Tricks were just tricks. Reiatsu was everything.
The next second, Baraggan vanished and appeared directly before Yamabuki Chidori. His massive axe came crashing down. Yamabuki Chidori weaved Flash Step, Flying Crane Legs, and Sound Steps together, but all three abilities ultimately depended on his own Reiatsu. The stronger his Reiatsu, the faster his Flash Step and Sound Steps.
Suddenly, Yamabuki Chidori's shoulder sank. Baraggan's Sound Steps had broken through his detection senses, and he grabbed his shoulder directly.
"Brat, the game is over!" Baraggan squeezed with his huge hand, instantly cracking the bones in Yamabuki Chidori's shoulder. Yamabuki Chidori slashed backhandedly to force Baraggan away, then hurriedly used Kido to repair his damaged body.
Through his research into Kido, Yamabuki Chidori had also discovered its weakness: recovery took time. Even the most advanced Kido could not change that. If a wounded person's life force drained faster than they could recover, Kido became useless.
Just like in the Thousand-Year Blood War, when Retsu Unohana's Kido could not save the heavily wounded Byakuya, Rukia, and Renji.
Still, repairing his shoulder now was no problem.
"Brat, are you still going to struggle? I'll give you a chance. Kneel at my feet and call me King. If I'm in a good mood, I might spare your miserable life!" Baraggan believed he had victory in hand. Yamabuki Chidori might have many tricks, but his Reiatsu itself was insufficient to pose much of a threat.
It was like a level-four mage who had learned every skill still barely scratching a level-fifteen tank in full gear.
This was not a matter of skill. The difference in their base attributes was simply too great.
As Yamabuki Chidori repaired his shoulder, he stared coldly at Baraggan. The Reiatsu within him had already reached a limit. If he took just half a step further, he would completely break through to Captain-level. Then, even if he could not defeat Baraggan, he would at least have room to maneuver.
But would Baraggan give him that chance?
"I can tell from your eyes that you're unwilling. This old man isn't some demon, so I'll give you a quick death!" Baraggan raised his giant axe, used Sound Steps to instantly appear behind Yamabuki Chidori, and swung down at him.
At that fatal moment, the Reiatsu condensed within Yamabuki Chidori finally broke through its limit!
"Fuck you! I finally have Captain-level Reiatsu! Die!"
Perfect Sanctification
The world was silver-white.
Yamabuki Chidori looked utterly lost. What was going on? Hadn't I just been fighting the King of Despair in Las Noches? How did I end up in this godforsaken place in the blink of an eye? Don't tell me the King of Despair killed me? I'm still so young! I don't want to die yet! I'm clearly the Child of Destiny!
"Idiot! You're not dead yet. I dragged you in here!"
A very pleasant girl's voice came from above him. Yamabuki Chidori looked up and saw his Blade Spirit sitting atop that giant Rubik's Cube, glaring down at him.
That scared the hell out of me! So I was dragged into my Inner World. I thought I was already dead!
"We meet again! Your skirt is still so short. Aren't you afraid of exposing yourself?" Yamabuki Chidori said in an exceedingly punchable tone, lowering his eyes to peek into her Absolute Territory as he spoke.
The Blade Spirit kicked him right in the face!
That familiar feeling!
Nice, very nice!
"You're practically about to be beaten to death, and you still have the mood to joke around? How about I let you out right now and see if you can block one axe swing from the King of Despair?" the Blade Spirit said with a haughty expression.
Yamabuki Chidori grinned. "I knew you'd have a way. Is it like last time, where you transform and fight for me?"
"Fight for you, my ass! The time is about right. Your Reiatsu has barely reached Captain-level, so it's time I told you my true name." The Blade Spirit held her head high. "It's not because I'm worried about you!"
"I get it, I get it."
"But before that, you still need to face a little test. If something comes too easily, you won't cherish it. Aren't men just that kind of creature?" The Blade Spirit looked proud.
So it was time again for the ever-popular segment of fighting myself!
"Since you put it that way... sneak attack!" Yamabuki Chidori used Sound Steps to appear behind the Blade Spirit, but she seemed to have eyes on the back of her head and easily blocked his ambush.
"Everything you know, I know too. Little tricks are useless! Come, fight me fairly and conquer me with your own strength." The Blade Spirit spoke with a haughty look.
"By the way, what happens if I lose?" Yamabuki Chidori asked.
A strange expression appeared on the Blade Spirit's delicate face. "If you lose, our positions will be exchanged. King and Horse—do you think there's much difference?"
A sense of danger washed over him!
A voice in Yamabuki Chidori's heart told him the Blade Spirit was not lying. If he lost this battle, his body might truly be taken from him.
The external threat had not yet been dealt with, and now there was internal trouble too!
"Come on! I've waited a long time for this day. This battle will decide which of us takes the lead." The smile on the Blade Spirit's face shifted from haughty to crazed. Silver Reiatsu erupted, and a terrifying pressure crashed toward him!
Yamabuki Chidori took a deep breath, cast aside all distracting thoughts, and quietly watched the girl before him.
The hardest enemy in the world to defeat was oneself.
It seemed he could not avoid this one.
"Flash Blossom!"
"Flash Blossom!"
Both of them activated Flash Step at the same time, wielding the same twin swords. A thunderous boom rang through the silver-white space, and Yamabuki Chidori discovered that he was actually weaker than a girl!
"Hadō #88: Hiryū Gekizoku Shinten Raihō!" Yamabuki Chidori fired off his most commonly used Kidō with a backhanded motion.
"Bakudo #81: Splitting Void!" The Blade Spirit calmly responded with Kidō.
Their Reiatsu collided violently!
The space around them changed from silver-white to blood-red because of their battle!
"Cero!" Yamabuki Chidori condensed a silver Cero at his fingertip and fired it instantly!
"Holy Spirit Arrow!" The Blade Spirit directly used a Quincy ability.
"That's not right! Aren't you the Blade Spirit of a Zanpakuto? In theory, you should only be able to use abilities corresponding to a Zanpakuto. Why can you use Quincy powers? That makes no sense!" Yamabuki Chidori exclaimed in shock.
"When did I ever say I could only use Soul Reaper powers?" The Blade Spirit giggled and lightly brushed her face with one small hand. A Hollow mask appeared over her face.
Hollowfication!
In an instant, her Reiatsu, speed, and destructive power all surged across the board!
Yamabuki Chidori Flash Stepped into the air, raised his hand, created five Spirit Bows, and fired them at once!
The Blade Spirit extended her left hand, gathering a Cero.
But her Cero was not silver-white. It was half red and half white, two utterly different kinds of Reiatsu twisting and intertwining together to form an extremely bizarre, chaotic power!
"Cero!"
The red-and-white distorted Cero instantly swallowed half the space, shattering all five Spirit Bows!
"What the hell! Your Reiatsu should be the same as mine, so why can't I use your skills?" Yamabuki Chidori shouted.
In theory, they had learned exactly the same skills, but she clearly knew things he did not!
That was impossible!
It was like two Yasuos facing each other in lane, and one Yasuo suddenly cast Demacian Justice! That was absurd!
"What nonsense are you talking about? These are all your abilities! You just haven't realized it yet! If you don't have any more trump cards, sorry! This round, the body is mine!" The Blade Spirit gave him a wicked smile.
"Fuck off!" Yamabuki Chidori rapidly absorbed Reishi.
If the Blade Spirit could Hollowfy, he should be able to do it too, right?
He brushed his own face lightly, and a white bone mask slowly appeared over it.
At the same time, the Reiatsu within him turned berserk.
But if he wanted to defeat the girl before him, he had to develop a new ability on the spot!
The Blade Spirit did not seem in any hurry to end the battle. Instead, she watched from the side with great interest.
"Since I've obtained Quincy powers, that means I can reach that form too, right?" Beneath his mask, Yamabuki Chidori's face twisted into a crazed expression. Hollowfication affected not only his Reiatsu, but his personality as well!
He spread his arms and devoured Reishi madly.
Before this, there had been a limit to the Reishi he could absorb. It could not exceed his total Reiatsu.
But what if... the Reishi he absorbed far exceeded the limits of his Reiatsu?
A small guess surfaced in Yamabuki Chidori's heart.
This was his own Inner World anyway. No matter how recklessly he messed around, he would not die! At worst, his body would be taken away, and he could think of a way to steal it back later!
The Blade Spirit's delicate brows furrowed, but she quickly guessed what Yamabuki Chidori intended to do. Not only did she not stop him, she watched with interest!
An enormous amount of Reishi gathered. Yamabuki Chidori felt as though his body was about to burst apart, yet he did not stop. Instead, he continued absorbing Reishi frantically.
Finally!
His body seemed unable to bear it any longer. Two horrifying wounds split open across his shoulder blades, but what sprayed from them was not blood, but two wings of light!
At that instant, Yamabuki Chidori seemed to transcend himself!
His Reiatsu, strength, reflexes, and control over Reishi all reached a new height!
"I finally unlocked a new form!" Yamabuki Chidori gripped the sword in his hand tightly. "Let's give this new form a name. How about... Perfect Sanctification."
Reverse, Silver Radiant Angel!
At that moment, Yamabuki Chidori's perception of the world reached an unprecedented height!
"Hahaha! Interesting!" The Blade Spirit laughed wildly.
The next second, Yamabuki Chidori's speed directly surpassed her detection limit. He grabbed her by the head and viciously slammed her into the ground, dragging her along it!
The Blade Spirit's calf snapped upward, kicking Yamabuki Chidori in the abdomen. At the same time, she flipped backward and landed on her feet, gathering a Cero in her left hand!
That strange red-and-blue glow gathered again, but before she could fire it, Yamabuki Chidori grabbed her hand. Their fingers interlocked, and the Cero's light instantly dispersed!
Affected by Hollowfication, Yamabuki Chidori had no tender feelings for women at all right now. Besides, his strength now surpassed hers. Holding her hand, he flung her up and smashed her into the ground like a sledgehammer!
"Cough, cough!"
And he did not forget to follow up!
The Zanpakuto in his hand slashed directly toward the Blade Spirit's forehead!
The Blade Spirit hurriedly raised her Zanpakuto to block, but the enormous force drove her straight into the ground!
When strength and speed reached their limits, all techniques became meaningless!
Yamabuki Chidori's blade came down like a raging storm, every strike carrying terrifying force. The Blade Spirit was like a flower battered by a tempest, the wounds on her body multiplying until she was finally kicked in the stomach and sent flying dozens of meters away!
"You're really going overboard!" The Blade Spirit raised a hand to wipe the blood from her face. That smear of blood did not diminish her beauty in the slightest; instead, it made her look even more bewitching. But before she could finish speaking, Yamabuki Chidori charged at her again!
"Holy Spirit Arrow!" The Blade Spirit realized she could not win in close combat, so she immediately switched to ranged attacks.
But when the Reishi Arrow flew over, it was directly absorbed by the two wings of light behind Yamabuki Chidori.
"Looks like when it comes to controlling Reishi, I'm still better now!" Yamabuki Chidori waved lightly, creating dozens of Spirit Bows in midair that fired simultaneously.
The Blade Spirit leaped and darted around under the barrage, like a rabbit being hunted!
Yamabuki Chidori once again appeared before the Blade Spirit at an undetectable speed. His Zanpakuto swung down fiercely. Their blades clashed, and the Blade Spirit was blasted far away. But before she could land, a large hand had already seized her slender neck!
"Now, shouldn't you tell me your name?"
The Blade Spirit's face turned pale as he choked her, but she was still laughing. "How ironic. You claim to be a Soul Reaper, yet the first power you awakened was Quincy power. Hahaha! I really wonder what your colleagues would think if they saw you like this."
"Your name!" Yamabuki Chidori tightened his grip, making it even harder for her to breathe.
"Hahahaha! You really do like me. Even at a time like this, you still haven't forgotten to ask my name. Since you want to know so badly, I'll tell you! But don't you dare regret it!" The Blade Spirit suddenly swung her sword at the arm Yamabuki Chidori was using to hold her neck, forcing him to retreat instantly.
Supporting herself with her sword, the Blade Spirit rose to her feet in a sorry state.
"Looking at it this way, you really are a good man! Not bad. I'm very satisfied! In that case, there's no harm in telling you my name!" The Blade Spirit held her Zanpakuto before herself and softly spoke her Shikai command. "Reverse, Silver Radiant Angel!"
The Blade Spirit's Zanpakuto was released into a silver-gray Saber. In that instant, her Reiatsu underwent a heaven-shaking transformation!
She slowly raised the Saber, her expression sickeningly adoring as she said, "Do you remember that slash? Keep your eyes open and watch carefully. You have to dodge it! Otherwise, if your head falls off, I won't put it back on for you!"
The blade fell!
Yamabuki Chidori dodged at the fastest speed of his life!
Crack!
Even so, one of the wings of light behind him was cleanly severed!
What happened?
They had been so far apart, and there had not been the slightest Reiatsu fluctuation. How had she attacked him?
Could his earlier guess have been correct? This blade's ability was...
Before you continue