"Argh!" Holding his left arm, Kariya jumped back, looking at Ichigo with a mix of shock and anger!!
"Damn it!" Kariya fired off tornadoes again!
But no matter how his wind blew, just like the previous operation, by elongating the spatial distance of a section, Ichigo deftly avoided Kariya's wind.
Swoosh!
Tensa Zangetsu delivered another slash!
"Bastard! I am the one who will fulfill the wishes of the Bount Clan! How can I fall here!!?"
Kariya looked crazed, reaching his hand towards the sky!
Circular wind rings descended from the cloud layer towards Kariya's hand, continuously condensing!
It was as if an hourglass had descended from the sky. The wind energy in Kariya's hand kept gathering.
The next moment, a hairdryer appeared on Kariya's right hand!
A wind sword formed!
Before the sharp wind, even the space of the Soul Society continuously sprouted tiny black points under Messer's blade edge.
This was the trace of shattered space!
Holding the wind sword, Kariya slashed towards Ichigo!
And this time, Ichigo didn't continue using Ruyi's spatial ability!
Seeing this, Kariya understood!
"So, your other Zanpakuto's ability is controlling space!"
"My wind retreated because you elongated the space in that section!"
"Similarly, my attacks had gaps because you forcibly created gaps!"
"But the problem is, just like paper pinned to a table with thumbtacks cannot lengthen itself..."
"Because of the weight of an extra person, when I step on the area you control, you also cannot continue controlling space, right?" Kariya asked.
"Oh?" Ichigo looked at him in surprise.
Indeed, although Ruyi's ability was the very high-level space, because Ichigo's current level wasn't proficient enough, he could only elongate space or shorten space.
He could also magnify a certain section of space.
The spatial ability of the Doll that allowed him and Rukia to hide inside that day was the result of Ichigo using Ruyi to expand it.
The problem was, pulling space required power.
Space where a person stood was like a plank nailed to a wall… Ichigo couldn't move it.
But this was also why he said he countered Kariya.
Because Kariya couldn't defeat Ichigo in close combat, and wind was light, easily manipulated. Thus, Kariya could only fight Ichigo in close combat.
As for close combat...
"Tensa Zangetsu: Bind!"
The pitch-black Tensa Zangetsu smashed down, carrying a black Reiatsu light, striking Messer's wind sword.
And Kariya's wind sword was just that… a wind sword, not a wind Reiatsu sword.
Under Ichigo's great force, Kariya was sent flying far away.
Simultaneously, the wind sword constructed from the hairdryer in his hand shattered with a crash!
And the next instant, Ichigo shortened the spatial distance between himself and Kariya!
He slashed forward.
Tensa Zangetsu, only a bit over a meter long, now infinitely extended, finally turning into a fifty-meter greatsword that chopped down at Kariya!
"So long?" Looking at this fifty-meter greatsword, Rukia was slightly stunned.
'Could that length there also affect the Zanpakuto's length... Ah, what are you thinking?'
Rukia patted her own head, which was starting to emit steam, dismissing her inappropriate thoughts.
'But speaking of which, no wonder I recently felt my appetite had decreased. Could it be that the position of my stomach was occupied by something else?'
Rukia completely drifted off.
Meanwhile, Ichigo's fifty-meter greatsword accurately struck Kariya!
"Damn it, what exactly is this thing?" Kariya was utterly perplexed.
This greatsword extension was still Ichigo's ability.
His Ruyi's ability was to elongate or shorten space.
But for outsiders, the space Ichigo elongated or compressed remained unchanged.
Only Ichigo knew where it was shortened or lengthened.
Just like now!
Giving Kariya a faint smile, Ichigo stepped forward!
In an instant, he shortened the ground and appeared at Kariya's flank and rear!
"Getsuga Tensho!"
"Messer: Typhoon Passage!"
Facing Ichigo's Getsuga Tensho, Kariya simultaneously swung Messer.
A huge wind ring burst forth from his body!
And the next moment, the same scene occurred!
The wind ring that erupted 360 degrees uniquely came to a stop not far in front of Ichigo, beginning a slow snail's crawl.
However, Ichigo's Getsuga Tensho was also the same.
Because at this moment, the space in front of both had been simultaneously elongated!
The current Getsuga Tensho and wind ring were like charging at each other on a kilometer-long track!
The problem was, compared to Kariya's wind ring, Ichigo's Getsuga Tensho was more enduring!
The wind ring dissipated naturally after five hundred meters, but Ichigo's Getsuga Tensho still had power after reaching the kilometer finish line!
Boom-
The pitch-black Getsuga Tensho heavily struck Kariya's body!
Gush!
A brilliant mist of blood sprayed from Kariya's mouth!
Kariya was heavily struck from the air onto the ground!
Crash-
His heavy body smashed into the ground, exploding a crater with spiderweb cracks all over!
"Cough cough cough cough cough-"
Struggling to prop himself up, Kariya understood.
Ichigo's spatial control ability made energy attacks or projectile attacks that were 'light' in weight unable to escape his spatial manipulation.
So only by having a person step on it, only using close combat to face Ichigo's elongation and shortening.
No matter how much Ichigo elongated the distance between himself and Kariya, as long as Kariya himself stepped on it, such elongation would self-negate.
Therefore, to deal with Ichigo, close combat was necessary!
However...
Kariya's gaze flashed over the other sword in Ichigo's hand, Zangetsu.
However, that other sword of Ichigo's was precisely prepared for close combat!
Remembering the force of Ichigo's blade, Kariya felt despair.
'Wanting to defeat him in close combat, how hard could it be?'
Thinking this, Kariya's mentality collapsed: "How can there be such a perfect ability?"
"..."
Kariya's question made Ichigo pause.
Tilting his head slightly, scratching his cheek, Ichigo answered uncertainly: "Because I'm handsome?"
"Bastard!" Ichigo's answer unsurprisingly made Kariya furious!
"I'll fight you to the death!"
Picking up the wind sword again, Kariya charged at Ichigo!
But Kariya only had Reiatsu that reached the level of someone like Gin, while other aspects did not.
This childish, tantrum-like swordsmanship made Ichigo not even want to give it a second glance.
"Enough, rest in peace!" Ichigo said flatly and completely turned into an afterimage!
Utilizing the last moments of his Hollowfication, thousands of sword lights appeared!
Having only charged forward two steps, Kariya fell on his back!
Several wounds appeared on his exquisitely made suit!
Thus, the leader of the Bounts was declared dead!
The hairdryer Doll in Kariya's hand shattered.
Ichigo walked over, picked up this core, and again placed it into his pixie Doll.
Swish-
A gentle breeze rippled, and a pair of transparent wings appeared on the pixie's back.
"Hmm, not bad, not bad!" Looking at the excellent-looking pixie Doll, Ichigo was quite satisfied.
Now, he only lacked the parasitic doll core to implant!
Carrying his sword, after instructing Sister Mei and Rukia, Ichigo headed to the other gates!
Not long after-
As Ichigo decapitated Mabashi with one slash and placed his Doll core into the pixie, the great battle stirred up by the Bounts was declared completely over!
[Ding! Doll nurturing complete. Please name!] The system's voice sounded.
Looking at the Doll in his hand, with wind-formed wings, wearing a princess dress like Mabashi's Doll, fair and exquisite features, small and delicate, Ichigo thought for a moment.
"Just call her Pixie! I can't call her Paimon, right?"
[Ding! Doll: Pixie naming completed!]