Chapter 167: The True Power of the Zanpakutō
Hearing Satoru's words, the sword spirit nearly laughed in anger.
At this moment, it was clearly the one demonstrating its power and testing Satoru.
How had it suddenly turned around, making it seem like it needed to prove something to Satoru?
She snorted coldly, wanting to ignore Satoru and continue the battle.
But, looking at the mocking smile on Satoru's face, she felt an intense sense of displeasure.
"Damn it, I know this is a trap!"
The sword spirit took a deep breath.
"Fine, Satoru, let me see how you would use this power!"
"Listen well, if you're just boasting casually to deceive me, then you'll never get to use my power!"
Satoru nodded lazily: "Yeah, got it, got it."
Looking at his attitude, the sword spirit felt her blood pressure rising.
She closed her eyes and conveyed her true name to Satoru through soul communication.
Satoru also closed his eyes.
As he obtained the Zanpakutō's true name, fragments of related information flowed into his mind.
After comprehending these memory fragments, he finally understood why he had been unable to awaken his Zanpakutō yet still possessed sword release abilities.
When he first crossed over to this world, his Zanpakutō's power had already awakened.
However, his transmigration wasn't instantaneous.
When passing through the dimensional layers, his soul came to a halt.
If he couldn't proceed further, he would be devoured by the world and completely vanish.
To break through this final barrier, his Zanpakutō tore an opening in the world's "membrane."
Through this opening, Satoru escaped his destined disappearance.
But during this process, the Zanpakutō became contaminated.
When the Soul King created this world, he discarded numerous negative existences he couldn't handle beyond the world's boundaries in the form of shadows.
His Zanpakutō, eroded by these shadows, was forced into dormancy.
During this period, the Zanpakutō gradually found a way to compromise with the shadows.
It split off a "copy" of itself to bear the shadow's power.
The original Zanpakutō became the "Shinuchi."
Meanwhile, the replica blade fused with shadows became the "Kageuchi."
After prolonged dormancy, the Zanpakutō's presence had been almost completely overshadowed.
Back during the prison incident, when facing Rennosuke Kamikawa's assault, Satoru managed to connect with his Zanpakutō in that critical moment.
Naturally, he summoned the Kageuchi instead.
As a split replica, the Kageuchi possessed sword release capabilities but would never hold a true name.
Understanding all this, Satoru felt somewhat emotional.
He had always believed the greatest danger he faced in this world was his battle against Kōga Kuchiki.
He never realized he had experienced a crisis countless times more dangerous long before that.
Looking at the Zanpakutō embedded in the ground nearby, he reached out his hand.
The blade immediately pulled itself from the earth and flew toward him.
Snap!
Satoru caught the sword.
Observing the cold gleam reflecting off the blade, he nodded and said:
"Thank you."
Nearby, the sword spirit watched this scene, pursing her lips slightly.
After offering his sincere gratitude, Satoru raised the sword.
"Break through, Risō Jakumetsu!"
BOOM!!!
A pillar of Reiatsu shot skyward.
The Reiatsu shockwave from his first Shikai caused the surrounding air to violently tremble!
As the light faded, chains wrapped around Satoru's arms just like the sword spirit's.
A pair of short swords appeared in his hands.
Whoosh!!
Blue flames danced and ignited along the blades.
The sword's flames merged with the Shunkō flames on his shoulders and back, creating a blazing spectacle.
The perfect familiarity transmitted from the hilt gave him an indescribable comfort.
Watching Satoru wield her, the sword spirit's eyes flashed with satisfaction.
She felt curious.
How would Satoru utilize her?
Her greatest strength lay in her "breaking" ability.
Reiatsu defenses, physical defenses, armor defenses...
No defense could stand before her.
For most opponents, this was a terrifying ability.
But if Satoru thought about using this technique against her, he was thinking too far ahead.
As the Zanpakutō itself, she knew best how to deal with this move.
Come on, what will you do?
Like herself, start with a long-range slash first?
While the Blade Spirit was thinking, Satoru familiarized himself with the feel of the dual blades.
After a few swings, he nodded in satisfaction.
The next moment, he stomped his foot.
In an instant, he closed the hundred-meter gap, appearing right in front of the Blade Spirit!
Under the latter's stunned gaze, Satoru grinned widely, raising both hands gripping the dual blades high,
Then, he brought them down with tremendous force!
Clang!!!
Though instinctively wanting to retreat, the Blade Spirit unhesitatingly swung her blade to meet his.
Four blades collided, erupting in a shower of blinding sparks.
Looking at Satoru's ferocious grin, the Blade Spirit couldn't help feeling an urge to complain.
What had she been expecting?
For someone like Satoru, not indulging in close combat first would be the real anomaly...
When his downward slash failed, Satoru instantly changed tactics.
His arms wielding the dual blades seemed to weave a net around the Blade Spirit's body.
For a moment, the twin blades wreathed in blue flames fell like rain from all directions.
The Blade Spirit rapidly tracked Satoru's blade trajectories, continuously parrying and blocking his attacks.
In just a few seconds, the sound of clashing steel rang out dozens of times!
After this series of slashes, Satoru suddenly disengaged on his own.
He retreated a short distance and nodded:
"I understand now."
"While you can break through defenses, it's not absolute."
"If the opponent's defense is intended for 'offense,' it can't be broken by rule-based power."
"Hmm, thinking about it, if I hadn't blocked with my arms initially but directly punched you instead, the blade's damage to me should have been much less."
Hearing Satoru's words, the Blade Spirit took a deep breath.
She couldn't help gritting her teeth:
"You should have known all this when I gave you my true name, right?"
Satoru laughed heartily: "Not to boast, but I'm actually the type who skips tutorial sections before playing games."
Of the information transmitted by Rissō Jakumetsu, he had only read the parts related to memories.
He hadn't paid much attention to the details about abilities.
Rissō Jakumetsu: "..."
Her blood pressure was genuinely rising.
What kind of master had she ended up with??
Under her irritated gaze, Satoru nodded:
"Well then, the testing ends here."
"Next, I'll show you this blade's true power."
Hearing this, though Rissō Jakumetsu strongly wanted to complain, she still focused somewhat.
She was genuinely curious how Satoru could possibly use this blade better than she, the Blade Spirit, could.
Then she saw Satoru close his eyes.