'In a contest of strength, I'm completely suppressed,' Toshiro thought.
"In that case, I can only use my speed advantage to engage him in a protracted battle," Toshiro contemplated.
Seeing Toshiro retreat, Vargas immediately pressed forward.
Boom!
The sound of air exploding rang out again as Vargas swung his rod overhead.
Seeing this, Toshiro avoided clashing directly, dodging aside instead.
"Ice Dragon Tail!"
Toshiro unleashed a massive freezing slash towards Vargas, covering the entire area in front of him. Everything the blade touched instantly froze.
Seeing this, Vargas fiercely kicked the ground with his right foot, performing a backflip to land nimbly behind Toshiro.
"Ice Dragon Tail - Sky Sever!"
After executing [Ice Dragon Tail], Toshiro turned with the flow, pointing his blade at Vargas behind him.
Crack!
Vargas was instantly frozen.
After freezing Vargas, Toshiro didn't press the attack. Instead, he hurriedly retreated.
Because Toshiro knew this move alone couldn't defeat Vargas.
Bang!
Toshiro had just retreated when Vargas erupted with powerful Reiatsu, shattering the ice encasing him.
"Bala!"
A Bala instantly blasted towards Toshiro.
Toshiro swung his Zanpakuto. An ice wall instantly rose before him.
Bang!
Toshiro's ice wall was instantly shattered by Vargas's Bala.
But Toshiro used this chance to dodge aside.
"Hail Flower Dragon!"
Toshiro's ice wings vibrated, and his figure rapidly charged at Vargas.
The moment he closed in, Toshiro thrust his sword straight forward.
Vargas hastily blocked horizontally with his rod.
But the instant Toshiro's blade tip touched Vargas's iron rod, Vargas and his rod were instantly encased in ice.
Swish!
Toshiro's figure appeared behind Vargas.
Meanwhile, Vargas behind Toshiro was frozen into a cross-shaped ice block.
Boom!
Vargas's formidable Reiatsu erupted again, shattering Toshiro's ice.
"Damn it! Is beyond-Captain-level Reiatsu really this powerful?" Toshiro couldn't help but curse.
If it were a Captain-level enemy, after being frozen, they'd definitely shatter into ice fragments, not repeatedly break free.
"Rapid-Fire Bala!"
Frozen repeatedly by Toshiro, Vargas angrily unleashed Bala.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh-
Bala after Bala blanketed the area towards Toshiro.
[Shunkuho!]
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Toshiro's figure continuously dodged Vargas's Bala one after another.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Vargas's Bala blasted deep craters in the ground.
After Vargas's Bala barrage finally subsided, Toshiro seized the moment Vargas stopped attacking to quickly unleash his technique.
"Thousand Year Ice Prison!"
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
Ice pillars rose from the ground, enveloping Vargas.
Boom!
The pillars closed in, freezing Vargas inside once more.
"Whew!"
Toshiro couldn't help but gasp for breath. Continuously using so many powerful techniques had taken its toll.
"Hmph, I don't believe you can break out this time!" Toshiro snorted coldly.
Thousand Year Ice Prison was one of Toshiro's strongest techniques currently, besides Frozen Heaven Hundred Flower Funeral.
Unfortunately, facts proved Toshiro still underestimated the toughness of beyond-Captain-level.
Boom!
A pillar of white Reiatsu directly shattered Toshiro's Thousand-Year Ice Prison, shooting towards Toshiro.
Toshiro's expression changed rapidly. He swiftly dodged aside.
Boom!
The white Reiatsu pillar struck the spot where Toshiro just stood.
It blasted a bottomless crater into the sandy ground.
Toshiro quickly looked at Vargas. He was also frozen stiff and numb, his entire body trembling continuously.
Well, at least Vargas breaking free showed Toshiro's attacks weren't useless.
'As long as I keep attacking continuously, this guy will eventually give out,' Toshiro thought.
"Gran Rey Cero!"
After being frozen repeatedly by Toshiro's ice, Vargas, in his fury, directly used his strongest attack… Gran Rey Cero!
The white Cero pillar rapidly blasted towards Toshiro.
"Ice Dragon Flash!"
Toshiro gathered Reiatsu from his entire body into his Zanpakuto. Hyorinmaru glowed brilliantly with ice-blue light. Then, Toshiro slashed at Vargas's Cero.
Boom!
The white Cero pillar and the ice-blue slash collided instantly.
For a moment, the world seemed to stand still.
Boom!
After a brief stalemate between the white Cero and the ice-blue slash, Vargas's Gran Rey Cero ultimately destroyed Toshiro's Ice Dragon Flash.
Although Toshiro's Ice Dragon Flash was a high-density reiatsu slash, Vargas was, after all, a Vasto Lorde, a beyond-Captain-level existence, with vastly greater reiatsu quantity.
Fortunately, after destroying Toshiro's Ice Dragon Flash, Vargas's Gran Rey Cero lost momentum, with little power left. Toshiro casually destroyed it with a Kenatsu.
After clashing with Vargas at full power, Toshiro understood where his strength stood.
With his current strength, besides using his ultimate move, Frozen Heaven Hundred Flower Funeral, Toshiro could at best barely contend with a beyond-Captain-level opponent… and only one like Vargas, at the early beyond-Captain-level stage.
However, Toshiro didn't plan to use Frozen Heaven Hundred Flower Funeral now. The main reason Toshiro came to Hueco Mundo was to break through to beyond-Captain-level through battle with Hollows.
During the earlier intense battle, Toshiro could already feel the previously sturdy bottleneck in his body developing a crack.
Crack!
Suddenly, a sound of something shattering came from behind.
Toshiro looked back. Behind him, six of the original twelve crimson ice crystal petals had already shattered at some point, leaving only six.
Since mastering Bankai, few could last so long against Toshiro, making him almost forget his Bankai was still immature and had a time limit.
'Damn! If the ice flowers behind me completely shatter, I won't even be able to maintain Bankai. Then, I'll be defeated by Vargas,' Toshiro thought.
Now, Toshiro faced two choices: either use Frozen Heaven Hundred Flower Funeral to defeat Vargas before all the ice flowers shatter, or break through to beyond-Captain-level before then.
Otherwise, Toshiro would undoubtedly lose!
'I'm going all in! I don't believe I can't break through!' Toshiro said fiercely.