Grimmjow's logic was so airtight that Muten Natsu was momentarily at a loss for words.
"Since you came to Hueco Mundo on your own, that means you're thinking the same thing I am." Grimmjow dragged his thumb across his throat. "A fight to the death!"
"If I'd known you had such an annoying personality," Muten Natsu said, shifting slightly to the side, "I would've killed you the first time we met."
"That look again..." Grimmjow ground his fangs together. "You really don't understand a damn thing!"
He dropped from the sky and brought his katana down.
Black light bloomed as Muten Natsu raised Myōki to block.
With a metallic clang, Spirit Ink spilled from Myōki, passing through Grimmjow's Zanpakutō and closing in on his body.
Grimmjow erupted with Reiatsu, shattering and scattering the Spirit Ink. His fingers hooked like claws as he grabbed for Muten Natsu's throat.
Ink spread outward, and Ink Fortress activated, only to be forcibly torn apart in the next instant.
Reiatsu surged from Grimmjow's fingertips, ripping a bloody line across Muten Natsu's neck.
Muten Natsu shifted his footing, spinning as he swept Myōki across and forced Grimmjow back.
In that split-second exchange, Muten Natsu noticed Grimmjow's little finger twisted into a grotesque shape.
In the previous attack, Grimmjow had used his little finger to trigger Ink Fortress first, then completed the attack with the rest of his fingers.
Grimmjow had already found a way to break through Muten Natsu's Ink Fortress.
He bit off the broken little finger, then raised his hand toward Muten Natsu. "Gran Rey Cero!"
Blue light shone in Grimmjow's palm. Mixed with his blood, Reishi gathered into twisted, jagged edges, then erupted.
Compared with the beam formed by an ordinary Cero, Gran Rey Cero bloomed more like a cannon of light, swallowing Muten Natsu along with Rukia Kuchiki and Orihime Inoue behind him.
Muten Natsu raised a hand and clawed at his face. A skull mask covered his cheeks.
He lifted his hand and unleashed a surging wave of Spirit Ink, blocking the Gran Rey Cero as it rippled in layered waves.
The instant the ink shattered, black Karmic Flames ignited, detonating the Spirit Ink and further reducing the power of the Gran Rey Cero.
Then Myōki swung, drawing the Karmic Flames together. With one slash, the torrent of Reishi from the Gran Rey Cero was split in two, sweeping past both sides of Muten Natsu's body and blasting the buildings in its path to pieces.
"Looks like you're finally taking this a little seriously." Grimmjow looked with satisfaction at the crimson eyes glowing behind Muten Natsu's mask. His nails scraped across his blade with an ear-piercing sound. "Grind, Pantera!"
The erupting Reiatsu sent white sand whirling wildly. When the dust settled in the sandpit, Grimmjow reappeared after Resurrección.
The broken mask that had covered his cheek was gone, replaced by a crown-like fragment on his forehead. Blue eyeshadow stretched to his temples, blending with the blue fur of the leopard-like ears. His sky-blue hair had grown noticeably longer, falling messily behind him.
White, close-fitting armor wrapped around his body, with sharp arm blades protruding from his elbows. A long tail lashed behind him. Grimmjow opened his fanged mouth and roared up at the sky.
The sound wave surged, mixing with his rising Reiatsu into a tangible storm.
At the center of the storm, Grimmjow's figure blurred. In the next instant, he pounced in front of Muten Natsu, shattered Ink Fortress with one punch, and sent Muten Natsu flying.
Grimmjow lowered his body, then sprang forward, catching up to Muten Natsu as he flew backward. He raised his claws, grabbed Muten Natsu's head, and slammed him toward the round tower beside them.
The instant his body touched the tower, Muten Natsu used Shadow Stealth and vanished from Grimmjow's sight.
The ink marks left behind from the earlier battle bloomed, and Muten Natsu's figure appeared again, gliding over the Spirit Ink. He turned slightly and quickly finished charging his power.
With one slash, surging Spirit Ink met the pursuing Grimmjow. Dense characters overlapped, forming the most basic Bakudō: Sai!
By the time the Bakudō was complete, Grimmjow had already raised his claws behind Muten Natsu.
His vicious eyes opened wide as Reiatsu burst from his fingertips, tearing out streams of light that closed in on the back of Muten Natsu's head.
Muten Natsu clenched his left hand around empty air, and Spirit Ink condensed into a blade in his grip, stabbing toward Grimmjow's chest.
Grimmjow had intended to take it with his Hierro, but the Spirit Ink's intense corrosive power began to take effect. Although the ink blade failed to pierce Grimmjow's body, it corroded his Hierro and made it increasingly fragile. Under the push of Muten Natsu's arm, it rapidly ate into Grimmjow's body.
The claws originally reaching for the back of Muten Natsu's head tore the ink blade apart. Grimmjow twisted his body and lashed out with his leg like a whip, raising a terrifying gust.
But that instant of changing moves was enough for Muten Natsu to react. Myōki's blade met Grimmjow's whipping leg.
Noticing the Spirit Ink moving across Myōki, Grimmjow changed moves again, using the arm blade at his elbow to clash with Myōki.
As sparks burst out, Grimmjow bent his arm. From beneath the white armor on his forearm, five blue-green spikes suddenly shot out, flying straight at Muten Natsu's face.
Blooming ink blocked the first, then was shattered by the second.
The swinging ink blade corroded the third, and Myōki, held in front of him, blocked the fourth.
The force inside the blue-green spike was terrifying. Myōki was pressed against Muten Natsu's chest, pushing him backward.
Muten Natsu tilted his head and avoided the fifth. The blue-green spike passed through his flying hair and struck the round tower behind him.
The spike was only as thick as a finger, yet it shattered the entire round tower, which was as tall as a high-rise building.
Nell hid in Orihime Inoue's arms in terror, helplessly hugging her head as her eyes trembled. "So this is the power of the Espada..."
Orihime Inoue looked worriedly at Muten Natsu's figure and bit hard on her lower lip.
In a battle at this level, even if she wanted to release Santen Kesshun to help Muten Natsu block an attack, she could not keep up with his speed at all.
"Why hasn't Muten used Bankai yet?" Ririn's doll head bobbed back and forth. Her eyes had only just caught up to the afterimages of Muten Natsu and Grimmjow colliding when, in the next instant, they disappeared from her sight again. "If he used Bankai, he could definitely finish this in one go!"
"It isn't that easy..." Rukia Kuchiki narrowed her eyes, trying to see more clearly. "Just now, the Spirit Ink Bakudō tried to catch him and failed. That means even if he releases Rin'en Bokukō, it won't hit."
Ririn pressed her, "Then can't he swallow Rin'en Bokukō himself like before and gain even greater power?"
Rukia Kuchiki shook her head. "Muten can only release Rin'en Bokukō. He doesn't have the ability to control Rin'en Bokukō and make it turn back."
The reason Rin'en Bokukō had turned around and charged at Muten Natsu before was because the 9th Espada, Aaroniero, had guided it with a power similar to Spirit Ink.
Seeing blood spray from Muten Natsu's body, Orihime Inoue hugged Nell tightly. "Is there really nothing we can do?"
"There is." Rukia Kuchiki drew her Zanpakutō. "Orihime, be ready to heal."