Struggle!

The once-perfect encirclement gradually developed a gap after Duan Mu's assault.

"Stone Wave!"

Iwao slammed both hands against the rock. The massive boulder instantly turned to sand, burying the enemies rushing toward them.

Behind him, Hawk and the other three took the opportunity to ride their pigs forward, quickly knocking out the buried enemies one by one with blunt weapons. Working together, the enemies around them posed no threat at all.

But they knew very well that the reason they could act so easily was entirely because the enemy's main force had been held up by Duan Mu alone!

Looking around, they saw people constantly gathering from all directions around Duan Mu, charging fearlessly toward him. Duan Mu, meanwhile, was like a killing machine, slaughtering the surrounding crowds without pause.

Watching that flickering figure, even Iwao, who considered himself the person most familiar with Duan Mu, could not help feeling a sense of unfamiliarity!

It was not only his aura and expression that had changed. Even Duan Mu's combat techniques were completely unfamiliar. Aside from Zanjutsu, he had mastered the other three major combat arts—Hakuda, Shunpo, and Kidō—to perfection.

Hakuda was especially frightening. His stances looked simple, but Duan Mu seemed able to accurately seize the vital points of the human body. Often, a simple punch was enough to kill an enemy in one blow!

However, unlike Hawk and the others, Iwao only felt puzzled by Duan Mu's changes and amazed by his strength. He did not fear that demonic figure on the battlefield.

He only thought the brat was being terribly dishonest for hiding this from him for so long.

Because...

No matter what Duan Mu had become, Iwao knew that he had changed this way for their sake.

Seeing the enemies surging toward them, Iwao shouted to Hawk and the others, "Escape through the gap Duan Mu pointed out. No matter what happens, don't look back." Before he had even finished speaking, Iwao charged toward the oncoming enemies!

He would not leave Duan Mu here alone. Besides, these people had come for him. If he escaped together with Hawk and the others, the enemy would certainly intercept them with all their strength.

As Iwao charged forward, he formed hand seals with one hand and slapped Stone Wave Marks onto the ground one after another.

Buzz~~

When the final mark landed, the reishi within the area covered by the Stone Wave Marks immediately began to run wild. Amid the buzzing of the air, Iwao slammed both hands violently into the ground!

"Shiba-style Stone Wave Art: Ultimate Technique—Chain Stone Wave Fan!"

Boom boom boom~~~

The solid ground turned into quicksand in the blink of an eye, cutting off the people coming to reinforce the area from Duan Mu. Anyone who stepped into the quicksand region was like someone sinking into a swamp, swallowed by the shifting sands.

Behind Iwao, at the very center of the battlefield.

"Hanging Persimmon!"

Duan Mu raised his left hand and caught the leg attacking from above. Then he drove out his right fist. With a pull and a strike, it was as if the attacker had willingly delivered his vital point before Duan Mu's fist.

Bang!

A muffled impact rang out. The man before Duan Mu's back bulged, then exploded, sending a cloud of blood mist into the air!

After delivering that blow, Duan Mu did not pause for even a moment. He slid forward, dodging the incoming blade while charging toward the opponent on his right.

Of the four major techniques of the Shinigami, Duan Mu's attainments in Hakuda were undoubtedly the strongest. Hakuda was not ordinary punching and kicking. It used special techniques to combine spiritual pressure with one's limbs, unleashing overwhelming destructive power at the instant of impact.

Close-quarters combat was undoubtedly the battlefield best suited for Hakuda. Its diverse techniques allowed him to find the most appropriate response in any situation.

At the first exchange, his opponent either died at the slightest contact or suffered severe injuries.

"Hmm?"

Suddenly, Duan Mu's figure halted. He raised his right hand beside his head, palm facing inward, and shouted, "Kidō: Bakudō #8—Kyaku."

Reishi condensed into a layer of spiritual shield over the back of his right hand.

Bang—!

Almost the instant the shield formed, a loud explosion rang out. Duan Mu felt a tremendous force slam into the spiritual shield, sending his entire body sliding sideways uncontrollably. He carved a trench more than ten meters long into the ground before finally steadying himself.

After stopping, Duan Mu turned his head. A burly man two meters tall entered his vision. He was none other than the strongest leader among this group.

The spiritual pressure emanating from his body was even somewhat stronger than that of the High-ranking Officer Duan Mu had once seen in District 1.

"Kidō!?"

Daimaru's eyes flashed sharply as he stared intently at Duan Mu's right hand, which had blocked his kick.

He had not been mistaken earlier. This black-haired youth truly could use Kidō!

So he had finally entered the battle personally?

Duan Mu turned sideways to evade an incoming sword, then punched the attacker in the back, making him spit blood and collapse.

Duan Mu did not even glance at the man. From beginning to end, his gaze had never left Daimaru. Even all the surrounding enemies combined could not compare to the pressure this burly man gave him.

At that moment, Daimaru moved. His tall body strode forward. Although he did not use Shunpo, the boost from his spiritual pressure made him extremely fast. As his massive body charged, Duan Mu felt a fierce pressure bearing down on him, and wariness flashed in his eyes.

"Die!"

Daimaru raised his fist, and the azure spiritual pressure around his body visibly surged! The air shrieked under the compression of that punch. Before he even drew near, the forceful wind had already struck Duan Mu.

Although he had never received systematic training, after nearly two centuries of life-and-death battles in District 79, Daimaru had developed several techniques for using spiritual pressure. Even against some Low-ranking Officers, he could fight them—and even defeat them!

Feeling the force of the incoming punch, a cold glint flashed through Duan Mu's eyes.

The dazzling spiritual pressure solidified around Daimaru, making him resemble a ferocious giant bear. When he reached Duan Mu, he sprang into the air and smashed a fist down toward Duan Mu's head!

Even Iwao, who was cutting off the reinforcements at the rear of the battlefield, could not help turning toward Duan Mu under that powerful spiritual pressure. His heart jolted in shock.

He had always prided himself on being the "Strongest of West Rukongai," but he had never imagined that such powerful spiritual pressure would come not from the Shinigami he hated, but from a "non-Shinigami" of Rukongai!

"Kidō: Bakudō #30—Shitotsu Sansen!"

At that moment, Duan Mu suddenly shouted. Reishi condensed into three massive, beak-shaped beams of light and shot toward Daimaru before him.

Daimaru's expression darkened, but he had already charged right up to Duan Mu and had no time to dodge. He could only watch helplessly as the three enormous beak-shaped beams clamped onto his two hands and waist, halting his leap and downward smash for an instant.

In that instant, Duan Mu activated Shunpo and rapidly opened the distance between them.

Crack, crack, crack...

But it lasted only an instant. Cracks appeared across the three beams, and Daimaru broke through them in the blink of an eye. Even Daimaru was stunned by this. He landed where Duan Mu had stood moments earlier and let out a mocking laugh:

"Hahaha... What is this? A child's juggling act?"

Duan Mu appeared ten meters away, his brows knitting slightly.

As expected, instantly casting a Bakudō above #30 through Incantation Destruction Abandonment was almost useless for restraining an enemy.

However...

This was already enough.

The corner of Duan Mu's mouth lifted. He pointed with one finger and rapidly chanted, "At the side where clouds and rain scatter, the brilliance of the mountain-top cannon burns..."

Thunder rumbled as azure arcs of electricity rapidly gathered on Duan Mu's index finger.

Daimaru's brows furrowed, and an intense sense of danger surged through his heart.

I can't let him finish casting it!

Years of battle experience made him charge toward Duan Mu without hesitation.

"...Flowing Fire, Spirit Binding, Azure Prison's Fangs!"

Duan Mu did not stop chanting. By the time Daimaru reached him, the lightning at his fingertip had grown dense to the extreme, with continuous peals of thunder coming from within!

"Kidō: Hado #4—Byakurai!!"

Boom~~~

Deafening thunder resounded across the entire battlefield. Wherever the lightning carrying tremendous impact passed, it left a straight trench in the ground.

Daimaru's expression changed, and he dodged with all his strength.

But the lightning was simply too fast. Even though he had reacted and begun dodging immediately, the right half of his body remained within its attack range.

Upon realizing this, a ruthless glint flashed through Daimaru's eyes. He abandoned the dodge and instead concentrated all his spiritual pressure into his right fist, driving it straight into the oncoming lightning!!

Boom!

The collision between fist and lightning unleashed a shockwave, sending the soil beneath Daimaru's feet flying into the sky.

For a moment, the two forces actually reached a stalemate!

Duan Mu's expression turned solemn. It was not that he could not use higher-numbered Hado, but all of them were low-level. Their power was even inferior to Byakurai.

This Byakurai was already the strongest Kidō he could use.

Yet the burly man before him had endured it through sheer force of spiritual pressure!