The Right Arm's Mutation (Two Chapters Combined into One 5,000-Character Chapter)

Chapter 19: The Right Arm's Mutation (Two Chapters Combined into One 5,000-Character Chapter)—Please Vote for Me!

Bang—

Amid the thunderous explosions, the trees around the cemetery fell one after another. Grandfissur's fur turned into a storm of sharp spikes that relentlessly pursued Ichigo, leaving him no chance to strike back. He could only dodge from side to side.

Ichigo had only recently become a Shinigami, so his fighting skills were nothing to write home about. As for his spiritual pressure, most of it had been given to him by Rukia, and he couldn't control it effectively.

He would just break through the barrage of fur spikes and rush toward Grandfissur, only to find that he couldn't even touch its fur. In both speed and strength, Grandfissur completely overwhelmed him.

In other words, there was no suspense to this fight. If no one intervened, Kurosaki Ichigo was bound to lose.

Drip, drip—

As raindrops pattered down, a heavy rain began to fall.

Wu Biao sat with his head bowed in front of the gravestone, staring intently at the cigarette between his fingers as its wisp of smoke slowly faded away.

"With skills like those, you still told your companion not to interfere?" Grandfissur knocked Ichigo back with a flurry of fur spikes, but didn't press its advantage. Instead, it drawled, "You really don't know your limits!"

"Shut up!" Wu Biao and Ichigo said the same words at the same time, leaving everyone present stunned. Ichigo turned a puzzled gaze toward Wu Biao, who sat in a pool of water in the distance.

Wu Biao slowly raised his head. A glimmer of red seemed to flash across his pupils, but then he lowered his head again. "You furry piece of trash, keep yapping and I'll tear you apart!"

A flash of resentment crossed Grandfissur's eyes, but it instinctively shut its mouth.

Seeing this, Ichigo's right hand trembled around his Zanpakuto. It wasn't from fear, but shame. Brother Biao trusted him completely and believed he could win this battle of revenge.

He had even handed over the prey that had been right within his grasp. For Brother Biao, who always put fighting first, that was a truly sincere show of trust.

But... Ichigo was like a mouse being toyed with by a cat, completely at Grandfissur's mercy. He felt both ashamed and furious.

The moment his hand stopped trembling, Ichigo's gaze changed. It became utterly resolute.

When Mom died, Yuzu's grief, Shyarly's loneliness, and Dad secretly hiding away to cry.

And me...

I had to bear all of it myself. I had to kill this Hollow here!

"I'm going to take you down!!!"

Ichigo let out a furious shout. The chaotic spiritual pressure around him suddenly turned violent, and he charged straight at Grandfissur.

"Now that's a better look in your eyes!"

Xitang watched from afar, lightly touching the brim of his hat as he chuckled.

Grandfissur gave a cold snort and sent a vast barrage of fur spikes sweeping toward Ichigo.

A blue gleam appeared in Ichigo's eyes. The next moment, his charge grew even faster. His Zanpakuto became a blur as he rushed forward, slicing every incoming spike to pieces.

"He's gotten stronger?"

Grandfissur watched Ichigo charge toward it in surprise, but its expression didn't change. The mocking grin on its mask remained. Just as Ichigo's Zanpakuto was about to strike the mask, Grandfissur vanished from the spot.

"But you're still too weak!"

Ichigo's sword cut through empty air. Before he could even figure out where Grandfissur had gone, a mocking voice came from behind him.

Ichigo instinctively turned, ready to strike again, but three clawed fingers clamped around his Zanpakuto. Even with his anger driving his spiritual pressure into a frenzy, he was still no match for Grandfissur.

It wasn't a matter of being outclassed in spiritual pressure, but of being outclassed in combat skill.

After fighting Shinigami without pause for fifty years, Grandfissur knew all their techniques. A Shinigami like Ichigo, who had no combat skills and relied only on charging in with his spiritual pressure, was useless no matter how strong his spiritual pressure was.

"How many times have you rushed at your enemy without a plan?" Grandfissur sneered at Ichigo, who was struggling beneath its three-fingered claw. "That's just recklessness, kid."

Pfft—

The three-fingered claw holding down Ichigo's Zanpakuto suddenly extended, piercing through his chest. Blood blossomed in the rainy night.

"Cough..."

The grievous wound sent blood spilling from Ichigo's mouth, and his face paled in an instant!

Grandfissur withdrew its claw, but didn't press its advantage to kill Ichigo. Part of the reason was that it couldn't be bothered, but the main reason was the terrifying pressure coming from the gravestone behind the battlefield.

The pressure came from Wu Biao's gaze. After hesitating for a moment, Grandfissur had pulled back its claw!

"Ichigo!" Rukia cried out, starting to rush over.

"Don't go!"

Wu Biao's voice rang out again, stopping Rukia in her tracks.

"Don't come over, Rukia!" Ichigo, his back to her, endured the agony and used his Zanpakuto to prop himself up. He shouted hoarsely, "I'm going to beat it! Even if my arms are twisted off and my legs are cut off, I'll still—"

"That's why I said you're going to die!" Grandfissur's eyes gleamed with mockery. This was exactly what it wanted. As long as this Shinigami remained alive, the others wouldn't come any closer—especially the person sitting by the gravestone.

It couldn't help thinking how terrifyingly naive humans were!

Rukia glared angrily at Wu Biao. She couldn't understand why this powerful human still refused to help Ichigo, even now. "If this keeps up, Ichigo will die!"

"Then let him die!"

Wu Biao didn't even look at Rukia. He reached into his white lab coat and fished out a cigarette, lighting it with his lighter. But after he took a single puff, the rain put it out.

Wu Biao kept clicking the lighter and trying to spark it. Even when the rain extinguished the flame, he didn't stop.

Rukia looked at Wu Biao in disbelief. She couldn't believe those words had come from the mouth of the man Ichigo called his brother.

"This is Ichigo's fight!"

Wu Biao kept clicking the lighter, even as he spoke. It was as if he were using the repeated motion to vent his feelings.

Watching Wu Biao's hand and listening to the lighter's constant clicks, Rukia recalled something someone had once told her.

[Rukia, there are two kinds of battles.

The first kind is a battle to protect life!

The second... is a battle of dignity. It's a battle in which someone stakes their dignity. If we step in to help, we might save their life, but we'll destroy their dignity.

So we have to understand what kind of battle our companion is fighting, and whether it's one we're allowed to take part in.]

"Did he see it from the very beginning?"

Rukia stared at Wu Biao, stunned. A bitter smile crept into her heart. Perhaps she would never understand this so-called dignity in her entire life.

Wu Biao was simple-minded. He always said whatever came to mind. He knew nothing about schemes, and he understood even less about lofty principles. You could say he knew nothing at all.

Call him stupid if you wanted. Call him a blockhead.

But he often saw the truth at the heart of things!

He knew which fights he could step into and which ones... he absolutely could not. Ichigo's gaze and tone had made it perfectly clear: Wu Biao couldn't interfere in this fight.

So even though he was furious, anxious, worried, and even... afraid, he could only keep smoking and clicking the lighter to stop himself from charging in.

At the same time, the battlefield changed once more. To make Ichigo even angrier and more impulsive, Grandfissur transformed the top of its head into the likeness of Ichigo's mother, Kurosaki Masaki.

"What is that...?" Rukia exclaimed in shock.

Bang—

Wu Biao clenched his hand shut, and the lighter inside it exploded. His face had turned ferocious. His teeth ground together with a harsh clicking sound, and he looked like a lone wolf that had spotted its prey, ready to pounce at any moment.

But in the end, he held back. He watched Ichigo standing motionless on the distant battlefield without saying a word.

"No matter how coldhearted or ruthless a Shinigami is, there's always someone they can't bring themselves to hurt. There are no exceptions. This person is your weakness, isn't she?" Grandfissur sneered.

Ichigo's teeth ground together, but the Zanpakuto in his hands slowly lowered. He stared without blinking at the figure he had longed to see for so long.

"This is bad. Grandfissur has found that kid's weakness," Xitang said gravely. Then he suddenly remembered a faint fluctuation he had sensed just before the mimicry disappeared and muttered, "Still, this might be a chance. If only that memory fragment can be brought out."

"A memory fragment?" Rukia was taken aback. "You mean... Ichigo's mother's memory fragment is still there?"

"Yeah. I caught a glimpse of it by accident earlier. The blond-haired kid in it should be this boy!"

Wu Biao raised his head. His bloodshot eyes fixed on Xitang. "What's a memory fragment?"

Xitang was startled, then remembered that Wu Biao was a human and wouldn't know what a memory fragment was. He explained, "A memory fragment is a piece of a soul—the final thought someone has before they die. But..."

Xitang paused, his tone uncertain. "But it's been six years. How could it have lasted this long? Was his mother really just a human?"

"A piece of a soul?" Wu Biao turned his gaze directly toward the image of Ichigo's mother. "If we separated it, could she be restored?"

Rukia and Xitang both shook their heads. Xitang glanced at the battlefield, then said softly, "That's impossible. I don't know why this sliver of her soul hasn't been completely devoured and assimilated, but once it's been devoured, it can't be separated. Even if we somehow separated it, such a tiny fragment couldn't be repaired."

"Separated...?"

After muttering the word, Wu Biao slowly rose to his feet.

At the same time, the rain gradually stopped. The full moon emerged from the clouds, as if the rain itself had retreated because Wu Biao had stood up.

His movement brought the distant battlefield to a standstill. Grandfissur had been preparing to kill Ichigo and then flee into the Garganta, but now it stopped.

Wu Biao got to his feet and reached into his lab coat for a cigarette. When he went to take out his lighter, he remembered that he had crushed it. He turned to Rukia. "Hey, can I borrow a light?"

Hey?

What kind of way was that to address her? Rukia's expression darkened, but she didn't refuse. She gathered spiritual pressure at her fingertips and produced a small flame, holding it out to Wu Biao.

Wu Biao leaned forward, lit his cigarette, and took a deep drag. "This ability's damn convenient!"

"You're not thinking of..." Rukia ignored his comment and looked at Wu Biao in surprise.

Wu Biao didn't answer. He simply started walking toward the battlefield, one step at a time.

Xitang furrowed his brow. "Is he planning to interfere?"

Rukia thought so too, and irritation rose in her heart. Earlier, when she had tried to interfere, this man had acted as if he didn't care whether Ichigo died. Now she finally understood what this fight meant and knew not to interfere.

And now this man was stepping in anyway. What the hell was he thinking?

Wu Biao didn't walk quickly. He strolled toward the battlefield as if he were taking a leisurely walk in the park, unhurried and at ease, until he reached Ichigo's side.

Seeing him, Ichigo's face immediately tightened with anger. He didn't understand why Brother Biao, who had seen right through him from the start, would choose to step in now!

"Brother Biao, you..."

Wu Biao ignored him. He took a hard drag on his cigarette, then tossed away the half-smoked stub.

Next...

He lifted his leg and swung it around in one smooth motion.

Bang—

His leg blurred through the air, moving so fast that repeated sonic booms burst out around it.

The instant Wu Biao lifted his foot, Grandfissur's expression tightened. But what happened next left it frozen in place.

Wu Biao's kick... wasn't aimed at it. It slammed into the side of Ichigo's neck, who hadn't been prepared at all.

Ichigo had never expected Wu Biao to attack him. He didn't even have time to react. Pain flared along his neck, and his body shot backward, smashing through more than ten gravestones before crashing to the ground dozens of meters from the battlefield!

"Ichigo!"

Rukia cried out and rushed over. When she dragged Ichigo out from beneath the gravestone fragments, she found that he had passed out.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Rukia shouted furiously. If she hadn't known she was no match for Wu Biao, she might have charged at him already.

"You're too damn noisy. You're in the way!"

Wu Biao said it without turning around, then ignored Rukia behind him and looked at Grandfissur. "We're switching opponents. They say there's nothing more romantic than a good, solid fistfight, so let's see how romantic you are!"

Grandfissur's eyes were cold as it watched Wu Biao. Its expression didn't change, but its body had already tensed. It had no choice but to take this man seriously. Its chest still ached from that kick.

"Is this really a good idea? That kid's going to hate you when he wakes up!"

"I'll do what I damn well please!"

As soon as he spoke, Wu Biao swung his bandaged right arm. The bandages burst apart under his swelling muscles, fluttering down as strips of cloth.

A series of black markings encircled his bare right arm, giving off a sinister aura. Wu Biao tried moving his wrist and found that, apart from the lingering stabs of pain, his arm still worked.

He decided to ignore the scar that coiled around his arm like a black dragon. Even after his other injuries had fully healed, it still hadn't gone away.

He moved, and threw a punch at Grandfissur.

Grandfissur's eyes flashed with caution. It pushed its speed to the limit, vanishing from the spot in an instant and reappearing on the other side.

"So this is the speed you used to toy with Ichigo? You're pretty slow!"

Grandfissur's expression changed at once. That voice had come from behind it! But it reacted quickly, and its fur immediately hardened into rows of spikes that shot out like a porcupine protecting itself.

Behind it, Wu Biao's eyes turned blood red. He stamped down hard on the ground. A muffled pop rang out, and a pit appeared in the hard stone where his foot had struck.

The instant the muffled explosion sounded, Wu Biao's body appeared behind Grandfissur's head. Rukia and Xitang couldn't help crying out in surprise at his speed.

Grandfissur had no time to react. Wu Biao's right fist slammed into the back of its head, and the black markings on his arm seemed to light up.

The terrifying force felt to Grandfissur like being struck by a meteor that had fallen from the sky. Its mind went blank. Amid a thunderous crash, its huge body slammed into the ground.

Wu Biao glanced at his right arm in confusion. For some reason, his right hand was clearly much stronger than his left. But Brother Biao quickly cast the question aside.

Whatever... he couldn't figure it out anyway!

Grandfissur shook its dizzy head on the ground. Just as it started to get up, another wave of pain hit the back of its head.

Bang—

Wu Biao dropped down from above and planted a foot on Grandfissur's head, driving half its face into the stone. The ground around its head shattered, and cracks spread outward in every direction.

"So strong!"

Xitang and Rukia stared in shock at Wu Biao, who stood with one foot on Grandfissur's head. The terrifying Grandfissur couldn't fight back at all against this human!

Xitang swallowed, his mouth suddenly dry. "Who is he? There isn't even the slightest trace of spiritual power from him, but his strength alone is terrifying!"