Rukia's red lips parted slightly, and the fear she held for Byakuya lessened considerably without her realizing it.
"Cough cough!"
Byakuya's mouth was filled with fresh blood, but his sharp eyes suddenly became clear and calm.
"I have to admit, you are stronger than me right now."
"Just right now...?"
Tenya's lips curved into a playful smile.
Of course, he knew what Byakuya was implying.
It was nothing more than the seal suppressing his strength.
"Human, you'd best not be too arrogant!"
Even though he was being beaten soundly, Byakuya still maintained a haughty and arrogant posture.
He was truly being stubborn!
"Boring pride."
"Open your eyes wide and take a good look!"
Tenya took out his Zanpakuto, Zangetsu, from the system storage, emitting a terrifying and incomparable Reiatsu.
"Hey hey...?!!"
"You're kidding, right?"
"That's a genuine Zanpakuto!"
Renji's eyes widened, his face showing a look of horror as if he had seen a ghost.
Are you the Shinigami, or am I the Shinigami?
"..."
Byakuya's pupils suddenly constricted, but he didn't say much at this moment.
Because the immense sense of crisis before him left no room to ponder the question of "why a human would possess a Zanpakuto".
"Scatter, Senbonzakura!"
Byakuya gripped his Zanpakuto with both hands and performed his Shikai with all his might.
The blade transformed into thousands of sharp fragments, gleaming with a pink light under the sunlight, beautiful and magnificent like dancing Sakura petals.
The blade fragments could scatter and cut the enemy from various directions, creating numerous wounds.
But this time, Byakuya did not command Senbonzakura to attack. Instead, he gathered all the thousands of blade fragments together, forming a dense barrier in front of him.
"Heh!"
"Giving up the attack from the start and switching to full defense is indeed a wise choice!"
"Just stand there and don't move."
"Focus your mind! Clench your teeth! Don't waver for a moment..."
Tenya merely raised the long sword in his right hand, the short sword in his left hand remained still, as he didn't need to use both swords.
An arc of silver-white energy, condensed from ultra-high-density Reiatsu, erupted magnificently as he swung his sword.
"Getsuga Tensho!"
"Crack—!!!"
The silver-white Getsuga Tensho strike cleaved the barrier constructed by Senbonzakura.
It emitted a piercing metal grinding sound, causing Rukia and Renji nearby to cover their ears and show pained expressions.
Only Rikka was not affected in the slightest.
Because while Tenya was performing Getsuga Tensho with one hand, he also had ample Reiatsu to spare, using a portion of it to shield and protect Rikka.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
Under the astonishing destructive power of Getsuga Tensho, numerous cracks quickly appeared in the barrier.
Byakuya's expression was extremely solemn. He raised his hands, attempting to reinforce the defense.
However, this only lasted for a few more seconds...
Bang!!!
Accompanied by a crisp shattering sound, the barrier was completely broken, transforming into countless Sakura petals falling.
At the same time, Byakuya's chest was cleaved open with a huge bloody gash, and a large amount of fresh blood splattered upwards.
"A beautiful strike."
"You win..."
Under the absolute power disparity, Byakuya finally lowered his proud head and weakly collapsed into a pool of blood.
"Captain!"
"Brother...!"
Renji and Rukia exclaimed simultaneously.
"What's the panic?"
"That was just a casual strike from me, it won't take his life."
Tenya's calm words made it seem as though it had just been a casual sparring match.
"You, you call that a casual strike...?!!"
Renji looked at the severely injured and unconscious Byakuya, then looked behind him at the ground where a hundred-meter-long deep trench had been carved.
The look of fear on his face intensified beyond measure.
"He is not kidding..."
Rukia stared intently at the short sword in Tenya's left hand, which he hadn't used from beginning to end.
Throughout the entire Soul Society, a dual-blade type Zanpakuto was an extremely rare sight.
Tenya's power was so terrifying just by using one Zanpakuto.
It was hard to imagine how world-shakingly terrifying it would be if both swords were used simultaneously.
Even if the limited seal was removed...
Byakuya, at 100% full strength, probably wouldn't have much confidence in winning.
"Get lost!"
"For Rukia's sake, I'll spare your lives for now."
Tenya put away his Zanpakuto.
"For my sake...?"
Rukia felt a warmth in her heart, it felt good to be protected by someone.
[Ding!]
[Detected that Kuchiki Rukia's favorability has reached 70%]
[Points + 200]
Receiving the system's message, Tenya immediately looked at Rukia strangely.
Actually, the reason he helped Rukia was purely because she was Rikka's friend.
She seemed to have misunderstood something.
Whoosh!
Renji suddenly felt the pressure on him lighten, and his ability to move returned.
He scrambled and crawled towards Byakuya, carefully hoisting the barely conscious man onto his shoulder.
He then retreated a hundred steps away immediately.
He didn't dare look directly at Tenya, not even daring to utter cliche lines like "Just you wait" or "I'll definitely be back".
He merely shouted from a distance towards Rukia, "Rukia, are you really not coming back to Soul Society with us?"
"I..."
Rukia hesitated to speak, her face showing complex and conflicted emotions.
"Rukia!"
Rikka suddenly grabbed her hand, her pitiful gaze filled with deep reluctance to part.
"Rikka..."
Rukia's heart settled, as if she had made a decision.
She looked up at Renji in the distance and replied firmly, "Renji, I'm going to stay in the Human World for a while longer."
Hearing Rukia's reply, Renji's cheek twitched, and his heart was filled with even more anger.
"Rukia!"
"Don't forget your identity!"
"You will definitely regret this!"
With that said, Renji, carrying the severely injured and unconscious Byakuya, disappeared into the night sky.
"Did those two Shinigami leave?"
"Strange... I seem to be able to see Shinigami now."
Rikka blinked, suddenly feeling a warm, tingling numbness in her right eye, which was quite uncomfortable.
She subconsciously rubbed it, then used her finger to try and take off the golden contact lens in her right eye, only to be surprised to find that the contact lens she wore daily had actually disappeared.
"Rikka, are you alright?"
Rukia also cast a surprised look.
Whether it was an illusion or not, she felt that Rikka's Reiatsu seemed to have grown considerably stronger than that of an ordinary person.
"I feel like my Evil King's True Eye is about to awaken!" Rikka said excitedly, covering her stinging right eye.
"Uh..."
Rukia instantly became speechless, thinking, 'This must be what humans call "Chunnibyou", right?'
"Interesting."
Tenya activated his Sharingan, and to enhance his observation, he even activated his Mangekyo Sharingan.
He was surprised to find that the contact lens Rikka was wearing had long since disappeared, and at the same time, her eye had undergone an anomaly.
A mysterious power was converging in Rikka's golden right eye.
What special ability would awaken, that's beside the point...
With this golden right eye containing mysterious ocular power, Rikka would henceforth be able to see things that ordinary people couldn't.
The anomaly in Rikka's eye was not a mere coincidence.
Tenya shifted his gaze to Rukia, focusing his Mangekyo Sharingan's ocular power to observe.
He saw that hidden within Rukia's body was a gem emitting a blue-black eerie light.
The mysterious energy it contained was something even the Mangekyo Sharingan couldn't see through.
"So that's it..."
"Is that the legendary Hogyoku?"
Tenya's eyes narrowed slightly, showing a thoughtful expression.
The Hogyoku possesses self-awareness and can absorb and materialize the hearts of things existing around it.
By coming into contact with Rukia, Rikka's wish to "awaken the Evil King's True Eye" was unintentionally absorbed by the Hogyoku, thus materializing into reality.
***
40 Advanced Chapters on patreon.com/alex_1000