Azashiro Sōya's sneak attack could be described as deeply calculated. From the very beginning, what Kuruyashiki Kenpachi saw was merely his Reishi clone, while his true body remained hidden deep underground, observing and waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike with absolute certainty.
The attack landed, but Kuruyashiki Kenpachi was no ordinary opponent. Azashiro's blade had originally been aimed at his heart, but in the end, it only pierced his arm. Although the wound was deep—even faintly revealing the white bone beneath—it was not enough to make Kuruyashiki Kenpachi lose his combat capability.
"A clone? It seems your Zanpakutō is also a biological type. I didn't even notice any difference from your true body. Not bad!" Kuruyashiki Kenpachi praised.
Azashiro Sōya smiled noncommittally. His Zanpakutō, Urozakuro, was not a biological type, though she could be quite mischievous at times.
He didn't make any major movements, merely shifting the Zanpakutō in his hand slightly. Suddenly, several short, whistling sounds echoed in the air, like a gale sweeping through an invisible canyon.
By now, all the spherical creatures on the battlefield had returned to Kuruyashiki Kenpachi's side. A few of them inexplicably caved in, staggering back several steps before returning to their original shape.
"Air blades?" Kuruyashiki's eyes darted around, observing his surroundings.
Azashiro's sneak attack just now consisted of two steps. The first step was planting these invisible blades, the principle of which was likely quite simple—compressing spiritual power to form a cutting edge.
He had originally thought the air blades were slashed out by Azashiro Sōya, but now it seemed that wasn't the case. The opponent hadn't moved from his spot, yet air blades were assailing him from all directions, and the clone from earlier hadn't reappeared either. Perhaps the one slashing out the air blades was actually the air itself?
This thought flashed by, and Kuruyashiki Kenpachi abandoned his previous commander-like demeanor, charging directly at Azashiro Sōya with the thirty-three spherical creatures by his side.
The fatal weakness of Garaku Kairō lay with its wielder. To be honest, this choice seemed a bit radical.
But Azashiro Sōya knew that this was Kuruyashiki Kenpachi's most adept combat style: using Garaku Kairō to drain the enemy's energy while delivering fatal blows himself with Hakuda. Of course, the roles of the two could also be reversed.
The spherical creatures also underwent a transformation. The sharp teeth in their mouths extended outward as if breaking free of their restraints, spinning rapidly to become circular saws with a radius of over three meters.
The burly Kuruyashiki Kenpachi fought with wide, sweeping movements, resembling a giant, enraged sea beast thrashing against the ocean's surface. Just the wind whipped up by his strikes made the skin sting. Taking a direct hit from that would result in broken bones and snapped tendons at the very least.
In contrast, the originally elegant Azashiro Sōya was like a small fish drifting with the current. Although he hadn't taken any substantial damage yet, he was starting to feel a bit dizzy.
His once neat long hair had been grazed a few times by Garaku Kairō's circular saw forms, leaving the ends looking somewhat comical, as if chewed on by a dog.
His white kimono was also tattered, the edges of the tears stained with red. Under such an airtight barrage, even someone known as the Kamaitachi had sustained some injuries. The wounds weren't fatal yet, but everyone knew that if this continued, his defeat was only a matter of time.
Cleaving the right circular saw with a single strike, the other saws closed in again. In such a life-and-death moment, Azashiro actually paused for a second, as if he were tired.
And right at this moment, three white figures appeared simultaneously to Azashiro Sōya's left, right, and rear, softly chanting: "[Bakudō #81・Dankū]!"
Invisible walls appeared, completely blocking a total of twenty-seven circular saws from three directions. However, this wouldn't last long; Azashiro Sōya had tested it earlier, and it would hold for about five seconds at most.
But this was enough. *Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang!* Five slashes were swung out, clashing with the five circular saws attacking from the front and sparking brilliantly.
Out of danger? No, Kuruyashiki Kenpachi's fist was already close at hand. It was too late for Azashiro Sōya to make any further moves.
Kuruyashiki Kenpachi's strength was inherently immense; he could shake a giant Hollow with his physical body alone. With his spiritual power surging within him right now, if this punch landed solidly, Azashiro Sōya's frail frame would likely have its neck twisted three times over.
But let alone landing a solid hit, this punch didn't even touch Azashiro Sōya. It wasn't that he didn't want to, but that he couldn't. At this moment, his body was like a marionette on strings; a backward force tugged at him, causing him to pause for a fraction of a second.
In a duel between masters, life and death are decided in an instant. Kuruyashiki Kenpachi failed to seize the opportunity just now, and Azashiro Sōya certainly wasn't going to let it slip by. In fact, this opportunity had been created by him in the first place.
With a twist of the wrist, the downward-facing blade turned upward. A cold gleam of the sword shot straight into the sky, cleaving Kuruyashiki Kenpachi right down the middle!
Blood gushed out, parting along the sword's gleam, like a red moth breaking out of its cocoon and spreading its wings. The wind whipped up by the wings also blew Kuruyashiki Kenpachi backward.
At this moment, Kuruyashiki Kenpachi looked terrifying. A deep blade wound extended all the way from his abdomen to his collarbone. Azashiro Sōya hadn't held back; if Kuruyashiki hadn't barely regained control of his body at the last second, he would absolutely have been sliced in two by now.
The distant circular saws now reverted to their original spherical forms, turning into white shadows and flying toward Kuruyashiki Kenpachi.
But one person was faster than them. It was Azashiro Sōya, holding Urozakuro with a stern expression. Having prepared for so long, opportunities like this were rare. If he missed it, there would be absolutely no chance left to keep Kuruyashiki Kenpachi here!
'Moreover, Kuruyashiki seems to have noticed the anomaly within his body and is already using his own Reiatsu to expel the Reiatsu I left behind.'
Thinking of this, Azashiro Sōya gritted his teeth. His left hand fluttered bizarrely, blood bursting out like a red string dancing wildly in the wind.
His Zanpakutō, Urozakuro, could maintain a constant release state after Bankai, allowing him to fuse his Reiatsu into the Reishi of both living and non-living things, thereby controlling them.
Compared to fusing into non-biological Reishi, fusing into biological Reishi had more restrictions. The primary one was that he could not fuse his Reiatsu into targets whose surface Reiatsu was too high.
Therefore, during the initial sneak attack, he never intended to rely on an assassination to kill Kuruyashiki Kenpachi. Instead, he aimed to temporarily break through the Reiatsu on the opponent's surface and take the opportunity to fuse his own Reiatsu inside.
Just this was still not enough. In order to tangibly affect Kuruyashiki Kenpachi, he had to use this Reiatsu to slowly and stealthily transfer the Reiatsu within Kuruyashiki Kenpachi's body to other locations, thereby reducing the Reiatsu in the areas he wanted to control.
The hands, feet, and abdominal cavity were the areas he focused on controlling, which was also why Kuruyashiki Kenpachi couldn't throw that punch just now. But the opponent had already reacted and started redistributing his Reiatsu; it was only a matter of time before Azashiro's Reiatsu was expelled.
Therefore, he had to control Kuruyashiki Kenpachi's right leg, twisting it to cripple it. However, when fused with a living being, if the fused part of the opponent was damaged, he would suffer the same degree of injury. This was why his left arm had suddenly been crippled—because at this moment, there wasn't a single intact bone left in his left arm.
By now, Kuruyashiki Kenpachi's right leg had been twisted into a braid. Because of this, as he attempted to use Shunpo, he fell to the right, losing his balance.
"If you had used your Bankai, you could have at least taken me down with you. But now?" Azashiro Sōya's cold voice appeared by his ear. "You have no chance!"
The cold Urozakuro pierced through Kuruyashiki Kenpachi's heart. With a flash of cold light, his heart was blown to pieces by spiritual power. If someone were standing behind him, they would be able to see Azashiro's slightly trembling right hand through the hole in the Captain's haori.
"Yeah..." Kuruyashiki Kenpachi said, blood spilling from his throat, making his words sound somewhat unclear. "But I saw the birth of the eighth generation Kenpachi with my own eyes..."
The spherical creatures that had already rushed behind Azashiro Sōya dropped to the ground trembling, their tongues hanging out, and transformed back into a single Zanpakutō. It looked somewhat dull, as if it had lost its soul, symbolizing that the life of the seventh generation Kenpachi, Kuruyashiki Kenpachi, was coming to an end.
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