Ancient Gillian

"What's wrong with this kid?"

Renji blocked Soya Ashirogi's fist with the Zanpakuto. Although he hadn't Shikai, the blade of Asauchi didn't leave a single mark on that small fist.

This overwhelming sense of defense reminded Renji of his battles with Hollows once again. It looked so much like the Steel Skin!

But Soya Ashirogi doesn't care what Renji is thinking. He's just a tool without the ability to think for himself, and the meaning of his life is to carry out the orders given to him by his controller.

Soya Ashirogi's fists and feet brought forth a red spiritual pressure, they attacked Renji. Seeing this, Renji was completely certain of his thoughts: this brainless child in front of him was a Hollow!

Renji quickly rolled away to dodge, while simultaneously calling out to the surrounding onlookers, "Quick, hide! Damn it, the Roar, Zabimaru!"

In his chain-blade form, Zabimaru nimbly attacked Soya Ashirogi, and another ear-piercing sound rang out. Renji was surprised to find that his Shikai also had no effect on Soya Ashirogi.

"That Grimmjow guy, he brought everything with him, doesn't he even have a brain?"

Renji remarked that Hueco Mundo and Seireitei have now cooperated, so seeing Arrancar within Seireitei is not unusual, and those who get along well might even go out for drinks together with their arms around each other.

Arrancar... The thought of those two words Renji carefully examine the child in front of him. There were no traces of white bone on his face. Had the Arrancar techniques of Las Noches improved again?

"Hey kid, where did your Arrancar go?" Renji asked, clearly annoyed. Anyone would be upset if they got punched twice right away.

Soya Ashirogi clearly didn't understand Renji's question. He stared at Renji's Zanpakuto for a moment, then remembered that he also had a sword, and awkwardly took it off his back.

The bandages binding the sword were unwound, revealing a gray, broad-bladed straight sword with ominous black spots near the tip, resembling a diseased condition.

The moment Renji saw the spots on the Zanpakuto, his hair stood on end. He could clearly feel the terrifying spiritual pressure of a Hollow emanating from the sword.

Soya Ashirogi tilted his head, racking his brains to remember the name of the sword. He Zanpakuto at Renji from a distance.

"Surrounding the stars, Ikomomomaba..."

A gigantic white arm suddenly emerged from the Zanpakuto, an arm at least 20 or 30 meters long, and slammed down on Renji's head with a deafening boom, about to crush Renji into a pancake.

Soya Ashirogi tilted his head again, puzzled. He could feel that his hand hadn't fully slapped down, as if something was holding it back.

A giant bone serpent broke free from the arm's restraints, coiling around the illusory arm and attacking Soya Ashirogi. At its end was Renji, who was holding a sword hilt and covered in fur.

"Bankai, Hihio Zabimaru!"

After learning the true name of the Bankai, Renji asked Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto for tips on how to retain his previous Bankai. The Bankai takes different forms and has special uses in different situations.

Right now, the giant bone snake head, with Soya Ashirogi on top of it, soared into the air, and Renji leaped onto the body of the Hihio Zabimaru -maru, as he changed battlefields.

Renji was located in a noble district, where the damage from a battle would be incalculable. That's why he used the Bankai Hihio Zabimaru, instead of using the Sōō Zabimaru to fight Soya Ashirogi on the spot.

Soya Ashirogi didn't care about any of that; his orders were to kill everything he saw and then ascend the throne to become the new king.

His spiritual pressure surged again, and another arm extended from his Zanpakuto, grabbing the bone snake wrapped around the other arm and forcibly breaking Renji's Bankai into several pieces.

Renji didn't care about the collapse of the Hihio Zabimaru; he was more concerned about just how powerful the spiritual pressure contained in that Zanpakuto called Ikomomomaba Zanpakuto, as its Shikai had shattered his past Bankai.

The next moment, Soya Ashirogi gave the answer, "Bury and remember, Ikomomomaba!"

A gigantic Hollow appeared before Renji, its head appearing first. Soya Ashirogi stood directly on its head and rose into the sky. Its body alone was already over 50 meters tall, with two long arms that dragged all the way to the ground. Its legs were short, it had no neck, and it had hexagonal markings on its forehead.

On the chin of this ethereal being is a small mask, from which a long gray beard protrudes. A huge circular Hollow Hole is located in its chest. This is the Soya Ashirogi, Zanpakuto Ikomomomaba.

"What... is this?" Renji's mouth was practically agape. He had never seen a Hollow with such immense spiritual pressure; its spiritual pressure even far surpassed that of the Espada.

Before he could even sigh, Ikomomomaba had already raised his claws and reached out towards Renji. This attack was no less powerful than before; it was the claws of Gillian in its perfect form.

Renji didn't dare to be careless at all and immediately activated his true Bankai, "Bankai, Sōō Zabimaru!"

Renji in a different form, swelled with spiritual pressure. Facing the attack from Ikomomomaba, he didn't retreat an inch. Raising the left hand of the Baboon King, he gathered his spiritual pressure and roared, "Higa Zekkou!"

The red cannonball forcefully flipped open Ikomomomaba's hand, causing it to stagger and nearly lose its balance. Enraged, Yoruichi, the first Gillian in Hueco Mundo, had lost count of how long it had been since anyone dared to humiliate it like this. The last time was with that guy wielding a sledgehammer.

A rich red glow condensed on Ikomomomaba's chest— Cero that far surpassed the Gran Rey Cero, a source of pride for him as an ancient Gillian. This blast would destroy at least half of the town!

"Not good!"

Just feeling the spiritual pressure of that Cero made Renji 'Ikomomomaba to be shot by that blast.

Renji gritted his teeth and used Cero. The Flash Step, symbolizing the Serpent King, pointed at Ikomomomaba. With a flick of his wrist, all the spiritual pressure in his body condensed at that moment, and the huge golden serpent head swallowed the Cero that Ikomomomaba had condensed in one gulp.

"Shatetsu no Teppou!"

A deafening explosion resounded throughout Seireitei, its aftershocks ripping off rooftops across several streets.

Amidst the smoke of the explosion, Renji plummeted from the sky, his body billowing black smoke. He had already deactivated his Bankai state, and the eruption of the Shatetsu no Teppou meant that Renji had taken the full force of this Cero attack.

Renji, who was still conscious, could only squint at Ikomomomaba. He had failed to stop the Gillian, which could potentially cause great damage to the Seireitei. With the 6th Division Captain absent, he was going to embarrass the division.

For Ikomomomaba, the failure of the Cero was just a mistake in its attack. It Renji stretched out its claws towards Renji, who was flying backwards in the air Renji, completely unprepared.

At this critical moment, a voice that Renji knew very well entered his ears, and the surrounding air was rapidly cooling down.

"Bankai, Hakkaa no Togame, Yuebai!"

It was Rukia. Renji was lucky; today was Rukia's day off. Rukia was at the Kuchiki Clan with her sister, immediately rushed towards the noble town after sensing Renji's spiritual pressure. Moreover, she immediately made her move after Renji and Ikomomomaba exchanged a couple of blows.

The towering ice pillars stretched into the clouds, their tops invisible, and within these enormous pillars lay the massive bodies of ancient Gillian.

With Flash Step, Renji was rescued by Rukia. He didn't even have time to check his own injuries. He quickly rubbed Rukia's palm with the warmth of his own hands, and scolded her slightly.

"Without Vice-Captain Kotetsu by your side, how could you so casually use the power of the Hakkaa no Togame?"

At this moment Rukia had already taken off the gorgeous clothes of the Hakkaa no Togame. Even just a moment's force caused varying degrees of frostbite on Rukia's body.

"That's because you, you idiot, tried to take their ultimate attack head-on!" Rukia kicked Renji in annoyance, but she couldn't help it since he was holding her hand.

"If I hadn't stopped it, Seireitei would have been severely damaged." Renji turned to look at Ikomomomaba in an ice pillar. "Where did this Hollow come from? It puts more pressure on me than Grimmjow and the others."

"I don't know... Oh no!"

Rukia's expression changed, and she used Flash Step to take Renji away from where they were. The next moment, a huge block of ice crashed down where they had been. It turned out that the ice pillar had Shikai.

As the one who released the ice pillar, Rukia noticed the anomaly the moment it shattered, thus escaping unscathed.

Seeing that Ikomomomaba was beginning to break free, Renji said seriously, "Rukia, we need to stall for time. With this guy's spiritual pressure, the other captains are definitely on their way."

"I understand." Rukia gripped her Zanpakuto. If necessary, she could Bankai again, but it would only result in frostbite. She had already gotten used to it while practicing Bankai.

Just when Renji and his companion thought another big fight was about to break out, Ikomomomaba suddenly clutched his head, shaking it and refusing, "No! I don't want to go back!"

Ikomomomaba's body gradually shrank, emitting painful roars, it returned to Soya Ashirogi's Zanpakuto.

Soya Ashirogi fell from the sky and landed on the ground with a thud. His body twisted and changed constantly, with white bubbles occasionally rising from his body and then shrinking back. Black energy was pulling at half of his body, and red bloodline patterns flashed across his skin from time to time.

"What's going on?" Renji and Rukia took two steps forward, but dared not actually go forward, fearing that this was a trap Soya Ashirogi.

"Oh dear, the rejection reaction has started so quickly. I only finished a little bit, and it turned out like this."

A man with dark green hair squatted down beside Soya Ashirogi. His appearance immediately sounded alarm bells for Renji and Rukia, as this was a man registered in the Seireitei.

"Tsunayashiro Tokinada!"