"A Cero? At this close range?!" Startled, Isshin Shiba jerked his head to the side.
A purple beam grazed his cheek and struck a distant apartment building.
With a deafening roar, the middle section of the entire building was instantly obliterated.
Seizing the moment Isshin dodged the Cero, one of the enemy's blades thrust silently toward his abdomen.
"Tearing Sky!!"
A diagonal upward slash struck precisely against the side of White Hollow's blade.
With an ear-piercing crack, Asuka tore through the air, forcefully using his ultimate sword technique to deflect Hollow's lethal strike by a few inches.
The blade sliced through Isshin's clothes, drawing a string of blood droplets, but ultimately failed to inflict a severe wound.
"Thanks, Asuka! But you need to run!"
Isshin roared, following up with a kick to Hollow's chest, using the recoil to create distance between them.
"What a pain. Looks like I have to get serious."
He held his Zanpakuto horizontally with one hand, lightly running the two fingers of his left hand along the blade.
At that moment, the chaotic curtain of rain seemed to be forcibly frozen by a scorching power.
"Burn, Engetsu!!"
As the release command fell, a blazing Spiritual Pressure skyrocketed.
The freezing rain was instantly vaporized, sending up massive plumes of white mist.
Isshin's Zanpakuto was enveloped in intense, roaring flames.
These flames were no mere illusion; they were truly formed by the convergence of Reishi, generating a temperature so high it could warp space itself.
Feeling the wave of heat, Asuka stepped back slightly.
'So this is... someone else's Zanpakuto.'
He stood at the edge of the white mist, feeling the intense heat that seemed capable of scorching his very soul.
'So strong.'
This was Asuka's heartfelt realization.
If the sword techniques of the Demon Slayer Corps were humanity's desperate imitation of nature's wrath, then this Soul Reaper's Shikai was the true mastery of nature's mighty power.
'Is this the strength of a Soul Reaper Captain?' He suddenly felt a surge of frustration.
'That man must be a Captain too. I wonder if he's as strong as Isshin Shiba right here.'
Isshin scoffed coldly and lunged forward.
Asuka could sense that he was also using some method of gathering Spiritual Pressure beneath his feet, instantly boosting his speed to a dimension Asuka could barely track. It was just far more refined than Asuka's own technique.
A massive, fan-shaped wave of fire swept across the street, rushing straight toward the murderous humanoid Hollow.
It tried to use its eerie speed to dodge, but Isshin's combat experience was incredibly vast; the moment he swung his blade, he had already sealed off all of its escape routes.
Bang!
The flames and the black shadow collided head-on.
The pitch-black blade on its left arm even let out a piercing cracking sound under the intense heat released by Engetsu.
The tide of battle turned in that instant.
Isshin's flames not only suppressed the Hollow's speed but also continuously disintegrated its tough black shell.
"There's no way a monster like you could swagger around the World of the Living undetected! Who covered your tracks?!"
"Roar!!"
The monster had no intention—or perhaps no ability—to answer Isshin's interrogation, merely roaring as it relentlessly launched attacks at him.
"Not going to talk? Fine. Whether you speak or not, today I'm going to—"
The flames Isshin had been projecting began to frantically condense at the tip of his blade. As long as this strike landed, the enemy would undoubtedly die!
However.
Right in the middle of his sentence.
Behind Isshin, the space seemed to form an extremely faint, unnatural ripple.
A very thin, incredibly faint light flashed through that ripple.
Squelch—
The sound of a blade piercing flesh seemed so insignificant amidst the noisy downpour.
But Isshin's body trembled violently.
The dazzling flames condensed at the tip of his blade instantly extinguished.
"...Ugh, cough!"
A mouthful of blood spewed from Isshin's lips, dyeing the lingering white mist before him red as his entire body plummeted rapidly!
Boom!!
He crashed onto the roof of a building, instantly kicking up a cloud of dust, and struggled to prop himself up.
A bone-deep gash had appeared on his back.
The cut ran diagonally across his right shoulder, precisely severing the most vital Spirit Ribbon node within a Soul Reaper's body.
"Damn it, who was that?!" Isshin stumbled forward two steps, casting an uneasy gaze at his surroundings. "That was a Zanpakuto attack! Show yourself!!"
Asuka had also reacted instinctively the moment Isshin was attacked—
"Fierce Wind・Tengu Wind!!"
He spun around sharply, his unreleased Zanpakuto carving a mournful arc as it swept toward the empty space where Isshin had just been standing.
The wind blade sliced through the curtain of rain, but aside from the freezing air and water droplets, he hit absolutely nothing.
Asuka immediately spread out his unstable Spiritual Pressure, searching everywhere for any suspicious traces.
Telephone poles, rooftops, puddles, white mist...
There was nothing.
The rain continued to pour, and the street was dead silent.
Aside from Asuka, Isshin, and the humanoid Hollow exuding an even more terrifying aura.
There was no sign of a third person on this street in Karakura Town.
'What the hell.'
He closed the distance with a few leaps, landing beside Isshin, and asked with concern, "How are you holding up?!"
"Not great... The wound is deep, and my Spiritual Pressure is starting to destabilize."
Isshin didn't try to hide it. Sweat and rain mixed as they rolled down his face, and he solemnly assessed the energy within his body.
"In this state, I can't use Bankai... This is bad."
As a veteran Soul Reaper Captain, he knew exactly what this meant.
The person who attacked was fast and ruthless, even capable of blocking his Spiritual Pressure perception...
Their strength had likely reached a terrifying level.
"Gah—!"
The humanoid Hollow let out an excited shriek and lunged in for the kill.
Although it was also injured, the weakened state of Isshin Shiba excited it far more.
"Rising Dust Storm!"
Asuka gritted his teeth, taking a step sideways to block in front of Isshin.
The wind and rain in the atmosphere began to surge under the flow of his sword form, actually whipping up a howling hurricane born from the flow of Reishi!
Boom—Clang, clang, clang!!
Sparks flew in all directions.
The humanoid Hollow's twin blades were incredibly ferocious, not only shattering the wind vortex but also continuously hacking against Asuka's rusted sword, which looked like it could snap at any moment!
A mist of blood instantly burst from Asuka's arm.
Due to the massive gap in Spiritual Pressure, the mere impact of the clash caused the blood vessels in his arm to rupture, leaving half of his body completely numb.
For him, this kind of battle was like dancing on the edge of a blade.
A single moment of carelessness would result in him being torn to pieces.
"Damn it, don't underestimate me!"
As a Captain, being saved by a member of another squad who wasn't even a Seated Officer was a bit too much for Isshin's pride to bear.
He forcefully swiped at his wound, gathered a handful of blood into his mouth, and spat it onto Engetsu's blade.
"Asuka, move!!"
At the critical moment when the black blade was already pressing against Asuka's shoulder, a massive wave of blazing flames ignited once more, forcefully repelling its suppression!
Not only that, but he followed up with a sweeping side slash, striking toward the monster's body with even greater momentum!
The burning flames drew a scorching red streak through the rain, cleanly severing the pitch-black left arm right at the shoulder!
"Gyaaaaah!!" Hollow let out an agonizing scream.
Losing a limb made it even more frenzied. It blocked Isshin's blade with its remaining black sword, its entire body radiating a destructive purple light.
"Not good! It's going to fire a Cero! Dodge!"
Isshin felt that too many twists had occurred tonight; with his straightforward way of processing information, it was truly becoming too much to handle.
Whoosh!!
An arrow of Reishi, radiating a dazzling blue light, pierced through the pitch-black curtain of rain.
Carrying a sacred and pure aura, it accurately struck the monster's bony horn just as it was about to release the Cero.
Boom!!
A massive explosion detonated behind the two of them.
The originally lethal Cero, severely deflected by the interference of the blue light, grazed Isshin's shoulder and blasted into the building behind them.
"Who's there?"
Both Asuka and Isshin were stunned.
They turned their heads, looking in the direction the arrow had come from.
In the middle of the torrential rain-swept street of Karakura Town, a figure had silently appeared.
It was a young girl.
She was wearing a school uniform, her short orange hair completely soaked, and her bright eyes were locked dead onto the monster ahead.
In her hands, she held a massive bow formed of blue Reishi, exuding an astonishingly oppressive aura.
"You two over there, can you still move?"
Her voice was steady, though she didn't sound very old.
Yet, that unflappable presence in the face of danger actually gave Asuka a faint, inexplicable sense of reassurance.