Of course, it wasn't just the Shinigami captains.
Inside Las Noches, the Hollows and Arrancar—though they didn't particularly enjoy pounding away at a keyboard to send live comments, thanks to their personalities—still couldn't help themselves when it came to mocking.
Every single member of the Arrancar army had the same thought about Sengoku's performance just now:
He looked exactly like a washed-up traitor who couldn't carry his own weight.
It was downright pathetic!!!
"Seriously?" Starrk frowned. Even with his mild, easygoing temperament, he couldn't hold it in anymore. He questioned bluntly, "This is the strength of the Navy's leader?"
"This is obviously unworthy of the title 'Fleet Admiral'!!!"
Starrk was speechless.
His expression was full of disappointment.
A flicker of helplessness passed through his eyes.
After all—
As the Primera Espada, the strongest among the Arrancar and the Espada…
Starrk had originally assumed Sengoku's power would be on a similar level. Even if it wasn't absolute suppression, at the very least, Sengoku's combat display should have been formidable, right?
But this?
Not even close.
That golden Buddha form was atrociously weak. That palm strike, fueled by rage—he clearly threw his full strength into it.
And yet…
When it slammed down on Luffy—
It was like he was smacking a hot-air balloon.
Luffy bounced it off effortlessly.
What made Starrk even more exasperated was this:
From start to finish, on Luffy's side, at most he got a little help from Mr. 3—just enough to rig up a layer of wax barriers as a precaution.
Meaning what?
It was basically Luffy alone—
Standing there and tanking Sengoku's attack head-on.
And the whole process looked absurdly easy to any outside observer.
It was like Sengoku was doing nothing but scratching at him.
Honestly, it was hard to even watch.
"Heh." Grimmjow shoved both hands into his pockets and bared his teeth in a sneer. "Looks like we overestimated the fighting power over there."
"So-called Navy? That's all? Even their Fleet Admiral is trash. The rest of them must be even more worthless, huh?"
Like everyone else, Grimmjow had subconsciously believed the Fleet Admiral's combat power would be among the absolute strongest in that faction.
So after watching that clip, he was just as disgusted.
That's it?
Garbage.
Not even fit to carry his shoes.
More importantly—after five straight rounds of watching and evaluating from the very beginning—Grimmjow had already judged Luffy's current approximate strength.
He wasn't even at Espada level.
If you dropped him into Hueco Mundo, he wouldn't qualify as a top-tier powerhouse at all.
And someone like that—even if Grimmjow didn't use Resurrección, didn't even bother "releasing" his blade—
He could still kill him in three swings.
Carve him apart. Split him open.
So if even a "trash" Luffy was basically shrugging Sengoku off like that…
Then no wonder Grimmjow looked down on him and thought Sengoku was weak.
Someone that pathetic had no business being the leader of a massive faction.
"Tch."
"What a shame. Us Espada—and the Arrancar army—can't cross over right now."
"Otherwise, if we could descend into that pirate world… slaughtering our way through it would be effortless."
Nnoitra said it with a savage grin.
Among the Espada, his temperament was easily the coldest and most violent—bar none.
If the "Holy Cry Mantis" ever got a chance—
If he had any way to cross over to the pirate world…
Then massacring the Navy—or pirates—was inevitable.
Unfortunately…
As mere spectators,
whether it was Nnoitra or any of the other Espada and Arrancar, none of them had the right to cross over.
So even if they despised that side and were convinced every so-called strong fighter in the pirate world was garbage—
For now, all Nnoitra could do…
was mock them from afar, and spit a few lines through the screen.
At that moment—
Over by the throne, the Aizen trio also began discussing what they had just seen.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk…"
"Lord Aizen, if I'm not mistaken, you're just as disappointed in Sengoku's strength as the Espada are, aren't you?"
Gin Ichimaru narrowed his eyes and looked up toward the throne as he spoke.
"Gin…"
"Why ask something you already know?"
Aizen lifted his gaze. His handsome face remained emotionless as he said coolly, "That Straw Hat boy's combat power, across the whole pirate faction, likely isn't particularly outstanding."
"And on that battlefield, there are plenty of fighters stronger than him."
"Even so, the damage caused by the Fleet Admiral's all-out strike was only… that much."
"It truly disgraces his 'status' and his reputation."
Aizen's tone was cold.
As he evaluated Sengoku, there wasn't the slightest ripple of emotion in his eyes.
Clearly—
After that reveal, Aizen's view shifted instantly.
In his mind, Sengoku had already been judged a weakling.
(End of Chapter)
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