Such situations weren't uncommon in the 11th Division.
After all, the Seireitei had mastered the technology to open the Dangai, [Senkaimon]. Shinigami could invade Hueco Mundo, eliminate Hollows, and then the 12th Division's Shinigami would locate their position and open a Senkaimon for their return.
Even if the 12th Division's Shinigami forgot, the Shinigami who entered Hueco Mundo could contact the Hollow Extermination Army and return to the Soul Society through their Senkaimon.
However, Ashido never expected that the Garganta he and his squad entered didn't lead to Hueco Mundo in the conventional sense, but to a hidden location within Hueco Mundo, second only to Las Noches in status… the Forest of Menos!
As the name suggested, the Forest of Menos was the place where Gillian-level and above [Menos] lived in Hueco Mundo.
The evolution of Hollows was different from Shinigami who needed training.
Hollows only needed to devour souls to undergo 'evolution', transforming into higher-level beings.
From the initial weak Hollows formed from fallen ordinary humans, to small Hollows, medium Hollows, and then to Gillian-level Menos, there were no bottlenecks… they only needed to devour souls to advance.
Gillian was a level where a Menos's Reiatsu underwent a qualitative change.
Like Shinigami Captain-level, Gillian also possessed 3rd-class Spiritual Power.
However, even among Gillian, there were three types.
The first type were those who had just advanced from medium Hollows to Menos, where hundreds of souls within the Gillian struggled for control of the body.
At this stage, Gillian were the quietest and had the slowest reactions.
Even when attacked, they often couldn't react due to the souls fighting among themselves, or had issues like poor attack accuracy.
The second type had one soul that completely digested the hundreds of souls within, forming its own independent will and gaining full control over the body.
Gillian at this stage possessed intelligence and could even ambush and devour other Menos's Reiatsu to undergo higher-level evolution, becoming Adjuchas-level Menos.
This was also the strongest state for Gillian.
The third type were Gillian Menos that had degenerated from Adjuchas Menos.
Hollow evolution was one-way, and there was no regression.
After evolving to Adjuchas, if they couldn't evolve further to Vasto Lorde, the Adjuchas would degenerate back into Gillian.
After degeneration, their consciousness would be completely consumed by the Hollow instinct, turning them into Menos with only feeding instincts, becoming stepping stones for other Gillian's evolution.
To some extent, the Gillian Menos in Hueco Mundo played a crucial regulatory role in Hueco Mundo's ecology and the Reishi Cycle of the three worlds.
Therefore, when creating Hueco Mundo, the Five Great Noble Families constructed a vast underground space beneath Hueco Mundo for Gillian-level Menos to inhabit.
Only Gillian-level Menos could directly enter through Garganta, while other Hollows and Shinigami couldn't directly locate this place.
So, after Ashido and his squad entered the Forest of Menos, they didn't receive rescue from the Seireitei. Instead, what awaited them was an endless horde of Gillian-level Menos.
In the end, Ashido was the only survivor from that squad.
Moreover, he continued fighting these countless Gillian in the Forest of Menos for hundreds of years.
Initially, Ashido wanted to avenge his subordinates.
Later, what kept Ashido going in the Forest of Menos was his sense of responsibility as a Shinigami.
He believed that the more Menos he killed in the Forest of Menos, the less likely the human world and Soul Society would suffer from Hollow disasters.
Later, when Kyoya entered Hueco Mundo to complete part of the [Pirate Route's] Achievements, he found Ashido.
And then, in the name of the 11th Division's Captain, he affirmed Ashido and the sacrificed squad members' efforts over the years, asking Ashido if he was willing to start anew carrying his comrades' will, only then did Ashido leave Hueco Mundo.
Being able to fight continuously in the Forest of Menos for hundreds of years, Ashido's strength was naturally not weak.
But since the only attack method of Gillian Menos that truly threatened Ashido was the Cero, and he often fought Gillian Menos, it couldn't be said that he was exceptionally strong either.
After being brought out of the Forest of Menos by Kyoya, it took some time under Kyoya's repeated training for Ashido to shed the combat habits formed over hundreds of years of fighting Gillian Menos, refine those experiences, and finally step into the Great Swordsman realm.
It was precisely because of this that Ashido ultimately became the Army Commander of the Revolutionary Army's 6th Division.
Many memories flashed through his mind. Finally, the uncertainty in Ashido's eyes disappeared.
"Captain Kuchiki, from now on, please be careful!"
"Bankai-"
…
Whoosh whoosh whoosh!
Boom boom boom-
Ichinose's figure flashed about, with sword shadows closely following, striking the roads and walls, blasting craters into them.
Fighting Ichinose was the 9th Division's Captain, Tosen Kaname.
Although blind, Tosen's Reikaku was no worse than sight.
In fact, because he couldn't see, Tosen's Reikaku was unmatched within the Seireitei.
Ichinose's Zanpakuto, Nijigasumi was a Zanpakuto that controlled 'light', capable of releasing powerful light to temporarily blind enemies.
But this move was useless against Tosen.
Therefore, in his battle with Tosen, Ichinose used the light condensed into highly lethal lasers and light-based slashes to fight.
Compared to other battlefields, the scale of Ichinose and Tosen's fight was much smaller.
On one hand, neither of their Zanpakuto's Shikai had large-area attack capabilities. With both sides holding back, their damage to the surrounding environment wasn't significant.
On the other hand, both Ichinose and Tosen had the intention to stall for time.
Ichinose knew that compared to the Gotei 13's Captains, he still had some gaps, and his chances of winning weren't high.
Rather than going all out and being defeated, it was better to hold back and stall for more time, giving Kukaku more room to operate.
As for Tosen...
This was easier to understand.
Aizen had recently been troubled about how to divert the attention of the Seireitei's nobles and other Gotei 13's Captains so he could smoothly obtain 'that thing'.
Tosen knew stalling with these Ryoka for a while longer would buy Aizen some time.
However, this situation soon changed.
"Emergency notice, emergency notice..."
'Captain Aizen... is dead?'
After hearing this news, both Tosen and Ichinose's expressions changed.
The difference was, Tosen simply didn't believe Aizen was truly dead.
He figured Aizen must have used his ability to make both the Seireitei's Shinigami and the invading Ryoka believe he was dead, to shake off the constraints from the shadows.
Now that Aizen had succeeded, he naturally didn't need to go through the motions anymore.
As for Ichinose, while surprised, he wasn't exactly shocked.
From the Reiatsu erupting from that direction, Ichinose knew the one fighting Aizen was Hitsugaya.
If Koga didn't use his Zanpakuto's Bankai Ability, Hitsugaya could be considered the strongest in the Revolutionary Army after Kyoya.
Although he didn't know why Hitsugaya killed the 5th Division's Captain, no one in the Revolutionary Army found it strange that Hitsugaya could kill a Gotei 13's Captain.
Hitsugaya was just young in age, not weak in strength!
However, Ichinose also knew that since there were casualties among the Gotei 13's Captains, his opponent wouldn't continue the tacit agreement to maintain a stalemate.
Sure enough, the subsequent development made Ichinose realize he needed to get serious too.
He saw Tosen hold his Zanpakuto upright in front of him, Reiatsu erupting, his Captain's Haori rustling under his erupting Reiatsu.
"Bankai-"
As Tosen's Reiatsu erupted, five rings appeared from the guard of his Zanpakuto, Suzumushi. Tosen threw these five rings, and they hovered around him.
Naturally, Ichinose was also enclosed within these rings.
"Enma Korogi!"
Boom!
Powerful Reiatsu erupted from the five rings, dyeing the center of the rings black.
Then, the black light spread, merging with the black light from the other rings, forming a giant elliptical barrier.
This was Tosen's Bankai!
Anyone enclosed within the barrier formed by Tosen's Bankai would have all their senses, except touch, stripped away, becoming people who couldn't see, hear, speak, or smell.
It could be said that Tosen's Bankai Ability, like former 3rd Division's Captain, Otoribashi Rojuro's Zanpakuto, Kinshara, and former 5th Division's Captain, Hirako Shinji's Zanpakuto, Sakanade, belonged to the 'illusion-type' Zanpakuto.
Moreover, their Zanpakuto abilities were all very strong.
Although each had their own weaknesses, they were also the most likely to cause 'first-encounter kills'.
Rojuro's Kinshara, being an auditory illusion, could be broken by destroying the eardrums so one couldn't hear the music.
Shinji's Sakanade belonged to 'olfactory illusion', where the emitted scent could affect people's nerves. Covering the nose or having companions nearby would affect this ability.
This was an ability only suitable for one-on-one combat.
Tosen's Enma Korogi was relatively better among the three Zanpakuto, belonging to 'barrier illusion'. Once used, everyone within the barrier would be affected.
Similarly, its weakness was relatively obvious.
Once the barrier was broken, the effect would be dispelled.
From this perspective, whether Tosen truly acknowledged Komamura's 'justice' when they became friends was debatable.
It was more likely that Komamura's Bankai (just happened to counter Tosen's Bankai.
Think about it: the barrier formed by Tosen's Bankai was at most a dozen meters tall.
For those who had lost their senses of sight, hearing, smell, and taste, this dozen-meter-tall, hundred-meter-wide ellipse was an insurmountable chasm, leaving them as fish on the chopping block for Tosen.
But Komamura was different, as his Bankai Kokujo Tengen Myo'o was a hundred meters tall just in height, directly capable of bursting through Tosen Kaname's Enma Korogi.
It could be said that Komamura hard-countered Tosen.
Ichinose was formerly a member of the 11th Division. After leaving the Seireitei with Kyoya, he participated in many battles.
Therefore, his combat experience was far richer than that of ordinary Shinigami.
Although he didn't know the ability of Tosen's Bankai, Ichinose knew that when an enemy revealed a new move, it was best to respond with a corresponding move.
Otherwise, if he were killed due to carelessness, he wouldn't get the chance to regret not going all out.
Immediately, Ichinose didn't hesitate either. He held his Zanpakuto upright between his eyebrows and shouted loudly-
"Bankai-"
"Seiko Nijigasumi!"
Boom!
Colorful Reiatsu erupted from Ichinose's body, becoming the only light in this endless dark barrier.
However, neither Tosen nor Ichinose within Enma Korogi could appreciate this gorgeous light at the moment.
Tosen was blind and couldn't see anything.
And Ichinose, currently within Tosen's Bankai, had four of his five senses stripped away, so he naturally couldn't see his own Reiatsu either.
After Ichinose lost his other four senses, he didn't hesitate and directly unleashed his strongest move-
'Saigyoku Nijigasumi!'
With Ichinose's mental shout, he channeled all his Reiatsu into the Zanpakuto in his hand, causing the blade to erupt with even more dazzling light.
Then, this dazzling light suddenly erupted outward from Ichinose as the center-
Originally, Ichinose's Saigyoku Nijigasumi was a technique that transformed his Reiatsu into light, allowing him to burst out with faster speed and greater power.
But after Ichinose learned many light-based techniques from Kyoya, this move naturally underwent significant changes.
He incorporated the concept of Kyoya's [Sunshine] technique into his Bankai's Ability, making his Zanpakuto's light also possess lethality.
Saigyoku Nijigasumi was a powerful move where he compressed most of his Reiatsu and then released it all at once.
This could be considered Ichinose's 'all-or-nothing' move.
In the current situation, Ichinose couldn't guarantee that Tosen wouldn't kill him. If he didn't fight with his life now, he might soon lose the chance to do so.
Boom-
...
In the underground training ground, Kyoya, who was explaining things to Ichigo, suddenly frowned.
He hadn't expected that among the Revolutionary Army's Army Commanders, the first to have a decisive outcome would be Ichinose.
Judging from the battle's result, he and Tosen could be considered to have injured each other severely.
Ichinose's final outburst didn't successfully break Tosen's Bankai barrier, but it still inflicted significant injuries on Tosen.