Bleach: The Path to Transcendence

"Whoosh!"

In an instant, a short, sharp sound cut through the silent air.

As soon as the words fell, the short-statured Niku-jikijiki appeared before Ito Makoto like a bolt of black lightning.

Immediately afterward, azanpakuto with a cold gleam burst out from his sleeve, aiming straight for Ito Makoto's face.

"Clang!"

The sound of metal clashing was deafening.

Ito Makoto's reaction was also extremely fast. With a backhand motion, he drew thezanpakuto hidden in his robe and steadily received the fierce blow.

Immediately after, he turned his body and slashed horizontally with a backhand, the powerful force and sharp sword momentum instantly forcing Niku-jikijiki back several steps.

"Interesting. I'm curious, how much of Captain Unohana's strength can you display with thiszanpakuto of yours?"

Ito Makoto's lips curled up slightly, revealing a slightly playful smile.

At the same time, he keenly sensed the spiritual pressure emanating from Niku-jikijiki's body. This spiritual pressure was at the level of the third seat, almost the same as his own when not using his main body's spiritual pressure.

Niku-jikijiki looked calm and slowly said:

"The amount I can exert by appearing alone is less than half of my master's total spiritual pressure.

However, I have accompanied my master in battle for over 1,700 years. Every stance and technique of my master's swordsmanship is deeply engraved in the depths of my memory. Therefore, in terms of swordsmanship, I am confident that I can display 80% of my master's skill."

Speaking of this, Niku-jikijiki paused slightly, a hint of uncontrollable excitement and desire flashing in his eyes:

"These years, my master has been suppressing her desire to fight, and I have also been suppressing my instincts. This suppression makes me extremely uncomfortable. Therefore, I specifically came to you for a fight. You wouldn't mind, would you?"

The short-statured Niku-jikijiki stared at Ito Makoto and said, word by word.

Hearing this, the smile on Ito Makoto's face grew even stronger. His Soul Reaper clone, after borrowing spiritual pressure from his main body, could see his strength soar to the level of the first seat. However, his own spiritual pressure level had stagnated at the peak of the third seat for many years.

He pondered secretly that, without the help of his main body's spiritual pressure and the Baku Yo Knife, the Soul Reaper clone's strength was stronger than those of Captains like Tosen, Komamura, and Soi Fon. However, compared to Captains like Kyoraku Shunsui and Ukitake Jushiro, who had accumulated hundreds of years of experience, he was still slightly inferior.

The root cause was that the Soul Reaper clone's days in Soul Society had been too smooth, and he had experienced very few bloody battles. The lack of practical experience had slowed down his progress on the path to advanced strength.

Now, an opponent with similar spiritual pressure to himself, who was also proficient in 80% of the FirstKenpachi's swordsmanship, had taken the initiative to offer himself up as a sparring partner. Ito Makoto naturally couldn't ask for anything more.

"Hahaha, of course I don't mind!"

Ito Makoto looked intently at Niku-jikijiki, who was completely hidden in a green robe, and laughed heartily.

"Whoosh!"

In an instant, the airflow vibrated violently, as if a thunderclap had exploded.

In the blink of an eye, thezanpakuto in Ito Makoto's hand had already been released, transforming into Annihilation God.

With a confident smile on his face, Ito Makoto held his sword and charged towards Niku-jikijiki. This time, he was determined not to use his main body's spiritual pressure or the Baku Yo Knife, but to compete with Niku-jikijiki purely on his own strength.

In the blink of an eye, a square barrier rose from the ground like an invisible fortress, completely enveloping the area where they were fighting.

"Clang!"

"Clang!"

"Clang!"

The sound of metal clashing was incessant.

Ito Makoto, who had been empowered by the Four Directions Boundary, was like a tiger that had grown wings. He wielded Annihilation God and engaged in a fierce battle with Niku-jikijiki. Each swing of the sword brought out a sharp sword wind, and the blade whistled as it cut through the air, as if it wanted to tear space apart.

"Boom!"

A loud noise, like thunder in the sky.

Circles of black spiritual pressure, like ripples, layered on top of each other and clung tightly to the blade of Annihilation God. Each time Ito Makoto swung his sword, it carried a terrifying shock force, which was enough to make the surrounding air tremble and the ground crack, with cracks spreading around like a spider web.

However, Niku-jikijiki, who had been fiercely clashing with Ito Makoto for a long time, was not affected by this shock force at all. Not only that, but he became more and more courageous as he fought. Each strike seemed slow, but it was actually extremely precise, perfectly blocking every one of Ito Makoto's strikes.

During the battle, Ito Makoto keenly noticed that the green spiritual pressure light around Niku-jikijiki was becoming more and more intense, which was the aura ofHealing. The reason why Niku-jikijiki was able to ignore his shock force was because the power ofHealing was continuously healing him, repairing the damage to his body, and keeping him in the best fighting condition.

After all, Niku-jikijiki was so fierce, his basic ability wasHealing type.

As the battle continued, the situation gradually entered a fever pitch. Ito Makoto was increasingly shocked. He had originally thought that he had practiced swordsmanship with Unohana Retsu for a long time, and after a long period of accumulation and summarization, even if he could not compare with Unohana Retsu, the gap would not be too large.

But now he realized that Niku-jikijiki, who had only inherited 80% of Unohana Retsu's swordsmanship, could steadily suppress him in swordsmanship.

"In the end, I underestimated the heroes of the world! In terms of swordsmanship alone, Unohana Retsu is probably unmatched in the entire Three Realms!"

The two of them fought back and forth for a long time. Suddenly, as if they had agreed in advance, they retreated in tacit agreement, creating some distance between them.

"The warm-up ends here!"

Ito Makoto's eyes changed suddenly, and the sharpness in them was fully revealed, like a unsheathed blade.

"Bankai - Myriad Realms Annihilation God Kill!"

He held the Annihilation God in his hand, and in an instant, black and white spiritual pressure, like a raging tide, spread madly around him, filling the entire Four Directions Boundary in the blink of an eye, and a chilling aura of destruction permeated the air.

Under the shroud of this terrifying spiritual pressure, the appearance of Annihilation God underwent earth-shattering changes. The original snow-white blade was now black and white, the two colors intertwined, emitting a mysterious and dangerous aura; the blade became more slender, and even more sharp. At the hilt, it transformed into a swastika shape.

"Boom!"

Ito Makoto gently waved the long sword in his hand that had completed itsBankai. The wave seemed light, but it contained overwhelming power. An invisible but extremely oppressive force instantly spread around like a raging wave. This power was too strong, even space could not bear it, and was pressed out of folds.

"Interesting, so this is yourBankai? Then, I'll get a little serious too!"

Seeing this, a hint of excitement and anticipation flashed in Niku-jikijiki's eyes, and the corners of his mouth raised slightly, revealing a confident smile.

"Bankai - All Things End!"

With a roar, he violently waved the long sword in his hand, and then, the small hand wrapped in bandages quickly smeared the long sword.

Strands of sticky blood appeared on the blade, and then began to drip on the ground.

At this moment, the entire Four Directions Boundary seemed to have opened a door to a sea of blood in hell, and endless blood suddenly surged out.

This blood seemed to have life, quickly gathering under the feet of the two, and in the blink of an eye, it turned into a bottomless scarlet blood pool. In the blood pool, the blood was constantly churning. The entire Four Directions Boundary, in this endless blood tide, seemed to have completely turned into a blood purgatory, gloomy and terrifying, making people shudder.