Bleach: Starting as a Vasto Lorde

Chapter 56: Destruction

The root of Baraggan's rage was less about the destruction of his Zanpakutō and more from the perpetrator of the act. The Hollow he had dismissed and looked upon with scorn had turned the tables, making a mockery out of him. His pride was wounded, and for this humiliation, he had to destroy Kazuya.

His provocation ability had also fueled Baraggan’s flames of fury.

However furious Baraggan might be, he maintained enough self-control to cease his rampage before it could exhaust all his Reiryoku — an unfortunate outcome for the opportunist Kazuya.

Sensing Baraggan's reluctance, he halted and cast a smirking glance at Baraggan from afar. “Can’t stomp the lowly ant now, huh?”

Baraggan's fists clenched, the familiar grasp of his ax absent from his hands. “Insolent worm.”

“Hahahaha.”

Yoruichi arrived by his side. “You are having fun… I would do the same if I was in your situation.”

“This guy had me worried for so long. It feels great to see him like this.”

Yoruichi's gaze shifted to Baraggan, who hovered silently above them within the cloak of his Respira. His silent, brooding fury was unnerving on multiple levels. “Fun and games aside, you have to eventually finish him.”

“Since we’re allies now, why don’t you finish him for me, Shihōin-san?”

Despite shattering Baraggan’s Zanpakutō, the battle had reached an impasse. Kazuya was yet to discover a strategy to neutralize Baraggan’s time field, and he didn’t possess enough firepower to obliterate Baraggan completely.

At the very least, he had decrypted the actual purpose of Baraggan’s time field — it counteracted the aging process of his Aspect of Death, enabling him to roleplay as the God of Death and Senescence.

If the field was deactivated, Baraggan would be consumed by his own power — essentially the manner in which Baraggan met his demise in his battle against Soi Fon and the pink-haired Visored whose name he didn’t remember.

Yoruichi hissed. “Stop joking. A melee fighter like me is the worst matchup for Baraggan. I also don’t have your regeneration to contest with his decay mist.”

She was guaranteed a death against Baraggan’s utterly broken ability.

Kazuya was aware that she might fare even worse than Soi Fon if pitted against Baraggan. After all, Soi Fon’s Bankai was quite destructive for a ranged weapon. “Then use your Zanpakutō’s Bankai form.”

He was curious about Yoruichi’s Zanpakutō which never made it to the manga or anime. Even if it was weak, a Bankai was no joke.

She shook her head in dismissal. “It’s insufficient against a Vasto Lorde, let alone an Arrancar one.”

Truth be told, she had a mutual agreement with her Zanpakutō spirit. She was much stronger with her Shunkō and Hakuda than the Bankai Release of her Zanpakutō. Her lazy Zanpakutō spirit also agreed with the sentiment.

“Kisuke should have an answer,” Yoruichi muttered. “Should we go back and ask him to whip something out of his lab?”

“I’m not leaving without my friends. You can go if you want.”

“I don’t wanna leave either… I have an idea. I don’t know if it will work or not.”

“May as well give it a shot. What’s the worst that could happen?”

Yoruichi and Kazuya whispered to each other, refining the strategies proposed by the mischievous cat. They seemed to have forgotten Baraggan’s existence,  or they stopped treating him like a threat.

Baraggan felt nauseous at the sight of Hollow and Shinigami collaborating like friends. He jutted his chin out arrogantly, his gaze scrutinizing Kazuya from his elevated position. “Are you done strategizing against me?”

“Yup.”

“Be careful,” Yoruichi said. “You only have one chance. Finish it today.”

The strategy had a fifty percent chance to succeed on their first try and zero if Baraggan lived for another day. Only Kazuya could pull off this 'reckless' strategy.

Kazuya nodded and flew towards Baraggan. “Let’s start round two, old man.”

He used Sonído and unleashed another Cero Ray in Baraggan’s face, which was promptly eroded by the Respira. Kazuya didn’t stop there and launched a flurry of Cero in quick succession. Each blue explosive ray consumed small chunks of Respira from Baraggan. Regardless of how immense Baraggan’s Reiryoku may be, it had a limit, like all Hollows.

He was exploiting his faster Reiryoku recovery to drain Baraggan.

“This won’t achieve anything,” Baraggan growled and arrived behind Kazuya with Sonído. With a swipe of his hand, he sent a wave of Respira at him. “Decay away.”

Kazuya flashed away with Sonido before Respira touched him. “The self-proclaimed God of Hueco Mundo is struggling so hard. Just retire. I’ll take care of Hueco Mundo far better than you ever did.”

“Hahahaha.” Baraggan just laughed in response. “Even if I die today, you will have an army of Hollow chasing you down.”

Baraggan trusted his mistresses and his most loyal woman Evanya to avenge him. The fact that Evanya will hunt down Kazuya’s precious friends was just an icing on the cake.

Kazuya raised his right hand and cut across his palm. As he curled his hand into a claw, a small blue orb crackled ominously, warping the fabric of space with its concentrated power. It was one of the Cero techniques he recalled Grimmjow using in his fight against Ichigo.

“You are using Gran Rey Cero against me?” Baraggan scoffed, unable to tear his eyes away from the destructive Cero. “It’s useless as well. You may have destroyed my Zanpakutō but you cannot bring down God.”

Kazuya appeared behind Baraggan with Sonído and released the Cero at point-blank range. “Die, asshole.”

The ever-proud Baraggan didn’t flinch, instead redirecting his Respira to engulf the Gran Cero Ray.

Kazuya spotted the opportunity he had been awaiting. He quickly transformed into his human form and flashed to Baraggan’s defenseless front, which was only protected by the time dilation field.

Baraggan looked at Kazuya, whose Reiatsu signature had transitioned from that of a Hollow to that of countless humans Baraggan had consumed before. He refused to accept that his senses could be deceiving him.

“Who are you?”

Instead of indulging Baraggan’s curiosity, he conjured two katanas of pure Reishi. The higher concentration of Reishi in Hueco Mundo made his Reishi gathering easier, enhancing the power of his Spirit Weapons.

He stepped closer, entering Baraggan’s time dilation field, and slashed across Baraggan’s chest. Baraggan quickly used Sonído to retreat, only to feel a chill on his back. He directed his Respira towards his back, but Kazuya appeared in front of him using Hirenkyaku, the Quincy equivalent of Shunpo and Sonído.

Quincy’s techniques were far more potent on Hollows, the same way a Hollow was poisonous to a Quincy. Respira could easily counter the Quincy offense but Baraggan had become frightened from Kazuya’s unconvention abilities. He wouldn’t take any of Kazuya’s attacks head-on.

So, the King of Hueco Mundo used Sonído time and time again, but Kazuya consistently reached him in a split second as if he had locked onto his Reiatsu signature and was tracking him effortlessly.

Confronted with the threat of extermination, Baraggan no longer used Sonído to evade attacks but to retreat to a safer location.

The cat-and-mouse game concluded when Baraggan ran out of Reiryoku to generate more Respira or use Sonído. Kazuya thrust both katanas through the time dilation field, each entering Baraggan’s hollow eye socket. Just for another layer of security, he conjured a crossbow and launched a dozen bolts through Baraggan, impaling every part of his body with blue bolts.

Transforming back into his Hollow form, he smirked at Baraggan. “I’m a godslayer now.”

Baraggan sneered. “Celebrate this moment, Mortal. Evanya will kill Harribel and your other friends... including the treacherous Cirucci.”

“Huh? Who is Evanya?”

Baraggan laughed at his question until he was utterly and thoroughly destroyed by the Quincy arrows.