Chapter 69 – Top Three Espada
"Ahh~~! You made it all the way here. I was so hoping that you won't..."
"Hmph, those useless fools, they were nothing compared to us," Barragan, the Second Espada, leaned on the throne around the long table.
Harribel crossed her legs, looking towards Ichigo, "Lord Aizen has orders to kill him, but the girl must live. I am interested in her powers."
Ulquiorra stood behind the three, "Then I leave them to you."
He turned around, moving at high-speed, disappearing from the room.
Barragan scoffed, releasing a pillar of massive spiritual pressure, and so did the other two Espada's. But Ichigo released tremendous spiritual pressure that rivaled theirs by himself, even surpassing to a certain extent.
The Top Three Espada's faces became solemn, taking their weapons, when the time itself seemed to stop, freezing them, even Ichigo and Orihime, "Now, now. You are going to destroy Las Noches, taking it out, would you?"
Ichigo couldn't move, but his eyes still saw a very tall, highly muscular man. He wore a tight turtleneck over black pants and a white coat with golden embroidery. His black hair was falling on his shoulder, his green eyes moving between the five of them. He snapped his finger, and the five of them disappeared.
Outside Las Noches,
Ichigo looked over his shoulder, seeing Orihime relaxing before he started furrowing his brows. He watched the Three Espada, but rather than talking to them, he turned back, whispering to Orihime, "Did that Hollow...did he remind you of Jun?"
Orihime blankly thought back, "Now that you say that...maybe?"
Ichigo rubbed his head, "That Captain Jay from Soul Society, he gave me a similar feeling."
Orihime held Ichigo's palm, "We will figure that out later. Don't worry about it now; it won't be a problem in the short term."
"Yeah," Ichigo nodded, turning over to look at the Three Espada's, who hadn't wasted time and transformed, releasing their Ressureccions. He narrowed his eyes, "Do you guys have a Bankai too?"
Starrk placed the ornamental pistol on his shoulder, "No, we only have one release, but in your case, we only need one."
He pointed the other pistol towards Ichigo, firing consecutive cero blasts, which were countered by blue beams like Ceros from the tip of the short sword.
Using this opportunity, Harribel appeared beside Ichigo, slashing the elongated shark tooth-like weapon upwards. Ichigo used the great sword to stop her, seeing an ax flying towards him by the corner of his eyes. An orange shield appeared, preventing the ax from reaching him.
He made small slashes from his two swords, his lips moving, "Getsuga Tensho."
He fired two crescent moon slashes, one blue, the other black. The energies blasted, covering hundreds of km of the area around them. When the blast cleared, the ground inside Orihime's shield was the only safe place.
The sleeves of Ichigo's Shihakusho were torn apart, and Harribel had fallen on her knees, her body covered with injuries.
Baraggan was far enough, and he aged the spiritual energy that reached him. At the same time, Starrk moved away, countering the power with wolves made of spiritual power and thousands of Ceros.
Ichigo bent down, picking Harribel up, using flash steps to get out of the massive hundred km crater that he created, placing Harribel down. He instantaneously appeared back near Orihime, "When did you get this strong?"
Orihime nervously looked down, the tips of her forefingers tapping against each other, "I...since I don't like fighting...Jun gave me special training so I can protect myself."
Ichigo scratched his cheek, looking almost sad, "Jun...he really likes you...doesn't he?"
Orihime hastily waved her hands in fear that Ichigo would misunderstand, "It's not like you think...Jun treats me like family...like a little sister."
"Oh, why?" Ichigo felt almost relieved for a moment, only to find Orihime blushing.
"Because...because...he thinks...we...I...will become...Kurosaki-Kun's...wife..."
"Huh?" Ichigo blanked out for a moment, "Huhhhh?! Since when!"
He wanted to hear Orihime's answer when he felt more Cero's coming towards him. He fired another Getsuga Tensho, destroying all the Ceros, covering Starrk and Baragan.
"Haha!" Baraggan laughed, "He seems to be a bad match for you. That's why I always say that I am stronger."
Starrk scratched his head with the guns, "Yeah, yeah, I hate to agree, but he is a bad match for me. How about you try? But then again, without me countering most of the spiritual power, you would die, right?"
Ichigo tightened his grip around the two swords, "Give up because I can't be sure that I won't kill you with the next attack."
Baraggan scoffed, "I am the King of Hueco Mundo! I want to see you try, boy!"
"Getsuga Juujishou!"
Ichigo fired a much larger cross-shaped blast of energy that devoured everything it touched.
Baraggan tried to use his Respira to age the attack, but the attack engulfed him before he even had the chance.
Starrk fired thousands of Ceros, which were destroyed when they came into contact before Starrk was engulfed, with a look that seemed to accept his death as he closed his eyes.
The blast destroyed everything as far as the eyes could see, leaving behind two bodies of Esapda's on the verge of death.
Ichigo looked at the two in wonderment, surprised that they were even alive. He was so sure that his attack would have destroyed every sign of them, "Did you save them?"
Orihime shook her head, "No...I didn't have the time...but someone must have?"
"It's the guy that teleported us," Ichigo guessed, "Let's go. He doesn't seem to plan to fight against us. Let's go find Aizen."
Orihime nodded, walking away with Ichigo, but as soon as they were at a safe distance, Jun materialized near Starrk and Baraggan. He rubbed his chin, watching the two, "Let's see, let's see. Yours...I can work with."
Jun picked up the ax as blue veins spread through it, covering it before he slashed down into Baraggan. He wrapped his body in blue veins, absorbing him, sealing inside the weapon.
Jun placed the ax in the air in front of him, which turned transparent, rotating around him with the other weapons he had collected, "I guess that does it for the Espada's. Tosen...? No...that going to be trouble later."