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Chapter 1174 Ryougi Mana's Zanpakuto

That knife...

When did it appear?

No, now is not the time to think about that—

Kanzaki Kaori took a deep breath, gripping the blade tightly in her hand. She was ready to step into the ten-meter range.

For that child's sake, she had to enter Academy City, no matter what!

"Seven Flashes—"

Calling it "Seven Flashes" is no longer accurate, as two of the steel wires have already broken.

In this situation, the difficulty of constructing a 'three-dimensional magic circle' increases exponentially. It can be said that she was already at a disadvantage before the battle even began, without realizing it.

However, the next instant—

The two yin-yang symbols before her eyes disappeared.

In the final moment before disappearing, all she could see was the girl closing her eyes.

"What—?" Kanzaki Kaori was so surprised that she didn't have time to say anything when someone suddenly barged into her blind spot.

"Kanzaki—watch out!"

A muffled voice came from behind me; it must be Stiyl, but—it was too late.

The blade made contact with her skin, and a bloody gash appeared on her shoulder.

Chi-

Blood stained her white T-shirt; she had paid the price for what started as a probing attack.

"What... happened?"

“Who knows…” Ryougi Mana, who still had her eyes closed, paused for a moment, then took out two earplugs from her pocket and said, “It’s not too late to leave now. If I wear these, I won’t be able to hear you even if you beg for mercy.”

"I refuse. I must bring you back no matter what—"

"Is that so... What a pity." Ryougi Mana put on her earplugs.

Ryougi Kazumi, who was watching from the side, was actually ready to intervene, not to help Ryougi Mana, but to stop her.

It should be said that she judged Kanzaki Kaori to be very strong, and that simply closing her eyes wouldn't be enough to defeat her... Indeed, she had already cut into Kanzaki's blind spot, but only suffered a tiny injury, which didn't even affect Kanzaki's sword swings. At the crucial moment, Kanzaki managed to dodge slightly.

Ryougi Mana's Zanpakuto is called 'Straight Cut'.

After liberation, it was a blue blade with a handle 1.5 meters long.

At this point, it might not be appropriate to mention someone who is unlikely to be encountered, but if Ryougi Kazuya were to speak, he would naturally think of that person—Aizen Sousuke—when mentioning Ryougi Mana's abilities.

His ability is control over his five senses.

Once you fall for his illusions, it's forever—

However, his Zanpakuto was completely countered by Ryougi Mana.

Because her Zanpakuto's ability is—Intuition.

Enhanced intuition... that's almost like futurism or future prediction.

When faced with an attack, she uses her intuition to determine how to dodge it, and when attacked, her intuition determines how to hit the target.

The more she shuts off her other five senses, the stronger her intuition becomes.

Previously, simply blocking her vision caused such damage to Kanzaki Kaori, although... this was also because she was overconfident and completely failed to utilize her power as the ninth saint of this world. However, next, she blocked her hearing.

She can also have a stand-in enter her body to shut down the nerves that sense taste and smell.

All that remained was her sense of touch; this was the strongest fighting form she had ever used in her previous sparring matches with herself and her style.

She rarely shuts down her sense of touch.

after all...

Even with a sixth sense, a space devoid of the other five senses is still too dark.

Even her sense of touch was shut down. She only tried it once before giving up. According to Ryougi and Mi's understanding... at that time, she would be several times more sensitive than before, and she would be able to clearly judge 'future that is useful to her' simply by relying on intuition.

Even Ryougi and Mi were injured by her sword at that time.

Her Zanpakuto has the ability to push herself to her limits while simultaneously driving her enemies into a desperate situation.

However, even such a Zanpakuto is not without its weaknesses, which lie in the instant the Zanpakuto is unleashed.

If she didn't hear the low hum of the Zanpakuto, it would escape her sensory range...

In other words...

If someone other than Kanzaki Kaori or Stiyl were to enter the battlefield at this moment and remain unharmed, they could easily defeat Ryougi Mana, who is neither visible nor audible at this time.

Of course, this possibility is also very low. It's not that the possibility of other people stepping onto the battlefield is low, but rather that the possibility of them not being discovered is low.

She was able to determine the movements of Kanzaki Kaori and Stiyl, the two people who heard the voice, meaning that she not only had to deceive Ryougi Mana, but also these two people.

Furthermore... it would be wrong to think that one cannot take action simply because one cannot see or hear.

Having shut down her senses for a long time, the Two Elements Manas has become very sensitive to touch, able to detect even the slightest changes in the blade in her hand and the subtle shifts in the air.

How can one sneak up next to someone without disturbing the wind?

Silk--

boom----!

The atmosphere split open the next moment.

It wasn't because of Ryougi Mana, but because of Kanzaki Kaori. At that moment, the Amakusa-style saint finally understood one thing—the person in front of him was not someone he could defeat with a few small skirmishes; he had to treat him as a 'saint'.

In an instant, her speed broke the speed of sound.

The sounds stopped as a result.

However, Ryougi Mana herself did not determine Kanzaki Kaori's location through sound, but rather through intuition—

"Only Flash—!"

The sonic boom from the high pressure spread outwards.

However, by this time, Kanzaki's attack had already ended, and she had even sheathed her sword, but—

Her attack missed everything; Ryougi Mana, who should have been standing there, vanished.

It appeared in mid-air.

It just so happens that this is another blind spot for her, except—

Forced twisting of her body caused ligament damage, and having anticipated such an attack, Kanzaki once again swung her attack at Ryougi Mana's side—

"Only Flash—"

She was in mid-air and couldn't dodge again. Moreover, if she were hit at such close range, the girl would be dead. So, it was better to hit her from the side and use the shockwave to knock her away.

Kanzaki unleashed her attack while pondering this.

however--

wrong.

Even though it was in the air, with its feet in mid-air, Ryougi Mana still managed to move successfully.

Instant Step —

In an instant, Ryougi Mana appeared beside Kanzaki Kaori, the blade appearing before her neck—

Throughout the entire process, from the moment Kanzaki began fighting with all her might until now—not a single second has passed.

Chapter 1175 Battle Results

"Gurgle—"

Looking at the blade resting on her neck, Kanzaki Kaori swallowed hard.

Just now, I was unable to turn around.

Because if I force another attack, I'll be like a twisted rope, breaking my own back.

Every attack was launched from a place that was difficult for them to reach.

If that blade had been just a little further forward, she would have lost—no, she would have died.

This was also a misjudgment on her part; she hadn't expected that the girl could still move around in such a place.

"Hmm..." Ryougi Mana opened one eye, smiled at Kanzaki Kaori, then blinked, bounced back twice, and took out her earplugs, saying with a smile, "Okay~ then the battle is over~"

"It's... over? But I haven't given up the fight yet—"

"No, you won." Ryougi Suona pointed to her shoulder, where her clothes were torn and the area was slightly red and chafed, but it had healed by the time she looked over.

“I was wondering why this child told me that going in a certain direction would lead to ‘winning’. Turns out, he knew you would hold back… I’m sorry, you were holding back but I was still so serious… Even in this situation, you still held back, afraid of hurting me. You’re a good person.”

With that, Ryougi Muna clapped her hands: "Alright, come back, everyone~"

"Hmm?" Kanzaki Kaori was puzzled when she uncontrollably opened her mouth, and countless 'grains of sand' flew out. Stiyl did the same on the other side, but even more flew out.

"What... I lost right from the start..." Watching the sand grains gather around her, vaguely forming a human shape before disappearing, Kanzaki Kaori touched her stomach, seemingly unaffected...

It turns out that her body had been invaded from the very beginning, without her realizing it.

"We lost...Stiyl."

"Ah, I see..." Stiyl's words were still slurred, and his mouth hurt as he spoke, but he still managed to get the words out: "So, what do we do next? Go back...?"

"Wait a minute." Ryougi Mana raised her hand as if to attract their attention, and said, "You don't need to leave in a hurry."

"Hmm? What's wrong?" Stiyl took out a cigarette, put it in his mouth, but as soon as he put it down, he felt a sharp pain and dropped it to the ground. Feeling extremely unlucky, he said, "Or did you change your mind after the battle just now and agree to come with us?"

No, nothing has changed.

"Then what did you say..." Stiyl felt a little headache coming on.