"Santen Kesshun!" Orihime Inoue controlled Shun Shun Rikka, spreading a barrier beside Rukia Kuchiki. "I reject!"
The surging torrent slammed into the golden barrier, but the sharp trident stabbed straight through it. The terrifying force shattered the barrier at once.
Rukia Kuchiki turned and raised her blade, blocking Aaroniero's attack.
"The dead are gone. You have my condolences!" Aaroniero laughed as he spun Nejibana. "But if all your thoughts are on a dead comrade and you ignore the dangerous enemy in front of you, you'll die."
The torrent knocked Rukia Kuchiki back. The instant her gaze fell on the ruins where Muten Natsu was buried, a cold gleam flashed through the rushing water.
"Hakuren!" Rukia Kuchiki thrust her blade forward, sending cold air into the torrent.
The water froze solid, encasing the Nejibana Trident in Aaroniero's hand.
"I told you it's useless!" Aaroniero twisted his wrist, and the Nejibana Trident shattered the ice. The surging water wrapped around the fragments, then spun with the trident as they flew toward Rukia Kuchiki. "Don't you understand yet? Muten Natsu is already dead. What you're sensing now is the lingering Reiatsu of his Bankai... Isn't this rate of dissipation familiar to you?"
Within the ruins, Muten Natsu's Reiatsu was fading fast, exactly like Reiatsu dispersing when a Soul died.
"Muten..." Rukia Kuchiki swung her blade, cutting through the water and knocking away the ice. "He wouldn't go down that easily..."
The descending Nejibana Trident cut her off. Aaroniero seized the shaft with his other hand and pressed down harder. "Easily? You should know better than anyone how powerful his Bankai is... It's over!"
The torrent followed close behind the Nejibana Trident. Rukia Kuchiki's arms sank under the pressure, and she instinctively raised her blade overhead.
At that very moment, Aaroniero spun the Nejibana Trident and easily knocked Sode no Shirayuki out of her hands.
With both force and flexibility, Nejibana's troublesome nature was fully revealed.
The surging water could enhance the trident's power and speed while also making the opponent misjudge the attack and apply their strength in the wrong way.
It was a weapon that demanded extraordinary skill from its wielder. They had to swing the trident while controlling the flow of Reishi water, letting the two support each other and produce strength far beyond a simple combination.
"Hadō #33..." With her Zanpakutō knocked from her hand, Rukia Kuchiki made an instant decision and raised her hand to release Kidō. "Sōkatsui!"
Yellow fire erupted, shooting straight toward Aaroniero's approaching head.
Aaroniero merely tilted his head and dodged Sōkatsui. "Eishōhaki? You've really grown a lot."
The missed Sōkatsui struck the wall. A series of cracks rang out as a large hole opened, revealing the blue sky outside.
Sunlight streamed in, enveloping Rukia Kuchiki's Zanpakutō where it stood embedded in the ground.
Under the sunlight, the already beautiful Sode no Shirayuki gleamed like crystal, refracting a hazy, mesmerizing glow.
Rukia Kuchiki looked at Aaroniero not far away, her fingers trembling faintly.
To fight him, she had to retrieve her Zanpakutō.
But that meant her actions were entirely within Aaroniero's expectations. In a dangerous battle, being that passive was deadly.
In that case... she would turn that passivity into the initiative.
Reiatsu surged at Rukia Kuchiki's fingertips. Since her opponent knew she would retrieve her Zanpakutō, he was certain to intercept her.
And since she knew he would intercept her, she also knew how he would move.
"Bakudō #4: Hainawa!" Rukia Kuchiki waved her hand, releasing yellow light that wrapped around Aaroniero's arm. She flashed toward Sode no Shirayuki, chanting, "Mask of flesh and blood Universe Soar The one crowned with man's name Carriage of thunder and gap of the spinning wheel Divide and Slice this light into six Twin lotuses into the wall of blue flame Wait for the edge of depraved fire in the heavens..."
Double Chant!
It was an advanced Kidō technique. Through mastery of Kidō, the user chanted only the overlapping portions of two spells, saving time and releasing both at once.
The moment Aaroniero came to stop her, Rukia Kuchiki would abandon Sode no Shirayuki, seize the initiative, and attack Aaroniero directly as he approached.
Rukia Kuchiki pretended to move toward Sode no Shirayuki, but her eyes never left Aaroniero.
The moment he moved...
Aaroniero's figure flickered, and his Reiatsu briefly vanished.
That was a trait of Sonído. It could evade detection.
With her Kidō ready to fire, Rukia Kuchiki searched for Aaroniero's position.
Left... right... no!
Rukia Kuchiki snapped her head around, looking toward Orihime Inoue.
While Rukia Kuchiki was fighting, Orihime Inoue had moved closer to the ruins, trying to help Muten Natsu, who was buried beneath them.
And Aaroniero was behind her, raising Nejibana in his hand.
Rukia Kuchiki had no choice but to act early. She used Shunpo to close the distance, raised her hand, and released Kidō. "Bakudō #61: Rikujōkōrō!"
Six yellow beams gathered into plates of light and rapidly converged around Aaroniero's body.
But the distance was too great. Before the light could bind Aaroniero, the trident in his hand had already pierced Orihime Inoue's body first, pinning her and Nell to the ground.
The light struck his body, instantly freezing Aaroniero in place. A cruel, vicious grin appeared on his face. "What a shame. You were one step too late..."
"And you made one wrong move!" Rukia Kuchiki pressed her palms together, pulling blue light into them, then thrust both hands forward. "Hadō #73: Sōren Sōkatsui!"
Blue flames far stronger than before erupted, swallowing Aaroniero's body.
"Aaaaaaah!" Aaroniero screamed hoarsely. "You actually... actually... can't hurt me~" His piercing scream turned into a mocking laugh. "An attack like this can only burn your companion's corpse... Hm?"
Aaroniero had endured Rukia Kuchiki's Hadō with his Hierro, suffering only slight damage to his clothing.
But when he glanced toward Nejibana, he found that Orihime Inoue, who should have been there, had vanished. "This is... an illusion?!"
Orihime Inoue appeared in another direction, and Ririn, perched on her shoulder, smiled. "Muten, the rest is up to you."
"Thanks for your hard work." Muten Natsu stepped out from within Sōten Kisshun Shield. "I didn't think it would take this long."
"You..." Aaroniero stared at the completely unharmed Muten Natsu. "How could you..."
"Don't be stupid. How could I be killed by my own Bankai?" Muten Natsu lightly flicked Myōki, and pitch-black spiritual ink left the blade, floating in the air. "I just wanted to finish you quickly, so I spent some time preparing."
"Finish me?" Aaroniero brandished Nejibana. "You think you can?"
"On my own, of course it wouldn't be that easy. Fortunately, you gave me some inspiration." Muten Natsu stabbed Myōki into the ground in front of him. "Come say hello to Hell."
Purple-black cracks appeared within the floating spiritual ink, spreading outward as they outlined the shape of a gate.
Two broken, one-armed skeletons emerged, one on each side of the gate. Their lower halves shared a single frame, while the lone arms of their upper bodies hooked onto the gate.
Chains rattled, bones clacked sharply, and the two doors slowly opened as the four chains connected to them snapped one after another.
The scent of blood and fire poured out from within the gate along with a crimson glow, carrying a suffocating, terrifying pressure.
"No... impossible!" Aaroniero's face twisted. "How could you open the Gates of Hell at will? This is all fake!"
Nejibana spun, sending a violent torrent toward the Gates of Hell and tearing them apart with ease.
"Hm?" Aaroniero's arm stiffened, and his already twisted face warped even further. "It really was an illusion!"
He had been fooled twice in such a short time.
With his sensing nerves fully open, Aaroniero easily locked onto Orihime Inoue's position. "Damn tricks..."
Only after ignoring the illusion in front of him did Aaroniero discover Orihime Inoue's true location, as well as Muten Natsu's Reiatsu, which had almost completely faded away.
The Muten Natsu he had just seen and the opened Gates of Hell had all been fake.
His furious eyes fixed on the little bird doll perched on Orihime Inoue's shoulder. Aaroniero raised Nejibana, and Reishi water surged from the trident, churning like a tidal wave. "Die!"
"If you ignore a dangerous enemy," Rukia Kuchiki appeared behind Aaroniero, Sode no Shirayuki in hand, "you'll die."
Sensing Rukia Kuchiki's approach, Aaroniero twisted his body and spun Nejibana with one hand, sweeping it backward.
Reishi water drove the trident forward, increasing its speed even further.
Rukia Kuchiki swung her blade upward, bringing a rush of cold air into the sky.
Aaroniero turned his wrist. Nejibana, knocked up by Sode no Shirayuki, spun in a circle, wrapped itself in water again, and thrust straight at her. "Your Zanjutsu is far worse than his!"
"I know that better than you do." Rukia Kuchiki gripped the hilt with both hands and swung her Zanpakutō down. "That's why I have my own method."
Like many Shinigami, Rukia Kuchiki had envied Muten Natsu's Zanjutsu.
That swordsmanship, which drew out all of one's power and created destructive force far beyond normal strength, ending a battle in an instant, was something almost anyone would long for.
But like many Shinigami, Rukia Kuchiki could not master Muten Natsu's Zanjutsu.
It required long practice and the tempering of life-and-death battles to strike that breathtaking blow almost by instinct amid the chaos of combat.
After Muten Natsu left, Rukia Kuchiki kept practicing.
But if she had failed to master it while Muten Natsu was still there, mastering it alone was even harder.
Rather than practice, it was more a way of remembering him.
During those days without Muten Natsu, Rukia Kuchiki repeated fruitless practice day after day, recalling the motion of his blade and imitating it again and again.
Until she reunited with Muten Natsu, returned to Soul Society, and held Sode no Shirayuki in her hands once more...
With Muten Natsu at her side, Rukia Kuchiki no longer had to imitate the him in her memories. When she stopped forcing herself to repeat his Zanjutsu...
All those years of imitation finally bloomed into a light of her own.
The cold air rushing skyward condensed into crystalline ice blades, following the motion of Rukia Kuchiki's descending blade as they fell from above.
Before Rukia Kuchiki's sword had even come down, several ice blades had already pierced downward first.
The cold rose sharply, condensing into dew.
Its name was...
"Final Dance: White Dew!"
Several ice blades broke through the Reishi water, crossing each other as they stabbed into Aaroniero's body, and the spreading chill sealed his movements.
At that instant, Sode no Shirayuki fell, cleaving Aaroniero's rigid body apart.
With the clear sound of shattering ice crystals, the blood at the severed edges of Aaroniero's body froze into eerie blood-ice flowers before it could gush out.
Aaroniero's lower body shattered outright, while his ruined upper half was sealed in solid ice and fell toward the ground.
His furious eyes widened. Aaroniero's left hand suddenly swelled into the shape of a tentacle, and a spiked mouthpart writhed as it screamed, "Devour her, Glotonería!"
The swollen body instantly burst through the ice, as though Pandora's box had been opened. Soft tentacles, viscous limbs, rolling eyeballs, sharp fangs... countless broken and twisted body parts crowded outward, repeatedly splitting and merging until they tangled into a hateful, tumor-like mass.
It looked as if every kind of Hollow had been crudely chopped apart, messily stirred together, and left to slump on the ground in a sticky heap. The result was a purplish-black ball of flesh dozens of meters across, sprouting several tentacles. Most of its flesh hung from it like melted wax, and a huge mouth stretched across it, with teeth wider than three people standing shoulder to shoulder.
Its enormous deep-purple eyes seemed to rotate. Between the two eyeballs grew grape-like tumors, where several Hollows struggled and wailed, their bodies writhing with difficulty.
At the top of the enormous tentacled monster, a half body resembling Kaien Shiba grew out. Aaroniero looked down at Rukia Kuchiki from above. "That's a nice expression... You really should be afraid."
"Standing before you is the only Lower-Rank Menos among the Espada. I was never qualified to become an Espada, yet I was granted the number 9 because I am the only Arrancar capable of infinite evolution!" He spread his arms. "My ability is Hollow Absorption, the power to devour dead Hollows and take their abilities and Reiatsu for myself!"
"Yes. That's exactly the expression I wanted to see." Satisfied by Rukia Kuchiki's despair, Aaroniero announced excitedly, "The number of Hollows I have devoured so far is thirty-three thousand six hundred and fifty! You may think of the battle ahead as one person facing more than thirty thousand Hollows!"
The hand Rukia Kuchiki used to grip her blade trembled faintly. She was indeed afraid.
But she was not afraid of the Espada before her.
She was afraid of a truth she refused to accept.
Muten Natsu's Reiatsu was growing weaker and weaker.
By now, it had almost vanished.
At this rate, Rukia Kuchiki would soon lose him again.
Again...
"Ah, wait." Aaroniero suddenly seemed to remember something. "Not one person. There's still someone in the way."
A tentacle rose and pointed toward Orihime Inoue as a blinding red light flashed.
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