Facing this Soul Society noble who had just killed the former Eighth Division instructor and was at the height of his fame, Fujimori showed no fear whatsoever.
Hearing his question, the Dragon King tilted his head and coldly smiled:
"I am Kuriyashiki Ryūma!"
"Pleased to meet you!"
Nearby, hearing his name, student Ryūma raised his head, staring blankly at Fujimiya.
Huh?
Could you maybe not involve me?
Shihōin Senjitsu laughed heartily: "Good spirit! No wonder you could defeat this little Yataka."
"Brother Senjitsu..." the severely wounded Shiba Yataka lay on the ground, his face showing quite a bit of guilt.
"Don't worry," Shihōin Senjitsu turned his head, smiling at him: "With me here, you're safe."
Before Shiba Yataka could say anything more, Shihōin Senjitsu turned back, his gaze sweeping over Fujimori a few times, raising his chin slightly:
"Aren't you going to attack?"
He grinned, his smile somewhat wild: "If you don't move now, you won't get another chance."
Fujimiya's gaze toward him clearly carried a hint of seriousness.
Calm and collected, fully focused.
"You're not worthy."
With just this one sentence, Shihōin Senjitsu fell silent.
He looked calmly at Fujimiya.
The atmosphere in the hall fell into a wordless stillness.
"Whoosh."
Abruptly, Shihōin Senjitsu's form vanished from where he stood, without the slightest dust rising from his feet.
When he reappeared, he was already at arm's length.
His black fingertip was merely three centimeters from Fujimiya's eyeball.
Fast! Extremely fast!
This was... the fastest man in Soul Society!
However, the moment Shihōin Senjitsu's arm entered within one meter of him, the world in Fujimiya's eyes subtly changed.
Air, dust, sound, light.
Everything his vision could capture seemed to dim and freeze within that short distance. All background in his eyes became blurred black and white.
Only Shihōin Senjitsu himself retained some indescribable, faint color.
At this moment, Fujimiya's brain processing speed seemed to accelerate to its limit.
All dynamic existences appeared dozens of times slower in his eyes.
At the same time, his body was accelerated to the ultimate limit that his spirit particles could endure.
[Bond Trait·Uninjured Circle]
[Within a one-meter radius around your body, forms the highest neurological reflex instinct possible under your body's physical limits]
"Slash—"
The sword light streaked through the air with a clear tearing sound. A faint white trace remained along the trajectory where the blade passed—the mark left by sword pressure that had reached extreme sharpness.
Shihōin Senjitsu widened his eyes, maintaining a hand-retracting posture.
Just a moment earlier, his wrist had almost been severed by that slash.
Fujimiya's eyes were bloodshot, his pupils engorged.
The clear, sharp killing intent in his gaze felt like a blade piercing Shihōin Senjitsu's heart.
Making him involuntarily reveal a bloody smile.
"I underestimated you—!!"
The next second, the blade in his hand suddenly unsheathed.
The battle between two gunslingers escalated directly from the moment they drew their swords to white-hot intensity.
The ultra-high-speed sword swings made the air between them incredibly viscous. Countless swings formed arcs in their vision that were difficult to distinguish, thickening into a fog-like color as they multiplied.
The intense, aggressive sound of blade collisions formed an extremely harsh metal scraping noise through countless strikes, almost becoming one continuous sound. Even Kuriyashiki Ryūma, merely listening nearby, felt nauseous in his chest.
"Clang clang clang clang clang clang—!!!"
The continuously erupting sparks bundled into lines, constantly flying through the air, swept up by even faster flowing air, continuously dispersing in all directions.
Just the aftershocks from their sword collisions sent dust waves rippling outward. The ground, vibrating at ultra-high speed, moved like ocean waves, one after another flowing toward the distance.
The spiritual pressure both sides unconsciously released and leaked formed pillars shooting skyward, completely destroying the already dilapidated Asakaedo family hall.
The pillars of spiritual pressure light could be clearly seen even from miles away.
The terrifying spiritual pressure that shook without pause gave Soul Reapers standing nearby a feeling of complete powerlessness.
Even though Kuriyashiki Ryūma stood aside, he could only stare blankly.
There was absolutely no room for him to intervene.
Until Fujimiya's mouth suddenly exploded with a fierce shout, his bloodred eyes seeming to have threads of flowing spiritual light burning within:
"First Form - Steel-Breaking Strike!"
Spiritual pressure and will, compressed to the extreme, fused to their peak in an instant, releasing from the center of his blade.
Like lightning streaking across the night sky.
"Boom—!!!"
The spiritual pressure and will contained in the blade edge reached ultimate sharpness. Even Shihōin Senjitsu wouldn't risk directly receiving this strike that, in some sense, touched the pinnacle. He instantly disappeared from Fujimiya's front.
The sword pressure, surging and roaring like a flood, flowed endlessly through the gap Shihōin Senjitsu had vacated, directly toward the stone wall behind him.
This one slash, brilliant and dazzling like a ribbon, directly penetrated everything behind him. Whether debris, pillars, walls, or roads, nothing could stop this strike that could easily cut through an Arrancar's steel-like body. Supported by explosively powerful spiritual pressure, it became a beam of light that cleared everything within dozens of meters, leaving only a patch of still slightly smoking blackened earth.
In this brief gap, Fujimori realized that every inch of muscle in his body felt like it had reached the extreme of pain. His eyeballs throbbed with pain, and his chest rose high from deep inhalation.
Too fast! And too heavy!
Is this the true strength of the future "First Generation Captain"?
In those countless collisions just now, he could clearly feel each bone being hammered by countless heavy blows, his muscles feeling like they were being shredded.
Even his legs had sunk into the ground after countless exchanges.
He couldn't pull them out.
But even so, he could only defend and counterattack.
Yes.
There was absolutely no room to strike back.
However, corresponding to this was...
[Zanjutsu Bottleneck Period - Three Stages]
[Death battle in progress, Zanjutsu bottleneck breakthrough↑]
[Zanjutsu: Level 10↑]
[Shunpo: Level 8↑]
The continuous prompts from earlier made him unable to distinguish exactly how many times they had clashed, and he couldn't be bothered to care about what nonsense his little broken sword had been saying.
He only knew that when he stopped, his stats had each increased by one level.
Indeed, only life-or-death crises could truly mature a person?
"Exhilarating!"
He opened his mouth, and blood flowed out.
His eyes were completely bloodshot.
Being able to hold on until now was entirely due to the strong will provided by [Wall of Sighs].
Shiba Yataka and Kuriyashiki Ryūma both stared at this scene, seemingly transfixed by the shocking impact, momentarily speechless.
A Soul Reaper's battle is essentially a battle of spiritual pressure.
However, today they witnessed someone breaking this absolute rule with a sword in hand.
The internal shock was clearly not limited to just the two of them.
"Kuriyashiki Ryūma, right?"
Shihōin Senjitsu's gaze toward him had completely lost its earlier flippancy. His expression became increasingly excited: "Someone with your physical body who can fight me to this degree—you're the first!"
"Such resolute will—"
"I acknowledge you!"
"Ryūma!"
As he spoke, he thrust his Zanpakutō into the ground, struck his left fist into his right palm, gradually revealing a solemn expression.
"Next, let me defeat you with my full power!"
As he spoke, spirit light began to appear on Shihōin Senjitsu's arm markings, forming deep purple gauntlets resembling insect carapaces.
Heaven-Bestowed Armament Style - Thunder King Fist.
"Be careful now."
Shihōin Senjitsu's gauntlets clashed against each other, producing a series of crisp metallic chimes. He assumed the Shihōin-style fighting stance, for the first time in his life treating a "weaker opponent" with such seriousness.
"—You might die."