The first time?
Ikkaku Madarame froze, but Boss Duan Mu gave him no time to question it.
Standing where he was, the sinister aura around Boss Duan Mu grew increasingly intense. Yet compared to the pure eeriness from before, Boss Duan Mu, wooden sword in hand, added an indescribable strangeness to it.
In the next second, Boss Duan Mu suddenly stepped forward. His figure flashed, then vanished.
Shunpo!
Ikkaku Madarame's expression darkened. With a twist of his wrist, the wooden sword he had been holding vertically before him suddenly swept sideways.
The wooden sword cut through the air. The powerful spiritual pressure contained within it instantly shattered the air touching the blade's surface, creating the illusion that the blade itself had warped.
The wooden sword struck Boss Duan Mu squarely. Feeling nothing in his hand, Ikkaku Madarame immediately realized that the blow had missed.
He was about to withdraw his sword and retreat.
Suddenly, a flash of brightness appeared below his field of vision.
A thrust.
Ikkaku Madarame's gaze instantly locked onto Boss Duan Mu, who had dodged by lowering his body and launched an attack from below and to the side.
Was this the first time!?
Ikkaku Madarame found it strange, but had no time to think about it. His wrist flicked, and amid the crisp crack of splitting air, the wooden sword dragged out a blurred afterimage as it met that flash of brightness with pinpoint accuracy.
Bang!
The tips of the two wooden swords collided with perfect precision. They scraped past each other in an instant, and the two men seemed to have agreed beforehand as they simultaneously thrust their swords at one another.
Ikkaku Madarame twisted his left shoulder. Boss Duan Mu's wooden sword almost grazed past it. Across from him, the instant his attack missed,