Before long, a purple-haired man in a soul reaper uniform, with a tall build and a Zanpakuto in hand, appeared at the end of the chaotic street.
This time, however, Ronan did not back down; instead, he used Sonido and charged forward.
"Whoosh!"
With a flash, Ronan appeared directly behind Ito Kai and thrust his sword.
Ito Kai parried with his sword, then counter-attacked with a downward slash aimed at Ronan's face.
Ronan used his core strength, leaned back to dodge the strike, and then took the opportunity to powerfully kick Ito Kai, pushing him back.
Immediately, his left hand rapidly fired dozens of black and red energy spheres, pulverizing the surrounding low-lying mud houses into dust—it was Cero! Faced with the barrage of Cero, Ito Kai used Shunpo repeatedly, moving so fast he became a blur.
In the next breath, the mud houses, which had been reduced to dust, returned to their original state, as this was Ito Kai's inner world, not the real Rukongai.
"Hado Number Four, White Lightning!"
Ito Kai pointed a finger, and a white bolt of lightning shot towards Ronan, who countered with another Cero to nullify it.
"Who said the Eleventh Division can't use Kido? This White Lightning is well-used!" Ronan muttered to himself.
"Clang, clang, clang!"
As Ronan and Ito Kai's Zanjutsu duel reached a fever pitch, both sustained various injuries, but the only difference was that Ito Kai's injuries accumulated, while Ronan's wounds were healed by Speed Regeneration as soon as they appeared.
Seeing that Zanjutsu alone couldn't defeat Ronan, Ito Kai quickly retreated, raised his Zanpakuto above his head, and shouted:
"Fight to the death, Kamikaze Maru!"
The long blade in his hand suddenly transformed into a dark, long spear wreathed in fierce winds, and he attacked Ronan once more.
"Hahahaha, well met!"
Ronan laughed aloud, flicked his Asauchi, and a surge of lightning power immediately attached itself to the blade, clashing with the long spear wreathed in fierce winds.
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!"
"Kamikaze Style One—Seven Blade Wind Kill!"
Ito Kai thrust his spear seven times in quick succession, and seven vortexes, like meat grinders, swept towards Ronan. Ronan, unafraid, swung his long blade, and after a thunderous roar, directly unleashed a massive lightning arc.
It was Thunderclap Slash!
The upgraded Thunderclap Slash was far more powerful than when he used it to kill the half-human snake Adjuchas, so it directly cut through the seven hurricanes.
"Pfft!"
The fierce and domineering lightning arc directly carved a deep, bone-visible wound on Ito Kai!
From his left shoulder down to his waist, it was bone-deep!
However, Ito Kai completely ignored this potentially fatal injury and continued to fight Ronan.
Yet, Ronan clearly felt that his opponent's speed had slowed down.
"Indeed, even in an inner world, injuries still affect one's condition."
"Kamikaze Style Two—Wind Dragon Roar!"
Ito Kai continuously wielded his long spear with both hands.
"Whoosh!"
Amidst the whistling winds, a dragon of fierce wind instantly formed. It charged furiously at Ronan, clearly Ito Kai's killing move.
Seeing this, Ronan held his blade horizontally, and at its tip, a wisp of black-red spiritual pressure intertwined with a dark golden lightning arc, instantly forming a black-red and dark golden energy sphere.
"Gran Rey Cero!"
The terrifying Gran Rey Cero, interwoven with two colors, shot towards the wind dragon as soon as Ronan's words fell.
This technique, Gran Rey Cero, was a new ability Ronan gained after becoming a Gillian. In the original work, only Espada-level Arrancar or Vasto Lorde-level Hollow could use Gran Rey Cero.
Yet, Ronan had mastered it naturally after becoming a Gillian.
The terrifying Gran Rey Cero effortlessly pierced through Ito Kai's wind dragon, reducing it to nothingness, and even Ito Kai, or rather Kamikaze Maru, vanished without a trace after taking this Gran Rey Cero head-on.
The moment he defeated Ito Kai, after a dizzying sensation, Ronan returned directly to the Human World.
After the second battle with Ito Kai, Ronan had a clear understanding of his current strength. His spiritual pressure was currently far superior to Ito Kai's, who was Vice-Captain level, but his combat skills and Zanjutsu were inferior to Ito Kai's.
It was precisely for this reason that he had fought Ito Kai for so long; if their skills were equal, Ito Kai would not have lasted more than a few rounds against him.
However, this was unavoidable. In his previous life, Ronan was just an office worker. Part of his combat skills came from his own exploration after becoming a Hollow, but the vast majority came from Ito Kai's memories. In other words, these were all imitations of Ito Kai, so naturally, he couldn't surpass the original.
"If only I could go to Soul Society for further training!"
However, as a Hollow, entering Soul Society would likely mean being attacked by everyone.
Lost in thought, Ronan suddenly had a flash of inspiration and thought of a way to infiltrate Soul Society!
...
Half a month later, somewhere in the Great Hollow Forest.
"You… a dignified Vasto Lord, not challenging Baraggan in Las Noches, but instead troubling me, an Adjuchas?"
An Adjuchas resembling a centaur spoke with indignation.
"I… was mistaken for a Vasto Lord again?"
But it was no wonder the centaur made the mistake; after all, what Gillian could directly defeat an Adjuchas with one strike?
Ronan smiled without speaking and swung his blade again, and the centaur Adjuchas could only die with regret.
Then, Ronan skillfully used Soul Eater to completely absorb this Adjuchas.
And it wasn't over yet. Immediately after absorbing the centaur Adjuchas, a small piece of the centipede armor connected to Ronan's mask on his back suddenly split off, and then the mask on his back wriggled and instantly returned to its original state.
As soon as the detached centipede piece hit the ground, it instantly enlarged, transforming in a blink of an eye into a Giant Hollow centipede ten meters long, with a stark white mask covering the front of its sharp mouthparts.
What Ronan had just used was the doppelganger ability he gained after becoming a Giant Hollow. Previously, due to his weaker strength, he had never used this ability until now.
The doppelganger created by this method shares one soul and one mind with the main body, sharing the same consciousness!
This doppelganger was created by Ronan using all the spiritual pressure of the centaur Adjuchas he had just devoured.
Ronan's main body and doppelganger looked at each other, staring blankly.
"This feeling of looking at myself is truly strange!"
Ronan sensed the spiritual pressure emanating from this doppelganger; it had definitely reached the level of an Adjuchas, with its spiritual pressure amounting to nearly twenty percent of the main body. In terms of total spiritual pressure, it was even stronger than Ronan before his promotion.
However, when creating the doppelganger, Ronan did not imbue it with special abilities like Flash Lightning and Camo to avoid depleting his main body's fundamental power.
Therefore, it did not possess special abilities fitting its characteristics like a normal Adjuchas; it only knew general skills like Sonido and Cero.
Thus, this doppelganger could only be considered a blank-slate Adjuchas, but that was enough.
Ronan's main body swiped his right hand across the void, and the previously calm void directly ripped open into an irregular large mouth, behind which was the ink-black Hueco Mundo.
Ronan's doppelganger leaped high and jumped directly into the Hueco Mundo, embarking on its journey to the Human World, and then the Hueco Mundo quickly closed.