Kisuke Urahara pointed the tip of his blade diagonally toward the ground, lowering the brim of his hat with his left hand as a dangerous smile curled on his lips.
"Release it, Mr. Asuka."
"Fight me in your strongest form. If you can't even pass this hurdle, then treat your quest to find Miss Kocho as nothing more than a sweet dream."
Asuka's pupils contracted sharply.
He could tell that Kisuke Urahara was not joking.
The oppressive aura exuded by this usually frivolous, shady merchant far surpassed that of the Menos they faced today.
However, this pressure did not make him back down. Instead, it ignited the deeply ingrained, almost obsessive fighting spirit within his bones.
"...I understand."
Asuka took a deep breath.
He unslung the Zanpakuto from his back and slowly drew it in front of Kisuke Urahara.
Nugata's blade gleamed as if brand new, though it now bore a few extra black markings.
It seemed that using it to slice open the Gillian's throat had given this guy another satisfying meal.
"Are you there?"
Asuka pressed his hand against the blade, feeling the Zanpakuto Spirit's pulsation.
Heh...
Asuka couldn't help but chuckle softly, his eyes brimming with confidence.
"Manager Urahara, be careful."
At that moment, the surrounding air seemed to sense his will, surging madly toward him.
Asuka closed his eyes, earnestly feeling the hum of his Zanpakuto. His fingers curled into a claw and tapped against the blade—
"Chew and swallow! Nugata!"
A violent burst of Spiritual Pressure erupted with him at the center.
The Zanpakuto in his hand grew several inches longer, its entirety covered in magma-like patterns. Gloomy black and red streams of light coiled around the edge, containing an unsettlingly ferocious Spiritual Pressure.
"Is this... Fifth-class, no, Fourth-class Spiritual Power?"
Yoruichi had already retreated to a high point on the rock wall. She crouched on a boulder, watching the standoff in the arena with great interest.
She keenly sensed the shift in Asuka's spiritual power and found it somewhat unbelievable.
"...What a strange feeling. His aura is completely different from before he released his Zanpakuto."
Throughout the long history of the Soul Society, there circulated a concept known as [Spiritual Power].
To establish a clear standard for measuring spiritual power, someone divided the concentration of Spiritual Pressure within a Spiritual Body into twenty classes.
An ordinary Soul Reaper squad member possessed Twentieth-class Spiritual Power. Anyone below that lacked the ability to even become a regular member.
Vice Captain-level Soul Reapers were at the Fourth or Fifth-class, while Captains were Third-class and above.
Although Spiritual Power could not intuitively represent a person's true combat prowess due to varying degrees of Zanpakuto development, different fighting styles, and various objective factors.
However, it had also been said that a battle between Soul Reapers was a battle of Spiritual Pressure.
A stronger Spiritual Power naturally granted a massive advantage.
Kisuke Urahara studied the boy before him with a solemn expression, not at all surprised by the Fourth-class Spiritual Power.
Isshin had told him that when Asuka's Spiritual Pressure went out of control, it was at least on the verge of breaking through to Third-class Spiritual Power...
"Oh? So this is your Zanpakuto? It has quite an imposing aura. Is it a direct attack type?" Urahara raised Benihime, earnestly guarding against Asuka's movements.
"Then, let us begin, Mr. Asuka. If you cannot touch the hem of my clothes within ten moves, you will obediently go back to delivering goods for me tomorrow."
"Pardon my offense."
In the next second, Asuka's figure completely vanished from his spot.
Bang!!
The ground where he had just been standing completely shattered from the instantaneous explosive force.
A streak of light, nearly imperceptible to the naked eye, shot straight for Kisuke Urahara's throat, accompanied by the crackle of thunder.
"Thunderclap and Flash・Swift Shadow!!"
'So fast!' Yoruichi couldn't help but praise inwardly.
This speed had already surpassed the Shunpo of an ordinary Soul Reaper.
It was an extreme speed generated by concentrating Spiritual Pressure in the feet and using a special Breathing Style to instantaneously ignite the muscles and Reishi.
Kisuke Urahara's eyelids twitched slightly. He did not use Shunpo to dodge; instead, he elegantly swung his Zanpakuto.
"Sing, Benihime!"
A red shield of light instantly expanded in front of Urahara.
Clang!!
Asuka's long blade crashed fiercely against the light shield formed by Benihime!
Lightning and red light intertwined, the resulting shockwave shattering all the surrounding rubble!
Asuka did not pause after his strike was blocked. His body twisted eerily in midair in a physics-defying posture, and the lightning coating his blade instantly transformed into a searing red.
"Shiranui!!"
The power behind his swing underwent a qualitative change at this moment, instantly shifting from a piercing thrust to a horizontal slash.
This sword stance, capable of suddenly igniting Reishi, astonished even Kisuke Urahara.
"A lightning and fire sword? Could it be an elemental-type Zanpakuto?"
With a crack, a faint fissure actually appeared on Urahara's Blood Mist Shield.
Kisuke Urahara leaped back nimbly, dodging the follow-up slash, and quickly analyzed Asuka's sword form. "I see. To think you can forcibly alter the flow rate of Reishi by changing the rhythm of your breathing... So there's such an application..."
"Your ideas are bold, and your offense is fierce, but your Spiritual Pressure defense is completely blank."
Before Asuka could react, Benihime in Urahara's hand had already traced an eerie arc.
"If we're playing with fire, I happen to know a thing or two myself."
"Hado #31・Shakkaho!"
Several red beams of Reishi shot out along the trajectory of Urahara's swing, howling toward Asuka.
This was a common mid-level Kido that could ignite and gather Reishi in the atmosphere into a cluster, creating an explosive effect.
To Asuka, whose knowledge of Kido was completely blank, it was no different from magic.
Unable to leverage his momentum in midair, he was about to be hit.
"Howl, Nugata!"
He hadn't used this move in so long that he actually missed it a little.
Asuka let out a low growl and cleaved heavily with Nugata, a staggering amount of Spiritual Pressure surging from the blade.
Roar!!
A pack of roaring Spiritual Pressure hounds lunged out fiercely, biting directly into the Shakkaho!
Boom—!!
The Kido spells detonated in midair, failing to get even the slightest bit close to Asuka.
Not only that, but the hounds were not entirely blown apart by the explosion.
The wild dogs, yet to have a full meal, glared fiercely at Kisuke Urahara and pounced toward him over one another, even biting and injuring many of their own companions along the way out of sheer excitement.
"Ah? Could it be a biological type?" Kisuke Urahara narrowed his eyes slightly. "This kid's combat abilities are truly a bizarre mess."
Facing the howling pack of dogs, he raised his Zanpakuto and quickly drew a circle in the air:
"Spurn, Benihime—"
Upon crashing into Kisuke Urahara's red blade circle, the Spiritual Pressure hounds actually dissolved rapidly, turning into pure Reishi fragments.
This caused Asuka, who was used to seeing his enemies flee in a panic while being chased by his hounds, to freeze in surprise.
"Sorry about that, little Asuka. Your Zanpakuto isn't the only one with a lot of tricks." Urahara smiled and adjusted his hat.
He was able to analyze the Reishi composition of his opponent's attack in advance, then neutralize and cancel it out using power of the exact same nature.
This required incredibly fast reaction speed and analytical skills; otherwise, it would be impossible to pull off to this extent in the middle of a battle.
Of course, this was also because Asuka's application of this move was still at the level of shouting a command and simply unleashing a Spiritual Pressure slash. It didn't involve any change in nature, making it very easy to see through.
Asuka flipped in midair and landed steadily.
Although he still looked calm and aloof on the surface, he was actually quite shocked inwardly.
'Is this a battle between Soul Reapers?'
In the past, relying on his immense Spiritual Pressure and the power of his Zanpakuto, he had never feared even Muzan, the Demon King.
But now, after just a brief exchange, his moves had been seen through, which made him somewhat uneasy.
'If even this shady merchant is this strong... wouldn't the Soul Reapers in the Soul Society be even stronger?'
"Mr. Urahara, you're right."
Asuka suddenly relaxed his furrowed brows and raised Nugata horizontally. "I truly don't understand what a Zanpakuto is yet, nor what a battle between Soul Reapers entails..."
Nugata's blade rapidly heated up, and a bizarre pattern formed from condensed Reishi spread from his temple, gradually covering half of his face.
Both Urahara and Yoruichi could feel it.
When this pattern appeared, his Spiritual Power loosened once more, and his aura began to climb!
'This kid still has power to spare?'
"This might be my strongest strike. If even this can't hurt you..."
Asuka's right eye was gradually swallowed by the spreading black of the pattern, turning into pure pitch-black.
"...Roar!!"
'Not good!' Urahara suddenly felt a wave of unease.
On Asuka's Zanpakuto, the black and red turbulent currents condensed into a single point, erupting with an unprecedented, terrifying coercion!
"—Nugata!!"
"Blood Mist Shield!!"
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