Battle Against the Three-Digit Arrancar (3)
Shifting the focus to the other side of the Warehouse, a completely different battle scene is unfolding.
After Liu Hao's concise and clear assignment, the tall, imposing, and silent Yasutora Sado strode steadily and firmly to his opponent— Arrancar No. 103, Gantenbainne Mosqueda. The two faced each other from a distance, their height and build somewhat similar, like two colossal figures about to collide.
There were no superfluous words, no probing Kidō or Cero. The battle between Yasutora Sado and Gantenbainne returned to its most primal, purest, and most impactful form from the very beginning—a head-on collision of power against power, a hard-hitting clash of fists!
"Bang! Bang! Bang! Boom--!"
The dull, drum-like sounds of flesh colliding, mixed with the muffled thuds of exploding Reiatsu, echoed continuously in the empty Warehouse area. Each punch generated a visible circular shockwave, pushing dust and gravel from the ground in all directions. Yasutora Sado's fist was enveloped in the scarlet Reiatsu of his Devil's Left Arm, unmatched in its ferocity; Gantenbainne, was surrounded by the earthen-yellow, heavy Reiatsu of Arrancar, as steady as a mountain.
However, the difference in skill and experience quickly became apparent. While Yasutora Sado's power was ferocious, his movement and attack methods were too direct and lacked subtlety. Gantenbainne, on the other hand, not only possessed immense strength but was also an Arrancar's high-speed movement technique, "Sonído."
He could often dodge Yasutora Sado's powerful punches by a hair's breadth, his body swaying slightly as if a ghost were about to strike, and then launch a counterattack from an unbelievable angle. His heavy punches or kicks would land hard on the gaps in Yasutora Sado's defense, causing him to stagger backward time and time again, or even be sent flying through the air.
"Hmph, a human with nothing but brute strength." After easily dodging Chad's powerful punch and delivering a follow-up elbow strike to Chad's back, sending him staggering several meters forward, Gantenbainne spoke in a deep, rumbling voice, like the grinding of rocks, "You don't even know the most basic 'Sonído.' Your attack trajectory is as clear as slow motion to me. With that, you can't possibly pose a real threat to me."
Yasutora Sado steadied himself and slowly turned around. His face was covered in bruises, and there was a trace of blood at the corner of his mouth, but his deep eyes remained calm, like the deep sea at the center of a storm.
He raised his hand to wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth, his voice low and firm. "Since Mr. Liu Hao has arranged for me to be your opponent, it means that in his judgment, I must possess the possibility and methods to defeat you. I trust his judgment."
"Oh?" A hint of surprise flashed across Gantenbainne's rugged face, quickly transforming into an expression that mixed with approval and mockery. "It seems you have an extraordinary level of trust in that Soul Reaper named Liu Hao."
"Yes." Yasutora Sado's answer was concise, powerful, and without hesitation. "Mr. Liu Hao is a partner we can entrust our future to, a pioneer who guides us to see the path ahead. I have no doubt about his judgment."
Gantenbainne was silent for a moment, seemingly touched by Chad's pure trust, but his fighting instincts quickly overwhelmed everything. He slowly adopted a more serious stance, and the earth-yellow Reiatsu around him began to rise and condense. "In that case... as a response to your trust and resolve, I will no longer hold back. Be careful, human!"
Before he could finish speaking, Gantenbainne's tall figure suddenly vanished from the spot!
In the next instant, he appeared directly in front of Yasutora Sado as if by teleportation, his right fist, brimming with power and accompanied by a low, thunderous sound, slamming down towards Chad's face! Before the fist even arrived, the fierce wind from the punch had already forced Chad's hair to fly backward.
Yasutora Sado's pupils contracted, and he instinctively raised his left arm to block. However, just as his arm was about to make contact with the opponent's fist, the figure of Gantenbainne blurred again—"Sonído" double displacement!
The real attack came from the side! Gantenbainne's left fist, like a cannonball, slammed solidly into Yasutora Sado's left cheek, which he hadn't had time to fully defend against!
"Bang!!"
With a thud that made your teeth ache, Yasutora Sado sent flying sideways as if hit by a heavy truck, crashing heavily into a solid concrete wall more than ten meters away! The wall instantly caved in with a clear human-shaped crater, and spiderweb-like cracks spread outwards, filling the air with dust.
However, before the smoke and dust had cleared, a large hand had already gripped the edge of the pit. Yasutora Sado's figure, like a rock giant who knew no pain, slowly "pull" himself out of the pit.
He shook his slightly dizzy head. Apart from the more pronounced bruises on his face, his eyes were even clearer and sharper. Without any hesitation, he let out a low roar and strode forward again, charging towards Gantenbainne! His steps were firm, as if the blow that had just struck—enough to shatter an ordinary person's bones—was merely a gentle breeze.
The battle continued. Yasutora Sado like a tireless battering ram, repeatedly repelled and knocked back by Gantenbainne's exquisite Sonído and heavy blows, only to silently rise again and launch an even fiercer charge.
His attacks remained direct, but as he was repeatedly hit and dodged, some indescribable change was quietly taking place within him.
At first, it was barely perceptible, but gradually, those with keen observation skills (such as Liu Hao watching from afar) would notice that every time Yasutora Sado stomped his feet and exerted force, a faint, almost indistinguishable pale green light would flash by at the moment his Reishi made contact with the ground.
His pace was also subtly adjusting—no longer a wild, sweeping charge, but beginning to carry a peculiar, steady rhythm, as if connected to the pulse of the earth.
His predictions of where Gantenbainne's "Sonído" would land became increasingly accurate. His dodging and blocking movements, while still not particularly refined, had gained a simple yet effective intuition.
Finally, just as Gantenbainne used the Hibiki Sonído to circle behind Chad, preparing to launch a powerful attack as before, Yasutora Sado seemed to have eyes in the back of his head. At the critical moment, he kicked his left foot backward with a sudden burst of speed!
Thump!
The ground trembled slightly, and the pale green light flashed again. Chad's figure did not completely dodge, and he was grazed on the shoulder by the force of Gantenbainne's punch. However, he used the force and the recoil from pushing off the ground to rush forward at an even faster speed. At the same time, he twisted his waist and turned around, and swung a powerful backhand punch hard at Gantenbainne's ribs!
"Huh?!" Gantenbainne was startled and hastily changed his move to block.
"Bang!!"
Their fists clashed, and this time, Yasutora Sado was not easily knocked back. He slid back a few meters before regaining his footing. Gantenbainne also felt the recoil from the fist was far greater than before.
The two began to engage in a near-intense, suffocating close-quarters combat, with punches clashing, Reiatsu exploding, and dull thuds echoing throughout.
Yasutora Sado was still at a disadvantage in terms of skill, and new wounds kept appearing on his body, but his footwork became more and more stable, and his adaptability to "Sonído" became stronger and stronger. He even began to be able to seize the slight gaps in Gantenbainne's attack transitions and launch limited counterattacks.
"Boom!!"
After another fierce exchange of punches, the two men separated backwards simultaneously. This time, Yasutora Sado only took seven or eight steps back before his feet firmly touched the ground, leaving two clear footprints. He no longer flew backwards uncontrollably as before. His chest heaved violently, and sweat mixed with blood slid down his forehead, but his back remained straight, and his eyes burned brightly.
Gantenbainne shook his slightly numb arm, his gaze towards Chad filled with growing shock and admiration. "Yasutora Sado... your growth rate is astonishing. But..." He slowly exhaled a breath of stale air, his earth-yellow Reiatsu beginning to stir restlessly, "I can sense an even greater power dormant within you. You haven't used your full strength yet, have you? Are you using my pressure to hone your body and combat skills?"
Yasutora Sado did not deny it. He slowly raised his right arm, which he had always fought in the form of the "Devil's Left Arm". Crimson spiritual light flowed and gathered on his arm, and its shape began to change significantly - it was no longer a simple Reiatsu armor that wrapped around his fist, but rather it was extending and shaping in a direction that was thicker, larger, and more oppressive!
With a cracking sound like bone spurs growing, the crimson light finally solidified. What appeared before everyone was a gigantic arm armor, almost half the size of Chad's body, with a ferocious and powerful design! The arm armor was dark red, covered with a rough texture like cooled lava and grotesque bone spikes. The hand was a huge gauntlet comparable to a battering ram, with several sharp rams protruding from the knuckles, exuding a chilling aura of destruction. The entire arm seemed not to be a human limb, but rather something from the mythical era, specifically created for crushing and conquering—"the Giant's Right Arm"!
"After getting to know Mr. Liu Hao, and especially after receiving practical guidance from Mr. Renji Abarai," Yasutora Sado's voice boomed like thunder from the depths of the earth, accompanied by a suffocating surge of Reiatsu from his right arm, "I began to truly realize how superficial and one-sided my past use of this 'demon' power had been. It doesn't merely grant me extraordinary strength and defense; it also contains a deep resonance and potential for control over the 'earth' and the 'source of power.'"
He clenched his enormous fist, crimson Reiatsu flowing like boiling magma through the gaps in his arm armor. "This form... is the true form of my right arm's power after 'Devil's Left Arm' has absorbed, adapted, and evolved—"
Its name is 'The Giant's Right Arm'!
The moment the last word was uttered, Yasutora Sado moved!
Without warning, without any buildup! The pale green light beneath his feet suddenly erupted, and he was launched like a cannonball from the earth, his speed more than twice as fast as before! His massive "giant right arm" dragged behind him, plowing a deep trench in the ground, and with a ferocious momentum that could crush everything, he instantly rushed in front of Gantenbainne and threw a punch! Wherever his fist passed, the air was compressed into visible white shockwaves!
Gantenbainne's pupils shrank drastically! Yasutora Sado's speed at this moment actually kept up with the rhythm of his "Sonído" and even formed a faint blockade! He didn't have time to think, so he concentrated all his Reiatsu into his arms, crossed them in front of his chest, and at the same time, his feet Sonído, trying to retreat quickly!
However, we were still a step too late!
"Boom--!"
A terrifying roar, like a meteorite striking a planet's surface!
The "Giant's Right Arm" slammed solidly into Gantenbainne blocked! Gantenbainne felt an indescribable, pure, and extreme torrent of violence, mixed with a strange, earth-shaking tremor, surge through his arms and into his body! His powerful spiritual defenses, strong enough to withstand the Zanpakuto of Vice-Captain- level Zanpakuto, seemed so fragile in the face of this force!
"Crack!" A chilling sound of bone breaking faintly rang out.
Gantenbainne's tall body was sent flying through the air like a kite with a broken string by this punch, his face filled with disbelief and horror!
But that's not all!
The instant Yasutora Sado his opponent flying with a single punch, a faint green light flashed beneath his feet once more, and his figure moved like a ghost, relentlessly pursuing him! Gantenbainne had even flown far into the air, he had already caught up to his side again!
"Second strike!"
The enormous scarlet gauntlet, carrying even greater destructive power than before, slammed into Gantenbainne's unprotected abdomen!
"Vomit--!"
Gantenbainne's eyes bulged out, and he spat out a mouthful of "blood" mixed with Reishi light points. His body veered and flew forward at an even faster speed, finally crashing into a thick wall dozens of meters away like a cannonball!
"Boom--!"
The entire wall exploded with a deafening roar, and brick fragments rained down like a storm, instantly burying Gantenbainne's figure under the rising dust and rubble. The terrifying impact even caused this Ikkaku of the Warehouse structure to groan under the strain.
Yasutora Sado slowly withdrew his fist, the crimson aura still blazing fiercely on his massive "giant right arm." He breathed slightly, his gaze calmly fixed on the billowing dust, awaiting his opponent's reaction. He knew that the Arrancar, especially the Fracción of the Espada, could not be defeated so easily.
Sure enough, a few breaths later, a terrifying Reiatsu, far more violent and ferocious than before, filled with the might of dragons, erupted from the center of the ruins and dust like a dormant volcano!
"Call--!"
A sudden gust of wind swept away all the smoke, dust, and rubble, revealing the figure that slowly rose to its feet.
At this moment, Gantenbainne's appearance had drastically changed! His Arrancar was torn in several places, revealing a robust body covered in earthen-yellow dragon scales. His already rugged face was now even more ferocious, with a pair of curved dragon horns sprouting from his forehead and sharp teeth bared in his mouth. Most striking were his arms, which had completely transformed into dragon claws covered in thick scales with hooked fingertips. His thick tail thrashed restlessly behind him, whipping the air with a whooshing sound. His Reiatsu had increased by at least one level compared to before, filled with savagery and brutality— Resurrección!
"Roar... What... exhilarating power!" Gantenbainne's voice became hoarse and deep, echoing with the roar of a dragon. He shook his somewhat deformed but rapidly recovering dragon claws, his battle-hardened gaze fixed on Yasutora Sado. "'True form'? Well said! This form is also the true form of power of Baraggan Mosqueda, a warrior under His Gantenbainne Barragan!"
He slowly raised his dragon claws, palms facing each other. Earthy yellow Reiatsu gathered and compressed wildly, leaping and colliding within, emitting crackling lightning, and finally condensing into two constantly rotating, violent energy balls with what seemed to be churning dragon shadows inside.
His gaze locked onto Yasutora Sado, his dragon-like jaws opening and closing, announcing the name of his finishing move:
"The Roar!"
The two claws suddenly snapped shut, and the two energy spheres instantly merged into one, transforming into a terrifying torrent of energy with a diameter of over half a meter, a blazing white center, and edges wreathed in destructive yellow lightning!
"--Dragon Fist!!"
A violent torrent of energy erupted from his hand, like a world-destroying dragon breaking free of its restraints, baring its fangs and claws, the Roar towards Yasutora Sado, who stood not far away, poised to meet its attack, with a destructive will to crush everything in its path! Wherever it passed, the ground was plowed with deep, scorched furrows, the air was ionized and emitted a pungent ozone odor, and the entire Warehouse trembled under the force of this attack!
The real battle is only just reaching its climax! Yasutora Sado's newly awakened "Giant Power" versus the Arrancar 'Resurrección "Dragon Fist" ultimate strike—which is stronger? The answer will be decided in this Ikkaku the collapsing Warehouse!