Kidō has a dividing point between numbers 89 and 90.
Below number 89, though still in the high-level Hadō category, their power and casting difficulty are far lower than Kidō numbered 90 and above.
This can be seen from the effect of Bakudō #81: Dankū.
Dankū can block all Kidō numbered 89 and below, but against Kidō above that level, it becomes utterly useless.
The reason Shigure chose to attack Nnoitra with Flying Dragon-Striking Heaven-Shaking Thunder Cannon was to judge just how strong Nnoitra's Hierro could be.
Though the result surprised him somewhat, it was only surprise.
Because Shigure had already discovered that compared to his own Hierro enhanced by Annihilation Reiatsu, Nnoitra's was completely worthless.
At this level, he still didn't need to draw his Zanpakutō.
A fully incanted Hadō #90: Black Coffin... would be enough to crush him.
As Shigure's incantation proceeded, Nnoitra naturally sensed something was wrong. He tried to move his feet and charge forward to attack Shigure.
But...
Why... why couldn't his feet move...?
He wanted to raise his scythe, but... why... why was this feeling of powerlessness appearing in his heart...?
Feeling the heavy spiritual power flowing from Shigure's palm, cold sweat appeared on Nnoitra's face for the first time. His body went completely rigid.
Only now did he realize that Shigure before... hadn't used his full power at all!
Move... move... MOVE!!
Nnoitra clenched his teeth. Whether from anxiety or fear, his facial expression gradually became twisted.
"BANG!"
He finally moved his legs. Air currents exploded beneath his feet as he swung his scythe and charged toward Shigure.
But at that moment, Shigure's incantation had also finished.
He opened his palm. The black current instantly disappeared from his hand.
The next moment, silent black walls suddenly began appearing in front of Nnoitra.
Like automatically assembling puzzle pieces, they quickly gathered, touched, and closed together. The instant they closed, they immediately solidified into thick, solid walls.
Then the same black walls appeared in all six directions around him—up, down, left, right, front, and back—forming a rectangular box to surround him.
Nnoitra still clenched his teeth, using all his strength to swing his scythe and try to break through the wall in front of him to escape.
But the moment he swung his scythe, his entire arm suddenly snapped off!
"?!"
Intense pain hit him. His crescent scythe fell to the ground along with his severed arm.
Nnoitra's breathing stopped. Before he could react, massive crushing and tearing sensations hit every part of his body simultaneously.
Unlike when Shigure used spiritual pressure before, this time the tearing sensation was amplified more than tenfold!
He struggled to lift his eyes, looking ahead in terror.
In the instant before the black walls solidified, through that gap, Nnoitra clearly saw—
From beginning to end, Shigure's expression hadn't changed at all. Calm as a breeze.
From catching the crescent scythes, to deflecting the Cero, to releasing Kidō—his expression was like a frozen lake.
At this moment, Nnoitra's heart sank heavily.
The pain transmitted through his soul made him truly feel for the first time what "death" meant for him right now—
Despair.
The Black Coffin completely closed. Gravity-flowing black swords instantly pierced through Nnoitra's entire body.
BOOM!
The moment the thunderous sound rang out, Nnoitra's spiritual pressure began rapidly weakening.
Shigure gently lowered his hand and dispersed his spiritual pressure. The Black Coffin in front began to disappear.
The revealed Nnoitra was covered in wounds and blood. Before Shigure's Black Coffin, his Hierro had become utterly useless.
His gaze had completely dimmed, losing all signs of life.
But even so, he used four scythes to prop up his body, refusing to fall.
Shigure merely glanced briefly, his heart unmoved.
"So the next target is..."
As Shigure pondered, he again expanded his Resonance Vision's range.
During battle, he generally chose to narrow his Resonance Vision's range slightly to most accurately judge the situation around himself.
But now he needed to find his path, so naturally he needed full range.
However, the moment his Resonance Vision expanded, Shigure paused slightly, seeing two somewhat unexpected scenes.
The first scene was far to his direct south—
There, Seventh Espada Zommari and Soi Fon were steadily approaching each other.
Tōshirō had already reunited with Soi Fon and seemed to be looking for a path too. But probably before long, they would engage Zommari in battle.
That position was quite far from Shigure, spanning almost the entire labyrinth.
The second scene was slightly closer, to his southwest.
However, seeing it truly surprised Shigure.
The Arrancar there was Eighth Espada Szayelaporro.
And at that moment, three strange figures that had never appeared before stood in front of him.
The left figure had a huge face and robust body. The right figure was the complete opposite—extremely thin.
Though their forms could vaguely be seen as humanoid, they all had Hollow features.
Between them was the figure of a very small girl.
She wore somewhat oversized and tattered green clothing. Her green short hair contrasted with the white skull mask on her head.
"So it's actually them..."
The moment he saw them, Shigure recognized them without doubt.
This was Nel in child form, along with her two subordinate officers, Pesche and Dondochakka.
Somehow they had entered the Moonlight Butterfly's labyrinth and encountered Eighth Espada Szayelaporro.
Shigure pondered briefly. After observing the situations in both locations, he stepped left without hesitation.
Since Szayelaporro was closer to him, naturally it was better to deal with him first.
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