"Who's there!"
Toshiro demanded.
Step, step, step...
A figure walked through the mist, appearing before everyone.
The newcomer was a pale-faced man wearing a white fur-lined garment, with fingernails even longer and sharper than a woman's.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Rangiku, Sentaro, and Kiyone suddenly stepped in front of Toshiro, gripping their Zanpakuto and looking vigilantly at the stranger.
"Who are you!"
Rangiku shouted loudly.
However, the newcomer ignored these 'small fries' and directly looked at Toshiro, who was at the forefront, and said: "My name is Muramasa. I have come to declare to you all… the era of Shinigami dominating Zanpakuto is over. From now on, Zanpakuto will dominate Shinigami!"
Toshiro snorted coldly: "Hmph! Shinigami dominating Zanpakuto? Zanpakuto dominating Shinigami? How boring. Shinigami and Zanpakuto are companions of one heart and body. There's no such boring question of who dominates whom."
"Is that so?"
Muramasa's mouth twitched into an eerie smile.
"We'll talk about that later. I ask you, is Genryusai-sensei's disappearance related to you?"
Toshiro stared intently at Muramasa.
Of course, Toshiro knew that Muramasa was behind this whole incident, but he still deliberately asked, feigning ignorance.
Muramasa sneered coldly: "Heh heh heh, of course!"
"Can you guess what I did to that old man, Yamamoto?"
Muramasa said with a provocative look.
"You..."
Just as Toshiro began to speak, the massive body of Komamura suddenly stepped in front of him. Komamura stared icy coldly at Muramasa: "You bastard, what have you done to Yamamoto-dono!"
Komamura was Yamamoto's 'faithful dog'. If we're talking about who in the entire Soul Society is most loyal to him, besides Sasakibe, it would be Komamura.
Even Yamamoto's students, Kyoraku, Ukitake, and Toshiro, cannot compare to Komamura and Sasakibe in this regard.
Because whether it's Toshiro, Shunsui, or Jushiro, they all have their own principles of conduct. Once those principles are violated, even opposing Yamamoto is not impossible.
Just like in the original work, Shunsui and Jushiro chose to fight Yamamoto to save Rukia.
But with Komamura and Sasakibe, such a thing would never happen. For Komamura, Yamamoto's orders are above all else.
So upon hearing Muramasa mention Yamamoto, Komamura couldn't even care about the rudeness of interrupting Toshiro. He directly jumped out to interrogate Muramasa.
"You bastard, didn't you hear me? I asked what you did to Yamamoto-dono!"
Komamura looked at Muramasa with an icy, furious expression.
"Heh..."
Muramasa just chuckled disdainfully, showing no intention of answering Komamura.
"Not answering? Then..."
With that, Komamura drew his Zanpakuto.
"I'll just ask your body directly!"
Whoosh!
With a flash of the blade, Komamura slashed directly at Muramasa.
Muramasa, with his hands behind his back, lightly stepped and executed a graceful backflip, retreating elegantly into the distance.
Then Muramasa gently waved his hand, raising dust and sand, and a gust of wind blew towards the Gotei 13's members.
"Hmph!"
Toshiro suddenly snorted coldly. His powerful Reiatsu instantly erupted, blocking the wind and protecting everyone inside.
"Captain Hitsugaya, please don't intervene. Leave this bastard who dares to offend Yamamoto-dono to me!"
Komamura requested.
"Alright, but be careful, Komamura."
Toshiro hesitated for a moment but finally nodded.
Although he knew that the Zanpakuto had already been bewitched by Muramasa and that Komamura, even if he fought, couldn't do anything to him, Toshiro could understand Komamura's feelings.
If Toshiro were the one who had disappeared, his loyal subordinates like Rangiku and Sojiro would definitely want to personally deal with the enemy who had ambushed him, just like Komamura.
If he didn't let Komamura fight, he would never be satisfied. So Toshiro ultimately didn't stop him.
Seeing that Toshiro wasn't stopping him, Komamura began to go all out against Muramasa.
"Bankai! Kokujo Tengen Myo'o!"
Komamura shouted loudly, directly activating Bankai. Immediately, a huge black-armored warrior appeared behind him.
"I'll ask you one more time, where is Yamamoto-dono!"
Komamura threatened, pointing his Zanpakuto at Muramasa.
"Hmph, your attacks cannot threaten me."
Muramasa said confidently.
"Nonsense!"
Komamura shouted angrily, slashing his sword at Muramasa in fury. Behind him, Myo'o simultaneously swung its '40-meter-long blade'.
But Myo'o's target was not Muramasa, but its own master, Komamura.
Toshiro, who had been watching the situation closely, immediately shouted: "Komamura! Watch out behind you!!"
Hearing Toshiro's warning, Komamura instantly noticed the abnormality behind him and quickly used Shunpo to dodge.
Myo'o's massive '40-meter-long blade' grazed Komamura's body and struck the ground, carving out a huge trench and stirring up a sky-full of dust and sand.
"Cough, cough, cough..."
As the smoke cleared, Komamura, coughing a couple of times, reappeared before everyone, unharmed.
However, everyone in the Gotei 13 except Toshiro was shocked on the spot.
"What just happened!"
"A Zanpakuto attacking its own master!"
"What's going on!"
"Could it be..."
After the shock, the first to come to his senses was Mayuri.
"Oh! How interesting!"
Mayuri's eyes lit up as if he had seen some rare treasure.
Shii, shii, shii—!!
Just then, the huge Myo'o suddenly emitted a large amount of steam-like substance, enveloping itself.
Then, as the steam cleared, a blue-haired, red-faced, burly man nearly four meters tall, holding flames in his mouth, appeared before Komamura.
"Wh-who are you!"
Komamura looked in shock at the burly man before him.
Whoosh—!
The blue-haired, red-faced man exhaled heavily, spewing flames from his mouth, but did not speak.
Although he didn't speak, Komamura already knew his identity in his heart. Yet he still asked incredulously: "Could... could you really be Myo'o?"
Although Komamura had never seen Myo'o in this form, he had just witnessed Myo'o transform into this appearance right in front of everyone.
"Myo'o, why did you..."
Whoosh!
Before Komamura could finish, Myo'o directly slashed at him, as if harboring some deep-seated grudge against his own master.