There was no doubt that the Koryu was very dangerous. Even Captain-class or Beyond Captain-class experts could get into significant trouble if careless.
However, neither Toshiro nor Ulquiorra batted an eye at the approaching monstrous waves of Koryu.
In fact, as Toshiro just avoided Ulquiorra's black Cero, Ulquiorra, ignoring the imminent Koryu, suddenly launched his Reishi Sword like a projectile at Toshiro.
Whoosh—
Just as Toshiro dodged the black Cero and before he could regain his footing, Ulquiorra's Reishi Sword shot towards him like a meteor.
Unable to dodge in time, Toshiro could only raise his sword to parry.
Clang—
Toshiro struck Ulquiorra's Reishi Sword.
Boom!
Ulquiorra's Reishi Sword exploded suddenly, kicking up a cloud of dust and debris, obscuring the area where Toshiro stood.
Crash—
The wave-like Koryu then swept in, submerging the area where Toshiro was, before continuing towards Ulquiorra not far away.
'Is this all Hitsugaya Toshiro is capable of?'
Ulquiorra frowned, slightly disappointed and puzzled. He decided to deal with the incoming Koryu before investigating Toshiro's true state.
Just as Ulquiorra raised his hand to fire a Cero to disperse the Koryu rushing towards him, a voice echoed in his heart like a morning bell or evening drum.
"Sit Upon the Frozen Heavens, Hyorinmaru!!"
Boom!
An immensely powerful Reiatsu erupted, causing the entire Dangai space to tremble.
"Roar!"
A great dragon's roar echoed. Simultaneously, a bone-chilling cold that seemed capable of freezing everything spread out.
Crack, crack, crack...
The Koryu that had submerged Toshiro froze in an instant, but the chilling cold continued to spread in all directions, as if trying to freeze the entire Dangai.
Crack, crack...
The Koryu rushing towards Ulquiorra also froze from the spreading cold. However, Ulquiorra showed no sign of happiness, as this chilling cold was clearly more troublesome than the Koryu.
After freezing the Koryu, it didn't stop but continued towards him.
Boom!!
Without hesitation, Ulquiorra redirected the Cero he had prepared to disperse the Koryu, firing it at the incoming freezing cold, blasting the Koryu, the cold, and everything else into nothingness.
Then Ulquiorra looked gravely towards where Toshiro had been.
Crack, crack, crack...
Cracks appeared on the ice formed from the frozen Koryu.
Boom!!
The massive ice block, like a small iceberg, exploded.
"Tap, tap, tap..."
Toshiro's figure walked out from the flying blue ice crystals. A huge ice dragon coiled and danced around him, making him appear even more majestic and sacred.
The howling wind blew Toshiro's slightly disheveled hair, but combined with his confident and proud expression, it gave him a rather unrestrained and dashing look.
"Though you are my enemy, I'll give you credit, Ulquiorra. Your strength is indeed very impressive, especially after your Resurrección. Your speed and attack power have greatly improved. Your speed can fully keep up with my movements, and your attack power even surpassed my previous level."
Toshiro declared.
Ulquiorra was shocked to see that the emerging Toshiro had no wounds whatsoever, aside from some disheveled clothing.
To be honest, under the dual assault of Ulquiorra's Reishi Sword and the Koryu, if Toshiro hadn't released his Zanpakuto in time, he might have actually been injured.
After all, although Ulquiorra was only in his first Resurrección at this point, his strength had reached a remarkable Beyond-Captain class medium level.
Ulquiorra himself was a Vasto Lorde-class Menos, with inherent strength at least at the Beyond-Captain class, not to mention after Aizen's modifications using the Hogyoku.
Furthermore, he possessed the unbelievable ability of Segunda Etapa. It was hard for even Toshiro to judge his true power.
Based on Toshiro's current observation, Ulquiorra in his first Resurrección was equivalent to Beyond-Captain class medium. His strength in Segunda Etapa might even reach the peak of Beyond-Captain class.
As for reaching the Demigod class, like Toshiro and Yamamoto, it seemed unlikely for Ulquiorra even with Segunda Etapa.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have died so easily to the Vasto Lorde Ichigo in the original work.
"I am honored to receive your praise, Hitsugaya Toshiro. But I will not lose to you so easily!"
"Cero!"
Ulquiorra shouted softly, and a thick, black-green Reiatsu beam shot directly at Toshiro.
With a thought from Toshiro, the ice dragon coiling around him instantly coiled like a serpent, tightly protecting him within.
Boom!
The powerful Cero struck the ice dragon, sending ice shards flying, but that was all. In fact, as Toshiro's Reiatsu flowed, the ice dragon was repaired almost immediately.
Then, with a slight wave of his Zanpakuto, the ice dragon let out a powerful roar and suddenly charged at Ulquiorra.
"Bala!"
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Green Bala shot towards the ice dragon like a storm.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Ulquiorra's Bala exploded like countless powerful shells simultaneously, riddling the huge ice dragon's body with craters.
Nevertheless, Toshiro's ice dragon persisted, continuing its assault on Ulquiorra.
Seeing his attacks couldn't stop the ice dragon, Ulquiorra flickered, attempting to use Sonído to evade.
"Roar!"
As if possessing its own will, seeing Ulquiorra dodge, the ice dragon twisted its enormous body and relentlessly pursued him.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Ulquiorra continuously used Sonído, dodging and weaving to evade the ice dragon's repeated attacks.
Ulquiorra's Sonído was very fast, though still slower than Toshiro's speed, but not something ordinary people could match. So, the ice dragon couldn't overcome him for a while.
Seeing this, Toshiro frowned, then lightly tapped the ground with his Zanpakuto.
"Roar! Roar! Roar!"
Three more ice dragons materialized. Together with the previous one, four ice dragons attacked Ulquiorra simultaneously from front, back, left, right, and all directions.
Under the siege of four ice dragons, Ulquiorra ultimately couldn't avoid them.
Boom!
The four ice dragons collided, their enormous bodies forming a pyramid-shaped iceberg, freezing Ulquiorra inside.
"What a troublesome guy."
Looking at Ulquiorra frozen in the iceberg, Toshiro didn't let his guard down because he knew the battle wasn't over. Ulquiorra's greatest trump card, [Segunda Etapa], hadn't been used yet.
Hum—
As Toshiro's words fell, an immensely powerful Reiatsu, heavy as an ocean, suddenly erupted. The pyramid-shaped iceberg shook violently.
Crack, crack, crack...
Huge cracks appeared on the pyramid-shaped iceberg.
Boom!!!
The pyramid-shaped iceberg finally couldn't withstand the powerful Reiatsu and exploded into a sky full of shimmering ice crystals.
Then, a figure walked out.
Green sclerae, black liquid flowing from his eyes, his upper body bare, his abdomen to legs, arms, and back covered in black feathers, wings fully spread revealing bat-like claws.
The horns on his helmet grew longer and sharper upwards, a long, freely controllable tail emerged, the tip resembling a blade made of bone, sharp claws on his feet, his Hollow hole enlarged, black patterns extending from the hole to his abdomen.
Though his appearance had drastically changed, Toshiro could still recognize him at a glance. It was Ulquiorra! Ulquiorra in Segunda Etapa!!