Tōshirō Hitsugaya & Rangiku Matsumoto vs. Bazz-B is a fight taking place during the second invasion of the Quincy Blood War, focusing on 10th Division Captain Tōshirō Hitsugaya and Lieutenant Rangiku Matsumoto's battle against Sternritter "H" Bazz-B and acting as the first major conflict of the Wandenreich's second invasion of the Seireitei.
Prelude[]
Tōshirō Hitsugaya and Rangiku Matsumoto confront Bazz-B.
In front of the former Tenth Division barracks, dozens of Shinigami rush toward Sternritter "H" Bazz-B and are ordered to not let him through before Bazz-B engulfs them in flame and calls them idiots for saying this when the invasion is already complete, which means the Shinigami are way past the point of preventing their enemy from getting in. However, Bazz-B is startled when his flames clear to reveal the Shinigami unharmed behind a wall of ice. Approaching Bazz-B with his lieutenant, Rangiku Matsumoto, 10th Division Captain Tōshirō Hitsugaya admits that it is too late to stop the Wandenreich from getting through before pointing out that Bazz-B's flames did not get through.[2]
Bazz-B is excited at the prospect of fighting Hitsugaya since he believes they are a good match.
Bemused by Hitsugaya's arrival, Bazz-B recognizes him as the ice captain who got his Bankai stolen by Sternritter "I" Cang Du, which prompts Hitsugaya to introduce himself. As he reciprocates this, Bazz-B declares that the two of them are a good match, which Hitsugaya agrees with, before their fire and ice clash in an explosion that engulfs several buildings, sending a shockwave rippling over the city and smashing through the ice protecting the Shinigami, who are ordered by Rangiku to fall back and protect other areas, which they acknowledge as one of them picks up a shard of the ice wall that was protecting them and realizes how thin it is, leaving him to wonder if Hitsugaya will be alright.[3]
Battle[]
Rangiku prepares to help Hitsugaya battle Bazz-B and is pleased that she is able to do so.
Continuing to blast the ice produced by Hitsugaya with his flames, Bazz-B points out how flimsy it is and suggests that Hitsugaya keep throwing it around so he can melt it and raise the humidity. Internally, Hitsugaya muses that he only needs to keep this up for a bit longer before Rangiku informs him that their subordinates have fallen back and offers to help him. When Hitsugaya thanks her since he still has trouble controlling it by himself, a startled Rangiku smiles at him and explains that she believes him losing his Bankai produced something nice when Hitsugaya notices this, though the latter is aggravated by her calling him cute for relying on her like this.[4]
Hitsugaya uses Rangiku's House technique to create a multi-layered wall of vacuum ice, Shinkū Tasō Hyōheki.
Rangiku releases her Shikai, Haineko, and spreads the ash out across the air in front of her while telling Hitsugaya to prepare for "Operation Mille-feuille" while his ice spreads over the ash. On the ground, Bazz-B assumes that this is just an ordinary ice wall and launches more fire at it just as Rangiku uses House, leaving the ice completely intact once the flames clear. When a confused Bazz-B demands to know what this is, Hitsugaya reveals that it is a multi-layered wall of vacuum-ice and details how Rangiku separates the ash of Haineko into multiple thin layers for him to cover in thin ice using his Shikai, Hyōrinmaru, before retracting it to leave a vacuum layer behind the ice that prevents the heat from piercing it.[5]
Bazz-B is attacked with Shinkū no Kōri no Yaiba.
Seeing Bazz-B's bewilderment, Hitsugaya notes that Hyōrinmaru has the least difference in powers between its Shikai and Bankai of all the captain-level Zanpakutō and reveals that his Shikai simply lets him produce much less ice than his Bankai does, which is why he trained to fight with less ice, before musing that it was enough to stop flames of Bazz-B's level. Though an angered Bazz-B blasts them with a powerful fireball, Hitsugaya remains unharmed behind the ice, and after separating the ice walls in two to level his Zanpakutō at Bazz-B, whom he reminds that his flame cannot penetrate this vacuum-ice, Hitsugaya attacks him with Shinkū no Kōri no Yaiba, slamming a large hollow blade of ice into Bazz-B's right shoulder.[6] With Bazz-B pinned against a nearby pillar by the ice blade, the Shinigami celebrate the idea that they can defeat the Wandenreich without Bankai as the smiling Hitsugaya and Rangiku walk through the crowd.[7]
Bazz-B easily melts the ice pinning him against the pillar after Hitsugaya believes him defeated.
Shortly afterward, the Shinigami recognize 2nd Division Captain Suì-Fēng's Reiatsu and declare that she won too, leading Rangiku to muse that things are looking up and suggest that she and Hitsugaya go help the other captains. Suddenly, before a hesitant Hitsugaya can reply, Bazz-B gets their attention and criticizes the idea of being left here while they are still learning about each other because he has not even begun to fight as he melts the ice encasing him with a single hand.[8] While Bazz-B emerges unharmed from the cascade of water resulting from the melted ice, the observing Shinigami express disbelief at Shinkū no Kōri no Yaiba not ripping him to pieces, only for Bazz-B to point out that his cape was indeed shredded and lament the ruining of his best uniform before ripping it off his shoulders with a wide grin.[9]
Hitsugaya attempts to protect himself from Bazz-B with Ryōjin Hyōheki after ordering Rangiku to regroup.
Bazz-B brings up Hitsugaya's earlier statement of being able to shield his flames and recounts how all of the Sternritter struck by the blast of flame from Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto's Shikai, Ryūjin Jakka, are still alive, including himself. After asking Hitsugaya why he thinks they are alive even though Yamamoto did not miss and hit all three of them directly, Bazz-B reveals that he offset Yamamoto's flames with his own, shocking Hitsugaya, and places his hand against the remainder of Shinkū no Kōri no Yaiba to instantly melt it in a large gush of water. With Bazz-B expressing disappointment at Hitsugaya not having his Bankai right now since he would have loved to prove that he could melt the ice of Hitsugaya's Bankai with just one finger, Hitsugaya slashes a wave of ice at him, but Bazz-B casually melts the ice with a wall of flames in front of himself and asserts that it will not reach him. Ordering Rangiku to regroup while he holds off Bazz-B with Ryōjin Hyōheki, Hitsugaya forms a wall of finely-woven ice in front of himself.[10]
Bazz-B pierces the ice wall and Hitsugaya's side with Burner Finger 1.
However, as Rangiku departs, Bazz-B merely admits that he has a lot of tricks up his sleeves before declaring that all he needs is a finger for anything Hitsugaya uses and firing Burner Finger 1 from his index finger at the wall, piercing through it and Hitsugaya's chest with a concentrated beam of fire.[11] Moments later, Hitsugaya runs from Bazz-B, and when the latter taunts him for fleeing despite being a captain, Hitsugaya erects a wall of ice between them, though Bazz-B reiterates that it will not reach him and immediately cuts through this with a flaming wave of his hand, only to find himself surrounded by a thick icy fog.[12]
Hitsugaya is grievously wounded and has his Zanpakutō broken by Burner Finger 2 after failing to trap Bazz-B with Rokui Hyōketsujin.
Annoyed by this and admonishing Hitsugaya for his reliance on tricks, Bazz-B disperses the fog with Burning Stomp to see Hitsugaya standing a few meters away, and when Bazz-B chastises him for not coming up with a better plan while within the fog, Hitsugaya admits that there was no time to plan, but reveals that he set a trap as Bazz-B notices six sigils surrounding him on the ground and ice forming on his wrist prior to initiating Rokui Hyōketsujin, which encases Bazz-B in a thick pillar of ice. Despite this, Bazz-B quickly melts the ice and responds to Hitsugaya's disbelief by claiming that he feels the same and questioning if Hitsugaya is trying to make him angry enough to use a second finger. With Hitsugaya erecting another wall of ice in front of himself, Bazz-B fires Burner Finger 2 at him, creating a tall vertical explosion as Hitsugaya is slashed across the chest by two diagonal streaks of flame that break the blade of his Zanpakutō.[13]
Aftermath[]
Cang Du arrives to finish off Hitsugaya in compliance with Yhwach's order of Sternritter targeting the captains whose Bankai they have stolen.
Suddenly, with Hitsugaya collapsing, Cang lands behind Bazz-B and asserts that he will be taking over the fight from here because of their agreement to leave the captains to the ones who stole their Bankai.[14] Despite Bazz-B asserting that Yhwach will punish him for stealing a kill, Cang reminds Bazz-B it was Yhwach's order for the captains to be killed by their own Bankai, which Bazz-B scoffs at, and pushes his cloak aside to reveal and drop Rangiku, who has been slashed across the side of her neck, to Hitsugaya's alarm. Bringing up Rangiku being Hitsugaya's precious lieutenant, Cang declares that this is why they will die together, introduces himself, and explains that it is his style to ensure those who live together die together as well before activating Hitsugaya's Bankai, Daiguren Hyōrinmaru. After noting that this must be the first time Hitsugaya is seeing it from the other side, Cang calls Daiguren Hyōrinmaru beautiful prior to apologizing for how it will be the one thing of Hitsugaya's to survive his death.[15]
References[]
- ↑ Bleach manga; Chapter 536, page 16
- ↑ Bleach manga; Chapter 547, pages 18-20
- ↑ Bleach manga; Chapter 548, pages 6-10
- ↑ Bleach manga; Chapter 548, pages 10-12
- ↑ Bleach manga; Chapter 548, pages 12-14
- ↑ Bleach manga; Chapter 548, pages 14-17
- ↑ Bleach manga; Chapter 549, page 1
- ↑ Bleach manga; Chapter 549, pages 15-17
- ↑ Bleach manga; Chapter 550, pages 5-7
- ↑ Bleach manga; Chapter 550, pages 13-16
- ↑ Bleach manga; Chapter 550, pages 16-17
- ↑ Bleach manga; Chapter 551, pages 6-7
- ↑ Bleach manga; Chapter 551, pages 8-15
- ↑ Bleach manga; Chapter 551, pages 15-16
- ↑ Bleach manga; Chapter 552, pages 1-6