Kenpachi Zaraki had been awake for less than a minute when the sunglasses- Iba Sunglasses Guy Kenpachi Zaraki wasn't surprised, nor did he insist on fighting, because he already knew Grimmjow's fighting strength. If Espada Arrancar this powerful, then this group was just here to die.
Fortunately, not all Espada are that strong. Zaraki himself needed to master his new power, so he retreated with Iba without hesitation. Thus, this incursion into Hueco Mundo ended in failure. After all, the goal was to rescue Orihime, but they were driven back before even seeing Las Noches.
27 people went: Ichigo, Sado, Uryū, the four captains, and 20 Soul Society experts. 19 returned. The Ninth Division needs a new captain, the Third Division and Sixth Divisions need new Vice-Captains, and the remaining five are all in their teens.
Five were seriously injured, with Byakuya being the most severely wounded. Upon seeing Byakuya's injuries, Urahara immediately used a healing device invented by Byakuya to revive him. Then, Yoruichi opened a portal to Soul Society Yoruichi carried Byakuya to the Fourth Division. The entire process took less than a minute.
Then there's Ikkaku's injury, which is extremely severe, but the healing device works. The same goes for Tōshirō; the device heals him. The other two are the same, except Byakuya's is particularly badly injured.
Soul Society quickly received the results of this operation: Byakuya was brought back half-dead, and of the four captains, only one returned safely; two were seriously injured or died. So, Kenpachi Zaraki is awesome?
In any case, Kenpachi Zaraki's awesomeness has increased another level; everyone has accepted his title as the second strongest in Soul Society. However, Soul Society needs more information now, but very little can be obtained from Zaraki, because he's not on the Zaraki battlefield and has taken a nap.
However, information gleaned from others who returned indicated that the number of Arrancar sent from Hueco Mundo was the same, and that there were three types of Arrancar: Espada, Fracción, and Tres Cifras individuals. The Espada -Tres Cifras were former Arrancar. That was all.
So, just how strong are these Tres Cifras Arrancar? Or rather, how powerful are they? Actually, in the original work, only three Arrancar were truly exceptional: Starrk, Baraggan, and Ulquiorra.
What makes these three stand out is that Starrk's raw strength is exceptional—that's how powerful Original Arrancar is. Baraggan's abilities are exceptional; his power attributes are just too awesome. Ulquiorra also has exceptional raw strength, but his strength comes from his unique Second Resurrección.
The exact circumstances surrounding Ulquiorra's Second Resurrección are still unclear. Jun currently has 34 Arrancars around him: 9 Original Arrancars, 1 Vasto Lorde- class, and 24 Adjuchas- class, but none of them have achieved Second Resurrección.
Therefore, Ulquiorra's Second Resurrección is very special, and its underlying principle is unclear. However, to say that this ability is unique to Ulquiorra is simply unbelievable. This isn't a special ability like Baraggan's; it's a kind of re-evolution or power sublimation, and it must be replicable.
The only unclear point is the requirement for this ability. Something special must have happened to Ulquiorra, something other Arrancars don't possess, but what exactly is it? At this point, it's all just speculation.
In the original work, apart from these three, the strength of the other Arrancar wasn't actually that much different from the Captain-level Arrancar on the Soul Reaper side.
Adjuchas- class Arrancar might be able to strengthen to the point of possessing Vasto Lorde- class strength, but for Vasto Lorde- class Arrancar to achieve the combat power of Original Arrancar is virtually impossible.
What about the strength of a Primal Arrancar? In the original work, Ulquiorra's Second Resurrección was roughly equivalent to that of Arrancar Resurrección. Currently, these Original Arrancar, Resurrección their Resurrection, could go toe-to-toe with the Captain-Commander, but there's still a gap between them and the Captain-Commander.
So what about the captain of the Soul Reaper? Those who have appeared so far are also divided into several levels.
New Captain-level: Soi Fon, Big Dog, Incomplete Shiro-chan, Mayuri Kurotsuchi, Visored Vice-Captain, and the original Byakuya Kuchiki.
Veteran Captain-level Kaname Tōsen, Rōjūrō Ootōhashi, Kensei Muguruma Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi, Raiō Aikawa, Love Aikawa, Chōjirō Sasakibe who cannot Shikai), Byakuya Kuchiki from the Arrancar Kenpachi Zaraki.
Super Expert-level: Shunsui Kyōraku, Hirako, Ichimaru Gin, Gin Ichimaru, Jūshirō Ukitake, Isshin Kurosaki Kisuke Urahara Yoruichi, Kuruyashiki Kenpachi, Ashido Kanō, Sōya Azashiro Kenpachi, Kirio Hikifune, Byakuya Kuchiki from the Thousand-Year War arc, and the fully-formed Tōshirō.
Just Below Chief Captain-level: Retsu Unohana, Sōsuke Aizen, and Kenpachi Zaraki (Shikai available).
The Captain-Commander is a separate entity; that's the situation.
The skill gap between them isn't actually as big as you might imagine. Kenpachi Zaraki was able to 1v2 Tōsen and Big Dog is because Tōsen wasn't using his full strength.
A difference in strength across levels is like a 1v1 against any single-digit opponent; a difference of two levels means no matter how many there are, it's useless. If the freshmen faced the Captain-Commander, the Captain-Commander only needed to dispel the enemy's defenses; he wouldn't even need to make a move to wipe them all out.
New Captain-level = Adjuchas- level Resurrección <Veteran Captain-level = Vasto Lorde- level Resurrección <Super Expert-level <Just Below Chief Captain-level = Vasto Lorde- level Second Resurrección ≤ Original Arrancar Resurrección <Yamamoto Genryūsai
The judgment here refers to raw strength, which is the three dimensions of combat Reiatsu, Spiritual Flow, and Spiritual Sensitivity, not abilities. If someone possesses exceptional abilities, like Kyōraku or Baraggan, they can easily defeat opponents of a higher level or lower. Therefore, abilities provide the possibility of fighting beyond one's class, but the difference in raw strength still exists.
This is the level of raw power in the original work. In Jun's timeline, Jun gave all the lower-ranking individuals a boost. Now, most of the well-known captains in Soul Society are Veteran Captain-level. Take Soi Fon, for example; she's now considered Veteran Captain-level.
In the original work, the Vice-Captain have reached the strength of New Captain-level. On the Arrancar side, the Tres Cifras and the last five Espada are similar to those in the original work, so they are not much of a match for the Soul Society captains. However, the strength of these Tres Cifras Arrancar, Vice-Captain, and single-digit Arrancar varies, and each has its own strengths and weaknesses.
Jun is currently raising the overall strength of Soul Society and Hueco Mundo, but he's struggling to keep up in Soul Society's growth. The gap between the top-tier shinobi and those just below the Captain-Commander is huge! Some people may never be able to break through this barrier. In such cases, external forces are needed, such as Hollowfication.
The problem with Soul Society is that they don't accept anything, so even if Jun wanted to elevate Soul Society's high-end combat power, he couldn't. This really can't be blamed on Jun.
Looking at Hueco Mundo, Pure's approach is very comfortable; he can create Original Arrancar at will, although the process is a bit lengthy. But that's not a problem because he can raise them upwards. They all listen to Pure here.
Even the Undead were easily elevated, allowing them to sublimate themselves and create Fusion Warriors. Then, by overcoming their Heart Demons, these Fusion Warriors could also Hollowfication. This was a significant advantage.
Even under these circumstances, Chun still did her best to lift as many people as possible up.
Kenpachi Zaraki is placed at the very bottom; as long as he masters the release technique, he'll be second to last, second only to Kenpachi.
How much has Byakuya been elevated? The orphan Byakuya from the original work, what makes him think he can fight Original Arrancar? Don't even mention a mutual destruction; he wouldn't even have a chance. He'd be instantly killed.
Soi Fon also raised both hands. Then she left three complete sets of secret manuals there. As long as Kyōraku reads them, he can move up, maybe even advance one level. There are also her three younger sisters, Jo, Lisa Yadōmaru, and Nanao, who will steadily be promoted to the Veteran Captain-level, as well as the three siblings from the Shiba Clan.
He genuinely cares deeply about Soul Society, but its growth just isn't as fast as Hueco Mundo Soul Society's. What does that mean? Even if you're a prophet, you can't help foolish humans. The more you interact with people, the more you like animals; there's no need for scheming and intrigue.
Aizen's four original-level Arrancar are now overwhelming the Soul Society captains to a certain extent. Jun didn't know Aizen was so powerful that even Original Arrancars could be fooled. It's giving me a headache.
But Chun doesn't know any of this yet. It'll be about a month before Chun emerges from the Bottomless Abyss. Exploring the unknown world is so much fun! Today I ride Bat, tomorrow Centipede. The underground world is full of wonders. Chun hasn't felt this relaxed in a long time.
So let the Soul Society have a headache for the next month or so. I've served you for over 500 years, even your own sons don't get this kind of treatment!
The troubles of Soul Society are Soul Society's business. Ichigo, Uryū, Sado have been separated from the Soul Reaper since their return. Ikkaku is seriously injured, Renji is also moderately injured; both need to go back for treatment. Yumichika is not seriously injured, but he is worried about Ikkaku.
So Rukia stayed behind, which could soothe Ichigo's restless heart—not romantically, of course, but...
"Mizuno-san, it's me again."
Good afternoon, Kurosaki- san. Is there anything you need?
Ichigo called the Undead again, "I want to ask, after Hollowfication, what would happen if one day the Hollowfication Mask fused with your face?"
"Fusion? Uh..."
"Didn't your all-knowing lord say these things?"
"Haha, Kurosaki- san, you jest. Our lord isn't omniscient; he just knows a little more than others. However, given the situation you're facing, Kurosaki- san, our lord hasn't left any instructions, so this time I will definitely report the news."
Ichigo was speechless. "So all this time you were just trying to appease me?"
"Of course not, it's just that everything was prepared long ago."
"So this time you'll really have to wait a while, and if there's no feedback, we really can't resolve this for you, sorry."
"No need to apologize, I'm the one who troubled you."
"Kurosaki -san, you can also ask Hirako- san and the others for help. If your situation arises, they will most likely appear as well."
"Oh, okay, thank you."
"You're welcome, goodbye then."
"Goodbye"
Rukia listened to Ichigo's phone call the whole time. Ichigo told her about the outcome of his battle with Nnoitra. Actually Rukia saw the Cero, otherwise Ichigo wouldn't have wanted to talk about it.
"Ichigo ~"
Seeing Rukia's worried expression, Ichigo smiled.
"Don't worry, let's go find Hirako."