Karakura Town, a desolate grassy field.
A breeze swept by. Hibiki lay spread-eagled at the bottom of a crater, staring warily up at the black-haired boy in the sky. "Who are you? I don't recall ever seeing you."
In his era, there were only a handful of shinigami he deemed worth his notice—this black-haired boy certainly wasn't one of them.
Cole rested a golden staff on his shoulder and smiled. "It's normal you haven't. I'm only sixteen."
Compared to shinigami who live for centuries, a human's decades look like a mayfly's blink. And the older the shinigami, the stronger—one reason they despise humans.
"Sixteen!?" Hibiki's eyes widened. A captain-class fighter at sixteen? Was this a joke? How could the Soul Society produce such a monster?
Byakuya had already recovered his composure. He stepped past Cole and said coolly, "Cole, this is a Kuchiki family matter. You are not yet of our clan, so you have no standing to interfere."
Rukia came over, cheeks flushed, thoughts racing—did brother mean… to bring Cole into the family by marriage? But knowing Cole, he'd never agree to marry into the Kuchiki. If anything, she should be the one to marry out. Except… he was still human. She'd have to wait until after his mortal life ended—she couldn't stay in the World of the Living forever. And now there was that hateful thousand-year old granny, Unohana, teasing Cole, plus other rivals…
Cole, oblivious to Rukia's spiraling thoughts, glanced at the siblings. "You two still planning to fight?"
If he hadn't stepped in a moment ago, the two of them might already be dead.
"Of course. This is our family's affair," Byakuya said, and he and Rukia charged again.
"In front of my power, you're infants," Hibiki snarled. Gaunt as a skeleton, he still radiated ferocity, meeting them head-on with the golden trident.
Steel crashed again and again. Soon, the siblings were forced onto the back foot; gashes opened across Byakuya's body.
"I'll finish the woman first…" Cold light flashed in Hibiki's eyes as afterimages multiplied; the trident chopped toward Rukia from every angle.
Just as Cole tensed to move—chiiing!
A pure-white arc flashed. Sode no Shirayuki appeared, silver blade braced against the blow.
"Shirayuki!" Rukia's eyes shone.
Smiling, Shirayuki floated close, slipped an arm around Rukia's shoulders, and helped her grip the sword. "If he can muddle your inner world, then let me be your eyes. Fight with me—side by side."
Rukia nodded hard. The girl and the blade spoke as one:
"Bankai—Hakka no Togame (Penalty of White Haze)!"
"−273.15°C."
In an instant, Rukia's skin temperature plunged toward absolute zero. A pure-white, saintly figure of ice stepped into the world. This time Rukia swung while Shirayuki controlled direction and force—their minds and steel moved as one.
Byakuya followed suit; behind him rose the spirit of a red-armored warrior.
"Bankai—Senbonzakura Kageyoshi (Vibrant Scattered Thousand Cherry Blossoms)!"
"Shirō Dō no Tachi—White Emperor Sword!"
All of Senbonzakura's petals and reiatsu poured into a single blade, glowing white like an angel's wing.
Left and right, two white streaks streaked in at Hibiki.
His face changed. He backstepped and invoked Muramasa's shikai, trying to twist their senses.
But this time their senses were guided by their zanpakuto. The illusion had no effect.
Cornered, Hibiki blurted, "Muramasa!"
If Muramasa were still whole, his manifested form could invade their inner worlds and seduce their zanpakuto.
Just like centuries ago—
Silence. No answer came from Muramasa.
Ssst! Thunk!
Two white blades speared Hibiki's chest from left and right. No blood flowed—only frost raced across him while a storm of cherry blades shredded him within. Byakuya and Rukia withdrew their swords and stepped back, gazes cold on the obsessive shinigami.
Hibiki's eyes went vacant. He staggered but did not fall, bracing on the golden sealing trident. His strength drained; he pitched forward, hands reaching, mumbling through numb lips:
"Come… Muramasa…"
"What's wrong… Muramasa…"
"Why won't you answer… I'm calling you…"
"Mu… ra… masa…"
With a thud he collapsed. Absolute-zero frost bloomed across him, sealing him in ice.
Only then did the siblings' reiatsu ebb away.
Senbonzakura looked upon the frozen mound and sighed. "If he didn't have such power, he wouldn't have sunk into such a pathetic delusion."
Byakuya said evenly, "Such is the fate of a man with a weak will. His arrogance made him cast away his zanpakuto—and even the honor of a noble."
Senbonzakura nodded vigorously and shot a thumbs-up. "My master is stronger! Same family name, worlds apart! Enduring humiliation, unshakable conviction—that's why I obey my master!"
Cole couldn't help but glance over. Rukia also stared, surprised. Byakuya's face reddened faintly; he forced on a cold mask and sheathed his blade. "You talk too much, Senbonzakura."
Minazuki chuckled softly. "Cole, maybe you don't know—when Captain Kuchiki was young, he was quite lively. In human terms… a bit chunni…"
"Captain Unohana!" Byakuya cut her off through gritted teeth. "Control your zanpakuto. Don't let her babble."
Rukia broke into giggles. So—her proper, icy brother had been a chuuni? Hilarious.
Byakuya's face darkened. He turned his chill gaze to Kyoka Suigetsu. "You're next."
Kyoka Suigetsu inhaled sharply—but he didn't look at Byakuya. He stared at Cole. Only one person here truly frightened him: this damn human shinigami.
Cole lifted the golden staff. Kyoka Suigetsu went pale and bolted, plunging into the swarm of Menos. He didn't dare clash again.
A pillar of gold flashed. Boom!
The staff fell like a heavenly column. The field exploded; soil spider-webbed with cracks racing in every direction, the earth shaking across Karakura. Nearly half the Menos vanished in one blow.
Byakuya's heart nearly stopped. Sweat sheeted down his brow as he roared, "Cole! Do you plan to destroy this city!?"
Cracks had raced almost to the urban center. If Cole had swung any harder, the devastation would rival a magnitude-9 quake—Karakura might have been erased.
Cole shouldered the staff and winced at the damage. "Man, the environment here is flimsy. Weaker than the Seireitei—heck, even Rukongai holds up better."
Rukia sighed. "Why do you think we protect the World of the Living? Because it's fragile."
Unohana glanced into the distance and smiled. "Also why the Head Captain hasn't come to nab those traitors."
Far off, the hidden Visoreds wiped cold sweat. "Thank goodness the old man didn't come." If Unohana could sense them, Yamamoto would've dragged them out in seconds.
Among the remaining Menos, a shrill roar rose. Everyone looked over, eyes hardening.
Byakuya narrowed his eyes. "Is that… Muramasa?"
Once a decadent noble in demeanor, Muramasa was now fully Hollowfied, encased in a white carapace. A sickly green reiatsu pulsed from him—mind gone, danger doubled.
Unohana's brows lifted. "Straight to Adjuchas… How many Hollows did he absorb?"
Normally a hundred trash Hollows devour each other before one becomes a Gillian; then Gillians must feast by the thousands to evolve further. Yet Muramasa leapt straight to Adjuchas upon Hollowfication. How many had he swallowed?
Cole whistled. "His master's trash, but the blade's not bad."
The others nodded despite themselves. Hibiki was strong, but not at Kyoraku's level; even without Rukia, Byakuya alone could have handled him. But the blade—nearly destroyed the Seireitei. A textbook case of the man being worse than his manifested sword.
As they moved to strike down the Adjuchas—
Kyoka Suigetsu appeared behind Hollowfied Muramasa and drove his sword through the Hollow's heart. Muramasa shrieked, spewing emerald ceros that cratered the field—but it was useless. Along the blade, Muramasa's body was swallowed bit by bit; pale residue formed across Kyoka Suigetsu's skin.
Byakuya's lip curled. "What is that zanpakuto doing?"
Hollow power disgusts both shinigami and blades. Yet Kyoka Suigetsu was actively absorbing it.
Far away, Hirako's eyes turned ice-cold. "He's inverting the process—devouring the Hollow to control it." Memory flashed—their forced Hollowfication a hundred years ago. They had been victims; Kyoka Suigetsu was choosing corruption.
Cole's eyes sharpened. "He's after Muramasa's trick, isn't he?" Among countless zanpakuto, Muramasa's ability was uniquely perverse—manifestation with the power to invade another's inner world and bewitch their zanpakuto. Not far off from Aizen's Kyoka Suigetsu. If the two were fused, the result would be… monstrous.
Everyone saw the same danger. "We can't let him absorb Muramasa!"
Byakuya sprang—but Kyoka Suigetsu's devouring was far faster than expected. In seconds, Muramasa was gone. In his place stood Kyoka Suigetsu wearing a white-and-red Hollow mask. He threw back his head and laughed, stroking the mask with feverish delight.
"You never imagined it, did you? This was my aim—Muramasa's ability, mine."
When Muramasa dies, the zanpakuto he bewitched wake up and their power wanes, flowing back to their masters. If Kyoka Suigetsu seized Muramasa, he could keep existing in manifested form—and gain the power to bewitch other zanpakuto. Add in his own five-senses domination…
He would be the first king among zanpakuto.
His laughter swelled.
At the same time, in Las Noches, Aizen tapped the arm of his throne, smiling. "That's enough, Kyoka Suigetsu."
He glanced at Gin. "Gin, start the reverse membrane. Time to bring our unruly blade home."
Gin smiled with narrowed eyes, but his heart sank. If Kyoka Suigetsu returned with Muramasa's power, then even his own blade might be enslaved. Yet remembering Kyoka Suigetsu's… attitude toward Aizen, another idea slowly formed.
Thousands of Gillians gathered. Space in Las Noches tore open; in the World of the Living, the sky split as countless Gillians probed through.
Kyoka Suigetsu's laughter died. He stared, aghast, at the white matter oozing from his own body. "This Hollow power… it's not Muramasa's…"
The instant the rift opened, he felt it—there was another Hollow inside him, one that could take control of him.
Rage snapped his mind into focus. He glared at the black fissure and roared, "Aizen! You tricked me! Before I ever manifested, you modified my body!"
So that's why Aizen had let him go so easily—he'd been altered. With that Hollow planted inside him, no matter where he fled, Aizen could reel him back.
The yawning tear revealed Las Noches. Aizen sat smiling on his throne. "You are my zanpakuto—my most trusted companion. For your safety, I had to add certain protections."
The reverse membrane sealed. Ignoring Kyoka Suigetsu's struggle, it yanked him up toward the sky.
"AAIZEN!!!"
(End of Chapter)
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