Meanwhile, Gyutaro also seemed restless.
He constantly clawed at his body with his nails, drawing bloody marks. His body trembled, his eyes fixed on Byakuya.
"Don't you feel uncomfortable?" Gyutaro asked.
"What are you referring to?" Byakuya scoffed. "The poison on your scythe? Sorry, it's useless against me."
"That's a specially formulated potent poison," Gyutaro declared. "Even the Pillars of the Demon Slayer Corps wouldn't be unaffected."
"Perhaps because I'm not a Pillar?" Byakuya retorted. "Therefore, your poison is ineffective!"
Byakuya had long noticed the poison on Gyutaro's scythe but hadn't bothered with it.
Besides, there was nothing to bother with. With his Poison-Poison Fruit, any poison was useless against Byakuya.
"It seems we are both unable to do anything to each other," Gyutaro stated.
"I don't think so," Byakuya said, looking around. "Your sister, that demon named Daki, seems to be hiding?"
Gyutaro's expression didn't change, but instinctively, he began scratching his body again with his nails, revealing his anxiety.
"Though I'm curious why she, as Upper Rank Six, is so weak, she did explicitly say she was Upper Rank Six, and there were numbers in her eyes..." Byakuya mused.
As Byakuya spoke, he slowly paced.
"In other words, you are Upper Rank Six, and your sister is also Upper Rank Six. Upper Rank Six isn't a single person, but two," Byakuya narrowed his eyes. "So, if there are two Upper Rank Sixes, do you need to chop off both your heads to kill you?"
Gyutaro's face finally changed. He suddenly shouted, "Hide! Don't come out!"
Byakuya curled his lips. Gyutaro's shout was tantamount to admitting that his guess was correct.
To kill Upper Rank Six, both Gyutaro and Daki's heads needed to be severed.
However, Gyutaro couldn't be called stupid. Byakuya would have intended to try anyway, as two Upper Rank Sixes simultaneously felt problematic.
At the same time...
Gyutaro swung his scythe and charged towards Byakuya again.
Gyutaro now adopted a suicidal, all-out attitude. No matter how Byakuya cut him, as long as Daki's head wasn't simultaneously severed, he wouldn't die!
"Ah!"
Gyutaro roared, slicing his scythe across his chest. Blood splattered out, transforming into sharp blood scythes that slashed towards Byakuya.
Boom, boom!
As Byakuya leaped, the roof was instantly obliterated.
Byakuya landed back on the ground from the rooftop, looking at Gyutaro with a smile. "Finding your sister is easy."
The moment he spoke, Byakuya suddenly lifted his leg and stomped down hard on the ground.
Boom!
A thunderous roar erupted.
The ground was crushed by Byakuya's stomp, and at the same time...
Zzzzzt!
A piercing electric hum sounded, and countless currents surged out from beneath Byakuya's feet, spreading in all directions.
Azure arcs of electricity swept across the ground and over the houses.
In the blink of an eye, the surrounding buildings were enveloped within Byakuya's electric field.
Streaks of current raged, flickering and constantly destroying the ground and houses, and then...
Boom, boom, boom...
Due to the electricity, many surrounding houses caught fire and exploded.
And at this moment...
With a crash.
Daki burst out from the roof of a house.
The instant Daki escaped, a current from behind struck and ripped open a section of the roof, then shot towards the heavens.
Byakuya grinned at Gyutaro. "Found her!"
Gyutaro's expression shifted again. He then shouted towards Daki, "Run! Run far away!"
As Gyutaro yelled, he ran in the opposite direction of Daki.
The need to sever both heads simultaneously applied not only to Gyutaro but also to Daki.
Without Gyutaro's head being severed at the same time, even if Daki's head was cut off, it would regenerate, and she wouldn't die.
Therefore, as long as the two were separated by a sufficient distance, Byakuya couldn't kill them both.
Because if Byakuya killed one and rushed back to kill the other, the first one would have already reattached its head. Even if Byakuya took the severed head, it wouldn't matter.
Reattaching the head to the neck merely accelerated regeneration. Even without their original heads, their heads could regenerate.
This ability was one of the reasons Gyutaro and Daki could firmly hold the position of Upper Rank Six.
Only by severing both their heads in an extremely short period, almost simultaneously, could they be killed.
"So, in simple terms, it's just about being fast enough, right?" Byakuya said, looking towards Daki. "Correct?"
The moment he spoke, Byakuya's body suddenly transformed into lightning and sped towards Daki.
In the blink of an eye, Byakuya caught up to the fleeing Daki.
Upon seeing this, Daki immediately released her obi, crossing it in front of her.
But...
It was useless!
Byakuya raised his Raiyūdo (Thunder Fang Wrath Beast) and swung it down at Daki.
In front of the lightning-wrapped Raiyūdo, Daki's obi was as fragile as paper, easily cleaved in two by Byakuya's sword.
Then...
*Splat!*
Accompanied by the sound of flesh being torn, Byakuya seamlessly swung his sword at Daki's neck, severing her head. He then reached out, grabbed Daki's hair, and held the head in his hand.
Seeing this, Gyutaro didn't hesitate and began to flee.
Run, run, run...
As long as he ran far enough, Daki would be fine.
As long as Byakuya couldn't cut off his head in time, Daki would recover.
The best way to protect Daki right now was to run.
Coincidentally, this was Gyutaro's greatest strength. He was very good at running, and he ran very fast.
Then...
The moment Gyutaro assumed a charging posture, about to leap forward...
"Where do you think you're going?"
Byakuya's voice echoed in front of Gyutaro.
As Gyutaro looked up in surprise, he found Byakuya standing before him.
In just an instant, after severing Daki's head, Byakuya had returned to Gyutaro's front.
Hand raised, sword fell!
A flash of lightning streaked by!
Against the backdrop of the night, that flash of lightning appeared extremely dazzling, brilliant... and cold!
Gyutaro's eyes widened as he felt his head separate from his body.
He saw his body falling towards the ground, crashing heavily onto the earth.
...