Chapter 83: Unparalleled Power
Inner World:
The absurd landscape that greeted his eyes remained the same, unchanged in every detail.
The one living here, however, was the complete opposite.
Takeru silently watched the giant mushroom not far away. A swing hung beneath its cap, and the Mushroom Woman he knew was seated on it.
Then the cap began to spin at high speed.
The swing followed, whipping around like a hammer throw.
"Whoopee!"
It spun as fast as a fan blade, so fast the person on it could no longer be seen, only a blurred shadow. The threads holding the cap were absurdly tough. They did not snap.
Instead, the Mushroom Woman was flung off.
She flew up, then crashed down face first, carving a long ravine through the ground that ended right at Takeru's feet.
"…"
Another brand new method of making an entrance.
Takeru was used to it by now.
Even so, he could not stop himself from going silent.
In the end, the Mushroom Woman spoke first. Still face down, she asked in a muffled voice,
"How was it?"
"…How was what?"
"If no one had helped you, you would probably look like this right now. So I wanted to ask if I imitated it well."
"No matter what happens, I am not using my face as a brake."
Takeru lifted his foot and stepped down without mercy.
That kick would have driven her entire head into the ground and made her swallow even more dirt, so she flipped over in a flash. She dodged, ended up lying face up, and looked at Takeru with bright eyes that did not change even with the world inverted. Her tone stayed calm.
"But this time really was dangerous. I almost could not change back."
"Fortunately, you had a flash of inspiration and used external power to help you strip off your Bankai. But how many times can you use that method?"
Takeru fell silent.
Arturo had guessed correctly. A Bankai that surpassed its limits was never free of cost.
When the dragon body of the Bankai was damaged, it repaired itself at terrifying speed. It resembled an Arrancar's Super Regeneration.
The difference was that the restored dragon body became tougher, and that toughness was permanent.
It was good for combat power, but it created a massive obstacle for releasing Bankai later.
It was easy to imagine what happened next. As the dragon body grew stronger, there would eventually come a day when he could no longer release his Bankai at all.
And that day was not far for Takeru.
Logically, the dragon body's reiatsu and hardness should have been enough for Captain level combat. But he had run into Arturo, an Arrancar king standing at the peak of Hueco Mundo.
The dragon body was damaged again and again, and with each battle it became stronger. In the end, it could even bite Arturo and make it difficult for him to escape its maw.
That also meant stripping the dragon body afterward had become far harder than before.
Still, Takeru had considered that possibility long before the battle. That was why he had Ichigo join as a safeguard.
And that safeguard had worked.
It killed Arturo and helped him release his Bankai. Two birds with one stone.
But there was nothing to celebrate.
Because the strengthening was permanent.
In future battles, this form would be used again. And when it was, he would face the same situation, or worse.
Just as the Mushroom Woman said.
How many times could he force a release through external power?
"I do not care."
Takeru's relaxed answer made the Mushroom Woman burst out laughing.
"Hahahaha… Right. If you truly want to use it, you can use it again and again. Kurosaki Ichigo's growth rate will only get faster, not slower, than yours."
"And there is Inoue Orihime, and your teacher, that hot tempered old man, and so on. Plenty of people can help you."
Her laughter faded into something sharper. Her words heated up, laced with a clear malice.
"But is that enough?"
"Can you accept that result?"
"Can this thing, this power, truly be worthy of you?"
Takeru's expression shifted. For a brief instant, it resembled Aizen's. Especially that gaze that looked as if it already knew the answer to everything.
Seeing it, the Mushroom Woman narrowed her beautiful eyes with satisfaction.
She slowly floated up from the ground. Just like their first meeting, she looked down at him like a goddess descending before her believer.
"Extremely tough armor."
"The ability to ignore damage by ignoring fear."
"A one shot kill."
"A one hundred percent accurate imprint."
"Dragonification for desperate survival."
"Seals that weaken an opponent's combat power."
"A body that grows stronger with each battle."
"To be frank, any one of these abilities alone would be enough to form the Bankai of some utterly ordinary Captain."
"And you, my master… you carry them all."
"But you noticed it too, did you not?"
"A cluster style Bankai made of multiple abilities is indeed formidable. It fits the common image that a Zanpakuto often grows huge after Bankai."
"It was strong enough to make even the former king of Hollows feel troubled."
"However, compared to the exaggerated amplification and blunt, intuitive power of your Shikai, this Bankai feels… sluggish."
At that, Takeru quietly recited words Aizen had once said.
"Shikai is the state where a Shinigami reflects his own power onto his Zanpakuto."
"Bankai is the state where, on that foundation, the sword's self is cultivated and materialized."
He paused, met the Mushroom Woman's gaze, and his tone turned sharper.
"Therefore, you can roughly see what kind of spiritual power someone has through their Shikai."
"My Bankai possesses the ability of Reishi Fission. Logically, it should be the same type, or at the very least, it should not develop in a direction that pursues diversification so heavily."
"But I can also be sure my Bankai has no problems."
"It is complete, not some half finished product."
"Everything is normal."
"So there is only one explanation."
"The problem is me."
The Mushroom Woman chuckled, delighted.
"Hahaha… Have you finally understood?"
"It has nothing to do with age."
"It has nothing to do with growth limits."
"Those strange abilities are the manifestation of your latent spiritual power."
"Your latent spiritual power, full of infinite possibilities, is too strong."
"Therefore, you are destined to obtain an unparalleled Bankai."
Takeru seized the opening and continued, thoughtful and steady.
"But limited by strength, or perhaps by spiritual pressure, that unparalleled Bankai can only manifest in stages, split into multiple abilities."
"This is also what makes you amazing."
The Mushroom Woman sighed, a rare hint of emotion in her voice.
"Toshiro Hitsugaya is also limited by himself, and the Bankai he wields is not mature enough."
"But your latent spiritual power is above his. If your Bankai should be the same type, then your situation should be even worse than his."
"In fact, it is the opposite."
"You forcibly subdued the power of Bankai with your own will."
"You split it into more stages, more abilities, like puzzle pieces locking together, one link feeding the next, forming continuous offense."
"Therefore, the Bankai is complete. It is truly real."
"However, even so…"
"It is still far from your limit."
"Because this puzzle should be a peerless masterpiece worthy of you."
"There should be no gaps."
"Those strange abilities, that armor, that sword, that dragon body… they should have been one."
"Only by gathering them into a single whole would it be truly complete."
"The Bankai you have now is only its initial form."
"Just like… the difference between Yamamoto Genryusai's past Bankai and his current Bankai."
Takeru's face remained calm. He had clearly reached the same conclusion already.
"Goka no Ken and Zanka no Tachi, then?"
"You are right. I am ahead of Toshiro Hitsugaya."
"I already possess a true Bankai."
"And now… I need to make it evolve."
"If all stages and all abilities were originally one, and they belong to the same type of ability as Shikai…"
"Then it truly can be called unparalleled."
"I look forward to it."
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