The Zaraki and Grimmjow started fighting, no matter how far away they were, they could sense the commotion and the release of Spiritual Power; the entire Silent Sand Sea was aware of it.
The Espada on Las Noches' side, plus their Fracción, plus those in the Tres Cifras who were pushed down from the Espada, and that Exequias — the guy whose Resurrección is a tree branch, the goofy guy who can sprout an endless number of minions from under his skirt.
With Aizen, Tōsen, and Gin Ichimaru still here, keeping all of these dozens of people here wouldn't be difficult. However, the Soul Reaper were also aware of this, so they didn't stray too far from the Space Passage.
So, from the Las Noches side, Gin Ichimaru led three of the Espada, along with their respective Fracción and a dozen or so Tres Cifras, to meet them. There were more Tres Cifras in this timeline than in the original work because Ulquiorra joined much earlier and secured the title of First Espada early on, and his management style was relatively mild.
Ulquiorra has no heart, therefore no emotions, and he doesn't understand emotions. This makes Ulquiorra a machine of rules; he doesn't allow indiscriminate killing, thus naturally suppressing slaughter and death. In the original work, the Starrk don't interfere, Baraggan wanted to intervene but no one listened.
"Long time no see, everyone~", Gin Ichimaru greeted everyone with his signature smile, as if he were seeing old friends.
"Gin Ichimaru!!" Tōshirō had been holding back the moment he saw Gin Ichimaru, but the instant Gin spoke, he Explosion.
No one anticipated Tōshirō's outburst. Logically, Little Lion's enemy should have been Aizen, but he unexpectedly lost control with Gin Ichimaru. The battlefield was immediately divided, and everyone rushed to find their own opponent.
"Oh dear, Hitsugaya- kun, have you got the wrong person?" Gin Ichimaru easily parried Tōshirō's slashes. Tōshirō was completely blinded by rage, and his fighting style was utterly chaotic.
"Ah!! Die! You traitors!!" Tōshirō completely ignored Gin Ichimaru; he only wanted to kill Gin Ichimaru, nothing else mattered.
Gin Ichimaru's eyes were already barely visible, and when he squinted, they became curved. Even without Tōshirō's complete form, Gin Ichimaru's Tōshirō was comparable, let alone in his current state.
Seeing that Tōshirō's attacks were always all-out, with no chance of survival, Gin Ichimaru seized the opportunity, spun around, and feigned a move to place his sword against Tōshirō's, without actually applying any force.
As the two clashed, Tōshirō passed by Gin Ichimaru. Gin Ichimaru spun around and simultaneously drew his sword, which slashed past Little Lion's side. Had Little Lion not dodged quickly, the sword would have slit his throat.
Such a dangerous cut couldn't possibly end so easily. The Little Lion tried its best to dodge, but still managed to get a cut on its neck. The neck and head were full of blood vessels; even a small cut would cause blood to gush out.
The dangerous stab and the flowing blood finally calmed Tōshirō down a little, but the situation didn't allow him to think too much; Gin Ichimaru's stab was already upon him.
Gin Ichimaru's fighting style is very similar to the West fencing. He rarely uses his sword for horizontal slashes, instead using it primarily for counter-attacks during defense, while his offensive moves consist entirely of thrusts.
A knife, especially a straight-bladed knife, is far more lethal for stabbing than for slashing. If a person is stabbed through the body, the loss of life is terrifying, while a slash is unlikely to be fatal unless it severs a major artery or connective tissues like muscles and tendons.
However, compared to slashing, thrusting is much more dependent on skillful execution and is harder to generate power with. Slashing, on the other hand, is a powerful move even when you're just randomly hacking away, and it's also easier to generate power with.
In general, thrusting requires more skill than slashing, and Gin Ichimaru is a master of technique. His thrusts are powerful, fast, unpredictable, and precise. Because the captains rarely fought back in Soul Society, Gin Ichimaru avoided fighting whenever possible. This is the first time Little Lion has fought Gin Ichimaru.
This Zanjutsu, so different from the mainstream Zanjutsu of Soul Society, made Little Lion very awkward to deal with. Moreover, Gin Ichimaru was not a rigid person; he would occasionally intersperse his thrusts with a few flicks and deflections, and with his special power generation techniques, he quickly inflicted several wounds on Tōshirō's body.
"What's wrong? Hitsugaya, your Zanjutsu is really awful, it doesn't live up to your reputation as a genius boy," Gin Ichimaru said tauntingly while fighting, which only made Tōshirō more irritated.
Just as Tōshirō's Reiatsu surged, Gin Ichimaru suddenly said, "You'd better not use your Shikai or Reconcile, or I'll come along too, and then I won't hold back."
"Have mercy!?" These words pierced Tōshirō's heart. He didn't need anyone to show mercy to him; he needed mercy for Momo Hinamori. But that was no longer possible.
"Seated atop the Frost Heaven! Release! Daiguren Hyōrinmaru!"
Provoked, the Little Lion immediately activated its attack, and Gin Ichimaru retreated to avoid it, scratching his head in annoyance. "What did I say wrong? What's wrong with showing mercy? I'm good at provoking, but persuasion... tsk tsk, things are getting complicated."
Seeing that Tōshirō's frost Spiritual Power was about to arrive, Gin Ichimaru could only dodge. There was no need to activate his Shikai, as neither his Shikai offered much defensive power.
Daiguren Hyōrinmaru's ability to alter the weather is extremely annoying. The snowflakes also carry the frost Spiritual Power of the Little Lion, and once they stick to it, it takes a lot of Spiritual Power to neutralize them, which is very troublesome. This is why any Zanpakuto that alters the weather is difficult to deal with.
While dodging Gin Ichimaru was still thinking about how to say something frivolous, "Kid, don't be so impulsive. You should think about Momo; she definitely doesn't like a boy as impulsive as you."
If showing mercy was like a hand grenade, then Gin Ichimaru's words were like a nuclear bomb. In his deactivated state, Tōshirō's eyes were bloodshot in this icy state; his rage could burn his brain.
"Ryūsenka!" Shiro-chan had gone mad. Ryūsenka was a move where the sword was thrust straight forward while flapping its wings, but he was facing Gin Ichimaru. Wasn't this straight attack just suicide?
Gin Ichimaru was completely bewildered. What was going on? Why was he even angrier? He didn't know that Momo Hinamori was dead, so he had no idea just how furious the Little Lion was.
However, Gin Ichimaru Tōshirō was clearly no longer able to accept verbal communication, so there was no other way.
"Shoot him, Shinsō!"
"Ryūsenka!!", the Little Lion, having missed his first attack, tried again.
This time, he was met with a Shinsō. Facing this spear, Tōshirō neither dodged nor evaded; the spear struck his right shoulder, piercing through it completely, and he charged towards Gin Ichimaru with the Shinsō still protruding.
"As for...?" Gin Ichimaru was completely bewildered. He had only intended to injure Little Lion and be done with it, but he was definitely not in the right state now. He flicked his long sword through Tōshirō's shoulder, then instantly retracted and released it again, targeting his left shoulder.
The two shots were perfectly executed. Gin Ichimaru leaped backward, and the Little Lion's shoulders were ruined, making it impossible for him to hold the sword. However, a brilliant move occurred: Tōshirō used ice to freeze his own arms and sword, maintaining this posture while suddenly flapping his wings and chasing after Gin Ichimaru.
This is insane! Gin Ichimaru is truly enraged, "Yasakani no Magatama!"
The Shinsō delivered hundreds of thrusts in an instant, leaving the Little Lion with no way to dodge, nor did he want to. He simply enveloped himself in ice and charged forward.
But Gin Ichimaru's attack power clearly exceeded the Little Lion's expectations. The Yasakani no Magatama mercilessly shattered all his ice blocks, pierced his body with several holes, and completely destroyed his wings.
At this moment, Tōshirō's arms were crippled, his ice body shattered, and he couldn't even rebuild them in time. His body was covered in wounds, and he was bleeding heavily from his neck. He fell to the ground, his steps faltering, and finally collapsed, losing consciousness.
Gin Ichimaru shook his head. "Are you crazy? How can you face Aizen with this level of skill? Forget killing Aizen, you can't even cause Aizen any trouble. You're a real headache. Keeping you around is pointless. Fine, I'll spare your life."
Because Gin Ichimaru discovered that Byakuya Kuchiki was already in place, and countless flower petals protected him and Tōshirō, this gave Gin Ichimaru a convenient excuse to retreat.
Byakuya hoisted Tōshirō onto his shoulder, completely enveloped in flower petals. From the start of the battle, Byakuya realized he couldn't perceive his opponent's presence at all; clearly, Byakuya was fighting Felix.
Since they couldn't observe him using any methods, they naturally couldn't fight. Fortunately, it was Byakuya Senbonzakura; if they couldn't find him, they wouldn't be easily ambushed.
However, Byakuya quickly discovered Felix's unique characteristic: whenever Felix attacked him, as long as his petals touched Phyllis's petals, Byakuya could detect Felix in that instant.
But this was useless. Byakuya discovered that the opponent was always quick to leave, moving at an incredible speed that the petals couldn't keep up with. Once they left his petals, they would immediately disappear without a trace, and even if the petals went out to chase them, they wouldn't know where to go.
Scattering attacks is the dumbest method. Felix is extremely fast. You've barely scattered an attack when Felix dashes in. By the time you're detected after hitting the first petal, the distance is already incredibly close, and there's simply no time to retreat.
Furthermore, the number of petals in Byakuya's Shikai was insufficient to counter Felix's attack, forcing Byakuya to activate his Release. Fortunately, Felix's attack power and physique weren't as monstrous as Ichigo's, nor did she Ichigo Ichigo's powerful Spiritual Flow, preventing her from using such a powerful single-target breakthrough technique.
After Byakuya unleashed his power, he dispersed a small number of petals to form a warning circle, then enveloped himself in a large number of petals for defense, completely blocking any possible attacks from Felix.
"But this isn't a solution," Byakuya muttered to himself. "Just this one Arrancar is enough to hold everyone back. Arrancars are indeed powerful. Coming here this time was extremely unwise. Is that Madarame?"
Byakuya immediately began to move, and the Reiatsu on Ikkaku Madarame's side also decreased. However, Ikkaku Madarame's opponent no longer had Reiatsu, clearly having been eliminated. Byakuya felt utterly exhausted; he had become the first responder.