Back in Las Noches, Baraggan had just been awakened by his subordinates. Meanwhile, in the Menos Forest, Szayelaporro was experiencing the very first one-sided thrashing of his life—no, his Hollow life. And it was quite literal, as he was currently strung up in the air...
Suspended in midair by [Bakudō #37・Tsuriboshi], his body bound by [Bakudō #63・Sajō Sabaku] and [Bakudō #61・Rikujōkōrō], Szayelaporro was completely unable to fight back against Kōe's assault.
Of course, it wasn't absolutely impossible. The Bakudō Kōe had cast on him weren't high-level ones, after all. Relying on Szayelaporro's own considerable Reiatsu, coupled with his methods of breaking down his opponent's Reiatsu structure, escaping this predicament was only a matter of time.
It was only a matter of time, but for Szayelaporro right now, time was the biggest problem.
Whenever he mobilized his Reiatsu, that damn crimson beam of light would appear at the perfect moment, leaving a scorched hole in his shoulder, abdomen, or elsewhere.
These crimson beams were fast and highly penetrating. Most importantly, their temperature was incredibly high. Every time they pierced his body, they caused the Reiatsu within him to riot, making it completely impossible to properly break free from the Bakudō binding him.
And this was exactly why Kōe chose to use Line of Gunfire.
Although he had already shattered Szayelaporro's wrists, this only weakened the Arrancar's ability to release Reiatsu; it didn't mean Szayelaporro was completely incapable of mobilizing it.
Therefore, Kōe only had two choices at the time. The first was to directly unleash a high-level Hadō to either kill Szayelaporro or beat him half to death.
However, this scientist of Hueco Mundo was one of Kōe's reasons for coming here—perhaps even his biggest target. He needed to keep him alive if at all possible.
The second choice was to seal Szayelaporro's Reiatsu, preserving his life while minimizing the threat he posed to the absolute limit.
However, since his own Reiatsu structure had already been deciphered, a direct seal wouldn't be very effective. It might even waste the hard-earned opportunity he had created, allowing Szayelaporro to temporarily escape.
Therefore, he needed to weaken Szayelaporro first before applying the seal. The Hadō he had developed himself, Line of Gunfire, was perfectly suited for this.
This Hadō, which condensed flames into a single point and released them as a beam, was actually inferior in sheer destructive power to most Hadō above the seventies.
But its penetrating power was outstanding, and its temperature was exceedingly high. Especially when released from the tip of a Zanpakutō, its sheer heat could rival the flames released by Ryūjin Jakka in its Shikai state.
Although releasing it from his fingertips was significantly weaker, it was still more than enough to deal with a restrained Szayelaporro.
The immense penetrating power allowed the high temperature of Line of Gunfire to cause extensive internal damage to the enemy. While not fatal, the opponent's internal Reiatsu would riot for a period of time out of self-preservation.
Coupled with the fact that Kōe was aiming at the crucial points of internal Reiatsu circulation, unless Szayelaporro was the type to have extremely delicate control over his Reiryoku like Kōe himself, properly mobilizing his Reiatsu to break the Bakudō binding him was practically impossible.
However, this act of interrupting the enemy at the perfect moment looked to Szayelaporro like a beast tamer disciplining a wild animal. It was a mockery, an insult to him!
"Damn it!"
Szayelaporro opened his mouth with a ferocious expression, a faint purple light gathering within. He intended to use a Cero—an attack unique to Vasto Lorde-class Menos—to completely obliterate the ant insulting him from below!
His thoughts were ruthless, but reality was even more ruthless—only this ruthlessness was directed at Szayelaporro.
"[Original Kidō・Ao's Hadō: Line of Gunfire]!"
A crimson pillar of fire pierced through Szayelaporro's collarbone. The still-forming Cero instantly shattered into specks of purple light and dissipated.
A violent wave of nausea surged up, but suspended in the air, Szayelaporro couldn't even spit out a drop of saliva, let alone blood. Only faint gray smoke billowed from his throat.
"Damn it, damn it! A lowly Shinigami dares to...! I'll tear you to pieces, damn you!!" His hoarse voice spat out words that only he could understand. In thousands of years, Szayelaporro had never displayed such a loss of composure and madness.
And it was precisely because he had lost his cool that he chose a completely meaningless method like a Cero at this moment to try and turn the tide.
How could Kōe, who could see the flow of Reiatsu within his enemy's body, allow his opponent to gather Reiatsu and release a time-consuming, highly destructive technique like a Cero while under his control?
'It seems Menos also have a Reiatsu vent in their throats. However, in terms of control, this vent can only release techniques with simple principles like a Cero.'
Kōe continuously analyzed the differences between Menos and Shinigami, pondering how to cast his next sealing technique.
Sealing techniques in Soul Society were generally divided into two categories: Reiatsu seals and consciousness seals. Both had their pros and cons.
The first type of seal could greatly prevent the sealed target from recovering their Reiatsu. Although the target retained their consciousness, being unable to exert Reiatsu made them practically crippled.
The downside was that there was a possibility the sealed target could break the seal on their own. Furthermore, sealing techniques designed for Shinigami would have even more variables when used on Menos, whose physical structures were different.
Since the second type of seal suppressed consciousness, it naturally eliminated any chance of the target escaping on their own. However, the enemy's body would still passively recover while sealed. Once the seal was undone, restraining them again would take some effort.
Especially with Szayelaporro, Kōe's goal was to control him, which ultimately required control on a conscious level.
To verify his results, he would inevitably have to conduct frequent experiments later, which meant undoing the seal multiple times. It would be mentally and physically exhausting.
If possible, he still wanted to achieve his goal of controlling Szayelaporro for a period of time by sealing his Reiatsu.
The principle behind this kind of sealing technique wasn't exactly difficult, but it wasn't simple either.
Sealing the Reiatsu circulation points within the enemy's body was the core principle. The spiritual tools used on criminals in the Seireitei followed a similar approach: first sealing the Reiatsu vents at the wrists, then pairing that with garments that suppressed surface Reiatsu.
That was for Shinigami, but for a Menos like Szayelaporro...
The circulation points on his torso were similar to a Shinigami's, and both wrists needed to be sealed as well. Now, the Reiatsu vent at his throat also required sealing. As for his lower body and the tentacles on his back...
The tentacles on his back needed to be dealt with. Kōe raised his hand and fired another Line of Gunfire, piercing through one of the tentacles behind Szayelaporro. The Reiatsu in these tentacles didn't originate from Szayelaporro's torso.
As for the ones on his lower body, Kōe decided to leave them alone for now and observe. There were simply too many of them, so densely packed that just looking at them made his eyes blur.
Having made his decision, Kōe clapped his hands together and then pulled them sharply apart. A half-meter-long, pentagonal awl-shaped short sword materialized out of thin air in his right hand. The pommel of the short sword was connected to a long, pale gray phantom silhouette that looked like a chain covered in spikes, with the other end attached to the center of Kōe's left palm.
"[Original Kidō・Ao's Bakudō: Awl-Sword Chain Binding Net]!"
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