Starting with Naruto, I'll become stronger through my own efforts.

Chapter 440 Halibel VS Retsu Unohana

Unohana Retsu appeared next to Natsusa at some unknown time.

She asked gently, "This Arrancar's strength is just so-so, why don't you take her down yourself?"

Xia Zuo curled his lip and said, "There's no way around it. This female Arrancar's appearance after releasing her Zanpakuto is too terrible. Her clothes are as revealing as her subordinates', but her strength is much greater. She won't be so easy to deal with."

"If we get into a close fight and there's any close contact, that would be so embarrassing."

"I have to consider Sister Hua's feelings—"

Unohana Retsu blushed almost imperceptibly: "You mean, you can do whatever you want just because I'm not here?"

Xia Zuo quickly explained, "If Sister Hua isn't here, I'll have no choice but to bite the bullet and go. I can't just watch Rangiku and the others get killed."

"At worst, I'll just go back and kneel before Sister Hua."

Unohana Retsu was both annoyed and amused, but in the end she couldn't help but laugh and said, "Alright, go ahead, Yumichika can't stop Ichimaru Gin."

"You blocked the monster's attack on Hinamori Momo, but you didn't block its attack on Rangiku, and it got angry."

Xia Zuo didn't take it seriously: "Yumichika isn't that weak, and Ichimaru Gin isn't that ruthless. I'm not worried at all."

Unohana Retsu pointed, smiling but saying nothing.

Xia Zuo turned his head in confusion, then ran to the rescue yelling, "Stop! If you keep hitting Yumichi's face, it'll break!"

Unohana Retsu suddenly felt very happy, and smiled with her eyes crinkling.

Halibel scoffed, "What are you laughing at?"

Retsu Unohana laughed and replied, "Of course I laughed because someone likes me. Are you jealous?"

Halibel raised her weapon: "Hmph, a man can make you laugh like this, what a shallow woman."

Before she finished speaking, her figure transformed into a streak of light, approaching Unohana Retsu with lightning speed.

Almost instantly, the unusually large weapon was only inches away from Unohana Retsu's neck.

Unohana Retsu remained unfazed, her smile unchanged, her hands still hanging in front of her. While using [Instant Step], she could also smoothly change her footwork, effortlessly dodging the swift attack without the slightest hint of blunder.

Just as the enemy's weapon was only 3 centimeters away from her eyelashes, Sister Hua turned her right hand and the Zanpakuto appeared in her hand as if by magic.

The blade flashed and struck, striking Halibel's weapon with a series of soft, tinkling sounds, like raindrops hitting banana leaves.

The third-ranked Espada felt a tingling sensation in his arm, like being electrocuted, which quickly spread upwards from his arm and soon past his shoulder.

Halibel was startled and quickly sheathed his weapon and retreated.

Unohana Retsu drew a perfect circle with her longsword, smoothly transitioning from a point strike to a sweeping strike, slashing upwards at Halibel's weapon, which he was just about to retract.

Ding! !

The blade touched the massive weapon, deflecting the force of Halibel's recovery. She immediately sensed a tremendous force approaching, and the weapon in her hand involuntarily rose upwards, almost slipping from her grasp.

If the weapon hadn't twisted on its own, dissipating a small portion of the kinetic energy from the shockwave, it would have been lost, and might even have broken her wrist in the process.

It was only then that Retsu Unohana finally realized that the weapon in Halibel's hand was actually a greatsword with shark gill patterns inside the hilt, possessing the characteristic of being alive.

She looked at it curiously for a few more seconds, then laughed and said, "What an interesting sword, and it's quite useful too."

In this brief exchange, Hribel was clearly at a disadvantage.

Unohana Retsu's calm and skillful response made her clearly aware that she was no match for him, and she was filled with vigilance.

Recalling the feeling of being repelled just now, Halibel muttered, "How is this possible? A swordsman who combines strength, speed, and skill all in one, how can there be such a monster?"

However, just as she was slightly distracted by her thoughts, Unohana Retsu suddenly stepped forward, her long sword flashing like a cold, silvery light as she swung it down with one hand.

In terms of swordsmanship, slashing with a knife in one hand is actually more powerful than slashing with two hands, and can better utilize centrifugal force to easily sever tendons and bones.

The only problem is that once you start a chopping motion, you can only chop to the end; it has an innate, unstoppable momentum.

On the contrary, holding the knife with both hands allows for more flexible control of the blade by utilizing the lever principle of both hands, enabling more flexible application of techniques.

The problem was that Unohana's timing for her slash was perfect, giving Halibel no room to dodge. She could only raise her greatsword to parry.

clang!!!

Because Helibel had hastily raised her sword, lacking strength and preparation, and with an unstable center of gravity, she barely managed to block the long blade, nearly falling to her knees.

Just as the blond Hollow was shocked by the enemy's strength, Unohana Retsu said softly, "Only those who possess speed, strength, and skill can be considered qualified swordsmen."

Helibel was taken aback by what she said, and the next second, the long sword that she had blocked disappeared.

Then, an incomparably dazzling sword light burst forth before her eyes, like fireworks exploding in a spectacular display.

Halibel's eyes were blinded by a bright light, and he almost instinctively closed them.

"So fast!"

As the dazzling light fell, Halibel could only hold the shark greatsword in front of him, pouring his spiritual pressure into the greatsword, and then, with the help of the greatsword's special structure, he suddenly detonated his spiritual pressure, forming a huge spiritual pressure shield.

Thump!

Unohana Retsu adapted quickly, gathering her fireworks and returning them to her Zanpakuto. Then, she lunged forward and thrust her sword heavily into the spiritual pressure shield.

The immense force pierced through the shield and struck Halibel directly, causing her to lose her footing and retreat more than a hundred meters away.

After she stopped, she looked at Retsu Unohana, still in shock, finding it hard to believe that she could actually deliver such a powerful and skillful sword strike.

What she found even more unacceptable was that Retsu Unohana hadn't even used her spiritual pressure to defeat her, a Resurrected Arrancar.

This completely overturned Halibel's common sense, and the feeling of having her worldview shattered tormented her to the point of despair.

But Retsu Unohana was not satisfied with her results: "Well, well, without using Shikai, I'm still not as good as Natsume, but with both of us using Shikai, he's even better."

"This is troublesome. It's a bit troublesome to fall in love with a younger brother you can't beat. Sister Hua, I want to be pampered by a little man, but I don't want to pamper a man."

"Forget it, let's deal with this glamorous blonde first."

"Unleash your power, Minashizuki!"

Unohana Retsu's Zanpakuto remained unchanged, but her spiritual pressure suddenly increased to a level beyond Halibel's common sense. How could the spiritual pressure of a Shinigami in Shikai be so strong?

Okay, she's just ignorant. Kenpachi Zaraki doesn't even need to use his Shikai to unleash a spiritual pressure stronger than Retsu Unohana.

But the Arrancar quickly forgot about the spiritual pressure. She stared wide-eyed at Unohana Retsu, whose braids were once again blown open by the spiritual pressure, her gentle image completely destroyed.

Only then did she realize that the gentleness of the female Shinigami before her was all a lie; the bloodthirst and brutality she was now displaying were unparalleled in the entire Hueco Mundo.

Halibel was completely dumbfounded and blurted out instinctively, "Are you Shinigami all monsters?"

"A monster? Perhaps—" Unohana Retsu's eyes gradually turned bloodshot, and her spiritual pressure slowly took on a bloody smell.

"If the Grim Reaper isn't a monster, how can he suppress Hueco Mundo, control the three realms, and remain the overlord for thousands of years?"

"You Hollows may seem powerful and arrogant, but what's the difference between you and rats in a gutter?"

"Feel the power of death!"

Faced with the attacking Unohana Retsu, Halibel was terrified and immediately raised his sword to aim.

"Senshiku!"

The shark-like gills of the giant shark sword generated waves, and the water jets shot out at high speed like cannonballs.

In a short moment, dozens of water cannonballs formed a barrage, bombarding Unohana Retsu and creating a wall of water bullets in front of her.

"Hehe, that's a pretty interesting little trick."

Unohana Retsu maintained her speed and charged into the wall of water bullets with her sword. With a flick of her wrist, Nikushizuki spun like a swiftly dancing bee, weaving a net of swords in the blink of an eye.

The silvery-white sword net swept forward lightly, shattering the wall of water bullets that blocked Unohana Retsu's path, reducing it to harmless splashes of water.

As Unohana Retsu passed through the splashing water, Nikushizuki continued weaving her sword net, brushing aside every drop of water in her path.

As she wielded her longsword, Retsu Unohana skillfully channeled her sword energy into the water droplets, creating tiny water swords that rained down on Halibel like a storm.

"What?"

Caught off guard, Halibel, who was preparing his ultimate attack, was unable to cope with the torrential rain of water swords. He could only unleash spiritual pressure from his feet and use [Seigen] repeatedly to retreat frantically.

But the small water sword was still faster. Faced with the water sword pressing against his face, Halibel could not dodge. He could only raise the greatsword in his hand, unleash the spiritual pressure accumulated within, and temporarily turn his attack into a shield.

The sturdy greatsword, combined with the burst of spiritual pressure, blocked the water sword that Egg Flower Retsu had wielded.

However, the body, which is not protected by double protection, especially the exposed limbs, suffers greatly.

Under the barrage of water swords, the white armor was covered with tiny sword marks, while the unarmored body was riddled with cuts, from which drops of blood seeped out.

In the blink of an eye, Halibel's snow-white skin and armor were stained blood red, making him look extremely pitiful.

However, these injuries only look terrible; they are not actually serious and will not affect combat ability.

Halibel gritted his teeth and endured the pain, using [Sound Resonance] to quickly ascend into the sky, once again pouring immense spiritual pressure into the raised sword.

After a brief moment of charging, a large amount of water gushed out from the shark's gill patterns and condensed together to form an extremely thick column of water.

"Broken waterfall!!!"

The water column continued to expand, eventually transforming into a waterfall cascading from the sky.

The magnificent waterfall flows like a cascading Milky Way, fierce and seemingly endless.

This time, Retsu Unohana didn't block it head-on, but instead used Shunpo to dodge from the side, letting the surging water crash into the ground.

Boom—

The Skyfall has a very strong impact, directly creating a large hole in the ground. The surging waves wash away the soil, forming mudslides that sweep in all directions like a mudslide.

Huge and fierce waves flattened all the surrounding protrusions and submerged large areas of open space.

After a long time, the Sky Waterfall disappeared completely, the roar of the water dragon also stopped, and the city submerged by the waves slowly revealed the spires of its tall buildings.

With a single move, Halibel created a vast swamp, leaving behind thick layers of silt and debris, turning the entire battlefield into a complete mess.

Retsu Unohana stood on the water's surface, combing her water-soaked hair with both hands while looking up at the panting Halibel.

Her gaze was intense as she said, "Your spiritual pressure has dropped significantly. It seems this move has put a lot of strain on you."

"But I really don't understand, what's the point of creating a watery environment that consumes so much spiritual energy when the water flow can't even hit a strong opponent of the same level?"

"Could this be a prerequisite for your later combat techniques?"

Herlibel's breathing gradually subsided, but she did not speak, and even seemed to be in a state of bewilderment as if she had been awakened by the Flower of Eggs.

"Tsk, it seems there really are no follow-up combat techniques." Unohana Retsu shook her head in disappointment: "To rashly change the battlefield environment without any preparation is truly disappointing."

"In that case, I have a general idea of ​​your strength."

"Your Zanpakuto's ability to manipulate water is indeed impressive, but water requires a massive amount to overwhelm the enemy, and your spiritual pressure is far from sufficient."

"It either relies on highly condensed water or the cutting power of high-speed jets of water, and you seem to be completely unaware of these two types of water force."

Retsu Unohana said seriously, "With your abilities, you're better suited to cutting through high-speed water currents. You should focus on training in pressurization and hydraulics, and combine that with your unpredictable and versatile application techniques. That should get me serious!"

Helibel was taken aback by what she said; Unohana Retsu's tone made it sound as if she were giving him a lecture.

What angered her even more was that she was too ashamed to refute him. She genuinely believed that what he said was right and that he had pointed her to a bright future.

Seeing that she was listening attentively, Retsu Unohana couldn't help but laugh: "However, being able to listen to other people's advice is better than that complete idiot who could only 'oh oh oh oh' earlier."

Her smile grew increasingly savage and bloodthirsty.

"I'm sorry, I don't know your name yet, but it doesn't matter."

"Seeing you use your ability reminded me of a sword technique, and I'd like to invite you, the source of my inspiration, to experience it."

"If you survive, tell me your name."

Unohana Retsu closed her eyes, listening to the roaring waves below, her spiritual pressure steadily increasing.

The next moment, she suddenly raised her fleshy scabbard, and the immense spiritual pressure stirred up endless seawater, which formed a manta ray that rose majestically from the surface.

【Sea Vortex Manta Ray】