breaks, get the hell away from here immediately! If you ruin my fun in this fight, I'll never let you off!"
Ururu Tsumugiya sniffled and looked worriedly out the window.
Outside, Yylfordt stopped attacking. "It's sturdier than I expected... I'm getting more and more excited about the prey inside."
A flash of madness crossed his eyes, completely at odds with his refined appearance. He lowered his head slightly, and a crimson light began to glow at the tip of the horn shaped mask on his head.
That was... Cero!
...
"Di Roy is already dead." The tall black haired man had a mask covering the top of his head and his left eye. "He was too reckless and relied too much on his trump card. Hidden tricks can't kill anyone."
"Looks like I don't need to worry about the others." Ichigo Kurosaki held out his hand. "Zangetsu!"
White bandages wrapped around his body, and the greatsword Zangetsu dropped into his hand. "You're an Arrancar, right? I killed one not long ago."
"Using your own ability right from the start. You actually know how to take advice." The man's gaze shifted slightly. "If I'm not mistaken, the one you mean should be Grand Fisher, right?"
"You know him?"
"Of course. He had to beg Di Roy just to get the chance to become an Arrancar. In other words, he was even weaker than Di Roy." The man whispered into Ichigo Kurosaki's ear, "And Di Roy was the weakest of all of us."
Ichigo Kurosaki's pupils contracted sharply, and he instantly flashed backward.
Even with how fast he reacted, his shoulder was still slashed open, and blood sprayed out.
"You really don't need to worry about the others," the man said, shaking the blood from his katana. "After all, the dead don't have to worry about anything."
"Getsuga Tenshō!" Ichigo Kurosaki swung his katana hard, and a deep blue crescent burst from the blade, crushing the air as it flew toward the man.
"Nice power, but your movement is too big." The man sidestepped the attack. "The moment you raised your katana, I already knew where you were going to strike. Even if my speed were a little below yours, I could still dodge it easily. And besides..."
He appeared at Ichigo Kurosaki's side and slashed at his neck. "My speed is above yours."
Blue light flashed. Almost the instant the man appeared beside him, Ichigo Kurosaki raised his left hand.
"You really seem to like showing up on people's left side." A crescent of light bloomed in Ichigo Kurosaki's palm. "Good thing I like people getting close to my left side."
Boom!
The blue crescent exploded, blasting the man at point blank range.
"Not bad. Nice technique, interesting ability." The man waved away the smoke. His clothes were slightly damaged. "Too bad... it still can't break through my Hierro."
Ichigo Kurosaki's eyes widened in disbelief. "What... did you say?"
"Looks like beating Grand Fisher gave you the wrong idea about Arrancar." The man raised his hand. "But that's fine. You won't be wrong again."
A cold gleam flashed!
...
"Di Roy may be an Arrancar, but he was that pathetically weak." The huge red haired brute grinned viciously. White mask fragments covered his nose and cheeks. "His opponent was really lucky, getting matched with such a weakling. Compared to that, you're the unlucky one! Because the one you ran into is me! No matter how you struggle, you're going to die!"
Yasutora Sado stared at the brute in the sky, his expression grim.
So this was the Arrancar Muten Natsu had mentioned?
"Looks like you've already realized how serious this is." The red haired man waved a hand. "The gap between us is so huge that anyone can tell with a single glance!"
"Mm..." Yasutora Sado nodded. "You can fly."
"That's right... no, that's not what I meant!" The red haired man's expression stiffened, then he dropped down from the sky. "Since you put it that way, I'll generously give you a chance, so you can die without complaints! Well?"
Yasutora Sado shook his head. "That's not what I meant."
"Then what did you mean?"
"What I meant is, you can fly..." Black red armor appeared over Yasutora Sado's arms, and ethereal spiritual energy drifted from the forked ends at his wrists. He stepped forward, and a dim green light swirled beneath his feet. "I can too."
He stepped on the air and rose into the sky. "So the gap between us... isn't that big."
"You bastard..." The red haired man shot upward and threw a punch at Yasutora Sado. "Die!"
Boom!
Before the punch even reached him, a fierce wind was already crashing into his face.
Yasutora Sado neither dodged nor retreated. He clenched his fist and met it head on.
It sounded like thunder exploding, and a terrifying shockwave swept out in every direction.
Yasutora Sado was blasted out of the cloud of dust, fell from the sky, and slammed into the ground.
"Hahahahahahaha!!!" The red haired man charged after him, Reiatsu raging in both hands. "You talked so big just now, and this is all you've got? You still dared to act arrogant in front of me? Die!"
Yasutora Sado rolled across the ground to bleed off the force, but before he could regain his footing, he was struck by a vicious slap.
His whole body shot away like a cannonball and smashed straight through a nearby wall.
The red haired man let out a savage laugh and accelerated through the hole in the wall, only to find no trace of Yasutora Sado. "Hm? Did he run away...?"