I'm in Bleach, starting with Unlimited Blade Works.

"boom!"

With Erin's roar, the Tessaiga in his hand finally revealed its true form.

The slender, worn blade had been enlarged into a broad tooth-shaped knife.

The immense spiritual energy caused the area around the tooth-shaped knife to radiate a dazzling aura of spiritual power.

With the release of his Zanpakuto, Erin's spiritual pressure naturally increased as well.

However, the unfinished Tessaiga only brought Erin a three-fold increase in spiritual pressure. At this moment, in terms of spiritual pressure intensity, it was obvious that Ōmaeda Kinoshita had the upper hand.

Chapter 14 The Wound of the Wind

After successfully creating the "Tessaiga", Erin received spiritual pressure feedback, and his spiritual pressure was not much different from that of Ōmaeda Kinoshin.

However, after both of them released their Zanpakuto, Erin's spiritual pressure was at least half that of Ōmaeda Kinoshin.

After all, Ōmaeda Kinoshin had already honed his Shikai to its peak, increasing his spiritual pressure by as much as five times.

As for Erin, this Tessaiga was only a semi-finished product. When it transformed into a fang blade, it only brought Erin a three-fold increase in spiritual pressure.

"There's a show!"

Sensing that Erin's spiritual pressure was much lower than his own, Ōmaeda Noriyuki was overjoyed.

The battle between Shinigami is ultimately a battle of spiritual pressure.

Although Ōmaeda Kinosuke's current spiritual pressure is not yet at the level to reduce or even ignore the Zanpakuto's power.

However, under the immense spiritual pressure, his speed, strength, and defense were greatly enhanced.

He refused to believe that he could be defeated when his spiritual pressure was so much stronger than Erin's!

"Aha!"

With that thought in mind, Ōmaeda Kinoshita swung his huge spiked club and charged toward Erin.

Facing the high-speed attack of Ōmaeda Kinosugu, Erin gripped the hilt of the Tessaiga tightly with both hands, raised the Tessaiga high above his head, and slashed at Ōmaeda Kinosugu.

"boom!"

The gigantic Tessaiga, in a sense, belongs to the power-plus-slashing type of Zanpakuto.

However, compared to the Sake Demon Maru spiked club of Ōmaeda Kinosuke, its strength enhancement is much less.

The Tessaiga and the spiked club collided, and the immense force caused Erin's body to shrink.

"boom!"

The ground beneath Erin's feet blasted open a crater five meters in diameter, and the cracks in the ground even extended more than ten meters away.

"What a power!"

At the bottom of the pit, Erin's eyes widened as the Iron Fang, which he held against the spiked club, trembled and creaked in his hand.

"Drink!"

Blue spiritual pressure erupted from Erin, and the surge in spiritual pressure boosted Erin's speed and strength.

Reiatsu explodes!

This is a technique for using spiritual pressure that many Shinigami (death gods) possess.

Strictly speaking, for a Grim Reaper with low spiritual pressure, this is a life-or-death technique.

The principle behind it is to gather one's spiritual pressure and suddenly unleash it in exchange for a short-term increase in strength.

The side effect is that spiritual pressure is consumed at an extremely fast rate. The spiritual energy that can fight for an hour may be completely exhausted in less than five minutes.

"clang!"

After using the technique "Spiritual Pressure Burst," the battle between Erin and Ōmaeda Kinosugu entered its most intense phase.

The training ground was riddled with huge craters from the two men's battle.

After mitigating the difference in spiritual pressure by using his short reach to unleash his spiritual pressure burst, Erin, with his much stronger slashing techniques than Ōmaeda Kinoshin, managed to hold his own against Ōmaeda Kinoshin's spiked club with his Tessaiga, which was less than 1.2 meters long.

They even gradually suppressed Ōmaeda Kinoshita.

However, although Noriyuki Omaeda is at a disadvantage for the time being, he is very calm.

In the current situation, if Ōmaeda Kōnosuke can hold out until Erin's spiritual pressure burst ends, that will be his victory.

"Clang, clang, clang, clang!"

Erin moved like lightning, turning into afterimages that surrounded Nozomi Omaeda.

A net of sword light enveloped Ōmaeda Noriyuki.

However, Erin's attack did not achieve very good results.

Despite his muscular physique, Noriyuki Ōmaeda's movements are incredibly smooth, and his mastery of the Instant Step technique ranks among the top three in the Second Division.

Well, now that Erin has been added, Ōmaeda Kinoko's ranking will probably have to move down one place.

However, because Erin was running around Ōmaeda Kōnosuke, although his Shunpo speed was faster than Ōmaeda Kōnosuke's, his attack speed was not fast enough for Ōmaeda Kōnosuke to react.

In addition, the enormous spiked club in Ōmaeda Kōnosuke's hand was so large that he could simply adjust the angle to hide most of his body behind it and use it to defend against Erin's attacks.

Thus, Erin's attack only managed to inflict a few wounds on non-vital areas of Ōmaeda Kinoshita's body, having little effect.

"call out!"

Seeing that his attack was ineffective, Erin did not waste any more spiritual power. He instantly teleported and stopped about twenty meters in front of Ōmaeda Kinoshita.

……

"So strong!"

"Yes, both Vice-Captain Ōmaeda and Erin are incredibly strong!"

At this moment, the more than 400 Shinigami of the Second Division outside the training ground finally came to their senses from the fierce battle that had just taken place.

Their gazes as they looked at Erin and Ōmaeda Kinosugu seemed to be shining.

Being a grim reaper is never a safe profession.

Every year, many people die.

This is also the main reason why the Gotei 13 recruit Shinigami from the Shinigami Academy every year.

Having a strong teammate greatly increases everyone's chances of survival.

Don't you remember that most dangerous mission to rescue the Kasumi family? It was thanks to Erin that at least a dozen seriously injured members of the Second Division survived.

At this moment, Erin demonstrated his formidable strength, which gave me an overwhelming sense of security.

After this battle, everyone believes that even if Erin doesn't succeed in the challenge and become the vice-captain of the Second Division, he will at least be guaranteed a seat of command.

"Urahara, what do you think?"

Yoruichi Shihouin looked at the two people in front of her and asked Kisuke Urahara.

"What do you think?"

Before Kisuke Urahara could answer, Aya Hachisho, who was standing next to Yoruichi, interrupted Yoruichi's question and immediately took over the conversation.

"Yoruichi-sama, this guy named Erin may have some strength, but he's still a step below Lieutenant-Captain Ōmaeda, isn't he?"

"Look, he's already using a technique like spiritual pressure burst. Once his spiritual power is exhausted, he'll naturally be no match for Lieutenant Ōmaeda."

"On the contrary, if Vice-Captain Ōmaeda were to unleash his spiritual pressure, this guy named Erin would definitely not be able to withstand it!"

"Oh dear, my opinion is the opposite of yours."

Kisuke Urahara glanced at Aya Hachiko with amusement. Her bewildered eyes, hidden beneath her tousled hair, unexpectedly held a hint of seriousness.

"That guy named Erin is going to win this battle!"

"how is this possible?"

Aya didn't believe a single word Kisuke Urahara said.

Judging from the situation just now, although Erin gained some advantages by using spiritual pressure bursts, these advantages cannot be the key to determining the outcome.

However, the next moment, Fengshaoling's pupils suddenly contracted—

The greatsword in the hand of the guy he didn't think much of seemed to be surrounded by some swirling winds. With a swing of Erin's sword, it transformed into three huge slashes that attacked Ōmaeda Noriyuki.

"Wind injury!"

Chapter 15 Victory

"It seems that I can't win this battle without using the secret technique of the Tessaiga."

After calming her breathing and sensing the spiritual energy she had left, Erin shook her head slightly.

Although his White Shunki has reached the threshold of Captain level, his insufficient spiritual pressure is still a major weakness.

Without sufficient spiritual pressure, even the strongest of one's Shinigami Four Techniques cannot be fully utilized.

The difference in spiritual pressure between a third-level spiritual power and a captain-level second-level spiritual power is more than tenfold.

Ōmaeda Noriyuki has served as vice-captain for nearly two hundred years, and his own strength has been honed to its peak.

After releasing his Zanpakuto, Ōmaeda Kinosuke's spiritual pressure, while not quite as high as the captains' usual levels, was not far off.

If the captains don't unleash their Zanpakuto, defeating Ōmaeda Kinosuke in a short time won't be easy.

Erin used a technique called Spirit Pressure Burst. If he doesn't defeat Ōmaeda Kinoko when he has a surplus of spiritual power, he will be like a fish on a chopping board, at the mercy of others, once his spiritual power is exhausted.

"Vice-Captain Ōmaeda, now I'm going to use the secret technique of my Zanpakuto."

"I haven't used this move outside since I successfully mastered it."

"Moreover, this move is very powerful, so please be careful, Vice Captain Ōmaeda."

"What? The secret technique of a Zanpakuto?"

Upon hearing Erin's words, Noriyuki Omaeda's pupils contracted.

After each Shinigami (death god) forges its own Zanpakuto, once the Shinigami and Zanpakuto reach a certain level of compatibility, the Shinigami will learn the Zanpakuto's name from its mouth.

Then, the Shinigami can release the Zanpakuto by calling its name.