CHAPTER 181: The Culling

Kazuya didn't break through Ggio's Hierro defense with the head-bashing, which he never intended in the first place. He continuously smashed Arrancar's head against the wall purely to vent his mounting frustration. The anger was directed at Espada and… himself for trusting in Visored to assist Shinigami during the crisis. He had sent Sung-Sun to request Visored's help, but they deliberately turned a blind eye to the matter.

Shinji didn't want to get involved despite harboring a great hatred for Aizen.

{Ungrateful bastards. And where did Yoruichi go?}

'She must've gone to Urahara after clearing the Kido spell around the zone.'

"Shinigami."

Hearing a powerful voice, Kazuya pulled Ggio out of the dirt and glanced around. Zommari was glaring down at him, unfiltered hatred flowing through him. Zommari had no sense of camaraderie with Ggio Vega or any other Arrancar for that matter, but he utterly despised Shinigami.

"I'd be damned if I let you kill an Espada before my eyes."

Zommari moved to engage Kazuya using his Sonído, which was only second to Ulquiorra among the current Espada. In an instant, he was behind Kazuya, his sword thrusting forward. The blade pierced through the back of Kazuya's Shinigami uniform.

"You may—" Zommari's words came to a pause and a look of shock flashed on his face. Kazuya's figure on the other end of his sword faded — he had been tricked into stabbing an afterimage.

He was completely embarrassed in a battle of speed.

Kazuya appeared nearly a hundred meters above him and joined his Shikai aspects into the whip sword version before placing it against Ggio's neck. His grip on Ggio's chin was so tight that the Arrancar couldn't swivel left or right.

Ggio blinked his wide eyes. Being oppressed to this degree wasn't something he expected even from a Captain-Class Shinigami. The academy student possessed absurd physical strength. But he had a trump card up his sleeve — his Resurrección. He clenched his jaw and spat out the words to release his complete power, "Bite—"

Kazuya pushed the sword a tad deeper, effortlessly slicing through Ggio's Hierro and drawing a crimson line across Ggio's throat. "Where is the other Vice-Captain?"

Ggio gritted his teeth. "We have nothing to do with her disappearance. She was taken by some masked girl."

"Describe her. What did her mask look like?"

"Black hair... She had black hair. And her mask, it was shaped like a diamond with two slits."

Ggio honestly answered every question. It hadn't been long since he became an Arrancar from an Adjuchas — he had so many unfulfilled goals.

Kazuya heaved a sigh of relief. "Why did you attack us?"

"That… I—"

Zommari glared furiously at Ggio. "Silence. You've disgraced yourself more than Menoly. I should cut you down myself."

Ggio raised his brows. "Fucking help me out or fuck off."

Kazuya couldn't help but chuckle. As expected of Espada, they turned on each other the moment things got tough. It was impossible for them to act as one unit in any given timeline. "Excellent team synergy."

Zommari pointed at Kazuya. "A man with your strength should feel ashamed of taking hostages."

"Huh? When did I say I was taking hostages?"

"Wait, wait, wait." Ggio grew panicked at the thought of death. "Don't—"

Kazuya silenced him with a hand over his mouth, forcing the whip sword deeper. Zommari once again tried to stop him with his high-speed movement. Having anticipated Zommari's actions, he used Shunpo ahead to reposition again and again, each instance digging his sword deeper into Ggio's throat.

Zommari could only watch with wide eyes as the blade cut through Ggio's flesh and bones and decapitated him. The headless body lost its footing and fell to the ground.

Kazuya raised Ggio's head in a moment of triumph before dropping it to the ground. Reversing his whip sword transformation, he made twin muskets and shot Rangiku, who was seemingly at death's door. Flames engulfed her body, weaving a cocoon around her. When the cocoon dissipated, all her injuries had been healed.

Her breathing reached an even pace, yet she showed no signs of waking up any time soon.

'The battle took its toll on her.'

Rangiku could've put up a great fight if not for the automatic seal placed on her by the Senkaimon. Even if she wasn't able to defeat these Arrancars, she most certainly wouldn't have received life-threatening injuries.

{Don't forget her soul is kind of incomplete after Aizen took that out of her.}

He reverted his muskets to the whip sword and pointed at Zommari. "You wanna talk now or do I have to kill more of your colleagues?"

He still couldn't get the full picture of Aizen's strategy at play. It was neither to kill Rangiku or Nanao nor was it to get Ulquiorra to kill him. Otherwise, Ulquiorra would've used his Resurrección from the get-go to finish the job. Ulquiorra was trying to assess him while stalling time for an unknown purpose.

"Damn you, you arrogant Shinigami," Zommari roared at the top of his lungs, his eyes ablaze with fury. "I'll make you pay for this."

Zommari finally lost his calm. He held his Zanpakutō horizontally before releasing his grip one finger at a time. Kazuya knew Zommari was performing the release of his Resurrección. Stopping Zommari was pointless, as any injury he received would be healed after the release. He also lacked the means to insta-kill Zommari without revealing his complete hand.

Shifting his attention to Loly and Toshiro's battle, he made a split-second decision. He flashstepped to Loly and stomped her arm. The force of the stomp shattered her centipede-like arm into brittle bone fragments, oozing a white, mucus-like fluid.

Loly's face contorted in agony and she unleashed a guttural scream. "Arghhh. You—fuck you!"

She swung her other arm in retaliation. But Kazuya was quicker. With a swift slash, he severed her arm at the base, then plunged his blade into her forehead.

Her single eye widened in shock before life drained from her. As he pulled the blade, she collapsed, motionless — dead.

Toshiro's face lit up with a relieved smile upon seeing Kazuya safe and sound. "Nii-san made a joke out of her. Our gap is like heaven and earth."

He had struggled alongside Rangiku against Loly, yet Kazuya had dispatched her effortlessly.

"Nii-san, where is Momo?"

"Don't worry about Momo. Take Rangiku and leave. I'll finish these idiots and meet up with you."

He couldn't let Zommari use Toshiro against him. It was better to face him alone.

"I see…" Toshiro reverted his Shikai transformation and sheathed his Zanpakutō. "There is something I should tell you. A girl wearing a mask took Vice-Captain Ise. She seemed to know the Vice-Captain, which is very odd."

Kazuya ruffled Toshiro's hair affectionately. "Got it. Now, hurry."

Toshiro nodded and departed with novice Shunpo skills. Kazuya refocused on Zommari. The Espada was now engulfed in a thick, white, foamy liquid, mixing in with his violet Reiatsu.

As the foam receded, Zommari's transformed figure was revealed — a grotesque form adorned with numerous eyes scattered across his body. His lower half resembled a pink, pumpkin-like structure, ringed by cyclopean faces echoing his own. A skull-shaped neck brace with an open eye on the front covered his neck.

...

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