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"Watch out!!!"
Without any warning, a figure suddenly appeared behind Ishikawa Katori. A azure blue blade light cut through the night sky, slashing directly at Ishikawa Katori, who was in mid-air and unable to adjust his position.
Toguro's face revealed a sinister smile. Although his elite subordinates had been wiped out, which pained him, if he could use this to kill the black-haired youth in front of him, then their deaths would be completely worth it.
"Die!"
He had used all his strength in this strike. As long as it connected, no matter how strong this black-haired youth's Kido was, he would surely die!
Before the blade light even reached him, Ishikawa Katori's black work uniform was torn, revealing his well-built upper body, which was not apparent from his appearance.
Ishikawa Katori had long anticipated Toguro's appearance. Even before this series of actions, he had already expected the current situation. It wasn't hard to guess, because only a fool would miss this opportunity.
But he hadn't expected...
Toguro's timing would be so precise, and his reaction so quick. He didn't leave him much time to prepare, forcing him to respond hastily.
"Bakudo No. 30: Shitotsu Sansen!"
Ishikawa Katori, with his back to Toguro, spread his left hand, and three sharp-beaked beams of light immediately appeared around his palm. The three beams rapidly expanded the moment they left his hand, striking directly at Toguro.
"What?"
The sharp-beaked beams appeared without warning, leaving Toguro no time to understand what was happening before his neck and both hands were restrained by the three beams.
How troublesome!!
Toguro gritted his teeth. In District 80, combat was mostly conducted by slashing, slashing, and slashing. He had almost no experience dealing with Kido. But...
"This kind of thing!!"
Toguro's Reishi surged wildly. Almost immediately upon being restrained, cracks appeared on the three sharp-beaked beams of light, which then shattered into fragments with a bang.
The long blade in his hand slashed down once more. Even though it had paused for a moment, significantly weakening the strike, it was still enough to severely injure the opponent. Toguro absolutely would not miss this opportunity, which he had gained by sacrificing his 'elite subordinates'.
"Bakudo No. 61: Rikujokoro!"
However, in that instant, Ishikawa Katori in mid-air had already adjusted his body. With a flick of his finger, six light fragments appeared out of thin air around Toguro.
Having learned from the previous experience, Toguro released all his Reishi almost the moment the light fragments reached him, intending to shatter the fragments that bound him.
As expected, cracks quickly appeared on the light fragments.
Sure enough...
Ishikawa Katori sighed inwardly. Releasing a High Level Kido with a Mid Level 'discarded chant' simply couldn't create any binding force.
"Carriage of thunder, gap in the spinning wheel..."
Gritting his teeth slightly, Ishikawa Katori unhesitatingly chanted again, wanting to reinforce Rikujokoro's binding with Post-chanting. However...
Before he could finish chanting, he heard a crisp 'snap', and the six light fragments were directly broken through by Toguro's own Reishi.
Too late.
With almost no hesitation, the moment the six light fragments shattered, a fierce look flashed across Ishikawa Katori's face. He concentrated all his Reishi in his chest.
The two consecutive obstructions had weakened Toguro's strike to a certain extent. Since he couldn't dodge, he might as well endure it with pure Reishi.
Pfft—!
The sound of blood splattering almost coincided with the sound of the light fragments shattering. Ishikawa Katori's body, like a meteor, crashed down.
On the outskirts of the battlefield, Himura's face changed. However, having been severely wounded and fleeing for so long, she was willing but powerless to help. She could only watch as Ishikawa Katori crashed down, creating a huge crater in the ground.
Toguro landed on the ground, his face full of joy.
He succeeded!
Having taken his full strike head-on, even if the opponent's Kido ability was strong, he must be severely injured.
Moreover...
"If you hadn't turned to face me, your injuries might not have been so severe."
Toguro sneered. Originally, his strike would have only hit his back, which was not a vital point. But this kid, in the instant he was bound, turned and exposed his chest to his blade.
Toguro looked at the motionless Ishikawa Katori, took a step forward, and said as he walked, "Do you still believe in things like 'it's a disgrace to be cut in the back'?"
"Cough cough..."
As if sensing Toguro's approach, Ishikawa Katori, who had been motionless, suddenly clutched his abdomen and staggered to his feet.
A gruesome wound extended from Ishikawa Katori's shoulder all the way to his waist, faintly revealing bone. His abdomen, beneath his hand, was directly sliced open, and one could even see his intestines creeping.
Upon seeing this, Toguro did not press closer. Instead, his eyes showed vigilance, and he stopped in place. Such an injury, if not treated, would undoubtedly be fatal.
But Toguro knew very well that he won not because he was stronger than the opponent, but because he luckily caught the opponent's weakness; if he hadn't caught this weakness, after the opponent dealt with his carefully trained elites, he would be the next to die.
In other words...
This black-haired youth was fully capable of killing him.
Rushing forward now might very well lead to the opponent fighting back desperately, dragging him down to die together.
"Hmm?"
But the next second, Toguro realized something was wrong, and his face showed an expression of disbelief: "What are you doing!?"
"Tsk~ You're really cautious."
Ishikawa Katori scoffed. The Reishi in the hand covering his abdomen was no longer concealed, but fully unleashed. The huge wound on his abdomen grew granulation tissue at a visible speed. Looking at his rapidly healing abdomen, Ishikawa Katori's face showed a pained expression.
Kaido: Mid Level (7970/10000)
The moment he determined he could only endure it head-on, Ishikawa Katori directly poured all his remaining 8270 experience points into Kaido.
This included Ishikawa Katori's accumulated 2800 experience points from over a month, and 2590 experience points gained from Himura's increased favorability after accepting the commission.
The extra points were gained gradually during the recent battle, especially after dealing with those villains comparable to Low Level Seated Officers, Himura's favorability towards him soared to 39, bringing Ishikawa Katori 2880 experience points.
Now, such a large amount of experience points was squandered by Ishikawa Katori in an instant, only to gain Kaido at the Vice-Captain level of the Fourth Division. How could Ishikawa Katori not feel heartache?!
Toguro's expression changed upon seeing this, and he unhesitatingly charged towards Ishikawa Katori.
Upon seeing this, Ishikawa Katori did not stop his Kaido. Instead, he endured the severe pain and activated Shunpo, constantly widening the distance between them using his speed advantage.
The two of them thus engaged in a chase, circling the area, leaving Himura, who was slumped in the distance, dumbfounded.
It was her first time seeing someone treat themselves while fleeing during a battle...
Ishikawa Katori, with Shunpo, even severely wounded, still maintained a certain speed advantage. Although he couldn't completely shake off Toguro, he wouldn't be immediately caught by him either.
As his injuries continued to heal, this advantage would grow larger and larger.
Toguro naturally understood this, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get close to Ishikawa Katori. He could only constantly harass him to delay Ishikawa Katori's self-treatment.
He had also thought about taking advantage of the situation to kill Himura and the other person, but judging from Ishikawa Katori's healing speed, if there was no harassment from him, even if the opponent's injuries couldn't fully heal after he killed Himura and the other person, they would be sufficient to restore his combat ability, and he would surely die then.
As for using Himura and the others to force Ishikawa Katori to rescue them, that was even less likely to happen. In a situation where one cannot even protect oneself, no one would disregard their own safety to save others!
"Die!!"
With that thought, Toguro's Reishi burst forth, and substantial Reishi erupted from his blade. He actually threw the large blade in his hand at Ishikawa Katori like a throwing knife!
Ishikawa Katori's expression hardened upon seeing this, and he quickly used Shunpo to dodge.
Just as he dodged the large blade, Ishikawa Katori immediately tried to pinpoint Toguro's location. The result was... Toguro's rapidly retreating back.
"Hmm?"
He... ran away?
This decisive action left Ishikawa Katori momentarily stunned.
Toguro gritted his teeth as he sprinted, his heart filled with extreme bitterness. Not only were his elite subordinates, who had followed him for hundreds of years, almost completely wiped out, but he had also provoked Nishijin Ori, that great villain.
What was originally a foolproof pursuit ended up in such a state. This made Toguro grit his teeth until they bled. Even if he immediately hid by his Boss's side after returning, Nishijin Ori would definitely come after him once he recovered.
But if he went to kill Nishijin Ori and Himura, given the speed of that black-haired youth, he wouldn't be able to escape once he recovered.
Rather than continue to struggle, escaping now was the best option.
And indeed, it was.
Looking at Toguro's retreating back, Ishikawa Katori did not pursue him, but sat on the ground with a pale face.
Fleeing and healing, multitasking was not easy for him. Although he had a speed advantage, he could only barely use Shunpo to keep Toguro from getting close. Continuing to pursue would be extremely difficult!
Moreover...
There was also the most important point: the Reishi consumption was simply too great.
"What a loss..."
Ishikawa Katori mumbled. This battle started inexplicably and ended inexplicably.
One million Kan was indeed a large commission, but it wasn't worth almost losing his life.
Originally, the large amount of experience points additionally provided by Himura could have balanced Ishikawa Katori's feelings, but now... looking at the big 0 on the system interface, Ishikawa Katori winced in pain.
How many women would he have to befriend to earn that back?
Himura dragged the man over little by little. When she reached Ishikawa Katori, she said in a very gentle tone, "Are you alright?"
She now genuinely admired Ishikawa Katori. For the sake of completing her commission, this young man was willing to fight to such an extent.
"..."
Ishikawa Katori's hand, which was performing Kaido, trembled. He said with a darkened face, "Stay away from me. I should be better."
Even if I know you're worried about me, please consider your own physique and voice. Under that 'gentle' concern just now, I almost pressed my hand into my own intestines.
[Himura Favorability +1, gained 640 experience points, current favorability 40]
Ishikawa Katori's cheek twitched slightly.
"...Don't misunderstand, I'm not despising you. It's just that you were too close just now, obstructing the Reishi fluctuations in the air and affecting my healing."
"Oh, I see."
Himura, upon hearing this, quickly moved aside.
"See, I told you that Reishi fluctuation was Ishikawa Katori's!"
Just then, a familiar voice came from a distance, and footsteps approached from far away.
Ishikawa Katori turned his head and saw Ganju leading four subordinates, followed by Oyama and others, all rushing towards them with swords drawn and murderous looks on their faces.
"Hmm?"
Upon seeing Ishikawa Katori slumped on the ground, Ganju's face changed, and he rushed over, "What happened? Who did this?"
Ishikawa Katori looked at the concerned Ganju, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly, "Why didn't you wait until I turned into Reishi before coming, you bastard?"
If this guy wasn't at the Everything Store, which was only two minutes away, it would be one thing. But since he was at his own shop... for him to feel his Reishi while fighting someone on the outskirts of District 38, and then take so long to arrive.
"I just wasn't too sure..."
Ganju said somewhat awkwardly. He was drinking with Oyama and the others at the Wan Shi Wu Tavern when he felt the Reishi fluctuation... and didn't immediately realize it was Ishikawa Katori's Reishi.
Because...
It was simply too strong, completely different from the Ishikawa Katori he remembered.
"We'll talk about this later." Ganju quickly changed the subject, pressing Ishikawa Katori's shoulder, and said seriously, "Which scoundrel beat you up like this? I'll go avenge you!"
Ishikawa Katori rolled his eyes. It would be more like it if you asked your sister to avenge me. Ishikawa Katori slightly turned his body, revealing the hand that was performing Kaido: "Don't touch me yet, can't you see I'm healing?"
"Holy crap, Himura!!"
"Himura is here to kill us."
"Quick, kill Himura."
"Don't let Big Bro Ishikawa's sacrifice be in vain!!"
"..."
At this moment, Oyama also arrived from behind. When he clearly saw the situation, he was decisive and rushed towards Himura with his sword drawn.
Ishikawa Katori's face darkened. He glared fiercely at the guy who shouted 'Don't let my sacrifice be in vain', then said to Ganju beside him:
"Stop them, she's not an enemy."
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