Yammy stared at the woman before him, dressed in a Captain's haori, and showed a vicious grin. "You're the Captain of the medical team, yet you dare wander around alone and unarmed..."
Retsu Unohana raised her eyes. "Actually, I'm looking for someone. Do you know where Muten Natsu is?"
"Yeah. He just killed Aaroniero, and I was just about to go find him." Malice flashed in Yammy's eyes. "I was wondering what kind of gift to bring him. You showed up at just the right time."
Retsu Unohana seemed not to notice the malice in his words. "Then that means he's all right."
"But you won't be!" Yammy drew the Zanpakutō at his waist, the corners of his mouth lifting in delight. "You're pretty lucky, making it all the way here without running into any enemies."
Retsu Unohana's gaze remained calm. In truth, she had encountered quite a few enemies, but there was no need to correct him.
Raising his Zanpakutō, Yammy used his huge frame to look down at the unarmed Retsu Unohana. "But I'm even luckier. I might not be able to reach Muten Natsu as fast as they can, but I can still bring him one hell of a surprise... your head!"
The Zanpakutō came chopping down with a fierce gust of wind, only to stop abruptly in midair.
"Bakudō #81: Dankū."
An invisible barrier stood before Retsu Unohana. She caught the important detail in Yammy's words. "There are other Espada going after him?"
"A trick on this level..." Yammy's arm muscles bulged as he roared and shattered Dankū by force. "You don't have time to worry about anyone else!"
"It seems you have nothing more to tell me." Retsu Unohana pointed her pale fingertip at Yammy. "Hadō #1: Shō."
A shockwave released from Retsu Unohana's fingertip and struck Yammy's body in the next instant.
Yammy immediately felt an incomparable pressure descend on him. The terrifying force shattered his hardened Hierro, and the sound of bones breaking and tendons tearing rang out without end.
It was clearly the most basic Hadō, yet in that moment, it displayed overwhelming power.
Yammy's massive body visibly caved inward. Then he was sent flying backward together with the shattered buildings around him, blood spraying through the air in crimson streaks. Completely robbed of the ability to fight back, Yammy crashed through several buildings in a row, bouncing and tumbling like a stone skipping across water.
He tried to gather Reishi to steady himself, but the Reishi he gathered could not last even an instant before it was smashed apart by his body.
He reached toward the ground, trying to slow himself, but the bricks and stone he touched shattered. Even his arm twisted with the impact, his thick fingers left connected only by thin scraps of flesh, the stark white bone stubs stained bright red with blood.
His bloody, mangled body was embedded in the wall of a high tower. Yammy struggled to open his blood-soaked eyes, and all he saw was red, dust swirling through the air from the collapsed buildings.
Retsu Unohana, who had been right in front of him moments ago, had become a tiny speck in the distance.
How... How was that... possible...
Just opening his eyes seemed to drain every bit of strength Yammy had.
Blackness replaced the red in his vision. Yammy's limp body fell from the dent in the tower and crashed heavily to the ground.
"Bakudō #58: Kakushitsuijaku." Retsu Unohana raised her hand, drew a circle, filled it with strange characters, and divided it with a cross. Blue light lit up inside the circle as the black characters within shifted rapidly. "Over there."
Retsu Unohana turned toward the direction where she had located Muten Natsu.
Rukia Kuchiki's and Orihime Inoue's Reiatsu were also in that direction. Judging from the state of their Reiatsu, they had likely encountered an enemy.
...
Rukia Kuchiki tightened her grip on Sode no Shirayuki, staring at the intruder before her.
"Looks like he's in pretty bad shape..." Arrancar No. 106, Luppi Antenor, smiled with delight, his sleeves swaying around the hands they hid. "The early bird really does get the worm. Remember what I said back then? This time, I'm absolutely going to twist his head off... and crush it whole!"
Cold air flowed along the blade. Rukia Kuchiki's voice was clear and cold. "Don't even think about it!"
"Looks like he's very important to you." Luppi lightly clapped his hands. "How nice. You must be someone very special to him too."
"Strangle, Trepadora!"
Without any probing, Luppi immediately entered Resurrección. Eight tentacles appeared behind him, twisting and dancing. His vicious smile bared stark white teeth, distorting his entire face along with it. "If I crush you and spread you over him, he'll be so happy when he wakes up!"
Three tentacles shot straight toward Rukia Kuchiki, their tips bristling with dense spikes.
Three more tentacles stretched around her, blocking every possible direction she might dodge.
"Some no mai, Tsukishiro!" Rukia Kuchiki flashed backward, and a circular pillar of ice rose from the spot where she had been standing.
Using the ice pillar to block Luppi's line of sight, Rukia Kuchiki leaped up, avoiding the approaching tentacles.
"You fell for it!" While controlling the other tentacles to chase down and block Rukia Kuchiki, Luppi sent his remaining two tentacles from Rukia Kuchiki's blind spot toward the sleeping Muten Natsu.
The only one guarding Muten Natsu now was that human woman. Luppi had seen Orihime Inoue's ability before and had a rough idea of Santen Kesshun's defensive power.
One tentacle would be enough to shatter Orihime Inoue's Santen Kesshun. But to finish off Muten Natsu as quickly as possible and prevent Rukia Kuchiki from coming back to help, Luppi used two tentacles at once, one to break through Santen Kesshun's defense and the other to deliver the killing blow.
A triangular golden barrier appeared in front of Muten Natsu. Luppi was not surprised at all and controlled his tentacle to smash into it. "A defense like this can't stop my attack!"
One strike was all it would take.
Luppi was absolutely confident. One strike would be enough to smash that barrier to pieces.
The tentacle slammed hard into the barrier, with the second tentacle following right behind it.
Boom!
The golden barrier suddenly erupted with dazzling golden light, severing both tentacles at once.
"What?!" Although his tentacles had extremely strong regeneration and could quickly recover even after being cut off, the sudden unexpected attack still left Luppi unable to understand what had happened.
What was that just now...
Luppi carefully observed the triangular golden barrier blocking Muten Natsu and finally noticed something unusual.
The triangular barrier looked the same as before, but now there were three additional golden lines connecting its three corners to the center.
"Shiten Kōshun!" Orihime Inoue adjusted Tsubaki-oni's position at the center of the triangular barrier, turning the triangular barrier into the shape of a triangular pyramid. "This isn't only for defense."