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Shit, am I really fighting a Vizard Captain?!
Sensing the Reiatsu erupting from the "Shinji Hirako" in front of him, Luca cursed silently.
In reality, the strength he had displayed in the Soul Society so far was already at the level of a near-Lieutenant genius. Combined with his readily available gadgets, most Lieutenants actually wouldn't be his match.
Not to mention the powerful trump cards Luca kept hidden: Bankai and Dragonification.
If he truly went all out, he wouldn't shy away from a head-on confrontation with most Captains.
But right now, unable to rashly use his true trump cards, he had to face Shinji Hirako, who ranked near the top even among Captains!
Although he had deduced that the person in front of him was a fake created by Aizen's Kyōka Suigetsu.
Since Aizen had chosen this "opponent" for him, he certainly wouldn't let the fake's performance be too lackluster; otherwise, it wouldn't uphold Shinji Hirako's disguise.
Which meant Luca was really in for a Lieutenant vs. Captain duel.
Moreover, as a "logistics personnel," Luca's combat experience was far inferior to these old monsters in Soul Society who had lived for hundreds of years.
Just thinking about the scene where Renji Abarai first fought Byakuya Kuchiki in the original story... that was a complete, one-sided crush.
No! A fake Shinji is even scarier! No matter how much strength I show, as long as I don't surpass Aizen, this Shinji will inevitably crush me!
Can't play this game! Since Aizen just wants to do me a favor, I should just fight casually and surrender!
Having clarified his strategy for the upcoming battle, Luca's agitated mind settled down a bit.
But in the next instant.
Whoosh~
The figure of "Shinji Hirako," whose aura had peaked in the distance, suddenly vanished.
Without any warning, he used Shunpo to appear directly in front of Luca, slashing down at his head.
"So fast!"
Thoughts racing, Luca instinctively raised his sword to block.
Fortunately, after Shinken's Shikai, although the tip couldn't physically stab people, the horizontal blade was solid.
CLANG—
Amidst the crisp and loud clash of metal.
A powerful shockwave of air erupted between their blades.
However, this clash only lasted for a split second.
The next moment, Luca felt an overwhelming force transmit through Shinken.
Unable to react further, he was blasted away by the strike.
BOOM—
With a loud crash, Luca flew back over ten meters and slammed straight into the defensive circle he had set up for Renji and the others.
In an instant.
Crack~
The Kyakko (Mirror Door) set by Bakudō #51 nearly shattered from just this one impact.
Even worse, Kyakko was a defensive barrier meant to reflect enemy attacks.
Luca essentially took double the impact damage. Caught off guard, he nearly coughed up a mouthful of blood.
Damn! What strength!
Even Luca hadn't expected the opponent's opening attack to be such a devastating blow.
It should be noted that although Luca hadn't entered his Hybrid form, the Zoan fruit's passive ability boosted his strength even in his base form.
Meaning, purely in terms of strength, Luca should be stronger than his Reiatsu level suggested.
Yet even so, he was blown away by this furious slash.
However, this setback didn't make Luca fearful; instead, it ignited his fighting spirit.
At this moment, Luca tossed the idea of "fighting casually" out the window.
Playing for real, huh? Then let's try this!!
The next instant, the distant "Shinji Hirako" used Shunpo again.
Seemingly entering battle mode, he didn't bother maintaining his persona, wordlessly slashing at Luca again.
But this time, prepared, Luca subtly brushed his hand over his belt buckle the moment the opponent vanished.
Yet after that touch, facing the incoming blade, he stood motionless as if unable to react.
Splurt~
The blade flashed, and Luca's figure was instantly sliced diagonally in two.
But the expression of "Shinji Hirako," who had landed the hit, changed slightly.
Immediately after, a very faint sound of Shunpo landing came from behind him.
Luca, who should have been cut in half, was now perfectly intact, stabbing his sword at "Shinji's" back.
In the nick of time, "Shinji" seemed to have eyes in the back of his head. He blocked behind his back, precisely parrying Luca's sneak attack.
He even had the spare capacity to slash sideways after deflecting Luca's blade.
In a flash, Luca felt a chill on his brow. Firing three Reishi blasts from his left fingertips, he rapidly retreated, dodging the lethal strike.
In the blink of an eye, both used Shunpo to retreat and put distance between them.
However, compared to the unscathed "Shinji," a trickle of blood seeped from Luca's brow.
Only then did "Shinji" have time to turn and look at the "Luca" he had slashed earlier.
But there, aside from a black garment slowly falling to the ground, there was no bisected corpse.
"The Shihōin clan's secret Shunpo technique, Utsusemi!!"
This time, the "Shinji" in front of him finally lost his composure, naming the technique with a grave tone.
"Tch! Making a fuss over nothing!"
Hearing "Utsusemi," Luca wiped the blood from his brow with his left hand and spat disdainfully.
But contrary to the disdain on his face, Luca was even more wary of the opponent's strength internally.
Is this a Captain? Looks like melee is out of the question!
Luca, who had planned to give the opponent an "internal injection," decisively changed tactics.
Tapping the tip of his sword lightly on the ground, he slowly stepped back.
It looked like he was cautiously trying to distance himself.
As for the "Utsusemi" the opponent mentioned, he had no intention of explaining.
After all, Luca couldn't exactly say this was a dummy ejection gadget he developed based on the [Football Belt]'s principles, specifically to rip off the Shihōin clan's Utsusemi, could he?
Of course, the technology involved was more than just popping out an inflatable doll.
How to forge Reiatsu to fool enemy senses, how to cast Kyokko (Curved Light) to hide himself during the dummy's ejection, and increasing his own Shunpo ejection speed—these were the secrets to successfully pulling off this move.
What Luca didn't expect was that even with all this, he still failed to touch even a corner of the enemy's clothes and instead got nicked by the counterattack.
Wait, when I flashed behind him just now, this fake Shinji's ears seemed to twitch slightly!
So, is this the combat experience of a Captain-level fighter, or...
"Is it Kaname Tōsen?!"