"Hmph... well, well. If you already know our plan, then we'll just have to kill you first!"
'Katen's' eyes suddenly flashed with a murderous glint.
When Kyoraku revealed their plan, 'Katen' was indeed momentarily panicked. But after calming down, her first thought was to eliminate Kyoraku and then immediately go inside to help Muramasa deal with Toshiro.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
'Katen' and 'Kyokotsu' flashed instantly. In the moment they crossed paths with Kyoraku, 'Kyokotsu' used her short blade to restrain him, while 'Katen' delivered the fatal blow with her long blade.
Shing—!
A blade flashed, and a torn piece of fabric fell from the pink haori draped over Kyoraku's shoulders.
"What!"
But the one who exclaimed in surprise was 'Katen'. A small gash appeared on her left shoulder, blood flowing freely, while Kyoraku was unharmed, his clothes only slightly torn.
"Sorry, although we've been old friends for countless years, I can't just let you cut me whenever you want."
Kyoraku adjusted his straw hat and said seriously.
"Damn it. It seems beating him quickly won't be possible. Kyokotsu, forget about him for now. Let's go help Muramasa first."
Knowing Kyoraku's strength was not to be underestimated and unable to defeat him quickly, 'Katen' decided to leave him and go help Muramasa against Toshiro.
Since their plan had been guessed by Toshiro, he would surely be on guard. Not only would they fail their objective, but Muramasa himself might be lost to Toshiro.
Just as Katen Kyokotsu was about to abandon him and go help Muramasa, Kyoraku flashed and instantly appeared at the passage entrance, blocking their way.
"Sorry, but let's not disturb Toshiro and the others. Let's continue our game here."
Kyoraku said with a composed expression.
"Damn it!"
'Katen' fumed.
Initially, Katen Kyokotsu had been the calm ones. But fate had turned... now it was their turn to be anxious and impatient.
Moreover, Kyoraku's strength was clearly formidable. With their current power, it would be difficult for Katen Kyokotsu to defeat him quickly.
In fact, it would be a good outcome if they themselves weren't defeated by Kyoraku.
Although Kyoraku couldn't use Bankai now and wasn't at his peak, Katen Kyokotsu's situation wasn't much better.
Because Kyoraku's Bankai was too special, its power and range were immense, liable to hurt friend and foe alike, so under normal circumstances, he wouldn't even consider using it.
Now, trapped in the relatively narrow cave, with Muramasa and Sogyo no Kotowari not far from Katen Kyokotsu, all within the Bankai's range, using it would definitely result in mutual destruction.
And even if they by some stroke of luck managed to defeat Kyoraku and Ukitake with Bankai, it would probably have little effect on Toshiro and Hyorinmaru. Instead, their own side would suffer greater losses.
Considering the situation, using Bankai was out of the question.
Under these circumstances, there wasn't much gap in strength between Katen Kyokotsu and Kyoraku. In fact, Kyoraku could even gain the upper hand with his considerable swordsmanship and Kido skills.
"What a troublesome man..."
'Katen' frowned and had no choice but to rush at Kyoraku together with 'Kyokotsu', trying their best to defeat him.
And Kyoraku, who had started as the one trying to 'get through', had become the goalkeeper.
…
Shunpo!
Toshiro slashed, sending a wave of Kenatsu towards Muramasa.
Shing!
Although Muramasa desperately tried to block with his sword, Toshiro's Kenatsu still snapped his blade and left a massive gash on his body.
Shunkuho!
As Muramasa was injured, Toshiro flashed and instantly appeared beside him, then swung a fierce blow towards him again.
In the nick of time, Muramasa, now weaponless, materialized another long blade to block Toshiro's Zanpakuto.
Clang!
The immense force from the blades clashing sent Muramasa staggering backward.
"Ugh..."
Just as Toshiro was about to press his advantage while Muramasa was off-balance and finish him off, he suddenly groaned in pain and stopped.
Toshiro looked down to see the front of his clothes stained red with his own blood.
Of course, this wasn't because Muramasa had wounded him... it was just the wound left by Hyorinmaru's earlier stab reopening.
Although Hyorinmaru's strike hadn't pierced Toshiro's heart or other vital areas, it had still put a hole through his body, and such a wound wasn't so easy to heal. Not to mention that only a little over a day had passed, and Toshiro hadn't had any time to rest.
Even though fighting an opponent of Muramasa's level didn't require Toshiro to use much of his strength, it still aggravated his wound.
"Toshiro, are you alright?"
Seeing this, Hyorinmaru looked worried and started to move towards him.
"Don't worry, Hyorinmaru. I'm fine."
Toshiro waved his hand to stop her.
'Continuing to mess around with Muramasa will definitely affect my injury. I need to finish him quickly. If he drags this out until my injury gets worse, I'll have to let Hyorinmaru step in. But then where would this master's pride be?'
Toshiro thought to himself.
Having reached this conclusion, Toshiro decided to stop playing around and prepare a finishing move to take out Muramasa in one go.
Muramasa also chose this moment to speak. "Hitsugaya Toshiro, attacks on that level won't defeat me. So, cough... cough... show me your true power. Let me see what you've got that makes people think your strength rivals Yamamoto Genryusai's... cough..."
Muramasa, constantly coughing up blood, forcibly provoked Toshiro, trying to make him use his real power.
Of course, Muramasa wasn't doing this to be tortured. Even if he wanted to use Toshiro's power to break Yamamoto's seal, Toshiro would need to show some decent strength.
Although Toshiro's attacks so far had been torturing Muramasa quite badly, they were still insufficient to break Yamamoto's seal.
"Hmph, since you want to witness my strength, I'll get a little serious and grant your wish. But if you die, don't blame me."
Toshiro's expression turned icy.
"Heh, just bring it on."
Although Muramasa pretended not to care, he silently shifted his position, positioning himself with his back to the barrier sealing Yamamoto. This way, when Toshiro's attack landed, Muramasa could deflect its power onto the barrier with minimal loss to himself.
Toshiro saw Muramasa's purpose at a glance, but he just snorted contemptuously and ignored it.
To deflect Toshiro's attack power onto the barrier, Muramasa would first need to be able to withstand that power himself. If he couldn't resist Toshiro's power at all, how could he talk about deflecting it?
"Ice Dragon Flash!"
Toshiro shouted, compressing his vast, pure Reiatsu within his Zanpakuto.
Feeling Toshiro's overwhelmingly powerful Reiatsu, Muramasa knew that this attack would definitely be strong enough to break Yamamoto's seal.
"Finally... it's coming!"
Muramasa's entire body tensed, his expression unprecedentedly grave, as if awaiting the approaching storm.