Facing the Espada (7)
Across the pale Desert, the clanging of metal against metal was like a violent storm, incessant and deafening. Ichigo Kurosaki gripped his two Zanpakuto —one long and one short, without handguards—the longer one being jet black and heavy with a broad blade, the shorter one relatively slender—and was fiercely clashing with Grimmjow's relentless onslaught.
Blades and claws clashed and sparked in the Heat air. Ichigo's swordsmanship, though seemingly rough, actually possessed a balance of speed and power. His long and short swords worked in perfect harmony; the long sword was primarily for offense and parrying, while the short sword was used for thrusting and counter-attacks. He parried and deflected Grimmjow's storm of slashes, even occasionally forcing his opponent to retreat. The two figures moved at high speed across the sand, kicking up clouds of dust, creating a stalemate of evenly matched attacks.
However, this "balance" only made Grimmjow more and more agitated. He suddenly swung his sword down, but Ichigo blocked it with Ichigo crossed swords, and the two were locked in a struggle again. Grimmjow's icy blue eyes were fixed on Ichigo Kurosaki, burning not with the excitement of a worthy opponent, but with deep dissatisfaction and anger at being slighted.
"Too slow! Too weak! Ichigo Kurosaki, this isn't the fight I want!" Grimmjow roared, pressing his arm down forcefully. "This is not the restrained, half-hearted version of you I want! Where's your mask?! That Hollow power that makes my blood boil! Where's your Bankai?! That slash that can tear the sky apart! Why aren't you using it?! Do you think I'm not worthy of you using your full power right now?!"
Faced with Grimmjow's questioning, Ichigo Kurosaki gritted his teeth and withstood the pressure, replying in a deep voice, "The mask... that's not an independent power. The Hollowfication mask you speak of is, in essence, a part of the power of my Zanpakuto." He slightly raised the long, black blade in his hand. "As for Bankai..."
A barely perceptible hint of confusion and helplessness flashed in Ichigo: "To be honest, although I've been through so much, I think I've finally understood the true meaning of 'Zangetsu' and the essence of my own power... But it's strange, like there's a thin layer of paper separating us. I can feel it, but I can never truly break through that barrier, and I can't enter Bankai as smoothly as before."
Upon hearing Grimmjow's brows furrowed, and the fighting spirit in his eyes seemed to cool slightly, replaced by scrutiny and disappointment. "Unable to Bankai? Understand it but can't execute it? Hmph..." He suddenly exerted force, knocking Ichigo away and leaping back a distance. He flicked his wrist, a hint of contempt in his voice, "Then it seems that you are nothing more than this now. A piece of trash who can't even fully control his own power, dares to call himself my opponent?"
Before he could finish speaking, Grimmjow had already transformed into a blue blur once more, his Zanpakuto down with even greater ferocity! His attack was more ferocious, the angle more cunning, and the speed increased significantly. He was clearly no longer holding back, attempting to overwhelm Ichigo pure, brutal assault.
However, although Ichigo Kurosaki claimed he couldn't fully Bankai, his current level of power remained unfathomable. He still seemed to be handling Grimmjow's enhanced attacks with ease.
With each swing of his twin blades, his defense was impenetrable, and his occasional counterattacks, seizing upon openings, were sharp and precise, repeatedly forcing Grimmjow to change his defensive tactics. He clearly still held a firm grip on Grimmjow before his Resurrección in terms of strength, speed, and Reiatsu, but this "suppression" was full of restraint, like a volcano bound by chains, possessing the energy to erupt and destroy everything, yet only allowing itself to emit a slight the Heat aura.
This "effortless restraint" infuriated Grimmjow even more than outright contempt. He could clearly sense that Ichigo was holding back during the battle, deliberately concealing the sharp edge of a true powerhouse that could threaten his life.
In every exchange, his opponent seemed to be calculating how to end the fight with minimal damage, rather than how to defeat or even kill him. To him, this was a greater insult than defeat!
A burning rage coursed through Grimmjow's chest. His icy blue eyes swept across the battlefield, instantly locking onto the two figures watching from the stone pillar— Orihime Inoue and Nel. A cold, effective strategy formed in the mind of this battle maniac.
He abruptly changed tactics, no longer engaging Ichigo direct confrontation, but instead using his swift movements to intentionally or unintentionally lead the battle towards the stone pillars. Ichigo, unaware of what was happening, could only relentlessly pursue, ensuring that Grimmjow wouldn't escape his interception range and directly threaten Inoue and the others.
Just as the two were fighting until they were only tens of meters away from the stone pillar, and Ichigo, Grimmjow, and Orihime Inoue and Nel on the pillar were almost in a straight line—
Grimmjow's eyes flashed with ferocity! He leaped backward, creating distance between himself and Ichigo, his left hand forming a fist in front of his face, while his right hand rested on his left wrist. A massive blue Reiatsu surged from his body like a tsunami, gathering in his clenched palm!
"Let this cowardly fellow wake up— Gran Rey Cero!!"
This was no ordinary Cero, but an ultimate Cero variant that could only be used by Espada- level Arrancar, with power increasing exponentially! A blue beam of light, far exceeding the ordinary diameter, with a color as deep as the heart of the ocean and containing a destructive energy storm within, carried a terrifying power capable of annihilating everything. Instead of shooting towards Ichigo Kurosaki, it slammed directly into Orihime Inoue and Nel on the stone pillar behind them!
"What?!" Ichigo's pupils instantly shrank to pinpoints! He hadn't expected Grimmjow to launch such a high-level attack on someone outside the arena so recklessly. The Cero's Reiatsu was extremely violent, and its speed was unbelievably fast, almost approaching the stone pillar the instant it was launched!
Dodge? With his Shunpo, he could easily evade this attack, which wasn't directly targeting him.
However, on the stone pillar, Orihime Inoue stared wide-eyed in terror, forgetting even to call out; Nel, though her expression was grave, made no response.
In the blink of an eye, before Ichigo Kurosaki's brain could even think, his body reacted instinctively, before his will could even register.
"Drink up--!"
A roar shook the Desert! The Reiatsu that had been suppressed and restrained for so long suddenly erupted like a flood bursting its banks! It was not a release of power that was deliberately controlled, but rather a surge of Reiryoku driven by the absolute will to protect his companions from the depths of his soul in a moment of desperation!
His figure blurred and disappeared instantly. The next moment, as if teleported, he stood firmly in front of the stone pillar, facing the blue pillar of destruction that was powerful enough to vaporize steel!
Without any fancy techniques or complicated moves, Ichigo Kurosaki gripped the long, jet-black Zangetsu, raised it high above his head, and his boiling, dark Reiatsu covered the blade like armor. Then, with all his might, he delivered a simple, unadorned vertical slash towards the oncoming King Cero!
"Break!!"
The pitch-black blade clashed violently with the deep blue Cero!
There was no stalemate, no explosive back-and-forth. Under the overwhelming, almost tangible, dark Reiatsu that far surpassed anything before, Zangetsu's blade seemed to transform into a world-splitting weapon, actually cleaving the raging blue pillar of light in two! The scattered Reiatsu spilled out to both sides, blasting two huge craters into the sand dunes in the distance behind, stirring up a sandstorm that filled the sky.
Ichigo Kurosaki stood unharmed before the stone pillar, sword in hand. Only the surging black Reiatsu around him and his amber eyes, suddenly sharp as knives and burning with rage, revealed his completely different state at this moment.
"Hahaha!!" Grimmjow, seeing this, was not angry but delighted, letting out a hearty laugh filled with triumphant excitement and an extreme thirst for battle. "That's right! That's it! Ichigo Kurosaki! This is how you should be! Only by setting aside those pointless worries and unleashing power capable of tearing everything apart, do you deserve to stand before me and engage in a true, life-or-death battle!"
He was no longer satisfied with merely the form of Zanpakuto. With a maniacal laugh, Grimmjow reversed the Zanpakuto in his hand, placing his other hand on the blade.
"Kill him, Pantera!!"
"Boom--!"
A pure white pillar of Reiatsu, even more dazzling than the previous Cero, shot into the sky, instantly engulfing Grimmjow's figure! That wasn't Cero, but the release of his Resurrección! From within the pillar of light came the chilling roars of beasts and the explosive sounds of bones multiplying.
The next moment, a giant claw covered in white bone armor and with sharp, knife-like fingers suddenly emerged from the white beam of light, tearing the light barrier apart!
Resurrección complete.
Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez appeared in a new form on the Desert. His once sky-blue short hair became wilder, and the remaining Arrancar transformed into white bone armor that fit his face more closely, like the markings of a wild beast.
A streamlined, pure white bone armor covered its vital areas, a long, powerful white bone tail swayed nimbly behind it, and its hands and feet were transformed into jet-black claws with sharp bone spikes extending from its joints.
The Reiatsu surrounding him was no longer a violent blue, but had turned into a more solid, wild, and fast-moving bluish-white. Just standing there, he brought a suffocating sense of oppression.
Ichigo Kurosaki's pupils contracted slightly. He could clearly sense that Grimmjow's Resurrección had increased in Reiatsu, quality, and the sense of threat he posed by it by more than one level! His vigilance instantly rose to its highest level.
"Roar--!"
Grimmjow did not attack immediately, but instead let out a long, intimidating the Roar. It was not a simple roar, but a sonic attack carrying immense Reiatsu! A visible white gale swept forward in a fan shape with the Roar, stirring up layers of sand and forming a moving sand wave that rushed towards Ichigo Kurosaki!
Ichigo Kurosaki immediately crossed his twin swords in front of him, his dark Reiatsu protecting him. Even so, the force of the gale impacting the swords was still incredibly heavy, causing his arms to go numb slightly and his feet to carve two shallow furrows in the sand. [Just the Roar, and he has such power?! After his Resurrección, his speed and strength will probably reach a terrifying level...] Alarm bells rang in his mind.
Just as he parried the Roar wind and his vision was slightly obscured by the sandstorm—
Grimmjow's figure blurred eerily for a moment, and then... vanished!
It wasn't a high-speed moving afterimage, but a true disappearance from the spot as if it had evaporated!
"Up!" Ichigo Kurosaki's battle instincts screamed a warning. Without thinking, he unleashed his Reiatsu and retreated like a cannonball!
Almost at the same instant he retreated, the air above where he had been standing was torn apart, and five jet-black claw marks, accompanied by bluish-white Reiatsu trails, slashed down fiercely! Grimmjow had appeared in mid-air at some point, and his claw missed its mark, striking the sand and leaving five bottomless furrows.
His attack missed, Grimmjow landed without hesitation, his figure blurring once more!
A fierce glint flashed in Ichigo Kurosaki. He stopped dodging and used his short sword to protect himself while sweeping his long sword with all his might in the direction he sensed Grimmjow might appear!
Clang--!
Zangetsu's broad blade struck Grimmjow's raised arm—or rather, the protruding, sharp bone spur at his elbow—with solid force! Sparks flew.
Grimmjow grinned, enduring the force of the slash. His other hand's black claw did not retract; instead, his five fingers came together, his Reiatsu highly concentrated at his fingertips, transforming into an extremely sharp spike that pierced Ichigo's abdomen with lightning speed!
In the split second, Ichigo slammed his shorter Zanpakuto down with his left hand, the blade striking flat, narrowly blocking the fatal thrust. The immense impact caused him to groan and stagger back half a step.
But his right hand didn't stop moving; he changed the sweeping motion of his longsword into a slashing motion, aiming upwards at Grimmjow's jaw!
Grimmjow seemed to have anticipated this, and with a sudden swing of his parrying arm, he used the recoil from the impact to float backward as if weightless, perfectly avoiding the vicious upward slash.
In a few swift exchanges, both sides displayed astonishing reflexes and combat skills. However, Grimmjow quickly realized that despite his greatly increased strength after his Resurrección, with his speed and power completely overwhelming Ichigo Kurosaki and forcing him to take the fight more seriously, even occasionally having to withstand attacks head-on, the core of his opponent's fighting style remained unchanged!
Even as he parried and countered, the orange-haired boy's eyes would involuntarily dart toward the stone pillar, and as he moved, he would consciously or unconsciously ensure that he remained between Grimmjow and the pillar. His sword was still not decisive enough, not deadly enough; it was as if there was always an invisible chain binding his wrist and his heart.
"Damn it... it's still the same!" Grimmjow's anger burned even brighter. This kind of battle, bound by the will to "protect others," was utterly tasteless to him.
In his next attack, Grimmjow completely abandoned the illusion of a "fair duel." His movements became even more unpredictable and his attack angles more cunning and insidious. Every fierce pounce, every swift claw strike, and even the occasional charged Cero would "just happen" to include Orihime Inoue and Nel on the stone pillars along the trajectory of his attacks!