At this moment, it was Barragan who grew a little anxious.
If it was a straight reiatsu contest, at best he would scrape out a narrow victory.
But remember: Harribel was merely that man's subordinate, while he himself had already stepped onto the field personally.
If the fight just wore down Harribel, he would have no chance at all.
"Respira!"
Barragan slowly bowed his head, and the death aura spread outward at three times its previous speed, surging toward Harribel.
Harribel's expression did not change; she showed no sign of Resurreccion, only increasing the output of her scorching current.
The searing current spread across the battlefield and collided fiercely with Barragan's death aura, a white mist rising up all around them.
"Yo, looks like they're evenly matched!"
From the observation stand, Gin Ichimaru made an admiring remark.
Don't underestimate these two, if he were fighting there, just stepping into that field would probably dissolve him to nothing.
"No, Gin! It looks even, but in fact Barragan is at the end of the road," Aizen saw more than Gin did and explained with a smile, "Countless years of sloth have left Barragan with only his aging ability; everything else is in shambles. Harribel, aside from releasing a scorching current, hasn't shown anything else so far."
"And, since that serpent Hollow was able to return to its original Hollow form, Harribel can do the same, that would be her complete form."
At those words, a hint of regret passed through Aizen's eyes.
Given Barragan's condition, it seemed impossible to force Harribel's Resurreccion out of her.
If it were forced, it would likely be a single decisive strike, and he did not want to see that happen.
Having finally tamed a Vasto Lorde-class Hollow, he didn't want her killed so quickly.
"Gin, it's our turn to step out," Aizen said this as he stepped toward the battlefield.
"Captain Aizen, that fellow completely ignored us earlier, can we mediate this time?", Gin raised an eyebrow; he really didn't know where Aizen's confidence came from.
"Of course! He never truly ignored us; we simply used the wrong approach. Humans, Shinigami, Hollows, they all have needs. To get someone to agree to our request, we must satisfy their needs," Aizen explained.
"So what are their needs?", Gin narrowed his eyes, probing.
"I can give him a legitimate status, an identity that allows him to walk openly under the sunlight of the Soul Society."
When Aizen said that, not only did Gin freeze, but even Kaname Tosen looked surprised.
Sending Rosse to the Soul Society under an official status, that was a big move.
With Rosse's power, if he made trouble in the Soul Society, it could very well lead to the Soul Society's ruin.
"Hey, hey, Captain Aizen, that joke isn't funny."
Gin's eyes showed a complicated look, he had people he cared about in the Soul Society; how could he let such a dangerous Hollow go there?
Besides, the captaincy seat for that squad remained vacant. If anything happened.
"Gin, don't judge a forerunner by our standards. They see the world differently and don't focus on the small things we do."
Aizen smiled slightly. He'd known what Gin was thinking for a while, and he was eager to see when and how Gin would act.
He believed Rosse looked at them now the same way he once looked at Gin. Indifferent, yet expecting the other to please him.
But on the road to the top, being a forerunner doesn't guarantee you'll always lead, Lord Rosse.
"AHHHH!!"
Realizing his aging aura was being held off, Barragan tried to break the stalemate by other means.
In days past, his aging aura had been unstoppable.
Those who could match his energy had lower reiatsu; those who matched his reiatsu had lower energy.
No matter which, once he latched on, there was only one path, death.
But today he encountered a Hollow whose energy was lower than his, yet who could still consume most of his reiatsu.
Worse, this time the opponent had help, and he had none.
In such a situation, he had to try to close the distance, inject his aging aura into the opponent's body, and corrode their spiritual form completely.
Facing Barragan's attempt to force close, a sneer flashed through Harribel's eyes.
Someone who'd been in Hueco Mundo long enough to know little of others' intel would still surely know Barragan's reputation.
In the past, even when everyone knew how powerful Barragan was, they had no effective way to deal with him.
Hollows with the true strength to oppose Barragan had no desire to bicker with someone who claimed a ruined world as his kingdom.
Back then, Harribel had been among those who couldn't deal with Barragan.
But now, she had no such worries.
Her bone sword radiating scorching current, Harribel charged straight in, clashing with Barragan who wielded his long axe of decay.
For Hollows, any body part can be a weapon, fangs, limbs, tongue, even bones.
In a very short time, Harribel and Barragan traded more than a hundred blows.
If it had been before, Harribel would have collapsed by now.
But after Resurreccion, both her speed and reiatsu surpassed Barragan's.
If not for that troublesome aging power, she would have cleaved Barragan in two long ago.
Still, after this close-quarters exchange she could clearly feel Barragan was careless in melee combat. If the fight continued, sooner or later she'd find a flaw and finish him with one strike.
But that would take time.
This was Rosse's war for the throne; Harribel did not want him to wait.
It was time for her to bloom fully.
BANG!
Harribel swung and knocked Barragan aside. As she raised her bone sword to chant the words of release—
Aizen's figure suddenly appeared before Harribel, his gaze fixed on Rosse.
"Lord Rosse, might you give me a favor?"
Seeing Aizen appear, Harribel did not hesitate at all; she instantly released her Resurreccion, "Subdue him, Empress Shark!"
BOOM!
A thunderous reiatsu erupted from Harribel's body.
In an instant she returned to her half-human, half-shark form.
Buzz!
In the blink of an eye the space around them shifted, Harribel found herself in front of Aizen, swinging her giant bone-sword-like arm downward toward him.
Aizen's expression did not change; he simply drew his blade in an instant and stood in the path of Harribel's downward strike.
Rumble!
From a single collision, the area within a kilometer was affected; those Adjuchas could barely stand and were forced to retreat.
Inside the arena, aside from the two combatants, only Rosse and the three Sung-Sun and girls, plus Barragan and Gin, could remain standing, Tosen had been forced back to a distance.
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