"My Brujería, can strip whatever my eyes gaze upon of its control. I call this power [Love]." Zommari held out his hand. "It seems you still don't understand. I pity your shallow intellect. There are so many things you cannot comprehend. It must be very difficult for you. But no matter. Once you experience it yourself, you'll understand."
His fingers curled as Zommari called out, "Left foot, come to me."
Byakuya Kuchiki's left foot stepped forward on its own.
That power... Renji Abarai finally understood what had happened earlier.
Zommari had used his eyes to control his and Ichigo Kurosaki's arms.
And now, Zommari had dozens of eyes on his body.
Byakuya Kuchiki's body trembled slightly as he tried to regain control of his left foot.
"Resistance is meaningless. You have already lost control of your left foot." Zommari beckoned. "Good. Take another step forward."
Byakuya Kuchiki swung his Zanpakutō and cut across his left leg, sending blood spraying.
"Oh... you severed the tendon in your left foot? That would indeed keep it from moving." Zommari's gaze remained calm. "Such decisive action. As expected of someone at Captain level. Impressive. But... what about your subordinate?"
The pupils of the two eyes on Zommari's chest dilated, and an invisible wave spread outward.
Byakuya Kuchiki flashed forward, placing himself in front of Renji Abarai.
"To move so quickly with only one leg..." Zommari sneered. "But now, your left hand is mine as well."
A black sun symbol appeared on the back of Byakuya Kuchiki's left hand. His five fingers spread open, curled like claws, and reached for Byakuya Kuchiki's throat.
Byakuya Kuchiki swung his blade and severed the tendons in his hand.
"Not only your left foot, but even your left hand can be cast aside without hesitation. The moment control is taken from a part of your body, you treat it as an enemy and cut it down, even when that part belongs to you... It is wise, but far too rash." Zommari warned him, "With only your right hand and right foot left, how do you intend to face me, an Espada?"
"The difference in our strength is as vast as heaven and earth. Though I have sacrificed my left hand and left foot..." Byakuya Kuchiki's handsome face was stained with his own blood, yet his voice did not waver in the slightest despite his wounds. "You are still nowhere near my equal."
"It seems you are even more arrogant than I imagined." Zommari shook his head lightly. "It is important to view others as equals. You should learn from me. Whether they are Shinigami or humans, they should all be treated the same."
"Hurry..." Ichigo Kurosaki shouted. "Get out of the way!"
Byakuya Kuchiki's figure flickered, avoiding Zangetsu as it slashed toward him.
A black sun symbol appeared on Ichigo Kurosaki's forehead. Holding Zangetsu in his left hand, he pursued the dodging Byakuya Kuchiki.
"One eye can only dominate one place. But if the target of domination is the head, that control extends throughout the entire body." Another eye opened on Zommari's body, reflecting Renji Abarai's face. "Like this."
Renji Abarai's body shuddered. Then he moved beyond his own control, gripping Zabimaru in his left hand as he slashed at Byakuya Kuchiki.
Renji Abarai and Ichigo Kurosaki attacked Byakuya Kuchiki from the left and right. Byakuya Kuchiki turned slightly, easily avoiding both of their attacks. "I have no need to learn impartiality from you. You, like them, lack the strength to stand as my equal."
"They don't need to be your equal. They only need to attack according to my will." The pupils of several of Zommari's eyes dilated. "Create an opening for me to dominate you. Experience it properly. This is the coordination of love."
Several gazes fell over Byakuya Kuchiki almost at the same time. Zommari gave his command, "Stand there and don't move. I'll let you die at the hands of your own subordinate."
Byakuya Kuchiki stood in place, allowing Renji Abarai and Ichigo Kurosaki's attacks to close in.
"Captain!" Renji Abarai shouted anxiously, yet he still could not control his own body.
"Damn it!" Ichigo Kurosaki refused to give in and pushed the tree-like light patterns on his skin to grow with all his strength.
What had once been a sturdy defense now became a cage that bound his movements as his Reishi went into overdrive.
Ichigo Kurosaki's movement came to an abrupt stop. The tree-like light patterns across his body flickered unsteadily as he trembled.
Byakuya Kuchiki lifted his eyes slightly. For an instant, his figure blurred, and Zabimaru passed straight through his body.
"Hm?" Zommari stared at Byakuya Kuchiki. "You can still dodge?"
Renji Abarai could not see it clearly, but Zommari saw everything. In that instant, Byakuya Kuchiki had sidestepped Zabimaru, then returned to his original position after Zabimaru swept past.
It looked as if Zabimaru had passed right through him.
"Hm?" Byakuya Kuchiki turned his head. "Why would you think I could not dodge?"
Several of Zommari's eyes moved at once, observing Byakuya Kuchiki. "Why is my love not on your body?"
Just now, he had clearly seen Byakuya Kuchiki with several of his eyes, yet no new black sun symbol had appeared on Byakuya Kuchiki's body.
"Since one eye can only control one place," pink cherry blossoms circled around Byakuya Kuchiki, faintly reflecting a cold, sharp gleam, "I only needed to give you something else to control."
The ease on Zommari's face vanished completely. "What did you do?"
"It seems you still don't understand. But that's all right... Once you experience it yourself, you'll understand." Byakuya Kuchiki released his Zanpakutō. "Bankai. Senbonzakura Kageyoshi."
The Zanpakutō sank vertically into the ripples spreading across the ground. Ring after ring of ripples appeared, and massive blades rose one after another from within them, standing in orderly rows on both sides of Byakuya Kuchiki like cold iron gates, or cruel execution frames. Their sharp edges pointed straight toward the sky before scattering all at once into pink petals.
Earlier, Byakuya Kuchiki had used Senbonzakura's Shikai to release blades around his body, blocking Zommari's love.
Now, as his Bankai activated, hundreds of millions of blades became a torrent of cherry blossoms that completely engulfed Zommari.
"Damn it..." Zommari clasped his hands together, and the pupils of the dozens of eyes on his body dilated. "Watch me take control of all of these..."
"All of them? One eye can only control one place. You intend to use your few dozen eyes to control my hundreds of millions of blades? How arrogant." Byakuya Kuchiki controlled the countless blades, forming them into a sphere that spun as it contracted inward. "Gōkei, Senbonzakura Kageyoshi!"
A gale howled. The interlacing blades unleashed their cutting edges, grinding and shredding everything inside with ferocious force.
...
Boom!
Surging white light pierced through the corridor, one blast after another chasing after Uryū Ishida and Yasutora Sado.
"It's a trap!" Uryū Ishida sensed the surrounding Reishi. "After the original guards were defeated, all kinds of defensive devices here immediately activated to wipe out the enemy!"
The Quincy Cross on his wrist flickered as Uryū Ishida confirmed the direction. "The spiritual pressure is weaker over here!"
He focused on finding a way out, briefly overlooking what was happening around him. A beam of white light smashed through the wall and closed in fast.
Uryū Ishida was about to form Ginrei Kojaku to defend himself, but after hesitating for a moment, he silently relaxed his body.
Sure enough, Yasutora Sado scooped Uryū Ishida up and carried him over his shoulder, then swung his fist backward, using the recoil to escape the white light's attack range.
"..." Uryū Ishida pushed up his glasses. He had already gotten used to it. He pointed in one direction. "That way!"
Yasutora Sado carried Uryū Ishida and charged in that direction, turning slightly to shield Uryū Ishida as he smashed straight through the wall blocking their path.
"Waaaaah!!!" "Oooooh!!!" Two screams overlapped, mixed with desperate calls. "Muten! Nell!" "Where are you?"
"That voice..." Uryū Ishida tried to compare it with the voices in his memory, but no specific person came to mind. It had to be someone he had never met before. Then why were they calling Muten Natsu's name?
Yasutora Sado asked, "Should we check?"
"No..." Uryū Ishida sensed carefully. "Their goal is the same as ours. They're also looking for an exit. We should run into them soon."
Explosions followed close behind. Yasutora Sado sped up with Uryū Ishida over his shoulder, quickly passing through the collapsing corridors and reaching the depths of the palace.
After turning another corner, Uryū Ishida and Yasutora Sado both looked toward the source of the sound and met the panicked gazes of Dondochakka and Pesche.
Both sides froze. Uryū Ishida and Yasutora Sado had not expected the other party to be Hollows.
Dondochakka and Pesche realized they had gone the wrong way again.
"That yellow-haired guy..." Pesche spoke first. "And the red-haired one..."
"Ichigo Kurosaki and Renji Abarai!" Dondochakka added at top speed while sprinting away from the white light. "They're in danger, and they told us to find Muten Natsu!"
"Didn't expect to find you instead!" Pesche staggered as the blast wave hit him. "You're with them, right? Hurry and go. Waaaaah!!!"
Before Pesche could finish, the ground beneath the four of them suddenly vanished.
With nothing under their feet, all four of them fell downward at once.
"Grua Tirar!" Yasutora Sado pressed Uryū Ishida onto his shoulder with one hand and swung his right fist with the other, using the recoil to slow their fall. They landed safely, shaken but unharmed.
Thud! Thud!
Dondochakka and Pesche slammed straight into the ground.
"Cough, cough!" Uryū Ishida waved away the dust and immediately asked Dondochakka and Pesche, "Who exactly are you two?"
Dondochakka and Pesche scrambled up in a sorry state, then briefly explained what had happened, one sentence at a time.
"I see..." Uryū Ishida looked upward. "I understand the general situation, but we can't go rescue them right now. This is clearly a carefully designed trap."
Yasutora Sado looked around. "A trap?"
"Yes. Those white lights from earlier were part of the trap too. Their main purpose was to increase our sense of urgency and force us to search for an area where the Soul Flutter was relatively weak." Uryū Ishida pushed up his glasses. "Then we would find this place ourselves and walk right into the net."
Crisp applause rang out, and a figure appeared. "To have guessed that much is surprising yet again."
The slender man had short pink hair and golden eyes. His fitted white clothing emphasized his tall frame, and the remains of his mask formed the shape of glasses. Behind the mask, his eyes noticed everyone's confusion, and the man's lips curved upward. "My apologies. I should have introduced myself first."
"I'll only say this once." He reached up and removed the white, insect-like device from his ear. "I am..."
"Aaaaaah!" Dondochakka screamed. "Y-y-y-you... are you the 8th Espada, Szayelaporro Granz-sama?"
Pesche screamed as well. "The greatest researcher in Hueco Mundo, the expert responsible for developing all kinds of spiritual weapons?!"
Szayelaporro looked them over. "You two... Why are you with the invaders?"
"Well..." Cold sweat appeared on Dondochakka and Pesche's foreheads. "Um..."
"No need to be so nervous." Szayelaporro waved a hand. "I'm a researcher. I showed myself because I wanted to communicate with them."
"Communicate?" Uryū Ishida formed Ginrei Kojaku. "I don't think there's anything for us to communicate about."
Armor appeared over Yasutora Sado's arm, and the spiritual energy around him stirred with it.
"A Quincy... and a Fullbringer..." Szayelaporro's smile widened. "Both rare specimens. Let's discuss this properly. We can skip the fighting, and I'll give you the highest treatment. As long as you cooperate with my research..."
Whoosh—!!
The Soul-Slicing Blade cut through the air and struck Szayelaporro directly in the chest.
"Sorry, but let's skip the communication instead..." Uryū Ishida's gaze was cold. "And end the fight right away."
"Ah..." Szayelaporro collapsed weakly to his knees. "You actually..."
"Hahahahahaha!!!" He suddenly burst into laughter, wild and unrestrained, without a trace of his earlier elegance or composure. "You actually thought that kind of trick could work on me?"
The light blade of the Soul-Slicing Blade shattered. Szayelaporro raised his hand and flicked the hilt away. "Before I appeared in front of you, I already knew all about you. Did you really think I would show myself without any preparation?"
Szayelaporro pressed the button in his hand. One Arrancar after another crawled out of the walls, each with a bizarre and grotesque form. "As proof of the authority granted to us Espada, Aizen-sama gave us the right to choose direct subordinates from among the Arrancars below No. 11. They are known as Fracciones. Some chose only one. Naturally, others chose more than one."
Yasutora Sado stepped forward, shielding Uryū Ishida behind him.
"My Fracciones are somewhat special. They are Hollows I modified, then had Aizen-sama turn into Arrancars..." Szayelaporro smiled. "Simply put, they are more than enough to deal with you."