Almost at the exact moment Chōjirō Sasakibe stabbed his opponent, another figure materialized beside him and slashed downward.
Blood sprayed as Chōjirō Sasakibe was sent flying, his shoulder pierced by his own Reigai.
"Who exactly are you...?" Chōjirō Sasakibe broke free of the Reigai's attack and retreated, staring at Ōko Yushima... or rather, the Ōko Yushimas.
At that moment, two identical Ōko Yushimas stood side by side atop the Sōkyoku.
"The compatibility between the Ōin and Sumitsukigasa is even greater than I anticipated." A faint golden light glowed on Ōko Yushima's forehead. "Sumitsukigasa's original ability to manipulate space has been greatly enhanced by the power of the Ōin, both in accuracy and duration."
He could now effortlessly duplicate himself to create clones or sever space to teleport.
And that was not all...
Chōjirō Sasakibe staggered as an unnatural weakness washed over him. "My Reiatsu...?"
"It's my Reiatsu now." A faint emerald light shone from the Sumitsukigasa in Ōko Yushima's hand. "And not just yours. I can even absorb the Captain-Commander's Reiatsu!"
"Is that so?"
A streak of black light descended from the sky and pierced one of the Ōko Yushimas. It was a black icicle.
Black smoke curled upward, then suddenly expanded to reveal Muten Natsu.
Myōki swept sideways. The terrifying pressure from the blade split the air and tore toward the other Ōko Yushima.
Sumitsukigasa spun lightly, and Ōko Yushima vanished, teleporting far into the distance.
"You're so powerful..." Muten Natsu reached out and seized the throat of the Ōko Yushima clone impaled by the icicle, then burned it to ash with the Hell Flames. "Go on, then. Try absorbing my Reiatsu."
"I wouldn't want your filthy Reiatsu, tainted with Hollow power, even if you offered it to me." Ōko Yushima snorted. "Your timing is perfect, Muten Natsu. You have acted without restraint, committed repeated atrocities, violated spiritual law, and shown no remorse. Now is the time for your judgment!"
"You were just complaining that the judgment passed against you was unfair, and now you intend to do the same thing?" Rukia Kuchiki stepped up beside Muten Natsu. "What gives you the right to judge Muten Natsu?"
"Because I am the rightful ruler of Soul Society!" Ōko Yushima spun Sumitsukigasa. "Come forth, my new Gotei 13!"
Countless figures emerged from circular rifts in space. They were the Reigai of the captains and lieutenants.
The assembled captains released their Reiatsu. The overlapping pressure made the very air feel thick and heavy.
"Experience true despair!" Ōko Yushima raised Sumitsukigasa high. "Before my Legion of Reigai, you are nothing more than an insignificant interruption!"
"Well, then..." A strangely inflected voice rang out. "What if you add us to the equation, ne?"
One captain after another appeared, led by the captain of the 12th Division and Director of the Research and Development Institute, Mayuri Kurotsuchi.
"You..." Ōko Yushima stared at the captains who had suddenly appeared. "You should have been devoured by the Kōtotsu!"
"By completely concealing your Reiatsu, you can move freely within the Kōtotsu. That was how you gathered old research data from the Dangai." Mayuri Kurotsuchi flexed his fingers. "Did you truly think I hadn't noticed, ne? You became a section chief because you were an expert on the Dangai. I became director because the Dangai is far from the only field in which I am an expert, ne."
Ōko Yushima sneered. "Even if you managed to rescue them from the Kōtotsu, what can any of you do after having your Reiatsu devoured?"
"Rescue them?" Mayuri Kurotsuchi tilted his head. "I merely happened across them while investigating something else, ne."
"It was Lisa-chan who saved us." Shunsui Kyōraku tipped his straw hat. "She found us while making a delivery."
Because the merchandise she sold was rather specialized, Lisa Yadōmaru had taken a coat from Urahara that could completely conceal Reiatsu. It allowed her to protect her customers' privacy and deliver their goods without leaving any trace.
She normally avoided making deliveries on days when the Kōtotsu was due to appear.
However, Kagerōza Inaba had used Raikū to replicate the Kōtotsu, causing Lisa Yadōmaru to misjudge its appearance. She accidentally entered the Kōtotsu during a delivery and discovered the captains trapped inside.
Ōko Yushima glared at Mayuri Kurotsuchi as an intolerable possibility forced its way into his mind. "After being swallowed by the Kōtotsu, there's no way their Reiatsu could have recovered this quickly. What did you do?!"
"Considering that their Reiatsu is the only useful thing these people have to offer, restoring it was naturally more important than taking them back to the World of the Living or Soul Society." Mayuri Kurotsuchi spread his hands. "As for how I did it... a Valley of Screams with a higher concentration of Reishi was naturally the best choice. Ah..." He seemed to remember something. "Of course, it was only the best choice for me. Some people can't even locate the Modified Soul they created inside a Valley of Screams, ne."
"..." Ōko Yushima's handsome face twisted.
Just as Mayuri Kurotsuchi had said, before Nozomi Kujō left the Valley of Screams, Ōko Yushima had been unable to determine her location. Entering the Valley of Screams itself had been even further beyond his reach.
But that did not matter.
Once Soul Society was under his control, every result of Mayuri Kurotsuchi's research would belong to him.
Ōko Yushima roared and swung Sumitsukigasa. "Kill them!"
Electric light flared in the eyes of the Reigai, and they charged at the captains together.
"All that talking, only to end up in the same place!" Kenpachi Zaraki grinned savagely and unleashed a slash, sending its pressure surging into the sky. "Why not just start killing each other from the beginning?"
The captains released their Zanpakutō and met their respective opponents.
Reiatsu collided in chaos. The sounds of air being torn apart and explosions erupted without pause.
Chōjirō Sasakibe's gaze trembled.
As he watched the captains fight, he suddenly realized that the changes in Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto were not merely the result of age.
Time had passed. Although Soul Society had yet to produce a Shinigami capable of surpassing Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto, it had raised a remarkable generation of captains.
Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto no longer needed to rely on absolute strength and terrifying slaughter to keep every would-be troublemaker in line, as he once had.
He had lost an arm, but the captains he had trained, whether directly or indirectly, had become even stronger arms in its place.
Only when Muten Natsu charged toward Ōko Yushima did Chōjirō Sasakibe belatedly understand.
Retsu Unohana... had probably realized it long before he had.
Clang!
Sumitsukigasa blocked Muten Natsu's strike. Ōko Yushima's gaze turned cold.
"You chose to fight me yourself so I couldn't absorb anyone else's Reiatsu. A wise decision."
Sumitsukigasa spun, and another Ōko Yushima appeared behind Muten Natsu.
"But daring to fight me at all... was utter foolishness!"
The spinning blade split Muten Natsu's body, and viscous Spirit Ink burst outward.
"You're not the only one who can teleport."
Muten Natsu emerged from the Spirit Ink behind Ōko Yushima, Myōki gleaming coldly in his hand.
"Don't compare your petty tricks to my Sumitsukigasa!" Ōko Yushima reacted as though he had suffered an unbearable insult and teleported away again. "You're only taking advantage of this Spirit Ink!"
The light of the Ōin on his forehead grew brighter. Ōko Yushima released his Reiatsu, intending to scatter the surrounding Spirit Ink.
Rukia Kuchiki tightened both hands around her Zanpakutō, searching for that indistinct sensation.
Unlike Tōshirō Hitsugaya's Hyōrinmaru, her Sode no Shirayuki could not freely manipulate moisture in the air.
But she possessed an advantage of her own.
Control over temperature.
"Minus..."
Rukia Kuchiki's eyes opened slightly as she drove Sode no Shirayuki into the Spirit Ink beneath her feet.
"Thirteen degrees."
The viscous Spirit Ink rapidly froze into pitch-black ice, resisting the Reiatsu Ōko Yushima had unleashed.
Muten Natsu waved his hand and manipulated the Spirit Ink. Black spikes of ice erupted from the ground one after another, racing after Ōko Yushima's constantly flickering figure.
Rukia Kuchiki's Reiatsu had merged with Muten Natsu's. The Hollow power contained within it rendered Sumitsukigasa's Reiatsu-absorbing ability completely useless.
But what truly drove Ōko Yushima to despair was...
Blood sprayed.
Ōko Yushima never even saw the moment he was attacked. He only saw the head of the decoy he had hastily created fall to the ground.
Before he could steady himself after teleporting, he sensed another attack coming from behind.
He raised his blade to block, his face twisting in disbelief. "Why...?"
Why was he still being forced onto the defensive by Muten Natsu when he had already become so powerful?
Why had his repeated teleportations failed to catch Muten Natsu by surprise, while Muten Natsu ambushed him again and again?
Why was he still weaker than Muten Natsu even with the power of the Ōin?
Sumitsukigasa spun over and over.
With his life at stake, Ōko Yushima drew out every ounce of his potential. At times, he duplicated himself to block Muten Natsu's attacks. At others, he copied Muten Natsu's strikes in an attempt to counterattack.
The two figures flickered rapidly through the wildly spreading black ice. Sparks and shattered fragments collided in midair, illuminating afterimages that vanished almost as soon as they appeared.
A massive cage of black ice gradually took shape atop the Sōkyoku. It resembled a gigantic withered tree, with the spraying blood serving as dead leaves falling from its branches.
Even amid the chaotic battle between the captains, the clash between Muten Natsu and Ōko Yushima drew the most attention.
A closer look revealed that while Ōko Yushima fought in panic and disarray, Muten Natsu's attacks were nothing short of art.
Both launched attacks in the fleeting intervals between teleportations, but Muten Natsu used the rotation of his body to make every slash flow seamlessly into the next.
Even when Ōko Yushima teleported away from a strike, the missed swing would become an even fiercer pursuit the instant the next teleport ended.
That was the main reason Ōko Yushima felt so thoroughly suppressed.
Although they were both changing positions, Ōko Yushima needed time after each teleport to assess the situation and adjust his stance. Muten Natsu could attack again without the slightest pause.
Ultimately, the gap between their Zanjutsu was simply too vast.
For nearly a century, Ōko Yushima had devoted himself to research at the Research and Development Institute. He had barely spent any time improving his Zanjutsu.
Worse still, he had only just completed his fusion. He had not yet grown accustomed to his new body or his enhanced power.
Muten Natsu, by contrast, had already honed his draw technique to its limit during his battle with the Primordial Form. He had then improved even further in his fight against Retsu Unohana, on top of surviving countless other life-or-death battles.
Whether in combat experience, Zanjutsu, or familiarity with his own power, Muten Natsu completely outclassed Ōko Yushima.
If not for Sumitsukigasa's special abilities after its growth, combined with the power of the Ōin, Ōko Yushima would never have lasted this long.
But now... even he was nearing his limit.
The Ōin was immensely powerful, but activating it required an equally immense amount of Reiatsu.
Sumitsukigasa had fused with Arazome Shigure's ability to absorb Reiatsu, so ordinarily Ōko Yushima had no reason to fear exhausting his reserves.
But the Reiatsu of Muten Natsu, his current opponent, was impure. Ōko Yushima did not dare absorb it.
In that case...
Myōki carved a wound across his cheek so deep that bone showed beneath it. Ōko Yushima realized he could not allow the battle to continue.
"You forced me to do this!!!"
Ōko Yushima raised Sumitsukigasa high. Violent Reiatsu surged into the sky and condensed into an emerald structure resembling a city gate assembled from countless blades.
"I'll create all of you again..." Ōko Yushima growled. "Hajō Kūri!"
The bizarre gate-shaped Reiatsu structure erupted with dazzling light, shining over the countless Reigai.
One after another, the Reigai rapidly collapsed.
Unlike when they had previously dispersed after being defeated, even the Gikon Pills within them now disintegrated completely and merged into the Reiatsu structure.
Golden light blazed from Ōko Yushima's forehead. The power of the Ōin was released with even greater force, and golden lightning erupted from the Reiatsu structure, lashing everything around it without restraint.
Ōko Yushima spun Sumitsukigasa. The bolts of lightning gathered together, converging at a single point above the Reiatsu structure before flowing into Sumitsukigasa.
"Haa..."
Ōko Yushima slowly exhaled.
His eyes crackled with lightning as they locked onto Muten Natsu. As power flooded his body, wild excitement consumed his wide-eyed expression.
"Die!!!"
Gripping the now almost completely golden Sumitsukigasa, Ōko Yushima shot into the sky before plunging back down, dragging the overwhelming force of countless thunderbolts with him to reduce Muten Natsu to ash.
"Bankai."
Muten Natsu spread his arms.
"Rin'en Bokukō!"
Spirit Ink surged upward from the ground. Under the influence of Rukia Kuchiki's power, the monstrous head emerging from the ink was covered in jagged ice armor.
It opened its vast, abyssal maw and swallowed Ōko Yushima whole.
In the next instant, blinding lightning pierced through Rin'en Bokukō's head and shattered vast quantities of ink-black ice.
With the power Ōko Yushima now possessed, Rin'en Bokukō's momentary eruption alone could not stop him.
Fortunately, Muten Natsu had never intended to defeat him with his Bankai alone.
The shattered remains of Rin'en Bokukō swept up the surrounding fragments of ice and converged again.
Muten Natsu reached toward Ōko Yushima and closed his hand around empty air.
"Bakudō #1, Sai!"
A vast quantity of Spirit Ink formed intricate characters, wrapping around Ōko Yushima layer by layer and briefly restraining his movements.
Rukia Kuchiki raised her eyes slightly. Her clear voice rang through the air.
"Minus... fifty degrees."
In an instant, a terrifying tremor spread outward.
Endless cold followed, sweeping through the air and freezing the entire expanse of Spirit Ink solid.
***
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