"Hmm, Kurosaki-kun, be careful."
Protected behind Ichigo, Orihime finally recovered from the massive Reiatsu emanating from Yammy. After giving Ichigo a worried glance, she immediately ran to Chad's side.
"Soten Kisshun! I reject!"
Spreading her hands apart, Orihime softly shouted.
Immediately, two beams of yellow light flew from the hairpins on Orihime's head, forming an oval-shaped, pale yellow light curtain that enveloped Chad.
Within this pale yellow light curtain, the injuries on Chad's body began to heal rapidly.
Even the left hand that Yammy had blown apart with a punch recovered to an unharmed state as if time had reversed.
This situation was observed by Ulquiorra Cifer, who was standing beside Yammy.
"Mm, Inoue..."
After his injuries healed, Chad quickly regained consciousness.
"You're awake, Sado-kun."
"Hmm, did Ichigo come?"
Getting up from the ground, seeing Ichigo, Chad felt relieved.
It must be said, the two Hollows that appeared in the human world this time were far too strong… he hadn't been able to put up any resistance at all.
However, even so, once Chad recovered, he immediately positioned himself in front of Orihime to protect her.
He knew an enemy like that was probably something only Ichigo could handle.
"Ichigo!"
Chad clenched his fists tightly.
Never before had Chad so strongly wished for greater power.
Otherwise, not only could he not help Ichigo, but he would become a burden and a weakness for Ichigo!
"Hey, Ulquiorra, isn't this the guy Aizen-sama wanted us to observe?"
Seeing his punch blocked by Ichigo, Yammy looked at Ulquiorra and asked in confusion.
As the Diez Espada under Aizen, Yammy felt in his heart that his strength was actually the strongest among the Espada.
Therefore, after releasing his Resurreccion, he would erase the '1' before the '10' on his body representing his Espada rank, making himself the [Cero Espada] who surpassed the 1st Espada.
Yammy liked following Ulquiorra around, but not because of Ulquiorra's strength. It was because Ulquiorra was the shortest among the Espada.
When he was a Hollow, Yammy loved a small dog that was always by his side.
After becoming one of Aizen's Espada, the moment Yammy saw Ulquiorra, he regarded him as his own little dog.
Of course, in Yammy's heart, 'little dog' didn't mean a lackey or subordinate, but rather 'friend'.
A 'friend' who wouldn't look down on the other for being weak.
Plus, Yammy disliked using his brain. So, between the two of them, it seemed like Ulquiorra was the leader and Yammy the follower.
"Hmm."
Ulquiorra nodded. "Be careful, Yammy."
"Since Aizen-sama sent both of us to investigate Ichigo's situation, it proves this guy isn't simple."
"Hmph, just an ant!"
Yammy snorted coldly, raised his fist, and smashed it down towards Ichigo.
A black flash of light passed. Yammy only felt a chill on his arm.
Then, intense pain made Yammy cry out.
"Ah..."
Looking down, Yammy discovered that his arm had somehow already been severed by this Ichigo wearing a Shihakusho.
"Damn it damn it damn it..."
Yammy was furious.
He never expected to lose an arm to Ichigo in just one move due to a moment of carelessness.
Immediately, Yammy placed his right hand on the Zanpakuto at his waist and shouted loudly: "Ira!"
Boom!
Massive Reiatsu erupted from Yammy's body.
The Zanpakuto in Yammy's hand dispersed into light, while Yammy's entire body instantly expanded several times, reaching ten meters in height. His lower body also turned into a multi-segmented body resembling a worm's.
Yammy's true form is a Hollow named [Ira]. (T/N: Wrath)
After releasing his Resurreccion, Yammy could increase his power through his own anger.
Theoretically, as long as Yammy is angry enough, his size can become immensely large, gaining power surpassing all.
This is also the basis for Yammy believing he is the strongest Espada under Aizen.
"Go die!!"
His enormous size turned Yammy's roar into a bellow, the sound waves sweeping like a gale, forcing Chad and Orihime to cover their ears.
But even so, expressions of pain appeared on their faces, and blood flowed from between their fingers.
Clearly, their eardrums had been ruptured by Yammy's roar.
"Zangetsu-"
Seeing this, Ichigo's expression changed. He gripped his Zanpakuto with both hands and loudly called its name.
In an instant, the greatsword in Ichigo's hands split into one long and one short Zanpakuto.
Then, Ichigo raised the long Zangetsu, black Reiatsu covering it-
"Getsuga… Tensho!"
Boom!
A huge crescent-shaped slash flew from Ichigo's long Zangetsu, striking Yammy and almost cutting him in two.
"Roar! Roar! Roar! Roar! Roar!..."
Intense pain made Yammy scream.
Simultaneously, the anger from being injured made Yammy's body continue to expand, soon reaching over twenty meters tall, with his lower body over three meters tall.
At this size, the fatal wound Yammy received from Ichigo's slash earlier now appeared as merely a relatively large wound.
"Damn it damn it damn it-"
In intense pain, Yammy opened his mouth. Massive Reiatsu gathered in his mouth, forming a red sphere of light.
Cero!
This is an attack technique only possessed by Menos Grande-level or higher Hollows.
At the same time, Cero is also the strongest attack technique for Hollows.
This holds true even for the Espada, and even for Horned Ichigo.
Seeing this, Ichigo's expression turned solemn.
Although they had only exchanged one move, Ichigo's combat instincts still allowed him to discern part of Yammy's ability.
'Perhaps an ability that could convert sustained injuries into size to amplify power.'
'Against such an ability, if one couldn't completely destroy it in one strike, who knows what would happen later.'
Immediately, Ichigo also no longer held back. The short Zangetsu in his right hand drew a horizontal line in front of him. Then, the long Zangetsu in his left hand slashed down a vertical line, combining with the previous horizontal line to form a cross.
"Getsuga… Jujisho!"
Boom-
The red Cero collided with the black Getsuga Jujisho and was directly shattered by Ichigo's Getsuga Jujisho. The remaining power directly slashed towards Yammy's head-
'This guy is so strong!'
'Am I going to die?'
Watching the attack that had shattered his Cero about to strike him, Yammy's heart was filled with shock and fury.
He never imagined that, after releasing his Resurreccion but before reaching his peak, he would die by Ichigo's sword.
He refused to accept it!
Whoosh-
Just as Yammy roared, Ulquiorra's figure appeared in front of Yammy's head. With a solemn expression, he drew the Zanpakuto at his waist and firmly blocked Ichigo's Getsuga Jujisho.
Boom-
Ulquiorra, without releasing his Resurreccion, simply couldn't block Ichigo's Getsuga Jujisho. He was directly blasted back by the huge force, crashing into Yammy's head. Carrying Yammy's massive body, he was directly sent flying-
Boom!
In the sky, as if a nuclear bomb had detonated, a massive roar erupted.
The explosion of the Getsuga Jujisho directly formed a circular mushroom cloud in the air.
Yammy's enormous body was almost completely shattered by this explosion.
Even Ulquiorra had half of his body destroyed by Ichigo's attack.
"Ulquiorra!"
Seeing Ulquiorra, who had lost one hand and his body from the chest down, Yammy bellowed.
The anger of losing a friend and the shame of almost being easily killed by Ichigo made red Reiatsu erupt from his body, making Yammy's body grow even larger.
At this moment, Yammy also dared not suppress his anger.
His body had also been largely destroyed by Ichigo's cross-shaped slash.
If he didn't take advantage of the anger in his heart now to increase his size and lessen his injuries, then once the anger subsided, he would probably immediately die from severe injuries.
"Not dead?"
Seeing this, Ichigo was also somewhat surprised.
After all, since returning from the Soul Society, even Ichigo didn't know exactly how strong he was.
He felt that even if he encountered Aizen from Sokyoku Hill, it wasn't impossible for him to win.
Although the earlier Getsuga Jujisho wasn't his full power, it wasn't something ordinary Hollows could withstand either.
But these two Hollows were still alive after receiving his attack, showing their extraordinary nature.
"Then, one more time!"
Thinking this, Ichigo once again raised his Zanpakuto.
"Yammy, we must leave now!"
Seeing this, Ulquiorra, with only half his body remaining, directly opened a Garganta, grabbed most of Yammy's body, and entered the Garganta, escaping from the Living World.
"Tch..."
After confirming Yammy and Ulquiorra had fled, Ichigo merged the two Zanpakuto in his hands, transforming them back into the black-and-white greatsword form.
"Ichigo, are you alright?"
At this moment, a familiar voice sounded.
Ichigo turned and saw Kisuke and Yoruichi rushing over at high speed.
"Just now, we sensed massive Reiatsu here and were worried you might be in danger..."
"We didn't expect you are much stronger than we imagined."
Kisuke looked at Ichigo with admiration.
Although he had an estimation of Ichigo's strength in his heart-
But all along, Ichigo's performance fell far short of his prediction.
Indeed, in just a few days, Ichigo had gained strength capable of fighting Captains. In any era, he would be a well-deserved genius.
However, as a scientist, Kisuke knew the power contained within Ichigo's body.
If Ichigo could fully unleash it, he would undoubtedly become an existence comparable to, or even surpassing, Captain-Commander Yamamoto.
It's just that Kisuke also didn't know how to draw out the power within Ichigo.
He never expected that after just a few days apart, Ichigo seemed to have already fully drawn out his power.
In terms of the Reiatsu Ichigo burst out just now, compared to Yamamoto, it wasn't much weaker.
"Did something happen?"
Kisuke knew that during this time, something he wasn't aware of must have happened to cause such a significant change in Ichigo.
"Hmm, when I went to the Soul Society last time to pursue the Bounts, I received some guidance from Kyoya-senpai..."
"So it was him..."
Hearing Ichigo say this, Kisuke had a realization.
If there was anyone in this world whom Kisuke couldn't see through, Kyoya would definitely count as one.
Even Aizen… Kisuke could infer what he wanted to do through some of his actions.
But Kyoya was different.
In terms of strength, Kisuke could ascertain that Kyoya was not inferior in the slightest to Aizen.
In fact, at times, Kisuke could even sense Aizen's wariness towards Kyoya.
Furthermore, Kyoya seemed to have no pursuit of power and influence.
Even though he created the Revolutionary Army in the Rukongai of the Soul Society, bringing revolutionary changes to the Rukongai, he didn't rely on his status as the leader of the Rukongai to do anything outrageous.
In fact, he didn't even directly manage the Revolutionary Army himself, leaving everything to the Revolutionary Army's Chief of Staff, Koga.
It is said that even if Kyoya wanted to pass a certain resolution, it had to be approved by the Chief of Staff to be implemented.
From this point, Kisuke knew that the Revolutionary Army Kyoya formed was not a one-person rule like the Captain-Commander of the Gotei 13, but a power-separated organization similar to the Central 46.
He was restricting the power of the Revolutionary Army's Supreme Commander.
Well, it would be more accurate to say, Kyoya was restricting the power of future Revolutionary Army's Supreme Commanders.
In Kisuke's view, this was the power structure a healthy and vibrant organization should have.
The Seireitei controlled by the nobles of the Seireitei was like stagnant water.
Even the Gotei 13, if so many incidents hadn't occurred, would also be like stagnant water.
Once, Kisuke also didn't see anything wrong with the Seireitei.
But after fleeing to the Living World and witnessing with his own eyes the changes in the human world over the past century, he then knew what kind of existence the Seireitei truly was.
It could be said that the Soul Society remained unchanged for millions of years, thanks largely to the Seireitei and the nobles controlling it.
However, from the development of the human world, Kisuke could almost see the future of the human world.
He didn't know whether this world should continue existing unchanged for millions of years, or bloom like the most extreme flower in the human world, ending brilliantly like a firework.
In the end, Kisuke chose to be a bystander.
Of course, even so, Kisuke also made quite a few preparations for the future.
This world is rotten, but not all people deserve to die.
The mistakes of those people should not be paid for by all of humanity.