Bleach: From the moment I was invited by Squad Zero.

"Damn it!" Tenbei Shusuke grunted, his figure stabilizing several feet away, his right hand already drawing the Zanpakuto from his waist with lightning speed.

Eyes and intuition locked onto the direction from which the beam of light was coming, and anger and fighting spirit ignited instantly.

The opponent was indeed still nearby, and their first move was a deadly attack!

In the distance, the tall, slender figure of Lijie Barrow slowly emerged, the muzzle of his sniper rifle still retaining a trace of almost invisible white energy.

His golden vertical pupils peered through the crosshairs, indifferently "looking" at the barely scratched Tenbei Shusuke, a hint of extremely subtle surprise flashing in his eyes.

According to his calculations, this strike should have pierced the opponent's heart directly. However, the Grim Reaper's reaction speed and combat intuition were higher than he had anticipated, and he actually dodged the attack before he could launch a sneak attack.

"Since the sneak attack failed... let's just eliminate them directly."

Lijie Barrow coldly made a judgment in his mind: his primary target was Liuchuan, but eliminating a capable expeditionary force commander as a side objective to reduce variables was also part of his plan.

He slowly moved the muzzle of his gun, locking it back onto Amagai Shusuke.

"This time, I won't let you get away again!"

With a low roar, before the opponent could fire again, the sand beneath his feet exploded, and his figure transformed into a streak of crimson light, charging headlong towards the direction where Lijie Barrow was!

He knew that against such a long-range sniper, keeping distance was tantamount to suicide; he had to get close!

At almost the same time, inside the expeditionary force camp, Yanagawa was analyzing data from another area in the intelligence room, while Vice Captain Kibune was adjusting the camp's defenses.

At the same time, I sensed the brief but exceptionally intense spiritual pressure collision fluctuations coming from the east—

Amagai Shusuke's burst of spiritual pressure, and another unfamiliar spiritual pressure!

"It has appeared!" A flash of silver light appeared in Liu Chuan's eyes, and his figure disappeared from the spot in an instant.

"Captain has encountered the enemy!" Kibune's expression changed drastically. Without hesitation, he dashed out at full speed in the direction from which the fluctuations came, while simultaneously sending the highest alert signal to the camp.

In the sandy valley, the battle instantly intensified.

Facing the charging Tenbei Shusuke, Lijie Barrow remained expressionless, firing a series of shots with his sniper rifle!

Tenbei Shusuke, with his rich combat experience, used the Binding Technique No. 26 - Curved Light to conceal his figure and continuously used Shunpo, leaving behind several afterimages to interfere with the opponent's aim.

Although it was impossible to aim accurately, Litt Barrow continued firing.

Several pure white beams of light intertwined to form a net, blocking all angles from which Tenbei Xiuzhu could move forward or dodge. Each beam of light carried the characteristic of "penetrating all things," as if it could ignore all obstacles.

Tenbei Shusuke mastered the Shunpo technique to its fullest extent, daringly weaving through the gaps in the beams of light.

What alarmed him even more was that the opponent's attack seemed to have a "defense-ignoring" characteristic, and his spiritual pressure shield and defensive Kido were ineffective.

"This can't go on!" Tenbei Shusuke realized that he was at a disadvantage in a ranged attack, as his opponent's abilities were too strange.

A fierce glint flashed in his eyes, and he slammed his Zanpakuto into the sand in front of him. His hands moved rapidly, forming hand seals, and a powerful crimson spiritual pressure surged into the sky!

Bankai! Raikou: Karasu Shell!

boom--!!!

The intensely hot spiritual pressure of the flames erupted suddenly, and the form of the Zanpakuto in the Tenbei Embroidery Assistant underwent a dramatic change!

The blade lengthened, becoming wider and heavier, its entire body turning a dazzling crimson gold color, as if forged from flowing lava and lightning.

At the tip of the blade and the shield-shaped nozzle, crimson-gold lightning and fire blazed fiercely, radiating high temperatures and an aura of destruction.

"Burn away! Karmic Flame!" Tenbei Shusuke roared, wielding his blazing giant blade, from which several thick, crimson pillars of fire crackling with golden lightning shot out.

He blasted towards Lijie Barrow! At the same time, he swung his sword horizontally, and the shield-shaped nozzles also spewed out large fan-shaped flames, covering a large area, trying to restrict the opponent's movement.

However, faced with this terrifying lightning and fire capable of incinerating metal, Lijer Barrow simply raised his sniper rifle and aimed the muzzle at one of the thickest pillars of fire.

"All things are interconnected."

A pure white beam shot out, not colliding and exploding with the flames, but like a red-hot iron skewer piercing butter, easily penetrating the crimson-gold lightning fire containing violent spiritual pressure!

The pillar of fire was split in two, and the pure white beam of light continued to shoot toward Tenbei Shusuke without slowing down!

Immediately afterwards, several more beams of light shot out, "piercing" and disintegrating his remaining fire attacks one by one!

"What?!" Tenbei Xiuzhu's pupils shrank sharply, his heart filled with horror.

His own Bankai flames were so easily "penetrated"?!

The opponent's attack seemed to carry some kind of "absolute penetration" rule, ignoring energy form and defense.

He awkwardly used the Instant Step to dodge, his figure moving at high speed through the sand valley, leaving behind afterimages.

But Lizzie Barrow's sniping was even faster.

Although Amagai Shusuke used curved light to conceal his figure, he was still constantly grazed by the beams of light.

Soon, he had several more wounds on his body, his robes were stained with blood, his breathing became heavy, and his spiritual pressure was being rapidly depleted.

"Damn it... what kind of ability is this?!" Tenbei Shusuke gritted his teeth and persevered, but the disadvantage became more and more obvious.

He could hardly defend effectively against the opponent's attacks, while his own attacks posed no real threat to the opponent, and he could not even get close.

Despair and resentment gnawed at his heart like venomous snakes.

The flames of revenge haven't even reached his enemy yet, so is he going to fall in Hueco Mundo, at the hands of this inexplicable Quincy? No! He still has... he still has one last resort!

A flash of mad determination crossed his eyes, and Tenbei Shusuke suddenly retreated, putting some distance between himself and Lijie Barrow.

His left hand swiftly reached into his robes and pulled out an object wrapped in a special spiritual cloth—it was the strange Mo Yao Blade!

scoff!

The curtain was torn open, revealing the sinister blade, purplish-black in color, covered with writhing patterns and a dark red "core".

Chapter 77 Desperate Situation

Without hesitation, Tenbei Shusuke gripped the Thunderfire Blade Shell tightly with his right hand, while his left hand suddenly seized the hilt of the Baku Blade!

"Ughhhhhh!!!"

The moment he gripped the hilt of the knife, Amagai Shusuke let out a low growl that was a mixture of pain and pleasure.

The tapir-shaped blade, as if alive, instantly wrapped its purplish-black tentacles and suckers around his left arm, frantically sucking away his spiritual pressure!

He felt his power surge forth like a floodgate being opened, greedily devoured by the dark red "core".

But at the same time, an unprecedented, violent and strange power also flowed from the blade and into his limbs and bones!

Some kind of twisted "sublimation" seemed to have occurred within his body; the white of his left eye instantly became bloodshot, and the blood vessels on the left side of his cheek also bulged and turned black in a strange way.

"Oh?" In the distance, for the first time, a glint of "interest" appeared in Lijie Barrow's golden vertical pupils.

He stopped firing continuously, tilted his head slightly, and examined the strange weapon in the hands of the Tenbei Embroidery Assistant that was completely different from the Zanpakuto, as well as the spiritual pressure on the other party that had suddenly become chaotic, powerful, yet unstable.

"Bleach... besides Zanpakuto, they actually have such interesting 'toys'?"

"Damn it...feel...this power!!" Tenbei Shusuke's voice was hoarse, filled with pain and madness.

He wielded the Mo Yao Blade with his left hand, unleashing a twisted, purplish-black blade of light composed of chaotic spiritual particles.

Mixed with the remaining flames of the Thunderfire Blaze Shell in his right hand, several bizarre and terrifying combined attacks were formed and blasted towards Lijie Barrow!

The power and speed of this attack far exceeded his previous use of Bankai!

Lijer Barrow's eyes narrowed slightly, and he raised his gun to fire again.

The pure white beam collided with the attack, which was a mixture of purple, black, and crimson gold.

This time, the beam still carried most of the energy.

Taking advantage of this brief opening, Tenbei Shusuke frantically closed the distance, brandishing his twin swords and launching a fierce close-quarters attack!

With the blessing of the Baku Yao Blade's evil power, his speed, strength, and the unpredictability of his attacks were greatly enhanced.

For a time, he was evenly matched with Lijer Barrow, forcing the latter to occasionally parry with the gun or make small movements to dodge.

However, the price of the Tapir Blade is terrifying.

Shortly after the battle began, Tenbei Shusuke felt a strong wave of weakness and dizziness wash over him, as if his soul was being sucked away by the greedy "core" in his left hand.

The tentacles wrapped around his left arm tightened like iron hoops, bringing a tearing pain and a cold numbness.

His consciousness began to blur, his vision went black, and his movements became distorted.

“That’s it.” Lijie Barrow keenly sensed that his opponent’s condition was rapidly declining.

His interest waned slightly in his golden vertical pupils, and he regained absolute calm and precision.

However, at that moment, Lijer Barrow's movements abruptly stopped.

He seemed to sense something, and his eyes suddenly turned to the distance, where two spiritual pressures were rapidly approaching!

One of them was the spiritual pressure of his primary target on this trip—the Zero Division's Yanagawa! The other one should be the vice-captain of the expeditionary force.

"Has the support arrived...? It's a bit faster than expected."

Lijie Barrow weighed the options in his mind in an instant.

Continuing to entangle with this captain of death, who is in a bizarre state and about to be devoured by the evil weapon in his hand, is unnecessary and may even affect subsequent plans.

He decisively holstered his gun without any hesitation, and his figure disappeared into the distance like a ghost.

"Cough...!" Tenbei Xiuzhu's strong breath suddenly gave way, her knees buckled, and she knelt on the sand.

The light of Thunderfire Blaze Shell quickly dimmed and dissipated, returning to its original shallow form.

The tapir blade in his left hand seemed to have temporarily stopped moving due to the near depletion of its host's spiritual pressure. The writhing tentacles slowly loosened, and the dark red "core" light dimmed.

But the blade remained coldly attached to his hand, as if waiting for its next "feeding".

He was breathing heavily, his body covered in blood, and his left arm was throbbing with excruciating pain and feeling cold and numb, as if his marrow had been drained. His vision blurred, and he almost fainted.

Just a dozen breaths later, two whooshing sounds rushed over, and Yanagawa and Kibune landed in the sand valley almost simultaneously.

"Captain!" When Kibune saw the terrible state of Amagai Shusuke, his face turned pale. He immediately rushed forward and frantically pulled out first aid medicine and spirit bandages.

Liu Chuan did not approach immediately. His sharp gaze swept across the battlefield—the scorched marks on the ground, the lingering Quincy spiritual pressure in the air.

And the strange, purplish-black weapon beside Amagai Shusuke that exuded an ominous aura.

His gaze lingered on the Mo Yao knife for a moment, his brow furrowing almost imperceptibly, but he didn't ask any further questions.

Tenbei Shusuke struggled to raise his hand and pointed in the direction where Lijie Barrow had disappeared, his voice weak and feeble:

"The attacker... just left. Be careful of his attack... it can penetrate anything..."