Chapter 29: The Death God's Blade Proficiency
Upon seeing the information on Komamura Sajin, Su Xiao narrowed his eyes. It was important to note that Komamura Sajin was only at the bottom tier among the captains in terms of strength, yet even so, his overall capabilities were quite formidable.
If the weakest captain was like this, just how powerful would Old Man Yamamoto Genryusai be? This only strengthened Su Xiao's resolve to stick with his original plan.
In other words, Su Xiao had never actually considered joining Aizen to fight against the Soul Society. At least with his current strength, that was basically impossible.
To participate in the final chaotic battle, he would need at least the strength of a Fifth Rank Contractor, or even higher. Based on his observations within the Seireitei, there were likely Fifth Rank Contractors in this Bleach world, after all, it was an open world.
If the current Bleach world were divided into three regions, ranked from lowest to highest danger, it would be: Present World < Soul Society < Hueco Mundo.
This ranking didn't mean that Hueco Mundo's overall combat strength surpassed the Soul Society's. Rather, it was because Hueco Mundo was chaotic and lawless. Aside from Aizen's territories, the other areas were embroiled in constant conflict.
After reviewing Komamura Sajin's information, Su Xiao became even more certain of this. If he entered Hueco Mundo alongside Aizen, he would have to deal with Fifth Rank Contractors of unknown strength.
Although Su Xiao didn't have Fifth Rank combat power, he wasn't afraid of dealing with Fifth Rank Contractors. What troubled him was that if he participated in the final decisive battle, he would likely be used as cannon fodder by Aizen.
For now, Aizen still needed Su Xiao's combat strength and skills, so on the surface, they were collaborators. But when the final battle came, while Aizen wouldn't stab him in the back, he also wouldn't care about Su Xiao's life or death. That guy would probably set things up so that Su Xiao had to face two or three powerful Death God captains at once.
This wasn't Su Xiao looking at Aizen through tinted glasses. Looking around, which of Aizen's collaborators had a good ending? Tosen Kaname died by Aizen's hand, and Ichimaru Gin was the same.
For this very reason, Su Xiao made his move tonight. He wanted to use his cooperation with Aizen to obtain a large number of Zanpakuto and treasure chests. As for entering Hueco Mundo with him, that was still up for consideration. If Su Xiao could reap significant benefits before entering Hueco Mundo, it wasn't impossible for him to give up on going there altogether.
Su Xiao currently had two goals: first, to eliminate the Violator, Death Omen, and second, to acquire Zanpakuto.
Su Xiao had been in frequent contact with Aizen recently. Death Omen would surely know this. If Su Xiao entered Hueco Mundo, Death Omen might not be able to find him again, because she didn't know the penalty for failing the hunt mission. Given Death Omen's erratic personality, she might be even more anxious than Su Xiao.
As for acquiring Zanpakuto, that was exactly what Su Xiao was doing now. Many Contractors followed the events of the derivative world to gain benefits. Su Xiao, however, took a different path. First, he disguised himself, then found ways to create opportunities.
Komamura Sajin appearing alone near the Rukongai already proved that Su Xiao's plan was effective. Without his identity as a researcher, he never could have achieved this.
This made things much simpler and more straightforward, which was exactly the effect Su Xiao wanted. He had risked entering the Bleach world only because there were enough Zanpakuto here.
"Then let's begin."
Su Xiao seemed to have thought about many things, but in reality, only a few seconds had passed.
Boom!
The soil beneath Su Xiao's feet flew in all directions. The night wind was cool. He took a few steps and closed in on Komamura Sajin, his long blade slashing toward Komamura Sajin's neck at a tricky angle. This was a habit—his first strike always aimed for the enemy's neck.
Komamura Sajin, nearly three meters tall, was no pushover. His reaction was extremely fast, and he immediately held his long blade horizontally at his side. This showed that Komamura Sajin had extremely rich combat experience.
Clang! The sound waves vibrated. The black robe Su Xiao wore was torn in several places. After all, it was just ordinary clothing.
Although Komamura Sajin had used a blade for many years, he didn't place much emphasis on technique. Most Death Gods were like this. They relied more on sword pressure, spiritual pressure, demon arts, and Bankai for combat. As for technique, they looked down on it entirely. Even Yamamoto Genryusai was the same.
This style of combat could be described as "overwhelming force breaks all techniques" in polite terms, or "swinging a club" in less polite terms. They relied on differences in energy and strength to defeat their enemies. Battles between Death Gods essentially involved slashing at each other, competing over who had stronger spiritual pressure and who had developed their Bankai ability further.
That was right. In Su Xiao's perception, Komamura Sajin's action of raising his blade to block was like swinging a club.
The two blades pressed against each other. Su Xiao and Komamura Sajin both leaned forward, maintaining their center of gravity. In terms of slashing power, Komamura Sajin was stronger, but he couldn't force Su Xiao back.
Komamura Sajin's eyes widened slightly. A heavy pressure fell on Su Xiao's shoulders. This was Komamura Sajin's spiritual pressure. When a captain-level Death God fought an ordinary Death God, they didn't even need to draw their blades—just releasing their spiritual pressure was enough.
The moment Komamura Sajin released his spiritual pressure, he sensed a whistling sound of wind breaking beside him, and at the same time, the force on his Zanpakuto suddenly loosened.
Almost instinctively, Komamura Sajin raised his left arm to block his side.
Bang! Su Xiao's side kick landed on Komamura Sajin's forearm. Using the recoil from this kick, he leaped up from his spot, planted his other foot on Komamura Sajin's abdomen, and jumped backward.
Before leaping away, Su Xiao slashed diagonally, his long blade heading straight for Komamura Sajin's face.
As the gleaming blade light swept past, Su Xiao had already leaped clear. Komamura Sajin's powerful slash struck nothing but air.
Crack! The bamboo mask on Komamura Sajin's face broke in two, revealing his true appearance.
Looking at Su Xiao, who landed lightly, Komamura Sajin was clearly surprised. He couldn't figure out how Su Xiao had executed that series of movements just now.
Su Xiao was never a strength-type fighter. He was a technique-type. However, when facing a weaker enemy, he could temporarily become a brute-force type, as that killed faster.
As soon as Su Xiao landed, he slashed forward into empty air. A blade aura flew out, heading straight for Komamura Sajin.
Right after releasing the blade aura, Su Xiao followed closely behind it, charging straight at Komamura Sajin.
If Komamura Sajin used his Zanpakuto to forcefully shatter the blade aura, based on his slashing power, the moment he shattered it, he would pause for an instant. That would be the opportunity.
Komamura Sajin's blade technique was indeed like swinging a club, but that didn't mean he lacked combat power. Although Death Gods used blades, only a few actually fought with slashing techniques. The Bankai abilities of Zanpakuto were each more unique than the last.
After most Zanpakuto underwent Bankai, they were no longer blade-type weapons at all. Therefore, over 80% of Death Gods weren't very skilled in blade techniques. Some Death Gods, after Bankai, didn't even have a blade in their hands, so there was no need for them to study blade techniques. This was only logical.
The blade aura came head-on. Komamura Sajin held his Zanpakuto horizontally in front of him.
"Roar, Tenken."
The moment Komamura Sajin spoke, the blade aura had already reached him. Almost instantly, a massive long blade stabbed down vertically.
Boom! A large area of the ground shattered. The blade aura naturally couldn't escape.
At this moment, Komamura Sajin was holding his Zanpakuto in a reverse grip, maintaining a downward stabbing posture. His Zanpakuto had undergone Shikai. The massive Zanpakuto that appeared out of nowhere, along with the half of a giant arm, was what he had summoned. It was an arm and weapon formed from spirit particles.
The massive Zanpakuto slowly dissipated. Su Xiao had already stopped his forward charge. In fact, he was waiting, waiting for Komamura Sajin to use his Bankai ability. When he used Bankai, that would be his death sentence.
Komamura Sajin's gaze was fixed on Su Xiao. He was astonished to discover that this seemingly frail researcher was actually stronger than him!
Having fought until now, Komamura Sajin was naturally filled with killing intent. Su Xiao's identity within the Seireitei was far too special. Logically and emotionally, Komamura Sajin had to eliminate Su Xiao. There was no personal grudge between the two, so neither taunted the other. They simply stood on different sides. Whoever was weaker would die. That was how it worked in the Soul Society, where the strong ruled.