Immerse, Crimson Wish!

The Reapers and Hollows alike possessed Reiatsu.

But one thing that differed was that not everyone's Reiatsu was the same color.

Reiatsu was a power that originated in the soul. Perhaps because souls differed, when the spiritual power within them burst out of the body and met the outside world, forming Reiatsu, its color varied as well.

Some people had yellow Reiatsu, while others had blue or purple.

Natsuki's Reiatsu, meanwhile, was crimson.

Crimson Reiatsu enveloped Natsuki's body. His Zanpakuto, which Azashiro Kenpachi had been about to cut in two, suddenly grew incredibly strong with Natsuki's Reiatsu supporting it, and managed to hold Azashiro Kenpachi back.

Azashiro Kenpachi did not unleash powerful Reiatsu like Natsuki.

But through Spiritual Perception, Natsuki sensed that Azashiro Kenpachi had poured all of his Reiatsu into the blade in his hand.

The two blades pressed against each other.

Azashiro Kenpachi held his sword in one hand, his expression calm.

The next instant, Natsuki sensed something strange in the Reiatsu on his blade.

A terrifying force of slashing erupted from Azashiro Kenpachi's sword.

At such close range, there was no way to withstand a slash like that.

Natsuki's body was sent flying.

As he hurtled through the air, several low voices suddenly rang out around him.

"Hadō #33: Sokatsui!"

"Hadō #33: Sokatsui!"

"..."

Multiple blasts of flame surged in from all directions at once, swallowing Natsuki as he flew through the air.

Natsuki sensed the danger.

After the Reiatsu on his Zanpakuto had gone haywire, leaving him unable to resist Azashiro Kenpachi's slash, he had been sent flying. Now he was suspended in midair, unable to move. Fortunately, he could still move his mouth.

As the multiple blasts of Sokatsui struck him, Natsuki spoke in a low voice.

"Immerse, Crimson Wish!"

The next instant, crimson Reiatsu poured out of Natsuki. The Sokatsui surrounding him froze in place, then rapidly shrank and vanished, as if something had been drained from them. Crimson butterflies emerged from the red Reiatsu and fluttered in spirals in every direction. They looked very much like Hell Butterflies.

As the crimson butterflies danced, the crimson Reiatsu spread outward as well.

In the blink of an eye, the ground all around them had turned crimson. A faint red mist hung over it, lending the scene an eerie air.

Standing amid the crimson landscape, Natsuki struggled to steady his breathing.

"Captain Azashiro, you really are despicable."

"I thought that as a Kenpachi, you'd fight me honorably in a contest of Zanjutsu. But it looks like that's not the case."

Natsuki attributed the interference with his Reiatsu as he clashed blades with Azashiro Kenpachi, along with the multiple Ghost Ways that had appeared afterward, to the ability of Azashiro Kenpachi's Zanpakuto.

He still didn't know what that ability was, but it was clearly bizarre.

Azashiro Kenpachi showed no sign of remorse. To him, the process didn't matter. As long as he achieved his goal, that was enough.

Any means were acceptable if they could defeat an enemy.

Just as he had once won despite Kuruyashiki Kenpachi being stronger.

Kuruyashiki Kenpachi had died because he'd been too concerned with the rules and too bound by restraint.

If he had chosen to use Bankai from the start, Azashiro Kenpachi would not have won so easily.

"So this is your Shikai?"

Azashiro Kenpachi asked calmly.

"I wonder if you've mastered Bankai. If you haven't, then Shikai should be your strongest power. I'll defeat you in one fell swoop."

As he spoke, Azashiro Kenpachi used Shunpo.

He lightly swung the Zanpakuto in his hand, and a terrifying slash appeared.

Golden Sword Pressure tore through the air. Though he rarely used Zanjutsu, his Sword Pressure was still formidable.

Natsuki didn't answer Azashiro Kenpachi.

After releasing his Shikai, Natsuki's Reiatsu had poured out and changed the surrounding landscape into a crimson world. His Zanpakuto had turned a deep scarlet, as if fresh blood were about to drip from it. The red blade, the crimson landscape, the scarlet Reiatsu, and the crimson butterflies that resembled Hell Butterflies all added to Natsuki's fearsome appearance.

But Natsuki himself remained unchanged.

He swung his blade to meet the attack.

Perhaps because he had released his Zanpakuto, the Sword Pressure Natsuki unleashed was no longer the usual gold, but crimson. Or rather, it wasn't really Sword Pressure at all. It was a slash much like Kurosaki Ichigo's Getsuga Tensho.

A Reishi slash released by gathering his Reiatsu into his Zanpakuto.

The two slashes, each formed from condensed Reiatsu, collided in midair.

The crimson mist around them rippled outward. Azashiro Kenpachi's figure flickered again as he widened the distance between himself and Natsuki, then raised his hand.

"Hadō #63: Raikōhō!"

Once again, he didn't chant.

Or rather, unless one had ample time to prepare, chanting a Ghost Way in the middle of a fight was foolish.

Normally, using a Ghost Way without an incantation was the most convenient option. Its power might be reduced, but it could be cast instantly.

And Azashiro Kenpachi was clearly no ordinary person. He had a special way to increase the power of his Ghost Ways.

"Hadō #63: Raikōhō!"

"Hadō #63: Raikōhō!"

"..."

After Azashiro Kenpachi unleashed a Raikoho straight ahead, more voices sounded near Natsuki. Just like the first Ghost Way, more Raikoho blasts shot out in succession and attacked him.

Natsuki swept the blade in his hand around him. The crimson mist that had been scattered by the attack gathered back together, forming a unique robe around his body. His own Reiatsu also surged, and with his powerful Reiatsu and the robe, he gained an incredibly strong defense.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

After several volleys of Raikoho had ended, Natsuki emerged from the smoke without a scratch and charged at Azashiro Kenpachi.

Azashiro Kenpachi's Zanpakuto ability was bizarre, but Natsuki's own was no less impressive.

Azashiro Kenpachi had realized that Natsuki could block both his slashes and his Ghost Ways.

After a Soul Reaper released Shikai, their Reiatsu became several times stronger. Or rather, it wasn't exactly an increase. Shikai, as the name implied, was the release of a Soul Reaper's Reiatsu. Once released, the Soul Reaper simply gained the power he should have possessed at that stage all along.

Natsuki had already been exceptionally strong in his normal state, a bona fide Third Seat who was even stronger than most. After releasing Shikai, he was stronger still.

Since neither slashes nor Ghost Ways were doing any good, Azashiro Kenpachi had no choice but to use the true ability of his Zanpakuto.

He made his decision.