Kido Duel

"Shred him, Wind Chant Cord!"

"Explode, Butterfly Dance Bird!"

"Roar, Heaven-Defying Reverse Thunder!"

After a batch of ordinary Soul Reapers' Zanpakuto had been destroyed, the Zanpakuto of these Seat Officers also began engaging Ailin in close combat.

Compared to those Zanpakuto that did not even possess physical forms, these Zanpakuto that had completed Shikai could better sense the gap between themselves and Ailin.

Thus, once they entered the forest of swords, these clearly formed Zanpakuto unleashed their abilities one after another.

In an instant, more than a dozen powerful spiritual pressures rose up, carrying elements of wind, fire, lightning, and more as they attacked Ailin.

"Heh..."

Facing these attacks, Ailin raised the sword in his hand and murmured, calling out this blade's true name—

"Sōtenyasha!"

Boom!

At Ailin's call, endless lightning radiated from the Zanpakuto in his hand.

It was a weapon from the same world as Tetsusaiga.

Its power was not inferior to Tetsusaiga's in the slightest.

Endless purple lightning gathered around Sōtenyasha, ultimately condensing into a massive purple thunder dragon that blasted toward the incoming attacks.

"Azure Dragon Break!"

"Roaaar—"

Boom boom boom boom boom...

Under Sōtenyasha's Azure Dragon Break, the attacks of those dozen or so Seat Officer-level Zanpakuto had no power to resist at all and were directly scattered by the thunder dragon.

Nor did it stop there. The thunder dragon wound its way forward, drawing all those dozen or so Seat Officer Zanpakuto into its attack range and engulfing them in invincible lightning.

"Aaaahhhhh..."

After the thunder dragon dispersed, a hundred-meter-long chasm appeared before Ailin, with flashes of lightning still flickering within it from time to time.

As for those dozen or so Seat Officer Zanpakuto, they had been completely shattered by that thunder dragon.

This terrifying strike left the remaining Zanpakuto deeply shaken. Even their charge came to a halt.

However, under Hibiki Hoshino's control, they still charged toward Ailin.

This time, even Danjikaze and Tengumaru, the two Captain-level Zanpakuto, began their assault.

"Bankai—"

Boom...

Following Danjikaze, Tengumaru also entered Bankai.

After all, they were merely Zanpakuto, part of a Soul Reaper's power.

Without the support of their masters' spiritual pressure, their abilities and combat strength were actually far weaker than those of complete Captain-level fighters.

If a Zanpakuto's master had attained high mastery in Zan, Ken, So, Ki, they could defeat a Zanpakuto's Bankai using only Shikai.

And with Ailin's current strength, they had little chance of winning against him if they did not use Bankai.

Whoosh!

As Tengumaru entered Bankai, Ailin made a gesture with his hand. Blue spirit particles gathered in his palm, swiftly condensing into a Zanpakuto.

"Flame—Tetsusaiga!"

Boom...

Blazing flames coiled around the enlarged fang blade. Ailin raised Flame Tetsusaiga high overhead as whirlwinds spun around Tetsusaiga, drawing in strands of spiritual pressure from the attacks rushing toward him.

"Flame—Explosive Wave!"

Boom boom boom boom boom boom...

As Ailin slashed down, the violent slash transformed into a fiery tornado that shot forth.

Tetsusaiga's ultimate technique—Explosive Wave. It was an ultimate technique capable of manipulating an enemy's attacks and spiritual pressure, then reflecting them back with doubled force.

Every attack flying toward Ailin was swept into the fiery tornado and absorbed into it, making the flaming vortex even more powerful.

"Aaaahhhhh..."

Before this peerless ultimate technique, not a single one of the remaining Zanpakuto escaped. All of them were dragged into the fiery tornado by their own spiritual pressure and shredded by the wind slashes within it.

Even Danjikaze and Tengumaru were no exception.

"Trash, trash!"

"They're all trash!"

Watching the subordinates he had painstakingly gathered get wiped out by Ailin just like that, Hibiki Hoshino cursed in furious rage.

Did that not make it seem as though he had wasted most of the day doing something utterly foolish?

In his anger, Hibiki Hoshino even looked at the Zanpakuto in his hand as though it were garbage.

"You're trash too!"

Muramasa: ...

Under Ailin's Flame Explosive Wave, the Seventh Division had nearly become a field of ruins.

Burning flames, blackened blast marks, and collapsed buildings lay everywhere.

"Surrender, Third Seat Hoshino."

Ailin held Sōtenyasha in his left hand and Tetsusaiga in his right. Purple lightning and red flames dyed the skies on either side of him purple and red.

"With your current charges, at most you'll be imprisoned in Muken for a few thousand or tens of thousands of years."

"Hmph!"

Hibiki Hoshino sneered. "Don't talk big, brat."

"I'm not like those worthless fools."

"Hadō #71: Gekiga Reikō!"

With a wave of his hand, purple spiritual power condensed into a point before Hibiki Hoshino, spread in eight directions, then made right-angle turns and became eight purple lasers that shot toward Ailin.

"Bakudō #73: Tōzan'ō!"

Facing Hibiki Hoshino's Kido attack, Ailin showed no weakness. A translucent triangular membrane appeared before him.

Boom boom boom boom boom boom...

The lasers collided with the transparent membrane, erupting in tremendous roars.

Yet in the end, the eight lasers failed to penetrate the triangular membrane's defense.

Whoosh!

"Hadō #34: Golden Cannon!"

"Hadō #33: Sōkatsui!"

Boom!

"Bakudō #62: Hyapporōran!"

"Bakudō #63: Sajo Sabaku!"

Red flames and blue flames intertwined, while pillars of light and chains danced together.

Before they had even clashed in close combat, Hibiki Hoshino and Ailin had already begun a Kido duel.

It had to be said that Hibiki Hoshino's strength was indeed not bad, considering he had succeeded Kisaragi Taiho as both captain of the Special Forces and Third Seat after Kisaragi Taiho's death.

However, compared to Ailin, he still fell far short.

With the experience of several Captain-level figures, Ailin's use of Kido had now become second nature.

Whether Hibiki Hoshino used Hadō or Bakudō, Ailin would instantly counter with a stronger Kido.

After Hibiki Hoshino revealed a subtle opening, Ailin extended the index finger of his left hand, lightning flickering at its tip.

"Hadō #4: Byakurai!"

Boom!

Sssht!

The bolt of lightning broke through the blockade of flames and smoke, directly striking Hibiki Hoshino's left arm and punching a bloody hole through his shoulder.

The next moment, Hibiki Hoshino, his body pierced through, used Shunpo to flash away from the range of their Kido barrage.

"Damn it!"

Glancing at the wound on his left shoulder, Hibiki Hoshino's fury deepened.

He had not expected to lose the Kido duel.

"Very well, brat Ailin. You have successfully enraged me."

"This time, I'll let you witness my true power!"