'Have they gone far enough? Now I can finally fight without worrying about accidentally hurting them.'
Seeing Orihime, Koichi, and Yuki had gone far, Toshiro breathed a sigh of relief.
The main reason Toshiro had gone through the trouble of finding a way to keep Ulquiorra at bay and let Orihime and the others leave first was his concern that the aftershocks of his fight with Ulquiorra might harm them.
After all, Ulquiorra's strength was not to be underestimated. If they both went all out, using their true power, even Toshiro wasn't confident he could land a one-hit kill.
And if he couldn't instantly kill Ulquiorra, leading to a melee, Toshiro wasn't confident he could guarantee Orihime and the others' safety amidst the battle's aftershocks.
In fact, forget the aftershocks... Orihime and the other two probably couldn't even withstand the Reiatsu pressure of Toshiro and Ulquiorra combined.
Back then, Yamamoto didn't even have to move... just standing there using his Reiatsu and pressure was enough to overwhelm Ise Nanao, the Lieutenant of the 8th Division.
Orihime and the other two were likely no stronger than Nanao, but the combined Reiatsu of Toshiro and Ulquiorra was definitely stronger than what Yamamoto had used to overwhelm Nanao.
"Since Orihime and the others have left, I can drop my reservations and seriously try to kill you, Ulquiorra!"
Toshiro's tone was filled with icy coldness.
"We'll see if you can, Hitsugaya Toshiro!"
Ulquiorra responded without backing down.
However, despite exchanging threats, neither Toshiro nor Ulquiorra moved. They just stared each other down seriously.
"..."
"Tch! Not bad battle instincts. You didn't fall for it."
After a silent standoff for a while, Toshiro clicked his tongue in annoyance, breaking the silence first.
Toshiro had been building power for some time, channeling the maximum force he could deliver in a single strike, without releasing his Zanpakuto, into it.
He was waiting for Ulquiorra to make any slight move, to show any opening, so he could use his Iaido technique and strike with devastating force.
This devastating blow had a high chance of killing Ulquiorra instantly and ending things easily.
However, Ulquiorra's battle instincts were also very sharp. Knowing he couldn't withstand Toshiro's fully charged strike, he simply stood motionless, focusing entirely on defense, trying not to show any opening.
Ulquiorra succeeded in his goal, offering no openings. Unable to find a flaw, Toshiro didn't want to continue this standoff.
After all, Ulquiorra was just an Arrancar, not Aizen. Dragging this out and wasting time was pointless.
Although he regretted not being able to end the fight cleanly with a single, swift stroke, it was normal to expend some effort against an opponent who was among the top tier of the Beyond Captain-class.
So, Toshiro decided not to prolong the standoff. Since there was no opening, he would attack by force! Was he, Toshiro, afraid of an Espada?
Then, Toshiro drew his sword!
Swish—!
Fast! Very fast! Extremely fast! Reaching the ultimate speed, like the birth of the universe, like the sudden flash of lightning!
Even though Ulquiorra was tense, his nerves stretched, focusing entirely on Toshiro, he didn't see the trajectory of that fully charged, thunderous strike. He only instinctively dodged to the side when the intense sense of crisis within him peaked.
Slick—
Blood bloomed. A massive wound appeared on Ulquiorra's body, stretching from his right waist to his left shoulder, nearly bisecting him.
Ulquiorra looked down at his injury. The wound was deep, reaching the bone. He was certain that if he hadn't been on guard, if his body hadn't instinctively moved under the life-or-death crisis, he would have been cut in two by Toshiro right then.
The bottomless 'chasm' carved into the ground behind him by Toshiro's single slash was a testament to his fate.
"Tch! So I didn't kill you after all?"
Toshiro sighed, somewhat disappointed.
Although he had suspected that killing Ulquiorra with a single Iaido strike was unlikely, given Ulquiorra's full defense and lack of openings, seeing Ulquiorra evade his fully charged attack still left him disappointed.
Ulquiorra had no time to care about Toshiro's opinion. Although he had survived the attack, he was severely injured.
Even with his High-Speed Regeneration, he couldn't ignore damage of this magnitude.
So Ulquiorra desperately redirected Reishi in his body towards the wound, accelerating the healing at the cost of consuming vast amounts of Reiatsu.
Ulquiorra's High-Speed Regeneration was already powerful. Coupled with his reckless consumption of Reiatsu, the enormous wound on his body visibly closed and healed.
"Hmph! Do you think I'll give you time to recover?"
Toshiro snorted coldly, flickered, and instantly appeared beside Ulquiorra, swinging his sword.
Swish!
Ulquiorra raised his own sword to block, but Toshiro's attack was much faster. By the time Ulquiorra started to swing, the strike had already landed.
Ulquiorra had to abandon the block, turning his body to avoid his vital points.
Scrape—
Toshiro's Zanpakuto carved another wound on Ulquiorra's body.
This wound was far shallower than the previous one, mainly because that thunderous strike had been fully charged, unlike this one.
Coupled with the defense of Hierro, each centimeter Toshiro's sword cut into Ulquiorra required immense force.
Also, this attack was far slower than the previous thunderous one. Although Ulquiorra still couldn't block in time, his body could react quickly enough to avoid vital areas.
Swish!
After Toshiro landed a hit on Ulquiorra, seeing the wound was shallow and not on a vital area, Ulquiorra ignored the sword still embedded in his body and immediately swung back at Toshiro.
Whoosh—
Toshiro pushed off the ground, withdrawing his sword and retreating, avoiding Ulquiorra's counterattack.
Shunpo!
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Toshiro unleashed his Shunpo, leaving behind afterimages. It looked like countless Toshiros surrounded Ulquiorra from all sides, launching a storm of attacks.
Scrape, scrape, scrape—!!
The countless flashes of swords rained down like a torrential downpour. For a time, Ulquiorra couldn't defend himself, and wounds continuously appeared on his body.
"Come on, Ulquiorra! Let's see if your High-Speed Regeneration can keep up with my attack speed!!"
The 'countless' Toshiros shouted simultaneously.
Although Ulquiorra's High-Speed Regeneration was indeed strong, under this relentless assault, he would soon bleed out and be dismembered.
Ulquiorra was clearly aware of this, so he didn't sit idly by. Instead, he fully activated his Pesquisa, his sensory nerves, to perceive Toshiro's attacks.
Pesquisa was an Arrancar's Reiatsu Perception, typically used to sense the Reiatsu of everyone around, including enemies, to gauge their strength and location.
But now, Ulquiorra was fully using his Pesquisa to sense Toshiro's Reiatsu and attack trajectory.
'Use your heart to 'see', don't be distracted by the chaotic attacks...'
Amidst Toshiro's storm of attacks, Ulquiorra suddenly closed his eyes, as if giving up.
"I see you—!!"
Ulquiorra suddenly opened his eyes, ignored the 'Toshiro' before him, and swung his sword to the right!
Clang!
A metallic clash rang out. A figure wielding a Zanpakuto in attack had appeared in the previously empty space to the right, but Ulquiorra blocked it.
Meanwhile, the 'Toshiro' in front of Ulquiorra dissolved into an afterimage.
"Oh? You managed to block? If I recall correctly, this is the first time you've blocked my Zanpakuto since our fight began. I suppose I'll reluctantly give you some praise."
Toshiro was somewhat surprised that Ulquiorra had blocked his attack.
"Hitsugaya Toshiro, I can now keep up with your speed. Your attacks can no longer harm me."
Being able to match Toshiro's attack speed and block his strikes, even the emotionless Ulquiorra couldn't help but feel a hint of pride.
"I see. So being able to keep up with this level of mine pleases you that much?"
Toshiro sneered.