Rukia was in a pickle, because since she had frozen the arm of Rudbornn, the leader of the Exequias, the Arrancar had turned his attention to her and immediately released his Resurreccion, Arbol as he called it, which allowed his right side to be wrapped in branches as he was pulled into the air so he could look down at her. What she was worried about was the fact that four lightning bolt shaped branches sprouted from Rudbornn's back, facing the right side like the branches, and each one possessed a skull that created more loyal soldiers for her to fight, which was why she hadn't been able to assist the others in taking out their enemies. Since the large sand Hollow had declared his allegiance to Sombra, calling him 'Lord' Sombra like everyone else, a number of the large Hollows that accompanied him also followed his lead, joining the forces of Grimmjow, Szayelaporro, and Nel as they tore their way through the enemies that stood against them. Renji and Chad, on the other hand, had come to her aid and stopped her from being stabbed multiple times, but before they had been able to do that Rudbornn had encased his left side in branches and generated four more lightning bolt branches, doubling the amount of enemies that she had to fight.
Despite the fact that the three of them were fighting together, and taking out the enemies that were around them while Renji was in his Bankai state, they couldn't get to Rudbornn at all, meaning that they needed a plan of attack so they could overcome their foe's power and then join the others... especially since Rudbornn was complaining about how, despite his 'god-like' power, he was unable to become one of the Espada and that they were showing a new level of stupidity for challenging the 'almighty' Espada.
"He's kind of like a fruit tree." Renji commented, as he noticed how Rudbornn looked, since there were some branches that were wrapped around his waist and happened to be attached to the ground below where he was standing, and came to a conclusion that made sense to him.
With that statement he and Chad got into a debate about what a tree actually was and whether Rudbornn resembled a plant, instead of a tree, but Rukia remained silent as she thought about what had been said, as she was beginning to see some similarities between their foe and a tree. From what she knew trees and plants couldn't grow in icy climates, unless they were the types that could grow in those areas, but since this was Hueco Mundo, and both water and snow didn't seem to exist in this world, she knew that Rudbornn would have been based on the types of tress that survived in the desert areas of a world. If she was right in her thoughts her Zanpakuto's abilities might be the only way for them to actually defeat Rudbornn, without having to involve Sombra and the others that were busy, and she focused her mind when she noticed that more soldiers had dropped down into the area around them and prepared themselves for the next stage of their battle, causing her to ready herself as Renji and Chad did the same thing.
"There's no end to them..." Chad stated, to which he dropped the conversation that he and Renji had been having for the last few moments and focused his attention on the enemies that were near them, while at the same time readying the first form of his right arm at the moment, as he wanted to keep his true power hidden for a few more minutes.
"What's the game plan, Rukia?" Renji asked, though at the same time he coiled the snake part of his Bankai around them, to protect them a little and serve as the first attack that they would use against their enemies, but he was only asking Rukia because she had been fighting Rudbornn long before he and Chad came to help her.
Before Rukia had a chance to reply they felt a surge of reiatsu that didn't belong to Ichigo or Sombra, though by their opponent's words it was the Espada that had been left in charge of Las Noches, Ulquiorra, who had finally released his Resurreccion, but since Rudbornn was distracted she signaled to Chad and he nodded his head, before loosing an El Directo at their foe... but it was in vain, as Rudbornn used his own subordinates to form a wall in front of him, killing a number of them and leaving a hole in front of him, before they disengaged and formed ranks once more.
"Well? Now do you understand?" Rudbornn asked, as if he felt that he was going to win this battle and kill all three of them, before moving onto the Arrancar that were finishing the other enemies off at the moment, "My ability knows no limits. With my feelers, I can produce an infinite number of fully evolved soldiers. Submit now and accept your fate."
"Renji, Chad, I have a plan." Rukia said, keeping her voice low enough so that only her friends could hear what she was saying, while at the same time keeping her eyes on their opponent as she played out what she was planning in her head, though she hoped that this was enough to defeat Rudbornn, "I'll start off by using Hakuren against him, hopefully freezing all of his soldiers in the process. Chad, I need you to attack the frozen soldiers and try to get in one good shot at him before he has a chance to recover, allowing you, Renji, to use Zabimaru to finish him off before he can produce any more soldiers or even recover."
Renji and Chad nodded their heads in agreement, as it was better than anything they could have considered at the moment, and Rukia took a step forward, where she stabbed the ground four times and allowed ice particles to flow through the air for a moment, before loosing an avalanche of cold air as she called out 'Tsugi no Mai, Hakuren'. She was pleased with the results of her attack, as Rudbornn's soldiers got in the way and froze themselves where they were standing, locked in the form of a wall in front of the Arrancar, to which she nodded to Chad and he stepped forward, since it was his turn to attack. Chad then revealed the true form of his right arm, the one he had unlocked during his battle with Gantenbainne earlier, and loosed a powerful blast that surged through the air in front of him, one that struck the ice wall and blasted a large hole in it, destroying a number of their foe's soldiers in the process. Renji, seeing that it was his turn, swung his sword and the snake version of Zabimaru rushed forward, spinning around as it prepared to fire a beam of energy at their target and smashed through both of the wall fragments that were left behind... but before it could get close more of Rudbornn's soldiers dropped down on it and forced Zabimaru over the nearby edge, preventing their master from taking any damage at all.
Fortunately while all this happened Rukia found herself covered by the dust for a moment, to which she stabbed the ground in front of her and activated another one of her techniques, one that she hadn't shown off yet and would prove to be the downfall of Rudbornn as the ice reached for her target.
"That was a rather impressive combo." Rudbornn commented, as he was actually impressed that they had the power to pull something like that off, especially since he was wearing them all down, but that didn't mean that he was going to let them leave this area, "Freezing my army, then breaking through and launching straight into an attack on me. I was truly an excellent combination, but it was flawed. With an infinite army at my command, no attack will ever reach..."
"Juhaku." Rukia said, just as the dust cleared and Rudbornn noticed that she had been hiding herself the entire time, but even as that happened she grinned as her power took effect and started to freeze the roots that were attached to her foe's waist, including his entire body slowly being covered in ice, "Sorry, but you're the one with the flawed strategy. That combo attack was designed to draw your attention away from me, allowing me to ensure that your branches became frozen so they can't bare any additional soldiers. Your the one that's finished, not us. You should have never let me see how your ability works, especially since frozen trees cannot bare fruit."
Just as she finished saying that, and Rudbornn completely froze over, a giant Arrancar waved his hand and smashed through the area that was where the frozen Arrancar was standing, shattering him into a thousand pieces while creating a hole in the wall they were standing on... causing her, Renji, and Chad to jump back down to the sandy floor as they stared at the newest opponent that had appeared before them, while the rest of the fighting stopped as well.
"What the hell is happening now?" Renji asked, though at the same time he managed to slip out of his Bankai state to prevent Zabimaru from being destroyed, which he was thankful for since there was no telling what was going to happen to them now, especially with a new enemy so soon after the last one.
"That's... Yammy?!" Chad replied, though as he said that he noticed the sheer size of the Arrancar that had beaten him during the first attack on the World of the Living, when he and Ulquiorra came to investigate Sombra, who overpowered one of them instantly.
"Yammy? Isn't he the Espada that Captain Hitsuguya warned us about?" Renji inquired, as he recalled what the Captain had said, that Yammy wasn't to be underestimated at all, but at the same time he had no idea where on the ranking system their new enemy rested, something that had been failed to be passed to them.
"Yeah, but something's off." Chad said, looking at the one thing that didn't make sense at the moment, because their opponent's size was throwing him off and he had no idea what it actually meant, "I fought him once, in the World of the Living, and he was a giant back then... but I don't remember him being this huge when we fought."
That was the truth, because at his current height Yammy seemed to be at least half as tall as the wall he had smashed through, maybe even a little bit bigger than that, but before any of them could do anything Yammy growled and his body was surrounded by an angry red aura as he proclaimed that he'd make a 'four-eyed twerp' pay, meaning that he had battled Uryu for a few moments and was angry at him. As the three of them got ready for what was coming next, however, a red beam, that belonged to a Cero, punched through the roof of Las Noches and struck the ground near where they were standing, but fortunately it didn't hurt them or their Arrancar allies, and even the Hollows that had sided with them had moved out of the way as well. The only thing that Rukia was concerned about was the fact that the reiatsu that was attached to the attack seemed like it belonged to Ichigo, but there was something about it that made her hesitated to say that it was one of her friend's attacks, as it felt like it belonged to a Vasto Lorde ranked Hollow and not her friend, and that included the fact that Ichigo couldn't fire a Cero on his own... not unless his skill with his mask had evolved to the point where he could have done something like that, which was something that she decided that she'd rather not think about as she turned to face Yammy once more.
The three of them stood there for a few moments, trying to figure out what was going through Yammy's head before they attacked him, before Rukia felt something interesting happen to the odd reiatsu that had accompanied the red Cero, and that was the fact that Ichigo's reiatsu was separated from the Hollow reiatsu that had been attached to the attack, but the heavy reiatsu still remained, meaning that Ichigo's foe wasn't dead... and, if she was feeling things correctly, it almost felt like all three of those reiatsu, including Sombra's, was coming back down to their level.
"Strange... why's Ulquiorra coming down here with his opponents?" Yammy inquired, though it was clear that he was talking to himself, despite feeling exactly what Rukia and the others were feeling, before he turned towards the enemies that were in front of him, "You three ain't good enough. I slept and ate like crazy to build up my reiatsu. There's no way in hell that I'll get to use that reiatsu on you pushovers!"
During that statement Yammy flexed his muscles and shredded his jacket, ripping the entire thing apart, but at the same time it revealed something to the three of them, Yammy possessed the number Ten on his left shoulder, telling them that he was the weakest member of the Espada... while at the same time somehow causing his body to grow just another inch or two in height, causing them to wonder what was going on.
"Check it out, he's the Diez Espada." Renji said, staring at the number for a moment, as while he and Uryu had fought the Octava Espada, Szayelaporro, he also knew that Chad had engaged the Quinto Espada, Nnoitra, and Rukia had the honor of facing the Noveno Espada, Aaroniero, but they were all still alive, "It looks like we won't have to bother Sombra at last... we finally found the weakest member of the Espada. Let's kick his ass!"
"You? Kick my ass? You weak-ass babies?" Yammy replied, showing that he could hear them from where they were standing, despite the distance between the two groups, but at the same time there was a hint of anger in his voice that caused the three of them to ready themselves for the coming battle, before he gripped the handle of his Zanpakuto a few moments later, "Don't make me laugh. Be enraged, Ira!"
The moment he uttered the Release Command, and the trio understood what he was doing, Yammy's ZanpakutÅ exploded in an intense surge of reiryoku that covered the Espada, where they jumped back and watched as their foe grew to a monstrous size, one that was reminiscent of what the Japanese people called a kaiju. His skull ridges become more pronounced, taking on the appearance of two large purplish-gray head coverings, extending to the back of his head, while the remains of his Hollow mask fused to his face, becoming his actual lower jaw, and the red markings of his extended back from his face into two long flame tattoos. The majority of his body was still tan in color, as his thin ponytail become longer than before, though his body went through some drastic changes, because while his torso remained largely the same, Yammy ended up growing eight large elephant-like legs on each side of his lower body, which now extended back from his torso. These new legs of his were connected to his body by white carapace-covered joints, leading up to the base of a bony tail club, similar to those of an ankylosaurus, an armored dinosaur, while at the same time each of his new legs had three large toes, which extended backwards from the front to the back of the leg. Large purplish-gray cylindrical tubes form on his elbows, which can be used as piston-like rams. The interesting bit was that he also gained five large, black cylindrical tubes on his back, which were about half of the length of the tubes that had appeared on his elbows, and he had six black rounded nodules along the length of his forearms.
The only thing that worried the three of them, however, was during the transformation process Yammy's Espada number had changed, as the Ten changed to a Zero as the one that was in front of the zero melted away until it was gone, leaving their opponent with a number that none of them had even thought about before this point in time.
"Okay, what the hell happened this time?!" Renji asked, as this wasn't something that any of them were expecting, but while others would be fearful of Yammy's new power he wasn't, not when Sombra's reiatsu was of the same level, though at the same time he stared at the number for a few moments.
"Did someone tell you guys that the ten Espada run from One to Ten?" Yammy inquired, though at the same time all three of them raised their eyebrows for a moment, as it had been Grimmjow that had told them, or more accurately Sombra, about the number system of the powerful Espada, "The rankings of the Espada go from Zero to Nine. I am the only Espada that can change his number by conserving power before using my Resurreccion. I am the Cero Espada, Yammy Llargo!"
The moment Yammy revealed what was going on, and that either he or Grimmjow were lying about the rankings, the massive Arrancar threw a punch at where the trio were standing, causing them to scatter before one of them were hit and kicked up a bit of sand in the process, before Renji swung his Shikai at Yammy and found that the edges of Zabimaru did nothing to their opponent. Rukia, seeing that another punch was coming towards her friend, stopped below the arm and released an ice circle around where she was standing, though when she jumped out of the way as she activated her first dance, Tsukishiro, and a pillar of ice surged towards the sky, piercing Yammy's extended left arm and stalling it so Renji could get out of the way, but that didn't last long as the Espada shattered her attack with ease. Since the attack was still coming their way, and they were a little shocked by what had happened, Chad rushed forward with the true form of his right arm and loosed a powerful blast as he punched Yammy's fist, where the two of them battled each other for a few moments before Yammy overpowered Chad and forced them all backwards again... where Chad, using the smoke and sand as a cover, activated his left arm and readied a Le Muerte that struck Yammy in the face, but as he landed they found that Yammy had taken no damage from the attack.
Renji, seeing that they had no choice, slipped back into his Bankai and swung his snake at Yammy, who punched Zabimaru in the face and shattered it into pieces, but that was what Renji wanted as he used the fragments to bind Yammy where he was standing with a red link between the pieces... but when Rukia and Chad unleashed another attack on their foe Yammy used his reiatsu to shatter their attacks and knock them backwards, where they flashed backwards and stared at their foe.
"It seems that you could use some assistance." a voice said, where Rukia and the others turned to look at who was behind them and found Grimmjow, still rocking his panther form, standing there with a grin on his face, while at the same time Nel landed beside him and stared up at Yammy.
"Yeah, he might be more than we can handle." Rukia admitted, as so far none of their attacks had worked and that was annoying, especially since she had battled someone that was stronger than Yammy, because she honestly didn't buy the fact that the rankings were Zero to Nine instead of One to Ten, before something came to mind, "Hey, you told Sombra that the Espada are ranked One to Ten, but Yammy just told us that they're actually ranked Zero to Nine... so which one of you are right?"
"Yammy is incorrect, the rankings are One to Ten." Szayelaporro replied, as he flashed into the area as well and stared up at the Espada that the trio had been fighting the entire time he and his fellow Arrancar were dealing with the Hollows, even though many of the Hollows listened to Grimmjow and joined their side, "In this state he's more selfish and angry than he could ever be in his original sealed state, and one of the things he's angry about is being the lowest ranking member of the Espada. While there is no real 'Cero' Espada, as Yammy likes to call himself in this state, his power is definitely stronger than what he possesses in his sealed state, something that you must have realized at this point in time... and it seems like he's getting ready for the next attack."
Yammy opened his mouth and a red Cero formed in front of his face, though as he fired it Nel flashed in front of the group and held her hand out, stalling the attack in it's tracks for a few seconds before she opened her own mouth and sucked it up, like she had done to Nnoitra's Cero earlier, which was followed by her firing it back at their foe and let it explode on his face. True to form her Cero Doble had left some scorch marks on Yammy's body, just like she had done to Nnoitra, but at the same time the Espada was still standing, indicating that he was going to be hard for them to take out, even if they all worked together and combined their powers together to hurt him. Grimmjow, taking advantage of the fact that Yammy was distracted by the attack, rushed through the air and appeared behind their foe, where he leveled his right elbow and then his left elbow at Yammy's back, where he launched all ten of his Garra de la Pantera at his foe, to which the ten crystalline darts flew through the air and struck Yammy in the back, causing his upper body to stagger as the darts struck his back... but even as he flashed out of the way, to avoid the incoming fist that was aimed at him, he realized that even with his power they might not be able to defeat their foe as quickly as he had hoped.
"Yeah, he's just as strong and as tough as I remember him being." Grimmjow commented, causing both of his fellow Arrancar to nod their heads, as while Szayelaporro might not have engaged Yammy in battle he was still able to observe their foe and was using his brains to their advantage, causing Grimmjow to glance at him, "Szayelaporro, do you have any suggestions for us? Because at this point all I can think of is waiting for Lord Sombra to return from Las Noches' roof, as I'm sure that his power could put Yammy in his place without needing to do too much."
"I'm sure that I could come up with something, but it doesn't appear that we need to do that." Szayelaporro said, as he had noticed the arrival of some familiar reiatsu that were descending towards where they were standing, something that Yammy clearly had missed since it didn't appear that he knew more enemies were coming, "Our Lord, and his allies, are coming to aid us, so I think it's time we stepped back and let them show us what happened above Las Noches."
Rukia started to wonder what the Arrancar was talking about, but that was when she felt the arrival of Sombra's reiatsu, along with Ichigo, Orihime, Uryu, and two other reiatsu that she didn't recognize, before they glanced up at the pillar that Ichigo had flown up earlier and noticed that Sombra was coming down towards them... and he wasn't alone, not with the small group that was following behind him.
"Getsuga Tensho!" a voice called out, one that Rukia immediately noticed wasn't Ichigo's voice, though as she and the others watched what was happening near Yammy as a black wave of energy, with a red outline, surged down towards the Espada and collided with the side of his neck, sending Yammy into the sand as the attack cut a deep gash into his neck.
For a moment Rukia, Renji, and Chad wondered what was going on, though when they looked back up into the sky, to get a better look at the group that had been following Sombra, they found that there were two Ichigos following him, the one that was their friend and a white one that resembled a Hollow, or maybe an Arrancar since he had a Hollow hole in his chest and some odd items that generally belonged to an Arrancar. As the group got closer to them Uryu and Orihime came over to where they were standing, causing Sora to rush over from where he had been fighting so he could check up on his sister, before the three of them readied themselves as Ulquiorra, in his Resurreccion, landed near them, where Grimmjow actually seemed interested in what he was seeing.
"Well, look who decided to make the smart move and join Lord Sombra's side." Grimmjow said, as that was the only reason the incredibly powerful Arrancar would have spared Ulquiorra's life, especially given the fact that he nearly killed Ichigo and might have actually done it earlier, before focusing on the other Arrancar's body, "Though that's not the Resurreccion that I remember you showing us and Aizen."
"Segunda Etapa, a second release that I've developed in secret." Ulquiorra replied, though even as he said that he still possessed no emotion in his voice, showing that he was more focused on what they were currently doing before he talked about what his new form was like, but before he could say anything else Yammy stirred and got back up.
"You actually managed to scratch me, you piece of shit!" Yammy exclaimed, though at the same time he touched the left side of his neck, where the attack had hit him, and growled when he noticed that his blood was on his hand, something that should have been hard to do while he was in this state, "Okay, where's the wise guy that thought he could get away with this?"
"I'm right here." Zangetsu answered, to which he flashed down into the area that Yammy was standing in and stared at the massive Arrancar, though at the same time he noticed the number on his shoulder for a moment and determined that it honestly didn't matter what rank Yammy was, not after he tore Ulquiorra apart, "Sup?"
"Ichigo Kurosaki?!" Yammy declared, his voice full of anger, as he hated Ichigo purely because he was the first one that was associated with Sombra in his mind, even if all Ichigo had done was remove one of his arms earlier, and seeing him again just pissed him off even more, "You've got some nerve showing up in front of me!"
"Actually, my name is Zangetsu." Zangetsu replied, though even as he said that Ichigo flashed down and stood beside him, something that he mostly ignored since he was trying to have some fun, before he jerked a finger to the person that had once been his 'partner', "That's Ichigo, so don't confuse him with me ever again... otherwise I'll kill you!"
Yammy seemed to take offense to that comment, as he raised his fists and started firing huge Balas at him, though while Ichigo flashed out of the way, to dodge the attacks and not get hit, Zangetsu grinned as he swung his right arm several times, allowing his blade to cut through the group of Bala like they were nothing, causing Yammy to stall when he saw that happen. Zangetsu took advantage of that and raised his left arm, leveling it with his opponent's head, and his reiatsu flared as a crimson Cero, one that wasn't as strong as his true form's Cero since he was in his own sealed state, formed above his hand, before he fired it at his target. Yammy, seeing the attack coming, opening his mouth and fired his own Cero at it, but it was in that moment that Rukia and that others learned that the newcomer wasn't playing around, as his attack overpowered Yammy's and destroyed it, before barreling into his target's chest. The resulting explosion knocked the massive Arrancar backwards and caused him to crash on the ground, with his head and body laying against the sand, though the observers were lucky they had moved to the side when they did, otherwise he could have crushed them if they were unlucky, and now stood on a nearby structure to watch the battle.
"Okay, now I'm seriously confused." Renji commented, though at the same time Yammy forced himself back up and charged at the newcomer, who grinned and flashed around in the sky, causing the Espada to glance around and wave his arms as he tried to swat the Hollow-like Ichigo, "Who is that guy and why does he look like Ichigo?"
"His name is Zangetsu." Sombra stated, to which he touched down behind the group and stared at the battle that was taking place, as it appeared that Yammy was much slower at times in his Resurreccion and he had trouble even catching Zangetsu, who was just cutting little cuts into his opponent's body when the opportunity presented itself, "And, before any of you ask, yes, I do mean that he bares the same name as Ichigo's Zanpakuto, though the reason behind that is because he is the real Zangetsu, not the Old Man that Ichigo told you guys about. Since he's the true spirit of Ichigo's Zanpakuto, someone that Ichigo's supposed to be in tune with, that's why he shares the same form that Ichigo does, despite the fact that he was also Ichigo's inner Hollow... up until a few minutes ago anyway."
Rukia stared at the Hollow-like Ichigo, Zangetsu she mentally corrected, and realized what Sombra was saying had to be true in some sense, as she had heard a few tales of some Zanpakuto spirits falling out of harmony with their respective Shinigami, where they would refuse to grant their partner the use of their unique powers and, in rare cases, even abandon their supposed partners because of the fact that the Shinigami, for whatever reason, couldn't hear the voice of their Zanpakuto anymore, where they ended up losing that part of their power in the process. Despite losing Zangetsu, however, Rukia could tell that Ichigo was still strong and, from what Sombra had just said, there was another spirit inside their friend that had been acting as his Zanpakuto spirit, meaning that Zangetsu must have grown tired of being ignored and abandoned Ichigo for someone else, someone like Sombra from the sounds of it. While she thought about this, however, she also noticed that Ichigo did seem worried, but the look on his face told her that it was more about the fact that his 'inner Hollow' was running around and not because his Zanpakuto spirit had abandoned him, meaning that their friend was more dense than she originally believed him to be... and in that moment, when she reflected on what she had learned, she found that she couldn't blame the real Zangetsu for his actions, not when his partner was someone like Ichigo.
She glanced over to Renji for a moment and found that he was nodding his head, as he recalled what she had been thinking about and knew the same things that she did, meaning that they knew that Ichigo had messed up and that he wasn't likely going to even attempt to fix what had happened, even though there weren't any stories about a Shinigami being reunited with the spirit of their Zanpakuto.
"Hold still, you damned insect!" Yammy shouted, as it appeared that he was growing tired of trying to hit his opponent with his hands, since he kept failing from the looks of it, though at the same time it appeared that a look of annoyance flashed on Zangetsu's face for a moment.
"Insect, am I? Okay I'll hold still," Zangetsu replied, to which he stopped flashing around and faced his opponent dead on, where Yammy grinned and reached for him once more, though that was when a smile returned to Zangetsu's face as he swung his right arm and cut a gash into Yammy's outstretched hand, causing him to jerk back for a moment as he yelped in pain, "but be careful, because this insect stings!"
"You'll pay for that!" Yammy declared, though that was when he started moving again, trying to punch Zangetsu into the ground or one of the structures that was nearby, causing his foe to dodge him once more as they resumed the dance that they had started earlier.
Zangetsu just grinned as he flashed through the air and found that Yammy could move his legs and his tail to attack him, though he took more fun in inflicting some pain onto his opponent first, as when the end of the tail came at him he swung his right arm and cut through the Hierro that was protecting it, sending the end of the appendage flying off into the distance as Yammy howled in pain. Zangetsu also removed half of one of Yammy's legs, even though that really didn't matter in the long run considering how many his foe had, and noticed that it seemed to serve as a point of anger for the Arrancar, but even with his rage fueled mind he couldn't touch him at all. Even when Yammy tried to smash him between his hands he simply flashed out of the way and continued his attack, as there was no reason for him to actually do anything else besides dodge, and he occasionally drew blood just to make the Arrancar continue attacking him with all of his power and might. He quickly came to the conclusion that the only thing that made his opponent's Resurreccion special was the fact that anger seemed to be a way for him to slowly power himself to new heights, but at the rate he was going, which was minor at best, Zangetsu knew that he'd kill Yammy before his foe even had a chance to reach the level of power that he was trying to build up to.
Eventually Zangetsu grew tired of how his opponent was fighting and jumped backwards with a bored expression on his face, though at the same time Yammy seemed to notice it and stopped as well, causing the large group of Arrancar, Humans, and Shinigami to stare at the pair for a few moments as they wondered what the two were planning.
"You know, it was more interesting and exciting when I was fighting Ulquiorra," Zangetsu commented, because the 'Cero' Espada was proving that he was just as weak as he originally thought he was, and at this point he honestly didn't feel like finishing the battle, not when there were more worthy opponents attacking the World of the Living, "You're not even worth using my full power against, much less me actually ending your life. It's been interesting, Yammy, but I'm going to find more worthy opponents to battle..."
"You insolent pest!" Yammy shouted, because clearly he was annoyed by the fact that he wasn't 'worthy' of facing off against Zangetsu's true power and swung his fist at his opponent, only to find that it stopped before it could even reach it's destination, "Okay, whose stopping me this time?"
"That would be me." Sombra said, though as the smoke cleared Yammy's eyes widened, because instead of Sombra being in his Resurreccion he had finally decided to retract his power and returned to his base form, allowing Rey to reform his blade and scabbard, where Yammy also noticed that Sombra had stopped him with just his left arm, "Sorry, Yammy, but I would have to agree with Zangetsu... you aren't the type of opponent that requires me to use two-thirds of my power, or even the full height of my power. I could beat you in my base state that it's not ev..."
"Please, someone like you would need your full power to stop someone like me." Yammy growled, though at the same time the rest of the Arrancar glanced at each other, as they weren't sure what the large Arrancar was trying to pull, as Sombra's Resurreccion would have been overkill on it's own, so saying that he needed his full power was like he had a death wish or something, "I am the strongest member of the Espada, so much so that Szayelaporro, Grimmjow, Nnoitra, and even Ulquiorra are trash before my might! You may have terrified some of them, and beaten others, but your power is nothing compared to the strength and anger that I possess!"
Sombra said nothing to that as he used a little more pressure and knocked Yammy's arm back, though while his foe was stunned he drew both of his Zanpakuto from their scabbards and rushed forward, going on the offensive as Yammy tried to hit him. Despite Yammy's boasts that he was the strongest and toughest of the Espada, something that didn't sit well with the three current members of the group that were watching them at the moment, Sombra found that there was no weight behind his opponent's words as he swung his blades and cut several gashes into Yammy's chest. He also reversed the hold on his Zanpakuto and used his Kaiten Kenbu to carve even deeper cuts into his opponent's arms, legs, and his chest, all of which annoyed and angered Yammy as he tried, in vain, to grab him and crush like, though Sombra was mostly doing this because he noticed that while anger seemed to be Yammy's friend, it was also his enemy. It wasn't hard to figure out that anger was a dual-edged sword for the Espada in front of him, as while it increased his power it also left him blind to how one was supposed to battle and that, right there, was the key to defeating Yammy, all he had to do was make him so angry that he lost sight of what was important... and then, with one powerful attack, he'd defeat the Espada that was his opponent and bring an end to this battle, allowing them to rest before he started the invasion of the World of the Living, to defeat the rest of Aizen's forces.
In the end Sombra found the opening that he was looking for and loosed a Cero Oscuras right into Yammy's chest, blowing a hole in the left side of his body and knocking him backwards, bringing an end to the battle without needing to use any of his true powers... but as he stepped away from his foe, however, Yammy bolted back up into a sitting position and seemed to be focused on something else.
"I see that you have no idea when to give up." Sombra said, though at the same time he sighed, as he had some hope that Yammy would have remained silent and stayed down, so he could try to change him for the better once Aizen and his allies were done for, before he faced his foe once more.
"It hurts..." Yammy commented, referring to the number of wounds and missing body parts that he had sustained in his battles with both Sombra and Zangetsu, but at the same time Sombra noticed that Yammy's body was bulking up more than it had been earlier, and his reiatsu seemed to be building once more, "You guys are really pissing me off!"
"It seems like he's losing his mind, now that he's fighting you." Zangetsu stated, because while he had decided not to bother killing Yammy, and had decided to walk away from the boring fight, he had been watching their foe and knew that he seemed to be going insane.
"I'll make you pay... I'll make you PAY!" Yammy said, though as he said that his muscles and his entire body seemed to be freaking out because of what he was doing, while at the same time he seemed to be getting even taller than what he already was, "I'll make you pay, dammit!"
In the following moment Yammy was surrounded by a red pillar of reiatsu that had an angry feeling to it, a pillar that raced towards the ceiling and pushed against it for a moment, but Sombra stared at the pillar as he waited for Yammy to reappear, since it appeared that his foe still wanted to fight. When the pillar disappeared Sombra noticed that all of Yammy's wounds had been healed, every single one of them by the looks of it, and any damage that had been done to his mask had been reversed, but at the same time he also noticed that Yammy was definitely taller than before and he was much bulkier than his previous state. The black piston-like protrusions on his back become more like extensions of his vertebrae, which was interesting in Sombra's eyes, and he gained two massive horns on his back as well, though he gained multiple horns on his head, with some covering his lower jaw, and crack-like markings frame his eyes. Yammy's arms were now positioned in knuckle-walk position, and his legs were hairy, ending in short, stubby toes, giving the Espada an ape-like appearance that was vastly different from the form he had taken when he released his Resurreccion. The other thing that Sombra noticed was that Yammy's tail had also become more hairy and ape-like, and potentially losing the large club if it had been attached still, while he lost the extra sets of legs as well... though he knew that Yammy was much stronger than he had been moments ago, but despite that fact he still didn't feel the need to use either his Bankai or his Resurreccion against his foe.
A few moments passed before Yammy seemed to take a breath, if the steam that came out of his mouth was anything to go by, and he stared at Sombra as he regained his focus, meaning that he was getting ready to continue the battle and attempt to smash them into the ground.
"That was good, you scum. I'm at the real peak of anger now." Yammy declared, his voice echoing throughout the area that they were in, allowing everyone to hear him while he focused on the one enemy that he wanted to take out at the moment, "My Resurreccion's name is Ira. The raging beast. Anger only makes me stronger. Make me more and more and more angry! That's all I need... all I need for you to die an ugly death right here!"
In the following moment Yammy lifted his fist and threw it towards Sombra, who let Shokyo float in the air nearby as he used his right hand to stop the fist from hitting him, though when the two of them collided Sombra found that Yammy's power boost seemed to have some impact, as it pushed him back a little bit... before he came to a decision and flashed backwards a little bit, where his foe stared at him as Zangetsu flashed over to a nearby location so he could join the others as they watched what he did next.
"I'll admit something, you're definitely pretty strong in your 'rage' form." Sombra said, though at the same time he held both of his blades at the ready, like he was going to attack Yammy again, but this time around the group noticed that both of them were glowing, indicating that he was planning something that they had never seen before, "Since your using your full power against me, and there's the fact that you'll be dead in a matter of seconds anyway, I'll reward you for being one of the first enemies, in quite a long time, to actually push me back, even if it's just by a tiny bit, by showing you my full power... Awaken, Blades of the King."
Not a few seconds later both of Sombra's Zanpakuto glowed brightly before enveloping him in a sphere of silver colored reiatsu, something that Renji remembered when he first activated his Resurreccion, and that was swiftly followed by the sphere exploding into a pillar of pure energy that rocked the air around him and shook the ground. This time around something interesting happened, as the pillar that Sombra was in struck the ceiling of Las Noches and caused the entire structure to melt away like it didn't exist, exposing the crescent moon of Hueco Mundo in the process, and that only caused the area around the moon to shudder in response to what Sombra was doing. Despite the layers of sand that were all around them the ground noticed several cracks forming beneath the structure they were on, like Sombra's power was effecting more than just the air and the sky, before Rukia's eyes widened as stars started to appear all around the moon, something that was completely different from what she and the others had seen so far. Even the Arrancar that were standing near them seemed shocked by what was going on, though at the same time some of them, like Grimmjow and Zangetsu, were grinning like they knew what was happening, causing the others to watch and wait for the pillar to disappear... and, as if beckoned by their thoughts, the stars disappeared, the air stopped shaking, the ground went still, and the pillar finally disappeared as the energy that made it up surged outwards from where Sombra was standing.
When they were allowed to see Sombra again, however, the group immediately thought that he had only activated his Resurreccion, because of the type of armor that he was wearing, but when the rest of the smoke cleared they found that his king armor was now made out of silver, unlike the iron of it's previous state, like it had been constructed for a king that was good, instead of an evil one like he had been, according to Sombra anyway. He retained his lush red cape, now made to fit his more regal form, and the crown that accompanied it had also been changed, as it was also made out of silver, but what interested the group was the fact that his hair color, his eye color, and the color of his reiatsu had changed as well. This time around Sombra's hair took on the silver color that his reiatsu possessed, and the same color appeared in his eyes as well, though in addition to that he still had the strands of energy emitting from his eyes, purple strands coming from his left eye and brilliant blue colored stands coming from his right eye, and his sclera retained the grayish green sap color it had earlier. Despite the addition of the strands he looked like a cross between his knight form and his dark king form, as if he combined his Bankai and his Resurreccion together... and, at the same time, Rukia and most of the others couldn't even feel his reiatsu anymore, revealing that he had ascended to a level that they couldn't even feel.
In fact the only ones that could feel Sombra's power now were the Arrancar that were standing around them, and the looks on their faces told Rukia so much about what was going on, especially since she remembered what they had been told when they first came to Hueco Mundo.
"I'll give you one chance to forsake Aizen and join me," Sombra stated, though at the same time he focused on Yammy and no one else, as he wanted to end this battle quickly before bringing an end to the battle that was raging in the World of the Living, "otherwise I might have to kill you."
Yammy, instead of replying, raised his fist and swung at Sombra once more, though this time around Sombra didn't move as the attack came at him and the group watched in shock as Yammy's fist did nothing to push him back this time around, though that included Yammy breaking all of the bones in his fist in the process. As Yammy yelped in surprise, and held his ruined hand tightly, Sombra raised his right arm as he flashed forward, allowing him to punch Yammy's chest while the massive Arrancar was distracted, though that was accompanied by the sound of broken bones and some blood bursting out of Yammy's mouth to show that he was wounded. Sombra then flashed out of the way as Yammy tried to hit him, avoiding both the attack and the blood in the process, before snapping his fingers and causing a thick crystal pillar to burst out of the ground, puncturing Yammy's stomach for a moment as Sombra walked down the edge of it, heading away from where his foe was standing. In that moment Yammy, not understanding how much trouble he was in, opened his mouth and gathered his reiatsu, as he intended to obliterate Sombra with a Cero, but Sombra, on the other hand, faced his foe and held his right hand out, where strands of silver energy pulled themselves together as he formed his own silver colored Cero... one that, when he fired it, shattered the Cero that Yammy had been charging and detonated in the Espada's face, forcing him backwards in the process.
Sombra flashed over to where Yammy was standing and delivered a few punches and kicks to the Espada's exposed body, cracking the bones that his attacks came into contact with, before he appeared behind Yammy's head and punched him so hard into the ground that his body was engulfed in a red explosion... one that reverted him back to his sealed state and his Zanpakuto landed nearby, though Yammy coughed as Sombra landed nearby and picked up his blade.
"I'll kill you for that!" Yammy shouted, to which he charged at Sombra and swung his Zanpakuto at him, though this time around Sombra didn't bother to dodge as the blade of his sword struck his neck, where Yammy's eyes widened in sheer shock as he found that he hadn't done anything to Sombra's neck, "Wh... What's going on here?"
"It's like Grimmjow said, I'm the Dios Hueco." Sombra replied, though at the same time he focused his mind and the shadows responded, where an elegant mirror, one large enough to accommodate Yammy's size, formed nearby and chains surged out of the darkness, wrapping around Yammy's arms and legs, "I'll let you spend the next hour in the Shadowlands, to see if we can't fill your head with some sense as to who you attacked, before I make the final decision regarding your fate."
Yammy let out a string of curses as the shadows pulled him towards the mirror and send him to the realm of pure terror that he had access to, before Sombra sighed and sent the mirror away, as it was time for him to focus on what they were going to do next and he could tell that the others were gathering nearby, including the Captains.
"Lord Sombra, what are your orders?" Grimmjow asked, though as he said that he and the other Arrancar, now realizing what had happened, knelt before their true king and bowed their heads in respect, as they all knew that angering Sombra was the one thing they didn't want to do.
"We'll take the next few minutes to rest up and make sure everyone is prepared for our return to the World of the Living," Sombra commented, reminding them that Aizen was still a 'threat' and that he needed to be taken care of, before he turned towards the open area nearby and smiled, "He thinks that he's trapped us inside Hueco Mundo, but this isn't the first time that he's underestimated my abilities... and something tells me that it won't be the last time that he does such a thing."
Grimmjow smiled, as it appeared that their lord had a plan in mind to deal with the Usurper and his allies, including any Arrancar that foolishly tried to stand against the true ruler of Hueco Mundo, and he could tell that the Shinigami were interested in what he had planned... though he knew that Aizen wouldn't be expecting them to attack his forces so soon after he left for the World of the Living, and he was going to enjoy watching their lord deal with Aizen.
Captain Hitsuguya stood near the other Captains and Lieutenants that had followed the Captain-Commander to the World of the Living so they could battle Aizen and the remaining Espada that he brought with him, though from his count there were three, the big three he realized, and roughly ten lesser Arrancar with them. From the looks of things the female Espada, whose jacket covered part of her face while exposing the lower part of her breasts, had three female Arrancar that were her loyal followers, the elderly male Espada had six male Arrancar standing behind him, and the final Espada, who looked like a tired young man, only had a little girl as his follower. When Aizen, Gin, and Tosen appeared, however, the group of Shinigami watched as Yamamoto unsealed his Zanpakuto for a moment and sealed the three traitors inside a flaming fortress that was also their prison, allowing the groups to deal with the Arrancar that had assembled near the enemy they came to defeat. Fortunately it appeared that the elderly Espada, Baraggan by the sounds of it, sat on a throne and tried to break the four pillars with massive Hollows that obeyed his commands, only for the four Shinigami they had posted on the pillars, Ikkaku, Yumichika, Kira, and Hisagi, to slay their foes... thus forcing Baraggan to send out four of his followers to do battle with the four Shinigami, even though he called them his 'dragons' and the four Shinigami he referred to as 'ants', only encouraging them to do their best to defend the pillars.
Despite the display of power from the four Arrancar that had been chosen to do battle, three of them were defeated, one by Yumichika, one by Kira, and one by Hisagi, though Ikkaku stubbornly refused to use the power he used earlier, during Grimmjow's invasion of the World of the Living, and the pillar he had been guarding had been destroyed as he suffered yet another defeat. Fortunately Urahara had foreseen the possibility that a pillar might be destroyed and had gifted them some totems of sorts that acted like the pillar would, allowing them to place the devices down and prevent the return of the real Karakura Town, which is what the Arrancar were trying to do, and Captain Komamura used his Bankai to defeat the Arrancar that had defeated Ikkaku. From that moment forward Captain Soi Fon and her Lieutenant, Omaeda, engaged the remaining two Arrancar that followed the elderly Espada, Captains Ukitake and Kyoraku started the battle with the tired Espada and his lone follower, while he and Matsumoto engaged the final Espada, where Hitsuguya left his Lieutenant to engage the three Arrancar that followed the female Espada. As the following battles began, however, he also noticed that both Soi Fon and Omaeda managed to finish off the pair of Arrancar that they were fighting, causing the elderly Espada to crush his throne and reveal that his Zanpakuto was a large axe of some kind, one that he intended on using against them so he could crush them.
Of course he was also worried about Matsumoto, as it appeared that she might not be able to actually take the three powerful Arrancar on in their sealed states, but fortunately she was aided by the timely arrival of Lieutenant Hinamori Momo and managed to push the trio back for a moment... but before they could really do anything, and see which side had the upper hand, Hitsuguya noticed that all of the remaining Arrancar stopped for a moment as he and the other Shinigami felt the air shudder for a few moments, before returning to normal.
"What in the world was that?" Hitsuguya inquired, as that was the first time he had ever felt something like that in a long time, save for when Sombra used all of his impressive powers against whoever his opponents were, and it worried him that a new enemy might be coming to face them on behalf of Aizen's orders.
"That, Captain, could either be your salvation or your doom." Harribel replied, as she and the other Arrancar already knew what the brief shudder had been, especially considering what Ulquiorra had told them and what Grimmjow had warned them about during their last meeting, and she was sure that the ordinary Hollows in this world knew what was going on now, "The Dios Hueco has awakened his true power, and He's on his way here."
Hitsuguya had no idea what this 'Dios Hueco' was supposed to be, as it was a term that he and the others had never heard before, but the way that his foe mentioned the being, a 'He' by the sounds of it, it could either be an ally that could save them or an enemy that could destroy them all... and, in that moment, he wished that Sombra was here with them, as he had the feeling that this was a being that only the powerful Vasto Lorde ranked Arrancar could defeat.