Kenpachi Zaraki had given up learning kendo that day and forgotten the technique of holding a sword with both hands. It wasn't until he encountered Nnoitra after returning to battle and felt his opponent's amazing Reiatsu that he remembered the two-handed technique again. With that memory restored, he defeated Nnoitra with a single strike.
Forcing Kenpachi to wield his sword with both hands had been the limit of Nnoitra's accomplishment.
But Nnoitra, oblivious to this fact, couldn't accept he was so weak.
He possessed six arms and six weapons, while Uehara Shiroha had only two arms and one sword. In Nnoitra's mind, the math was simple—even if Shiroha cut off one of his hands, he could still slice his opponent to pieces with the remaining five.
Six is greater than one. Simple math.
How could he possibly lose?
Nnoitra roared, swinging his six arms and dancing his six black sickles in a furious assault against Uehara Shiroha.
The massive black sickles formed a deadly tornado that completely surrounded Shiroha.
Watching this scene unfold, Ichigo, Orihime, and Neliel all gasped in shock.
Nnoitra laughed wildly with smug satisfaction. "This is the power of my Resurrección! It's over! I've won!"
He was certain that his Santa Teresa had struck his enemy with devastating force.
He was, after all, the strongest of the Espada.
When the dust cleared, Uehara Shiroha stood unharmed without even a speck of dust on his clothes.
"So this is your Resurrección?" Shiroha said calmly. "This is your strongest attack? Is that all you've got? You Arrancars really need to strengthen your Zanpakutō and offensive capabilities. Weren't you bragging about your power earlier? And this is what you call your best?"
The six sickles of Santa Teresa had indeed struck at Uehara Shiroha, but they hadn't even managed to stain his clothes, let alone hurt him.
The blades were firmly blocked by Shiroha's perfect universal barrier before they could touch even a thread of his clothing. His S-level ability that was approaching perfection wasn't something a mere Nnoitra could handle, especially not with a Resurrección.
Witnessing this incredible scene, Orihime, Ichigo, and Neliel stood stunned.
Their eyes widened as their thoughts froze in disbelief.
As for Nnoitra himself, when his arm had been cut off earlier, his mind had gone blank. Now, he experienced that same tranquility again.
The world fell silent around him, leaving only a peaceful pure white before his eyes.
The noise and rage that had consumed his heart vanished entirely.
In this moment, Nnoitra found the peace he had secretly longed for.
Simply put, he was beaten into stunned silence.
Someone had broken through his defenses with a casual attack faster than lightning.
His most prized and powerful defense had proven utterly inferior. It was outrageous—outrageous to the extreme!
In front of Shiroha, his supposedly strongest hierro was nothing but a joke.
First it was Aizen, and now Uehara Shiroha. These Shinigami were becoming more outrageous than the last.
So they weren't even pretending anymore, right?
The speed, defense, and attack power of the Shinigami far exceeded his own. So what was the point of Hollows and Arrancars even existing?
Where was the justice? It was completely unfair!
His dignity had been deeply wounded.
In Las Noches, Aizen, Tōsen, and Gin also witnessed this shocking scene.
A heavy silence fell over them.
After a long pause, Gin asked in confusion, "How did he do that? A Shinigami's defense isn't supposed to be that strong."
From what they'd observed, it seemed more like Uehara Shiroha possessed the strongest hierro, while Nnoitra fought with the vulnerability of a Shinigami.
This couldn't be explained by simple Reiatsu defense or Zanpakutō abilities.
Even the knowledgeable and cunning Gin found it incredible. Every time he thought he'd grown accustomed to being shocked, his old classmate would reveal new tricks that challenged his understanding of the world.
Tōsen nodded and said in a muffled voice, "I see. This is what a perfect Shinigami looks like."
Uehara Shiroha's offensive and defensive capabilities were incomparable to ordinary Shinigami, and even top-level Arrancars couldn't match him.
This truly defied common sense.
Before, Tōsen had thought Aizen overestimated Uehara Shiroha, but now he realized he'd actually underestimated him.
"Now comes the critical moment," Aizen said, a strange light flashing in his eyes.
Shiroha's performance had indeed exceeded his expectations yet again.
Facing such an unfathomable opponent, Aizen wouldn't act rashly. He would observe patiently.
But simultaneously, he would prepare for all possible scenarios.
Shiroha's next actions would determine which tactics Aizen would employ.
Just as Nnoitra was reeling from the shock that his full-strength attack had been completely ineffective, Uehara Shiroha launched another assault.
His attack was remarkably simple—so simple it could hardly be called an attack.
He merely waved the branch in his hand, letting it fall lightly through the air.
Because he used only a branch and didn't release any Reiatsu, the attack appeared completely harmless, lacking both power and speed.
On the surface, even an ordinary person could have blocked such a casual strike.
Seeing this seemingly dismissive attack, Nnoitra's fury rekindled as he roared, "How dare you look down on me like this? How could such a pathetic attack possibly hurt me? I am Nnoitra of the Five Crescents, the strongest of the Espada!"
Though this inconspicuous branch had already severed one of his arms, Nnoitra refused to accept reality.
What happened before was then, and this was now.
His Reiatsu had increased dramatically, and with six arms and six weapons, he believed he could fight and resist. Even if he couldn't defend, he could block, and if he couldn't block, he could regenerate his arms.
Now that he'd activated his Resurrección, surely he couldn't be defeated by a mere branch, right?
"I'm going to fight you, 'strongest,'" Shiroha said, completely disdainful of the self-proclaimed mightiest Espada.
The more someone lacks something, the louder they proclaim to have it.
Nnoitra shouted that he was the strongest, but deep down, he knew better than anyone that he was weak.
Several Arrancars appeared very arrogant, but behind their arrogance lay a profound inferiority complex.
This was the sorrow of the weak.
Although the Espada had been enhanced by the Hōgyoku in terms of raw power and had achieved some level of strength, their spirits remained weak.
Every Arrancar carried a corresponding mental defect, just like the Hollow still residing within them.
This was the original sin of being a Hollow.
Simply put, these beings were all giant babies.
The truly strong aren't just powerful in physical might, but also possess an indestructible spirit.
In terms of spiritual fortitude, these Espada were far inferior.
However, Uehara Shiroha had no interest in this psychological assessment, nor did he care. He wasn't a psychologist, so their emotional sensitivity or humanity meant nothing to him.
He just needed to kill them.
As his thoughts shifted, the branch in Uehara Shiroha's hand erupted into dazzling light. The radiance was so intense it eclipsed the cold moon hanging in the sky. Powerful Reiatsu gathered around him, causing the very spirits in the atmosphere to tremble.
Wherever the light touched, everything was annihilated.
There was no hurricane, no shock wave—only a terrifying power capable of cutting through space itself.
Nnoitra's pupils shrank as his heart pounded in panic. "Not good, I must defend immediately!"
In that moment, the ordinary branch appeared infinitely large before his eyes, carrying a might that could destroy worlds.
Before this overwhelming force that rivaled the ocean's power, his figure and Reiatsu seemed utterly insignificant.
He frantically waved his six sickles, crossing them in front of him as a shield.
Nnoitra's reaction was impressively fast, but it proved useless against the "simple branch" that pierced through heaven and earth.
With just one blow, the branch cut through his weapons, his arms, his body, and his very soul. His Reiatsu and hierro, even after activating Resurrección, didn't last even a second—it was as if they never existed at all.
Uehara Shiroha had crushed Nnoitra's body, soul, and dignity with nothing more than a branch.
Nnoitra didn't even realize he'd been defeated. He simply felt himself enveloped by light before his body shattered into pieces.
Nearby, Ichigo and Orihime trembled in confusion. They'd only registered a flash of light and felt an overwhelmingly terrifying Reiatsu.
When the light faded, the arrogant Nnoitra lay on the ground like a broken doll. Most of his supposedly indestructible body had melted like a wax figure left in the sun. His Reiatsu and breath had grown desperately weak.
This was beyond their comprehension.
A warrior who had suppressed Bankai-wielding Ichigo was utterly defenseless before Uehara Shiroha—like an ant, unable to withstand even a single strike.
What kind of power was this?
"How is this possible?" Nnoitra stared at his broken body with disbelief etched across his face. "Why can't my body recover? What kind of ability is this?"
Even now, he thought Uehara Shiroha had used the same trick as Nelliel's Gamuza. He absolutely couldn't believe or accept that someone could defeat him after Resurrección with such a casual blow.
Yet the pain in his body was unmistakable, and the draining of his vitality and Reiatsu continued unabated.
All of this confirmed the harsh reality.
The enemy's Reiatsu was too overwhelming—even its residual power limited his regenerative abilities. In other words, he was dying.
His life was already in countdown.
Nnoitra wasn't afraid of death, nor of dying in battle. He even felt that being killed by a truly strong opponent would bring relief and honor.
However, no matter how he lied to himself, he couldn't accept dying like an ant being casually stepped on!
This was complete failure.
Just as Nelliel had said, he wasn't a warrior—just a bug.
This realization destroyed everything about him.
The pain was too intense!
So real, so excruciating, so desperate!
But this was reality.
This emptiness, pain, and despair were even more real than Hueco Mundo itself.
Looking down at the fallen Nnoitra, Uehara Shiroha spoke lightly, "It seems my training isn't complete yet—my strength was a bit too excessive! Don't worry, I deliberately avoided your vital. You shouldn't die too quickly."
After speaking, he activated his perfect-level Observation Haki, using his ability to see through everything to examine Nnoitra's Resurrección form.
The Visored and Arrancar were both Aizen's explorations and attempts at transcendent power. Although in Uehara Shiroha's view, these attempts weren't merely full of flaws—they were fundamentally wrong from the root.
Nevertheless, the Arrancar's Resurrección and power composition still held certain reference value. This was probably Nnoitra's only remaining worth.
Just then, Nel jumped out from hiding and declared loudly, "Lord Uehara is invincible! The Espada with the strongest hierro is so weak!"
Nnoitra's Reiatsu had been permeating the area, forcing her to hide until now.
For reasons she couldn't explain, she felt intensely afraid of Nnoitra's Reiatsu. Despite being an Arrancar herself—supposedly on the same side—Nnoitra's spiritual pressure made her feel uneasy, fearful, and even disgusted.
Yet Uehara Shiroha's Reiatsu gave her a sense of security.
Now that Shiroha's spiritual pressure filled the area, Nel felt safe enough to emerge from behind the rocks.
"Is that you Nel?" Looking at the proud Nel, Ichigo finally made the connection and continued, "Where have you been all this time? Pesche and the others have been looking for you."
Though Ichigo was somewhat face-blind, Nel's features were too distinctive to mistake.
They had been separated from Nel when that strange Hollow created a sandstorm. Pesche and the others thought Nel had been taken to Las Noches, but they hadn't expected to find her here.
Besides, wasn't Nel a Hollow? Why was she traveling with Uehara Shiroha from the Shinigami faction?
Nel blinked her large brown eyes and sneered, "Stupid Shinigami, you're the ones who got lost. Nel never gets lost!"
But then she noticed Nnoitra's broken body on the ground and the confused look in his eyes. She instinctively shrank back, moving behind Uehara Shiroha for protection.
Watching Nel hide skillfully behind Shiroha, Nnoitra grew even more confused and asked, "Those markings and that mask... there's no mistaking it! Are you Nelliel?"
Seeing Nelliel in this child-like state disturbed him deeply.
Previously, this woman had been in Las Noches as one of the top three Espada, ranking quite high among the Ten.
He had challenged her repeatedly without fear, only to fail each time.
Back then, Nnoitra had recognized her strength and asked Nelliel to kill him. He felt he deserved death and that it would be a mark of respect.
However, this woman had not only refused to kill him but had mocked him, calling him a bug unworthy of dying by her hand.
Even when Nnoitra had resorted to sneak attacks that seriously injured her, she had never yielded her contempt for him.
But now, this once proud and disdainful woman cowered behind another man for protection.
It was like watching someone else effortlessly ride a bicycle he could never reach, no matter how hard he tried.
Yet Shiroha had proven with absolute strength that Nnoitra was indeed weak—an ant, as insignificant as a bug.
Nnoitra's defenses crumbled once more.
All he had ever wanted was the respect matching his status and the glory he deserved after battle. Was that so difficult?
"Yes, this is Neliel," Uehara Shiroha said disdainfully. "Don't act like a victim. You simply can't handle losing."
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New Fanfic
Marvel x Star Wars: Avengers in the Clone Wars
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