Chapter 94

However, nothing changed in the surroundings. Seeing this, Xuanxin had no choice but to give up trying again. After all, if he made a few more cuts, this place would have to be renamed "Warehouse Ruins".

Xuanxin then transformed into a white cat once more, jumped back onto Yoruichi's shoulder, and said, "Alright, I still haven't found anything. Let's go back and inform the Twelfth Division, and have them search again with their equipment."

Yoruichi and Rangiku nodded and walked outside together.

Unseen by Xuanxin, Ikkaku of the white egg was cut off. Just as that Ikkaku was about to fall to the ground, a platform suddenly grew from the egg and caught Ikkaku steadily.

At the same time, Xuanxin seemed to sense something again, turned his head to look at the warehouse in confusion, then frowned but said nothing.

Just as the three were about to leave, their path was suddenly blocked by another group of people.

"Miss Yoruichi, what brings you here? And who is that Shinigami behind you...?" A blond-haired man blocked their path.

Upon seeing the person before her, Rangiku's pupils constricted sharply before she asked in confusion, "You are! Captain Shinji Hirako!"

Upon hearing Shinji Hirako tilted his head and looked at Rangiku, then said, "I remember... you're... the lieutenant of the Tenth Division, right?"

Rangiku nodded, but before Rangiku could continue speaking, a short man in a red tracksuit behind Shinji suddenly interjected:

"No matter who you're talking about! What are you Grim Reapers doing in this World of the Living?! What is your purpose?!"

Just as Rangiku was about to explain, Xuanxin, who was perched on Rangiku 'Yoruichi Rangiku and whispered in her ear:

"Wait a minute, help me act out a scene. I want to see what they're capable of."

Xuanxin's voice and the soft, furry touch appeared on Rangiku's face at the same time, and for some Rangiku's face suddenly turned red.

But to Hiyori Sarugaki, that flushed face was proof of guilt, so she pressed on, "I think you just want to capture us and send us back to Sōkyoku Hill! And this fluctuation is your way of luring us here!!"

Rangiku wasn't sure how to act at first, but seeing that the other person had even prepared an excuse for her, she decided to save herself the trouble and just went along with Hiyori Sarugaki's words:

"That's right! I am the new Captain of the Seventh Division! I'm here... to take you all back!"

Upon hearing Rangiku's words, Yoruichi understood Xuanxin's thoughts and simply stepped aside, remaining silent.

Meanwhile, Shinji Hirako noticed the inconsistency in their behavior and sensed no murderous intent from either of them. Just as he was about to call out to Hiyori Sarugaki, Kensei Muguruma stepped forward.

Therefore, the questions that had been prepared were immediately suppressed.

[Bankai: Thousand Turns of Sand - Nekomata]

[Bankai: Tekken Tachikaze]

From the very beginning, both of them went all out, unleashing their Bankai to engage in battle.

Kensei Muguruma's iron fist, striking the sand surrounding Rangiku, could only create ripples, causing no real damage whatsoever. This is a perfect example of using softness to overcome hardness.

However, how could the advantage of Zanpakuto be so easily overcome?

However, as a seasoned captain who has been through Zanpakuto since a century ago, how could he be so easily rendered helpless by the elemental advantage of Zanpakuto?

"Don't think you're safe just because you're hiding in the sand, little girl!"

Kensei Muguruma decisively abandoned his strategy of closing the distance. He leaped backward, creating a distance of several dozen meters, and then quickly formed hand seals.

Soon I heard

--Boom! Boom! Boom!

One after another, fiery Kidō were unleashed directly from Kensei's hands as if they were free.

Despite the barrage of fire, Rangiku remained calm and manipulated the sand to form a massive sand wall to block the attack.

However, the fiery Kidō that slammed into the sand wall were not easily extinguished by the sand like the previous physical attacks.

However, under the continuous high-temperature heating of a series of fire-type Kidō, the sand gradually turned red and showed signs of vitrification!

Seeing that this method worked, Kensei pressed himself against the sand and then continuously pounded his power against the sand wall.

Watching the sand gradually turn into glass, Yoruichi and Xuanxin, who were observing from a distance, nodded silently, praising it in their hearts:

[As expected of a veteran captain, although his strength doesn't seem to have improved much yet, his fighting spirit is still commendable.]

"You think you can break my Nekomata like this? Senpai, you're too naive." Rangiku said with a charming smile.

Instead of removing the sand wall, she increased the output of her Reiatsu!

Just as most of the sand wall had turned into translucent glass crystals, Rangiku suddenly waved her hands.

"Click~ Click~"

With a series of crisp cracking sounds, the sand that had just stuck together instantly exploded into countless fragments even smaller than grains of sand under Rangiku's Reiatsu!

Without Kensei needing to lift a finger, Rangiku made the fragments rub together until they turned red, and then Rangiku her arm forcefully.

The sand had been completely transformed into sharp, glass-like crystals, and it surged towards Kensei Muguruma at a speed several times faster than the previous sandstorm!

"What?!"

Kensei Muguruma was taken aback by this sudden change of tactics.

He quickly raised his fist to block, but a few fragments still managed to pierce through his defenses, tearing his clothes and leaving thin, bloody streaks on his cheeks and arms.

If Rangiku were to get serious, perhaps even more fragments would slip through the attack.

Seeing this, Yoruichi, though still annoyed by Rangiku's attempt to raid her base, still admired Rangiku's attack.

"Hmph~ You're not bad after all!"

Immediately, Yoruichi changed the subject and directly mocked Kensei Muguruma:

"Kensei, this is utterly disgraceful! You can't even beat a junior girl? Have you been hiding in the basement knitting sweaters every day for the past hundred years?!"

"Yoruichi Shihōin! Shut the hell up!"

Kensei was hit where it hurt by Yoruichi's precise taunt, which caused the already short-tempered Kensei to break down completely.

"Little girl, you've really angered me! Today I'll show you the power that makes me feel pain!"

Kensei Muguruma roared to the sky, then suddenly raised his right hand and wiped his face.

With a sickening grinding sound of bones grinding together, a pale white bone mask instantly covered his entire face!

Upon seeing this, Rangiku's expression instantly turned extremely serious. She had never seen such power before, and the mask was exactly the same as the one on Hollow's face.

She could clearly feel that as the mask appeared, Kensei Muguruma's Reiatsu suddenly became turbid.

Xuanxin's eyes lit up when he saw the mask.

That's exactly what he wanted to see; he needed to know where Shinji Hirako and the others would end up on his chessboard in the future.

Chapter 94

When that pale white bone face appeared on Kensei's face, the Reishi in the surrounding air were instantly injected into Kensei's body, and Kensei's body underwent some changes as a result of the Reishi were injected.

Xuanxin, who had been resting on Yoruichi's shoulder, narrowed his eyes.

From the moment Xuanxin felt Kensei's Reiatsu appear on his face, his Reiatsu was no longer pure. A violent Reiatsu belonging to a Hollow appeared out of nowhere within the original Shinigami 'Reiatsu.

[So this is the emergency experiment Aizen conducted on these people back then...?]

Just as Xuanxin was still pondering Aizen's true intentions, the second round of battle between Rangiku and Kensei Muguruma officially began.

Ready? Then let's continue.

From beneath the bone surface came Kensei Muguruma's even hoarser voice. As the Reiatsu of the Shinigami and Hollow merged within Kensei's Kensei, his Reiatsu, speed, and power all underwent a qualitative leap.

Faced with Kensei's overwhelming, turbid Reiatsu, a look of seriousness flashed in Rangiku Matsumoto's eyes.

Rangiku then increased her Reiatsu output, and the amount of sand surrounding Rangiku doubled. What was originally just a ribbon-like sand band around her body instantly turned into a sand wall taller than a person.

Furthermore, upon closer inspection, some glittering fragments could be faintly hidden within the ever-flowing fine sand, and a faint, cold glint appeared at Rangiku's fingertips.

Seeing Rangiku's actions, Kensei Muguruma silently nodded in approval.

"Come on, little girl, let me see if you're worthy of wearing that haori."

After finishing speaking, he transformed into a streak of emerald light and rushed straight towards Rangiku.

That was too fast! And too sudden!

Faced with Kensei's sudden attack, Rangiku was caught off guard and could only hastily mobilize the sand wall surrounding her to block Kensei's fierce attack.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Kensei's iron fist slammed into the sand wall, creating ripples, and some of the wind from the punch even blew through the gaps in the sand, ruffling Rangiku's hair.

Seeing Kensei's fierce attack, Rangiku retreated repeatedly to create distance between them, leaving only the sand wall to block Kensei's attacks.

After a brief period of passive defense, Rangiku regained her composure.

Rangiku moved her hands, and the sand that had been dwindling under the bombardment of her iron fist gathered again in front of her. With the movement of her hands, it split into two, one on the left and one on the right, and Kensei Muguruma towards Rangiku.

Just as the two streams of sand were about to reach Kensei, they suddenly began to spin. In the blink of an eye, the two streams of sand transformed into two sand tornadoes, once again attacking Kensei.

Facing attacks from both left and right, Kensei not only did not slow down, but instead let out two hearty laughs and transformed into a streak of cyan light, rushing directly towards Sand Tornado.

"Boom--!"

After the yellow sand tornado collided with the green light, a deafening sonic boom exploded across the wilderness.

A terrifying shockwave spread rapidly from the point of impact, and the first to be affected were the surrounding trees. Seeing the trees snapped in half, everyone had no choice but to step back and give the two ample space.

After the smoke from the two dissipated completely, everyone was surprised to find that the two sand tornadoes, which had originally been on the left and right, had somehow merged together to form a semi-circular sand prison with a diameter of several meters, trapping Kensei tightly in the middle of the sand prison.

Meanwhile, Rangiku, standing outside, was gritting her teeth, trying her best to compress the sand ball towards Kensei.

"Crunch~ Crunch~"

A series of teeth-grinding sounds continuously reached everyone's ears. When these sounds reached Xuanxin's ears, Xuanxin subconsciously twitched, then scratched his ear with his paw before returning to normal.

As the sandbags were compressed smaller and smaller, the difficulty of compression increased exponentially, and sweat began to trickle down Rangiku's forehead.

At this moment, inside the sand dunes.

Kensei Muguruma stood in the center of the sand ball, looking at the overwhelming yellow sand that was constantly compressing towards him, a hint of amazement flashing in his eyes hidden beneath his bones.

[For a young girl, to be able to use the transformation of Reiatsu to such a refined degree is quite remarkable.] Kensei secretly praised in his heart.

However, this praise lasted only a moment.

As the yellow sandstorm drew ever closer, Kensei quickly discovered Rangiku's "ingenious trick" hidden within the sand scroll.

Suddenly, a chill ran down Kensei's arm. Kensei looked down and saw a small wound on his hand, which had been protected by Hierro. As the sand wall approached, more and more wounds appeared on his arm, and soon his entire arm was covered in bright red blood.

Feeling the wound on his arm, Kensei Muguruma grinned and said:

"So that's how it is. So there was some glass hidden in this sand? But do you think you can trap me with that?"

The instant Kensei finished speaking, a bluish-green Reiatsu began to condense in front of Kensei's fist.

After a brief moment of charging up, a glint of emerald light flashed in Kensei's eyes, which were hidden beneath his boned face!

"Now, it's my turn!"

With a roar, Kensei charged towards the sand wall and began to bombard it relentlessly.

A series of loud "bang! bang! bang!" sounds came from inside the sand sphere.

To the onlookers, the sand sphere that had been controlled by Rangiku suddenly stopped shrinking, and with the sound of bombardment, the entire sand sphere began to ripple.