Flores focused intently on Toshiro's afterimages, trying to analyze where Toshiro would attack from.
"This way!"
Flores suddenly attacked to the left.
"Too bad! Wrong guess! It's here!"
Toshiro's figure suddenly appeared to Flores's right, then slashed at him.
At the critical moment, Flores hastily raised his right arm to block.
Clang!
Toshiro's Zanpakuto struck the bony armor on Flores's right arm, sparks flying, producing a metallic clang.
Toshiro looked at Flores's right arm in surprise. Although he had hit Flores, the armor on his arm blocked it, preventing significant injury.
Flores seized Toshiro's moment of surprise to retreat several steps.
"Hahaha! See my, the Great Flores's, power? The armor on my body is extremely sturdy. Your attacks are useless against me!" Flores arrogantly laughed.
However, inwardly, Flores thought, 'That was close!'
Toshiro's slash just now nearly broke the armor on his right arm and severed it.
"Hmph, ignorant!" Toshiro snorted, then used Shunpo to appear before Flores again, swinging his sword.
"Tch, I said your attacks are useless!" Flores repeated his earlier tactic, blocking with his armored right arm.
Squelch!
Flores's right arm was cleanly severed by Toshiro, blood splattering across his face.
"How is this possible?!" Flores said in disbelief.
"The first slash was blocked because I didn't use Reiatsu, and I relied solely on the Zanpakuto's sharpness," Toshiro explained.
Then, Reiatsu gathered into his Zanpakuto. Toshiro casually sent a Kenatsu towards Flores.
Squelch!
Although Flores dodged desperately, he was still struck, another deep wound appearing on his body.
"Damn it! Die, Shinigami!" Flores roared angrily.
"Rapid-Fire Bala!"
Whoosh whoosh whoosh!
Countless Bala instantly shot towards Toshiro!
Shunkuho!
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Toshiro's figure continuously flickered, evading Flores's Bala one after another.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Bala after Bala exploded around Toshiro. Although they didn't harm him, they forced him to dodge repeatedly, looking somewhat disheveled.
"Cough, cough, cough..."
Toshiro choked on the dust stirred up by the Bala explosions.
"It seems I can't kill you without releasing my Zanpakuto," Toshiro said solemnly.
"Oh? Finally going to use Bankai?" Flores tensed up.
"Bankai? You're overthinking. Shikai is enough to deal with you," Toshiro said somewhat disdainfully.
"Sit Upon the Frozen Heavens, Hyorinmaru!" Toshiro chanted softly.
There were no earth-shaking disturbances, no shifting winds and clouds, because Toshiro didn't activate Hyorinmaru's basic ability… Weather Subjugation.
Only a frost dragon, tens of meters long, formed from Toshiro's condensed Reiatsu, coiled around him.
"Shikai?! Don't look down on me, Shinigami!" Flores said furiously.
"Cero!"
A white pillar of light blasted towards Toshiro.
"Roar!"
With a swing of Toshiro's Zanpakuto, the frost dragon instantly charged at Flores's Cero.
Boom!
The Cero struck the frost dragon but didn't shatter it.
The frost dragon continued charging at Flores, pushing against the Cero.
Seeing this, Flores hurriedly dodged to the side.
Bang!
The frost dragon crashed into the spot where Flores had just stood.
Crack, crack, crack-
Although the frost dragon didn't directly hit Flores, the dispersing cold caused ice to form on his body.
"Ice Dragon Flash!"
Toshiro compressed and gathered Reiatsu from his body into his Zanpakuto.
Swish!
An ice-blue slashing attack shot rapidly towards Flores.
Squelch!
Flores's body was cleanly sliced in two at the waist by Toshiro's Ice Dragon Flash.
The cut was smooth as a mirror, with no blood flowing.
For a moment, Flores, not yet dead, looked incredulously at his separated upper and lower body.
"Baraggan-sama... will not let you get away..."
Flores's upper body twitched as he said unwillingly.
Crack-
Ice began forming from the severed waist of Flores's two body halves, spreading across his entire form.
Bang!
The two frozen halves of Flores's body completely shattered, turning into icy fragments.
"Is that it? So weak. You're probably the weakest Captain-level I've ever seen, Flores," Toshiro said indifferently.
Although Flores's strength reached Captain-level, it was only early Captain-level. Apart from his bony armor's decent defense, he had nothing remarkable, not even comparable to Alfred, whom Toshiro had faced while still Lieutenant-level.
'But he mentioned 'Baraggan-sama'... Could Flores be Baraggan's subordinate?' Toshiro immediately frowned.
'If Flores truly is Baraggan's subordinate, then things get a bit troublesome,' Toshiro said inwardly, feeling a headache.
Baraggan is the original Segunda Espada, full name Baraggan Louisenbairn, the so-called God-King, the ruler of Hueco Mundo before Aizen.
Based on the timeline, Aizen shouldn't have conquered Hueco Mundo yet, so Baraggan is still the King of Hueco Mundo.
And since Baraggan became King of Hueco Mundo through his own strength, even if not yet modified by Aizen with the Hogyoku, his strength likely wouldn't be weak.
If Baraggan comes knocking, given Toshiro's current strength, he might not be a match.
'Well, whatever. If it really comes to that, I'll have to request reinforcements from the Soul Society,' Toshiro resignedly thought.
After dealing with Flores, Toshiro looked at the remaining Hollow horde.
Compared to the ten-thousand-strong horde that attacked the expeditionary force camp last time, the force Flores brought this time wasn't large… only around a thousand. However, their strength might not be weaker than last time's.
Nearly a thousand large Hollows, over a hundred Gillian, and besides Flores, there are still several other Adjuchas.
If Flores had ordered all these Hollows to attack Toshiro together from the start, they might have caused him some trouble… just some, though.
"Ando, Amagai, go! Deal with the remaining Hollows!" Toshiro said to Ando and Amagai, who were outside the battlefield.
Then, he charged at the remaining Hollow horde at the forefront.