"You've disappointed me, brother!"
With a thrust of the blade, the terrified Renji opposite him merely tilted his head. Looking this disgraceful wouldn't let him survive!
Sure enough, the sharp blade left a bloody gash on Renji's shoulder. The one-horned Arrancar twisted his blade, having already chosen the location for his next strike.
But Renji was faster. His left hand shot out like lightning, firmly grasping his opponent's wrist. The bare, shortened hilt of Zabimaru spun in his hand and slammed ruthlessly into the Arrancar's abdomen.
The power Renji unleashed in this moment was beyond imagination—at least, it exceeded the expectations of the one-horned Arrancar, who was sent flying backward.
A desperate final counterattack? No, this was pure mockery—the weak making a fool of the strong!
"Damn it!"
Just as he adjusted his posture to launch a counterattack, he suddenly felt something brush against his left foot. Looking down, he realized it was one of the bone segments he had severed earlier. But rather than him bumping into it, it was more accurate to say the bone segment had crashed into him on its own.
This wasn't an isolated incident. The bone segments still suspended in the air seemed to be drawn by an unknown force, quickly latching onto his arms, chest, and back, linking together to bind him.
"You probably noticed that the joints of Hihiō Zabimaru are its major weakness, but in reality, that's its greatest trap."
The scattered bone segments, as if finding their master, connected segment by segment to the short hilt dangling from Renji's hand. "Unlike my Shikai, my Bankai, Hihiō Zabimaru, is linked together by Reiatsu. As long as I haven't lost the ability to fight, it can regenerate endlessly!"
In truth, thanks to this characteristic, even when using Bankai, Renji's own mobility wasn't significantly hindered. After all, he could simply disconnect a joint temporarily to rapidly shift his position.
Therefore, the issue with Hihiō Zabimaru wasn't its mobility, but the unavoidable gap created between that mobility and the transitions between offense and defense—a flaw that Kōe had pointed out to him.
Renji hadn't mastered his Bankai for long. Especially when facing Byakuya, he hadn't undergone the necessary training and exploration. Otherwise, even if he still lost to Byakuya, he wouldn't have been defeated so quickly. After all, back then, he had practically stood in place, falling to Senbonzakura Kageyoshi without moving an inch.
Over the past month, he hadn't stopped training. His proficiency in separating and reassembling Hihiō Zabimaru had noticeably improved, and he had been in control of the situation from the very beginning.
High speed and immense strength were the deepest impressions this Arrancar had given him. Even with his Bankai, ending the battle in a short time was impossible.
Unless the opponent revealed a flaw. Renji understood this perfectly, which was why he hadn't exposed his Bankai's unique trait too early. He needed to restrict his opponent's movements the exact moment they completely dropped their guard, and then deliver the final blow!
Starting from the tail, ring after ring of cherry-pink light overflowed from the bone segments. The increasingly volatile Reiatsu surrounding him made the one-horned Arrancar somewhat uneasy, as did the beam of Reiatsu gathering in the snake's maw below—a blast nearly comparable to a Menos's Cero.
"Crush him..."
"Hikotsu Taihō!"
The cherry-pink beam shot straight up. This concentrated blast of Reiatsu, completely on par with a Cero, could reduce anything in its path to ashes. Such a final strike should be enough to take care of the problem, right?
Just as Renji breathed a sigh of relief and lifted his heel, preparing to rush over to Rukia's side, a white shadow suddenly pierced through the coiled snake body in midair.
*Not good!*
Renji hastily retreated backward. At the same time, with a wave of his right hand, he whipped the massive snake body toward the unknown white shadow.
He hadn't expected to stop the opponent just like that, but he certainly hadn't expected to fail at even hindering them. It wasn't just breaking through the joints; anything in front of this white shadow—whether joint or solid bone—shattered upon impact!
"You seem to have misunderstood something as well. My blade isn't just for show." It felt as though something had slammed into his body. Before he could even react, Renji was hoisted into the air, a familiar voice echoing in his ears: "Sōkaku Ōji... a very elegant name, isn't it?"
Renji finally got a clear look at what the white shadow was. Before him stood a half-man, half-bull monster, and he was currently impaled in midair by its sharp horns.
"You now have the right to know my name. Arrancar 15, Yylfordt Granz."
Renji pushed off with one hand, clutching his stomach as he dropped to the ground. Panting heavily, he stared at Yylfordt in front of him. *Just what kind of monster is this?*
Monsters always made people uneasy. Back at the Urahara Shop, Ururu—who usually spoke in a soft, timid voice—was now acting like a blood-scenting shark, desperately craning her neck toward the direction of Renji and Yylfordt's battle.
"C-Calm down, Ururu."
"Ngh, aah!"
Jinta, usually loud and brash, seemed to have been possessed by the timid Ururu. Watching Ururu bare her teeth and struggle to break free from the chains binding her, he actually took two subconscious steps back.
Whether it was due to the Arrancar's unique Reiatsu or not, Ururu had inexplicably entered her slaughter mode. In this state, Ururu was dangerous. Very, very dangerous!
Watching the chains flash rapidly due to Ururu's struggling, Jinta trembled and took a few more steps back. He looked up at Kōe on the roof and shouted, "Do we really not need to add another layer of Bakudō? Mr. Chōzuka!"
"Relax, relax. If things go south, I'll step in again. You definitely won't get killed."
*Thank goodness.* Jinta continuously patted his chest. *If Mr. Chōzuka says so, then there definitely isn't any... Wait, that's a huge problem! What do you mean 'you definitely won't get killed'?!*
"Can you be a little more serious, you bastard?!"
"Relax, Jinta. He's just joking with you."
"..."
Jinta didn't know what to say for a moment. *The manager actually doesn't care about me anymore. He just bought me juice during the day! That bastard must have been a bad influence on the manager. That has to be it...*
There was no juice to quiet Jinta down now. Having not heard Jinta's voice for a while, Urahara nodded in satisfaction. Kōe really had a way with things; a proper scare was all it took.
"Your disciple's situation seems a bit precarious."
"Disciple?" Kōe turned his head and asked in confusion. Seeing Urahara pointedly glance in Renji's direction, he huffed angrily, "He's not my disciple."
He certainly wasn't. And even if he were, Kōe felt that given Renji's current performance, he would have expelled that brainless gorilla from his tutelage!
The obvious Reiatsu fluctuations and that glaringly conspicuous Hikotsu Taihō allowed Kōe to figure out Renji's battle strategy with just a moment's thought.
The idea of luring the enemy into a trap and delivering a fatal blow was fine, but why did he have to make the exact same mistake as his opponent when executing it?
*Experiencing the exact same downfall as the other guy?*
Thinking of this, Kōe couldn't help but feel relieved. Thank goodness Renji wasn't his disciple. Otherwise, whether he'd pass out from anger was uncertain, but he would definitely have cleaned house and disposed of Renji.
The former would ravage his own physical health, while the latter would land him in prison. No matter how you looked at it, he, Kōe Shihouin, would be the one taking the loss.