Chapter 151

"But in a situation where the difference in strength is too great... with such a slow recovery speed, dying a hundred or so times would be quite easy."

The Tsuchigumo is virtually invincible in matches of the same level, but its effectiveness diminishes significantly in matches with a large disparity in skill.

Clang.

The Zanpakuto appeared in Haruto's hand.

"It seems that even the intellect belonging to the Soul Reaper can only be regained after the body recovers."

"It's become somewhat of a 'white elephant' (meaning it's neither here nor there)."

By the time Haruto reached Tsuchigumo, the creature had just reassembled its body.

"You, you actually—"

"How many units of souls did you just use?"

Haruto casually interrupted Sakai Shukugo's speech as he regained consciousness.

――――

Volume 1: 092, Emerging from the mud, the forests are ablaze with color.

After witnessing the true Senju Kōten Taihō.

Sakai Shukugo finally realized the gap between the two of them:

His Tsuchigumo technique was perfect for dealing with any vice-captain, but against a true Captain-level, it would only result in a brutal massacre.

Although Haruto only possesses Fifth-Class Reii, all of his killing moves are techniques that only a true captain can use; more importantly, in the eyes of other Soul Reaper, his killing moves are not significantly different from their normal attacks.

The Hadō #91 technique made Sakai Shukugo no longer harbor any illusions about a counterattack.

So...

He was preparing to escape.

The Tsuchigumo isn't fast; even at full speed, it's only as efficient as a normal Shunpo.

However, since he called himself a scientist, Sakai Shukugo had already made preparations to prevent himself from being captured and used as a test subject: the Tsuchigumo possessed super strong defensive power, which had a special effect against Kidō, especially Bakudō. The barbs on his body were not for scaring people, but rather a means of resisting capture-type Bakudō.

Although he couldn't defeat Haruto, there was still a chance if he could escape: Rukongai was vast, and even without the expensive equipment and resources of the Twelfth Division after leaving the Soul Reaper, the abundance of resources he could take from Tsuchigumo was enough to push him into a completely new territory.

At that time...

A gentleman takes his revenge even after ten years!

"1.1 unit..."

So.

He now had to pretend to be obedient and answer Haruto's questions honestly, waiting for the other party to relax so he could make a quick getaway!

"This is troublesome."

Haruto looked troubled.

"You're a good target, but if this stalemate continues... my Reiatsu isn't inexhaustible."

Sakai Shukugo instantly understood the meaning behind Haruto's words.

However.

Before he controlled the Tsuchigumo to move—

"Zheng."

Haruto drew his Zanpakuto.

"Tinkle, Seisen."

The elegant yet sharp tip of the knife gently pressed against the surface of the Tsuchigumo's limbs.

"Drop!"

"..."

All the noise stopped at this moment.

"That's pretty impressive."

Haruto stepped forward and touched the sharp bristles on the spider's leg.

"I felt earlier that the power of the Senju Kōten Taihō was a bit off; it turns out your test subject also had this ability."

"..."

Sakai Shukugo did not respond.

"I almost forgot, you probably can't speak right now, can you?"

"..."

Not only could it not speak, but the Tsuchigumo, which was half the size of a warehouse, remained completely still, as if it had been frozen in place.

I'm sorry.

"This is also my first time using this ability, so I'm not quite sure what the specific effects will be. I didn't expect it to be blocked so thoroughly."

Haruto looked down at the Seisen.

On the silver blade, which retained a restrained metallic sheen, only the tip shimmered with a watery blue light... reflected on the Tsuchigumo's massive body.

Light and breezy, yet substantial.

This is the effect of the Flow nature of Seisen when applied to the edge or back of a blade; and when this power is concentrated at the tip of the blade—

That is the opposite of Flow:

Stillness.

The target touched by the blade, whether it is matter or energy, will fall into a state of complete Stillness.

This ability was not developed by Haruto.

Just now, when Tsuchigumo Haruto about to use the Bakudō Sakai Shukugo, Seisen suddenly "declared" this directly in his mental world.

"..."

"Blame my knife, who knew it would be so active?"

Haruto had originally planned to test out his new Kidō today, and hadn't intended to develop Seisen's abilities. His release just now was a complete accident.

"But."

Haruto raised his left hand, which had never held a knife.

In the outstretched palm, jet-black lightning was twisting and merging.

"Saving on the Bakudō isn't a big deal."

"A faint, murky emblem reveals an untamed and arrogant talent."

"It seems that it will be quite difficult to eliminate you using flying-type Kidō."

"Tide surges, denial, paralysis, a fleeting moment"

"Hindering long sleep"

"My Hiryū Gekizoku Shinten Raihō don't have that much coverage area."

Haruto tapped the Tsuchigumo's body, and the sharp, bristly hairs were flattened and broken by the flesh and blood.

"The crawling Iron Princess, the clay doll that constantly mutilates itself."

"So I'll have to trouble you, the great scientist, to temporarily act as a guinea pig and try out my newly learned Kidō."

"Combine, rebound, extend to the ground, and acknowledge your own powerlessness."

The pitch-black lightning spread out, drawing a complex and intricate giant square magic circle beneath the Tsuchigumo.

"Waaaaa!!"

The Seisen did not suppress the mental activity of Sakai Shukugo; an uncontrollable emotion was spreading wildly on the spiritual level: it was life's fear of death.

"Bite!"

The tip of Seisen's knife trembled slightly.

It seems that against an opponent Reii surpasses one's own, the power of Stillness cannot be maintained for too long—even though the information Seisen just conveyed to him was that as long as the blade tip did not leave the opponent, it could be frozen indefinitely.

Really...

No matter how abnormal an ability is, it will be reduced or weakened in the face of a difference in Reiatsu.

"Hadō #90"

Fortunately, it's alright.

Haruto's chant was nearing its end: compared to Senju Kōten Taihō, he had only recently acquired the Kurohitsugi, and if it weren't for the many similarities in the "space destruction" part, Haruto wouldn't have been able to learn it so quickly.

Even this current fully chanted version is probably only about one-third as powerful as the original.

But it's definitely enough to throw at this opponent:

Haruto aims for medium-range, fixed damage, equivalent to the combined force of two Kōten Taihō exploding and filling the entire space...

That's enough to crush this big thing.

"Kurohitsugi!"

"Thump!!"

――――

A pitch-black coffin rose from the ground.

The raging torrent of gravity relentlessly annihilated everything within the black shell.

A dozen seconds later, the solidified glassy Reishi particles shattered and scattered in all directions—

"Whoosh!"

A figure charged straight toward the remaining half of the forest.

However.

"Bakudō #91"

Haruto used his thumbnail to forcefully draw a line along the center line of the outer edge of his index finger.

The scattered blood blossoms, mixed with Reiatsu, transformed into a sharp cross-shaped spear in the air, shooting straight towards the figure that was using Shunpo to escape!

"Call out--"

"Shisō Kekkai!"

"Puff!!"

The bright red cross-shaped gun rammed the target into the ground.

"They were able to escape from the Kurohitsugi."

Haruto's figure strode forward, and in the next second, he was already in front of Sakai Shukugo.

"Courage and decisiveness are both indispensable."

"However, you're being far too naive to think you can slip away from me with this level of Shunpo."

Shisō Kekkai.

This is a special Bakudō with a total of four sealing methods. Haruto has only been exposed to it for a short time and has only just learned two of them:

First Technique: Reiatsu Sealing.

Second move: Perception Sealing.

"Puff!"

Haruto didn't hesitate to conjure a second blood spear and thrust it straight into Sakai Shukugo's Saketsu; the first strike pierced the opponent's Hakusui, and once the Saketsu were sealed by the power of the blood spear, Sakai Shukugo would be unable to use any of the Soul Reaper's abilities.

"..."

"Tōzanshō!"

Faced with the speechless Sakai Shukugo, Haruto used his Reiatsu to create a miniature Tōzanshō, trapping him inside even though his power had been sealed.