Thunder & Passion

This was, she would admit, not what Murasaki had intended. But it was also not so unbearable that she would accept defeat in this situation. She had to admit, it was likely a very good thing that she had dropped her own zanpakuto, for if she had led with Kagayaku this would not work in the slightest. For that matter, she quite had to thank her own innate speed for having the reaction time necessary for this. She focused inward once more, in but a moment as Arkin's weapon flew toward her, she did two things in a single moment.

The first was that she activated her kozanmanshu, her arms becoming hardened and as sharp as steel, and her body now every bit the same as her own zanpakuto. This in itself did little, other than to prevent Arkin from crushing her wrist entirely. But far more importantly, it provided her with something very rarely easily provided.

Her zanpakuto freely in contact with his body.

"Bankai, Keifu Bunki."

In that singular moment, Murasaki's perception of the field of battle drastically changed. Unlike many bankai, hers exuded no additional energy, provided her no significant boon to her strength or speed. It was, in that sense, emblematic of her own nature. It relied entirely on Murasaki's skill, her talent and the cultivation of her swordplay. To know the battlefield completely was useless without the ability to take advantage of that knowledge.

She could see, rather abundantly clearly, that Arkin's own zanpakuto would strike her in a fraction of a second, and that Arkin himself was intending to butt heads with her. Both would hurt, but the zanpakuto decidedly moreso. To that end, she simply took the most natural course of action - she quite aggressively drove her own head into Arkin's just as quickly. The ringing in her head from that impact, especially given the degree of difference between their strength and their toughness, was almost damning, but it was still miles better than taking an axe to the head. She may have lacked a sword, but the single empty hand she now had was every bit the same in the state of kozanmanshu. To that end, with her bare hand now a blade in its own right, she readied herself and performed yet another technique, of the myriad within her Senbandachi: Issen.

"Hendoku: Strange Poison."

She was curious how much of this ichor Arkin had within him, and more importantly, how it would react to unusual circumstances. Murasaki was a blade in her own right, and she knew, in turn, where a blade caused the most harm. Her hand cut every bit as well as a sword might, but now, it aimed only for those places which caused the most pain. Would his ichor respond more aggressively? There was only one way to know. Given the nature of the fight, that was by and away the greatest threat she faced, and to stay ignorant of it would mean an absolutely assured defeat.