Chapter 656 Dog And Bootlicker

"Tosen-san,"

Gin said in a leisurely tone from a distance, "It seems your strength isn't enough to threaten this doggie Vasto Lorde. Why not let Lieutenant Aizen handle it?"

"Shut up!"

Tosen practically shouted. His face instantly flushed red, the muscles beneath his goggles twitching slightly.

That bastard Gin had actually humiliated him in front of the Aizen-sama he respected most.

Overwhelming rage made Tosen hesitate no longer. He raised his Zanpakuto horizontally in front of him and chanted the release command:

"Cry, Suzumushi!"

The moment the words left his mouth, Tosen's Zanpakuto began to vibrate violently.

The blade emitted a low-frequency hum, not just a simple sound, but a fluctuation of Reiatsu.

Visible sound waves radiated from the blade, emitting an eerie Reiatsu that made the surrounding white sand tremble slightly.

His Zanpakuto had hypnotic abilities, capable of instantly stripping lower-level enemies of their consciousness and putting them to sleep.

This was somewhat similar to the Zanpakuto of the Aizen-sama he respected.

Tosen's hypnotic power could at most control Shinigami at the seated officer level within the Gotei 13. It probably wouldn't work against a Lieutenant.

But to be precise, Tosen's blade wasn't even his own. He had inherited it from his deceased friend.

It was precisely this incident that led to Tosen's turn to darkness. He became completely disillusioned with what he saw as the unjust Soul Society, and thus chose to follow Aizen.

"Don't be like that, Kaname."

Aizen spoke up.

At the same time, he lightly glanced at Gin from the corner of his eye. There was no hint of reproach in that gaze.

But Gin immediately took the hint, shut his mouth, and stepped back two steps with an awkward smile.

During his years as a mole under Aizen, Gin's favorite pastime was instigating Tosen.

After all, he wanted to kill Aizen, but the problem was that with his current strength, he really couldn't do anything to him.

So teasing Aizen's number one bootlicker and watching him fly into a rage at just a few words was one of the few sources of entertainment for Gin during his long undercover career.

"Aizen-sama, please leave this dog to me."

However, Tosen's attitude was extremely resolute.

He had to regain his dignity in front of Aizen, otherwise the humiliation of being publicly shamed by Gin's words would be like a thorn lodged forever in his heart.

Seeing Tosen so insistent, Aizen didn't say anything more.

And honestly, he also wanted to use this opportunity to see just how capable this newly born Vasto Lorde really was.

Although Aizen didn't think much of Tosen's abilities, he was at least Captain-level. Using him to test the mettle of a guard dog should be more than enough... right?

Just as Tosen was catching his breath and preparing to formally activate his Zanpakuto's ability, another voice came from the entrance of Las Noches: "What are you guys trying to do to Pochi?"

Everyone turned their heads in unison.

What came into view was a male Hollow whose upper face was covered by a white shark-snout mask, his body wrapped in white bone armor.

His size was almost identical to a normal human, which meant his level was unquestionable.

'Another Vasto Lorde.'

"It seems Tosen-san's information was true."

Gin tilted his head.

'We hadn't even officially set foot through the gates of Las Noches, and we had already encountered two Vasto Lorde.'

'Just how many more of these monsters did that guy named Nishikawa Makoto have under his command?'

'In the decades Aizen hadn't visited Hueco Mundo, what kind of earth-shaking changes had occurred here?'

"We just want to have a talk with your new king."

Aizen remained perfectly courteous.

In his plan, the initial contact with Makoto was best conducted peacefully.

Open conflict was the least favorable option.

But unfortunately, the first two beings he had to interact with weren't exactly normal.

Pochita was a dog. He only carried out his duty as a guard dog, stopping all strangers indiscriminately at the gate.

And Beam regarded Makoto as a god. In his view, Aizen's group, as Shinigami, the natural enemies of Hollows, showing up at Las Noches to see his master could only mean trouble.

Beam licked his lips, a glint of bloodlust flashing in his eyes beneath the shark mask.

"I can't imagine any good coming from you Shinigami seeing Chainsaw-sama. Might as well all die here."

The moment the words left his mouth, Beam opened his shark-like maw.

Blue light condensed rapidly deep in his throat, its brightness escalating to a blinding level in the blink of an eye.

The next instant, this energy erupted in a massive surge, transforming into a thick blue laser that swept toward the three Shinigami, trailing a brilliant tail of light.

Cero!

'These guys!'

Seeing Beam unleash his ultimate attack without a word, Gin's usual sunny, cheerful fake smile persona nearly cracked.

'Wasn't it said that the more a Hollow evolved, the more its mentality approached a human's?'

'Having evolved to the Vasto Lorde level, they should theoretically be more rational than ordinary Hollows, right?'

'Why were both Vasto Lorde we encountered so aggressive?'

The blue Cero swept across. Wherever the beam passed, the white sand was instantly vaporized, leaving a pungent smell of scorched air.

The power of this attack was as fierce as Pochita's heat blast from before. It blasted a huge crater where the three Shinigami had been standing.

The shockwave sent all the sand in the crater flying, piling up a wall of sand dozens of meters high around its rim.

"Don't get too cocky, Hollow!" Tosen's voice came from high above.

Beam looked up and saw the goggle-wearing afro Shinigami already with his blade drawn, hovering in mid-air.

He traced a circle in front of him with his blade. The tip's trail left a ring of Reishi light in the air.

Instantly, countless white double-edged blades materialized around him, densely packed in the air, all tips aimed squarely at Beam.

"Suzumushi Nishiki: Benihiko."

As Tosen called out the technique name, those countless double-edged blades rained down like a storm from the sky, completely covering the entire area where Beam stood.

"Oh~"

Beam raised an eyebrow slightly, a glint of interest flashing in his eyes beneath the shark mask.

This kind of attack wasn't enough to cause him fatal damage. After all, while his Hierro wasn't as exaggerated as Pochita's, it was still enough to block most frontal attacks.

But these blades could indeed cut his skin. Although his High-Speed Regeneration would heal them in an instant, the experience of being turned into a pincushion by a swarm of knives wasn't exactly pleasant.

But Beam didn't bother defending.

He simply shifted his feet outward, planting a steady horse stance in the sand, his right fist pulled back to his side in a standard straight-punch starting posture.

He chose to counterattack with an attack.

"Fish-Man Karate: 70,000-Tile Straight Punch!"

Beam threw a punch.

The moment his fist broke through the air, a visible blast of wind pressure exploded from his knuckles, surging upward in a cone shape.

Just the force of that wind was enough to shake the descending blade array, sending many of the knives veering off course.

And when the pressure of that straight punch actually collided with the blade array, those seemingly sharp blades crumpled like paper against a hammer, crushed into countless fragments by the fist's force.

Countless white blade fragments spiraled and scattered through the air, while the residual force of the punch continued upward, toward the already stunned Tosen in the sky.

Tosen's expression changed dramatically.

He didn't have time to think. He used Shunpo again, his body leaving an afterimage as he barely dodged the punch pressure that could have broken his bones.

But in the moment he dodged, Beam had already completed a mid-air rotation, his right leg raised high, his waist suddenly twisting.

A ninety-degree side hook kick came sweeping from an angle completely unexpected by Tosen.

"Fish-Man Karate: 90,000-Tile Roundhouse Kick!"

This time, Tosen simply didn't have time to use Shunpo to dodge.

He could only grit his teeth, holding his Zanpakuto horizontally at his side, using the blade to block this roundhouse kick.

The moment the blade collided with Beam's instep, a deafening metallic clang exploded, sparks flying, Reishi bursting in a shockwave around the point of impact.

Then, with that boom, Tosen's entire body was sent hurtling down from the sky like a meteor.

Tosen's body smashed into the white sand, kicking up a towering cloud of white dust, dragging a trench dozens of meters long through the ground before finally stopping.

The dust slowly settled.

Aizen and Gin saw the situation at the bottom of the crater.

Tosen was kneeling on one knee, supporting himself with his left hand, barely keeping himself from collapsing completely.

His right hand, which had been gripping the Zanpakuto, hung limply at his side at an unnatural angle. His wrist was visibly dislocated, and the bones of his forearm were clearly out of joint.

"...Da...mn..."

Tosen panted heavily, glaring venomously at Beam, who had landed from mid-air.

'Damn it! The other side was just a Vasto Lorde that hadn't even completed Arrancarization!'

Gin spoke in a tone that sounded regretful but somehow carried a strange sarcasm: "You can't even hold a sword anymore. Lieutenant Aizen, it seems Tosen-san can't continue fighting."

"Shut up, Ichimaru!"

Tosen roared furiously.

If it weren't for the enemy before them, he would have given that bastard Gin a couple of slashes right now.