Chapter 371: Who Are You?

H'el glanced at Ishida Uryu lying on the ground, charred and severely injured by the lightning. The concentrated electricity had triggered a backlash of spiritual energy within him, disrupting the balance of his spiritual power and causing a violent outflow that damaged the pathways inside his body.

At this point, Ishida Uryu was essentially a ruined man.

"Don't worry. I held back. He won't die," Matsumoto Rangiku reassured as she noticed H'el looking at Ishida Uryu and shook her head.

When Ishida Uryu unleashed such powerful spiritual energy, almost at the level of a captain, it was challenging for anyone to hold back. Matsumoto had already done her best, using minimal force to cause his spiritual energy to spiral out of control and defeat him.

As for the result, Ishida Uryu wouldn't die, but his future ability to use spiritual power was grim.

H'el wasn't angry at Matsumoto for Ishida Uryu's condition, nor did he feel sorrow or anger over Ishida's future. After all, he had only known him for a few minutes. Where would all that emotion come from?

He was simply intrigued by the potential hidden within Ishida Uryu's body. The boy should have been able to exert even greater strength. His spiritual particles should have been able to rearrange themselves in a way that could withstand Matsumoto's attack.

Instead, he had only used raw spiritual energy to create arrows for attack—his technique was seriously lacking.

This observation made H'el feel that Ishida Uryu had a lot of untapped potential due to poor guidance.

"You misunderstand—I'm not pitying him. After all, I've only known him for a few minutes," H'el replied, shaking his head. "I just find it a shame that his body holds such potential, which he uses so ineffectively."

"Oh, so you think so too," Matsumoto chuckled. "His technique is indeed lacking. But considering he's just a kid, his determination and drive are already commendable. It's unfair to expect him to match my level of control over spiritual particles."

Matsumoto walked towards H'el with a smile, and her Zanpakuto, Haineko, gathered gray smoke into a blade. In the Seireitei, her mastery over spiritual energy, destructive spells, binding spells, and healing techniques was unique.

Her innate knowledge of these techniques seemed to exist in her mind without any clear origin, and many techniques remained beyond her current ability to use. Even so, the ones she could use were already far more refined than those of others.

There was one other person, Gin Ichimaru, whose methods and skills were identical to hers, and even more refined. However, Gin rarely displayed his mastery of Kido, so his abilities remained largely unknown.

"In my view, your techniques are just outdated relics," H'el responded, shaking his head. "These methods of manipulating spiritual particles were something I could casually perform over a hundred years ago—and have since abandoned. And yet, you still criticize his skills in using spiritual particles. It seems there is little here to impress me."

Matsumoto's every technique, including her Shunpo, gave H'el a sense of familiarity—as if they were methods he had effortlessly mastered and discarded a century ago. These obsolete skills were now being used against him, which seemed quite laughable.

"It seems Mr doesn't intend to surrender quietly. In that case, let's see how well you fare against techniques you discarded over a century ago," Matsumoto replied with a sweet smile, her eyes narrowing in a dangerous, feminine expression. She softly chanted, "Hado # 11: Tsuzuri Raiden!"

Matsumoto swung her Zanpakuto, Haineko, which transformed into a cloud of smoke mixed with the energy of the spell. A yellow lightning whip crackled in the air as it lashed towards H'el.

H'el's expression remained calm. He reached out with a finger and tapped the incoming lightning whip.

Suddenly, the whip froze in mid-air, suspended in its high-speed motion. The lingering yellow electricity trailed behind it, creating a blurry afterimage, also frozen in place—like a frame paused mid-motion, capturing a striking and dynamic image.

Matsumoto's eyes widened with shock. She had never seen anyone directly stop the high-speed combination of her Haineko's smoke and this spell.

She had witnessed opponents block it, dodge it, or counter it with other skills—but never had anyone seemingly paused time itself to halt her technique.

The yellow lightning whip, frozen in mid-air, began to unravel from the point H'el had touched. Tiny particles of yellow lightning scattered along the whip, creating a mesmerizing scene, like countless fireflies dancing around.

At the same time, a massive force was transmitted through the disappearing lightning, back to where Haineko's smoke originated, and straight to Matsumoto's hand.

Caught off guard, she felt as though the handle of her Zanpakuto weighed a thousand pounds.

Boom!

Matsumoto staggered, her body pulled downward by the sudden weight. Her delicate figure bent abruptly, and the back of her hand slammed hard into the ground, resulting in a bone-cracking sound.

Pain and shock surged through her.

She looked up in horror at H'el, her face pale.

H'el approached calmly, his expression indifferent. "Do you know how much force is generated by the entanglement of every particle of spiritual energy on a microscopic level? The ability to manipulate the centrifugal forces, pulling forces, gravity, pressure, and other forces created by these micro-level interactions is what I consider to be the entry point for controlling spiritual energy. And you—you're not even close to the basics."

Matsumoto, stunned, dissolved the handle of her Zanpakuto into smoke, the weight vanishing instantly. She leaped back and steadied herself, her eyes filled with shock and vigilance as she stared at H'el.

"Who are you?" she asked.

°°°

Hungry for more chaps? Then check out our pătreon!

Link: Påtreon.com/BaphometFiction

I post 20 advanced chapters of this fanfic there.