"Hadō #73, Sōren Sōkatsui."
Fushiguro Toji knew exactly what Tōsen Kaname was planning.
The moment the other man moved, Toji immediately took action, flashing in front of Tōsen and swinging Yūun viciously.
He was blocked again by the-ever alert Tōsen, who was sent flying by the immense force from Yūun.
But the Kidō in Tōsen's hand was already prepared.
Two eerie blue fireballs, one after the other, shot toward Fushiguro Toji.
Seeing this, Toji quickly aborted the attack he was preparing. He scraped past the two scorching Kidō blasts, dodging just in time.
"Whew, that was close."
Exhaling, a slight smile hung on Toji's face.
Facing this kind of Kidō attack for the second time, his evasive movements were clearly much more practiced.
The Heavenly Pact didn't just give his body immense strength.
It was a comprehensive enhancement of all his abilities. His five senses, his movement speed, his brain's reaction time—all were far beyond those of an ordinary person.
He could react in time to these fatal attacks and successfully dodge them.
Toji looked at the blind man in the distance, sighing inwardly.
He knew it. This new job of his was not as easy as it looked.
He had just arrived in Soul Society and was already in a life-or-death battle. He had really found himself a dangerous line of work.
'But, I'm a man who honors a contract. Take the money, eliminate the problem.'
At this thought, the expression on Fushiguro Toji's face instantly grew heavy.
Kenma watched the two battles on the street ahead.
Shisui and Ichimaru Gin were trading blows, evenly matched.
Toji and Tōsen Kaname—one with a powerful physique and a master of close combat, the other proficient in all four Shinigami arts—had also fallen into a temporary stalemate.
Retracting his gaze, Kenma looked at Aizen opposite him.
Aizen was just watching the show, as if it had nothing to do with him, his posture calm.
"Sousuke, your two subordinates are tied up."
"What, you're still not making a move yourself?"
Kenma planted Muramasa into the ground and drew the greatsword from his waist.
This greatsword was similar in length to a standard Asauchi, but its blade was wide, a full three adult fingers across. The handguard was a fluffy mass. It clearly was no ordinary item.
After gripping it, Kenma swung it to his side.
Boom!
A tremendous force was flung from the blade. The sword pressure erupted, directly blasting away a large swath of the brick street and solid walls behind him.
Rubble flew, and dust filled the air, only to be blown away by the remnants of the sword pressure.
With just a casual swing, everything behind him—buildings, walls, the ground—had vanished, leaving only an empty space.
Kenma paid no attention to the destruction he had caused with a casual swing, instead looking at the greatsword in his hand.
'It feels pretty good.'
This sword was named the Soul-Releasing Sword. It was one of the four weapons Fushiguro Toji had brought from his previous world.
Kenma's Zanpakutō was left at the Shihoin estate, so he had taken this sword as his weapon.
A thread, visible only to him, extended from his back, all the way to his Zanpakutō, Kiritsugu, on his desk far away in the Shihoin estate.
Even if Kenma didn't release his Zanpakutō, the thread connecting him to a once-linked object would not break.
Borrowing this thread, Kenma drew over his Zanpakutō's ability.
He softly chanted the Zanpakutō's release command.
"Cut them down, Kiritsugu."
A cold light flowed over the wide blade, emitting a chilling aura.
In the distance, Aizen also pulled his gaze away from the two battles below. He watched Kenma, whose spiritual pressure was now erupting, and his eyes couldn't help but narrow.
'Spiritual pressure level... only that of a vice-captain. Not worth mentioning.'
'It's just that the weapon in his hand... doesn't look like a Zanpakutō.'
Back in the Academy, Aizen had seen this senior's sword release.
The external manifestation was merely a white glow on the blade.
The Shikai ability was just to make the blade sharper.
If he wasn't hiding anything, it was utterly insignificant.
A smile hung on the corner of Aizen's mouth.
'It seems this weapon is a divine treasure he took from the Shihoin family.'
'But even with a Shihoin divine treasure, the gap in power can't be bridged by such petty tricks.'
'Coincidentally, my strength is a bit higher than that of ordinary Shinigami captains.'
"Please rest assured, Senior. This won't waste much of your time."
As he spoke, Aizen drew the Zanpakutō from his waist, held it in one hand, and swung it casually at his side.
As he swung, his entire figure had already vanished from the spot.
Seeing this, Kenma's eyes narrowed slightly.
But his expression showed no panic. He raised the sharp blade in his hand, bringing it up to his side.
Clang!
A crisp sound of impact rang out. On top of the greatsword, another blade had appeared, blocking it.
And the person holding this blade was, of course, Aizen Sousuke.
No, it was Kenma who had blocked Aizen's attack.
In that brief instant, Aizen had crossed such a long distance and appeared in front of Kenma.
'So fast.'
Kenma was inwardly astonished.
Although he had always held a high estimation of Aizen from this period, the power Aizen was displaying still far exceeded his expectations.
'As expected of that old schemer Aizen. He's impressive.'
'But I'm no pushover either.'
"Ha!"
With a shout, Kenma put strength into his hands, flinging Aizen, blade and all, backward.
Aizen flew back, landing gracefully on the ground.
Sensing the enormous spiritual pressure coming from his opponent, Aizen's eyes widened slightly. His face showed no surprise, but rather a kind of "as-expected" sigh.
"Senior, you are despicable. To think you were hiding such massive spiritual pressure."
"To erupt to the level of a Second-Class Rei'i in an instant... How surprising."
Although the spiritual pressure of the man before him couldn't compare to his, it had truly exceeded his expectations.
According to his predictions, even if his senior was hiding something, his spiritual pressure should have been at the level of an ordinary captain at best.
But the spiritual pressure he was displaying now... as far as Aizen knew, in the entire Seireitei, it was probably second to only a handful of people.
And even then, it was still unknown if this was Kenma's full strength.
'Just as I thought... things are getting interesting.'
"Sousuke, aren't you hiding yours as well?"
Kenma raised his hand, extended his finger, and pointed at Aizen's Zanpakutō.
"You underestimated me before."
"And you underestimated my ability even more."
Following Kenma's gesture, Aizen was about to look down when a crisp shattering sound suddenly rang out.
Pak!
The sound was quiet, but it made Aizen's expression grow even more surprised.
On the blade of his Kyōka Suigetsu, at the exact point of impact, a nick had appeared.
The nick wasn't large, but it was extremely deep, almost reaching the halfway point of the blade's width.
"My Zanpakutō... actually..."
'No, the sword isn't what's important.'
Although the quality of Kyōka Suigetsu was superior, it was no different from an ordinary Zanpakutō; they all started as standard, mass-produced Asauchi.
What was important was his spiritual pressure.
Supported by his own incomparably massive spiritual pressure, even if the opponent had a Second-Class Rei'i, it was impossible for them to chip his Zanpakutō to this extent so easily.
'It's the special ability of that sword!'
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