Fighting Little Shiro (II)

As Liu Hao fully released the Imperial Sword, the atmosphere in the training ground changed completely.

Golden-red light and icy-blue chill clashed fiercely in the air, like two tides of different colors crashing against each other. The majesty of the Imperial Sword in its fully released Shikai stood in stark contrast to Hyōrinmaru's biting cold.

The battle reached a fever pitch.

As their blades crossed, the ice dragons under Tōshirō Hitsugaya's control roared and charged at Liu Hao again and again. Each dragon, formed from freezing Reiatsu, carried a chill cold enough to freeze the soul. Claws, fangs, and tails aimed for his vital points with every attack.

Liu Hao responded calmly. The Imperial Sword became a streak of golden-red light in his hand, every swing striking an ice dragon precisely at its weakest point. Wherever the blade passed, ice dragons shattered, sending shards flying through the air and creating a strange "ice rain" across the training ground.

But whenever one was shattered, Tōshirō Hitsugaya immediately formed another. As the strongest ice-and-snow-type Zanpakuto, Hyōrinmaru's ability to control ice was virtually inexhaustible.

More dangerous still, whenever Liu Hao devoted his full attention to an ice dragon, Tōshirō Hitsugaya himself would seize the chance to launch a surprise attack. His Shunpo had reached a considerable level, and together with the chaos created by the ice dragons, it repeatedly threatened Liu Hao's defenses.

For a time, Liu Hao was forced onto the defensive, able only to block, dodge, and retreat.

The captains watching from outside the arena each had their own assessment of the scene.

Shunsui Kyōraku pressed down on his straw hat. His tone was relaxed, but approving. "Captain Hitsugaya may be young, but he's certainly strong. His control over Hyōrinmaru is already quite refined."

Jūshirō Ukitake nodded in agreement, his voice gentle. "Yes. Give him more time to gain experience, and his future accomplishments may well rival ours."

Gin Ichimaru narrowed his eyes, his signature smile on his face, and turned to Sōsuke Aizen beside him. "Captain Aizen, you're smiling without saying a word. Do you disagree with Captain Kyōraku?"

Aizen adjusted his glasses, his lips curving into a gentle smile. "You jest, Captain Ichimaru. I simply think... neither of them may have given it their all yet."

His words were laden with meaning. Kaname Tōsen turned toward Aizen. "You seem to think highly of Lieutenant Liu Hao, Captain Aizen."

"He is the captain of the Medical Guard Team, after all," Aizen said calmly and naturally. "His strength is not to be underestimated."

The exchange seemed ordinary, but it stirred something in the captains present. Aizen's assessment of Liu Hao seemed a little... too high.

While the captains were talking, the situation in the arena changed.

Liu Hao had clearly grown somewhat irritated with the ice dragons that kept appearing. After shattering one, he did not immediately press the attack. Instead, he stood where he was, held the Imperial Sword horizontally before him, and murmured:

"Imperial Flame, flames as my robes."

The instant the words left his mouth, golden-red flames surged from the Imperial Sword's blade.

The flames were completely unlike ordinary fire—their color was deeper and purer, and they flowed like molten metal. They spread along the blade and quickly climbed over Liu Hao's arms, shoulders, and torso...

Finally, a set of "clothes" made entirely of flame covered Liu Hao's entire body.

Flames flowed and burned across the robes without harming Liu Hao in the slightest. The golden-red light illuminated his calm face, making him look like a fire god from legend descended to earth.

The expressions of the captains watching from outside the arena changed at once.

Shunsui Kyōraku and Jūshirō Ukitake exchanged a glance, each seeing shock in the other's eyes.

Isn't that... one of the old man's Bankai techniques? The temperature might not be as high, but the principle is almost identical... The same thought flashed through both their minds.

Shigekuni Yamamoto-Genryūsai, the Captain-Commander, did indeed have a similar "flames as robes" ability when his Zanpakuto, Ryūjin Jakka, was in Bankai. It compressed flames to their utmost limit, creating a nearly solid form that combined defense and offense.

And now Liu Hao had displayed a similar ability while still in Shikai.

Gin Ichimaru's smile grew even brighter. "My, my, Captain Hitsugaya will be at a disadvantage now."

Kaname Tōsen disagreed. "Not necessarily. Hyōrinmaru is the strongest ice-and-snow-type Zanpakuto, after all. Captain Hitsugaya should still be able to deal with flames of this level."

Aizen's gaze remained fixed on Liu Hao, a hint of curiosity in his voice. "I'm simply curious... Lieutenant Liu Hao's Zanpakuto displayed no abilities related to fire when it was released. Yet now it can produce such pure flames. I wonder if his Zanpakuto has other abilities he hasn't shown."

His words brought the other captains to a realization.

Indeed, Liu Hao's Shikai, the Imperial Sword, looked like an ancient, unadorned Han sword. Aside from the unusual dragon pattern on its blade, it had no obvious elemental characteristics. The flame ability he was displaying now did not match the Imperial Sword's appearance.

Shunsui Kyōraku turned to Unohana and asked directly, "Captain Unohana, does Lieutenant Liu Hao's Zanpakuto have any other abilities besides fire?"

Unohana smiled faintly, her tone gentle but leaving no opening. "You'll find out if you watch closely. He is a member of our Fourth Division, after all."

Her answer amounted to saying nothing, yet left them unable to press further.

Jūshirō Ukitake looked at Kaien Shiba beside him and asked quietly, "Kaien, you seem to get along well with Lieutenant Liu Hao. Has he told you about his Zanpakuto's abilities?"

Kaien Shiba smiled bitterly to himself.

Get along well? I almost died at his hands back then...

But he showed nothing on his face and simply shook his head. "I don't know much about Liu Hao's Zanpakuto either. But I do know that it should have a healing ability. When we sparred before, he could heal himself immediately after getting hurt. I asked him about it, and he said it was his Zanpakuto's ability."

His words drew everyone's attention back to Liu Hao.

When they looked closely, they discovered that the few small wounds Liu Hao had received while fighting the ice dragons had healed at some unknown point. The wounds had been inconspicuous to begin with and were easy to miss without looking for them.

Now, in the light of his flaming robes, they could clearly see that his skin was as smooth as before, with no trace of injury.

Healing and fire... This Zanpakuto called the "Imperial Sword" seemed more complex than they had imagined.

In the arena, the battle entered a new phase after Liu Hao used "flames as my robes."

When the ice dragons approached Liu Hao, they were vaporized by the heat radiating from his flaming robes without his even needing to swing his sword. The extreme cold, enough to freeze the soul, melted away before the Imperial Flame like winter snow under a summer sun.

Tōshirō Hitsugaya's ice dragon tactics had been rendered completely ineffective.

He had to change his strategy, abandoning long-range control of the ice dragons to face Liu Hao in close-quarters Zanjutsu.

But he could gain no advantage there either.

Liu Hao's swordsmanship was simple and commanding, each strike carrying the heat of flames and the Imperial Sword's majesty. Though Tōshirō Hitsugaya was highly skilled with his blade, the constant heat from the flaming robes inevitably affected his movements.

After several exchanges, Tōshirō Hitsugaya opened the distance again.

This time, he did not summon another ice dragon. Instead, he raised Hyōrinmaru high over his head, its tip pointing at the sky.

"Tensō Jūrin."

His voice was cold and clear.

As the words fell, a beam of deep-blue light shot from Hyōrinmaru's tip, straight into the sky above the training ground. The light gathered and spread overhead, finally forming a massive dark cloud.

Lightning flashed within the cloud, and cold filled the air, clearly heralding some kind of large-scale attack.

Seeing this, Liu Hao did not wait for Tōshirō Hitsugaya to complete the technique. He gripped the Imperial Sword in both hands and poured all the power of his flaming robes into its blade.

"Imperial Flame, blazing flames burn the heavens."

The instant he spoke, a massive fiery-red sword beam slashed out from the Imperial Sword.

The beam was three zhang wide and more than ten zhang long, composed entirely of highly compressed Imperial Flame. The heat distorted the air and sent ripples through space wherever it passed.

The sword beam shot straight into the sky and struck the dark cloud precisely.

"Sizzle—!"

There was no explosion, no deafening crash, only the piercing sound of vaporization.

The instant the fiery-red sword beam touched the cloud, extreme cold and extreme heat collided head-on. The cloud began to "burn"—not in the literal sense, but as the water vapor within it evaporated instantly and its ice crystals vaporized outright.

In just three breaths, the cloud that could have unleashed a terrifying ice storm had been completely "burned" away, without leaving a trace of water vapor.

Tōshirō Hitsugaya's expression turned extremely grim.

Tensō Jūrin was one of Hyōrinmaru's signature abilities, allowing him to control the weather and create conditions for a large-scale ice attack. But now, before the technique could fully take shape, Liu Hao had countered it in the most brutal manner possible.

He knew that ordinary means would no longer win him the fight.

Tōshirō Hitsugaya took a deep breath and held Hyōrinmaru horizontally before his chest.

His gaze grew more solemn than ever, and his voice rang clearly through the training ground:

"Bankai—"

The instant he spoke those two words, the temperature throughout the training ground plummeted.

"Daiguren Hyōrinmaru!"

The moment the words fell, the real transformation began.

First came a massive ice dragon, larger and more solid than any before it. It spiraled out from the blade and wrapped itself around Tōshirō Hitsugaya's body.

Then his body began to change.

Behind him, a pair of wings made entirely of ice slowly spread open, spanning more than three zhang. Every feather was translucent and gleamed with cold blue light.

Ice covered his right hand, forming a dragon claw with tips as sharp as blades. His left hand took the shape of a dragon's head, its massive jaws clamped tightly around Hyōrinmaru's blade.

A long ice dragon tail extended behind him, its tip as sharp as a spear.

Most striking of all was what appeared above his head. Twelve icicles emerged from the void, arranged into three enormous ice flowers, each with six petals. They rotated slowly, radiating a terrifying chill.

This was Daiguren Hyōrinmaru, Hyōrinmaru's complete form.

With the Bankai complete, the temperature in the training ground had fallen to an extreme low. Dense water vapor filled the air, rapidly condensing in the cold into tiny ice crystals that hung in the air like frost.

With every breath, the cold air seemed to pierce the lungs, and even the flow of Reiatsu seemed to slow.

This was the domain of the strongest ice-and-snow-type Zanpakuto after Bankai: a domain of absolute cold.

Liu Hao felt the sudden plunge in temperature around him, but showed no sign of panic.

He held the Imperial Sword before him, lightly brushed his left hand over the blade, and murmured:

"Imperial Decree, Blazing Graveyard."

The instant he finished speaking, a transformation occurred.

It came not from the Imperial Sword, but from beneath Liu Hao's feet. Golden-red flames surged from the ground like an erupting volcano.

The flames spread rapidly, racing outward in every direction with Liu Hao at their center. Wherever they passed, the ice on the ground melted and evaporated instantly, while the ice crystals in the air vaporized outright.

In just a few breaths, the area within ten zhang of Liu Hao had become a "graveyard" of flames.

Golden-red fire burned and flowed across the ground like a hell of lava. Its heat clashed fiercely with Tōshirō Hitsugaya's domain of extreme cold, producing a constant sizzling sound at their boundary as vapor rose in white clouds.

Once the Blazing Graveyard formed, the water vapor in the air was completely cleared away. It was now impossible for Tōshirō Hitsugaya to condense ice crystals from the moisture in the air again.

But Tōshirō Hitsugaya did not panic.

He flapped his ice wings and slowly rose into the air, looking down at Liu Hao on the ground. His voice was cold.

"A very good countermeasure. The water vapor in the air may be gone, but my Daiguren Hyōrinmaru doesn't necessarily have to rely on it."

With that, he raised Hyōrinmaru again, pointing its tip at the sky.

This time, he spoke the same four words:

"Tensō Jūrin."

But this time, its power was entirely different.

As he spoke, the "sky" over the entire training ground—the milky-white dome—began to change color. Rather than a single dark cloud appearing, the whole sky was covered by a deep-blue layer of icy clouds.

The clouds were thick enough to blot out the sky and sun. The light in the training ground rapidly dimmed, as though day had turned to dusk in an instant.

Tōshirō Hitsugaya hovered in midair, his ice wings beating slowly. His voice carried a hint of gravity.

"I've... never used this technique in Bankai before. I can't control its power very well, so be careful."

It was a genuine warning. A technique that even its user could not fully control often meant terrifying danger.

Liu Hao looked up at the ice clouds blotting out the sky, then at Tōshirō Hitsugaya in the air, and suddenly sighed.

"Next... is it 'Hyōten Hyakkasō'?"

The moment he said it, Tōshirō Hitsugaya's pupils contracted sharply.

His eyes widened in shock, and he stared at Liu Hao in disbelief. "How did you know?!!"

Hyōten Hyakkasō was one of the ultimate techniques he had discovered by chance while developing his Bankai abilities. He had never used it in front of anyone; even his Vice-Captain, Rangiku Matsumoto, knew nothing about it.

Yet Liu Hao had named it outright.

Liu Hao did not answer his question, instead asking another. "Do you think... it'll work?"

The deeper meaning in those words made Tōshirō Hitsugaya's heart sink. But he did not back down, tightening his grip on Hyōrinmaru instead.

"We won't know until I try."

He raised his Zanpakuto and pointed its tip at Liu Hao, his voice as cold as a blade.

"Hyōten Hyakkasō."

The instant he spoke, a gap opened in the ice clouds overhead.

Snowflakes—or rather, not ordinary snowflakes, but "ice petals," each containing a terrifying chill—drifted down through the gap in the clouds.

The petals were white and translucent, beautiful as works of art. But wherever each petal passed, tiny frosty ripples appeared in space. They were manifestations of freezing Reiatsu, flowers of death capable of freezing the soul.

The petals fell toward Liu Hao like countless blades.

But before they could touch Liu Hao's body, they were evaporated and vaporized by the heat radiating from his Imperial Flame robes, three chi away from him.

White mist rose, but could not breach that three-chi distance.

Hyōten Hyakkasō had failed.

Tōshirō Hitsugaya's expression changed again. He gritted his teeth and immediately switched techniques.

"Flock of Birds: Ice Pillars!"

At his low shout, the falling petals instantly solidified and changed shape, becoming countless sharp ice spikes. They shot toward Liu Hao like a torrential downpour, each capable of piercing steel.

Liu Hao finally moved.

He did not dodge. Gripping the Imperial Sword in both hands, he swung upward into the rain of ice spikes.

"Imperial Flame, beacon fire as my blade."

A crescent-shaped sword beam formed from flames flew out of the Imperial Sword. Every ice spike in its path evaporated and vaporized, leaving a passage free of ice.

The sword beam clashed fiercely in midair with the ice spikes that followed.

"Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle—!"

Amid the rapid sizzling, a great cloud of water vapor burst forth. In just a few breaths, white mist enveloped the entire training ground, completely obscuring vision.

At the moment the white mist filled the arena, Tōshirō Hitsugaya moved.

He flapped his ice wings and burst through the mist at top speed, appearing before Liu Hao.

Hyōrinmaru thrust straight out, its tip aimed at Liu Hao's heart.

"Ryūsenka!"

It was one of his most powerful thrusting techniques. Once struck, the target would be instantly encased in a massive cross-shaped pillar of ice and completely frozen from within.

But Liu Hao seemed to have anticipated it.

He had already reacted the moment the white mist spread. By the time Tōshirō Hitsugaya burst through it, Liu Hao had positioned the Imperial Sword in front of him to block.

"Clang—!"

The blades collided.

But Tōshirō Hitsugaya's technique had already been activated. Even though the strike was blocked, Hyōrinmaru's chill still spread along the blade, quickly enveloping Liu Hao's entire body.

In the blink of an eye, a massive cross-shaped pillar of ice completely encased Liu Hao. The ice was crystal clear, and he could be seen frozen inside, still holding his blocking stance.

"It worked!" Rangiku Matsumoto could not help shouting from outside the arena.

But her cheer lasted only a second.

The next second, golden-red flames suddenly erupted inside the ice pillar.

It was no ordinary blaze, but an eruption of flames bursting from within like a volcanic eruption.

"Boom—!"

The ice pillar exploded, sending shards flying.

Liu Hao emerged from the flames, the Imperial Sword pointing down at an angle, the robes of Imperial Flame on his body burning even more fiercely. The ice that had just sealed him had not left so much as a trace on him.

As he emerged, he had already swung his sword.

A golden-red sword beam slashed toward Tōshirō Hitsugaya.

Tōshirō Hitsugaya hurried to dodge, but the sword beam was too fast. He only had time to turn sideways—

"Sshhk!"

The sword beam swept past, cutting Tōshirō Hitsugaya's body in two.

Rangiku Matsumoto let out a startled cry from outside the arena.

But Liu Hao's expression did not change in the slightest. He did not even look at the body that had been split in two. Instead, he spun around and raised the Imperial Sword to block behind him.

"Clang—!"

The blades collided once more.

Tōshirō Hitsugaya, who should have been cut in two, had appeared behind Liu Hao and brought his sword down.

Meanwhile, the "body" that had just been split apart had turned into two enormous blocks of ice, with the outline of Tōshirō Hitsugaya's figure faintly visible within them.

Ice Image—an illusion technique developed by Tōshirō Hitsugaya. It used ice to create an illusion identical to the original, misleading enemies.

"Did you think a trick like that could fool me?" Liu Hao's voice was calm, carrying even a hint of mockery.

Tōshirō Hitsugaya leaped backward, putting distance between them. His face was filled with shock and confusion:

"You even knew about that... Why? Why do you seem to know my abilities inside out?"

Liu Hao did not answer directly. Instead, he slowly said, "I know a great deal, Captain Hitsugaya. But there are some things it isn't time for you to know yet. That's why Captain Shiba left you no information, right up until he disappeared."

His tone grew serious. "So take my advice—let's stop here today. Pursuing this any further won't do you any good."

But Tōshirō Hitsugaya had never been the type to back down easily.

He tightened his grip on Hyōrinmaru, his ice wings beating slowly, his voice cold and resolute:

"What if I insist on knowing today?"

The moment he said those words, Liu Hao's gaze changed.

Gone was the calm of their sparring, gone was the gentleness of his guidance. In their place was a... cold sharpness, filled with killing intent.

His voice dropped, every word like a heavy hammer:

"Tōshirō Hitsugaya, do you think becoming a captain gives you the right to do as you please?"

The temperature in the training ground plummeted once more—not because of Hyōrinmaru, but because of the almost tangible killing intent radiating from Liu Hao.

"Something even Captain Shiba couldn't resolve, and a 'little guy' like you, who only just learned Bankai, wants to meddle in it?"