The Alchemist in Bleach

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Chapter 359 The Prevalent Involution~

"Sit upright in the frosty heavens, Hyōrinmaru!"

Toshiro reacted very quickly. After realizing that his spiritual pressure was slightly inferior to Ichigo's, he immediately and decisively activated his Shikai!

"Click-clack~"

As the incantation was uttered, a white light spread across Toshiro's Zanpakuto, and a long chain extended from the end of the hilt, the end of the chain resembling the tail of an ice dragon.

At the same time, the sky suddenly turned dark, and scattered snowflakes began to fall slowly, with a chill gradually spreading.

Seeing this, Ichigo's expression became somewhat serious, and he became even more cautious.

"Auspicious signs are approaching..."

Standing in the sky, Toshiro was no longer surprised that Ichigo knew his information. He brandished his Zanpakuto and charged towards Ichigo, leaving a long trail of ice. At the same time, an ice dragon condensed!

"Ice Dragon Tail Spin!"

Wherever the blade passed, everything turned into the northern lands!

A chilling ice dragon's tail slashed towards Ichigo like a sharp blade!

"bump!"

Ichigo unleashed a powerful slash, Zangetsu, his immense spiritual pressure contained yet not released, directly shattering the ice dragon!

However, after the Ice Dragon comes Toshiro's sharp Hyōrinmaru body!

At the critical moment, Ichigo glanced at the retreat route blocked by dangerous shards of ice, tapped his toes, and suddenly disappeared from the spot!

'!' After Ichigo disappeared, Toshiro looked at the ice shards flying all around him. Seeing that there was no movement, his pupils shrank. This was not Shunpo!

The Grim Reaper's Instant Step is merely a high-speed movement technique, a physical footwork, and therefore usually only allows for straight movements. However, with practice and even mastery, it can be used flexibly. Furthermore, there is the Flash Flower technique, which allows one to appear directly behind the enemy.

But no matter how you change!

How to advance!

The essence of Shunpo is still physical footwork, and in this environment full of ice shards, one's movement path will inevitably be exposed.

But now, the ice shards haven't moved at all, which means that Ichigo didn't use Shunpo!

While pondering, Toshiro sensed a killing intent coming from behind him. Although he still didn't quite understand how Ichigo moved, now was not the time to delve into it. He slung his Zanpakuto behind his back to block Ichigo's attack, and then flicked the chain at the end of the Hyōrinmaru hilt, sending a sharp blade, like a dragon's tail, flying in a circle toward Ichigo.

Long iron chains encircled the area, and at the same time, ice arrows were gathering above and below, leaving little room for retreat.

"Hey~"

"boom!"

As Ichigo dodged, Toshiro's attacks all collided and canceled each other out, with some of the splashed ice shards being absorbed as they approached him.

However, although the attack missed, Toshiro understood Ichigo's footwork and looked at him with some surprise.

Hiren-kick... This is the Quincy's movement technique. Compared to the Shinigami's Shunpo, Hiren-kick, which utilizes the spiritual energy channels, is faster and more agile. However, only Quincy can use it, as it is related to their bloodline. How could a Shinigami know it? And be so skilled at it?

but……

Knowing it was the Flying Kick made things much easier. The Grim Reaper already had many countermeasures against the Flying Kick, and the simplest one was to disrupt the spiritual energy channels.

With a swing of his Zanpakuto, Toshiro unleashed a barrage of ice arrows that hurtled towards Ichigo, disrupting the surrounding spiritual energy pathways.

Ichigo swayed slightly, clearly having failed to use the Flying Kick. This momentary pause caused him to miss the best opportunity to dodge.

However, this level of attack had little impact. Ichigo raised his right hand to cover his face, and spiritual particles were quickly injected into his bloodstream.

"Blood Stasis Gear!"

"Bang bang bang~"

"boom!"

"boom!"

Unfortunately, while the ice arrow was blocked, Toshiro's follow-up attack was not. A huge blast of cold air sent Ichigo flying!

"Cough cough~" Shaking off the ice shards, Ichigo struggled to his feet, spitting out the blood in his mouth. Holding Zangetsu in both hands, just as he was about to gather his spiritual pressure and unleash Getsuga Tenshou, his heart tightened again, and the hairs on his body stood on end. No longer caring about hiding, strands of black and red spiritual pressure wrapped around his body. The next moment.

"Boom!"

The space suddenly shattered, and Ichigo's figure disappeared from the spot. The instant Ichigo disappeared, the surrounding ice shards suddenly condensed into sharp ice spikes that pierced towards the spot where Ichigo had been!

On the other side, Toshiro was more than just surprised that Ichigo had dodged his attack again; he was completely dumbfounded...

It's already astonishing enough that he possesses the powers of both a Shinigami and a Quincy, but now he also has the power of a Hollow, and he doesn't seem to be weak at all!

What the hell is this guy...?

"Swastika: Dragon Pattern Ghost Pill!"

The sudden surge of spiritual pressure from that corner surprised Toshiro. This guy... he can actually use Bankai? When did Bankai become so worthless? What happened to the standard equipment for captains? But speaking of which, why has the weapon type changed again...?

Toshiro was both speechless and relieved at the sight of Ikkaku's three large cleavers. He was speechless because Ikkaku's weapon type had changed again. He had already focused on learning spear techniques to prepare for his Shikai, which had distracted him. Now, he had to learn another weapon, and a rather unusual one at that…

Fortunately, he was fortunate in his own eyes. He and Ikkaku were almost the two extremes. His Hyōrinmaru, Asauchi Shikai and Bankai, had almost no change in fighting style. The only difference was the amount of ice.

Meanwhile, besides being surprised, another person was speechless – Matsumoto Rangiku, who happened to arrive at the scene.

Looking at the armband representing the Third Seat on her arm, she sighed to the heavens. What has become of this world? She vaguely remembered that a long time ago, being a vice-captain was quite easy. Basically, as long as you could master Shikai, you had a great chance of taking office.

But, I don't know when it started, the standards for vice-captains have been slowly rising. Bankai, which was originally one of the standards for evaluating captains, has suddenly become a standard requirement for powerful vice-captains. Now, is it finally true that even the Third Seat needs to know Bankai...?

Rangiku glanced at the Third Seat's armband on her arm, sighed, and suddenly felt unworthy of this position...

They were surprised, but Renji was not. He already knew that Ikkaku could use Bankai, and he had even received guidance from Ikkaku in his Bankai training. Furthermore, he was very clear about the characteristics of Ikkaku's Bankai.

Therefore, after Ikkaku's Bankai, Renji also flicked Zabimaru and shouted, "Bankai: Baboon King Zabimaru!"

In an instant, Zabimaru transformed into a giant snake skeleton, coiling around Renji like a snake, with the snake's tail held in Renji's hand.

Toshiro and Rangiku weren't too surprised that Renji had Bankai this time. Isn't it normal for a vice-captain to have Bankai? What kind of vice-captain can't even do Bankai?

To their surprise, Renji's next move...

Renji flicked the snake tail in his hand, pouring all his spiritual pressure into the Baboon King Zabimaru. A large amount of red spiritual pressure overflowed from the joints of the Baboon King Zabimaru, and the snake head was raised high. Then, a scarlet spiritual beam shot towards the corner that was carrying the three-bladed axe and charging towards Renji!

"Baboon Bone Cannon!!!"

"boom!"

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Chapter 360 An Actor's Blessing? Or a Poisonous Prediction?

"Baboon Bone Cannon!"

"boom!"

A red beam of light, like a flash of light, shot out from the giant snake's head, hitting one of the charging horns and blasting it away!

The powerful impact caused Ikkaku to be dragged for dozens of meters on the ground! When it finally stopped, it had been forced to release its Bankai and had fallen unconscious.

Ikkaku's Zanpakuto is powerful; in terms of attack power alone, it is among the best in the entire Soul Society.

However, it has a fatal flaw!

That means it needs to be charged!

The Dragon Pattern Hozuki Maru needs to be charged by a basic attack from Yijiao. Its power is at its maximum when the dragon pattern on the Zanpakuto turns completely red!

In other words, when Ikkaku just unleashed his Bankai, although his power had increased significantly, it was also the easiest time to defeat him!

After defeating one corner, Renji turned his gaze and locked onto Toshiro's aura.

"Oh? You're still planning to attack me? With your incomplete Bankai?" Standing in the air, Toshiro noticed the change in Renji's aura and said with some disdain.

“Yes, I know, so…” Renji said, flicking the snake tail in his hand and shouting, “Bankai! Sora no Zabimaru!”

"boom!"

The enormous Baboon King, Zabimaru, radiated a white light. In this radiance, Zabimaru's size slowly shrank, until finally his right hand, with a snake skull biting a knife, his huge snake tail wrapped around his waist, and his arm floating above his left arm.

Renji's Zanpakuto is also a rare dual-sword type, like Shunsui, possessing two sword spirits. However, unlike Shunsui, Renji can only possess dual swords after achieving Bankai.

The fist on the left arm could also be considered a knife...

Feeling the pressure emanating from Renji, Toshiro's expression turned serious. Sure enough, in this day and age, none of the vice-captains are easy to deal with!

"Swastika: Dairedren Hyōrinmaru!"

"boom!"

A powerful spiritual pressure, accompanied by a massive amount of cold air, shot into the sky, swirling and enveloping Toshiro, and then in the next instant...

A vortex of cold air exploded, revealing Toshiro, who had wings on his back and a dragon tail condensing from his waist.

Unlike Ikkaku's Bankai, Toshiro's Bankai hardly changes the blade. The changes are mainly concentrated on Toshiro himself. In addition to his icy wings and dragon tail, Toshiro's right hand is also covered in ice, which condenses into an icy dragon claw, tightly gripping the Zanpakuto Hyōrinmaru!

A few ice flowers were still dissipating above Toshiro's head, as if a countdown was about to begin.

On the other side, feeling the terrifying spiritual pressure emanating from Toshiro, Ichigo couldn't help but swallow hard. Sure enough, the shopkeeper was right, the power of the Seireitei is very strong!

If a vice-captain has this level of power, what would happen if the captain were to do that? Fortunately, he also possessed the power of Bankai, so he wasn't too panicked. He was more worried about the others.

However, Ichigo had no time to think about these things. The guy in front of him was a formidable enemy, and he couldn't afford to be distracted!

He took a deep look at the fallen corner and Renji, who was firing at full power. Now, he was somewhat convinced that Renji and he had the same goal. With the power that Renji and Toshiro were showing now, they didn't need to scheme against him at all and could just crush him!

Therefore, he took a deep breath and stopped holding back, raising Zhan Yue with one hand and resting his left hand on his forearm!

"卍~solution!"

"boom!!"

Pure white spiritual pressure mixed with wisps of black spiritual pressure formed a slash that struck Toshiro!

The spiritual pressure dissipated, revealing Ichigo in a black trench coat. His imposing aura silenced the other three. Bankai... is it becoming too common now...?

Among the three, Renji was the most shocked. He knew very well how long Ichigo had only possessed the power of a Shinigami, such a short time...

This monster!

She stood silently, her chest billowing in the wind, numb...