Naruto and Ichigo were the last ones left on the dome of Las Noches to confront Escridemon, leader of the group of arrancar who attacked the place.
"Listen, Naruto. I'll attack him first, you go when you see the opportunity." said Ichigo readying his sword.
"Understood." said Naruto preparing to perform a jutsu.
"Go ahead, gentlemen. Show me what you can do. Cero!" shouted Escridemon performing a sword move, by which he shot a beam of energy.
The two quickly stepped aside to avoid the attack.
Ichigo was the first to dive towards him and try to attack him with his sword, but the arrancar blocked the attack with his sword without putting much effort into it.
Ichigo began to launch multiple sword strikes, only for Escridemon to manage to block them all with relative ease.
At that moment…
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" shouted Naruto, causing, from bursts of smoke, multiple clones to emerge around him and all of them jumped towards the arrancar.
Seeing that coming, Ichigo quickly moved out of the way, allowing the clones to approach the arrancar.
Unfortunately, Escridemon easily dodged every attack attempt or blocked the blows with his arms with ease due to his hierro until he rose high into the air.
"Damn. As long as he's elevated, it'll be hard to hit him." thought Naruto.
"Then, we'll just have to make him come down." said Kurama.
"Ichigo, bring him down!" exclaimed Naruto.
"Understood." began Ichigo before readying his sword. "Getsuga Tenshou!" shouted Ichigo launching a wave of energy that the arrancar dodged by going down to the surface of the dome, something that the clones took advantage of to launch themselves into the attack again.
But this time, Escridemon wasn't only focused on dodging or blocking, but also on attacking, as he eliminated several clones with swift movements of his sword.
However, due to the elimination of the clones, that caused a smokescreen to surround him.
"Very interesting trick, if a bit annoying." said Escridemon before noticing something incoming and raising his sword in time to block a vertical attack from Ichigo, leaving the two in a stalemate.
"Did you really come here to usurp the throne?" asked Ichigo.
"Of course. An arrancar who served a shinigami isn't worthy to rule Hueco Mundo." said Escridemon.
"And that makes you worthy?" asked Naruto charging towards him as a clone next to him was ripping the air over his open hand, thus creating a sphere of energy. "Rasengan!" shouted Naruto throwing the sphere towards him.
He hopes that hit did some damage to him, but all it did was knock him back a bit without a scratch.
"It didn't do anything to him." said Naruto surprised at that.
"He must have a very strong hierro." said Ichigo.
"That's right. I'm proud, not only of my stamina, but also of my abilities. Would you like me to demonstrate them?" asked Escridemon before using sonido to disappear.
Ichigo reacted quickly by raising his sword to block an incoming attack from Escridemon who had appeared next to him, managing to push him back quite a bit.
Naruto tried to punch him, but Escridemon dodged the attack easily before giving him an arm strike to the face that sent him backwards.
"Getsuga Tenshou!" shouted Ichigo launching a wave of energy.
"Cero!" shouted Escridemon shooting, from a sword sweep, an energy beam that hit the incoming attack, neutralizing the two mutually.
After that, Ichigo lunged towards him and the two began a sword duel, but while Ichigo was holding his sword with both hands and attacking with all his might, Escridemon was holding his sword with one hand and blocking every attack, as if it was nothing.
When Ichigo found his chance, he tried to kick it, only to have the arrancar catch it with his other hand, much to the surprise of the substitute shinigami.
Before he could react, Escridemon hit him with the flat of his sword, sending him backwards.
"Hey, if you're not going to prove anything else, this will only get boring." said Escridemon.
"Then let me grant it to you." began Naruto as he charged towards him with a clone at his side as the two held a large sphere of energy in their hands. "Odama Rasengan!" shouted Naruto as he and the clone directed the sphere, but Escridemon blocked it with his sword, causing an explosion to occur.
Naruto moved away from the affected area quickly, but then, Escridemon grabbed him by the neck and slammed him into the surface of the dome, leaving cracks in the process.
"You know? The substitute shinigami seems competent, but you're just a human. You may have some strange power inside you, but that proves nothing in front of me." said Escridemon with a smile.
It was then that he raised his sword to block an attack from Ichigo who was quick to strike again as he hit him with a kick that pushed him backwards.
"Are you okay?" asked Ichigo.
"A little sore, but yeah." said Naruto.
"Let me take care of him. You're not prepared for such an opponent." said Ichigo.
"Not at all. I'm not going to back down no matter how strong that guy is." said Naruto with determination.
Ichigo had to admit that he was impressed with the jinchuriki's determination.
In fact, it reminded him a bit of him when he was in similar situations.
"Okay, but we're going to need a plan." said Ichigo.
"I think I have one. Attack after me." said Naruto before charging towards the arrancar.
"Are you seriously going to keep fighting no matter what? I don't know if it's a pride thing or not, but I don't care." said Escridemon before swinging his sword to try hit him, but Naruto got to his knees and slid across the ground as he tilted his head back, letting the sword pass over him.
When that happened, Naruto got to his feet and began to throw several blows to the arrancar.
At times, he didn't bother to defend himself, so Naruto hit his hierro reinforced body, which made him groan from the pain due to how tough his skin was.
After that, Escridemon decided to turn the tables and go on the offensive, but just as he threw his punch, Ichigo stepped in the way and blocked it with his arm.
In the next instant, the two went to battle against each other with punches, kicks and sword slashes, but even though it was two against one, Escridemon was able to dodge and/or block each attack with his arms and sword.
A couple of seconds after following up on that, Escridemon made a swift move with his sword, but the two were able to dodge it by the skin of their teeth.
"Getsuga Tenshou!" shouted Ichigo launching an energy wave that Escridemon dodged with sonido, but the next instant after appearing, he noticed Naruto, along with several clones of him, running towards him.
"Heh. I can tell you're proud of that technique, but I don't think it'll do you much good." said Escridemon.
"You haven't seen anything yet." said Naruto as half of the clones began to rip the air over the other half's hand, forming, in the process, spheres of blue energy.
Sensing what was about to happen, Escridemon prepared to use sonido and move away, but then…
"You're not going anywhere!" said Ichigo suddenly appearing with shunpo to launch a sword attack which he quickly blocked with his sword just before Ichigo moved away with shunpo.
That gave Naruto the opportunity to launch his attack, so he and the clones holding the sphere jumped towards him.
"Odama Rasen Tarengan!" shouted Naruto as he and the clones impacted the spheres into him, causing a huge explosion in the process.
Naruto and Ichigo stood to the side to check the result of the attack, but, as the smoke cleared, they saw Escridemon completely unharmed, much to their horror.
"A very surprising move. I think it's my turn now. Cero!" shouted Escridemon performing a sword move, by which, a beam of energy shot out.
"Getsuga Tenshou!" shouted Ichigo launching an energy wave that hit the attack, neutralizing it with an explosion.
However, the next instant, Escridemon appeared before them with sonido.
He first started with a punch to Naruto's stomach that caused him to double over before being thrown backwards.
"Naruto!" exclaimed Ichigo before being kicked by the arrancar, being sent backwards.
After that, Ichigo had to use shunpo to quickly dodge a slash from the arrancar, but the next instant after appearing elsewhere, Escridemon appeared in front of him and tried to attack him, only for Ichigo to block his attack with his sword.
It was then that the two began to fight with their swords as they moved with their speed techniques all over the place, moving so fast that only sparks from the clash of weapons could be seen.
Naruto stood up with a groan and stood wide-eyed with shock at that combat.
"Unbelievable. They're going so fast I can't even see them." thought Naruto.
"That must be what shinigami and arrancar combat is like." said Kurama.
"We have to do something." thought Naruto.
"I know, but that guy is too tough and fast to attack." said Kurama.
"Then let's try something else." thought Naruto with a smile.
Ichigo continued his sword duel with the arrancar until the two clashed weapons, with the substitute shinigami trying to push him off while the arrancar looked immovable.
"Tell me, are you proud of your work? Being a lapdog of the Soul Society when you're not like them?" asked Escridemon.
"I don't care about any of that. If it means protecting my own, then I'm willing to follow their stupid rules." said Ichigo gathering enough to manage to push him back.
"Getsuga Tenshou!" shouted Ichigo throwing an energy wave, but Escridemon dodged it with sonido.
"Cero!" shouted Escridemon shooting, from a sword swing, an energy beam that hit Ichigo, sending him to the surface of the dome, though he managed to land on his feet. "So, is that a yes? Because if anything can be valued, it's pride in what we do."
"Something like this?" asked Naruto as he and several clones lunged towards him and tried to hit him, but Escridemon took out the clones quickly with his sword before stabbing the real one.
Soon after, however, he disappeared in an explosion of smoke, revealing himself to be another clone, much to the surprise of the arrancar.
It was then that the real, real Naruto leapt out from behind him with an energy sphere in each hand.
"Rasenrengan!" shouted Naruto impacting both spheres into the arrancar's back, managing to push him back down.
Soon after, several of Naruto's clones launched themselves at him.
"Naruto 2K Uzumaki Barrage!" the clones shouted as they simultaneously threw a punch at the arrancar, pushing him backwards.
Just as Escridemon was thinking of doing something, Ichigo used shunpo to push past him and stand in front of him.
In the next instant, a small cut formed on the arrancar's cheek, who was slightly shocked by that.
"HA. How about that?" asked Naruto with a toothy grin.
"Mmm. You really are a unique duo in all of creation. If circumstances had been different, we would have been allies." said Escridemon.
"I highly doubt it, since you weren't there when we fought Aizen and his troops." said Ichigo.
"Touché, but in my defense I will say that I didn't stand a chance against him and I doubted that you could. You see I was wrong." said Escridemon.
"If you wanted the throne, why didn't you talk it over with Harribel? I'm sure that, if you talked it over, you would come to an agreement." said Naruto.
"You're right about that, but unfortunately, I'm not one to want to talk. No. I'm proud of the way I am and my power, so what does it matter if I get the throne by force?" asked Escridemon.
"If you go that way, then, we'll stop you." said Ichigo pointing his sword at him.
"Very well. If that's the way you want things…" began Escridemon before readying his sword. "Cero!" shouted Escridemon performing a sword swing, through which a beam of energy shot out.
The two quickly dodged the attack, but then, Escridemon appeared in front of Naruto and before the ninja could defend himself, the arrancar gave him a blow that sent him backwards, only for, shortly after, Escridemon to appear in his path with sonido and kick him aside.
Ichigo wanted to go to help, but Escridemon appeared before him with sword at the ready.
Ichigo readied his sword to block the attack, but it was a bluff, as Escridemon used sonido to move to another side and hit him in an unprotected area, sending the substitute shinigami to the side.
Then, Escridemon appeared again at his side and hit him with a punch that sent him to the other side.
For a while, Escridemon was using sonido to move between them and hit them hard.
In the end, the two of them were left lying on the surface of the dome.
"Look at that. I'm not even trying. This makes me even more proud of myself." said Escridemon.
"Ugh. That's getting complicated." said Ichigo as he and Naruto got up.
"Easy. I've got something brewing, but I'd need a couple more minutes." said Naruto.
"Whatever you're preparing, it better be good." said Ichigo before using shunpo to launch himself into an attack, but Escridemon used his sword to block it, causing them both to stalemate in another stalemate.
"That was a small stroke of luck earlier. A hit you'll never get again." said Escridemon.
"Don't be so sure." began Ichigo before using shunpo to quickly disappear and appear to the side, managing to give the arrancar a kick that sent him to the side. "Getsuga Tenshou!" shouted Ichigo launching a wave of energy that hit to the arrancar.
Soon after, Escridemon appeared in front of him with his sword raised, but Ichigo managed to raise his sword in time to block the attack, though due to the force put into it, he felt his legs shaking from the effort he put into not kneeling.
"A pity it ended so soon. I would have liked to get to know you more." said Escridemon.
Suddenly, he stopped as he began to feel something different.
Not only him, Ichigo felt it too.
The two looked to the side to see Naruto with his eyes closed and when he opened them, he revealed them with a yellow iris with a toad pupil, plus orange pigmentation around the eyes.
Sign that he had gone into Sage Mode.
"What's that? His power feels greater yet different." thought Ichigo with surprise and curiosity.
Before anyone else could say anything, Naruto quickly darted towards the arrancar.
Naruto aimed his punch at him, but he easily dodged it.
However, an invisible force ended up hitting him, sending him to the side.
"Ha. Take that!" said Naruto with a toothy grin.
"Naruto, what did you do to yourself?" asked Ichigo.
"It's called Sage Mode. It's a long story, but to do it, I had to send a couple of clones away from here to meditate long enough to do it." said Naruto.
"That would explain earlier." commented Ichigo.
Shortly after, Escridemon stood up and looked at the two with a smile.
"Wow. That power surge certainly wasn't fake. I'm starting to get curious as to where you came from." said Escridemon.
"Yeah, sure. For you to go in there and destroy everything. If you want to know anything, you'll have to beat the information out of me." said Naruto.
"As you wish." said Escridemon before using sonido to stand in front of them.
He tried to attack them with his sword, but Ichigo dodged by ducking while Naruto dodged by jumping.
Taking advantage of that, Naruto side-kicked the arrancar, but he blocked it with his arm, though he ended up being pushed to the side, much to his surprise.
Then Ichigo lunged towards him with his sword at the ready, but Escridemon reacted quickly to block the attack with his sword.
That's when Naruto lunged towards him and threw a punch at him, forcing him to raise his other arm to block it, but that made it a bit tricky for him to block both attacks.
"What's the matter, buddy? Feeling overwhelmed?" asked Ichigo with a smile.
"Then let us help you." said Naruto.
Quickly, the two stepped aside, causing the arrancar to stumble a bit.
"Getsuga Tenshou!" shouted Ichigo throwing an energy wave quickly.
But Escridemon dodged the attack using sonido, only to appear in mid-air, but then, he noticed a flash next to him and spun around, only to be shocked when he saw Naruto jumping towards him with a huge energy sphere in his hand.
"Cho Odama Rasengan!" shouted Naruto throwing the sphere towards him, causing a huge explosion in the process.
The two stood to the side waiting for the result which didn't come for a few seconds until…
"Cero!"
From within the smokescreen, a beam of energy erupted and quickly struck the ground in front of them, sending them flying in the process, though they landed on their feet.
By the time the smoke cleared, Escridemon was seen with his clothes a bit battered.
"Hahaha. Congratulations. You almost had me, but you'll need more than that to beat me." said Escridemon.
"We're not done yet." said Ichigo.
"That's right. We're just getting started." said Naruto.
"What a coincidence. Me too." said Escridemon before using sonido to disappear and appear right behind Naruto.
Before some of them went to move, Ichigo reacted quickly and stood in the middle to launch a sword attack, but Escridemon jumped high to dodge it.
It was then that Ichigo used one hand to pull Naruto onto it to propel him upwards until he reached out to boot.
Once he did, Naruto tried to punch him, but Escridemon blocked it with his sword before pushing it back down.
Afterwards, Ichigo stood next to him with shunpo and tried to attack him quickly and consecutively, only for the arrancar to be able to block each attack thrown.
It was then that Escridemon found an opening and took advantage of it to throw his sword, forcing Ichigo to quickly move out of the way, but couldn't prevent him from receiving a cut on his side, making him groan in pain.
"Ichigo!" exclaimed Naruto just as Escridemon appeared at his side.
"Easy. I haven't forgotten about you." said Escridemon before swinging his sword quickly.
Naruto managed to react quickly to dodge it, but then, Escridemon used sonido to appear behind him to attack him again and although the jinchuriki was able to avoid it, he ended up receiving a cut on his shoulder that made him groan in pain.
"You may be strong, but you are still mere mortals compared to me." said Escridemon.
Suddenly, Ichigo used shunpo to stand in front of him.
"Getsuga Tenshou!" shouted Ichigo launching a huge wave of energy that hit the starter directly and causing an explosion in the process.
Before the arrancar could recover, Ichigo stood in front of him and started attacking him again, but this time, he set about using shunpo to move quickly and attack him from all sides, but Escridemon was able to turn around and block each attack.
Finally, after much effort, Ichigo found an opening and attacked him with his sword, managing to make a cut on his chest that opened his shirt, revealing his hole.
However, Escridemon reacted to that and punched him in the face that sent him backwards, but Ichigo quickly recomposed himself.
"Getsuga Tenshou!" shouted Ichigo launching a wave of energy that Escridemon quickly dodged.
"No matter how much you throw that attack, it won't do you any good." said Escridemon.
"And how about this?" asked Naruto from a distance.
When Escridemon turned his head to the side, he was shocked when he saw Naruto, who had, on his raised hand, a huge energy sphere with spinning blades.
"Odama Rasen Shuriken!" shouted Naruto throwing the energy sphere at such a speed that the arrancar couldn't dodge it in any way.
The sphere ended up hitting him directly, pushing them high into the air and that's when a huge powerful explosion occurred forming a sphere of air.
The explosion was so large that it could be seen from the base of Las Noches.
Inside the sphere, Escridemon was screaming in pain, for, despite his hierro, that technique caused thousands of micro spines to attack him for several seconds faster than the human eye could grasp.
By the time the air sphere disappeared, Escridemon was left standing in mid-air and hunched over.
"Would that have been enough?" asked Naruto.
"I kind of doubt it." said Ichigo.
"Me too." said Kurama.
It was then that they heard a growl and the two looked up to see Escridemon raising his head to look at them with slight annoyance.
"I admit that technique caught me off guard. That has made me realize that the games are over." began Escridemon making the two of them get into position in case he was going to do something. "For the record, the only reason I'm doing this is to get this over with as soon as possible so you don't tarnish my pride." said Escridemon positioning his zanpakuto.
Ichigo and Naruto's eyes widened in horror as they knew what he was going to do.
"Get over it, Orgullo!" shouted Escridemon causing a heavenly glow to surround him completely, forcing the ninja and the substitute shinigami to close their eyes to avoid being blinded.
When they felt the glow had faded, they opened their eyes, only to be shocked as soon as they saw the new appearance of the starter.
His attire had changed to full armor covering every part of his body, helmet included and where the face was there was a mask showing a human face.
His sword had become longer and wider, with the tip ending in two sharp edges, like an axe.
On his head was a kind of crown that emitted a red-colored flame.
Naruto and Ichigo weren't only amazed by that, but by the enormous power it was now emitting.
"That much. It feels like an espada." thought Ichigo with slight fear.
"It can't be. He had all that power inside?" asked Naruto with slight fear.
"I'd venture to say he's now as powerful as Madara Uchiha. Even almost as powerful as Kaguya." said Kurama.
"Awe? I'm proud of it. You know what else I'm proud of? Of this!" began Escridemon swinging his sword in an arc around him, forming several red energy spheres in the process. "Bombardeo!" shouted Escridemon causing the spheres to shoot out towards them.
Ichigo and Naruto scrambled to dodge the impact zones, but the moment one of those spheres hit the surface of the dome, they caused a huge explosion followed by many more that ended up hitting them.
Shortly thereafter, the two rose to their feet with slight groans of exertion and pain.
"He's gotten stronger." said Ichigo.
Suddenly, Escridemon appeared between them.
"And more than that." said Escridemon before swinging his sword at the substitute shinigami, who tried to shield himself with his sword, but ended up being sent flying backwards.
Naruto tried to punch him, but Escridemon caught his fist with his hand, much to the ninja's surprise.
Before he could react, Escridemon hit him with the flat of his sword, sending him flying to the side.
The next moment, Ichigo returned.
"Getsuga Tenshou!" shouted Ichigo launching a wave of energy, but Escridemon simply swung his sword, cutting off the attack, much to the shock of the substitute shinigami.
"Now that attack you're so proud of is useless." said Escridemon before lunging towards him with his sword at the ready.
Ichigo quickly went on the defensive, trying to block all of Escridemon's attacks, but he was finding it difficult due to how strong and fast he was.
Just when it looked like Escridemon was going to cut him completely with his sword, Ichigo was able to escape using shunpo, appearing on another side, but breathing heavily due to how close he was to his end.
Escridemon was about to launch into the attack again when…
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" shouted Naruto gesturing with his fingers, causing several clones to emerge around him through bursts of smoke.
Naruto and all the clones jumped into the fray and began throwing punches and kicks.
Unfortunately, Escridemon was able to take down any clone that came near him with his great sword, eventually taking out more than half of them.
"This is starting to wear on me already." began Escridemon before leaping high into the air. "Onda Destructora!" shouted Escridemon launching, from his sword, a wave of energy that hit the entire area, destroying all the clones in the process and pushing Naruto and Ichigo due to the explosion.
After that, Escridemon landed on the ground and lunged towards them with his sword at the ready.
Ichigo was the first to react by using his sword to try to block, but ended up sliding back a little.
Then, Naruto took advantage of that to try to hit him in the face, but he tilted it backwards to avoid it.
However, the invisible force was able to hit him, but it only pushed him back a little.
"Getsuga Tenshou!" shouted Ichigo launching a wave of energy.
"Onda Destructora!" shouted Escridemon launching his own energy wave.
Both waves collided with each other, but the next second, the arrancar's wave overtook Ichigo's and flew towards them, but they quickly dodged it.
However, Escridemon created, from an arcing motion with his sword, several spheres of energy.
"Bombardeo!" shouted Escridemon launching the spheres towards them, who couldn't escape the multiple explosions.
By the time the smoke from the explosions cleared, Ichigo and Naruto were seen struggling to their feet as they groaned from the pain and exertion.
Meanwhile, Escridemon towered over them like an angel.
"Can you feel it? It's your pride getting demoralized." said Escridemon.
"What's with this obsession of yours with pride?" asked Naruto.
"Oh, don't you know? Pride is considered the greatest sin in history. No one is free from that sin, even those who say they are sinless sin of it. If it were possible, all beings in creation would go to hell simply for sinning pride and there wouldn't be room in hell enough for everyone. For that reason, I am the most powerful, as well as the one fit to occupy the throne." said Escridemon proudly.
"Just because of your enormous power do you consider yourself fit for the position of ruler?" asked Naruto.
"Of course. Only those who are proud of their power deserve to be at the top of the hierarchy. Do you not desire that? Having a power like yours, surely you would be very proud of it and would like to be at the top?" said Escridemon.
"You are totally wrong! My wish is to be Hokage, but not for my pride or power, but to bring prosperity to my home and all its people!" said Naruto.
"Likewise. I'm not at all interested in being the master of the world or the Soul Society. The only reason I'm strong is only to protect those I care about!" said Ichigo.
"In that case, those who don't accept their pride deserve death!" said Escridemon.
"That won't happen! None of us are going to die!" said Naruto.
"We're not giving up either! We'll keep fighting with everything we've got!" began Ichigo before pointing his zanpakuto forward. "BANKAI!" shouted Ichigo before there was an explosion of light followed by a smokescreen and when the smokescreen dissipated, Ichigo could be seen in a different outfit and his zanpakuto had changed from large to a normal black katana with sharp segments above the counter edge like fangs and a short chain hanging from the tip of the handle. "Tensa Zangetsu!"
Naruto couldn't help but be shocked at the sight.
"Wow. So that's a bankai." thought Naruto.
"And on top of that, his power has increased a lot more. He's clearly going all out." said Kurama.
"Well then, let's not fall behind." thought Naruto with a smile.
"You're right. It's time to show what we can do." said Kurama.
Naruto closed his eyes and then, his body was covered in golden flames and when they dissipated, it revealed Naruto in a completely different outfit, with his eyes in the shape of a cross.
That was because he had entered Kurama Chakra Mode which was fused with Sage Mode as his eyes indicated.
Needless to say, Ichigo was taken aback by it.
"His power has increased a lot. No, wait… That kind of power… it must come from Kurama." thought Ichigo.
After that, the two looked at the arrancar with looks of pure determination.
"You'd better get ready!" said Naruto.
"Because we're going to destroy your pride!" said Ichigo.
"Destroy my pride? I find that difficult. My pride is indestructible!" began Escridemon before making a pair of wings, whose feathers were red energy, emerge from his back. "Alas de Orgullo!" shouted Escridemon causing, from the wings, several energy feathers to shoot out like bullets.
Ichigo and Naruto quickly moved to dodge the attack.
Suddenly, Naruto created in each hand an energy sphere with spinning blades.
"Wind Style: Rasenrenshuriken!" shouted Naruto throwing both spheres.
Escridemon quickly moved away from the impact zone of the spheres, but the result was a tremendous explosion that pushed him quite a bit to the side.
The next instant, Ichigo appeared before him and the two began a sword duel that was fairly evenly matched until Ichigo wrapped his sword with black energy.
"Getsuga Tenshou!" shouted Ichigo performing a sword strike, but Escridemon was able to block it, though he ended up being pushed down.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" shouted Naruto gesturing with his fingers, causing, from bursts of smoke, a bunch of clones of him to emerge and rush towards the starter.
Quickly, with a sword arcing motion, Escridemon created several spheres of energy.
"Bombardeo!" shouted Escridemon throwing the spheres around him, causing multiple explosions.
Soon after, however, Naruto and several surviving clones emerged from the smoke as they leapt towards him.
"Naruto Uzumaki Ultimate Barrage!" shouted Naruto as he and all the clones launched multiple punches and kicks.
Despite being able to resist or block most of them, a few blows were able to reach him.
It was then that the clones moved away and Escridemon was about to attack, but then, Ichigo appeared in front of him via shunpo and gave him a kick that sent him to the side before Ichigo quickly appeared behind him and gave him a sword strike to his back, leaving a small cut in the process as he stumbled away.
"Grrr. You won't hurt my pride like that! Onda Destructora!" shouted Escridemon launching a huge wave of energy.
However, Naruto, with an arm made of chakra, created several energy spheres.
"Rasenrangan!" shouted Naruto throwing the spheres towards the energy wave, managing to neutralize it.
The next instant, Escridemon appeared at Naruto's side and tried to cut him vertically with the sword, but then, a pair of large hands made of golden chakra grabbed it, much to the surprise of the arrancar.
"Getsuga Tenshou!" shouted Ichigo lunging towards him with his sword wrapped in black energy with which he struck him, sending him to the side.
Soon after, Ichigo appeared at his side, but Escridemon was able to raise his sword in time to block.
It was then that Naruto approached them and he and Ichigo fought together against the arrancar.
Unlike last time, due to the increased power of the two, Escridemon was starting to have a hard time keeping up with fighting one against two.
At one point, he was forced to use his sword as a shield to protect himself from Ichigo's sword and Naruto's punch before pushing them back.
Before he could react, Escridemon gave them a slash with his sword and despite it not being very deep or lethal, some blood spilled from the wound as the two groaned from the pain while the arrancar took flight.
"I'm getting tired of you." began Escridemon before taking off his wings. "Alas de Orgullo!" shouted Escridemon shooting out feathers of energy.
Quickly, the two of them jumped to the side before launching themselves at him.
As Ichigo wrapped his sword with black energy, Naruto was creating a sphere of black colored energy.
"Getsuga Tenshou!" shouted Ichigo.
"Bijuu Rasengan!" shouted Naruto.
Both of them impacted their attacks on Escridemon, who used his sword as a shield, but that only caused an explosion.
Naruto and Ichigo landed on the surface of the dome, hoping that the double attack had done something to him, but as soon as the smoke cleared, Escridemon was seen breathing heavily, but staying in the air.
"You will pay for this!" exclaimed Escridemon before creating a huge energy spear. "Lanza Solar!" shouted Escridemon throwing the spear.
As the spear hit the ground, there was a huge explosion that covered much of the surface of the dome.
As the smoke cleared, the two were seen lying on the ground for a few seconds before they began to get up with groans of pain due to the injuries sustained so far.
When they were fully up, they were breathing a bit heavily due to exhaustion and the damage they had received.
"It's turning out to be tougher than we imagined." said Naruto.
"If we're going to end this, we're going to have to use something much more powerful than what we've used so far." said Ichigo.
"I think I have the right stuff, but we'll have to keep fighting some more." said Naruto.
"In that case…" began Ichigo before tearing his face, causing a hollow mask to form, much to the ninja's surprise. "I'll go first." said Ichigo before using shunpo to disappear.
"What could that have been?" asked Naruto mentally.
"I don't know, but now its power is similar to that of an arrancar. It must be something similar to us." said Kurama seeing similarities between that and what he and Naruto were doing.
The next instant, Ichigo appeared next to the arrancar.
The two entered into a sword duel as they went flying through the air until then, they both clashed their weapons, trying to push each other away.
"A hollow mask? You mustn't feel too proud." said Escridemon.
"Not quite, but I consider it necessary to defeat you." said Ichigo managing to push the arrancar from him.
"Then, you're wrong. Onda Destructora!" shouted Escridemon launching a wave of energy.
"Getsuga Tenshou!" shouted Ichigo launching a black energy wave.
Both waves collided with each other and remained neutral until they neutralized each other in a powerful explosion.
Escridemon lunged through the smoke towards the substitute shinigami, but as he continued on his way, he didn't notice that Naruto was below him, forming a black energy sphere in his hands.
"Bijuudama!" shouted Naruto shooting the beam-shaped sphere that hit the arrancar directly, causing a huge explosion.
Ichigo was taken aback, as that attack wasn't much different from the cero of the hollows or vizard.
After that, Escridemon could be seen with his armor quite damaged and breathing heavily.
"How… How dare you?! I will never let you get away with this! My pride won't let me!" exclaimed Escridemon before creating, with a sword arching motion, several spheres of energy. "Bombardeo!" shouted Escridemon launching the spheres, but Naruto and Ichigo were able to avoid them, as well as the resulting explosions.
It was then that he noticed Ichigo heading towards him.
"Lanza Solar!" shouted Escridemon creating an energy spear in his hand before launching himself towards Ichigo, with whom he had a weapon duel, only now the arrancar had two.
Just when it looked like Ichigo was going to hit him, Escridemon stepped back and quickly threw his spear at him, which Ichigo couldn't dodge, so he received the attack.
After that, Naruto appeared with an energy sphere with spinning blades.
"Wind Style: Rasen Shuriken!" shouted Naruto throwing the sphere towards the starter, but then…
"Alas de Orgullo!" shouted Escridemon pulling out his wings, by which, he shot several feathers that, upon impacting against the sphere, made it explode sooner than expected.
Before Naruto could react, Escridemon stood next to him.
"Onda Destructora!" shouted Escridemon launching a wave of energy so close to Naruto that he didn't have time to dodge it.
Underneath his mask, Escridemon grinned cruelly as he watched his opponents take direct hits from his attacks in a way that no one survived.
"That's what happens to those who hurt my pride." began Escridemon. "I would never allow beings such as yourselves to surpass me. You have sinned in pride and that is your…"
Suddenly, Ichigo and Naruto stood in front of him and delivered a punch and sword strike that sent him backwards.
Escridemon bounced a couple of times before crawling along the ground to a stop.
Then Escridemon started to get up as he groaned from the effort and pain.
"How the hell are you still alive?! You shouldn't have survived!" exclaimed Escridemon in anger and confusion.
"Who told you it was us you eliminated?" asked Ichigo.
"Exactly. The only thing you eliminated were a couple of clones of mine. We fooled you, but good." said Naruto pointing at the arrancar with a smirk.
"That really hurts your pride, doesn't it?" asked Ichigo with a smile under his mask.
Escridemon began to growl with pure rage.
Those guys had tricked him with a very cheap and dirty trick.
Him.
Who possessed so much power that he could have been named an espada had he not refused the offer, who led a small group against Las Noches, who was supposed to have more power than a shinigami, but now one of them and a guy with an unknown power were cornering him to the point where they were looking down on him.
Just thinking about it, he felt his pride shatter into pieces and his anger was rising.
"DAMMIT!" shouted Escridemon swinging his sword, launching a huge wave of energy towards them, but they quickly dodged it.
After that, Escridemon took flight.
"I won't allow it! I won't allow you to destroy my pride! My pride will never be destroyed by the likes of you! Alas de Orgullo!" shouted Escridemon pulling out his wings, but then… "WHAT?!"
What were once wings with red energy feathers, were now wings without a single feather, which left him horrified to boot.
"How… How is that possible?" asked Escridemon.
"I think I know why." began Ichigo drawing the attention of the arrancar. "That attack was driven by your pride, but now…"
"You don't have pride anymore. So your attack has become useless. Admit it. It's over." said Naruto.
That only made him that much more enraged to boot.
"NEVER!" shouted Escridemon creating an oversized energy spear. "Lanza Solar!" shouted Escridemon throwing the spear towards them.
Ichigo had to grab the ninja before using shunpo to quickly escape the area affected by the resulting explosion from the spear upon impact.
In the next instant, the two appeared in another part of the dome.
"I think it's about time to use that trick you mentioned." said Ichigo.
"Of course. You just do what you know how to do." said Naruto.
Ichigo didn't quite know what he was referring to, but he trusted the ninja enough to know that he would know at the right time.
Once the substitute shinigami was far enough away, Naruto began to create on his hand a huge sphere of energy with spinning blades.
"Wind Style: Choodama Rasen Shuriken!" shouted Naruto throwing the sphere.
Ichigo saw the sphere fly past him and fly straight towards the arrancar.
It was then that he understood what he had to do.
"Getsuga Tenshou!" shouted Ichigo launching a huge wave of black energy.
The wave traveled next to the sphere until then, they began to mix until they made the blades were enveloped in black energy as well as they had become bigger and sharper.
"Combined Attack: Rasen Getsuga Shuriken Tenshou!" the two shouted in unison as the sphere continued on its way to its target.
"You won't be able to beat me!" began Escridemon raising the sword high as he held it with both hands. "Onda Destructora!" shouted Escridemon launching the biggest energy wave he had launched so far.
Both attacks impacted each other, trying to overpower the other.
For a moment, the energy wave pushed the sphere a little, but then, the sphere ended up cutting through the wave and advanced forward, much to the horror of the arrancar.
"NO! IT CAN'T BE! MY PRIDE IS MUCH GREATER THAN ANYONE'S! THERE IS NO WAY THAT…!" shouted Escridemon before the sphere reached him, producing the biggest explosion of all.
So big that it could be seen from much further away.
Naruto and Ichigo stood still, breathing heavily as they waited for the result of their attack.
When all the smoke caused by the explosion cleared, no one could be seen around and it was then that something fell on the surface of the dome.
That something happened to be Escridemon's crown that cracked until it shattered like glass.
"That's it. It's over." said Ichigo as his mask fell apart.
"Phew. Thank goodness." said Naruto as he returned to normal, but then, he felt so tired that he was about to fall down.
Fortunately, Ichigo arrived in time to catch him.
"You look a mess." said Ichigo with a smile.
"Ha. Look who's talking. You're just as messed up as I am." said Naruto with a grin.
"At least I wasn't going to fall." said Ichigo, to laughter from both of them.
"I wonder how the others are doing." said Naruto.
"I don't feel the power of any of those guys anymore. They may have died or retreated." said Kurama.
"If we took care of their leader, then it's likely that the others were able to take care of their situation." said Ichigo without having heard the bijuu's answer.
"Then let's go check it out. There might be some injured among them." said Naruto worried about a certain trio.
"Right." said Ichigo mainly worried about a certain person.
With the battle over, the two set off to head back inside Las Noches so they could meet up with the others and once they did that and made sure everyone was okay, they would focus on treating their injuries.