See the trick!
The monstrous grin on his face widened as he swung his sword, slashing toward Makoto Ito with fierce precision. Makoto swiftly stepped back, evading the deadly strike before leaping high into the air, gripping his blade with both hands, and bringing it down toward Ikkaku's bald head.
Ikkaku smirked, raising his scabbard with his right hand to block the attack, then countered by slashing at Makoto's waist with his left hand.
"Whoosh!"
Makoto reacted instantly, using Shunpo to create distance between them.
"What's wrong, kid? All you do is dodge! Fight me head-on!" Ikkaku taunted, gripping his sword in his left hand and his scabbard in his right, attacking with both simultaneously as he aimed for Makoto's face.
"As you wish!"
Makoto used a rapid series of steps, shifting his body position in an instant. He reappeared behind Ikkaku, slashing horizontally with both hands.
Unexpectedly, as if predicting the move, Ikkaku spun around and hurled his scabbard straight into Makoto's abdomen, knocking the air out of him. In the same motion, he slashed at Makoto's chest.
Makoto's blade, however, found its mark as well, cutting into Ikkaku's shoulder.
Both fighters immediately stepped back, increasing the distance between them.
Makoto glanced at the deep wound across his chest, wincing slightly as he clutched his right shoulder with his free hand.
"Hahaha, now that's more like it!" Ikkaku laughed, his voice full of exhilaration.
Makoto chuckled as well. Despite the injuries, he relished the intensity of the battle. Ever since the slaying trial where he first met Ikkaku, he had also become acquainted with Ayasegawa Yumichika through him. Their shared enthusiasm for combat had forged a strong bond between them.
In the six months since joining Shin'ō Spiritual Arts Academy, Makoto had fought Ikkaku more than ten times. The experience allowed him to refine the sword techniques he had inherited from Itōkai's memories, developing his own understanding of combat.
At first, Makoto had been slightly immature in his techniques, often finding himself overwhelmed by Ikkaku's raw power. But now, he stood on equal footing—a testament to his rapid progress.
Midway through the fight, Ikkaku suddenly pulled out a container, smearing a grayish-brown paste onto his injured shoulder. The bleeding stopped almost instantly.
"Senior Ikkaku, you're cheating again," Makoto muttered, smirking.
Ikkaku snorted. "Tch, it's just a little trick. Don't tell me you didn't come prepared."
Makoto rolled his eyes and reached into his sleeve, pulling out the same medicinal paste and applying it to his chest wound. The bleeding ceased just as quickly.
"Damn it, you brought medicine too?" Ikkaku grumbled.
"Who do you think I learned it from?" Makoto retorted, exasperated.
Internally, he sighed. "If you want a real fight, I'll show you what true regeneration looks like... though I doubt I'd even need it unless I had already mastered Bankai."
After a brief rest, the two warriors resumed their battle. Makoto, now even more composed, adjusted his breathing, gripping his sword with both hands as he leapt backward multiple times.
Gathering spiritual energy, he concentrated it into his blade, and a white arc of lightning crackled along its edge. With a powerful swing, he unleashed it.
"Boom!"
The thunderous explosion echoed across the battlefield—the signature technique: Lightning Slash!
A blinding arc of white lightning, carrying a devastating sword aura, tore through the air straight toward Ikkaku.
Ikkaku, sensing the overwhelming power, rolled to the side, barely escaping the attack. The wasteland where he had stood just moments before was now scarred by a massive, several-meter-deep fissure.
This was the signature move of Makoto's original self. Though his clone had not inherited the original's Thunder Flash ability, he had discovered a way to replace its power with his own unique variation, pushing his combat skills to an entirely new level.
The one attached to the blade before was The Four White Thunder, which was trained to the extreme by Makoto Ito. Although the thunder slash imitated by this method is far inferior to the original version, it is also considered unsatisfactory.
Ikkaku who barely avoided the attack was shocked: "What a freak . It's only less than half a year since then. His slaying technique and spiritual pressure have both advanced to this point!" Thinking of this, he no longer held back. He immediately aligned the scabbard in his hand with the hilt, raised it forward, and shouted: "Stretch, Ghost Light Pill!"
A white light flashed by, and the shallow blows and scabbard instantly turned into a wooden spear, with a short knife at the tip of the spear and a red tassel tied at the tail of the spear. Holding the spear, he rushed to Makoto Ito in an instant and stabbed Makoto Ito in the face. After the initial solution, he had a certain increase in both spiritual pressure and speed.
"Ding Ding Ding Ding Ding!" Ito Makoto blocked with a knife, and the intersection of the two weapons caused sparks. The spear tip of the Ghost Ding Pill was like a poisonous snake spitting a letter, and the gun was stabbed directly into the vital point.
"It's now!" Ito Makoto grabbed the spear and slashed it horizontally, causing Ikkaku to take back the Ghost Light Maru and block Ito Makoto's powerful slash.
"Split, Ghost Light Pill!" Just as the gun rod of Ghost Dingmaru blocked the knife, Ghost Dingmaru split into a three-section staff. The iron chain connecting the stick body wrapped the Shoku in Makoto Ito's hand. At the same time, the spear head turned rapidly towards the back of his head, about to behead him.
"Call out!" Makoto Ito instantly turned into an afterimage and disappeared from the spot.
"Oh, did I say that Senior ikkaku? The same trick cant be used against me twice!" In the last showdown, Ikkaku's spear scratched Makoto's neck with this move, so he had been guarding against it this time.
"Thirty-one of the Break of the Way - Red Cannon!" Makoto Ito, who had instantly opened the distance, appeared behind Ikkaku, raised a red fireball with his right hand, and aimed at his big bald head. Ikkaku quickly turned the Ghost Lightmaru back to the spear form and danced a stick flower, barely blocking Ito Makoto's red cannon that abandoned the singing. The Ghost Ding Pill collided with the fireball and stirred up a burst of smoke and dust.
"Ahem, boy Ito, why do you use ghosts? A real man needs to fight hand in hand to make it fun!"
"Aren't you cheating first, senior?" Ayasegawa Yumichika , who was standing beside him, saw that the two of them had become serious. Immediately, he said with a dark face: "Oioioi are you two children? Wasn't this suppposed to be a training session?''
"Boy Ito, you have mastered that long ago, right? Use it to show me." Ikkaku said dismissing what Ayasegawa Yumichika was mumbling
Of course, Makoto Ito knew what Ikkaku was saying and sighed: "Oh, I originally wanted to wait until Jinglingting officially granted me a shallow beat before I could use it, but now I have to use someone else's shallow beat, which is a bit too stunning! But since my senior wants to see it, I will satisfy you!"
"Mountain elf..."
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