Marvel: The Imposter Inventor

Chapter 396 Counterfeit Cicada
"Holy crap, are they really going to fight Captain Mask?!"

Feeling the spiritual pressure emanating from 'Hirako Shinji' opposite him, Luca cursed inwardly.

In reality, the strength he has shown in Soul Society is at least close to that of a vice-captain level genius. In addition, with the gadgets he can use at will, most vice-captains are no match for him.

Not to mention that Luca secretly harbors powerful trump cards such as 'Bankai' and 'Dragon Transformation'.

If we're talking about fighting without restraint, he wouldn't be afraid at all, even if he were to face most of the captains head-on.

But right now, with his true trump card not to be used rashly, he has to face Hirako Shinji, who is among the top captains!

Although they had already determined that the person in front of them was just an imposter created by Aizen's Kyoka Suigetsu ability.

Since Aizen had chosen such an 'opponent' for him, he couldn't possibly let his true strength be displayed too poorly, otherwise he wouldn't be able to withstand Hirako Shinji's disguise.

This means that Luca is now truly facing off against a captain-level opponent in a one-on-one battle as the vice-captain.

Moreover, Luca, as a 'logistics staff member,' has far less combat experience than these old monsters in Soul Society who live for hundreds of years.

Think back to the scene in the original work where Renji Abarai first fought Byakuya Kuchiki; it was a complete and utter crushing defeat.

'No! It's the fake Hirako who's even more terrifying! No matter how strong I display, as long as I can't surpass Aizen, this Hirako will inevitably crush me!'

'Damn, this is hopeless! Aizen was just trying to do me a favor anyway, I'll just give up after a quick fight!'

After clarifying his strategy for the upcoming battle, Luca's agitated mind calmed down a bit.

But the next moment.

"Shu~"

The figure of 'Hirako Shinji', whose momentum had reached its peak in the distance, suddenly disappeared.

Without any prior warning, he instantly appeared in front of Luca and delivered a fatal blow.

'So fast! '

In a split second, Luca instinctively raised his knife to parry.

Fortunately, after the Zanpakuto's core key is released, although the tip of the sword does not have a physical form when it stabs someone, the horizontal blade does.

"when--"

A crisp and resounding clang of metal rang out.

A powerful airflow erupted between the two swords.

However, the clash of swords lasted only for a moment.

The next moment, Luca immediately felt an immense force emanating from the key in his hand.

Before he could react any further, he was blasted away by the opponent's sword.

"boom--"

With a loud bang, Luca, whose body was sent flying back several meters, crashed directly into the defensive circle that he had previously set up for Renji and the others.

Just for a moment.

"Click~"

The 'Mirror Gate' set up by the No. 51 Binding Spell almost shattered with just this one blow.

What's worse is that the 'Mirror Gate' is a ghostly barrier that is originally designed to reflect damage from enemy attacks.

Luca suffered double the impact damage from this blow, and caught off guard, he almost coughed up a mouthful of blood.

"Holy crap! That's incredible power!"

Even Luca himself didn't expect that the opponent's first attack would give him such a strong warning.

It's important to know that although Luca isn't currently in his half-dragon form, the power of his Zoan Devil Fruit will still enhance his normal strength.

In other words, Luca's strength, in terms of pure power, is actually greater than the spiritual pressure he displays.

Even so, he was still sent flying by that ferocious slash. However, this setback did not frighten Luca; instead, it ignited his fighting spirit.

At this moment, Luca had completely forgotten his previous idea of ​​'just playing around'.

'You really want to play? Then let's give it a try!!'

The next instant, 'Hirako Shinji' in the distance activated Shunpo once again.

Seemingly having entered battle mode, he no longer bothered to maintain his so-called persona and continued to swing his sword at Luca without saying a word.

This time, however, Luca was prepared. The moment the other person disappeared, he casually touched the belt buckle at his waist with his left hand.

However, after gently stroking him, he seemed unable to react and remained motionless when faced with the sharp blade aimed at him.

"Pfft~"

With a flash of light, Luca's figure was instantly sliced ​​in two diagonally.

However, at this moment, Hirako Shinji's expression changed slightly after he had successfully landed a blow.

Immediately afterwards, another extremely faint sound of Shunpo landing rang out behind him.

Despite being cut in two, Luca somehow managed to swing his sword perfectly intact and stab Hirako in the back.

At the critical moment, as if he had eyes in the back of his head, 'Hiriko' turned his back and parried Luca's sneak attack with precision.

Even after deflecting Luca's blade, he still had the strength to swing his sword to the side again.

In an instant, Luca felt a slight chill between his brows. As he unleashed three spiritual energy attacks from his left fingertips, he quickly retreated, dodging the fatal blow.

In the blink of an eye, both of them instantly stepped back, widening the distance between them.

However, compared to the unharmed 'Hiraka', Luca had a few drops of blood seeping from between his eyebrows.

Only then did 'Hirako' have time to turn around and face 'Luca', the one he had previously struck.

But apart from a black garment slowly falling to the ground, there was no corpse that had been cut in two.

"The Sifengyuan Family's Shunpo Secret Technique, Kongchan!!"

This time, the 'Hiriko' in front of him finally lost his composure and uttered the name of this move in a somewhat solemn tone.

"Tch! You're making a fuss over nothing!"

Upon hearing the words "Empty Cicada," Luca first wiped the blood seeping from the wound between his eyebrows with his left hand, then spat out a disdainful remark.

However, despite his disdain, Luca was actually more wary of his opponent's strength.

'So this is the captain? Looks like I can't be thinking about close combat!'

Luca, who had originally planned to give the other party an 'internal injection', decisively changed his mind.

The tip of the knife lightly touched the ground, and the feet slowly stepped backward.

It looked as if they were cautiously trying to distance themselves from the other party.

He made no attempt to explain the other party's mention of 'empty cicada'.

After all, Luca couldn't possibly claim that this was a dummy catapult he developed based on the principles of a [football belt], specifically designed to sabotage the Shihōin family's 'Utsusemi', could he?
Of course, the technology involved is definitely not as simple as just popping out an inflatable doll.

How to fake spiritual pressure to deceive the enemy's perception, how to release curved light to create concealment during the dummy's ejection, and how to increase his instantaneous ejection speed—these are the secrets to Luca's successful execution of this move.

However, to Luca's surprise, even so, he still couldn't even touch the enemy's clothes, and instead suffered a minor injury due to the enemy's counterattack.

'Wait, when I teleported behind him just now, this imposter Hirako's ears seemed to twitch slightly!'

So, is this due to the combat experience inherent in being a captain-level officer, or...?

'Is it Tosen Kaname?!'

(End of this chapter)