The first... the second... the seventh... and so on... until a full fourteen powerful Adjuchas warriors had vanished, Baraggan was enraged:
"Dare to hunt down my subordinates right under my nose? They're courting death! Everyone, slowly gather together, no need to get too close. Let those with exceptional reconnaissance abilities form a reconnaissance network!"
In less than three days, fourteen of Baraggan's subordinates died, and their Reiatsu vanished almost without any resistance.
It's normal for a few to die; Baraggan doesn't forbid them from settling scores privately. But the death of a dozen or so is different; it mainly appears to be a helpless hunt.
Six exceptionally skilled Adjuchas formed a radar zone that completely covered the area; they had memorized the location of every Adjuchas in their headquarters.
As soon as someone's Reiatsu disappears, they will know immediately and notify the entire army to surround that location...
After another Adjuchas was defeated, Baraggan finally learned its location. He felt that it might be the Vasto Lorde he was looking for. If it really was Vastod, then he might have gained another powerful subordinate.
Abirama clearly saw that the four Adjuchas who arrived first on the ground were instantly killed by a small white leopard. He immediately felt a tightness in his anus, let out a cry, and flew even higher.
"Calling for companions? Hmph, Die!"
Grimmjow was very annoyed by the big red bird, so he fired five emerald green "Slacking-Off Missiles " at Abirama like small, spiraling missiles.
Gaaah!
Abirama let out a strange cry and used his steel feathers to block the missiles. He successfully changed the trajectory of four missiles, but the last one hit him directly.
Bang! Abirama exploded, red steel feathers scattering like fireworks. Grimmjow muttered "Serves him right" and quickly left.
Baraggan was rushing over at Sonído speed when he saw Abirama transform into that unusual firework in his empty skeletal eyes, and he felt very annoyed.
Grimmjow's speed was exceptional; by the time he sensed a Vasto Lorde bringing a large number of Adjuchas, he had already made his way there.
Boom! Whoosh!
The Rock Mountain that served as their temporary base was crumbling, and a hurricane was howling. Dordoni was facing three Adjuchas alone; there were originally four, but he had already removed the mask from one of them.
"It's very impolite to trespass on someone else's territory, gentlemen!"
Dordoni was handling the situation with ease. Eight strange wind spirits with upper and lower jaws were dancing wildly around him, making it impossible for them to get close from any direction. If given a little more time, he could probably deal with these few as well.
"Call for backup and kill him!"
The first Adjuchas roared, and the Adjuchas beside it, on all fours, shot a fireball into the sky like a rocket launcher, which then exploded.
Realizing the other party was calling for reinforcements, Dordoni made his move. Windlord continued his attacks, while inwardly wondering, 'Did Grimmjow offend some Adjuchas group? Adjuchas are everywhere around here.'
As if to confirm his suspicions, Grimmjow suddenly appeared and attacked and killed the Adjuchas that had just given the signal from behind.
"A Vasto Lorde is chasing me with dozens of Adjuchas. Run for your lives! And remember to bring salt and pepper!"
Grimmjow is somewhat conscientious, as he came here to remind Dordoni. Perhaps because he's been saved by Zero so many times, he's developed a bit of a sense of camaraderie.
But Dordoni misheard what he said, "So, you only reminded me because you were worried about running out of seasoning..."
"It doesn't matter which reason it is. I heard that guy's name is Baraggan, known as the King of Hueco Mundo. Yanis said his power is Respira. We can't beat him. You should take the stuff and leave quickly..."
Grimmjow is fast enough that he would have escaped long ago if he wanted to. The arrogant man would never admit that it was for his comrades, using the seasonings as an excuse.
In the blink of an eye, the Adjuchas here had already fallen victim to Grimmjow's claws, and he didn't forget to tear off the Adjuchas' masks before he left.
"Does that ant have any companions? Heh, interesting. Following the Reiatsu and scent, the flying squadron will conduct reconnaissance first. Let's see how long they can escape."
Baraggan saw the distress signal, his skull face was expressionless, but his voice was full of anger.
The Adjuchas under his command sprang into action; some took flight in pursuit, some sank into the sand, and many more ran across the sand.
The pursuit lasted for several days. Grimmjow had long since become an excellent hunter, avoiding only Baraggan and relentlessly hunting down his men.
Then, after escaping the pursuers by entering the Menos Grande Forest, they returned to hunt them down again, much to Baraggan's annoyance.
In just five days, Grimmjow devoured sixteen more Adjuchas. His killing speed wasn't fast, but he made a kill every time he attacked...
As the saying goes, "If you walk by the river long enough, you're bound to get your shoes wet!"
This time, Grimmjow was caught off guard. He fell into Baraggan's trap, was held back by more than a dozen Adjuchas, and was then surrounded by the arriving Adjuchas, leaving him with no way to escape.
After a reinforcement, the number of Adjuchas surrounding Grimmjow reached a staggering one hundred. Coupled with the existing forces guarding Las Noches, one can imagine how powerful Baraggan's forces were.
A group of mid-level Menos Grande made way, and four Adjuchas carried Baraggan out on a royal palanquin.
"Hmm? So you're the one who killed over thirty of my best warriors? Just Adjuchas, huh? You're quite the impressive fellow."
Baraggan was surprised to see that it was a small Adjuchas, as he rarely saw such a small yet powerful Adjuchas.
"Huh? You call these pieces of trash 'excellent warriors'? If I weren't slightly wary of your abilities, I'd eat as many as you bring."
"What did you say? With that sneak attack?"
"You damned little bug, His Majesty, please allow me to kill him."
"Your death is near."
Grimmjow launched a group taunt, infuriating the Adjuchas so much that their white masks turned green with rage.
"Quiet," Baraggan said, silencing the shouting Adjuchas. He then addressed Grimmjow, "I admire your strength. Join me as a general! With your abilities, you have a good chance of rising to the rank of Vasto Lorde. Las Noches has plenty of resources!"
"I refuse!"
Grimmjow remained silent until Baraggan finished speaking, at which point he delivered a straightforward and blunt refusal without any beating around the bush.
"Why? Are you already someone else's subordinate?"
Baraggan was a little confused; this was a golden opportunity to become Vasto Lorde! But Baraggan and wanted to know why.
Rather than saying Baraggan had a fondness for talent, it would be more accurate to say he wanted to recruit a large number of powerful subordinates and Vasto Lorde, and then attack Soul Society to unify the world... no, unify Three Worlds.
"Bullshit! I'm not anyone's subordinate, and I'll never be anyone's subordinate in my life. I'll become king through my own strength!"
Grimmjow suddenly roared like a cat whose tail had been stepped on; he hated being looked down upon.
What do you mean by "someone else's subordinate"? Am I Grimmjow, born to be someone who can be ordered around? No matter who it is, they dare to look down on me so easily...
Clearly, he remembered that their leader, the virtual human group, was Nangong Ling. Although Ling didn't overly oppress him, he still had to obey her commands, as it was an agreement.
However, during the hunt, some powerful Hollows always regarded Zero, the strongest among them, as their leader, and Grimmjow as their subordinate... So he was very unhappy about the 'subordinate' aspect.
"Really? That's a shame if you don't want to join... I'll ask you one last question: do you recognize the two Vasto Lorde that were fighting nearby earlier?"
Baraggan hadn't forgotten that his goal was to find Vasto Lorde, and he thought that Grimmjow, who lived nearby, might know something.
"I knew it, but one of them died and we ate it. As for the other one... why should I tell you?"
Grimmjow, who was about to speak, suddenly changed his mind and stopped, leaving the Hollows with an itchy feeling that made them very uncomfortable.
"It's alright... I'll torture you slowly until you can say whatever you want... Are you ready? I'll be your opponent!"
Baraggan didn't seem angry. He gripped his black, double-edged axe, stood up, and jumped in front of Grimmjow, intending to interrogate Grimmjow personally.
"Hehe, don't underestimate me!"
Grimmjow roared and charged at Baraggan raised his Great Axe to meet the oncoming Grimmjow head-on.
Grimmjow feinted to the Great Axe while Sonído attacking Baraggan from behind, a triumphant gleam in his eyes.
However, when his claws came within a meter of Baraggan, his speed decreased sharply, and Baraggan half-turned and slapped him away with his axe.
Boom!
"Impossible! Isn't the ability supposed to make physical things age Respira, and die? I didn't even touch his ability, yet it still slowed me down..."
Grimmjow rose from the pile of rocks, his eyes filled with shock. Baraggan hadn't used his axe to kill him, allowing him to live.
From the intelligence Yanis had mentioned, he learned that the Respira released by Baraggan could cause all those who came into contact with it to age, decay, and die, while Cero and physical attacks would also disappear upon contact with the Respira.
Even sand would turn into dust upon contact with it; that power was unstoppable, which is why he became the 'King of Hueco Mundo Baraggan'.
Countless skilled individuals became his subordinates, obeying his commands.
"You know quite a lot! But it's all meaningless. No matter who it is, no matter how strong they are, they are helpless against my abilities."
Baraggan entered boasting mode, very confident in his abilities. Due to the influence of the 'aging' ability, Grimmjow's hands and feet would slow down as he got close.
"Try this on me!"
Unwilling to admit Grimmjow unleashed Cero and concealed three 'Slacking-Off Missiles' Cero, intending to assassinate Baraggan.
Respira!
Under the Moonlight, a large amount of purplish-black gas surged from Baraggan's body. The Cero was tainted when it flew in, and the condensed Reishi quickly dispersed as they approached Baraggan, turning into a visible stream of unclaimed Reishi that scattered in all directions when they reached him.
The same applies to the Slacking-Off Missile, which dissipates into Reishi at a visible speed.
Techniques composed of Reishi ultimately all transform into Reishi, the only difference being that these Reishi are no longer under Grimmjow's control.
That wasn't all. The Respira flew toward Grimmjow was chased and dodged around in a sorry state. In contrast to his disheveled state, Baraggan moved slowly and steadily, without Sonído.
As for escaping? The hundreds of Adjuchas around them didn't evolve to their current state by eating sand. Some of them have very high combat power and can hold off Grimmjow.
"Haha, that guy was being chased all over the place by His Majesty."
"Having refused His Majesty's offer, he is doomed."
"Where does he get the confidence to dare to fight His Majesty?"
The Adjuchas around him saw Grimmjow being chased and jumping around, and they all mocked him, which Grimmjow overheard.
'They actually look down on me! No way... I absolutely can't run away! I'll make these guys who look down on me regret it!'
Grimmjow had originally wanted to fight his way out, became even more ruthless. He released a few more Slacking-Off Missile for cover and then Sonído Baraggan's location.
His four claws were covered with red Reishi flames similar to Cero. According to Zero, the battle between Soul Reaper and Hollows is a battle of Reiatsu.
Even if Baraggan were to completely Respira him, it would surely take at least a few seconds, and the outcome would be decided in that instant... That was Grimmjow's idea.
A barrier of Respira appeared before Baraggan, and more Respira rushed towards Grimmjow from below. Baraggan calmly said, "It's useless. Touching me will also..."
Before he could utter the word "will die," Grimmjow in his eyes, raising his paw and striking down without hesitation, determined to kill Baraggan in a life-or-death struggle.
The Cero covering his limbs disintegrated, Grimmjow's claws began to age, but before they did, he touched Baraggan's black down robe on his chest.
Unfortunately, Baraggan was superior to him in both Reiatsu and ability, and dodged his attack with Sonído.
After he dodged, Grimmjow's front paws touched the Respira, and his hind feet also stepped on it. After jumping back to create distance, his limbs began to age and decay.
"Your resolve is beyond my expectations, but now you are tainted with the Respira. If you are willing to submit..."
"Enough with the nonsense!"
Baraggan wanted to recruit this powerful general, but Grimmjow didn't appreciate it at all. Zero, at least, treated him as an equal, not requiring him to use honorifics or anything like that; he only needed to do what was agreed upon.
But here in Baraggan, if he were to be forced to constantly call out "His Majesty" like those scoundrels, or even kneel and grovel, he would rather die.
With two sharp cracks, Grimmjow bit off his own front paws and then used a weaker Cero to destroy his two hind legs, demonstrating his determination to Baraggan.
"My next strike will be to bite your neck off!"
Grimmjow's face showed no pain, only ferocity. Cero, formed from Reiatsu, replaced his limbs. He was grateful for the training he underwent to learn how to roast Hollows, which prevented him from becoming immobile.