"Lady Harribel is invincible!!!"
Inside Las Noches,
Sung-Sun, Mila Rose, and Apacci—all three of Harribel's Fracción—stared at the screen, their faces full of admiration.
From beginning to end, they had never once doubted.
Lady Harribel was bound to crush Hitsugaya Tōshirō. That much had never been in question!
"Heh heh…"
"Thanks to Lady Harribel…"
"Now, no other viewers will dare to underestimate Hueco Mundo again, right?"
Elsewhere, another Fracción, Lilynette, wriggled her flat-chested frame and grinned smugly.
"That's right…" said Starrk, nodding slightly at her side. "Right now it's obvious the difference is overwhelming! Their spiritual pressure isn't even in the same league."
As he spoke, Starrk's eyes lit with interest.
"Unless that Zanpakutō—Hyōrinmaru—still has an even greater hidden ability…"
"Otherwise… his Bankai is doomed to be completely overpowered!!!"
In truth, Starrk had little real interest in battles between Shinigami and Arrancar. He had always disliked killing—despite being Primera Espada.
But at this moment, what did catch his attention…
Was how far Hyōrinmaru could go when pushed to its limits in a life-or-death fight.
As the Zanpakutō being featured in this round, surely the video would not let it end in disappointment?
And indeed—
Just as Starrk thought this, the footage shifted again, a brand-new battle scene revealed itself:
"BOOOOM!!!"
Thunder rumbled.
Above Karakura Town, black clouds rolled and swirled.
Now, the cloud layer boiled, lightning roaring inside, the storm looking as if it might split the heavens themselves.
"?!"
"What's happening…"
"Why does it feel like the weather itself is being seized, ready to spiral into chaos?"
The moment they saw it, the audience realized something was very wrong.
This wasn't just a simple storm.
It was as if some powerful force was ruling the entire sky!
"It's because of Hyōrinmaru, isn't it?"
In the real world, Hitsugaya's turquoise eyes went wide.
"They're seeing it… Tenmon Sōrin (Heaven's Phenomena Manifest)… Hyōrinmaru's most fundamental ability, and also its greatest strength!"
"When fully unleashed, the entire sky—every drop of moisture in the air—falls under Hyōrinmaru's command!!!"
By the end, his eyes were burning with anticipation.
He realized—
In the future, he wasn't defeated by Harribel after all!
On the contrary…
Through sheer willpower—
And through his development of Hyōrinmaru's abilities—
This scene was showing the prelude to his ultimate technique!
Which meant…
The fight wasn't decided yet!
The outcome was still unknown!
With a brand-new trump card, maybe… just maybe… his future self would turn the tables completely!!!
"A brand-new technique, huh?"
Matsumoto Rangiku's eyes shimmered, and she smiled with that warm, almost maternal grin.
"Future you… you've really grown up."
"At last, you haven't let Captain Shiba's expectations go to waste!!!"
———
Meanwhile, on screen—
"BOOOOM!!!"
Wings of ice beat, blotting out the sky.
Hitsugaya's figure stood proud beneath the storming heavens. Though his body was already covered in wounds…
It was different from before!
His aura now burned brighter than ever. His presence had merged with the weather itself, becoming one with the storm around him!
Just as his real-world self had said—
When Hyōrinmaru's power was fully unleashed…
Dominating the sky, seizing control of the climate itself… was when Hyōrinmaru shone brightest!
And the footage was clearly heading in that very direction!
"Hm?"
"Something's wrong! This brat has changed!"
Inside Las Noches, Nnoitra frowned.
He suddenly noticed that Hitsugaya's icy wings had swelled massively, swollen with the moisture of the air around them.
Now they looked enormous, blotting out the light with oppressive might.
And with them came a cold…
A cold deeper than ever before.
A chill that scraped the edge of absolute zero, pouring through the screen, plunging Las Noches itself into freezing temperatures—like a giant ice cellar!
That was what infuriated Nnoitra most.
"Hmm…"
"A comeback under pressure, is it?"
"Cheap tricks like that… you see them all the time from weaklings."
Baraggan did not so much as flinch.
Even as the glacial winds scoured his skeletal frame, he stayed seated, arrogant as ever.
But even so…
Even Baraggan had to admit, the freezing cold was uncomfortable.
Yet in his eyes…
Mere willpower and fighting spirit would never be enough to bridge such a gap in spiritual power.
If it were really that easy…
Hueco Mundo wouldn't have been drowned in endless slaughter for countless ages.
———
And then—
On screen, with his power at its peak…
Hitsugaya's eyes blazed with determination as he exhaled frost.
"Espada…"
"Let me tell you this: my Zanpakutō—Hyōrinmaru—is the strongest ice-type Zanpakutō in existence!"
"In battle, no matter the place or time, every ounce of moisture in the air… can be turned into Hyōrinmaru's weapon!"
Compared to earlier, this Hitsugaya radiated confidence.
At last, his presence matched Harribel's, equal in sheer might!
"And what of it?"
Harribel's golden hair whipped in the icy winds, her emerald eyes cold and unyielding.
She raised her massive, shark-toothed blade, heat waves coiling around her body, clashing against the frozen air.
"You don't realize, do you?"
"This sky—all the water in it—has already fallen completely under my dominion!!!"
Hitsugaya's shout rang out.
His white figure exploded with power, a pillar of spiritual pressure piercing straight into the heavens.
"BOOOOM!!!"
A pillar of white light streaked skyward, bursting through the storm clouds.
As the heavens split, the upper sky began to freeze, ice crystals forming endlessly…
"Ice Flower Burial—!!!"
A brand-new ultimate attack revealed itself.
The camera pulled back, showing the battlefield from above.
The clouds themselves had been seeded with a billion glittering blossoms of ice.
They spread and multiplied, until the whole screen was filled with ice-flowers raining down from the heavens!
A sight so vast and dreadful…
It was as if the audience themselves stood beneath a world-ending storm.
As if even as viewers, they were about to be annihilated by this frozen apocalypse!
And in that instant—
The audience erupted in awe once again!!!
———
(End of Chapter)
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[[email protected]/Zukooo]
[Thanks for your support!]