Chapter 20: Hikaru's Attack (3)

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

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AN: 100+ power stones! 😱 Also chapter 20? Eating good.

Chapter 20: Hikaru's Attack (3)

Koda had a sneaking suspicion that the fleeing medic was attempting to go and call for reinforcements. But upon realizing that he was clearly going the wrong way, his paranoia was swiftly snuffed out. 

Regardless, focusing on Hikaru was far more important than hunting down some fodder. That rose sickle of his had proven to be exceedingly dangerous, especially after it managed to achieve such blistering speeds so effortlessly. 

This fight needed to be handled with much more care than the last, there was no gaping wound on Hikaru's chest to exploit. And Koda still hadn't unlocked his first release, thus there was only thing he could hope to rely on. 

The Environment.

Hikaru listlessly spun the half-sytche as he began to inch towards Koda, a priggish grin sat on his face as he was fully convinced he had sealed the latter's fate. 

"I warned you, I don't know who it is you fought before but the fact that you're still alive right now proves that they weren't nearly on my level" 

He wouldn't let taunting get to him of all people, granted there was still some truth in his words. In these conditions Tomio feasibly wouldn't have survived even a quarter of the time Hikaru had. The Shinigami's strength deserved respect, that much was certain.

'He's definitely strong, but this battlefield isn't his ally, it's mine'

Shikai or not, it was evident that Hikaru's vision would still be obscured by the trees. Using them to reduce the chances of his trajectory being spot on was crucial, Koda hurriedly threw away his Haori in order to make himself less "stand-outish". 

'Maintaining the distance between us does me no good, as a matter of fact it most likely only makes his blade more dangerous' 

Though the same couldn't be said when it came to their armaments, in terms of individual mobility Koda was unquestionably superior. 

Following a brief scoff, Hikaru catapulted his blade towards him, Koda managed to keep his head intact thanks to his Shunpo, but couldn't stop the sickle from clawing out a good chunk of his back. 

Wincing at the sight of a few thick droplets of blood running down his skin, he tore a piece of his haori off and used it as a makeshift rag. 

'It's not just the sickle that's fast, something's propelling it. Is it some sort of Kido spell? Or perhaps another technique altogether?' 

He continued to duck and weave in and out of the dense foliage, a scowl formed on his face upon realizing that Hikaru had practically created this defensive bubble around himself, whenever Koda got too close a curved blade would come hurtling towards him. 

Koda wracked his brain for a way to break his guard when he found his gaze lingering on the trees that surrounded both himself, and Hikaru. 

'Environment…would that work? It's not like I've got anything else' 

Nodding to himself, Koda drew closer to Hikaru and got him to throw the scythe-like Zanpakuto at him as he had planned. He wasted no time positioning himself behind a tree, waiting for the right moment. 

'Now!' 

The razor-sharp alloy of his Asauchi banged against the elongated chain which connected the sickle to Hikaru, it didn't even make a dent into the blade but that wasn't the objective to begin with. 

The recoil pushed the sickle backwards, causing its chain to coil around the tree in front of Koda and render it unusable.

Only temporarily of course, cutting through bark was a given for a Zanpakuto of Hikaru's caliber. The brief window of opportunity was supposed to be enough for him to push an offensive, however the sound of chains grating against each other had frozen him in place. 

'You've got to be kidding me, it unraveled on its own? It's almost like the blade's controlling itself!' 

Faster than his optics could follow, the scythe-like blade was back in Hikaru's hand. The Lieutenant sneered at Koda, clearly mocking him for his hopefulness. His Shikai was almost hand-crafted for these woods, its ability to seamlessly weave through the bosk was uncanny. 

"You really believed that I would come here unprepared? Hah, you've really had it easy with your opponents up till now haven't you?" 

Once again, Hikaru had a point. Fighting Tomio was the closest thing Koda had to a real challenge, and even then one opening was all it took for him to win. This time his opponent carried with him adaptability, intelligence and raw might. A frightening trio of strengths that harmonized to create an absolute force of nature. 

Koda's head fell towards his Asauchi, looking at his partner with a pained expression. He scrutinized it, frustrated at the fact that no matter how much he called out, it never responded. 

'You've been awfully quiet as of late. I don't get it, if you would just tell me your name we could squash opponents like these as if they were bugs! Why? Am I not strong enough? Have I not stained you enough? Please tell me, you told me to continue fighting and I'm doing just that. Partner, I need your strength' 

There was no response. 

Koda clicked his tongue out of frustration, had he not been absorbed in battle he most likely would've chucked it at a tree by now. Even Unohana found it strange that he had yet to achieve his first release, he was at a level where he could keep up with Lieutenants for crying out loud. 

What exactly did his Asauchi expect of him? 

"Not yet" 

His ears perked up at the voice of his blade orating within his skull. 

"Our power is a lonely one. You aren't detached enough to weather its burden, not that you need it for this fight in the first place. Your body may be more than ready but your mind is not, continue fighting partner. Until the day comes where you are unequaled, unrivaled"

His Asauchi returned to a brief silence, and though he didn't fully comprehend what it meant. One thing had been made clear, he had been acknowledged. Not to mention just hearing its voice again was deeply pleasing. 

Koda's blade continued to watch him, he had not been abandoned by his most trusted aide. 

"Go make me proud, our soul has endured much. He isn't nearly enough to extinguish the flames of our animosity. Worry not, I will keep your potential safe and secure, it's not going anywhere. My faith in you is, and has always been unshakable" 

His Asauchi meant each and every word, its intent couldn't have been conveyed clearer. Koda had tried outsmarting his opponent, and that had proved to be a fruitless endeavor. 

But was that even the right approach to begin with? Since when had he been one for careful planning and calculations, those had never been his strengths, not even close. 

So that posed the question, what exactly was he doing? Was he even fighting anymore? 

The answer was evidently no, trying to fight with a style that didn't belong to you was the equivalent of trying to fit a rectangle into the cylinder-shaped hole of a shape sorting box, it would never work.

"We both know this isn't who you are, it never will be. You wish to know my name correct? Start by fighting as you wish, if you can't even comprehend your own strength, don't even bother trying to understand mine" 

The amber light had returned to his pupils, the manic simper that represented his love for crossing blades with another finally showed itself. 

This was who he was, this was where his strength resided.

His Reiryoku flared with a colossal ferocity, Hikaru could sense that he was in immediate danger. His Zanpakuto kindled with a wine-colored glow, with a mere swipe of his hand a giant crescent of scarlet ardor hurled towards Koda. 

Its target simply smiled as he stared down the mass of Reiryoku, clearly it wanted to split him in two— regardless of what stood in its path. 

Just as the clouds above would slowly drift, uncaring of what walked beneath it, Koda's blade was in no rush to carry itself upwards. The thin sheet of ingot which had accompanied Koda ever since his arrival reflected the vermillion light of Hikaru's attack as if it was a mirror. 

Crash!

A thunderous booming sound assaulted the woods as Koda's blade tore into the crescent with nothing but its raw brutality. The wave split in two, planting a monstrous crater into the withered land that stood behind Koda. 

He couldn't remember how long it had been since he felt so— alive.

All his training, all the blood he had shed. It had molded him, programmed him into a wild beast that lived only to fight. He didn't even remotely feel like himself, but that didn't make it necessarily a bad thing. 

"Whoever we were back then perished when we were snatched away from those whom we had dedicated our entire lives towards nurturing. You may have forgotten these words so I will remind you, do not fret the cold. Just like me, it is your ally, you are now free to cast aside the role of devoted mentor. Become whomever you wish to be, forge your own name" 

Hikaru found himself desperately pouring all his strength into his arms, enduring an endless flurry of madness-infused strikes from Koda. He clearly no longer held any regard for his own safety, if he ended up getting cut then so be it. 

For each slash he tolerated, his opponent would have to experience ten. 

'Would you look at that, I remembered you after all, Tōsō' 

Who would have thought that the words of a lowly bandit would continue to resonate with him till this day, each experience that he soldiered through seemed to reward him with a lesson of some sort. 

But he was no scholar, it wasn't his role to question the workings of the world. All he had to do was indulge in them, and if doing so happened to bring with it a hint of wisdom then all the better. 

"Warmth doesn't reside with us anymore, the title of Hero was never intended for you. Leave that to some self-righteous idealist, it is no longer your job to cater to those beneath you. We may have been robbed of the opportunity to enjoy what was once ours, but that shouldn't mean we cannot enjoy what we have now" 

Hikaru couldn't believe what he was witnessing, could he even call this a fight? It was a one-sided beat down, his legs quivered, his arms wavered, and his muscles screamed for mercy. 

This was the first time, the first time he had seen someone both formless and impeccably precise. His opponent didn't have to think about his movements, they just happened. 

It was an in-built, almost mechanical instinct for fighting. An illogical "technique" if one could even call it that, hand-crafted with the art of combat engraved into its core. 

Even if Hikaru blocked, even if he countered each and every swing with hawk-like precision it wouldn't make a difference. His body was bound to give out, there was just no way around it. 

All the training in the world couldn't prepare you for an opponent like that, conventional combat couldn't even begin to worm its way through the stone-clad structure of such a fighting style. 

The Shinigami was at a loss, he didn't know how to describe this man. 

Was it talent? Perhaps. 

Was it training? Somewhat. 

Was it experience? Unlikely. 

An alien mindset, that was the best he could do. Koda struck him as a person that didn't even belong in this world, after all nothing throughout Rukongai nor the Seireitei could create such a person within reason. 

Even the most hardened of warriors held some degree of fear deep within them, whether they let it show or not was irrelevant. 

It was then that Hikaru's brain had come to terms with the outcome of this battle.

'I see, I'm probably dead aren't I?' 

He shouldn't have come here, and to think this wasn't even his target, this person had claimed Yachiru would have ended him in an instant. What did that kind of strength even look like? Perhaps that of a Captain? Or even beyond that?

The towering figure continued to ruthlessly chip away at his blade, not showing even the slightest sign of burning out. He was looking at a flame that refused to extinguish until every last fiber of its existence had been snuffed out. 

'In that case…' 

Koda's amber aura was met with a rapidly growing cardinal counterpart, he wasn't the only one with the ability to truly lose oneself in combat. 

Once Hikaru had dropped his guard, he was immediately met with the excruciating torment of having his bone and cartilage ripped into shreds, cut after cut, wound after wound, there was nothing but pain. 

But he wouldn't allow himself to be the only one suffering, just like Koda he had begun to slash madly at his enemy's flesh. If he had to die here, then his executioner would have to at least experience half of the pain he endured. 

'This is actually…kind of fun!' 

However as they continued, the sensation of pain was gradually drowned out by the euphoria of surrendering one's rationality to the cruel savagery of your adversary. 

Despite being in the process of dying, Hikaru felt more lively than ever before. His last moments wouldn't be in despair nor regret, they would be the single most thrilling remnants of his legacy. 

What had once been a battle of tactics, had been reduced to nothing more than a brawl.

And it was perfect.