There were three people on their side. Ikkaku and Yumichika would each hold off one opponent, while he captured Nozomi himself. The advantage was theirs. Perfect.
At least, that was what Inaba had thought before making his move. Yet just as Ikkaku and Yumichika split up and began acting separately, Tatsuki erupted with Reiatsu and charged forward of her own accord.
Second-stage Fullbring, combined with the complete form of Shunkō that belonged to Tatsuki herself.
Over her black-and-white, tight-fitting martial arts uniform, a pale-blue sash of Reiatsu coiled around her, adding an almost ethereal grace to Tatsuki's tall, valiant figure.
Yumichika froze for a brief moment. His target was Tatsuki, while Ikkaku was supposed to deal with Tsunayoshi. But Tatsuki did not even glance at him. She rushed straight toward Ikkaku, whose combat strength was clearly higher.
Yumichika certainly did not believe that the tiny claw-like Fuji Kujaku in his hand could threaten Tsunayoshi. Only Ikkaku's Bankai had any chance of standing against him.
He decisively abandoned the idea of attacking Tsunayoshi and changed direction, joining Ikkaku in a pincer attack against Tatsuki.
However, the moment Yumichika shifted his footing, a strand of pale-blue Reiatsu had already wrapped around his heel. A sudden force disrupted his balance and dragged him toward Tatsuki.
From the very beginning, Tatsuki had never intended to ignore Yumichika. It was simply that, in her view, Ikkaku, who had the greater combat strength, needed to be dealt with first. She had promised Tsunayoshi she would fight two opponents, and two opponents meant two.
Yumichika hurriedly swung Fuji Kujaku and cut apart the Reiatsu around his foot, but by then, he had already been pulled into Tatsuki and Ikkaku's battle range.
Fine. Coordinating with Ikkaku was not bad either. He had no desire to deal with Tsunayoshi, who was radiating terrifying Reiatsu and killing intent. This fake had copied Yumichika's appearance, and even his personality was extremely similar to the original.
While Tatsuki greeted both Ikkaku and Yumichika at once, Tsunayoshi looked up at Inaba and asked, "You hollowed out the Gotei Thirteen, and this is all the manpower you brought?"
Inaba's expression also turned somewhat grim. To be honest, he did not want to face Tsunayoshi either. As for Ikkaku and Yumichika, they were nothing more than expendable pawns. He did not care about them at all. But now that it was his own turn to fight, even he hesitated.
"To deal with you, I don't need that many Shinigami!" Inaba could only bite the bullet and answer Tsunayoshi's question.
The reason Inaba did not dare bring a large number of captain-class fighters into the World of the Living was that the originals, after being badly wounded by these impostors, had vanished without a trace. In order to stabilize the situation in the Seireitei, Inaba could only bring two non-captain seated officers with some strength to capture his target.
He simply had not expected to run into troublesome captain-class combat power like Sawada Tsunayoshi. But it did not matter. It was not as though he had never defeated someone at captain level.
While Tsunayoshi and the others were talking, Tatsuki, Ikkaku, and Yumichika were already fighting fiercely. In her Shunkō state, Tatsuki's movements were as soft and fluid as running water. No matter how Ikkaku and Yumichika coordinated their attacks, she could always block them.
A trace of boredom appeared in Tatsuki's eyes. Fighting these two, who only knew how to hold back, was not as interesting as having a match against Soifon's Shunkō.
Under Tatsuki's Reiatsu output, the Reiatsu beneath her feet formed a whirlpool, churning and pulling in nearby enemies. Yumichika had been accidentally swept to her side by precisely this move.
Vortex Roundhouse Kick.
A spinning kick struck Yumichika, immediately sending him flying.
Immediately afterward, Tatsuki's sharp gaze locked onto Ikkaku, who was trying to move in and help Yumichika. After a swift sidestep, Tatsuki raised her leg and launched an exceptionally fierce kick at him.
That kick came like a violently surging current. Ikkaku had no room to dodge and could only raise Hōzukimaru in front of him to block.
Torrent Kick!
With a single kick, Tatsuki bent both Hōzukimaru and Ikkaku into the shape of a giant shrimp. Hōzukimaru snapped. Once again, this most fragile Zanpakutō in Soul Society proved exactly what it was capable of.
Tsunayoshi had been paying attention to Tatsuki's battle the entire time. Seeing Hōzukimaru break, he confirmed the suspicion he had formed when he first saw Ikkaku today.
"What era's data are you using?" Tsunayoshi asked with a frown, saying something Inaba could not understand at all.
"What do you mean?" Inaba asked, puzzled.
"Since when was Ikkaku Madarame this weak? If you're going to make an imitation, at least make it convincing."
"Ikkaku Madarame, weak? You'll know how powerful he is soon enough!" Inaba sneered, then shouted at Ikkaku, "How long are you planning to keep hiding your strength? Use Bankai!"
Well, after hearing that, Tsunayoshi knew the two of them were talking past each other. They were discussing matters on completely different levels.
The Ikkaku and Yumichika fighting Tatsuki in midair were clearly not their recent versions. Tsunayoshi was confident that the latest versions of these two would never be this bad. More importantly, that broken Hōzukimaru was no longer a Zanpakutō that could be shattered so easily!
He really had no idea where this man named Inaba had found such ancient Shinigami data.
Under Inaba's command, Ikkaku Madarame's face revealed an eerie smile. He let out a great shout.
"Bankai!"
Red Reiatsu enveloped Ikkaku Madarame. The broken Hōzukimaru in his hands transformed into three enormous axe-like blades connected by chains. Ikkaku gripped the axe blades on the left and right, while on the blade behind him was the image of a winding gray dragon.
Tsunayoshi showed an interested expression. After entering Soul Society, he had always done his best to stop Ikkaku Madarame from using Bankai. What he feared was that once Ikkaku's Bankai was broken, it could not be restored.
Unexpectedly, the genuine Ikkaku had not used Bankai, but this impostor had used it first. Since it was rare to witness yet another famous Shinigami scene—the shattering of Ryūmon Hōzukimaru—Tsunayoshi simply did not attack Inaba immediately.
At the same time that Ikkaku activated Bankai, Yumichika, as his close teammate, endured his physical discomfort and fired a spell at Tatsuki.
"Hadō Number Thirty-Three: Sōkatsui!"
Everything was focused on providing cover and creating an opening for Ikkaku to cut into the battlefield.
Sōkatsui was about to hit Tatsuki, and Ikkaku had already appeared in front of her using Shunpo. The raised Ryūmon Hōzukimaru looked as though it was about to cleave down.
Yumichika was stunned. The explosion he imagined did not happen. Tatsuki did not even look in his direction. She merely raised her palm toward Sōkatsui, and the spell suddenly vanished.
Hanki Sōsai?
The Sōkatsui Tatsuki released in that instant was identical to Yumichika's spell, even down to the strength of its Reiatsu. The two canceled each other out without causing so much as a ripple.
As for Ikkaku's ferocious axe, Tatsuki merely raised her other hand calmly to receive it. In that instant, the blue sash wrapped around her hand. Water-attribute Shunkō was not limited to explosive power alone.
The moment Tatsuki's blue-glowing hand touched the axe blade, an unimaginable force transmitted through Ryūmon Hōzukimaru and into Ikkaku Madarame.
Ikkaku felt as though his axe blade had been drawn into some powerful current. He could no longer control the direction of his swing at all.
And so, under Tatsuki's manipulation, Ikkaku somehow performed the mysterious feat of making his left hand slash at his right hand. In this state, he posed no threat to Tatsuki whatsoever.
The rumbling sound of waves crashing against rock suddenly reached Ikkaku's ears. In Tatsuki's Flowing Water Shunkō state, her strongest attacks were not delivered with her hands, but with her legs.
Tatsuki's leg came sweeping in with the force of a tremendous current, kicking one of the axe blades. The explosive roar of waves striking stone rang out, masking an almost imperceptible cracking sound.
However, Tatsuki's attack was far from over. She twisted her body and kicked again, landing another blow on Ikkaku's Ryūmon Hōzukimaru. This kick was even more powerful than the previous one.
After taking repeated kicks, Ikkaku felt as though he had returned to the days when he trained beneath waterfalls. But the waterfall Tatsuki brought down upon him was far stronger than anything he had trained under.
He could not resist at all. He could only retreat again and again.
Cascading Waterfall Barrage Kick.
Once an enemy was struck by Tatsuki's first kick, she could continue unleashing waterfall-like attacks against them at will. An enemy whose balance had been broken would find it extremely difficult to defend.
Ryūmon Hōzukimaru shattered.
Under the unending impact of the waterfall, it departed one step ahead of its master. All that remained in Ikkaku's hands were two bare shafts, while the dragon crest behind him had not even accumulated one-third of its charge.
A trace of boredom flashed through Tatsuki's eyes. After the latest version of Ikkaku Madarame accepted Hōzukimaru's power, Ryūmon Hōzukimaru had already overcome that rotten flaw of needing to build up power before it could unleash its full strength.
In Tatsuki's view, the real Ikkaku Madarame would definitely not have let her succeed so easily. Against the genuine article, her Cascading Waterfall Barrage Kick would not have been so simple to execute. This impostor was far too weak.
Perhaps Tatsuki's somewhat bored gaze stimulated Ikkaku. Electricity flashed in this Ikkaku's eyes. He directly pulled out the axe blade behind him, and his Reiatsu erupted without restraint.
Even if he only had one-third of its power, this Ikkaku still intended to use everything he had to slash Tatsuki once. That was Ikkaku's way of thinking. In that sense, the impostor and the original were still somewhat similar. They shared that will to fight without regard for anything else.
But even against an Ikkaku like this, Tatsuki could not muster any further interest. Having seen someone far stronger, this one-third-charged Ryūmon Hōzukimaru was nothing more than child's play.
The sash transformed into dozens of streams of water that surged wildly around Tatsuki. The currents coiled upward against the sky, lifting Tatsuki's hair and making her heroic bearing stand out even more.
It was time to end this.
All the streams converged on Tatsuki's right foot. The Shunpo personally taught to her by Yoruichi, combined with the enhancement of Shunkō, allowed Tatsuki to appear above Ikkaku's head before he could react.
Tatsuki raised her fully charged right leg high and brought down a standard taekwondo-style axe kick onto Ikkaku's head.
Secret Technique: Rock-Crushing Heel Drop!
A towering wave capable of pulverizing any rock instantly surged forth. Along with it, it swept up the distorted humanoid tool that no longer resembled Ikkaku, as well as a red pill that stood out clearly amid the endless spray.
"Ikkaku!" Yumichika roared. Then he shouted, "Bloom madly, Ruri'iro Kujaku!"
Yumichika's Zanpakutō transformed into countless lapis-blue vines that shot toward Tatsuki's figure. However, in the next instant, Tatsuki's voice reached Yumichika's ear.
"You really are as arrogant as the old Yumichika. If you had used Ruri'iro Kujaku from the start, this battle wouldn't have ended so quickly."
Tatsuki's calm words were an icy execution sentence to this Yumichika.
A kick carrying the force of raging waves slammed into Yumichika's spine.
Yumichika, who had just released Ruri'iro Kujaku, had no ability to defend himself at all. His back folded, and after a small red pill emerged from his mouth, his entire body turned into another humanoid tool.
Author's Note: Water-attribute Shunkō is based on the Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist.
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