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

Chapter 753 The Divided Battlefield

"Stop talking nonsense!"

Seeing the three bavents discussing amongst themselves, completely ignoring them, Xiu Bing gathered spiritual pressure beneath his feet, preparing to instantly move to the second-floor corridor.

Koga noticed his movement and waved his hand to control Darku to smash his hands down on the three people in the hall.

"Grim Reaper, come and follow me if you dare." Sawatari let out a sinister chuckle and headed deeper into the mansion. The sight of him looking so strange on the outside was quite odd.

"I'll leave this to you."

The three dodged Dalku's attack. Soi Fon leaped into the air, uttered a few words, and then used her Shunpo to chase after Sawatari and leave the hall.

"Tsk, we were really underestimated."

Xiubing looked up at the second-floor corridor, but neither Sawatari nor Ugaki could be seen anymore, leaving only Koga Takeshi. He clicked his tongue in annoyance.

To think they could take on two vice-captains by themselves, these Bounts are really arrogant.

"Shuhei, don't fall for the enemy's provocations." Kira was able to remain calm at this moment, just as Ikuko had said about the vice-captains.

Kira is considered one of the more intelligent ones among them.

He kept Urahara Kisuke and Yoruichi's words in mind, and Bount's strength was enhanced.

Even though it's a two-on-one situation now, we can't afford to relax in the slightest.

"I know."

Although Shuhei's tone wasn't very pleasant, he could still understand Kira's meaning.

“It seems that the Bounts fight using these puppets…” Kira drew his Zanpakuto, and as the two faced off against Dalku, he suggested, “Shuhei, I’ll deal with this puppet, and you take care of that guy while you’re at it.”

"Their own strength shouldn't be too great."

Shuhei wasn't some idiot like Kenpachi Zaraki who only had fighting on his mind; he immediately understood Kira's meaning.

"Well, that's up to you."

He looked up and stared at Koga Takeshi on the second floor, a smile spreading across his face.

Koga and he locked eyes for a moment, Koga narrowing his eyes slightly.

He said he looked down on them, but he was also thoroughly underestimated.

Although I am not incapable of fighting, but...

"You can't get close to me with just words... Darku!"

"Understood!" he commanded, and Darku launched another attack.

At this moment, Dalku, with six sharp legs extending from its abdomen, resembled a giant metal spider. Upon hearing Koga Takeshi's command, iron balls were launched from her hands.

Shuhei and Kira quickly dodged.

While Dalku was distracted by fighting two people alone, Xiubing took the opportunity to rush towards Koga Tsuyoshi on the second floor.

At the same time, Kira also moved closer, intending to create better conditions for Shuhei and prevent Dalku from having a chance to defend.

"Look up, Wabisuke!"

The Zanpakuto was instantly unleashed, and the tip of the blade transformed into a hook shape, making the Zanpakuto resemble some kind of iron hook.

Anyway, judging from its appearance, this thing has nothing to do with slashing.

Darku charged head-on, sending up a large number of iron balls, forcing Kira to hastily prepare a counterattack.

At the same time, iron spikes extended from her back, piercing the soldiers in mid-air.

"what?!"

The speed was so great that Xiubing had to abandon his close-range engagement with Koga and turn to meet the iron spikes.

boom!

Good weight!

The force caught Xiu Bing off guard. The moment the blade made contact with the iron spikes, Xiu Bing was violently knocked away.

In the hall, Kira's Zanpakuto collided with the iron ball, which fell to the ground at an extremely high speed, making a dull thud on the floor.

"Ok?"

Darku let out a soft exclamation. At this moment, the autonomy of the puppets was demonstrated; they possessed independent intelligence.

Almost instantly, she understood the power of Kira's Zanpakuto.

"Contact will make the object heavier."

Darku pulled himself upside down on the lamp stand in the center of the hall, aimed at the two men, and fired a series of iron balls.

She planned to use this wide-area coverage attack to completely lock down the two of them.

……

Meanwhile, in the back garden of the mansion, Soi Fon had caught up with Sawatari, and the two were locked in a standoff.

No, "catching up" isn't quite the right word, because Sawatari stopped on his own.

"Where's your doll? Use it."

Sawatari chuckled: "The little girl from the Grim Reaper's family is really impatient."

Soi Fon raised her hand expressionlessly, Suzumebachi sparkling on her fingertips: "Are you used to being an old man? Is it hard to get used to suddenly becoming a young man again?"

“Yes, that’s right.” Sawatari stretched his shoulders, feeling a long-lost sense of vitality. “It’s all thanks to that man.”

With each call of "that person," Soi Fon had a feeling that Yuko had somehow become the leader of this group of bouncys without their knowledge.

"Let me show you what my doll is all about." Sawatari smiled. "Come out, Paula!"

The next moment, Soi Fon felt a tremor beneath her feet, and a strange sensation came from the ground.

Her pupils contracted slightly, and she instinctively jumped up and looked down.

Suddenly, ripples appeared on the ground like water, and a gray, petrified whale, seemingly made of rock, leaped out of the soil.

When did that enormous size hide there?!

Before Soi Fon could figure out what was going on, the leaping whale disappeared in mid-air.

The literal meaning disappeared, from beginning to end, as if it had vanished into the void.

"What?!" Soi Fon landed on a corner of the wall and spread her senses around, but she couldn't find the whale's location.

Is the ability related to space?

Soi Fon frowned slightly; this was indeed a troublesome ability.

She then turned her gaze to Sawatari.

A common weakness of the Bounts is that they do not possess great strength.

Since it's impossible to deal with a doll of that size, it's better to avoid it altogether and deal with the owner directly; it would be easier that way.

Having made up her mind, Soi Fon moved her feet, and the broken tiles beneath her feet crumbled away, transforming into a blur as she charged towards Sawatari.

Although her Shunpo is not as good as Yoruichi's, as the captain of the Mobile Suit Division, her speed is among the best in the Seireitei, and she is not much weaker than Yoruichi.

But just as she was about to approach Sawatari, the petrified giant whale that had disappeared into the void suddenly reappeared beside Sawatari and slammed its tail at Soi Fon.

Soi Fon abruptly stopped in mid-air, performing a backflip to evade the attack.

She looked up in the direction of the petrified whale, only to find that only its tail was still sticking out, while its body had disappeared into the void.

Beside her, a ripple appeared in the air as the head of the petrified whale charged straight at her.

This strange creature, despite its size, should have been clumsy, but under Sawatari's control, it moved through space like a fish, disappearing in an instant and then suddenly appearing beside Soi Fon.

……

At this very moment, in the forest outside the mansion, two figures were walking quickly, neither of them wanting to stop first, as if they were having a contest of instantaneous movement.

Finally, Ichinose Maki was the first to stop.

Ayasegawa Yumichika also stopped, and the two faced each other at a distance of about seven or eight meters.

Ichinose Masaki stood with his sword drawn, looking at the person in front of him with a complicated expression: "...I never thought we would meet again in this way."

“I never thought of that either. When you left the Eleventh Division, you didn’t even say goodbye.” Ayasegawa Yumichika was unusually serious, not fiddling with his hair. “You should know that Captain Zaraki did nothing wrong.”

Ichinose gritted her teeth: "What do you mean there's nothing wrong! He killed the captain!"

He knew in his heart that Kenpachi Zaraki was not wrong, but Kenpachi Onigenjo was the captain he admired the most.

Yumichika remained unmoved by his anger, calmly saying, "Then what are you doing now? Joining a race that could be destroyed at any moment, what do you want to do to Soul Society... no, to Captain Zaraki?"

He rarely spoke calmly to anyone, because this guy had been in their Eleventh Division, nothing more.

"Mr. Kariya is the only one who dares to raise the flag of rebellion against this twisted world!" Ichinose Masaki suddenly drew his sword and pointed it at Yumichika.

"For Mr. Kariya's ideals, for the correction of this distorted world... Yumichika, even if you were my former colleague, I will show no mercy."

"Justice? Don't make me laugh." Yumichika sneered. "Your justice is to attach yourself to a bunch of Bounts who can't even stand the sunlight, and then attack the Soul Society that raised you?"

"These guys don't even spare the souls of ordinary people, and they dare to call themselves righteous?"

These words moved Ichinose Masaki somewhat. He shook his head, gritted his teeth, and looked sharply at Yumichika.

"It's no use talking more!"

Has this guy been brainwashed by Bount?

Yumichika, expressionless, drew his Zanpakuto from his waist.

"It seems that words alone cannot explain it clearly."

The two looked at each other, their mouths opening almost simultaneously, and the chant began to be understood.

"Bloom, vine peacock."

"Shine, rainbow!"

Ichinose Maki's Zanpakuto radiated light, like a lightsaber.

Yumichika's Zanpakuto split into four forked blades, resembling a peacock's tail, all shaped like scythes, as if several scythes were combined into one, with a claw-like shape.

The two faced off, and in the next instant, they collided.

As members of the Eleventh Division, they adhere to a fighting style that is direct head-on confrontation.

……

The underground space of the mansion.

Time rewinds slightly to the moment when the floor suddenly cracks open and everyone falls down.

"Inoue!" Ichigo shouted in mid-air. Ignoring his own safety, he gathered spiritual energy beneath his feet, stomped hard in mid-air, and swooped down towards Inoue Orihime who was diagonally below him.

Inoue felt the wind whistling past her ears, and the fear of weightlessness made her momentarily dazed, until a pair of strong hands grabbed her arms and pulled her into a warm embrace.

"Kurosaki-kun!"

"Hold on tight!" Ichigo gritted his teeth and swung his right hand, Tensa Zangetsu, downwards with a fierce "Getsuga Tenshou!"

The black crescent moon wasn't meant to harm their enemy, but rather to use its recoil to slow their descent. With a loud thud, the two crashed heavily onto the thick rock, kicking up clouds of dust.

Chad, Renji, and Rukia, on the other hand, ended up in different places.

"It hurts."

After a while, the dust settled, and Ichigo rubbed his head and groaned.

"Ah! Kurosaki-san!"

Upon hearing Ichigo's voice, Inoue realized that she was still lying on top of him and quickly got up.

"Are you alright, Inoue?" Ichigo rubbed his head and got up.

Inoue waved his hands frantically, "No, no, it's nothing."

"what happened to you?"

Why are you suddenly stuttering like this? Did you bite your tongue when you fell?

"I-I-I'm fine." Steam rose from Inoue's hair as his mind raced. "Right! Where's everyone else?!"

Upon hearing this, Ichigo looked around: "Chad, Rukia, and Renji, it seems they fell down too."

The surroundings were empty, filled only with rock pillars and piles of rocks.

Beneath this mansion lies what appears to be a vast cavern, separated by these rocks and pillars.

Ichigo cupped his hands around his mouth like a megaphone: "Hey! Chad! Rukia! Can you hear me?!"

They fell together in the middle of the hall, and even if there was a gap, it shouldn't have been too far apart.

Sure enough, soon, the voices of the crowd could be heard from the other side.

“I’m here.” That was Chado’s voice.

"Ichigo! Are you alright?!" It was Rukia's voice.

The sound came from two places, and everyone seemed to have been separated.

"Everyone, let's..." Before Ichigo could finish speaking, a clear, unhurried footstep sound came from the darkness.

Da...da...

In this silent underground, the sound of boots stepping on stones is particularly crisp.

Ichigo turned around abruptly and saw a tall, slender figure slowly appear at the end of the deep cavern, illuminated by light shining down from above.

Ichigo instinctively stood in front of Inoue, watching him warily.

"Kari Yagami."

Kariya did not rush to make a move, but stood at the edge where light and shadow intersected, his scarlet eyes holding the posture of scrutinizing his prey.

"This is round two, Ichigo Kurosaki."

That night, for various reasons, their battle had to be interrupted.

But now, we can fight to our hearts' content.

Ichigo frowned deeply: "You've gotten stronger too, Kariya!"

“That’s right.” Kariya opened his arms. “This power is truly wonderful. Can you feel it?”

A gentle breeze swept by, ruffling his trench coat. Then, the storm grew stronger, whipping his robes around and making them rustle loudly.

Unlike others, Kariya's puppets were completely integrated with him, with almost no flaws or weaknesses.

Ichigo drew his Zanpakuto from behind him: "What exactly did you do?"

Could it be that it absorbed the souls of ordinary people without the aunt's knowledge?

As the storm subsided, Kariya lowered his hands, his head slowly lowering as he looked up at Ichigo. He spoke softly, "It seems that woman's relationship with you isn't very good."