Demon Slayer: The Journey That Began When I Became Yoriichi's Sister

"Hey."

Ichigo's voice rang out from behind, and everyone paused, turning their heads to look.

"Damn it, are you just going to... leave already?" Ichigo knelt on the ground, forcing a smile.

Kariya, standing to the side, glanced at him with his crimson eyes and chuckled softly: "Kurosaki Ichigo, your Bankai did surprise me, but right now, you're even struggling to stand, aren't you?"

"The most dignified ending for you is to just lie there and watch us leave."

"Decent my foot..."

Ichigo gritted his teeth, exerted force with his right hand, and Tensa Zangetsu emitted a crisp hum. He supported himself on the blade and slowly, bit by bit, managed to stand up again.

"Put Ishida... and Ms. Yoshino... down!"

“Stubborn fool.” Koga sneered, his tall figure blocking Kariya’s path. Dalku rubbed his hands together excitedly, making a grating metallic scraping sound. “Mr. Kariya, please go first. I’ll take care of this kid.”

Kariya said calmly, "This posture is different."

Bankai, the final form of a Shinigami (death god).

Even in the Soul Society, very few people possess this ability; they are practically among the top Shinigami. Even Ichinose hasn't mastered it yet.

Ichigo Kurosaki is now beyond the capabilities of Tsuyoshi Koga alone.

"I'll join in the fun too." Yuuki waved his folding fan, the chains rattling, and licked his lips. "This kid's spiritual pressure is really something else."

How strong would you have to be to eat one of these?

"Ichigo! Don't do anything reckless!"

In the distance, Rukia, who had regained consciousness, tried to stand up, but almost fell again due to her weakness.

Idiot, don't be stubborn at a time like this.

What's wrong with the teacher? Is she asleep?

It's time to make a move.

"Kurosaki-kun!" Inoue's hands emitted a faint golden light as he healed Rukia, leaving him unable to use them.

Rukia hesitated for a moment, but still didn't ask Inoue to come and help.

Inoue's combat strength is not enough, and in the past, he would most likely not be able to help Ichigo. Instead, he would be more likely to be exploited by the enemy.

Ichigo... don't be reckless.

Ignoring their shouts, Ichigo's eyes flashed with spiritual energy as he said in a low voice, "I said... give him back to me!"

boom!

The ground beneath Ichigo's feet instantly cracked, and he transformed into a black shadow, hurtling straight towards Koga Takeshi.

"So fast!"

Even though he had already witnessed Ichigo's speed after Bankai, the explosive power Ichigo displayed in this instant still exceeded his expectations.

Dalku swung out iron balls with both arms. The iron balls changed and stretched in mid-air, connecting with each other like a spider web, trying to block him. However, Ichigo strangely twisted his center of gravity in mid-air, sideways and skimming past the edge of the spider web, the black blade drawing a shrill arc.

This kid's target isn't him!

Koga shouted, "Darku! Get out of the way!"

Ichigo was already close at hand, gripping the hilt of his sword with both hands, he leaped into the air, a streak of black and red light flashing past.

"Crescent Moon...Tian Chong!"

Dalku reacted extremely quickly to connect with the spider web, but the black and red crescent moon that erupted at close range still easily pierced through the web and struck Dalku directly in the chest. The huge impact sent her flying.

Koga tried to catch her, and the two of them plowed the ground with their feet, carving a furrow in the park and moving backward.

"It's not over yet!"

Ichigo didn't pause; his figure disappeared again.

“Here you are, kid.” Yuuki’s voice rang out from the side. Her combat experience was exceptionally seasoned. The moment she saw Koga suffer a loss, she predicted Ichigo’s path, and her fan, wrapped with iron chains, coiled towards Ichigo’s ankle like a venomous snake.

Just now, Ichigo might have been trapped by this move. But now, if Ichigo wanted to compete with him in speed, he would at least have to call Byakuya or Yoruichi over.

Ichigo easily dodged the chains that were entangled in him, and even grabbed the chains with his own hand.

Yuki's pupils contracted: "What?!"

Ichigo used the pull of the chains to pull back sharply, dragging Yuuki towards himself, and swept his Tensa Zangetsu horizontally.

"Damn it!" Yuki exclaimed in terror as she parried with her sword.

clang!

A crisp impact rang out. Yuki managed to block Ichigo's slash, but the force of the impact still made her blood surge.

"Is this the Bankai of the Shinigami?" Yuuki gritted his teeth and endured, his forehead covered in a thick layer of cold sweat.

That’s too exaggerated!

Compared to before, he was like a completely different person; his spiritual pressure had increased by at least five times.

Ichigo didn't answer; his mind was focused solely on attacking.

"Go away!"

Another explosive horizontal slash, the black sword pressure forcibly forcing the two back. Ichigo ignored them, his gaze fixed on Ichinose Masaki not far away, and with a push of his foot, he activated Shunpo once more.

However, just as he was about to touch Ishida...

boom!

Ichigo felt a tremendous force coming from his waist and abdomen, and he was sent flying backward at a speed even faster than when he rushed forward, crashing heavily into the park's slide.

"It's time for the farce to end."

Kariya withdrew his leg, looking coldly at Ichigo amidst the ruins, and said indifferently, "Your will is good, but you alone cannot defeat us."

There's no need for Koga Takeshi and Yuki to keep him occupied; just distract him.

"Kurosaki!" Yoshino struggled as Ugaki pinned her hands down.

Kariya pulled Yoshino from Ugaki's grasp, pinched her chin, and smiled slightly: "Don't you understand yet? You can't escape my grasp."

Fangye bit her lip lightly and remained silent.

Kariya couldn't help but feel a little bored.

Rukia clenched her hands, completely at a loss for what to do.

Ichigo has lost his ability to fight, and she and Inoue are powerless to do anything about it. Are they just supposed to watch helplessly as the other side takes Yoshino and Ishida away?

The Bounts gathered behind Kariya again. Ichinose Masaki glanced coldly at Ichigo, who was sitting by the slide with his head down, and said in a low voice, "Mr. Kariya, let's go."

"Hmm." Kariya Kami glanced around indifferently and gave a light reply.

Amidst the ruins, Ichigo felt as if every bone in his body was about to shatter, the blood streaming down his forehead blurring his vision. The retreating figure of Ishida being taken away, and the trembling cries of Rukia and Orihime, were all fading into the distance.

"No...I can't move..."

Ichigo reluctantly grabbed his Zanpakuto, only to find that he didn't even have the strength to hold it.

How useless... You bragged so much in front of your aunt, but you couldn't even save your friend?

Miscellaneous fish.

The image of my aunt's disdainful gaze involuntarily surfaced in my mind.

Yeah... Right now, I'm really just a nobody who can't even keep my friends.

The scene before my eyes is becoming increasingly blurry.

Right at this moment.

A sharp, maniacal laugh, tinged with mockery, suddenly rang out from the deepest recesses of Ichigo's heart.

"Hahahaha... Hahahahahaha!"

"How awful, Ichigo!"

"Who?"

Ichigo's eyelid twitched.

This voice is...

"Oh dear, look at you, you've been beaten like a dead dog by these good-for-nothings."

"Give me your body, Ichigo."

"I'll show you what a real battle is like..."

Oh right, that voice belongs to... that guy...

“…Shut up!” Ichigo struggled.

"Hehe, don't be so quick to refuse. You're going to die soon anyway, so why not let me out... and have some fun!"

Kariya and his group had reached the edge of the park and were preparing to disappear into the dark streets.

Suddenly, a chilling spiritual pressure rose up from behind.

……

"Hey, is this really okay?"

On a high-rise building in a corner of the park, Yoruichi and Ikuko sat side by side on the wall.

Yuko calmly looked down at the materialized, violent spiritual pressure below: "Didn't you say you wanted to force out his potential?"

A bead of cold sweat trickled down Yoruichi's cheek: "But this could really turn into a disaster, wouldn't it?"

It's almost blurred now.

Yuko's eyes reflected the figures of the Bounts: "It's quite strange."

Yoruichi looked over curiously: "What's so strange?"

"Don't you think that guy named Kariya is different from the other Bounts?"

"...Indeed, I didn't see any puppets." Yoruichi broke out in a cold sweat. "It's impossible to possess such power without even using puppets, right?"

“No, it’s not that he didn’t use a puppet.” A glint of light appeared in Yuko’s eyes. “This man has a crest on his body.”

"I see, is it similar to a process of integration?"

"I take that back."

"What?"

"The statement that Bount's puppets are trash."

"..."

“I didn’t actually say that, why don’t you question it?”

"The meaning is unclear!" Yoruichi gave him a sharp rap on the head in an annoyed tone.

“But I wasn’t very optimistic about the puppets at first.” Yuko continued, seemingly unaffected by the pain, “because the Bount itself can only store spirit particles and use the puppets in battle, not directly use spirit particles.”

"This means that once the puppets are separated from their owners, their original bodies will be vulnerable."

"But this approach of integrating with the doll has, to some extent, perfectly solved this shortcoming."

"Ignoring the increase in spiritual pressure brought by Bankai, this thing might be even more useful than a Zanpakuto."

The reason why Zanpakuto is so powerful is twofold: firstly, it reflects the user's inner self and can perfectly match the user's inner self; secondly, it brings a huge boost through Bankai.

But a sword is ultimately an external object, even a Zanpakuto is no exception, and it can never be as powerful as one's own, unless one can find a way to fuse with one's own Zanpakuto.

Yoruichi was speechless upon hearing this: "You wouldn't be eyeing that so-called doll, would you?"

"That's exactly what I meant, but the Bount dolls seem to be related to their unusual souls, so others probably can't use them."

It's a bit of a pity about Yuko.

……

Below, Ichigo's spiritual pressure continued to rise. Unlike the previous black and red spiritual pressure, the black now seemed to be getting deeper and more intense.

"What?!" Ichinose Masaki suddenly stopped in his tracks; this level of spiritual pressure was not something they could ignore.

"This kid, does he still have any strength left?!" The bavents all showed surprised expressions, even though he was already so badly injured.

Kariya slowly turned around, his brows furrowed as he looked at the slide.

Beside the slide, Ichigo shakily stood up, his right hand clenched tightly against his face, his eyes turning a deep gold.

Ichigo's body suddenly twisted strangely, and a bony liquid appeared on his face, which then quickly spread and transformed into a mask with red, white and black stripes. His whole body began to emanate a red and black, materialized spiritual pressure.

"Is that...Ichigo?" Rukia had never seen Ichigo like this before. "Why, Hollow Mask..."

Inoue's face was full of worry: "Kurosaki-kun..."

That is, not a complete blurring.

"Hehehehe~"

A laugh, seemingly tinged with emphasis, came from Ichigo's mouth.

"It's out~"

Fortunately, that guy's mental state couldn't hold on any longer, otherwise it would have been really difficult for him to get out.

"Hey, that guy's in trouble."

Looking at the red and black spiritual pressure emanating from Ichigo, Yuuki's face was covered in cold sweat.

As if hearing Yuuki's words, Ichigo suddenly raised his head, his golden eyes behind the mask looking at Bount and his group with a slightly crazed expression.

"Trash fish."

Ichigo's figure suddenly disappeared, and he appeared in front of Yuuki in an instant.

Yuki didn't even have time to show a look of astonishment on her face.

This speed was so fast that even Kariya-gami couldn't react completely for a moment.

With the power of Bankai combined with Hollowfication, even the current Kariyakami might not be able to secure victory.

Ichigo casually swung his sword, and Yuuki finally reacted, raising her hand to try to block. However, her movements were too slow. The red and black spiritual energy slash swept across her body halfway up the iron sword, along with the puppet in her hand, and was directly split in two.

It disintegrated and vanished under the pressure of spiritual energy, turning into scattered sand, leaving only an exquisite robe.

"Dead, dead?!" Yu Shi couldn't help but take two steps back.

What's wrong with this guy?!

Why did it suddenly become so powerful?

Wasn't he already out of strength?

Yu Shi asked three questions in a row, but the beast had already set its sights on him.

As if whoever makes a sound will die first, after dealing with Yuuki, Ichigo suddenly raised his head, looked at Ushiki, and grinned.

"Solve one~"

"Damn it!" Yu Shi frantically reached into his pocket, trying to summon the doll.

This is not okay.

Kariya stepped in front of the group, looking at Ichigo with interest: "Oh? He can actually transform?"

What's happening here?

Is that a fake mask?

Kariya's gaze finally turned serious. He could feel the threat this guy posed to him, making his skin sting slightly.

We can't let this guy keep killing, otherwise our already scarce manpower will become even scarcer.

He can't attack Soul Society alone.

Kariya tried to exchange a few words with Ichigo, but the Hollowfied Ichigo was completely unreasonable. He grinned and raised his sword at Kariya, unleashing another Getsuga Tenshou.

Use your ultimate skill as a basic attack.

"spread!"

With a sharp shout, the God of Hunting roared, white wind blades wrapped around his hand, and he changed the direction of the Crescent Moon Slash, raising it towards the sky.

boom!

The crescent-shaped skyburst exploded in the sky.