Meeting an Old Acquaintance Again

"Where is this? I remember we were surrounded by the Void Clan?" At this moment, Ikeda Kawai woke up and asked, looking around at the empty surroundings.

Shusuke Amagai replied, "Commander-in-Chief, we have now escaped the encirclement of the Hollows and are in a safe zone. You can rest assured that many of our team members are still alive."

Ikeda Kawai looked left and right but couldn't find the person he was looking for. He shouted, "Where is Commander Ye Yang? Where is he?! Tell him to come see me!"

The mention of it only brought tears to the eyes of several legion commanders, while Shusuke Amagai remained silent. Seeing this, Ikeda Kawai guessed the truth and roared, "Did he stay behind on his own?! What are you all doing?! He knocked me unconscious and you just stood by and did nothing? Couldn't you have stopped him?"

Everyone remained silent, unsure how to respond to the enraged commander, letting him rant and rave. Gradually, his the Roars subsided, replaced by faint the Roar.

Finally, he burst into tears. "Ah! Why was it him who was left behind? He was so young, he had such a bright future ahead of him. With his talent, a few more decades of training would have made him a pillar of the Soul Society! It's my fault that the Soul Society lost a top-tier fighter! Why did this happen!"

Everyone rushed forward to comfort them, saying, "Commander-in-Chief, please don't feel guilty. This wasn't just your fault; we all made mistakes too. Please regroup and lead our Expeditionary Force towards a brighter future!"

"Yes, sir, after all, no one expected this to happen, and we didn't want it to happen either, but it's already like this, so we can only offer our condolences."

Ikeda Kawai looked up to the sky and cried out, "The heavens are jealous of talent!"

However, Shusuke Amagai did not say these words. He simply said, "Commander Ye Yang will come back." Even so, he still firmly believed that Ye Yang could return; it was simply a matter of trust.

Since Ye Yang became the regimental commander, the soldiers of their Second Corps have been able to hold their heads high. Every time Ye Yang gives an order, he is always so confident. His smile seems to have an incredible magic, making people want to believe him. His confidence has permeated the entire Second Corps. In the past month, the members of the Second Corps have been transformed as if they have been reborn.

I remember the last time we faced a crisis, he stayed behind as well, and when they left, they all saw a faint smile on his lips—a smile of confidence. This time, he showed the same expression, which meant that he was still confident he could escape. I was certain he would return just like last time, and I firmly believed that.

The other commanders, thinking that Shusuke Amagai was overly heartbroken, all went to comfort him, but he ignored them, simply gazing at the sky and whispering, "Commander Ye Yang, when will you return?"...

All of this was unknown to Ye Yang...

Not long after Ulquiorra left, Ye Yang also came out. First, he needed to assess the surrounding environment. He suppressed his Spiritual Power to the lowest level, so that no one could sense his Spiritual Pressure from at least a hundred meters away, unless they were Hollows standing at the same height as him. Obviously, there were no Menos Grande like that in the Forest of Menos.

As expected of the Forest of Menos, although Ulquiorra chose a relatively quiet place, it was only relatively quiet. Hollows would still appear around from time to time. Of course, there were also many ignorant Hollows who wanted to eat Ye Yang, but he dealt with them all easily.

Just then, an unusual Spiritual Pressure suddenly filled the air—it was Adjuchas, and not just one, but at least five. But that wasn't the most important thing; mixed in with it was the Spiritual Pressure of Shinigami! This was Ye Yang was concerned about: could there be Shinigami within the Forest of Menos?

Ye Yang rushed to the origin of Spiritual Pressure, but the scene before him shocked him! Five Adjuchas- class Menos Grande were besieging a Shinigami! The Shinigami wore a black kimono with a cloak adorned with skulls, and his short, reddish-brown hair was quite handsome.

He held his own against the attacks of five Menos Grande, demonstrating extraordinary strength, and grew increasingly powerful as the battle progressed, gradually gaining the upper hand.

Beside them, there was another Adjuchas, who seemed to be the leader of this group of Adjuchas. It was a leopard-shaped Adjuchas with black stripes on its white body, a tail extending from the back of its head, and sky-blue leopard eyes. It was none other than Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez, the Menos Grande Ye Yang had defeated in the World of the Living!

However, Ye Yang didn't recognize him at this moment, he just felt that he looked a little familiar. After all, who would remember things that happened decades ago so clearly?

Grimmjow did not make a move; he merely watched the battle calmly, showing no intention of intervening even when his subordinates were at a disadvantage and in danger of being killed.

Ye Yang could tell that this Menos Grande was completely different from the other Adjuchas. His strength was far greater than theirs. Perhaps he had already reached the limit of the Adjuchas and was only one step away from Vasto Lorde.

There aren't many Menos Grande like this in Hueco Mundo. Those who can reach this level are undoubtedly very talented, but the distance to this step is like climbing to the sky. To break through this bottleneck, one needs not only talent but also luck! Perhaps they can break through tomorrow, or perhaps they will never break through.

Adjuchas of this level is already close to Captain-level in strength.

Ye Yang did not rush to make a move, but waited quietly for the leopard-shaped Adjuchas to attack.

Sure enough, it wasn't long before the five Adjuchas couldn't hold on any longer. Grimmjow said, "Useless! They can't even handle a Grim Reaper!" and then took action himself.

After Grimmjow joined the battle, the other Menos Grande withdrew, leaving Grimmjow to fight alone. It wasn't that they didn't want to help him, but rather that Grimmjow would never allow anyone to help him in battle, as that would be an insult to him.

The reason this Shinigami was able to gain the upper hand against the five Menos Grande was primarily because he was faster than them, allowing him to move freely among them.

But that won't work now. Grimmjow is Menos Grande, and agility is his strength. In addition, he had already expended a lot of energy, so he is clearly at a disadvantage in the fight against Grimmjow. It seems that he will be defeated soon, and the outcome is self-evident.

Sure enough, after the two fought back and forth for five minutes, the Shinigami was clearly exhausted. In a moment of distraction, an opening appeared in his lower back. Grimmjow was not about to let go of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. He instantly appeared behind the Shinigami, preparing to deliver a fatal blow. At the critical moment, a flash of silver light appeared, and with a "clang," a Zanpakuto appeared on Grimmjow's claws, blocking his attack.

Ye Yang casually drove away Grimmjow, rescuing the Grim Reaper. The Grim Reaper was shocked. "Who are you?"

"We'll talk about that later. Let's deal with the situation first. Anyway, I'm here to save you," Ye Yang said calmly.

In a Shunpo, he created distance between himself and the Menos Grande, placed the Shinigami on the ground, and then sized up the Menos Grande opposite him.

This situation shocked all the Menos Grande present. Even Grimmjow only sensed that someone had been rescued, but he didn't see clearly how they were rescued.

The Menos Grande glared at Ye Yang: "Who are you? How dare you rescue our prey!"

Grimmjow also glanced at Ye Yang in surprise, his expression immediately changing drastically. "What! It's you? How could it be you? Shouldn't you be in Soul Society?"

"Do you know me?" Ye Yang asked, though he did feel a sense of familiarity with the man, but couldn't quite place when they had met.

Grimmjow into a rage. "How dare you forget me? Even if you were reduced to ashes, I would still remember you! Ye Yang Shihoin! Since you've forgotten, let me remind you: decades ago, back in the World of the Living realm, we fought each other."

Upon hearing this, Ye Yang immediately remembered. Ye Yang hadn't been to the World of the Living many times, so he easily recalled the incident when the Menos Grande attacked the World of the Living. It was that incident that led Aizen down the path he was on today.

However, Ye Yang simply said, "Oh, so you're the leader of that incident. But I remember you were one of my defeated opponents."

"Hmph! You were just lucky back then. After returning, I came to this Forest of Menos to become stronger. I will show you that I am different now. I will tear you apart!" Grimmjow said angrily.

Back then, he had just advanced to Adjuchas and was full of vigor. He led dozens of Gillian to invade the World of the Living, but encountered Ye Yang, who was in the World of the Living to protect the students of the Shin'ō. Ye Yang, who was a sixth-year student at the Shin'ō at the time, defeated him and comprehended the Shikai of his Zanpakuto. It can be said that he made Ye Yang who he is today.

After returning, Grimmjow vowed to become stronger! On his path to becoming stronger, he encountered Dee Roy, Yylfordt, Edrad, Nakeem, and Shawlong, who all wanted to prey on him. He directly ate the right side of Dee Roy's head, and from then on Grimmjow became their leader and led them to become stronger.

Later, they decided together to come to the Forest of Menos to seek a way to become stronger. In the end, Grimmjow has become a top-tier being in Adjuchas. However, he still finds it hard to let go of his past defeat. If he doesn't defeat him with his own hands, he may never be able to break through this barrier and never be able to advance to Vasto Lorde.

Now that Grimmjow has finally met his formidable foe, all he can think about is how to defeat him and wash away the shame of the past.

Ye Yang's mindset was completely different. Seeing Grimmjow now only elicited a sigh, his emotions remaining undisturbed. Looking at his former rival and then at himself now, he realized their positions were now vastly different...

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