Chapter 62
The sound of clashing swords was pleasant to the ear.
The feeling of boiling blood remained unchanged.
The wounds on his body brought an even greater sense of stimulation.
But…
Only he himself was injured.
The opponent was like an experienced master butcher, skillfully suppressing his prey, slowly dismembering it, fully enjoying the pleasure of doing a job he loved.
This kind of battle wasn't a fight at all.
Rather… it was a one-sided massacre.
"I say, it's about time you used your full strength, isn't it?"
During a lull in their sword-fighting, Hollow White suddenly spoke.
"You're right. It's rare to meet such a powerful opponent. I can't fall first."
Kenpachi grinned ferociously, pulling off his eye patch with his free left hand.
The Reiatsu that had been swallowed and suppressed was fully released.
The surging golden torrent was far more exaggerated than at the beginning, not just a matter of one or two times, but more like it had awakened from sleep.
The surrounding buildings were crushed by the Reiatsu torrent, even affecting the weather.
But even so.
Hollow White's expression remained unchanged.
No, there was a change.
He sighed with a bored expression on his face.
"You're really a guy who doesn't listen to reason, even more hopelessly stupid than that idiot Ichigo… Uh, never mind, calm down, you idiot, don't cause trouble at a time like this! I won't say it again…"
It was as if he had been suddenly kicked in the butt.
Hollow White's face stiffened, his eyes burning with anger.
Because he couldn't get revenge, he vented this anger on Kenpachi in front of him.
"Take this…!"
Kenpachi felt he was giving his all, fully exhilarated. In this situation, he excitedly exerted force, pushing back Hollow White, then swung his arm like a scythe, wielding his broken blade.
The result…
He swung at air.
His long sword was missing half a section.
He didn't know when it had fallen.
He could only roughly guess from Hollow White's raised sword that it was an upward slash, intercepting and cutting off his blade beforehand.
"?!"
This was the first time Kenpachi had encountered such a situation.
His trembling, excited expression involuntarily froze.
Rip!
Accompanied by a sound like tearing cloth.
Blood splattered.
Hollow White cut a gash from Kenpachi's shoulder blade straight down to his abdomen.
Then he spun around and delivered a powerful kick to his abdomen.
Blood bloomed in the air, and Kenpachi flew dozens of meters like a cannonball, crashing into a wall.
Despite such a blow, Kenpachi had not lost consciousness.
He struggled out of the embedded wall, gasping for breath, staring blankly at the broken sword in his hand.
All his bells had fallen off, his hair matted with sweat and blood, draped over his shoulders.
Coupled with his bruised and battered body and the broken sword in his hand.
It seemed the victor had already been decided.
But… why so quickly?
The opponent wasn't even injured.
Was the power gap really that immense?
If that were truly the case, then why didn't he feel anything at all?
Was he not fighting an opponent of equal strength?
"Since you chose to be a mount, don't expect to rely on yourself and think like a king."
Hollow White slowly walked over.
"…What do you mean?"
Kenpachi's voice was hoarse.
"Let me ask you, what is the difference between a human and a horse?"
Hollow White stopped ten meters away from him, grinning strangely.
"I'm not talking about physical differences, but I want to know… why can one become a king and dominate everything, while the other can only be ridden as a mount?"
"Where exactly does their difference lie?"
"Is it thinking ability? Is it rationality? Is it intelligence? Or… pure power?"
"None of those. It's instinct."
"!?"
Kenpachi's eyes widened slightly, speechless and stunned.
Hollow White stretched out his hand, pointing at him, his eyes filled with disdain.
"So-called instinct is the ruthless pursuit of power, the merciless crushing of enemies, the infinite desire for struggle, the most primitive killing reaction etched within us!"
"Do you know why you can't hurt me?"
"Because you unconsciously suppress your own power, judging the opponent's strength with the first blow, and then adjusting to the appropriate level."
"And I deliberately suppress my power to make you misjudge, then suddenly increase my power to catch you off guard."
"When you adapt, I increase it again, so it's always you who gets hurt, not me."
"You're obsessed with fighting, but you ignore the essence of fighting."
"You're a king who has willingly fallen."
"It's no longer a matter of a sheathed sword; you've deliberately thrown away your sword, afraid of killing your opponent, and then come to fight bare-handed."
"You want to cross swords with me empty-handed? Isn't that seeking death?"
"But I know you don't want to die… If you die, you can't continue fighting, so you will still exert your fighting instinct within your cognitive limits, trying your best to defeat your opponent."
"However… how could a self-degrading king like you, with half-baked instincts, a nobody, possibly defeat a true mount?"
"So… call it out."
"Call out your mount, call out your Zanpakuto."
"Only then will you be qualified to fight me."
Hollow White's arrogant words were like a steel knife carving open Kenpachi's chest, pulling out his heart and forcibly placing it before him, forcing him to see it clearly.
—Along with that… the bloody reality forgotten from the past.
"Zanpakuto…"
Kenpachi didn't understand what the other person was saying. Too much blood loss caused his brain to feel a little dizzy, but there was one thing he remembered.
Power, he needed power to continue fighting.
To continue… fighting his opponent!
I want to keep fighting.
I want to see the full strength of this person in front of me.
So, whatever it takes.
Even if it's only a broken half, just bring it over first!
"Oooooooh—!"
"Has it come?"
Hollow White narrowed his eyes, looking at Kenpachi, who was roaring with his head tilted back.
He was so injured, but these injuries seemed to become an outlet for his power, overflowing with terrifying Reiatsu.
The broken sword in Kenpachi's hand melted and deformed due to the high-density Reiatsu.
It became exceptionally huge.
As if a beast had appeared out of thin air.
"Devour… Nozarashi!"
Kenpachi squeezed out his remaining stamina, leaping bravely. Ragged like a dying beast struggling to fight back, the giant blade in his hand had a powerful visual impact, making one think of a guillotine.
As he descended from the sky, swinging his arm, the scale of the Reiatsu he carried dramatically increased his oppressive presence, as if a guillotine the size of a mountain was falling!
Seeing this, Hollow White's lips curved slightly.
He had a feeling his plan had succeeded.
His pitch-black sclera suddenly receded, and his pupils returned to normal.
His entire demeanor also changed greatly.
Ichigo stared at that terrifying figure, his great sword transforming into a black bow, and with a raised hand, he fired an arrow.
But this arrow, nothing shot out.
Instead, an extremely intense flash of light erupted.
Kenpachi, illuminated by the light, felt his whole body burning, an illusion of being immersed in magma, but even more deadly was that he couldn't see anything.
The powerful blow was largely negated.
Kenpachi was unwilling, relying on instinct to find his opponent's position.
Then he felt arrows constantly hitting him.
No…
It should be said that blades were piercing his body.
That feeling, he was all too familiar with it.
"Oooooooh!"
Kenpachi roared, closing the distance at the cost of more injuries.
Then he landed a hit.
"…Now we're even. Let's keep fighting…"
Nozarashi was taller than a man; such a blow, striking the main torso, indeed caused injuries equivalent to all the accumulated injuries until now.
However, the wound on Ichigo's chest, which should have been severely damaged, healed at an extremely fast rate.
In just a few seconds, only the tear in his Shinigami robes remained.
Not only that.
Ichigo calmly aimed his black bow at Kenpachi, who had left himself open, at this close range.
"Getsuga… Tensho."
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