"Kehehehe, Fūjin Taichi, so you even hid reinforcements here—eh? This place is—"
Nnoitra walked out of the thick smoke with a sinister grin. When he saw the captains surrounding him from all sides, a trace of surprise appeared on his face. He had thought Fūjin Taichi had set up an ambush for him in Hueco Mundo.
But in the next second, he noticed a bald old man glaring angrily at him from the front. He froze for a moment, feeling that the man looked familiar.
"You—"
"You—" Yamamoto Genryūsai stared at Nnoitra with deadly focus. The Captain-Commander's haori fluttered even without wind, and a scorching aura began to surge from his body.
"Where exactly is this…?" Nnoitra had never imagined that Fūjin Taichi would use his Zanpakutō ability to teleport him directly from Hueco Mundo to the Seireitei!
And he had even been delivered straight in front of all the top combat forces of Soul Society—right under the nose of its strongest leader, Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni.
"Shhh—!"
A sword-pressure made of flowing flames instantly struck Nnoitra. The tremendous impact blasted him straight out of the council hall until he slammed into the East Great Holy Wall a hundred meters away before finally stopping.
Shing!
As Yamamoto Genryūsai walked out of the hall, he released the seal on his Zanpakutō. The curved wooden cane in his hand cracked open ring by ring, revealing an ordinary-looking blade called Ryūjin Jakka.
"Captain-Commander, someone like that isn't worth you personally taking action! Let me—" Komamura Sajin stepped forward against the scorching waves of heat to persuade him.
But before he could finish, Yamamoto cut him off.
"All of you… stand back!"
"What?!" The other captains were secretly shocked. Was the Captain-Commander really going to personally deal with the uninvited intruder who had broken into Seireitei?
Yamamoto Genryūsai stepped out of the meeting hall and looked toward Nnoitra in the distance.
"This thing is the same kind as the two Arrancar that invaded Karakura Town before, correct? Are these the creatures that frightened Captain Shiba's advance squad so badly?"
"Hehe… outwardly human, no visible Hollow mask, yet the spiritual pressure is even more sinister than a Gillian…" Mayuri Kurotsuchi said with a twisted smile while staring at Nnoitra.
"They should be Menos above Adjuchas level. And… most likely toys created by Aizen using the so-called Hōgyoku. Hehehe… If the Captain-Commander doesn't mind, could you leave me a complete corpse for research?"
"Hmph." Yamamoto gave a noncommittal snort, then narrowed his eyes slightly at Nnoitra.
"Fight with all your might. Let this old man experience the strength of these so-called 'Arrancar.'"
"Kehehehe, I see now!" Nnoitra licked his lips and laughed darkly.
"So this is the Seireitei—and you must be the one known as the strongest Shinigami in Soul Society, Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni.
I… keep fighting, again and again, just so I can face a true strong opponent—and die at his hands…"
"Then this old man will grant your wish." Yamamoto gently raised Ryūjin Jakka. The captain's haori on his shoulders was blown aside by the immense spiritual pressure, revealing a body packed with muscles layered like fish scales.
"Cheh, you senile old man who talks big! The one you're facing… is the strongest of the Espada!!!"
Nnoitra grabbed his double crescent scythe and suddenly rushed toward Yamamoto Genryūsai, letting out a shrill scream.
"Is that so…"
Facing Nnoitra's attack, Yamamoto Genryūsai did not move at all. Only when the opponent was about to reach his face did he swing Ryūjin Jakka, releasing the spiritual pressure on the blade as a slash of sword-pressure.
"What?!"
The moment the sword-pressure formed, Nnoitra sensed a terrifying force. Instantly twisting his body mid-air, he used Sonído to flash behind Yamamoto Genryūsai and raised his twin crescent scythe again, slashing downward!
"Tch—"
The corner of Yamamoto's mouth tilted slightly, a mocking snort coming from his nose. Then he suddenly drew his blade backward. Instantly, a tornado-like wall of flames erupted, sweeping up blazing fire that spiraled into the sky and swallowed Nnoitra whole.
BOOM!
Nnoitra burst out of the ring of flames, his body covered in wounds. The white coat on him had already been burned away by the scorching fire, leaving only a short remnant barely covering his lower body. Thin wisps of charred smoke rose from his entire body.
Yet Yamamoto Genryūsai didn't even raise his eyelids. He simply asked:
"Is… that all the strength you have?"
"Kehehehe… I admit it—you're the strongest opponent I've ever faced!"
Nnoitra grinned with his narrow smile, staring at Yamamoto.
"But if you want to defeat me, flames of this level can't kill me!!"
"…."
Yamamoto Genryūsai did not respond. He merely stared at Nnoitra with one eye open, orange flames blazing around his body while his long beard fluttered in the wind.
At that moment, it felt like a lion on the plains facing a lone hyena—the bloodline suppression was absolute, the outcome already decided, and there was no interest in the fight.
"Kehehehe! You carry the title of the strongest Shinigami in Soul Society, yet the flames on your blade can't even burn through my Hierro—"
Nnoitra slowly stood up, his scar-covered body swaying as he looked at the motionless Yamamoto with a vicious grin.
"It seems… that attack just now was already all your power?!"
"?!!"
Hearing this, the captains present all felt pity for Nnoitra.
They thought to themselves: You really dare say that, friend! Haven't you noticed that all of us have been very deliberately keeping far away from you since earlier?
"Arrogant."
After a long silence, Yamamoto finally squeezed out this single word through his nose to evaluate Nnoitra's behavior.
"Arrogant?"
Nnoitra waved the crescent scythe in his hand, raised it high above his head, and released an immense yellow spiritual pressure from his entire body.
"If strength is what you call 'arrogance,' then I'll show you what true arrogance is! Now then—pray… Santa Teresa!"
"BOOM!"
The enormous spiritual pressure overflowing from the hollow in his double crescent scythe instantly enveloped Nnoitra. With a loud explosion, his body underwent a huge transformation.
A pair of crescent-shaped horns grew from his head, and a cross-shaped yellow mask pattern appeared across his face.
In addition, a tooth-like eyepatch mask formed over his left eye. Four spider-like extra arms grew from his back, and each arm held a double-edged scythe.
"Kehehehe! Now then, feel what despair truly means!"
After releasing his Resurrección, Nnoitra shouted arrogantly at Yamamoto.
"I see."
Yamamoto Genryūsai calmly looked at Nnoitra. The flames around his body suddenly surged several meters higher, and the surrounding air became scorching and heavy from his spiritual pressure.
"All things in the universe… turn to ashes—Ryūjin Jakka!"
In an instant, the originally plain-looking Zanpakutō in his hand transformed into the oldest and strongest fire-type Zanpakutō. The flames on its blade burned with a temperature comparable to the surface of the sun, capable of incinerating any evil in the world to nothingness.
...
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