"Hundreds of dead crows pecked at each other's eyes, stirring a hundred filthy rivers that converged upon the Tower Reaching Heaven in the distance before crashing down!"
"Bakudo No. 62—Hyapporankan!"
As Asano Kiyoshi finished his incantation, every inch of space within several dozen square meters was almost completely filled with densely packed silver-white pillars.
Watching the Reishi pillars fill the sky, Shihoin Sennichi's face revealed a trace of uncontrollable shock.
Though he excelled at close-quarters combat, that did not mean he was a berserker who knew only how to charge forward recklessly. On the contrary, he thought far more than most people in battle. After all, in close-range combat, even the slightest mistake could cost one's life in an instant.
Although the Kido of a thousand years ago was not as mature or varied as it was now, the lengthy incantations and long casting windups were common problems.
The instant he locked down every joint in Asano Kiyoshi's body, he had in fact completely sealed off Asano Kiyoshi's ability to use Kido—but that was only true for ordinary Shinigami.
Several years ago, Asano Kiyoshi had already used the Scroll to reduce Kido incantation times to the absolute minimum. Although he had recited so much of the chant just now, most of it had not been spoken aloud at all. Instead, he used the Reishi Resonance already contained within the Scroll to manipulate Reishi.
As countless pillars descended from the air, Shihoin Sennichi had no choice but to abandon his method of restraining Asano Kiyoshi. He used Shunpo to open the distance between them, barely avoiding the Hyapporankan that pierced down from the sky.
But by doing so, he had stepped right into Asano Kiyoshi's rhythm.
Asano Kiyoshi was himself a spellcaster quite skilled in hand-to-hand combat. Whether the distance between