Seeing Toshiro's sneer, Ulquiorra's heart tightened. A strong sense of unease washed over him, and the pride he had felt from blocking Toshiro's attack vanished instantly.
"Then, Ulquiorra! You'd better stay tense and not relax from now on. If you let your guard down even a little, you will die without a doubt!"
Toshiro said coldly.
Shunkuho!
Without warning, Toshiro's figure vanished from Ulquiorra's sight, then reappeared behind him in an instant, thrusting his sword straight towards Ulquiorra's heart.
Although Ulquiorra's High-Speed Regeneration was formidable, it wasn't without weaknesses. If his internal organs or brain were destroyed, they could not regenerate.
When Ulquiorra saw the Toshiro before him disappear in an instant, he couldn't follow Toshiro's movements at all. Even using Pesquisa, he could no longer keep up.
Earlier, when Toshiro was only using ordinary Shunpo, Ulquiorra had to exert himself fully just to barely keep up. Now that Toshiro was using his self-created Shunkuho, which was faster than Shunpo, Ulquiorra couldn't follow his movements even at full capacity.
Ulquiorra's instincts screamed danger. Although he didn't know which direction Toshiro would attack from, he gambled and dodged in one direction without hesitation.
Schlick—
Despite Ulquiorra dodging with all his might, Toshiro's Zanpakuto pierced his body without suspense.
Although it missed the intended target, his heart, it once again severely wounded Ulquiorra.
Toshiro was about to twist his Zanpakuto to cleave Ulquiorra's body in two, but Ulquiorra, under the life-or-death crisis, quickly swung his sword behind him.
Swish!
Toshiro flickered.
He withdrew his sword and stepped back, avoiding Ulquiorra's attack.
Then Toshiro pressed forward again, not giving Ulquiorra a chance to recover, intending to take this opportunity to slay him.
Seeing this, Ulquiorra suddenly pointed his index finger at Toshiro.
"Cero!"
The emerald green Reiatsu light at Ulquiorra's fingertip flared intensely. Powerful Reiatsu condensed into a green Reiatsu sphere, then transformed into a beam of Reiatsu light shot towards Toshiro.
Seeing this, Toshiro stopped immediately, raised his hand, and sent a Kenatsu wave to meet Ulquiorra's Cero.
Boom!
The ice-blue Kenatsu collided with the emerald green Cero. Ulquiorra's Cero was instantly overwhelmed by Toshiro's Kenatsu. Although the Kenatsu lost most of its power after defeating Ulquiorra's Cero, it still continued unabated towards Ulquiorra.
"Bala!"
Ulquiorra knew from the start that his Cero likely couldn't handle Toshiro. So, the moment his Cero collided with Toshiro's Kenatsu, he seized the opportunity to launch a Bala, which was twenty times faster than a Cero.
Boom! Boom! Boom—!!!
Dozens of Bala not only completely dispersed Toshiro's Kenatsu but also shot towards him.
"Bakudo #81: Danku!"
A transparent barrier materialized in front of Toshiro.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Ulquiorra's Bala struck Toshiro's Danku without even causing a ripple.
In truth, Toshiro could have let Ulquiorra's Bala hit him without injury.
But having an enemy's attack land on him would be somewhat embarrassing, even if no one else was around to see it.
"Cough, cough... ugh!"
After buying a brief moment to breathe by combining Cero and Bala to block Toshiro's attack, Ulquiorra suddenly coughed violently and spat out a mouthful of blood.
Having suffered two severe wounds in a short time, even Ulquiorra's powerful High-Speed Regeneration was starting to fail.
"Indeed... cough... without Resurrección, I don't have even a glimmer of a chance..."
Ulquiorra said, coughing blood intermittently.
Though much happened, Toshiro and Ulquiorra had only exchanged blows for a brief moment. Yet in that short time, Ulquiorra had been severely wounded twice.
Anyone else without High-Speed Regeneration would have been dead many times over.
In those few moments fighting Toshiro, Ulquiorra felt like a child facing an adult, completely outmatched and unable to fight back.
Thus, Ulquiorra knew that without using his true power, he wasn't even qualified to fight Toshiro.
Then, Ulquiorra suddenly pointed his sword at Toshiro and whispered: "Enclose, Murciélago!"
Boom!
An overwhelmingly powerful Reiatsu erupted from Ulquiorra. The emerald green Reiatsu was so dense it seemed almost solid, scattering like raindrops in all directions.
Ulquiorra's appearance changed dramatically. He wore a white, long-sleeved robe, a helmet with two horns, his black nails became long claws, his hair lengthened, the tear streaks under his eyes became deeper and thicker, and a pair of black wings seemed capable of blotting out the sky sprouted from his back.
Then Ulquiorra raised his hand, and an emerald green Reishi energy sword appeared in his right hand.
"Hitsugaya Toshiro, show me your Bankai."
Ulquiorra pointed the Reishi sword at Toshiro.
"Heh, what an ignorant frog at the bottom of a well."
Toshiro scoffed.
It wasn't that Toshiro looked down on Ulquiorra, but Ulquiorra couldn't possibly comprehend the apocalyptic horror that would occur if existences at Toshiro and Yamamoto's level were to use their Bankai and fight seriously.
As Toshiro's strength grew, he, like Yamamoto, began sealing his Bankai, rarely even using his Shikai.
From the time he used Bankai to spar with Yamamoto in the Dangai and took on the role of Vice-Captain-Commander of the Gotei 13, up until his major fight with Aizen, Toshiro hadn't used Bankai for a full twenty years.
In fact, if Toshiro were to use his Bankai seriously, even a top Beyond-Captain class existence like Ulquiorra would be no match for a single blow.
"Is that so? It seems I'll have to force you to use your Bankai."
Ulquiorra said.
Swish!
Before Ulquiorra's words faded, his figure vanished, reappearing before Toshiro in an instant, swinging his energy sword in a thrust.
Only then did Ulquiorra's words fully reach Toshiro's ears, showing his speed far surpassed the speed of sound! However, Toshiro's speed was no slower... in fact, it was faster. He instantly raised his sword to block.
Clang!
Ulquiorra's Reishi sword clashed with Toshiro's Zanpakuto, producing a metallic ring.
Scrape—
A tremendous force transmitted from Ulquiorra's Reishi Sword, actually pushing Toshiro back, his feet leaving a long skid mark on the ground.
As Toshiro's body was pushed back, Ulquiorra again raised his index finger, pointing at him.
Powerful Reiatsu gathered at his fingertip. His originally emerald green Reiatsu became so dense it turned black, forming a Reiatsu sphere like a black hole.
Boom—
A massive black Cero suddenly shot towards the retreating Toshiro.
"Bakudo #81: Danku!"
Toshiro used the defensive Kido, Danku, again.
However, Danku, which could defend against Kido below #90, failed to block Ulquiorra's black Cero this time.
Bang!
Crack—
Ulquiorra's black Cero struck the transparent barrier of Danku. Cracks instantly appeared, growing larger until the barrier shattered.
Although Danku shattered, Toshiro used Shunkuho during that time to flash to the side, avoiding the black Cero.
Boom!
While Toshiro personally avoided the black Cero, the blast struck the fixed Koryu on both sides of the Dangai.
The Koryu, which had been reinforced and held in place by Soul Society, became active again, surging like monstrous waves, threatening to engulf both Toshiro and Ulquiorra.