As Ikkaku Madarame dispersed, he saw a glimmer of light, then realized that the other person was also targeting him, and so the two bumped into each other.
Then Ikkaku realized that the light he was looking at was from a bald man, a burly man about 1.8 meters tall, whose shiny bald head shone brightly against Ikkaku's own bald head.
The moment they realized each other was bald, veins bulged on their temples simultaneously. It seemed they had both discovered the secret to how they discovered each other: that mysterious glimmer of light.
"Ah~!" Ikkaku charged at his opponent, and the two swords clashed violently. Ikkaku used all his strength to withstand the attack, while his opponent moved with ease.
"You're weak, you bald Soul Reaper!"
"You're not all that great, you bald, Arrancar guy."
On the other side of his forehead, veins bulged, and the bald Arrancar unleashed his Reiatsu, smashing Ikkaku away with a single strike. This bald man, who appeared to be a power-type Arrancar, was far stronger than the bald Soul Reaper.
"Stretch out, Hōzukimaru!" Ikkaku activated his Shikai, blocking the Arrancar's attack, and then shouted, "Hey! What's your name?"
"And yours?"
"Heh heh!" Ikkaku laughed loudly. "Remember my name, Zaraki Ikkaku Madarame, the Fifth Seat of the Zaraki Squad! My habit is to announce my name to the guy I'm about to kill! So you'll remember who killed you!"
"Haha!!" The other party laughed heartily. "That's a good habit! Don't worry! After you die here, I'll inherit your habit. Remember my name, Doral Islad!"
"Now that you've given your name, let's go!"
Come on!
The two charged at each other. Ikkaku Hōzukimaru, with the advantage of distance, thrust forward, then pulled back, slashing back. Dolar cleaved Hōzukimaru in two with his sword, but was stopped by the pull. He then swung his hand and knocked Hōzukimaru away.
Ikkaku used Shunpo and then turned around to launch a counterattack. Doral couldn't withstand such a thrust and could only block it. So Ikkaku took a series of steps and Hōzukimaru thrust repeatedly. Doral could only block and yelled in anger.
"Whoa!" Suddenly, Ikkaku strange cry rang out, and the thrusting Hōzukimaru broke into three pieces. Combined with the previous teasing spear, the foremost piece suddenly transformed from a thrust into a slash, wounding Doral's chest.
"Wow! You cheated! Your knife can even transform!" Doral charged at him angrily again.
"Hehe, you can transform your sword too, hahaha," Ikkaku twisted Hōzukimaru, and it transformed back into a sword, pressing down on him once more.
Doral and Ikkaku were locked in a fierce battle when they heard this, and Doral just laughed, "Haha, I don't need to, so I don't have to bully you. You're not the captain, you don't have any counters, so you can't fight me."
"Oh~ I need a solution before I can fight you? Ha! Ha! Ha! Who told you I don't have a solution!"
"Oh!! Do you have a solution? Then come on! Let's fight to our hearts' content!"
The two brutes immediately faced each other and started yelling.
"Release! Dragon-Patterned Hōzukimaru!"
"Resurrección! Great Ape King!"
Doral's Resurrección form made him even larger, over three meters tall, transforming him into a giant ape. His Hollowfication Mask had moved to his chin; it seems they never mentioned where Hollowfication Mask was before, but that's not important.
Bone armor protects several key areas, including the fists, chest, back, elbows, and knees.
The two men's eyes lit up at the sight of each other's appearance, and they charged at each other in perfect unison. The giant axe blade and sword of Dragon-Patterned Hōzukimaru collided violently with the Great Ape King's fists, blasting a large crater in the ground, and both men fell into it.
Falling into the pit made them even happier; wasn't this the deathmatch arena? Both were heavy fighters. Ikkaku wielded Dragon-Patterned Hōzukimaru's greatsword, launching attacks every few seconds, while Doral's Great Ape King, due to its massive size, also took several seconds between each full-force attack and defense. Their attack frequencies were almost identical.
The blade clashed with the fist, then the axe blade clashed with the fist, then the blade collided again, and the axe blade crashed into the fist again. These two brutes didn't back down an inch; they were just reckless!
The collision gradually created craters, both in depth and size. The Silent Sand Sea was entirely filled with sand; as the two fought, sand flowed back and was then flung out by them, turning them into human sand-throwing machines.
The two were surrounded by smoke, and the sandstorm they created could be seen from several kilometers away. It was only because Byakuya was trapped that he didn't notice.
Dragon-Patterned Hōzukimaru's Red Groove kept increasing, which Doral could see clearly. "Hahaha, that feels so good! Is that thing on your back your ultimate move?"
"That's right! Haha! Don't worry! I won't use that on you either!" Ikkaku was also having a good time, just like with Doral before, not using his ultimate move on his opponent.
"Haha, no need, no need, go ahead! Fighting with all your might is what's exciting! If you don't go all out, I won't feel any joy."
"Haha, you're right, then I won't hold back!" Ikkaku shouted loudly, "Doral Islad! I will remember your name forever! You are a worthy opponent!!"
"Ikkaku Madarame! I will remember your name forever!! You are a worthy opponent!!" Doral roared, his Reiatsu frantically compressed into his fists. After all, he was an Arrancar, and everyone possessed a Super Cero.
Oh~!
The two roared and unleashed their ultimate attacks.
A massive Explosion erupted from the crater, blasting Ikkaku Madarame into the air, sending him flying hundreds of meters into the sky. Doral, due to his enormous size, wasn't blasted out of the crater, but suffered even greater damage and died beside it.
Byakuya moved to this spot and picked up the Ikkaku again. Byakuya had never done this for anyone before. Fortunately, the location wasn't far from the Space Passage portal. Byakuya deactivated his Petal Defense and used a few Shunpo to throw the two of them into the Space Passage.
At this moment, Byakuya noticed that Tetsuzaemon Iba had also defeated his opponent, and immediately went over to tell the Sunglasses Guy to go back and move Shiro-chan and the bald guy away, bringing them back to the World of the Living.
After all that was done, a delicate hand was placed on Byakuya's back, "Shogun."
"That's a strange ability. May I know your name?"
"Felix"
"Thanks"
As Byakuya spoke, he began to move. Felix's hand also lunged forward. Byakuya twisted his body, and Felix's hand, seemingly boneless, followed and pierced through Byakuya's back.
Byakuya simply turned around, and Felix tried to follow up, but Byakuya simultaneously swung his elbow at Felix. Felix blocked it, and her follow-up attack had to be a weaker one, Explosion violently from Byakuya's Byakuya and creating a large hole in it.
Byakuya coughed up blood as his back exploded open, revealing his heart and spine. At that moment, countless flower petals instantly enveloped Byakuya and Felix, binding them together.
"Are you crazy!?" Felix realized she had fallen for the trap; Byakuya's entire plan was designed to lure her out and then create this situation.
Byakuya was in great pain, and slowly said, "I'm not crazy. Your power is too mysterious; this is the only thing I can do."
Byakuya pointed his hand at Felix. The entire space was now filled with flower petals, leaving Felix nowhere to hide. Moving wouldn't allow her to dodge the petals, and the space was also very small.
Felix is now in a dilemma; she cannot guarantee that she will survive before killing Byakuya, because Byakuya has not yet shown any intention of fighting to the death.
A halo appeared in Byakuya's hand, and he flew to Felix's side.
"Wear it, and you can leave alive; don't wear it, and you'll die here with me."
"What's this?"
"This is Restriction that cannot harm Soul Reaper. Don't worry, it only lasts for a month." Byakuya was almost at his limit. He used his last strength to transform all the flower petals into blades of High Reiatsu, ensuring a fatal blow that would take both of their lives.
"I'll wear it." A wise person knows when to yield. I've fallen for this trick this time, but I won't fall for the same one again. Byakuya's suicidal act impressed Felix, so she accepted her fate, donned the halo, and the next moment, petals scattered from the sky.
Byakuya struggled to stay on the ground, but was suddenly lifted up by Felix then transported Byakuya to Space Passage and personally handed him over to Tetsuzaemon Iba.
"You won this time, but you won't have this chance next time. What's your name?"
Byakuya Kuchiki
"Byakuya Kuchiki, huh? I'll remember that. Next time, I'll take your life myself."
After saying that, Felix disappeared, Byakuya also lost consciousness. The Sunglasses Guy Iba sunglasses didn't dare to delay for a moment and sent Byakuya away. The sight of his injuries made his scalp tingle. He really couldn't imagine how Byakuya had managed to outwit that female Arrancar and even personally send her back. He was truly amazing!
By this time, most battlefields had ended; the victors licked their wounds, the vanquished turned to dust, and the outcome remained undecided, awaiting the next battle.
At this moment, only two battlefields remain fiercely contested, both involving two Captain-level. One is the newly appointed Captain of the Seventh Division, who needs no introduction—he's no longer alive—whose Reiatsu completely vanished just moments ago.
The other was Ichigo Kurosaki, and blocking his way was a Copper Wall and Iron Rampart, as thin as a bamboo pole— Nnoitra.
Ichigo Kurosaki went all out, removing his Hollowfication Mask and unleashing his full power, finally provoking his opponent to go all out as well. Nnoitra activated his Resurrección: Santa Teresa.
One sword against four swords! Nnoitra's Santa Teresa form has four arms and wields Ichigo. Moreover, Nnoitra's power is incredibly ferocious, perhaps the second greatest Ichigo has ever seen, since he'd witnessed Kenpachi Zaraki's unleashed power before, though he hadn't directly faced it.
"Heh ha ha ha, you're not good enough yet, kid. Sure, your strength is decent, but you're still too weak. You're not strong enough to fight!"
Nnoitra screamed and slammed Ichigo to the ground with all four hands. Then, he stuck out his tongue, and a blue Reiatsu gathered on it, instantly unleashing Kongbu Gran Rey Cero.
Nnoitra's Gran Rey Cero is extremely fine, making it easy to dodge, but its advantage is its highly concentrated energy. Ordinary energy Gran Rey Cero simply cannot block it; Nnoitra's like a military combat laser weapon punching a civilian steel plate – one shot, one hole.
Ichigo was completely defenseless at this point. He had tried to deflect the attack with his sword, but the sword nearly broke. In a flash of inspiration, Ichigo opened his mouth and realized that his face and Hollowfication Mask were now connected; it no longer seemed like Hollowfication Mask.
A black and red Cero shot out from Ichigo's mouth, colliding with the Gran Rey Cero Nnoitra's Hollow King, and surprisingly, they were evenly matched.
Ichigo felt completely drained, and an indescribable rage was eroding his sanity. Ichigo quickly stopped his Cero and used Shunpo to escape the battle.
Nnoitra looked into the empty space. "Felix, you're here, right?"
Felix suddenly appeared, nodded, and said, "Hmm~"
"That one just now, was that Cero, right?"
"Hmm~"
Nnoitra burst into a broken laugh, "Hehehe, that's hilarious! That kid's hilarious! Hehehe~, he's so funny! He's my prey! Don't try to take him from me!!"