"Roar!"
Hyorinmaru swung the sword in her hand. The frost dragon roared and rapidly charged at Toshiro.
"Ha!"
Toshiro shouted loudly, instantly slashing out a Kenatsu dozens of meters long to meet the frost dragon.
Bang!
Toshiro's Kenatsu was instantly shattered by the frost dragon, which then, with undiminished force, charged at him.
With no other choice, Toshiro could only hold his sword horizontally in front of him.
Boom!
With a loud crash, Toshiro's small body was directly smashed into a cliff face by the frost dragon.
"Ah... it hurts... feels like my whole body is falling apart..."
"Cough, cough, cough..."
Toshiro coughed violently, a trace of blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. Then, leaning on his Zanpakuto, he tremblingly emerged from the cliff face.
"So strong. As expected of my Zanpakuto, Hyorinmaru."
Toshiro said with self-mockery.
Seeing Toshiro injured and bleeding, Hyorinmaru couldn't help but frown and say: "Give up, Toshiro. You are no match for me now. Although I decided to leave you, I don't want to kill you."
"It seems you still care about our past bond, Hyorinmaru. Should I feel honored? However... unless I die, I will not let you leave my side!" Toshiro said firmly.
Then, considering tactics, he couldn't use his Zanpakuto's abilities, so his only option was Kido.
"Hado #88, Hiryu Gekizoku Shinten Raiho!"
"Buzz!"
A huge pillar of lightning blasted towards Hyorinmaru. Where it passed, even the ground cracked under the powerful wind pressure, leaving a deep trench.
However, seeing this, Hyorinmaru merely extended her left hand calmly.
Boom!!
The huge pillar of lightning was easily blocked by Hyorinmaru with one hand. Then, endless ice power erupted from her hand, directly freezing the powerful pillar into an ice column, which she then crushed with a bang.
"Yare yare, how terrifying. Although it's only Kido below level 90, being crushed so easily... you are even stronger than I imagined, Hyorinmaru." Although his tone was light, Toshiro's expression grew even more grave.
"Since Kido below level 90 is useless..."
"Hado #91: Senju Koten Taiho!"
Whoosh, Whoosh, Whoosh—!!!
Dozens of pink rays of light shot towards Hyorinmaru!
"Guncho Tsurara!"
Hyorinmaru uttered a few words calmly.
Swish, swish, swish—!!
Countless ice bullets, like flocks of birds, covered the sky and earth, meeting Toshiro's attack head-on, along with Toshiro himself.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Each time a pink ray of light hit an ice bullet, it caused a violent explosion. Although the number of [Guncho Tsurara] ice bullets was far greater than Toshiro's sudden Kido rays, the shockwaves from the explosions of his Kido spread out, directly shattering all of the ice bullets.
"You cannot defeat me with Kido, Toshiro."
Hyorinmaru said softly.
Then Hyorinmaru swung the sword in her hand. Four huge frost dragons condensed again and attacked Toshiro from all directions.
'I can't fight this head-on...'
Thinking this, Toshiro immediately used Shunkuho to evade.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Toshiro's figure flickered continuously, afterimages appearing and disappearing, dodging the frost dragons' attacks.
However, the four frost dragons were incredibly fast to begin with. Coupled with them surrounding Toshiro from all directions, although Toshiro's speed was unmatched in the Soul Society, he was still in grave danger.
Then, as if thinking of something, Toshiro began to dodge while moving closer to Hyorinmaru.
"Trying to guide my power to attack me?" Hyorinmaru instantly guessed Toshiro's goal.
Whoosh!
Toshiro's figure flashed past Hyorinmaru, brushing against her. The four frost dragons, chasing him, followed and arrived beside Hyorinmaru. It seemed their massive bodies would inevitably collide with her.
"Do you think this can hurt me? You underestimate my control abilities too much, Toshiro!"
The moment before the four frost dragons would have accidentally hit Hyorinmaru, she willed it, and they forcibly twisted direction. In an incredible maneuver, they brushed past her and attacked Toshiro again.
'Damn it! Can I not avoid this anymore?!' Toshiro, now in mid-air, looked helplessly at the four frost dragons converging on him.
'It seems I'll have to take this head-on...' Toshiro thought.
"Ice Dragon Flash!"
Toshiro compressed and converged his Reiatsu into his Zanpakuto, which instantly shone with a dazzling ice-blue light.
However, just as Toshiro was about to meet the attack of the four frost dragons, a voice suddenly sounded softly from behind him.
"Ice Dragon Flash..."
Toshiro exclaimed in shock: "Hyorinmaru?! When did you..."
"It seems you've forgotten... I also know Shunkuho. When it comes to speed, I won't lose to you!!"
Whoosh!!
An ice-blue slash came from behind Toshiro.
With no choice, Toshiro could only use the Ice Dragon Flash intended for the frost dragons to counter Hyorinmaru's attack from behind.
Boom!
Ice Dragon Flash vs Ice Dragon Flash. However, Toshiro, caught off guard, was sent flying. What's more, the four frost dragons descended from the sky, hitting him from four directions simultaneously.
Bang!
With a loud crash, the ice dragons shattered. Toshiro was directly blasted into the ground, creating a crater dozens of meters in diameter and several meters deep centered on him.
'Hit by an attack of this level... even Toshiro should have lost his combat ability and cannot fight any further. However... Toshiro should be okay, right? Although I controlled the power to a level that wouldn't kill him, what if...'
Looking at Toshiro lying motionless in the deep crater, Hyorinmaru, who should have been happy to have defeated him, inexplicably had a worried expression on her face.
After carefully sensing Toshiro's Reiatsu and confirming he was not in danger, Hyorinmaru breathed a sigh of relief.
Then, deliberately restraining her expression, she said loudly to Toshiro in the crater in a cold, indifferent tone: "Toshiro, this battle ends here. Don't come after me again."
With that, Hyorinmaru prepared to turn and leave.
'Ah, did I lose...'
'Am I just going to watch Hyorinmaru leave like this, and lose her forever?'
Thinking this, a strong sense of unwillingness surged within him.
'No! Hyorinmaru is my Zanpakuto! No one can take her from me!! Not even Hyorinmaru herself!!!'
Then Toshiro struggled to get up.
'Damn it! My body feels so heavy...'
However, his powerful will supported him to push away the crushed ice on his body and stand up again.
Then Toshiro struggled to climb out of the deep crater.
"Wai... wait..."
Hyorinmaru, who was leaving, suddenly heard a voice from behind.
Hyorinmaru's body trembled. She turned around in disbelief.
There was Toshiro, having just struggled out of the crater. His thin figure stood proudly, blood flowing from his head, but his expression was unwavering!
"Why? Why can you still stand? Having taken a hit of that magnitude head-on... even you shouldn't be able to stand again, right?!" Hyorinmaru asked incredulously.
"Indeed... logically speaking, even I couldn't stand after taking such a powerful hit. However, Hyorinmaru, you underestimated the power of conviction!"
Toshiro walked towards Hyorinmaru step by step, leaning on his sword.
"Hyorinmaru, you are my Zanpakuto. No one can take you from my side, not even you yourself. And this is my conviction! As long as my conviction stands, you cannot defeat me!"
"So… victory will ultimately be mine!!!"