"You are still too benevolent, Suzuki-kun. When dealing with Hollows, there is no need to be so cautious."
Sosuke Aizen took off his glasses, revealing a cold sneer.
"The ability of this King of Hueco Mundo may indeed be somewhat peculiar, but one only needs to experience it once to understand. He does not even possess the control to accelerate or decelerate this ability—the flow of time can indeed erode my Bakudō, but that is not enough to constitute a perfect defense. Against Reiatsu of our level, this kind of erosion on the temporal plane counts for nothing."
Suzuki Makoto froze for a moment. He had just released a Hadō to clear the field earlier, so he hadn't really felt the issue with the erosion speed of the Reiatsu. Furthermore, he simply didn't want his sword to touch those black mists.
However, since Aizen said the opponent's power was insufficient, that proved Baraggan was indeed falling quite short.
"Your turn, or mine?"
"Let's do it together. I still want to learn the Incantation Abandonment for Hadō #99."
"Then you just need to practice a bit more. You simply haven't mastered the Reishi structure of Goryūtenmetsu to the extreme yet."
As Suzuki Makoto spoke, he crushed forward with another five dragon-shaped streams of Reiatsu.
"The Kidō of Shinigami actually carries a portion of 'Kotodama' techniques. Those incantation verses are used to assist in the ordering of Reishi. Therefore, the user's degree of control over Reishi directly affects the strength of the Kidō—usually, reciting the incantation shapes the structure of the Kidō on one hand, and on the other, it lengthens the casting time, thereby allowing more time to condense one's Reiatsu into the Kidō."
"This is also the reason for the gap in power between Incantation Abandonment and Full Incantation, as you mentioned before.
Because the time from chanting to release is too short, the Reiatsu that can be gathered is inherently limited. Moreover, without the assistance of the incantation verses, one must actively reduce the invested Reiatsu in order to construct the Hadō more rapidly and accurately."
Aizen observed Suzuki Makoto's Hadō construction with intense concentration, sensing the opponent instantly arranging a terrifying amount of Reiatsu into perfect order and releasing it in the form of Kidō.
His research into Kidō was naturally not beneath anyone else's; otherwise, it would have been impossible for him to master the final Hadō.
But Suzuki Makoto, this kind of cheat-like existence, had obviously long since surpassed the limitations of "research." This man was learning Kidō in reverse, starting from its very essence—learning the ordering and structure of Reishi from Aizen first, and only then realizing which Kidō technique it was.
The Goryūtenmetsu, possessing no difference in power from the previous one, bombarded Baraggan this time. The Emperor of Skulls began to defend against this strike with all his might amidst extreme shock.
However, after he withstood Suzuki Makoto's Hadō, what greeted him face-on was a third Goryūtenmetsu.
"How about it? Do you want to switch? I'll control, and you try?"
"Good."
Although it was their first time fighting side by side, the two switched responsibilities with extreme speed. Suzuki Makoto seamlessly took over Aizen's Danku, continuing to keep Baraggan pinned down, while Sosuke Aizen focused on attempting the Incantation Abandonment for Goryūtenmetsu.
He did not rush to attempt the Incantation Abandonment. Instead, he first familiarized himself with the overall Reishi structure of Hadō #99 through a full spoken incantation. Before this, he had, after all, merely learned and mastered this Hadō but had hardly ever used it, so his familiarity with Goryūtenmetsu was far inferior to that of Kurohitsugi.
Another two shots of the fully chanted Hadō #99 followed.
Although this gave Baraggan a little more breathing room, compared to the power of the attacks, this short chanting time was obviously insufficient to let him recover from his fatigue. He no longer had the time to think about anything else; all his strength was fully used to withstand these attacks.
Another strike, and then another...
Suddenly, the already numbing Baraggan abruptly sensed that the opponent's offensive had suddenly weakened. Although the rhythm had sped up again, the power of those five dragon-shaped streams of Reiatsu had dropped sharply each time.
This made him involuntarily wild with joy inside. It seemed those two Shinigami were not monsters with infinite Reiatsu after all; he could still persist until their stamina ran out!
When it came time for his counterattack, he absolutely must not crush these two insects who dared to provoke him to death directly. Instead, he would keep them alive and let ten thousand Hollows meticulously chew and swallow every inch of their bodies!
"As expected, the higher the level of the Hadō, the more directly it reflects the user's ability to control Reishi," Aizen lamented.
"Hadō #99—Goryūtenmetsu."
With just a few words, another five dragon-shaped streams of Reiatsu surged out. The gap in power that Baraggan felt stemmed precisely from this.
"It's just that the power is still too low; I still cannot compare to you, Suzuki-kun. Perhaps you do not even need to recite the incantation for the Incantation Abandonment, but can release such a Hadō in total silence?"
"True, but compared to the preparation time, Incantation Abandonment is still a bit simpler. After all, with the assistance of the Kotodama, the strike becomes more regular and also more rapid."
Suzuki Makoto did not refute this point.
As a man who used the tactic of secretly slipping the opponent a shot of Goryūtenmetsu while locked in a sword clash, being a bit slower didn't matter; whether it could be used or not was the key.
"Why not practice a little more? A standard target like this will be hard to find in the future."
"That is true. I will trouble you then, Suzuki-kun."
The two continued to beat the former King of Hueco Mundo violently while chatting and laughing.
After a not-so-long period of time, Suzuki Makoto's expression shifted.
"What is it?"
"It seems we can't hit him anymore. That guy seems a little bit dead."
"Is that so? It appears this is his limit then."
The expression on his face held a slight trace of regret. After all, he had just raised the power of the Incantation Abandonment version of Goryūtenmetsu from one-third of the original to one-half, but the target couldn't hold out first.
Suzuki Makoto waved his hand, and the originally chaotic Reiatsu was instantly cleared away, leaving only the skeleton Hollow in the center, of which only half remained.
The originally magnificent clothes and the arrogant crown had all turned to dust, and the great axe in his hand had vanished completely. At this moment, Baraggan dared not use the power of time any longer—because he had no spare energy left to withstand the backlash.
"King of Hueco Mundo? How unsightly."
Aizen commented indifferently. He had now begun to doubt whether gathering the power of Hueco Mundo could actually oppose the Gotei 13. After all, regarding guys like this Vasto Lorde Menos Grande, it seemed that even if ten more came, they wouldn't be a match for himself or Suzuki Makoto.
If they couldn't even surpass him when added together, would this group of weaklings really be of much use?
____
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