Renji and Orochimaru stood opposite each other in the Forest of Death. The cold wind rustled through the trees around them, carrying the faint smell of blood and crushed leaves.
Orochimaru had only one thing in mind: somehow escape from here and retreat completely. And Renji, who was now at a stalemate and was not able to do much against Orochimaru, also had only one thing in mind—that was to overpower Orochimaru and deal with him as soon as possible.
With this thought, Renji knew what he had to do next.
Without hesitation, he stretched his Zanpakuto out in front of him. Then, with his other hand, he placed it on the blade and slowly moved it along its length as he said, "Roar, Zabimaru."
The moment those words left his mouth, Renji used Shikai.
As soon as he said this, his normal-looking katana form of Zanpakuto started changing. The blade twisted and expanded, transforming completely into a segmented broad blade, with its main edge at the front end of the sword. The metallic sections shifted and clicked into place with a sharp sound, making the weapon look more like a savage beast than a sword.
And as soon as Renji used Shikai, the spiritual pressure which was previously emanating from him increased even further.
The air around Renji seemed to grow heavier. Dry leaves on the ground trembled, and even the nearby branches shook faintly under the pressure. His grip tightened around Zabimaru as he stared directly at Orochimaru, his eyes filled with determination.
This really gave a bad feeling to Orochimaru as he felt Renji's strength had increased drastically.
This pressure... he was holding back before.
Renji again used Shunpo and disappeared from his location.
The instant he vanished, only a small gust of wind and a blur remained where he had been standing.
Orochimaru, who had fought with Renji for quite a few minutes now, had already started understanding his movements. After all, he was a very good fighter and had fought countless battles, so for Orochimaru to guess this much was not that big of a surprise.
The moment Renji disappeared, Orochimaru's eyes narrowed.
Based on his experience, he shifted his body to counter Renji's attack, his muscles tensing as he prepared for the strike he knew was coming.
But suddenly, Renji was upon him even before he had expected.
Clearly, Renji's speed had increased by a margin after releasing his Shikai.
Before Orochimaru could completely shift his body into position, Renji's Zanpakuto directly struck him. The segmented blade slammed into Orochimaru's left shoulder, and as Zabimaru moved, the spike-like protrusions on each segment of the blade tore through his flesh.
To be precise, it was his left shoulder area that took the full impact.
A tearing sound echoed in the forest as one segment after another dragged across him. Orochimaru grimaced in pain as blood flowed out from his shoulder, staining his clothes red. His body trembled slightly from the impact, but he still forced himself to remain standing.
Orochimaru was also not someone who would give up so easily.
As Renji's blade moved, the more it moved, one by one, the spikes on each particular section of Renji's Zanpakuto tore deeper through his shoulder. The pain spread through Orochimaru's arm, and for a brief moment, he could even feel numbness creeping into his fingers.
Still, Orochimaru immediately took the chance to counterattack Renji with his Kusanagi sword.
Orochimaru's Kusanagi sword moved at extreme speed, almost like a silver flash cutting through the air, its target directly aimed at Renji's stomach.
The sharp hiss of the blade slicing through the wind could be heard clearly.
And with this attack, Orochimaru did not expect to injure Renji in the slightest.
On the contrary, he was hoping that Renji would retreat. Orochimaru only wanted a small opening, even a momentary pause in Renji's assault, so that he would have a chance to breathe—a brief breather.
If he could gain even that much time, then he could use his exclusive substitution technique, Orochimaru's substitution technique, and heal his wound before continuing the battle.
I only need one moment... just one.
But to Orochimaru's surprise, Renji did not retreat at all.
Instead, Renji continued pushing forward, not caring in the slightest about the Kusanagi sword that was heading toward him.
The Kusanagi sword directly hit Renji.
The blade cut through Renji's kimono, slicing a large tear across the fabric from the side of his stomach area. The sound of cloth tearing rang out clearly, and for a brief moment, Orochimaru thought that he had finally managed to injure Renji.
But no blood flowed out.
There was no wound.
Renji was not injured in the slightest. He was totally fine.
Orochimaru's eyes narrowed immediately.
When he looked carefully at Renji, he finally understood why his Kusanagi sword had not been able to injure him in the slightest.
There was a very fine layer of chakra covering Renji's body.
That thin layer of chakra was acting like a shield around him. It was so subtle that it could barely be seen, only noticeable when light reflected off it at certain angles. The moment the Kusanagi sword had struck Renji, it had not truly reached his skin at all. Instead, it had collided against that invisible layer of chakra and lost most of its force.
And for Orochimaru, who had extensive knowledge regarding chakra, he understood immediately what that meant.
It would require a powerful burst of chakra attack to break through this shield. Someone who had a higher chakra level than Renji would be able to break this shield, or at the very least, someone who could gather chakra at one point with enough piercing force could tear through this chakra shield.
Or else, Renji would never be harmed at all.
(A/N: I tried to incorporate the rule from Bleach that a Shinigami with lower spiritual pressure (Reiatsu) cannot harm someone with a higher level of pressure.)
This battle, which was already quite troublesome till now, had become even more troublesome now.
Meanwhile, Orochimaru was finally somewhat free now that the whole Zanpakuto had moved through his shoulder area. His shoulder was basically totally cut, the damage even reaching near his lungs and cutting deep enough to graze his ribs.
Blood continued dripping from his body onto the forest floor.
Taking this chance, Orochimaru immediately jumped backwards, retreating several meters away from Renji. His feet slid across the ground as he created distance between them.
Then, without wasting even a second, Orochimaru immediately used his exclusive substitution technique.
His body suddenly convulsed, and then, from his own mouth, a new body slowly emerged.
The sight was grotesque.
His old body split open like discarded skin, while Orochimaru's new body crawled out from within it, covered in thick mucus. The damaged body remained behind like an empty shell, collapsing onto the ground uselessly.
After completely emerging, Orochimaru stood there breathing lightly.
He was totally unharmed once again.
But definitely, this technique had taken quite a lot of chakra from him.
He had already used Orochimaru's substitution technique twice, and with each use, it consumed a large amount of chakra from his reserves. Even someone like Orochimaru could not continue using such a technique endlessly.
So definitely, he was now in a pinch.
A thin layer of sweat had formed on Orochimaru's forehead, and his breathing had become noticeably heavier. The forest around them had already become a complete mess. Broken trees, torn earth, blood, and shattered rocks were scattered everywhere.
When Orochimaru looked toward Renji, he saw that Renji was already ready to move again.
Renji's eyes were fixed on him without wavering even once. Zabimaru was still in his hand, its segmented blade hanging menacingly, almost as if it was alive and eager to tear through him again.
Seeing this, Orochimaru did not hesitate.
He immediately took a large breath, his chest expanding, and then used Wind Release: Great Breakthrough.
As soon as Orochimaru used this technique, a massive gust of wind exploded outward toward Renji like a hurricane. The pressure of the wind tore through the forest floor, sending dirt and stones flying everywhere.
Several nearby trees were uprooted completely and flew toward Renji along with shattered branches and broken stone fragments.
The roaring sound of the wind echoed through the entire area.
But Renji remained calm.
He slightly adjusted his Zanpakuto, and the segmented area of Zabimaru started separating apart.
The blade stretched outward, moving more like a whip than a sword.
Then Renji swung it.
With each swing, the air itself seemed to crack.
Wooden shards, broken stones, uprooted trees—anything that came toward him was immediately shattered apart by Zabimaru. Large tree trunks were split into pieces, rocks exploded into dust, and debris scattered in every direction.
Even this attack was totally useless on Renji.
When the violent gust of wind finally calmed down, Renji was still standing in the same place.
He was totally unharmed.
Meanwhile, Orochimaru was breathing quite heavily now.
Honestly, for Orochimaru, he was not expecting to reach this kind of situation.
He had only come here for one goal: to plant his curse seal on Shamrock or Uta, and perhaps both of them would have been very good choices. He had even thought that it would be possible because he had found Shamrock and Uta alone.
But things had spiraled out of control for him.
The plan had not gone as he had expected at all.
First there was Renji, and now Renji had cornered him to this extent.
Looking at Renji, who was still steadily approaching him through the dust and broken debris, Orochimaru understood one thing very clearly.
Now, he was left with no choice but to use his trump card.
(A/N: Discord link updated.)
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