While Harribel and Kirifune were having an intense face-off, somewhere else on the battlefield, what seemed to be streaks of red and green could be seen clashing in the air.
Blood sprayed everywhere.
On a good note, it wasn't Ulquiorra's blood—it was the blood of Tenjirō Kirinji.
The man ignored the pain, using his advanced Kaidō to heal the wound on his chest without putting much attention behind it.
Then, before the man could even react, or blink, Ulquiorra launched one of his Cero Spear at him.
The spear moved at speeds comparable to light, if not multiple times faster.
KABBOOM!
The sky cracked from the force of the explosion.
He was already in his Segunda Etapa form—well, it was a requirement considering who he was fighting.
If this were Starrk, he could handle it in his regular Resurrección, but this wasn't Starrk.
So Segunda Etapa it was.
Since the fight had started roughly ten minutes ago, he hadn't uttered a single sentence—for good reason.
A very simple reason.
He had no need to.
His sheer power spoke for him.
Tenjirō rolled his shoulders, exhaling through his nose.
"Tch. You're a tough bastard." He spat to the side, Kaidō flowing through his muscles, boosting his regeneration. "Didn't think a Hollow could keep up with me. Guess I was wrong."
Hm. Seemed like the Hollow race was being heavily underestimated. Were the Shinigami growing complacent, that their elite force was struggling against them?
No bother—he would put an end to this farce.
Then—
He was gone.
Tenjirō barely had time to react before Ulquiorra appeared in front of him, a Cero Oscuras charging in his palm.
BOOOOM!
The explosion ripped through the battlefield, shockwaves flattening buildings. The man once again began doing the thing he was best at:
Spamming Kaidō spells to remain alive.
The Ōken in his bones refused to listen to him, and the more he fought Ulquiorra, the less it seemed like it wanted to listen to him at all.
The man needed a plan...
When the smoke cleared—
Tenjirō stood there, burned, bloodied—
But grinning.
"That all you got?" he sneered. His body was already mending, flesh stitching itself back together.
Ulquiorra tilted his head slightly.
"Regeneration?" Ulquiorra's curiosity seemed to have been mildly piqued—but that was about it. He could heal faster than that.
Out of all the Hollows (excluding Gabriel), his regeneration was top-tier. Might even be the best.
Ulquiorra and the man began clashing over and over again. The man's blade glowed brightly, causing Ulquiorra to slightly squint—he couldn't see in all of that light.
SLASH
Blood spurted out of Ulquiorra's body like crazy.
The man had already put a safe distance between them... Hm, he sees. So relying on his sight was a no-go.
"Give up. You will not win this."
SPLASH
The man watched as Ulquiorra crushed his own eyes with his bare hand.
"If your weapon is to blind, I shall simply get rid of my eyes."
How the fuck can he—
BZZZT—BOOM!
Ulquiorra appeared behind the man, slashing him with his blade.
Blood dripped down the man's back.
Yet the man didn't give up. Using his Zanpakutō, he summoned what seemed to be a red liquid—
Which replenished all the blood his body had lost in that clash.
Hm.
Ulquiorra could "see" that. Due to His Majesty's training, to become a Horseman, one must be strong—as in hella strong.
As in "solo the majority of the Seven Deadly Sins if they jumped you" kind of strong.
Meaning every stat was busted. All of this to say: due to intense training of his senses, he could see the shape of someone's soul with his eyes closed—and had access to some form of echolocation.
No biggie, really.
When the man sent steaming hot water toward Ulquiorra, the Hollow just blocked it with his authority.
Raising his hand, the shadows beneath him rushed forward and clashed with the water.
He's absorbing the water? the man noted as he watched how the water interacted with the shadow.
The man tried to Shunpo away, but—
BZZZT—BOOM!
SHRLIC!
Blood splashed everywhere.
The man tried to use Kaidō to heal his wounds—but Kaidō wasn't activating. As if this wound couldn't be healed by Kaidō.
Unless the man had some sort of time-rewind ability, he wouldn't be able to rid himself of this water.
Hm. So every ounce of damage he took counted. Well...
"Do not despair. The fight has only begun," Ulquiorra said in his nihilistic voice.
"Hehehe... hahaha..." The man laughed as if he'd heard a funny joke.
"Me... despair? Because of a Hollow?" The man gripped his sword tighter.
"I am Tenjirō Kirinji, the creator of Kaidō, and I'll be damned if I'm defeated here. The mere fact that I challenged you means I was confident I'd win..."
Hm. Ulquiorra listened to the yap.
"Hm. Since the Ōken is weakened... using my Bankai will not break the Three Realms. Good. Hollow, what is your name?"
"Ulquiorra Cifer."
"Good. I will remember it—when I send you to Hell."
Okay.
"Bankai..."
Ulquiorra's eyes showed zero emotion as the entirety of the Seireitei began shaking—the third Squad Zero member had now unleashed their Bankai.
Three now... Hikifune had released hers as well. The realms seemed to be holding up pretty well.
Hm.
Tapping on his ring, Ulquiorra watched as the death-skull emblem began to grow, before the ring fused with his body. The ring became an orb, which now resided in his Hollow hole—right in the center of his chest.
Four wings erupted from his back. His black hair turned white. His sclera turned green while his irises became golden-yellow.
What seemed to be a broken angel halo appeared above his head, his tails now containing flickering flames... flames of his Authority.
He looked like a fallen angel.
An Angel... of Death.
A/N Vote with powerstone.