Mission Complete

Almost simultaneously, several more identical golden beams of light descended from the sky, precisely enveloping the other Arrancar on the battlefield— Luppi Antenor, frozen in Thousand-Year Ice Prison; Yammy Rialgo, severely wounded; and Wonderweiss Margera, who had been standing silently at the edge of the battlefield.

Golden light bathed the entire battlefield in an eerie warm hue. Pillars of light descended from the sky, like several golden pillars supporting the heavens, separating the Arrancar from the world of the Soul Reapers.

Tōshirō Hitsugaya's Thousand-Year Ice Prison began to crack in the light of the Negación. On the ice wall, which was originally as hard as iron, cracks spread out like a spider web, and fine ice shards fell from the cracks, turning into sparkling specks of light in the golden light.

Click--click--

The cracking sounds grew more frequent and louder.

Finally, after a violent tremor, the entire Thousand-Year Ice Prison collapsed, turning into countless ice crystals.

At the heart of the shattered ice, Luppi Antenor's figure slowly emerged. His body, frozen for so long, was finally free; his long purple hair fluttered in the wind, and his signature flippant smile reappeared on his face.

But there was something new in his smile—a deep-seated hatred.

His gaze swept past the shattered ice shards and the broken battlefield, landing squarely on Tōshirō Hitsugaya. A palpable killing intent emanated from his purple eyes. He slowly raised his hand, slicing it horizontally across his neck in a throat-slitting motion.

"The next time we meet," his voice came from the Negación, somewhat distorted by the golden light barrier, but the threat remained undiminished, "I will cut off your head."

Tōshirō Hitsugaya stared at him expressionlessly, neither provoked nor showing any fear. He simply met those purple eyes with a cold gaze, the Hyōrinmaru in his hand slowly spinning at his side, the chilling aura on the blade condensing into fine ice crystals that shimmered coldly in the sunlight. His silence was more powerful than any words—a silent declaration: no matter how many times you come, the outcome will not change.

Within another beam of light, Yammy Rialgo's massive body slowly rose to his feet. His wounds had begun to heal thanks to his High-Speed Regeneration abilities; the purple blood had stopped flowing, and the severed muscle fibers were reconnecting.

He looked down at his arm, flexed his fingers, and only after confirming that the injury was healed did he raise his head, scanning each of the Grim Soul Reapers present with his violent eyes.

His gaze lingered longest on Kisuke Urahara —the man who had toyed with him using a portable Gigai, the man who had dealt him the heaviest blow at his most triumphant moment.

Yammy Rialgo's lips twitched, as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he only let out a low the Roar from deep in his throat, like a wounded beast vowing revenge.

Meanwhile, Wonderweiss Margera, the Arrancar character who looked like a child, never showed any change in expression throughout the entire story.

He simply stood quietly within the Negación, gazing at everything with his empty eyes, like an observer or a machine awaiting instructions. No one knew what he was thinking, nor how strong he truly was—this very unknown was what made him most unsettling.

Ulquiorra Cifer was the first to recover from the arrival of the Negación. He looked up at the source of the pillar of light in the sky, then looked down again and turned his gaze back to Liu Ziyun.

His expression remained that enigmatic calm, as if being enveloped by the Negación and forced to retreat was nothing more than a neutral and insignificant fact to him.

"It seems," his voice came from behind the golden light barrier, calm and utterly undisturbed, "That the mission is complete."

Liu Ziyun's gaze met Ulquiorra's in mid-air. He could see what was hidden deep within those green eyes—not resentment at the retreat, nor doubt about the mission, but a deeper, almost philosophical calm. Ulquiorra Cifer didn't care about victory or defeat, honor or disgrace; he only cared about one thing: whether the mission was completed.

Liu Ziyun's mind raced, piecing together everything that had happened that day—the sudden appearance of the Arrancar, Ulquiorra being specifically sent to distract him, Grimmjow's disappearance, and their perfectly timed retreat... All the fragments, when pieced together, ultimately pointed to a possibility he had been guarding against but ultimately failed to prevent.

"You've come here to take Orihime Inoue away, haven't you?" Liu Ziyun's voice wasn't loud, but in the silent battlefield, every word was as clear as a tolling bell.

Ulquiorra Cifer's eyes narrowed slightly, and a genuine emotion finally surfaced in those eyes that had always been as empty as an abyss—surprise.

"Oh?" A rare hint of interest appeared in his voice. "You actually knew about this. How did you find out?"

Liu Ziyun didn't answer his question, but continued, "Her abilities are very special, making her an easy target for Aizen. However, I haven't had her demonstrate them in front of you before... Why would Aizen target her?"

This question had been lingering in his mind for a long time. Orihime Inoue's Santen Kesshun, was indeed an extremely rare ability—it could reject phenomena that occurred to a subject and revert them to their previous state.

In a sense, this transcends ordinary time travel; it represents a "rejection" and "negation" of reality. If used properly, this power could be as valuable as the Hōgyoku.

But he was always very careful. He never allowed Orihime Inoue to display this ability in front of the Arrancar, nor did he ever let her participate in any battles that might expose her abilities. He thought he had been discreet and thorough enough—

"The last time I came to the World of the Living," Ulquiorra's voice interrupted his thoughts, "You didn't seem to notice... when you had her save people, she used a power similar to time reversal."

Liu Ziyun's pupils contracted slightly.

He remembered—that time, in a fleeting moment, in what he thought was a safe enough corner, he had Orihime Inoue treat an injured person. He thought it was just a routine treatment, thought no one would notice, thought—

But Aizen noticed. Or rather, Ulquiorra noticed and then told Aizen.