Chapter 151: Shikai, Sogyo no Kotowari
The majestic blue Reiatsu swept the entire battlefield. Even Kyoraku after Shikai had to hold up his Zanpakuto with a dignified expression to slightly resist the oncoming air waves.
"Yeah, what a terrifying aura."
"Ukitake, it looks like... we're going to fight side by side again!"
Kyoraku lowered his bamboo hat and stared at the berserk Reiatsu behind Starrk's released form with a solemn expression.
Not long after Starrk's Resurreccion, from another part of Karakura Town, violent red Reiatsu also shot skyward, dyeing the entire sky of Karakura Town red.
"Oh? What is this Reiatsu?"
In the Jokaku Enjo, Ichimaru Gin, who was surrounded by raging flames, suddenly opened his eyes and sensed the soaring Reiatsu, couldn't help murmuring: "This time, the Espada will all be annihilated!"
"Yeah, the Shinigami are pretty capable, right, Captain Aizen!"
Ichimaru Gin smiled and turned his head to look at Aizen behind him, as if wanting to hear his approval. Seeing that Aizen didn't respond, Ichimaru Gin said to himself: "The Espada's Resurreccion is a rare scene. Why don't we just watch it directly instead?"
"So... can this fire wall be extinguished?" Saying this, Ichimaru Gin put his hand into his chest toward his Zanpakuto.
"Ichimaru!"
At this time, Tousen Kaname immediately stopped Ichimaru Gin's move: "The time is coming. Please be patient!"
Ichimaru Gin spread his hands with a smile, his mouth slightly raised: "Huh? I really can't do anything about you!"
Outside the firewall, the Primera Espada—Coyote Starrk and Segunda Espada—Baraggan Louisenbairn's Resurreccion also announced that the battle between Shinigami and Espada had come to its end and entered the final intense state.
Aizen and others were sealed in the fire wall, and Yamamoto Genryusai, the strongest among the Shinigami, was exiled. The existence of Kyoraku, Sui-Feng, Ukitake and others had already determined this battle's outcome.
"This... what the hell..."
Ukitake stared wide-eyed at Starrk, who was dressed like a wolf-hunting hunter not far away. Starrk was holding a musket-shaped weapon in each hand and wore a black eyepatch over his left eye.
His original lazy appearance had also undergone huge changes with this Resurreccion.
"Are you ready, Ukitake? Here he comes!"
Kyoraku reminded his companion that he dared not be careless. The surging Reiatsu in the previous fight after Resurreccion couldn't be faked—that Reiatsu aura had already surpassed his own.
Although Kyoraku's face didn't fluctuate in any way, he was very vigilant in his heart. After all, in the current situation, his Bankai was unusable.
"Yes!"
Just as Ukitake responded, a blue Cero blasted before the two at a speed imperceptible to the naked eye.
Under the crisis, Ukitake and Kyoraku managed to avoid the Cero, which contained terrifying energy, but the blue Cero grazed their hair and hit a distant building directly, smashing it.
"Is that... Cero?"
Ukitake widened his eyes in disbelief.
"Hey, hey, hey! I said... can you pay attention to me a little bit? Don't take me too lightly!"
Starrk raised a pistol and said in a cold voice. When he was speaking, the muzzle still emitted slight black smoke. It seemed that Cero, which had just shot so quickly, was fired from this pistol.
"Lilinette, let's go!" At this moment, Starrk said as if talking to himself.
"Okay! Starrk, you have to hold me tight!"
At this time, the voice of Lilinette came from the gun in Starrk's hand.
"Is the gun talking? So..."
Seeming to have understood what Starrk's Resurreccion was, Kyoraku's eyes darkened. He put his hand on the hat above his head, then threw it directly toward Starrk's position.
As the bamboo hat's afterimage quickly came before Starrk, two figures followed the flying trajectory of the bamboo hat and appeared behind Starrk in tandem.
Swoosh!
As the bamboo hat was split in two by blade, Ukitake and Kyoraku surrounded Starrk and chopped down simultaneously.
Clang!!
Faced with this kind of surprise attack, Starrk unhurriedly raised the two muskets in his hands to block both attacks: "Did you guys misunderstand something?"
"Even though I have no blade, this doesn't mean I've lost close combat ability!"
"What!!"
With the burst of Reiatsu in Starrk's body, Kyoraku and Ukitake were knocked into the air by the terrifying air wave. Their bodies instantly flew back tens of meters uncontrollably, then looked at Starrk vigilantly.
"The plan isn't working, Ukitake!"
Kyoraku smiled, not caring about the failed raid at all.
"It's normal. I mean... he's the strongest among those monsters!"
Judging from battle data of Urahara Kisuke and other Shinigami and Arrancar, as the strongest Espada among Arrancar, everyone was numbered from low to high, arranged in order. The high and low numbers also meant differences in their strength.
"It hurts! Starrk!"
Just when Kyoraku and Ukitake were knocked into the air by Starrk, the gun in Starrk's left hand hit Starrk's head.
"You can block it yourself—why do you use my body to resist!"
"I'm going to report you to Fiander for child abuse!"
Hearing Lilinette's complaints from the gun, Starrk stroked Lilinette's phantom gun while apologetically saying: "Sorry, sorry!"
"It's my fault. I must pay attention next time!"
Just when Starrk didn't continue attacking, a tornado of wind blades gathered in the air instantly trapped Starrk, restricting his movements.
Although Kyoraku's appearance had always been cynical, in the battle with Starrk, he never gave up any gaps to attack, seizing every opportunity to launch a counterattack against Starrk.
"Takaoni!"
Shunpo launched, and Kyoraku's figure suddenly appeared above Starrk's head. Standing on high ground at this time, he planned to use Katen Kyokotsu's ability directly to sneak attack Starrk, who was trapped by the wind blade and couldn't escape.
"Naive!"
As Starrk uttered two words coldly, he drew the gun that had been in the right holster around his waist all along, and Cero condensed at the muzzle in the blink of an eye with the terror of huge Reiatsu.
The blue Cero's light directly illuminated Kyoraku's complexion extremely pale. Caught off guard, the consequences of taking this hit were self-evident.
At the moment when Starrk's Cero shot out impressively, a figure flashed before Kyoraku and quickly chanted: "All waves, turn into my shield, all lightning, turn into my blade; Sogyo no Kotowari!"
With the completion of Ukitake's chanting, Ukitake's hands held two blades simultaneously. The blades became shark-fin shaped, and the handles were connected to each other by chains. The chains on the handles had five charms.
With Ukitake shouting angrily, the huge Reiatsu shot by Starrk was instantly absorbed by Sogyo no kotowari released by Ukitake.
This scene stunned Starrk below.
"Hah!!"
Ukitake, who had absorbed Cero, saw the five charms on his Zanpakuto's handle shining brightly one after another, as if transmitting energy.
At this time, under Starrk's gaze, Ukitake raised another blade, and a wave of energy familiar to Starrk shot out from the blade instantly. It was the Cero he'd released just now.
Seeing this scene, Starrk didn't hesitate, raised his gun again and fired the same Cero, perfectly offsetting the Cero shot by Ukitake.
BOOM!!
After a burst of violent explosions, strong smoke filled the air. After the smoke cleared, the figures of Kyoraku and Ukitake slowly emerged, and Starrk appeared unscathed.
"It's really not your style, Captain, to sneak up on someone while they're talking."
Starrk raised his gun and pointed at Kyoraku, saying indifferently: "leaving me no chance to breathe."
"Oh, actually, from the very beginning, I always wanted to kill you with one strike, but you're so strong that I couldn't do it, so I could only seize these empty opportunities."
Kyoraku smirked, as if he didn't care about his sneak attack at all.
"Really, it's a terrifying ability..."
As if he'd gotten used to Kyoraku's tone of voice, Starrk changed his voice, pointed at Ukitake and said: "The one you used just now was my Cero, right?"
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