XX-level Hokage

Although Ichigo regained his power during training and continued to grow stronger in battles, he quickly rose to the level of a vice-captain.

But what's most fatal is always his fighting style; he has neither a signature move nor a flexible way to respond.

He squandered and wasted his top-tier talent and abilities. As a result, he was suppressed by Ikkaku Madarame.

However, there's nothing that can be done about it, since it hasn't been long since Ichigo gained his powers. And the fact that he decided to fight for someone is even more recent.

Before that, he had no idea that Rukia Kuchiki's unauthorized transfer of power to him was a serious crime that violated the rules.

He was simply living on the boundary between the ordinary and the extraordinary, on the line between humanity and death, simultaneously living the life of an ordinary high school student and a substitute Grim Reaper.

"Now, do you still think I'm joking?! Kid!!"

Amidst the storm of attacks, a maniacal smile appeared on Ichigo's face. His seemingly chaotic and violent offensive, however, perfectly suppressed Ichigo.

This bald man wasn't just acting impulsively and attacking randomly. He also knew that fighting required strategy and wisdom.

Ichigo did not respond, not because he did not want to, but because he was unable to.

The mere distraction caused by opening his mouth to answer was enough to severely damage him. But at that moment, an image suddenly flashed into his mind.

That was a sentence that Kisuke Urahara said to him when he regained the power of the Grim Reaper and was undergoing the so-called third training with Kisuke Urahara.

"Oh dear, just as I imagined, even now, Mr. Kurosaki, your Zanpakuto is still surprisingly large. Although its power is formidable,..."

That's the Tokishin World, after all. If he encounters a formidable opponent, even Mr. Kurosaki will have a headache.

The man in the wooden clogs brandished his small Zanpakuto and said jokingly,

"Alright, I'll teach you a trick. It's perfect for wielding this kind of large sword. Of course, whether you can learn it or not, Mr. Kurosaki, is not my responsibility."

~

And that's what Masami said to her.

[Ichigo, don't overthink it. Just grip your sword, swing it with all your might, and let your will guide you.] Then, back to the present.

Ichigo held firm against the onslaught of Madarame Ikkaku.

He used Zangetsu to block, but was knocked completely backward.

As Madarame Ikkaku caught up, he suddenly realized that Ichigo was not merely being pushed back; he was using that power to flip his body as he retreated.

As he closed in, a heavy sword strike suddenly came down! A striking, crimson slash mark was left in the air. "What?"

The reason Ikkaku Madarame was able to so easily and forcefully suppress Ichigo was because he took advantage of Ichigo's brute strength and inability to use any techniques. Even though Ichigo's strength could continuously increase during the battle, growing stronger by coordinating with his opponent's efforts.

As long as the power remains unchanged and the techniques are used more flexibly, Ichigo's passive ability will not be triggered, thus completely suppressing him.

In order to guard against Ichigo's intuition that seemed to be able to quickly adapt to the opponent's attacks, he immediately switched modes before Ichigo got used to it.

Unlike things that are innate, skills are difficult to grasp in just one or two battles. Without someone to teach you, it's impossible to suddenly understand them in battle.

"That is to say—" With a single strike, Ichigo landed on the ground and simultaneously swung Zangetsu diagonally from below to above.

A conspicuous slash mark was left in the air. Ichigo still did not respond.

It was simply because he was trying his best to recall the move that Urahara Kisuke had used to tease him at the time, and what Mashiro had said to him.

He tried his best to replicate that move on himself. He unleashed it!

Because when you first see this move, it's really hard to think of it as a proper and effective technique.

He channeled his spiritual pressure into the front half of Zangetsu; it was less a swing of the sword and more a movement of the wrist. A lightning-fast cross strike severed the spear Madarame Ikkaku had used to shield himself, landing mercilessly on his body. These two strikes left their final marks.

A message lingered in the air: "Everyday, District One, School One!" After all...

What decent person uses fancy moves to write characters? Especially not the character for "fierce" (凶)!!

Blue and white lightning, following the network of the demonic path, pierced through Ishida Uryu's body in an instant.

Although he hated his background, Shi Youyulong, who came from a family of doctors, knew that if he were hit by high voltage electricity, even if there were no obvious injuries on the outside of his body, his body would definitely not be able to withstand it.

This can only be described as a stroke of luck amidst misfortune; a mere level eleven of demonic cultivation is still far from being comparable to high-voltage electricity.

Or rather, the lightning formed by the demonic path is not a simple physical phenomenon, but a special ability composed of spiritual particles.

Having transformed into a spirit using a special device and gaining the ability to control spiritual particles, Ishida Uryu possessed a certain degree of magic resistance, but also subconsciously resisted.

It was as if some unseen force within his body was helping him resist the injury that pierced through his entire body.

Despite the meticulously planned triple attack of the demonic arts, he was not decisively rendered incapacitated and made a laughingstock by the Quincy. Instead, he only felt a slight numbness in his body due to the effects of the lightning.

"ended."

They were unaware of what was happening inside Ishida Uryu's body.

Feeling almost certain, Ayasegawa Yumichika, who had grabbed Ishida Uryu, landed in front of him. He spoke with considerable grace, or rather, elegance, as if he were quite refined.

"You don't need to be discouraged. Not having to draw your sword is actually a good thing for you. Just obediently submitting to your command is beneficial for both of us. Continuing to cause trouble will only complicate matters and make the consequences more severe for you."

"Fighting against the Grim Reaper, and not even managing to force him to draw his sword, I'd rather die on the spot." Shi Youyu said through gritted teeth, his eyes fixed on Segawa Yumichika.

"Oh? You still have the strength to speak? That's impressive." Yumichika Segawa raised an eyebrow in surprise.

However, upon hearing what Ishida Uryu said, he shook his head with a hint of regret, arms crossed.

"Life is so precious, it's not a good thing to talk about death lightly. That's why it's even more pathetic to seek death on a whim." "It really is the unique leisure of the victors."

"I don't deny that. I don't particularly like Ichika's fighting style, but there's one thing I do agree with: the victor can thoroughly humiliate the loser. If you finally achieve victory but don't even bother to humiliate your opponent, what's the point of winning?"

"Are you really from the Eleventh Division?"

Before entering Seireitei, Shiba Ganju briefly explained the battle situation of the Gotei 13 to them.

Even Ishida Uryu knew that the 11th Division was a combat division within the Gotei 13. And when referring to the 11th Division, Shiba Ganju used the adjective "cleaver team."

Chapter 92: Quincy and Death God

However, the situation before him left Ishida Uryu completely baffled as to how it could be connected to the term "cleaver team." Your cleavers...

Instead of focusing on fighting, the team uses flashy and elegant Kido techniques to play mind games, right?

Compared to Segawa Yumichika in front of him, Madara Ichikaku, who was quick to resort to force at the slightest provocation, seemed more like a member of the "easy target squad." "Well..."

Upon hearing this, Ayasegawa Yumichika seemed to grasp the frustration and confusion in Ishida Uryu's words, and also showed a bit of embarrassment.

He twirled his hair between his fingers, looking at it with a slightly awkward expression, and said, "There are many complicated reasons for this."

Ayasegawa Yumichika didn't know what the 11th Division was like before, but he knew what the 11th Division that Kenpachi Zaraki took over from the previous Kenpachi was like.

However, when comparing it to history, it should be noted that the Eleventh Division back then was not at the level it is now.

So why did it turn out this way? First of all, Kenpachi Zaraki can be said to be a qualified captain, but he is definitely not a qualified manager. He is the best at leading the charge and killing enemies, the second best at hogging kills, but the worst at managing a squad.

In general, the responsibility of managing the division would fall on the vice-captain, but the vice-captain of the 11th Division... so continuing the ranking, it would be the third seat.

Even though Yumichika Ayasegawa didn't want to speak ill of someone for personal reasons, objectively speaking, he had to admit that this person could be considered a younger version of Kenpachi Zaraki.

Continuing on, there are four seats.

Oh, on a side note, the reason Ayasegawa Yumichika is the fifth seat is not because he can only be the fifth seat, but because he doesn't want to be the fourth seat.

The third seat was taken by Madara, and the fourth seat sounded too bad, so he became the fifth seat. "Although I don't dislike the current Eleventh Division."

Seemingly wanting to avoid a sensitive topic, Ayasegawa Yumichika did not intend to continue on this subject. He abruptly interrupted the conversation.

"Okay, that's enough of the conversation. I don't really dislike talking to you."

"Ah, yes, I don't dislike chatting with you, but it really is about time to end this."

The spirit bow, which had disappeared from Ishida Uryu's hands, suddenly unfolded as he raised his hand! He aimed the spirit bow at Ayase Gawa Yumichika.

Yumichika Segawa's Kido didn't work as well as he'd imagined. But Uryu Ishida was indeed paralyzed and unable to move freely.

Even when fully prepared, fighting against Yumichika Ayasegawa was somewhat difficult, let alone when his body was paralyzed. To start a battle rashly would be tantamount to suicide.

When Ishida Uryu realized that Ayasegawa Yumichika didn't seem to have much killing intent and was only fighting to stop him, he immediately tried to talk to Yumichika.

Surprisingly, Yumichika Segawa actually started chatting with him.

This can be seen as a kind of arrogance, or composure, of Ayasegawa Yumichika.

On the other hand, it can also be explained that Ayasegawa Yumichika never took fighting him seriously from the beginning.

In short, by using dialogue to buy time, Ishida Uryu finally broke free from his paralysis and regained his ability to act freely.

He aimed his bow at Ayasegawa Yumichika, and with a swift draw, a spirit arrow gleaming with a blue-white light appeared in the air. Ayasegawa Yumichika's pupils constricted sharply.

Unlike before, when he kept changing his position, he was now standing directly in front of Ishida Uryu, swaggering around. The distance between them was negligible given the speed of the Spirit Arrow.

Realizing this, Ayasegawa Yumichika reached out without hesitation. "Binding Spell Thirty-Nine Circle Gate!"

The light of the Kido flashed, forming a circular protective shield in front of Ayasegawa Yumichika at an extremely fast speed. In this critical moment, he used the Kido without hesitation, and at this speed no less.

Perhaps for Yumichika Ayasegawa, swords were not his true fighting style, but merely a finishing move.

His true skill wasn't wielding a powerful sword, but rather his masterful use of demonic arts. Even his constant emphasis on words was merely a means to demoralize his opponents.

If this is true, then Ishida Uryu won't have lost unjustly. Ishida Uryu released his grip.

Ultimately, combat boils down to this: the relative strengths and weakness are determined from the very beginning, and the outcome is something that cannot be changed during the battle.

However, if that were the case, simply making the difference in strength between the two sides clear from the beginning would suffice, and the weaker side could simply concede defeat. But there are always examples of the weaker side winning; that's the difference.

Whether it's victory or defeat, life or death, sometimes it all ends in that brief moment. The taut bowstring propelled the arrow of light out at lightning speed.

With a deafening roar, a streak of blue and white light ripped through the sky! "What!?"

That's right. Ishida Uryu secretly gathered his strength, and the arrow he was about to unleash was not aimed at Ayasegawa Yumichika. Just before it was launched, he pointed his spirit bow at the sky.

Then, in the next instant, about twenty light arrows rained down from the sky.

He fell directly towards Ayasegawa Yumichika from above. This was because Ishida Uryu had already anticipated Ayasegawa's arrival.

Yumichika Segawa would conduct a direct defense, which is why he adopted a retreating attack strategy.

Is the so-called shortest path not necessarily the fastest path? But then Yumichika Ayasegawa noticed something.

That is, the arrows of light falling towards him were not aimed at him; the falling arrows of light were arranged in a circle with him as the center, as precise as if drawn with a compass.

None of the arrows were aimed directly at him; instead, they were designed to trap him within the center of the arrows of light. [I don't dislike chatting with you either.]

Ishida Uryu's words echoed in his mind. So that's what he meant!

The arrow of light blocked all of Ayasegawa Yumichika's planned escape routes, and also blocked all his paths of action. It was like a cage trapping its prey.

Moreover, because the battle was taking place on a building, the falling arrows tore through the ground, and when these arrows were arranged in a circle...