"Hey..."
"Ichigo! Although I appreciate you lending a hand, this is ultimately our Soul Society's battle. So step back and watch. I'll handle Harribel!" Toshiro interrupted Ichigo, who was about to say something.
After being forced back by Harribel's strike, Ichigo was about to charge back into battle with her. But Toshiro suddenly appeared and started talking with Harribel, seeming to know her.
So, not understanding the situation, he didn't act rashly and just watched from the sidelines.
But after listening to the conversation between Toshiro and Harribel, Ichigo was even more confused. He felt the relationship between Toshiro and Harribel seemed very complicated.
"Toshiro, I... well, forget it. I'll leave it to you." Although Ichigo wanted to continue fighting Harribel, her strength was clearly above his. So, despite feeling some reluctance, he could only leave her to Toshiro.
"Then... let's begin!" Seeing Ichigo voluntarily step back, Toshiro said to Harribel.
"Destroy… Tiburon!" The moment Toshiro finished speaking, Harribel directly released her Zanpakuto.
Harribel knew well that she was no match for Toshiro. Although she believed that if she went all out, she should be able to hold her own for a while, ultimately she would still lose to him.
Because back when they met and he saved her and her companions, the strength Toshiro displayed was already comparable to her current strength. And after so many years, his power must be even more terrifying.
So, to prove her strength to Toshiro and to avoid losing too badly, Harribel released her Zanpakuto immediately.
Boom!
Harribel's immense Reiatsu, at the mid-stage Beyond Captain-level, exploded wantonly. At the same time, a giant wave like a pearl oyster shell appeared out of nowhere and enveloped Harribel.
When the wave disappeared and Harribel reappeared, the mask on her face was completely gone, revealing dark blue lightning-shaped markings on her cheeks.
She looked very similar to a human or Shinigami, without much difference. Her originally hollow, short-bladed Zanpakuto had also transformed into a large white shark-gill patterned greatsword.
After using Resurrección, Harribel slowly raised her shark-gill patterned greatsword, which glowed with yellow Reiatsu. Then, she suddenly swung it towards Toshiro.
Whoosh!
A yellow Kenatsu flashed like lightning, slashing towards him at tremendous speed.
Tap!
Toshiro moved his right foot, instantly shifting his body to the side.
Rip—
With a soft sound, Toshiro's Captain's Haori gained a very small tear. Although he had avoided Harribel's attack, his clothes suffered.
"What a beautiful attack. I didn't expect your attack speed and range to increase so dramatically after releasing your Zanpakuto. If I wasn't careful, you almost hit me," Toshiro said to Harribel, complimenting her.
Earlier, Toshiro was about thirty meters apart from Harribel and felt confident he had enough reaction time to handle any of her attacks, so he had been somewhat lax.
But he hadn't expected Harribel's attack speed and range to increase so much after releasing, almost catching him off guard.
"You'd better fight seriously and not underestimate me. Otherwise, even a shark's attack can bring an ice dragon down into the sea," Harribel said.
"True. I really should get a bit more serious. Otherwise... if I accidentally get hurt by you, that would be quite embarrassing," Toshiro said as he grasped the hilt of the Zanpakuto on his back.
Clang—!
The Zanpakuto slowly slid out of its sheath. The blade gleamed with a bone-chilling coldness that made Harribel instinctively shudder.
Whoosh!
Toshiro's figure flashed, instantly disappearing from Harribel's sight, then suddenly appearing before her in an instant, swinging his sword at her. The speed was so fast that even Harribel, in her released state, almost didn't react.
Clang!
Unable to dodge at the critical moment, Harribel quickly raised her Zanpakuto horizontally, barely blocking Toshiro's attack. But unable to exert her full strength in the haste, Harribel was sent flying backward by the powerful force transmitted through the sword.
Just as Toshiro was about to press his advantage, the flying Harribel suddenly shouted: "La Gota!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
A stream of water suddenly surged from the shark-gill patterns on Harribel's greatsword Zanpakuto, shooting from the tip towards Toshiro like high-speed cannonballs.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Toshiro's wrist flickered repeatedly, swinging out arcs of sword light that shattered Harribel's water cannonballs.
Whoosh!!
Just as Toshiro defeated Harribel's attack, she had already stabilized herself and shouted again, charging back towards Toshiro with her sword.
Toshiro fearlessly swung his Zanpakuto and met her head-on.
Clang!
The two Zanpakuto, each containing immense power, clashed instantly. This time, Harribel, attacking at full power and prepared, was not pushed back. Instead, she momentarily locked swords with Toshiro.
Crack, crack, crack...
Just as Harribel was gradually increasing the power on her Zanpakuto, trying to overpower Toshiro, she suddenly noticed a thick layer of ice covering her own blade. The ice was spreading along the Zanpakuto towards Harribel herself.
Harribel cried out in surprise: "What!?"
Seeing the ice spreading along the Zanpakuto about to reach her sword-wielding right hand, Harribel quickly shouted: "Hirviendo!"
"Pfft!"
A blast of scorching hot, high-temperature steam water instantly released from Harribel's Zanpakuto, acting like a shield behind her, separating the two locked blades.
But before she could sigh in relief, the shield of high-temperature steam water formed by Harribel began to freeze again upon contact with the ultra-low temperature blade of Toshiro's Zanpakuto.
Seeing this, Harribel dared not tangle with Toshiro any longer and quickly flashed far away.
"So this is... the power at the pinnacle of Shinigami?" Harribel asked, frowning deeply at Toshiro.
Harribel had originally thought that even if her current strength couldn't defeat those at the pinnacle of Shinigami like Toshiro and Aizen, she could at least put up a fight. But now, she had released her Zanpakuto from the start, then followed up with one big move after another, almost using her full power. Yet Toshiro, without even using his Shikai, had effortlessly forced her into a very miserable and embarrassing state.
"The pinnacle of Shinigami power? No, it's not just that. Although I said earlier that you overestimate yourself, don't sell yourself short now. Your strength is decent. It's just a pity that our natures are incompatible... you are naturally countered by me. Otherwise, you wouldn't perform so poorly," Toshiro explained.
Harribel's power could be considered 'water-attributed', while Toshiro possessed the Strongest Ice-type Zanpakuto.
And 'water' is naturally countered by 'ice'. So, not only was Toshiro's strength far greater than Harribel's, even if their strengths were equal, Toshiro could easily crush Harribel.
Just like in the original work, Toshiro's strength was among the lower end of Captain-level, while Harribel was one of the top three Espada, possessing power Beyond Captain-level. Yet even so, Harribel, who was Beyond Captain-level, still lost to Captain-level Toshiro.
This wasn't just because Toshiro's Zanpakuto abilities were too powerful. It was mainly because Toshiro of the ice type naturally countered Harribel of the water type. Otherwise, defeating someone above Captain-level while yourself being at Captain-level, even with the Strongest Ice-type Zanpakuto, wouldn't be so easy to accomplish.