Misfortune About to Descend

"Heh heh heh heh... You're still a long way off from defeating your master, little one!"

Laughing with the unhinged mania of a villain, Aoto emerged from the dissipating smoke, causing Toshiro to roll his eyes in exasperation.

"Sit upon the frozen heavens, Hyōrinmaru!"

Quickly activating his Shikai to shatter the ropes with Hyōrinmaru, Toshiro launched another attack at Aoto.

"Ice Dragon Orb!"

An ice dragon coiled around Toshiro, spitting a freezing cold ice projectile toward Aoto.

While the projectile lacked the speed of a breath attack, it made up for it with sheer velocity; a moment of carelessness could easily result in being frozen solid on the spot.

"What the hell, Shiro? You've got no sportsmanship!"

Aoto was still leisurely descending! This sudden attack caught him off guard.

What happened to not using Shikai?

Rukia was equally bewildered by Toshiro's actions... Was this really an attack from a student to his master?

It looked more like something one would use against a mortal enemy!

But Toshiro didn't think such an attack could cause his master any real harm.

Sure enough... (￣~￣) Crunch!

A swallowing sound echoed out, and Aoto, wielding a spiked club, looked at Toshiro with a helpless expression.

Who on earth taught you to fight with such sneak attacks?

Oh, right, it was me? Never mind then!

Toshiro charged straight in—Hungry Ghost was better at handling energy attacks, so close-quarters combat was better suited for dealing with him right now.

However, Rukia found Aoto's Zanpakuto strange... Although she had long known from Lieutenant Kaien that the 4th Seat Hyakume's Zanpakuto possessed many forms, she hadn't heard him recite a Shikai incantation just now.

Rukia muttered to herself, "Can you activate Shikai without saying the incantation?"

Just then, Toshiro was swatted back, landing beside Rukia. The head of the ice dragon around him had shattered and was currently reforming.

Briefly recovering his breath, Toshiro looked at his master, who was now wielding Ryuki, and found the energy to explain to Rukia, "A Shinigami who has already mastered Bankai can activate their Shikai directly without needing to recite the incantation."

A Shinigami who has already mastered Bankai?

Rukia looked at the 4th Seat Hyakume, her expression one of utter disbelief.

Toshiro knew what she was surprised by, but continued, "This ability isn't particularly useful for other captains. But for Master, it represents his unpredictability in battle."

In just their brief exchange, Toshiro had already encountered the slicing of Hungry Ghost, the bombardment of Sui Oni, and the piercing of Ryuki... If he hadn't grown somewhat accustomed to it, Toshiro would have already collapsed.

To date, Toshiro had only seen eighteen of his master's Shikai variations... and there were still twelve he had never seen before.

Though it was demoralizing to admit, Toshiro always felt that even if he mastered Bankai, he still wouldn't be able to defeat his master while the latter only used Shikai.

The stronger Toshiro became, the more he could sense the unfathomable depth of his master.

And a master like this still didn't dare to challenge Zaraki Kenpachi... It was truly impossible to guess the full extent of that captain's strength.

Catching his breath, Toshiro charged forward again... and suddenly, his surroundings turned pitch black. Then, a black sphere of light emerged from Aoto's Zanpakuto, ignoring spatial distance to strike him directly.

Shakukuro combined with Black Prison...

Having lost his five senses, Toshiro immediately slashed out, creating pillars of ice all around him.

He not only shattered the confinement of Black Prison but also set up two layers of ice shielding around himself.

If these ice layers were shattered, Toshiro would be able to sense it.

But after emerging from the Black Prison, Toshiro saw Aoto radiating light from his entire body.

Oh no, it's Blue Oni!

A pale blue light immediately filled the entire Shakukuro zone, and Toshiro's ice shields couldn't fully reflect the light-based attack.

The blue light, passing through the ice without destroying it, shone heavily upon Toshiro.

The temperature rose rapidly; if not for the active protection of the ice dragon, Toshiro would have been defeated by now.

But the ice layers he kept creating were disappearing even faster due to the rapidly rising temperature... and this temperature was far beyond thirty-one degrees Celsius.

If he didn't find a way out, Toshiro would have no choice but to concede.

But at this very moment, the ultimate technique Toshiro had just perfected was finally ready.

"Ice Dragon Attraction!"

Outside the Shakukuro space, the water vapor in the sky had condensed in large quantities, and after hitting a small amount of ice crystals as condensation nuclei, it gradually turned into a dark cloud.

Then, guided by an ice pillar, a thunderbolt finally struck down!

And the target of this lightning strike was the entire Shakukuro domain.

Although the effect of Shakukuro hadn't vanished due to the change in Aoto's Zanpakuto, its defensive efficacy was far inferior to when it was a single effect.

And so, as the lightning fell, the Shakukuro domain was shattered!

With the destruction of Shakukuro, the light beams of Blue Oni dissipated outward, naturally failing to strike Toshiro any longer, allowing Toshiro's defenses to regain the upper hand and stop shattering so quickly!

Aoto saw Rukia, who had already distanced herself after being notified by Toshiro, and felt quite appreciative of Toshiro's handling of the situation.

As expected of his own disciple; he hadn't taught him in vain!

Since that was the case...

Dispelling the transformation effects of Shakukuro and Blue Oni, Aoto smiled and said to Toshiro, "It seems you've grown quite a bit stronger, Shiro! You've even mastered Lightning Attraction! It looks like I'll have to use a bit more of my strength!"

A master could not be defeated by his disciple; that would be far too embarrassing!

Having said that, under the gaze of a highly focused Toshiro, Aoto swiftly carved a deep gash into the ground with his blade.

"Erupt, Red Oni!"

Following this Shikai incantation, the gash began to glow with the color of molten lava, and shortly thereafter, actual lava erupted from it.

A single-horned demon, its entire body the color of searing red-hot iron, crawled out from within.

Grabbing a handful of lava, the Red Oni—already nearly two meters tall with only half its body emerged—flung it directly at Toshiro.

"Holy crap!"

Having not learned much good from Aoto, Toshiro exclaimed and immediately retreated... his ice layer was pierced directly by the lava, giving him no chance to react at all.

The temperature of this lava was around two thousand degrees.

Even without accounting for heat loss, Toshiro would need to expend far more ice than the opponent had lava just to cool it down completely... this was extremely disadvantageous for him!

Unless he used a high-power attack in one go to freeze the Red Oni solid in return!

But with Aoto still watching like a tiger nearby, Toshiro had no opportunity to accumulate such power.

Unless... Toshiro looked at his ice dragon.

He could have it entangle the Red Oni, then go and defeat his master alone.

Hmm... that didn't feel very reliable!

Perhaps he should just admit defeat?

Losing to one's master was nothing to be ashamed of!

At the same time, in the office area of the 13th Division.

The numerous issues arising from the expansion of the division's ranks were being handled by the newlywed couple, Shiba Kaien and Shiba Miyako.

Once Kaien mastered Bankai, they would naturally become the captain and lieutenant!

A bright future was waiting for them.

However, at that moment, Shiba Kaien saw a casualty report.

Two division members had been killed by a Hollow while performing a mission in the human world!

If it had just been two new recruits, it might have been one thing, but one of them was the 15th Seat of the 13th Division.

When it involved the loss of a seated officer, the matter became quite serious.

Yet, looking at the report, there were no traces of a Menos-class Hollow appearing.

"I'll go take a look!" Shiba Miyako said earnestly. "Kaien, you would need to deal with the spiritual pressure restriction issues if you were to go to the human world!"

"Alright!" Shiba Kaien felt that his wife's reasoning was sound, and since Shiba Miyako was no weakling, he had no reason to disagree!

"Miyako, be careful."

"I will... don't worry!"