You are very strong, but my painting style is better than yours!

Seeing the trajectory of the sand, the Fifth Division Captain's pupils contracted, realizing that he had encountered a formidable enemy today, and might even perish here... but he went without hesitation!

We must hold out until the other captains arrive; only a combined attack can defeat this Hollow!

"Purple Lightning Roar!"

With a loud shout, the expanding spiritual pressure created a chaotic current, like an angry beast tearing through the atmosphere, trying to engulf the enemy, but it was not enough to destroy the entire street!

However, the lone wolf didn't make many moves in the face of this formidable attack, only waving his hand forward as the lightning struck—

Bang!

The lightning bolts dissipated like fireworks, leaving only a few dancing on the Lone Wolf's palm. With a casual flick of his wrist, this last wisp of spiritual pressure was completely annihilated.

"In that case!"

Zheng Yuan was not intimidated and further mobilized his spiritual power: "Bankai—"

"stop."

At this critical moment, a faint voice rang out, followed by a spiritual pressure fluctuation that was both extremely familiar and extremely unfamiliar to Zheng Yuan.

The reason I say they are familiar is because they are from the commander-in-chief of this expeditionary force, Aizen Iori. The two have different personalities but are like-minded and have a pretty good relationship.

The unfamiliarity stemmed from the unimaginable sense of oppression—

"Varied!"

Caught off guard, Seigen nearly collapsed to his knees, instinctively plunging his Zanpakuto into the sand. He then felt a faint tremor emanating from his hand—

The sand and gravel suddenly began to jump wildly for no apparent reason, causing the blade to tremble faintly!

His subordinates were even worse off than him. Even the vice-captain couldn't control his body and knelt down as if all his strength had given out. Their Zanpakuto trembled, whether from excitement or fear, it was hard to tell...

"This spiritual pressure... is good!"

Before he could even marvel at Iori's incredible strength, Zheng Yuan was preoccupied with the fact that things had taken a turn for the better. While the Lone Wolf Hollow was indeed powerful, with Iori and him joining forces, they could surely eliminate this formidable enemy!

Sure enough, the next moment Iori instantly moved to the center of the battlefield, separating the Lone Wolf from the Grim Reaper's confrontation.

But to Zheng Yuan's surprise, Iori immediately said, "Captain Zhu Shiba, please take your men and leave. I'll take care of this Xu."

"What did you say?"

Zheng Yuan's eyes widened, full of confusion: "Why? I'm not a coward who would desert in the face of battle, and neither are they!"

"Correct!"

"Lord Aizen, let us stay and fight alongside you!"

"Nonsense!"

Iori coldly rebuked, his gaze sweeping over the team members who could barely stand: "Courage and recklessness are two different things!"

Everyone has their own mission and role; one does not necessarily have to die to gain glory.

Here, your strength is insignificant, like dust, but elsewhere, it might become a pillar supporting the overall situation. Truly courageous people know how to use their strength.

Are your lives so worthless?!

"Well!"

"team leader……"

"us……"

After Iori finished speaking, she focused her attention on Lone Wolf, a subtle smile curving her lips, but her words were unusually calm.

“Zhu Siba Zhengyuan, I am now issuing orders as the commander-in-chief, not chatting with you casually.”

"...Okay, I understand!"

Although what Iori said was heartless, the Thirteenth Squad had its own discipline, and Seigen had no right to resist.

"It's not just you."

Iori's tone softened slightly afterward: "I have ordered that no captain or member is to approach this place, without exception."

"Ok?"

Zheng Yuan's heart skipped a beat, and he immediately tensed up. "Are you going to deal with this guy by yourself? No way!"

"This is an order, and the only choice."

Iori had already drawn his Zanpakuto: "This Vasto Lorde is different from ordinary Hollows. Its powerful spiritual pressure can reduce the life force of any creature that gets close to it... I estimate that if we attack it, this phenomenon will be exacerbated, just like someone who has been poisoned and then engages in strenuous exercise."

Upon hearing this, Zheng Yuan subconsciously looked at the pile of illusory corpses on the ground and suddenly realized, "So that's how it is..."

"A siege will inevitably come at a huge cost. The best way is to have the person with the highest spiritual pressure engage in a one-on-one battle with them—if you understand, then hurry up and leave."

"it is good!"

Zheng Yuan didn't waste any words. The veteran captains were all experienced and of course wouldn't pull any tricks like "friendship, hard work, and victory." Once he understood the situation, he immediately led his men away from the battlefield.

During this process, Iori's attention was focused on Lone Wolf, who also looked at him in surprise. The two stared at each other silently for a long time, neither of them showing any intention of making the first move.

"You... are so strong."

The first to speak was the lone wolf; this was the first time the wandering Vasto Lorde had ever seen a life form with a stronger spiritual pressure than itself.

"Is he the leader of Death?"

"That's it."

Iori replied calmly.

Whether it was the Adjuchas or Jushiba Seigen, they only realized the strength of the Lone Wolf, but in reality, they were not qualified to evaluate him, as the difference in strength between the two sides was too great.

This is like asking Emperor Gaozu of Tang to evaluate Emperor Gaozu of Han, or Emperor Taizong of Song to evaluate Emperor Taizong of Tang—lacking a high level of understanding of things, it's bound to make one a laughing stock for future generations.

Iori can objectively assess the opponent's strength... at least on the surface, the two seem about the same.

Lone Wolf's spiritual pressure can no longer be evaluated using the simple "Hollow Master level".

Generally speaking, there is a huge gap in strength between Adjuchas due to their level of evolution and potential. The weaker ones can be easily killed by Captain-level Shinigami, but the top ones can go toe-to-toe with Captains, especially after they become Arrancars.

However, after evolving into Vastodes, the differences between Hollows are not so obvious. First, their evolution is already quite complete, and second, most Hollows have already tapped into their full potential at this level.

Even Barragan, who was once known as the King of Hueco Mundo, did not have a qualitative improvement in spiritual pressure compared to Halibel and Nereil; his abilities were simply more unbeatable.

But Lone Wolf—Stark, the No. 1 Espada in the original work—has an overwhelmingly stronger spiritual pressure compared to his kind!

He's practically Yamamoto from Hueco Mundo!

The difference is that Yamamoto won't cause damage to the surrounding environment as long as he doesn't unleash his Zanpakuto, but Lone Wolf is different.

The Void race is endowed with the talent of "devouring". They not only instinctively crave souls and devour humans and their own kind, but they also have this attribute at the most essential spiritual level!

If a Hollow were to appear in the mortal world, it wouldn't even need to actively hunt; it could extract a human's soul simply by opening its mouth and making a thought.

Vastods theoretically possess the ability to devour thousands of people instantly, but these highest-level Hollows are not competitive and have little desire for souls, so such heinous incidents have almost never occurred.

—The lone wolf is an exception.

His spiritual pressure was so strong that even if he did nothing, he could constantly attract fragments of souls around him, as if he himself had become a black hole.

Even Adjuchas would be worn down to death if he spent too much time with him!

However, if one were to attack him proactively like this, the passive spiritual pressure alone would be enough to kill an enemy of average strength.

"No wonder you are all alone as a Vastod."

Iori sighed, "If you're not tough enough, you really can't be friends with me."

"..."

A hint of sadness flickered in Lone Wolf's eyes.

Iori's words hit the nail on the head. Lone Wolf is indeed a typical example of "being lonely because of strength". What is particularly hard for him to accept is that Hollows also have social groups. Vasto Lorde is the king of Hollows. Even without deliberately recruiting, a large group of Hollows would be willing to submit to him and would not be driven away.

This forced him to witness many deaths and experience the pain of losing his companions again and again... Otherwise, why would he have been driven to split his soul and voluntarily lower his rank in the end?

"You're not going to fight me?"

Iori smiled and asked, "Let's make this clear first: even if you don't fight back, I won't hold back."

"fighting?"

Lone Wolf gave Iori a deep look: "I didn't sense any killing intent from you. If that's the case, then what's the point of this battle?"

"If I saw a giant panda in the wild, I wouldn't have any murderous intent, but that wouldn't stop me from putting it in a cage."

Although Lone Wolf couldn't understand the example Iori gave, his meaning was very clear.

"As a Shinigami, I can't let a Hollow like you run around like this. You should know that the area ahead is the territory of Las Noches. At this point in time, if I let you run over there... it will bring unpredictable variables to the war that is about to happen."

If it were just a regular Vastod, it wouldn't be a problem, but it's you—Iori shook his head, quite regretful.

"Does that mean you're going to lock me up or put me under surveillance?"

The surrounding air suddenly turned cold, and the wolf king's voice was devoid of any emotion: "I refuse."

He hates fighting and death. Unlike ordinary Hollows, although he possesses the power to kill everything, he is unwilling to take anyone's life.

However, this does not mean that he is not good at fighting!

- Om!

The entire space began to tremble. The desert seemed to be pressed down by an invisible giant hand, slowly sinking several centimeters. Scattered pebbles swayed and floated as if they had been thrown into mercury. The air became incredibly viscous, like a solid, making it difficult to breathe.

"What a strong spiritual pressure!"

Iori could hardly contain her joy; she even began to feel fortunate to have met Stark during this period.

Stark is the only Hollow who autonomously completed his Arrancar transformation. His evolution had nothing to do with "technology" but was simply a soul split in search of a mate.

True loneliness is the desire to become weak.

If Stark's soul were to split, his power would be greatly diminished, and Iori would not be able to witness what the pinnacle of the Hollows looked like.

"Although you don't have a crown, you are more deserving of the title 'King of the Void' than Barragan!"

"Alright, I'll use spiritual pressure of the same magnitude as yours."

hum! ! !

A series of sparks of spiritual energy erupted instantly in the space. Two extraordinary spiritual pressures collided, manifesting as translucent water ripples. Even light and shadow were distorted. Without using any Kido or abilities, a magnificent aurora formed in the sky, constantly shifting with the fluctuations of spiritual pressure.

In the distance, the numerous captains and Hollows who looked up at this astonishing celestial phenomenon were completely shocked, and many of them murmured incoherently.

Only Unohana and Saito, who had witnessed the earth-shattering battle between Yamamoto and Yhwach a thousand years ago, had a sense of déjà vu:

The fact that someone can recreate such an unbelievable scene is that simply releasing spiritual pressure can change the natural environment!

Leaving aside Iori for now, what's the situation with that Hollow who's their opponent?

“Iori has Bankai… That kid seems pretty excited.”

Saito said in a low voice.

"Ok?"

Unohana looked closely and saw a giant, thousand-meter-tall serpent phantom in the distant sky, none other than the infamous "Yamata no Ootengu" from the Seireitei.

However, there seemed to be many changes compared to before. A divine warrior clad in armor and wielding weapons rose from the ground, coiling the giant snake around his body. His awe-inspiring divine might was like that of a Vajra in a Buddhist temple.

"It's just like the legendary Susanoo-no-Mikoto... Saito?"

Unohana's glance was unintentional, but Saito's expression stunned her.

What's with that blushing smile? It doesn't seem like the pride an elder has for a rising star... That slightly proud yet slightly infatuated look is...

Something is wrong!

Unohana suddenly realized that something unspeakable was quietly happening—

A tremendous sense of absurdity arose spontaneously.

Chapter 427 Sleeping soundly in the arms of my beloved.

--boom! ! !

The unchanging sky of Hueco Mundo was covered by bursting thunderclouds, and the slowly rising water vapor seemed to be swallowing the whole world. Then came the scorching white steam that made people feel suffocated and soaked their whole bodies!

hum!hum!hum!

Several towering pillars of light pierced through the heavens and earth, possessing the spiritual pressure fluctuations unique to Cero, but their destructive power exceeded the expectations of Halibel and the others.