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"The Flowery Winds Become Disturbed, The God Of Flowers Sings, The Heavenly Winds Become Disturbed, The Devil Of Heaven Sneers!"
With a low chant, the two short swords in Ikki's hands quickly transformed.
When fighting Rayleigh, Ikki chose not to use his Demon Slayer Mark, saving energy to wield two Zanpakutō simultaneously.
After all, using two Zanpakutō at the same time was extremely physically demanding.
First, he tested Rayleigh's strength using Tensa Zangetsu, and now the real battle would begin.
"Hmm... judging from the shapes of these two swords, they should share the same origin," Rayleigh observed, stroking his beard curiously.
"And they only began transforming after you spoke that incantation. The black sword in your mouth seems to enhance your attack and movement speed."
"So what kind of power do those two swords in your hands possess, Ikki?"
"Want to know? Find out through battle," Ikki replied.
"Three-Sword Style: Sanzen Sekai!"
Ikki rapidly swung all three blades, creating a massive, spiraling tornado of flying slashes that rushed toward Rayleigh.
He then used Moonwalk to launch himself high into the air, diving toward Rayleigh from above.
"Three-Sword Style? That's quite impressive swordsmanship," Rayleigh said with a smile, unleashing a massive flying slash that shattered Ikki's Sanzen Sekai.
But at that moment, Ikki's aerial strike had already reached him.
"One-Sword Style: Flying Dragon Blaze!"
One of the swords in Ikki's hands slashed horizontally toward Rayleigh's head as he simultaneously called out, "Takaoni!"
Through his Observation Haki, Rayleigh sensed the force of Ikki's sword swing and raised his blade with a relaxed smile.
In his perception, this strike felt only slightly different from the slashes Ikki had used during their earlier battle with Tensa Zangetsu.
So he didn't pay it much attention.
However, soon a puzzled expression appeared on his face.
With a thunderous BANG, the ground beneath Rayleigh's feet instantly cracked, and the sword he'd raised to block Ikki's attack felt tremendous pressure.
'Huh? Where did this strange power come from?' Rayleigh wondered, frowning as he watched Ikki land.
The next moment, something truly surprising happened.
After Ikki said "Kageoni," he disappeared directly into his own shadow.
"Disappeared?" Rayleigh muttered with a frown.
Ikki seemed to have vanished completely—even his Observation Haki couldn't sense any trace of him.
But soon, a strong sense of crisis emerged in his heart.
Without thinking, Rayleigh followed his instincts and leaped forward.
However, it was still too late. From Rayleigh's own shadow, a blade suddenly emerged and stabbed into his calf, drawing scarlet blood.
"What just happened?" Rayleigh quickly swung his sword backward, blocking Ikki's follow-up attack while spotting his figure.
Ikki had actually emerged from Rayleigh's shadow.
The previous attack had been launched directly from within Rayleigh's shadow.
"I see—a direct attack from my shadow, so I couldn't avoid it," Rayleigh said, raising the corners of his mouth with interest.
"That's probably what you meant by 'Kageoni' just now."
Although Ikki's attack had hit him, Rayleigh still possessed top-tier Observation Haki.
Ikki's strike had failed to damage any vital areas.
When the blade reached his ankle tendon, it was already blocked by his Armament Haki.
"You have two swords in your hands, which should mean two different abilities," Rayleigh analyzed.
"When you fell from the air just now, your strength was unusual—that should be one ability. As for the other, it should be the power to use shadows."
"This is somewhat similar to Gecko Moria's ability. Ikki, how did you create such swords?"
"Sorry, that's classified," Ikki replied, waving his blade before rushing at Rayleigh again.
Zangetsu's Bankai and Katen Kyōkotsu's Shikai—using these two powers made Ikki feel his stamina declining at a terrifying rate.
Under such circumstances, he was even more reluctant to use his Innate Demon Slayer Mark.
But the sneak attack using Kageoni had failed, which made Ikki wary of Rayleigh's abilities.
After all, when he'd launched that surprise attack, he had fully activated both his Transparent World and Observation Haki perception abilities.
Even in that situation, Rayleigh had managed to escape.
This demonstrated his incredible skill with Observation Haki.
'I can't use Kageoni carelessly now. From the ability Rayleigh just displayed, there's probably only one chance to use it to seriously injure him. It must be saved for the most critical moment.'
'For now, I need to understand the patterns of his swordsmanship.'
With this thought, the two swords in Ikki's hands and the blade in his mouth became blurs, covering Rayleigh's entire body in attacks.
Suddenly, the sound of clashing metal began echoing around the two fighters.
"Someone's coming," Nami said, placing her hand on her sword hilt and frowning slightly as she looked behind them.
"Don't worry—the people approaching are acquaintances and won't do anything to you," Shakky said, waving her hand while keeping her gaze on Ikki and Rayleigh.
Since the battle began, the two had already exchanged thousands of blows.
Gradually, she had begun to understand some of Katen Kyōkotsu's abilities.
"Shakky, you're here too. What's going on? Why is Rayleigh fighting Ikki?" Hancock asked, approaching with her two younger sisters and frowning.
Although she had never actually met Ikki in person, Hancock recognized him immediately from his many newspaper appearances.
"It's just a competition of interests. You don't need to worry about Rayleigh, Hancock," Shakky said with a wave and a smile.
"I'm not worried about Rayleigh," Hancock snapped.
"But what's with those two men? Why do they both seem to be fighting in mid-air positions?"