The Battle with Starrk and Baraggan

"Infinite Reload Cero!!" Starrk began his attack, and Baraggan's Arrogante attacked at the same time.

"Gran Caida..."

Ten Unohana watched the two attacks coming at him at once, torn over what to do. He didn't dare test whether the silver chains on his body could block Respira. After all, even the slightest contact with it would spread like fire and affect his entire body.

So Ten Unohana chose to block Respira first and take Infinite Reload Cero head-on. With a casual flick, he spun the Poppy Scythe gently and sent it against Gran Caida...

But

"Huh—"

Ten Unohana let out a surprised sound. It wasn't that he had been injured or failed to block Gran Caida, but—

Ten Unohana stared in surprise at the Poppy Scythe's blade. A tiny notch in the blade bore witness to its successful block of Gran Caida.

Still, Ten Unohana hadn't expected Gran Caida to be so powerful. The instant it touched the Poppy Scythe, it corroded a small notch into it. Although a Zanpakuto in Shikai would quickly repair the notch, Ten Unohana didn't have much Soul Reaper power left in him now.

So Ten Unohana prepared to use another method.

Boom!!!!

In the end, Tier Harribel's Tiburón couldn't hold off Infinite Reload Cero. Starrk seized the opening and blasted Ten Unohana hard.

Ten Unohana watched the wounds on his body heal rapidly through High-Speed Regeneration, unconcerned. He said to Tier Harribel, "Little Bell, attack me next. Don't worry about anything else."

Tier Harribel knew about the Poppy Scythe's ability, so she didn't say anything. She simply redirected the attack she had aimed at Starrk toward Ten Unohana.

But Starrk didn't know exactly what Ten Unohana's ability was. From his earlier probing, he only knew that the silver chains on Ten Unohana's body could absorb attacks. Hearing Ten Unohana's words, Starrk wondered, Does he absorb attacks, store up their energy, and then release it?

Although Starrk thought that, he still attacked, continuing to use Infinite Reload Cero.

"Gran Caida." Without modification by the Hōgyoku, Baraggan still couldn't release his aging power outside his body, so this was his only move.

But this time, Ten Unohana changed his approach. He casually swung the Poppy Scythe—

All the attacks it had absorbed earlier, plus Starrk's Infinite Reload Cero and Tier Harribel's Tiburón attack, which it had just absorbed, were released together. Their target: Gran Caida.

"My attacks aren't so easy to block!" Baraggan said loudly.

Ten Unohana ignored him, casually tossing the Blade of Slaughter into the air. He used Sonído and, at the same time, swiftly stabbed Baraggan with Satan's Curse in its Resurrección form. Then he retreated rapidly.

"Hahahaha! What's wrong? Don't you even have the strength to hurt me anymore?" Baraggan said arrogantly.

Ten Unohana didn't argue. He merely gave his Zanpakuto a casual flick. It was a habit he had picked up with the Blade of Slaughter, and even now, whenever he took hold of a sword hilt, he would habitually flick his Zanpakuto. But

Looking at the corrosion on Satan's Curse, Ten Unohana shook his head. It still wasn't as handy to use as the Blade of Slaughter, but for the sake of that ability, he would make do with it. That was what Ten Unohana thought.

Baraggan raised his axe high.

"This blow will send you to your grave!"

Ten Unohana watched Baraggan raise his axe, then lowered his head and concealed Satan's Curse with his arm.

I wonder who'll be going to their grave? Ten Unohana thought as he pointed the tip of Satan's Curse at Baraggan.

"Hah—"

Ten Unohana looked at Baraggan coldly and said softly, "Satan's Curse..."

Boom—

Baraggan paid no attention to Ten Unohana's attack, but the moment it struck him, he was sent flying.

This time, Ten Unohana gave Baraggan no time to catch his breath. Sonído.

Boom—

This time, the blow was even harder than the last.

Then Ten Unohana pursued Baraggan relentlessly, giving him no chance to get up. After several blows...

Ten Unohana stopped and looked at Satan's Curse in his hand, its shape no longer recognizable. He slid it into its sheath.

Baraggan now looked like a beggar, his clothes in tatters, his limbs twisted, his chest and abdomen caved in, and his whole body covered in blood. Tier Harribel and Starrk were somewhat shocked. What exactly had happened with those last few blows?

Baraggan repaired his limbs, whose bones had been broken, and slowly stood up. Watching Ten Unohana return Satan's Curse to its sheath, he said, "So that's what your ability does!! Its attack power doubles with each successive strike."

The ability might not sound all that impressive, but consider the math. If the first strike was one, the second was two, and the third was four. That kind of increase was formidable. Although the first few blows weren't much, getting hit later on was another matter entirely.

There was a story specifically about this: a king played chess against a chess player, whose request used this same calculation. Starting with a single grain on the first square, the amount increased on each successive square until half the chessboard was filled. The king lost, and only after summoning his finance minister did he learn that all the grain in his kingdom wouldn't fill even half the board. That showed how powerful a single strike from Satan's Curse could become later on.

"So how will you block my attacks now? The attacks of aging..." Baraggan said as he slowly walked toward Ten Unohana. Although Ten Unohana had the Poppy Scythe to block Baraggan's Respira,

it wouldn't hold up for long. Ten Unohana said helplessly, "I really don't like revealing my abilities so casually. Every ability has a weakness, and once it's exposed, its killing power is cut in half immediately!!!!!" He looked at Baraggan and said, "But for you, Skeleton King, and Starrk too, I'll reveal it!!! Open your eyes wide and take a good look at my new ability!"

Baraggan slowly walked up to Ten Unohana and raised his axe.

Ten Unohana smiled coldly and held one hand up to the sky.

"Blood Moon Illuminates the World."

A huge, blood-red full moon appeared above the battlefield, bathing the entire area in a faint crimson glow.

Clang—

Ten Unohana watched Baraggan's axe strike him without concern and said, "You're old, so be a good king of Hueco Mundo. You won't get to do it for many more days. Instead of hurrying up and enjoying it, you came here looking for a beating. Honestly, why can't a little skeleton like you stay in his grave instead of coming out and hopping around?!"

Clatter, clatter.

Ten Unohana caught the Blade of Slaughter as she flew toward him, pulled by the rapidly retracting silver chain. He said brazenly, "Well, now that you're here, you're staying!"

Ten Unohana swiftly swept the Blade of Slaughter across Baraggan, drawing out a streak of purplish-black Reiatsu.

"Hiss—" Ten Unohana sucked in a sharp breath, suppressing a moan of pleasure. "You know what? Every time, this is my favorite part. This feeling is heavenly!"

"Starrk—!" Baraggan shouted in terror.

Starrk shrugged. "Didn't you say there was a Hollow who could stand up high alongside me, and that he was coming to be my friend? Thanks, I've found him now. He's my friend."

"Damn it, I won't let you get away with this!" Baraggan shouted. At the same time, a beam of yellow light descended and enveloped him: the Negación of the Menos Grande.

Ten Unohana frowned, but under the Blood Moon's light, the Menos Grande's Negación quickly began to fade. Too frightened to make any parting threats, Baraggan fled the scene.

"Blood Moon Cero." Watching Baraggan leave, Ten Unohana called out coldly. At the same time, the Blood Moon in the sky bulged upward, and an inky-black Cero took shape at its center.

Boom—

The Blood Moon Cero shattered the Negación, which had grown extremely thin, but Baraggan had already escaped...

"Tch—you got away fast!" Ten Unohana curled his lip.

Meanwhile, at Las Noches,

Baraggan spat blood and fell to the ground. Although he had managed to escape in the end, he had still been caught in the immensely powerful Blood Moon Cero's blast. "Someone, come!" Baraggan only managed those words before he was forced to sink into sleep to heal the injuries inside his body. Fortunately, a Hollow learned of Baraggan's injuries and came over.

"The old skeleton ran away. What do you have to say?!" Ten Unohana looked at Starrk, who had taken one of his blows head-on, at a loss for words. He couldn't be that shameless.

Starrk scratched his head. "We're friends from now on."

"Get lost. Who's your friend? You nearly beat me to death just now." Ten Unohana recalled that Starrk seemed to have caused most of his injuries. Although those wounds had disappeared quickly, damn it, they had hurt!

Starrk said nothing, seemingly set on Ten Unohana. But Ten Unohana was too embarrassed to attack him; Starrk had just let himself be nearly killed without fighting back, and now... Well, although a big part of the reason is Lilynette, would I admit that? Ten Unohana thought.

But, but with Starrk following him, Ten Unohana couldn't get any girls into bed. After all, because he had been practicing Resurrección, he hadn't gotten a single one of the five Hollow girls around him into bed. He had only been able to feast his eyes, without even getting to touch them, because before Ten Unohana's Resurrección, his hands had unfortunately been claws.

With no other choice, Ten Unohana decisively gave in and said to Starrk, "Fine, you're my friend. Happy now?!"

"Yeah. Then I need to make it up to you for my rudeness just now."

Damn it, who knew Starrk was like this?! Ten Unohana thought. At a loss for words, he said, "First, I'm not into men. Second, making it up to me is simple. Go find me some Hollow girls, look into them thoroughly, and give me the details. And you're not allowed to pursue any of them. Also, get me a place to live in Hueco Mundo. I don't want to keep doing it in the wild. Yeah, that's it. Do all that, and I'll forgive you."

Ten Unohana gave him a perfunctory answer, wanting to get Starrk out of the way quickly. Getting girls into bed, getting girls into bed...