-West-
Konnamura slashed at Tozal with his bankai, but his blade hit nothing but earth as Tozal leapt up above the blade. "Too slow ya mangy mutt!" Tozal taunted as he landed on the ground and charged Konnamura, brandishing a large double bladed battleaxe.

Konnamura snarled and blocked the strike with his sword, the giant suit of armor of his bankai mimicking the motion against an imaginary foe.

"your bankai sure is big and strong, but that just makes it easy to avoid, even for me" Tozal said with a smirk as he put the pressure on Konnamura, pushing him backward. "I'll admit it moves fast for something of it's size, and I bet if I were to take to the air and fight it you'd be able to nail me with some wide sweeping attacks. I might even take some damage"

Konnamura broke off and backed away just before being overpowered. Then stabbed downward with his sword, the giant stabbing down at Tozal and causing an eruption of rubble as the massive sword smashed through the ground. But Tozal dodged with a sonido, getting in close again. "But as long as I stay down here your attack options with that glorified tin-can are too limited to possibly hit me" Tozal said as he slashed again, forcing Konnamura to jump backwards, causing a small quake as his armor did likewise.

Konnamura frowned, nobody had ever exploited this weakness before, psychologically speaking, most people would view his bankai as a major threat that needed to be taken out first. But this man had so little respect for him that he disregarded the bankai as a threat entirely, isntead choosing to engage him directly. It was an entirely new situation for him, but he'd have to make it work in his favor. Maybe his bankai couldn't hit the arrancar directly, but it could serve as a distraction.

Konnamura brought his sword back and began a long slash going from hip to shoulder, dragging his sword through the ground as he did so. His bankai did likewise, the blade tearing through the ground towards Tozal, who easily dodged to the side of the televised attack. Then Konnamura used shunpo halfway through his attack, just as the blade left the ground, getting right inside Tozal's range. Funnily enough, Konnamura's bankai also did a shunpo, though it was a very short distance since it was in scale with Konnamura's actual movements.

Now in close, Konnamura continued his slash, cutting Tozal's chest open. Tozal's eyes widened "you attacked by yourself!?" he gasped in shock as he sonidod back.

"You made some interesting conclusions" Konnamura said "and you were right in all of them, but you overlooked the fact that I can still fight you myself, and assumed I'd only attack with my bankai."

Tozal grimaced, he had made a major oversight there, and had severely underestimated his opponent, but he still had an ace in the hole.

"Smash him! Montaña de guerrero!" Tozal roared, his axe glowing with brown reiatsu. The earth began to tremble, and rocks began to rise from the ground and stick to Tozal. The size of the rocks was small at first, and the rate they were coming slow, but the size and speed of the process accelerated rapidly. Soon Tozal was a massive golem of stone equal in size to Konnamura's bankai.

"Well if I can't beat your body, I'll just smash your precious bankai to pieces!" Tozal roared as he raised an arm and threw a punch. He was slow now, and Konnamura easily managed to catch the attack, but the pwoer behind it drove Konnamura and his bankai back and nearly destroyed the hand of the armor. Konnamura's hand, being linked to the bankai, was also badly damaged by the blow, causing him to grimace in pain.

Konnamura countered by swinging his sword and severing the arm that had punched, the stone arm crumbled into pebbles as it fell, leaving Tozal with only one arm. But even before the stone of the arm fell to the ground, more rocks seemed to be sucked into the golem's foot, and the arm began to restore itself growing back in perfect shape. Then, with a mighty punch, Tozal smashed Konnamura's bankai in the chest, leaving a massive dent in it.

Tozal burst out laughing "HA HA HA! DID YOU THINK THAT WOULD WORK? Stupid dog! In my ressurecion my entire being becomes stone, and as long as I'm in contact with more earth I can simply absorb it into myself and recover any injury I recieve! You, on the other hand, will take more and more damage until you fall!"

Konnamura was silent for a moment, clutching his chest, then wheezed "you talk too much"

Tozal stopped laughing "eh? What's that ya mutt?"

Konnamura stepped to the side, as did his bankai, then swept his leg out in a wide arc along the ground, making his armor do a leg sweep, Tozal tripped over the leg and began falling backwards, and at that exact moment, Konnamura slashed, cutting Tozal's body in two. Then he grabbed the the top half by the head and held it aloft

"Wha...!" Tozal gagged as his body began to crumble "but...how?"

"You said it yourself, you can heal, as long as you're in contact with the earth" Konnamura growled "when you're airborne there's no earth to absorb, and you can be killed normally."

"Shit!" Tozal cursed "the others always did say my mouth would be the end of me... But you'll never beat them, with your injuries, the other's will... pulverize... you..."

With that, Tozal's body crumbled to dust, and Konnamura sealed his bankai, sinking to one knee. Ikkaku and Yumichicka walked up behind him, having taken care of the hollows.
"Let's... go..." Konnamura grunted, and the three advanced slowly.