Everyone focused their eyes on the crater. A Soul Reaper had appeared out of nowhere, and his violent spiritual pressure swept away all the smoke!
The newcomer looked at Yoruichi and the young lady, then grinned. "I'm really in luck. Both targets showed up at once..."
"Bang! Bang!"
Ichiro raised his hand and fired twice. This level of spiritual pressure was certainly strong, but it was nowhere near Kirinji Tenjiro's. Ichiro could recover from it without much trouble.
The sound of Ichiro's gunshots seemed to be a signal. The moment they rang out, Yoruichi, Urahara, and the Kuchiki Clan's three guards charged forward!
However, the very thing Ichiro had feared happened. A flash of blade-light, and the bullets coming from the front and side were knocked aside. The enemy's spiritual pressure was only at vice-captain level, yet he could already ignore Ichiro's bullets. Ichiro seriously doubted whether even his strongest bullets would have any effect if they hit him directly...
Still, Ichiro didn't give up shooting. If the enemy had to cut the bullets apart, then at least he couldn't ignore them. He could only deflect them without taking damage.
So Ichiro kept firing, creating an opening for Urahara and the others to attack.
Unfortunately, the plan was far too simple. The enemy saw through it in an instant—or it wasn't even a matter of seeing through it. He blocked Yoruichi and the others' attacks with a few quick moves, then shot toward Ichiro!
"Whoosh!"
The moment the enemy's face appeared right in front of him, Ichiro's pupils shrank!
"Ichiro!" x 2
At this life-or-death moment, a crimson fireball suddenly appeared in front of Ichiro and exploded!
"Boom!"
Taking advantage of the opening, Ichiro instantly retreated. When he appeared again, a red band of light made up of densely packed characters was wrapped around him.
The sudden attack left the enemy standing dazed. He was certain that the spell just now had been Red Fire Cannon, and that it had been fully chanted! It hadn't been Incantation Abandonment followed by an increase in power to reach the same level. There was a huge difference between the two.
But why hadn't he heard the incantation?
He was very confident in his abilities. If someone had really been chanting, there was no way he wouldn't have heard them. And even if he somehow hadn't, where was the projectile's trajectory?
He began to suspect that a powerful expert was helping them from the shadows and carefully surveyed his surroundings.
But just then, Ichiro began chanting in the distance.
"Ruler! Mask of flesh and blood, all creation, soaring wings, the thing crowned with the name of humanity! Seething heat and chaos, rolling south across the sea, march forth! Hadō #31, Red Fire Cannon!"
"..."
"..."
"???"
Everyone stared at Ichiro, their faces full of confusion. He'd finished the incantation, but where was the Hado?
"Tch. All bluff, huh? Let's see how long you can keep it up!" the enemy spat. He immediately charged at Yoruichi, still convinced that a Kido expert was helping them from the shadows. He intended to force the hidden expert to reveal himself.
What he failed to notice was that the band of light around Ichiro had quietly changed shape. Urahara, however, noticed. The moment he saw the red band of light change, he understood what Ichiro meant and immediately charged at the enemy. On the way, he released his Zanpakuto and put on a show of making wide, forceful attacks as if he had someone protecting him, reinforcing the enemy's suspicions.
Delayed Incantation was another Kido technique Ichiro had developed. Unlike the Seireitei's existing post-incantation technique, Delayed Incantation didn't strengthen Incantation Abandonment. Instead, it used twice the Reiryoku of a complete incantation to delay the words themselves, allowing the Kido to be cast instantly. It was similar to taking out a loan. The band of light that had surrounded Ichiro earlier was something akin to Vow Binding.
Although the technique consumed twice the Reiryoku, it was worth it, because it reduced the casting time to an instant!
Even High-Speed Incantation took at least 0.8 seconds, a huge difference. The only problem was that Vow Binding drew a little too much attention, so Ichiro and Urahara had researched several Kido with similar effects for use in their plans.
And the results were excellent: they had successfully diverted some of the enemy's attention toward an imaginary powerhouse.
But that alone wouldn't win them the fight...
Ichiro took off his glasses and fixed his gaze on the enemy fighting Urahara and the others. The emotion in his eyes slowly faded...
Setting One: Do not harm classmates or leave them injured, crippled, or dead.
Setting Two: Do not endanger your own life.
With these two settings as the conditions, kill the enemy!
Absolute Reason, activated!
"Crack!"
Ichiro, with every muscle in his body released to its full potential, cratered the ground with a single step and shot toward the enemy like an arrow, trailing a cloud of blood!
"Zzzzt!"
Mid-charge, sparks flashed as Ichiro's right forearm underwent Reishi Iron Transformation.
"Thud! Crack!"
"Ugh!"
"Splurt!!"
Three successive sounds stunned everyone. The first was the sound of the enemy's left forearm and breastbone breaking under Ichiro's fist. The second was the enemy spitting blood!
But the third sound was what shocked everyone most...
It was the sound of Ichiro's body tearing apart!
Yes, tearing apart!
In the state of Absolute Reason, the brain's subconscious control over the muscles was directly removed, allowing every muscle to exert its full strength!
Scientific calculations showed that if a person could unleash all their normal muscle strength, they could exert roughly twenty-five tons of force! That meant one punch could knock over five or six elephants!
Of course, that was only in theory. In practice, it was impossible to engage all the muscles in the body at once. Even so, the force was still immense—and now that Ichiro was a Soul Reaper, his muscles were even more powerful!
Naturally, the side effects were even worse. Eighty percent of the muscles in his body had torn, and thirty percent of his bones had shattered! Blood sprayed everywhere like a fountain!
It was a completely suicidal attack!
If not for Alchemy...
A flash of lightning crackled, and Ichiro's body recovered almost completely. Only Reishi Alchemy could accomplish this. In the real world, the human body's composition was too complex, and one could only use a Philosopher's Stone as a substitute. Otherwise, Body Transmutation couldn't be performed more than a few times.
But the Soul Society was different. Everything here was made of Reishi, and Ichiro, in his state of Absolute Reason, also possessed the ability to perform such precise transmutations!
So after pausing for only an instant, Ichiro charged again!
Urahara and the other two had also recovered from their brief shock. They exchanged a glance and charged in once more!
This time, the enemy didn't dare arrogantly take Ichiro's attacks head-on. Under the assault of all four, he struggled to keep up.
"Damn it!" A fierce glint flashed in the enemy's eyes. He could no longer worry about the person hiding in the shadows. If this kept up, he'd lose even without that person making a move!
He gripped his sword in one hand, swung it with all his strength, and shouted:
"Howl, Howling Gale!"
"Whoosh!"
A violent gale swept in, blasting Ichiro and the others away. They slammed hard into the Academy's wall, making its already battered surface shudder once more.
"Hah... Hah... I have to admit, I underestimated you. But this is the end!"
With that, a blade of wind shot toward Ichiro and the guard!
"Splurt!"
A quick note: the next chapter will include a secondary setting—that a Zanpakuto's Shikai increases spiritual pressure. I remember seeing this somewhere before, but I looked around and couldn't find an official source that said anything similar. Still, it's central to what comes later, so I thought I'd mention it. Does anyone else remember this? I remember it quite clearly, but maybe it was the translation team's fault, since the discs I bought back then were bootlegs, hahaha.
Ahem... That's all. Starting today, there'll be two updates a day.
Lastly, thanks to Luan Yunwu and Drifting Sail for the monthly tickets!
Before you continue