A surging Reiatsu burst from Bai Zhu's body.
Red mist spread and gathered like tentacles, while the soft layer beneath his feet split apart in every direction. Bai Zhu raised his head and fixed his gaze on Big Dog ahead, his hand tightening around Asauchi's hilt.
"Bankai—Ryūmon Hōzukimaru!"
The blade trembled.
The space behind Bai Zhu was torn open by a massive blade, and a coiling black dragon extended its body from within. It spread its wings, blade edges unfolding segment by segment between the wing bones as the dragon patterns lit up.
Bai Zhu did not stop.
The enormous blade in his hand, along with the one behind him, gradually lost its substance. Charred blackness spread from the hilt to the tip, flames gathering downward along the blade's spine as the massive blade fused into Bai Zhu's back.
A black Shihakushō embroidered with coiling dragon patterns fell over his shoulders.
Flames replaced Bai Zhu's hem, and the exposed skin of his body was immediately covered in scorch marks glowing dark red.
Big Dog stopped outside Gao Mao's domain.
The eyes on its body opened one after another. Their gazes pierced through the mist, all settling on Bai Zhu.
Gao Mao looked up at the enormous dog head.
"Holy shit, holy shit, what kind of move is this? How did he suddenly get so much stronger?"
"Bankai—Zanka no Tachi!"
Both blades vanished at once.
Bai Zhu held a charred broken blade in his left hand, its body resembling a piece of deadwood. Yet the red mist near its edge parted on its own. A slender Tang sword appeared in his right hand, its blade gleaming coldly as dragon patterns slowly crawled along its spine.
He plunged the Zanka no Tachi in his left hand into the ground.
Reiatsu poured into