For a while, the two battlefields escorting the King's Seal maintained a delicate balance.
On Ailin's side, he fought fiercely against Roger and Shanks, while on the other side, the Shinigami battled the Skeletal Hollows, preventing them from attacking the palanquin carrying the King's Seal.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
"Hm? What is that?"
Suddenly, the ground shook slightly, as if a large group of massive creatures was rapidly approaching.
Kuna Mashiro kicked away some skeletal Hollows in front of her, then leapt into the air, condensing spirit particles beneath her feet to hover, looking into the distance.
"That is..."
When Kuna Mashiro saw what was approaching, her entire body went cold.
Eight powerful Hollows led the way, followed by thousands of skeletal Hollows over ten meters tall, like a white torrent rushing towards them at extreme speed.
Seemingly spotting Kuna Mashiro, one of the armored generals leapt down from the leading Hollow, leading thousands of mid-sized Skeletal Hollows to attack here, while the other eight terrifying Adjuchas-level Hollows turned to join the battle against Ailin's group.
"Run, run quickly!"
Kuna Mashiro cried out in alarm, forgetting the mission and immediately ordering her division's seated officers to flee immediately. When facing an enemy they could not defeat, preserving their lives was the top priority.
Boom!
Kuna Mashiro kicked through the top of the palanquin, landed inside, snatched up the golden King's Seal, and used flash steps to try escaping through a spatial rift.
But unfortunately, Setsuna Takemaru had no intention of giving up on seizing the King's Seal.
Setsuna Takemaru raised his Zanpakuto, infusing his purple reiatsu into the blade.
"Goku Ryu Ha (Prison Dragon Destructive Wave)—"
Boom!
With Setsuna's incantation, his purple reiatsu coalesced into the form of a massive purple dragon apparition wreathing his sword.
Then, under Setsuna's control, the dragon spirit crossed tens of thousands of meters in an instant, streaking like lightning towards Kuna Mashiro.
Boom!
In the clouds of smoke, Kuna Mashiro fell from the sky, covered in blood and unconscious.
"You can run pretty well."
Setsuna flew before the fallen Mashiro, seized the King's Seal from her hands, then began commanding his skeletal army to slaughter the surviving 9th Division members.
Setsuna then raised his Zanpakuto high, preparing to strike down the defenseless Mashiro.
Boom!
However, before Setsuna could swing his blade, he was blasted away by a tremendous force, and Ailin appeared, snatching up Kuna Mashiro and rushing to join the other battlefield.
***
"Ah, my apologies, I said I would defeat you in the shortest time possible earlier, but it ended up taking so long." On this battlefield, Kensei Muguruma lay in a pool of his own blood, his Zanpakuto sealed.
Kirito was also in bad shape. To avoid releasing his Bankai against Kensei's, he instead employed his strongest dual-wield technique.
Unfortunately, after the incident where Koga controlled his Zanpakuto, Kensei had worked hard to master barehanded combat over the past forty years, gaining considerable skill.
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At the very least, Kirit’so "Starburst Stream" was directly shredded by the endless explosive power of Kensei's wind when clashing against his Bankai, dealing Kirito a major blow.
Ultimately, Kirito had no choice but to release his Zanpakuto to defeat the injured Kensei, but was himself heavily wounded.
A black blur flashed by, and Kirito stayed alert, scanning the area. When he turned back, the gravely injured Kensei had vanished.
***
"Ugh..."
Kensei opened his eyes. "I'm not dead?"
"Yeah, fortunately I made it in time to get you away from that guy. If I was any later, you might have been killed. But my healing abilities are limited, so I could only recover your wounds to this extent. To fully heal, you'll likely need at least a week's time."
Not everyone was a brute like Zaraki who could fully recover from severe injuries in just 2-3 days.
"Thank you." Kensei fell silent before finally uttering those two words.
"Don't mention it, we're just ants clinging to the same rope this time around."
At this point, memories of the battle before he lost consciousness surfaced in Kensei's mind. He couldn't help but doubt himself inwardly - was his strength truly so lacking?
Decades ago, he was easily defeated by Koga. Back then, he could blame his Zanpakuto's betrayal preventing his Bankai release, leading to his loss at its hands.
But this time in battle, he had gone all out, and still ended up losing. If he was this weak, could he really protect Kuna Mashiro in the future?
Thinking of Kuna Mashiro, Kensei hurriedly got up and asked Ailin, "Captain Ailin, what about the other members of my 9th Division?"
"Alas..."
Hearing Ailin's sigh, Kensei's heart sank.
Sure enough, Ailin's following words nearly caused Kensei to pass out.
"I'm sorry, Captain Muguruma. We were suddenly attacked by powerful enemies. I was surrounded and unable to break free from two highly skilled swordsmen and one person who could control eight Adjuchas-level Hollows.
Vice-Captain Mashiro and over ten seated officers were attacked by countless skeletal Hollows. In the end, aside from Vice-Captain Mashiro, all the other seated officers of your division have perished."
"All perished?"
"Yes, aside from Vice-Captain Mashiro, all sacrificed their lives."
"Oh, oh oh..."
Fortunately, Mashiro was still alive. If even she had died, the blow to Kensei Muguruma would have been far too great.
"Captain Muguruma, since you're awake, could I ask you to keep watch? I need to rest and recover my spiritual power.”
“Oh sure, Captain Ailin, you can rest assured, I'll remain vigilant."
"Alright, then I'll leave it to you, Captain Muguruma."
After nodding to Kensei, Ailin closed his eyes.
Kensei got up and walked a few steps before seeing the mummified form of Kuna Mashiro within the cave, her entire body wrapped in medical bandages. Although he couldn't see her face, Kensei recognized his vice-captain's spiritual pressure.
He didn't dare imagine what terrifying attack she must have endured to sustain such grievous injuries. When that youth defeated him, Ailin's treatment didn't even require bandages.
If Ailin knew Kensei was thinking this, he would surely give him a dumbfounded look. Could a man and woman really be compared the same way?
Moreover, Mashiro was struck nearly to death by Setsuna's Goku Ryu Ha, and Ailin had used a binding Kido to save her life.
Anyway, Kensei and Mashiro would both be "witnesses" to Ailin's eventual "recapturing" of the King's Seal.
Currently, Ailin sat cross-legged in the cave, entering a meditative trance to access his inner world through "sword meditation."
A golden seal about ten centimeters wide appeared floating over Ailin's palm. This was the King's Seal that Ailin had seized from Setsuna Takemaru when rescuing Mashiro from his attack.
"Attunement - Begin!"
A blue light shone from Ailin's palm, the blue rays under his control slowly infusing into and fusing with the King's Seal. In this state, Ailin's analysis speed would increase to an exceptionally high degree.
"Base Structure - Deciphered!"
"Composition - Deciphered!"
"Spatial Framework - Deciphered!"
"Spatial Forces - Deciphered!"
As Ailin fully analyzed the King's Seal, he gained profound insights into countless spatial mysteries.
Once his analysis was complete, Ailin's comprehension of spatial abilities reached an extremely transcendent level.
Setting down the King's Seal, Ailin waved his hand, summoning a slightly battered Zanpakuto - Tessaiga.
This was the Zanpakuto that had accompanied Ailin the longest. Gently caressing Tessaiga’s blade, Ailin infused it with his blue spiritual power under his control.
"Attunement - Begin!"
Since Tessaiga was already forged, Ailin didn't need to reforge it from scratch. Now, he only needed to reinforce it with the "Enhancement" spell, infusing his newfound spatial power comprehension to elevate Tessaiga to its complete form.
"Reinforce -"
Black light spread along Tessaiga’s blade. In just a few seconds, it transformed into a black spatial blade.
Within this black spatial blade, Ailin could see countless colored spatial forces swirling like a brilliant cosmos.
"Completed!"
Gazing at the Netherworld Tessaiga in his hands, Ailin felt joyful.
In Ailin's eyes, the completed Tessaiga could rival even the strongest fire-type Zanpakuto, Ryujin Jakka.
Though Ryujin Jakka was unmatched in fire abilities as an elemental weapon, in terms of versatile function, Tessaiga was not at all inferior.
"It's a pity that while Tessaiga is finished, Tenseiga still needs more time..."
Recalling Tenseiga's terrifying ability to revive the dead, until now Ailin still had no inkling on how to replicate it.
Even Tenjiro Kirinji’s hot spring only allowed the nearly dead to recover, not achieve true resurrection. Moreover, in Ailin's view, the full Meido Zangetsuha's power still surpassed Meido Zangetsu.
Sesshomaru was the most innately powerful demon in Inuyasha.
After comprehending the complete Meido Zangetsu, even the Meido Zangetsuha cast by the Oni Skishinki who invented the technique paled in comparison, swallowed whole by Sesshomaru's Meido.