Sasakibe Chojiro did not respond to Driscoll's taunts.
Earlier, Driscoll had landed only a few blows, yet each one displayed overwhelming force.
This was an enemy Chojiro needed to face with everything he had.
As the vice-captain of the First Division, Chojiro had followed the Captain-Commander even before the Gotei 13 was founded.
In order to stand at Yamamoto's side, he had once secluded himself for an entire month to master Bankai, earning the captain's recognition and becoming his adjutant.
Since then, despite having habits completely opposite to his captain's, he had remained by Yamamoto's side for nearly two thousand years.
More than once, the Captain-Commander had asked him to serve as captain of another division, but Chojiro refused every offer.
On the surface, Chojiro might appear weak.
In this battle alone, he had been seriously injured after only a few exchanges with Driscoll.
Back when Kurosaki Ichigo invaded the Soul Society, Chojiro encountered Ichigo, who had merely activated Shikai, on the Sōkyoku Hill and was defeated in a single exchange.
But appearances could be deceiving.
As the oldest surviving vice-captain in the Seireitei, Chojiro was far from weak. The reason he appeared so lacking was because all of his power was concentrated in his Bankai.
Long ago, in order to remain by Yamamoto's side, he poured everything into mastering Bankai. After becoming vice-captain, his duties left him little time to train anything else. So, he continued honing Bankai alone, day after day, year after year, for centuries.
Yes, Bankai, too, can be refined and deepened endlessly.
"Bankai—"
"Kōkō Gonryō Rikyū!"
Chojiro's voice rang out, and the thunderclouds swirling above suddenly shifted, now responding to him. In an instant, dozens of bolts of lightning descended toward Driscoll.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Driscoll's expression tightened as he leapt away using Hirenkyaku, but the lightning moved too quickly. Even his enhanced step technique could not fully evade it.
Thunder crashed across his body, first a sharp sting, then a surge of intense pain.
Driscoll barely acknowledged the pain. What consumed him was pure rage. He knew instantly what had happened.
Chojiro had used something, something Driscoll did not recognize, to reclaim his stolen Bankai.
"Was it that pill?!"
He recalled the moment Chojiro secretly swallowed something.
Right after that, Driscoll lost control of the stolen Bankai, and a poisonous pain spread through his body.
Understanding this, he no longer bothered to consider how Chojiro had obtained such a drug.
Because right now, Chojiro was attacking relentlessly, manipulating thunder with overwhelming force.
Earlier, when Driscoll had stolen Bankai, he could summon eleven lightning bolts at once.
But in Chojiro's own hands, more than twenty thunderbolts crashed down simultaneously.
The difference was enormous, almost double.
"Damn it! Damn it!!"
Driscoll tried desperately to evade, but the lightning's speed was overwhelming. The bolts rained upon him again and again. Unlike the faint sparks from Gonryōmaru'sShikai, the true thunder of Bankai was fearsome.
His Blut Vene could block minor shocks, but these colossal bolts tore through even that defense, leaving him seriously injured.
Gritting his teeth, Driscoll thrust out both hands. Spiritual particles surged, condensing into a massive javelin-shaped Heilig Pfeil.
Forcing himself to ignore the pain, he hurled the divine javelin forward.
"Your Bankai is powerful." Driscoll growled. "But when you manipulate lightning, your body stiffens for an instant. That moment—"
A cruel glint flashed in his eyes.
"That moment is your weakness."
Despite his crude manner of speaking, Driscoll's combat sense was sharp. Even during the brief time he had controlled Chojiro's Bankai, he had sensed that fleeting rigidity.
Thunder and lightning were powerful, but in the end, a person manipulated them.
And people always had weaknesses.
The javelin tore through the air at terrifying speed.
Before, when Chojiro was uninjured, he might barely dodge it with Shunpo.
Now, wounded as he was, Driscoll believed escape was impossible.
He believed so—
Until the next instant froze him solid.
Lightning surged around Chojiro—
And with a burst of speed beyond normal movement—
He vanished.
"The power of Kōkō Gonryō Rikyū is not as simple as you imagine."
Whether Gonryōmaru was the strongest lightning-type Zanpakutō was unknown, but its Bankai clearly possessed an environment-transforming ability rivaling Hyōrinmaru, a testament to its strength.
Using the extreme acceleration granted by thunder itself, Chojiro evaded Driscoll's strike and resumed his assault, bolts crashing down with renewed fury.
Driscoll was struck again, wounds bursting open, scorched flesh smoking.
Just as Chojiro believed victory was within reach—
Driscoll did something utterly unthinkable.
He formed more javelin-shaped holy spears—
But instead of aiming them at Chojiro…
He fired them at his own men.
The quincy behind him had no time to react. Despite their attempts to resist, they were massacred by Driscoll in an instant.
As their lives were extinguished, Driscoll changed.
Chojiro saw it immediately. Driscoll's power rose sharply. His ability to dodge lightning improved. The divine spears he formed grew denser, sharper, far more lethal.
"The Schrift I have been granted is O — "The Overkill"."
Driscoll's voice was thick with madness.
"It symbolizes my power to grow stronger the more I kill. Those who die by my hand, friend or foe, feed my strength. The more I slaughter, the stronger I become."
Chojiro's eyes filled with disgust.
Such an ability might be powerful, yes.
But murdering his own comrades for strength—
Such a man was beneath contempt.
Such a man did not deserve to live.
*****
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