"Hmph, frog in the well," Toshiro said coldly, interrupting the three self-righteous, chattering women, Apacci, Mila Rose, and Sung-Sun.
Apacci said angrily, "Hitsugaya..."
"That's enough!" Toshiro said impatiently. "I don't have time to waste talking to three small fries like you!"
As he spoke, his overwhelmingly powerful Reiatsu exploded forth instantly.
Boom!
Under Toshiro's Reiatsu, the very space of the Living World shook. Apacci, Mila Rose, and Sung-Sun felt a pressure as heavy as a mountain and as vast as the sea crash down upon them instantly. They couldn't even move, as if they were at the bottom of the ocean ten thousand meters deep, with water pressing in on them from all sides.
Step, step, step...
Toshiro walked across the void as if on solid ground, heading towards the motionless Apacci, Mila Rose, and Sung-Sun.
"Ah..."
As Toshiro approached, the pressure on Apacci, Mila Rose, and Sung-Sun grew greater and greater. Finally, under the oppression of Toshiro's Reiatsu, which contained the power of ice, their bodies began to gradually freeze.
When Toshiro walked between the three, Apacci, Mila Rose, and Sung-Sun were completely frozen, turning into lifelike ice sculptures.
"For Harribel's sake, I'll spare your lives this time. If you act recklessly again next time... then die like that monster from before."
With that, Toshiro walked past Apacci, Mila Rose, and Sung-Sun, heading towards another battlefield.
Thud!
Thud!
Thud!
As soon as Toshiro left, the ice sculptures that were Apacci, Mila Rose, and Sung-Sun, losing their respective power supports, fell from the sky to the ground one after another.
However, unlike the previous Ayon, because Toshiro had gone easy on them, Apacci, Mila Rose, and Sung-Sun were not shattered into ice shards.
"Apacci! Mila Rose! Sung-Sun!" Seeing Apacci, Mila Rose, and Sung-Sun turn into ice sculptures and fall to the ground, Harribel could no longer stand by and do nothing. After forcing Ichigo back with a strike, she prepared to rush over to where Apacci, Mila Rose, and Sung-Sun were.
Whoosh!
Toshiro's figure flashed, blocking Harribel's path.
"Don't worry. For your sake, I didn't kill them. However... since they wanted to hurt Momo, they had to pay some price..." Toshiro looked at Harribel and said calmly.
"Is that so? It seems that person named Momo is very important to you." Hearing that Apacci, Mila Rose, and Sung-Sun were not dead, Harribel breathed a temporary sigh of relief. However, thinking of how angry Toshiro was for Momo's sake, her feelings became quite complicated.
"Of course she is," Toshiro said matter-of-factly.
Perhaps Toshiro's initial choice of Momo as his lover was influenced by the obsession of his predecessor, but over these many years, Momo had taken meticulous care of him and supported him silently from behind. So Toshiro had long since truly accepted her.
In his past life, Toshiro disliked Momo mainly because of her blind fangirling. But when the target of that fangirling became himself, it was naturally different.
"How exactly are Apacci, Mila Rose, and Sung-Sun?" Harribel asked Toshiro further, suppressing her complicated feelings.
"It's nothing. Not only are their lives not in danger, but they don't even have any serious injuries. I just froze them so they can't continue fighting. Besides... this might not be a bad thing for them. If they don't fight, naturally, their lives won't be at risk," Toshiro explained.
"Is that so? Then I'm relieved. However... please release them. Don't worry, once you release them, I will immediately lead them back to Hueco Mundo and will not oppose you Shinigami," Harribel said.
"Oh? Are you withdrawing from this war?" Toshiro asked.
"Yes. Although Aizen gave me greater power, allowing me to protect my companions, you also saved me and my companions back then. Both of you have been kind to me. I cannot help either side against the other, so I will help neither..." Harribel said somewhat awkwardly.
"I see. However... you don't need to feel troubled. Go ahead and fight for Aizen's sake, to repay his kindness," Toshiro said indifferently.
"What!?" Harribel exclaimed in surprise.
"You heard me correctly. I am indeed telling you to fight me to repay Aizen's kindness. That way, after fighting me, you will naturally have repaid Aizen's kindness and will owe him nothing further. But afterwards... you will still owe me for saving your life..." A mysterious smile tugged at the corner of Toshiro's mouth.
"How do you want me to repay you?" Harribel asked, frowning slightly.
If he wanted her body... well... it wouldn't be out of the question...
"You must unconditionally agree to one thing for me," Toshiro said with a somewhat forceful attitude.
"Fine!" Harribel agreed without hesitation.
"Oh? Won't you think it over? I said unconditionally agree to one thing. Meaning, once you agree, no matter what it is, you have to do it," Toshiro said, surprised.
"That's fine, as long as I can do it. But... are you really sure you want me to fight you?" Harribel asked in return.
"Heh, pardon my bluntness, but you overestimate your abilities. Even if you join Aizen's side and fight the Gotei 13, you won't change anything. The Espada will still be utterly defeated," Toshiro said bluntly.
And in fact, Toshiro wasn't wrong. Although Harribel possessed power Beyond Captain-level, the Gotei 13 had two top-tier combatants, Yamamoto and Toshiro, while Aizen's side only had Aizen himself who could compare.
Against an existence of Toshiro's level, even several more fighters like Harribel would still not be enough to fight.
"Is that so?"
Hearing Toshiro's words, Harribel felt somewhat unconvinced. She felt her current strength had at least reached the level Toshiro had when they met back then. Even if Toshiro had improved since then, it shouldn't be so much that she couldn't even put up a fight.
Although she knew Ulquiorra had died at Toshiro's hands, Ulquiorra was ranked below her. After all, even Aizen might not know his true strength.
So she felt Toshiro killing Ulquiorra didn't necessarily mean he could overwhelm her.
Although Aizen had repeatedly emphasized Toshiro's immense power, without experiencing it firsthand, Harribel found it hard to understand just how much stronger existences at Toshiro and Aizen's level were than her.
At least Harribel felt that if she went all out, even against someone like Toshiro or Aizen, she could hold her own for a while, without being completely powerless to fight back.
In fact, aside from Barragan, the top four Espada were not directly subdued by Aizen's military might. None of them believed they would be completely powerless against an existence of Aizen's level.
Even Barragan initially felt that without Kyoka Suigetsu, Aizen might not necessarily be much stronger than him.
So when Toshiro dismissed her strength, she felt unconvinced.
"If that's the case... then I will fight!"
Harribel ultimately agreed to fight Toshiro, not only to repay Aizen's kindness but also to prove her strength to Toshiro.