Senbonzakura glowed with pink Reiatsu and transformed back into his Zanpakuto form. Byakuya reached out, his right hand grasping Senbonzakura, and charged at Koga at high speed.
Facing the aggressively charging Byakuya, Koga didn't directly confront him, instead focusing on dodging.
Whoosh!
Koga flashed and appeared in an open area, then pulled out one of the golden spears stuck in the ground.
Then, instead of continuing to evade, he actively charged at Byakuya, thrusting the spear.
Byakuya blocked with his sword.
Clang!!
Sword and spear clashed, sparks flew, power collided.
Then both figures retreated, confronting each other from a distance.
"What do you mean by this?"
Byakuya glanced at the golden spear in Koga's hand and frowned.
"You mean this? Didn't I just say? The weapon doesn't matter."
Koga swung the golden spear.
As he had just said, he didn't want to use an 'unstable' Zanpakuto like Muramasa.
But he couldn't fight Byakuya without a weapon. The golden spear was used by Yamamoto to seal Koga back then, and its quality was extraordinary. So Koga decided to temporarily use it as a weapon to fight.
"Come, head of the Kuchiki Clan. To me, the weapon doesn't matter. Using this to defeat you is more than enough!!"
Koga said proudly.
Seeing Koga's arrogant attitude from afar, Toshiro couldn't help but curl his lip, 'This guy was really putting on airs. The weapon doesn't matter? Who do you think you are, Zaraki?'
Byakuya and Koga's strength wasn't that far apart. In fact, Koga was slightly stronger.
If Koga and Muramasa were of one heart, trusting each other and able to exert their full power, Byakuya might not actually be able to take Koga down with their combined strength.
But without his Zanpakuto's help, Koga alone wanting to defeat Byakuya and Senbonzakura was undoubtedly wishful thinking.
Seeing Byakuya and Koga fighting again, unlikely to be decided quickly, Toshiro shifted his attention back to Muramasa.
"Ugh aaaaaaah!!"
Muramasa continuously let out miserable screams.
"So hot... Calm down! Koga! Koga!! Koga!!!"
Due to the loss of control of the Hollow Reiatsu within him, Muramasa's own consciousness was beginning to descend into chaos, and more and more Hollows were emerging from his body.
"Just how many Hollows did this guy Muramasa devour?"
Looking at the almost endless stream of Hollows emerging from Muramasa's body, even Toshiro felt a bit creeped out.
Although these Hollows, at most Gillian-class, could hardly threaten him, their sheer numbers were still unnerving.
"Hmm?"
Toshiro suddenly noticed that besides the Hollows emerging from Muramasa's body, more and more Hollows were gathering from all directions.
"Could this be... attracted by Muramasa's Reiatsu?"
"It seems I need to deal with these Hollows quickly. Otherwise, it might actually get troublesome."
Toshiro frowned.
Although no matter how many ordinary Hollows and Gillian appeared, they could hardly threaten Toshiro, it would be troublesome if they ran off elsewhere. Remember, this was the outskirts of Karakura Town, not far from where ordinary humans lived.
"Roar! Roar! Roar!"
Roars sounded. Before Toshiro could act, the numerous Gillian started attacking him.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Cero after Cero was fired at Toshiro.
However, seeing this, Toshiro didn't bother to block or dodge.
A Gillian-class Cero couldn't possibly threaten Toshiro.
Crack, crack, crack...
The Ceros couldn't even get within one meter of Toshiro. They were frozen by the Reiatsu emanating from his body, turning into red ice pillars, then falling to the ground and shattering.
But despite their attacks being ineffective, these low-intelligence Gillian didn't stop. They began charging another Cero.
"Hmph, annoying pests."
Toshiro frowned and snorted.
Seeing these Hollows endlessly and overconfidently attacking him, Toshiro felt disgusted. He hesitated no longer and began to act.
"Ice Aurora!"
Toshiro held his sword reversed, tip pointing down. A dazzling ice-blue radiance emanated from his Zanpakuto, sweeping in all directions like a wave. Wherever it passed, whether ordinary Hollows, strong Hollows, Gillian, or flowers, trees, mountains, rivers, and lakes, everything was instantly frozen.
The countless Hollows covering the mountains and fields were none spared, all frozen solid.
Of course, [Ice Aurora] might sound impressive, but it was simply diffusing his ice power through his Zanpakuto to freeze enemies over a large area.
It was a large-scale attack skill. Its single-target attack power wasn't that strong. It was fine for dealing with 'weak' Hollows like Gillian, but it wouldn't work well against stronger Adjuchas and Vasto Lordes.
But making Toshiro specifically release his Zanpakuto just to deal with a bunch of Gillian and lesser Hollows would be too degrading.
"Ugh aaaaaaah—!!!"
Muramasa's figure, floating in the sky, continuously screamed in agony. Although Toshiro's attack had also targeted targets in the air, Muramasa, now out of control, had erupted Reiatsu far exceeding ordinary Captain-class. Toshiro's attack hadn't caused him much damage, so he was still 'bouncing around' in mid-air.
Just as Toshiro shifted his attention back to Muramasa in the sky, the out-of-control, rampaging Muramasa erupted even more powerful Reiatsu. Then his figure suddenly vanished, and where he had been, a huge 'black hole' appeared.
Moreover, the black hole emitted powerful suction. The Hollows frozen into ice sculptures by Toshiro's ice power began to lift off the ground, seemingly about to be sucked into the black hole.
Seeing this, Toshiro frowned. Although he didn't know what would happen, letting these Hollows be sucked into the black hole definitely wouldn't be good.
So Toshiro acted.
Snap!
Toshiro snapped his fingers.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The frozen Hollow ice sculptures shattered, turning into countless fine ice particles, fluttering down like countless crystalline snowflakes, disappearing into the world.
…
Boom!
After another powerful collision, Byakuya and Koga crossed paths, standing back-to-back dozens of paces apart.
Suddenly, Byakuya's figure stumbled, about to fall. Senbonzakura in his hand transformed back into human form and quickly caught him.
Spurt!!
Blood sprayed. A huge wound appeared on Kuchiki Koga.
Clang!
Severely injured, his figure swaying and about to fall, Koga quickly used the golden spear in his hand to stabilize himself.
Gasping, Koga with difficulty spoke: "It's... it's not over yet... I still have..."
"Come, Muramasa... What's wrong, Muramasa? Hah... hah... Why won't you respond, Muramasa? I'm calling you! Muramasa..."
Thud!
His left hand, reaching out towards the distant sky, wanting Muramasa to save him, suddenly slipped. His right hand, holding the golden spear, powerlessly released its grip. Then, with a thud, he fell to the ground, unmoving.
Kuchiki Koga, after fighting Byakuya, died from his wounds!