Chapter 160: Hirako Joins the Battle, The Terrifying Ability of Sakanade
"Shinji? Why are you here? Didn't you take Lisa to get treated..."
Starrk's attack had missed. Muguruma Kensei saw Hirako Shinji approaching slowly and immediately guessed that the Arrancar before him had been affected by his Zanpakuto ability.
"The situation on the battlefield is unfavorable. We can't delay any longer. When I went to check on my old friend, I accidentally obtained some terrible information."
"We must make a quick decision, eliminate the Arrancar in front of us and concentrate our forces on dealing with Aizen."
Hirako Shinji held his Zanpakuto in one hand and said to Starrk, "I'm sorry, but you don't mind if someone else joins in, do you?"
Starrk looked at Hirako Shinji standing upside down in the air, touched his head helplessly, and sighed. "So that strange feeling just now was your Zanpakuto ability. How troublesome."
"I hope Baraggan doesn't blame me. After all, the number of monsters here keeps increasing."
As he spoke, Starrk looked at the several people who had surrounded him, and his spiritual pressure rose accordingly.
"Monster? Are you joking? From our perspective, you're the biggest monster here. Lisa after Hollowfication couldn't even last one round against you."
"Are you certain about that, Kyoraku-taichou? It's been a long time!" Hirako Shinji suddenly turned his head and said.
"Haha, what you said is right. It really has been a long time!" Kyoraku, feeling guilty, could only laugh awkwardly and reply reluctantly.
"Well, it doesn't matter. To deal with monsters, we just need to work together."
After finishing his words, Hirako Shinji's eyes grew sharp instantly, and he whispered, "Collapse: Sakanade!"
The moment the release command fell, the world in Starrk's vision suddenly changed. The surrounding scenery and people appeared suspended in extremely strange positions—some standing upside down, others sideways. Everything became disoriented and bizarre.
"Smash him: Tachikaze!"
An angry shout came from behind Starrk. He subconsciously turned around to counterattack, but a tremendous force struck his chest fiercely.
The terrifying strength knocked him down from the air, sending him falling toward the ground.
"Bushōgoma!"
During his fall, Kyoraku also slashed down from the air with two blades in hand. Starrk, who still remembered the rules of Katen Kyōkotsu's games, knew the opponent must attack from a high position. He raised his gun horizontally and fired into the air.
As a result, the moment the shot was fired, the scene in Starrk's eyes changed again. He was actually facing the attack from the ground and had fired in the opposite direction.
"Ugh!"
Sure enough, in less than one-tenth of a second, Starrk felt sharp pain behind him. The blade in Kyoraku's hand had cut his back.
Frowning, Starrk felt furious. He immediately flipped his body in the air and gathered balls of blue light in his hands to start bombing in a wide range.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Condensed Reiatsu energy balls were constantly thrown from Starrk's hands, covering a wide area. Even if his vision and hearing were controlled, this could prevent the Shinigami from attacking him in turn.
"My, what a monster. It's frightening how effortlessly he can release so much Reiatsu."
At this moment, the familiar drawling voice reached Starrk again.
"Kageoni!"
As Kyoraku's voice fell, his figure emerged from the shadow behind Starrk, holding two blades and planning to attack again.
"You still remember the rules of the game, so this time the color I choose is... black!"
Saying this, the blade in Kyoraku's hand stabbed mercilessly at the hollow hole in Starrk's chest.
One of Katen Kyōkotsu's rule-based abilities, Takaoni.
The person who cuts the color they declare wins.
As long as you name the corresponding color, both sides can cause damage to each other. For yourself, the color with higher risk can cause more damage to the opponent. Conversely, even a heavy blow will result in only a shallow wound.
Kyoraku was wearing the black Shinigami uniform at this time, his entire body black. On Starrk's body, only the hollow hole was black. So once Kyoraku's attack hit, it would cause irreversible fatal injury to Starrk.
This was why Starrk had been killed by Kyoraku so easily in the original story. In addition to Starrk's own lack of fighting will, Katen Kyōkotsu's rules were also truly terrifying.
"Be careful, Starrk!"
Emerging from the shadow, this fatal blow couldn't be avoided at all. Seeing that Starrk was about to die, a spirit transformed from the ribbon on Starrk's body into human form to help him block the strike.
"Lilinette?!"
Starrk finally showed a panicked expression. When he was in Hueco Mundo, he had often communicated with Fiander, and Lilinette had also conducted relevant special training at the other's request.
However, Starrk still hadn't expected that after Lilinette merged with him, she could separate herself and manifest as a spirit body.
Strictly speaking, both Starrk and Lilinette were fragments of a split soul. It didn't matter whether the previous body was Starrk or Lilinette.
For them, the other was a partner more important than their own life.
Boom!
Starrk, holding Lilinette, hit the ground heavily and kicked up a lot of dust.
Kyoraku in the air stared blankly at this scene. The Zanpakuto in his left hand had also fallen down together with Lilinette's body.
"This... what is this?"
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