Chapter 1296 Moment of Hesitation

Chapter 1296 Moment of Hesitation

"Container?" Ichibei was genuinely confused, but soon enough, he understood what Kisuke meant.

'But that's ridiculous...' Ichibei thought to himself. After all, that would mean that while Ichibei is consuming the energy itself to make himself grow, Kisuke is actually stealing the know-how of gathering and wielding that said energy.

Kisuke saw his reaction change and smirked, "I told you, mine is not inferior to yours. You can gather massive amounts of Ki, Spiritual, and Magic Power and seamlessly incorporate those into yourself without any detrimental effects. However, mine steals what's making that possible in the first place."

"I took... No. Benihime took over your authority over [Black]. The restrictions and conditions that come with it are needed to properly pull it off."

'Impossible...' Ichibei couldn't easily accept it. But that would also explain what he had just experienced. His previous form was broken because what was holding it together was stolen. It also didn't happen in an instant because the first one to have left his hands was his precognition abilities. The signs were there and he just never figured out what was happening until it was already too late.

Kisuke resumed his assault on the stunned Ichibei by bombarding the latter with projectiles both made from Kidou and Magic.

Ichibei gritted his teeth and used the various techniques that he had learned from his time being a Shinigami to intercept and counterattack.

Various colors of lights flashed as the two of them duke it out from both range and close combat. Kisuke was hoping to get some sort of reaction from Ichibei with their conversation but that obviously failed. On top of that, although Ichibei could realize the things he explained on his own given time, Kisuke still saved him precious time.

'Well, I took the risk and failed. It doesn't always go the way I wanted it.' Kisuke thought to himself, 'I would have been very happy if he showed any indication if his escape route is still viable.'

There's also a chance that Ichibei didn't have this so-called 'escape route' and is truly at the end of his road. Kisuke, however, refused to believe without any concrete evidence even though he had confidence that he could cut down Ichibei in an instant. After all, Ichibei had all the time in the world for everything that may come down, 'He's not an idiot, that's for sure. Worst case scenario, he could bring his consciousness to his scattered pieces. I could lock him down before I cut his head off but I doubt he's going to allow that to happen.'

In this messy stalemate, Kisuke was thinking of ways he could delay Ichibei so that he could initiate a lockdown. However, he had to throw that idea away when he saw Ichibei suddenly grin.

Naturally, he tried looking for other options and he actually thought of one and that is, 'Destroying Benihime.'

But as soon as that surfaced in his mind, Kisuke also threw the idea out of his head just as fast. Sure, destroying Benihime would also destroy the [Shadow] that's with her and that would stop the current problem. However, that doesn't solve the most pressing issue. And most importantly, he wouldn't sacrifice his partner for something like this.

While being torn on what to do, another change caught Kisuke's attention. Half of Ichibei's beard and his garb have already recovered their color, yet Kisuke doesn't see all of that as his eyes were on Ichibei's eyes which have two pupils each.

It's the terrifying reality that he has to make a choice now.

Without a clear choice, Kisuke froze on the spot. He always has an answer for everything he tackles. It was these moments, however, that he hated the most, and with a massive consequence at hand, his mind also halted.

Of course, Ichibei just left him alone as it's much more important for him to recover what he had lost. No matter what Kisuke did, it was his win. He knew that Kisuke had no more aces in his sleeve. It was a difficult battle, but he emerged victorious.

It was also at this moment that Ichibei started seeing a glimpse of the future. While he couldn't do anything to it, he could still see the same future he saw from before. Him standing in front of someone with a strange Reiatsu, neither a Shinigami, Hollow, Quincy nor a Fullbringer.

And after recovering a part of his power, he now knew how he was able to reach that future and it's also because of this that he knew exactly what choice Kisuke would take, further cementing his victory.

Kisuke was unaware of what Ichibei was thinking. As much as he wanted to open his head to take a look inside and help him make a choice, he didn't have that kind of miraculous ability.

[Kill him.] All of a sudden, Benihime's voice resounded in his head, albeit, very soft.

But without any hint of hesitation, his body started undergoing complete Hollowfication and Kisuke also shouted while releasing all the Reiatsu he had, "Shunkou! Blood Gate: Acceptance!"