Seeing Tsunayoshi's new form, Yamamoto felt a surge of battle intent for the first time in ages. He hadn't expected that, in his twilight years, he would encounter an opponent worthy of drawing out his full strength. At the very least, it meant his thousand-year-honed Zanka no Tachi had not been wasted.
Driven by an excitement he hadn't felt in countless years, Yamamoto made the first move.
With a burst of Shunpo, he appeared before Tsunayoshi in an instant, raising Zanka no Tachi and bringing it down in a decisive slash.
Tsunayoshi didn't even blink. He calmly raised an arm to block.
Clang!
A sharp metallic note rang out—and in the next instant, a terrifying surge of energy erupted. Behind Tsunayoshi, the Sōkyoku Hill shattered instantly, leaving only a fraction of its original space intact.
Neither of them had used much strength.
And yet, from that single clash, all the power contained within Zanka no Tachi: East – Kyokujitsujin was redirected and poured into the ground behind Tsunayoshi.
The sheer magnitude of that power was overwhelming. Even with Tsunayoshi intercepting it, the residual force leaking past him was enough to obliterate the execution grounds.
"This is bad… these two aren't holding back at all!" Urahara gritted his teeth, his hands moving rapidly as he struggled to stabilize the barrier.
Ukitake stepped forward, gripping Sōgyo no Kotowari on its stand.
"I'll help."
"That would be a huge help, Captain Ukitake!" Urahara exhaled slightly in relief. He truly hadn't expected a single exchange between those two to produce such catastrophic energy.
"Hm? Tsunayoshi… your weapon?"
Yamamoto's gaze fell upon the tonfa—purple in base, etched with white dragon patterns.
Don't be fooled by the charred, rod-like appearance of Zanka no Tachi—only Yamamoto himself understood just how devastating that blade truly was.
Against an ordinary Shinigami, Kyokujitsujin could shatter even a Bankai in a single strike. Something like Komamura's giant Kokujō Tengen Myō'ō would be annihilated—man and blade alike.
And yet—
After taking that very strike head-on, Tsunayoshi's tonfa remained completely unscathed. Not even a scratch.
"Old man," Tsunayoshi said with a faint smile, "strictly speaking, these tonfa have already transcended the concept of metal. They're entirely formed from Cloud Attribute Dying Will Flames."
"Good… good! Excellent!"
Yamamoto's eyes lit up with excitement.
Not only could Tsunayoshi block Kyokujitsujin, even his weapon wouldn't be destroyed. Just imagining the battle ahead was exhilarating—even for Yamamoto.
Without hesitation, Yamamoto attacked again—discarding all restraint and defense as he fully committed to offense.
Each swing of his blade appeared simple, even ordinary—but under his control, the attacks flowed endlessly, leaving Tsunayoshi no room to breathe.
Tsunayoshi responded in kind.
If he couldn't match Yamamoto's mastery of Zanjutsu, then he would compensate with sheer volume.
His arms moved in rapid succession, crossing and shifting as he blocked strike after strike from Kyokujitsujin.
While the two of them fought to their hearts' content, Urahara suffered.
Within the barrier, aside from the small area occupied by the spectators, everything else had already been reduced to dust by Yamamoto's attacks.
Thankfully, Ukitake's Sōgyo no Kotowari helped redirect the aftershocks. Otherwise, even that tiny patch of ground wouldn't have remained intact.
Even so, Urahara's burden didn't lessen in the slightest.
Every clash between Yamamoto and Tsunayoshi caused the barrier to tremble violently. At this rate, Urahara half-expected one of them to accidentally send a slash his way mid-fight.
And from his perspective, it was obvious—
Those two in the center were completely absorbed in the fight.
Just as Urahara was reaching his limit, Ukitake's gentle voice sounded beside him:
"Bankai — Ryōgyo no Ezu: Mujōzu."
Under Ukitake's control, the twin fish soared to the top of the barrier, connecting head to tail to form a Taiji-like diagram.
In an instant, the pressure eased, and the barrier stabilized.
Part of the destructive aftershock generated by Yamamoto and Tsunayoshi was redirected outside the barrier through Ukitake's Bankai. In the heart of Seireitei, only the sky could absorb that level of energy.
"Thank you so much, Captain Ukitake!" Urahara looked like he'd just been saved from death.
"…Don't… mention it…" Ukitake forced the words out through clenched teeth.
Each collision between those two was a brutal strain on him.
Redirecting attacks of this magnitude—even with Bankai—was no easy task. Internal damage had already begun to accumulate, though years of chronic illness—and the aid of an artificial lung—allowed him to endure.
A hand glowing with green light rested on his shoulder.
Without taking her eyes off the battlefield, Unohana Retsu said calmly,
"I'll maintain full Kaido output. The rest is up to you."
With Urahara, Ukitake, and Unohana at the core—along with numerous Kidō specialists—the battlefield finally stabilized.
Unohana ignored Ukitake's thanks.
Her thoughts drifted elsewhere, as an indescribable longing resurfaced.
Cloud Attribute… and yet he can fight Yamamoto Genryūsai on equal footing…
Tsunayoshi… if you were to use the Rain Attribute with a blade… you must possess that form as well…
Yamamoto had long since forgotten what it felt like to swing his blade so freely.
As his emotions intensified, the speed of Zanka no Tachi increased yet again.
Tsunayoshi immediately felt the pressure spike—two hands were no longer enough.
But he didn't retreat.
If two hands weren't enough—then add more.
If four weren't enough—then add even more.
Adhering to a philosophy of overwhelming quantity over quality, Tsunayoshi split four additional arms from his shoulders.
Two wielded Alaude's Handcuffs and chains.
The other two transformed into the claws of a raptor and the fangs of a Thorn Dragon.
Six-Armed Mode—activated.
The moment it activated, Tsunayoshi unleashed a barrage of ultra-dense attacks, suppressing Yamamoto's offense. For a brief moment, even Yamamoto was pushed onto the defensive.
No time to adjust.
A sharp glint flashed in Tsunayoshi's eyes.
The dragon engraved on his tonfa seemed to come alive, opening its jaws to bite down on Zanka no Tachi. Rows of spikes erupted from the weapon—
And in that instant, Yamamoto felt something familiar.
Just like before—when he locked down my Blade of Infernal Flames…
The next attack will be decisive.
I need to create distance—now.
But just as Yamamoto attempted to retreat with Shunpo, he realized—
His legs had already been bound by handcuffs and chains.
At the same time, Tsunayoshi's remaining arms transformed—clamping down on Yamamoto's arms with raptor claws and Thorn Dragon fangs.
No escape.
Beneath Tsunayoshi, the tonfa burned with intense Reiatsu.
A spike extended from its tip.
Then—
Tsunayoshi thrust forward with a powerful straight punch toward Yamamoto's chest.
Logically, the attack shouldn't have connected—Zanka no Tachi was still locked against Tsunayoshi's weapon.
But that didn't matter.
Because with the Cloud Attribute, distance was never a limitation.
As the punch was thrown, the spike rapidly propagated, expanding into a massive spear several meters long—
And pierced straight through Yamamoto's body.
Drifting Cloud: Piercing Kill!
Against any normal opponent, that single strike would have been fatal.
But this was Yamamoto—the strongest Shinigami.
Tsunayoshi didn't believe for a second that it was enough.
Reiatsu surged into the tonfa.
The hedgehog emblem at its tip flashed—
And the single spike multiplied into dozens in an instant, blooming outward like a spiked flower—
Completely impaling Yamamoto.
"Tch… what a brutal attack…" Isshin muttered instinctively.
The other Captains grew tense, but none dared to speak.
At this level, even a single distraction could alter the course of battle.
Yet Tsunayoshi showed no excitement.
After so many piercing strikes, not a single drop of blood had emerged.
That was not a good sign.
"…To think you'd force me to use this."
Yamamoto's voice rang out.
Flames ignited across his body—forming and shaping themselves like a garment draped over him.
Tsunayoshi immediately retreated.
The moment the flames appeared, all of his attacks disintegrated instantly—and an unbearable heat began to scorch his body.
There were no visible flames near him—
Yet he was already being burned.
Without his hybrid combat suit—formed from Shinigami, Hollow, and Fullbring powers—he would have already been reduced to ash.
From a distance, Tsunayoshi could see dozens of large holes in Yamamoto's body.
His attacks had landed.
But they had been meaningless.
The wounds were rapidly regenerating.
"Zanka no Tachi: West — Zanjitsu Gokui."
"The temperature reaches fifteen million degrees. My body and blade are enveloped by the sun itself. This is Zanjitsu Gokui."
Fifteen million degrees.
Hearing it was one thing—witnessing it was another.
Even swallowing became difficult under the overwhelming heat.
Against anyone else, survival alone would be impossible—let alone fighting.
From the way Yamamoto's wounds had recovered, Tsunayoshi began to suspect—
In this state, Yamamoto had achieved something akin to elementalization, similar to his own Lightning-Attribute Resurrección.
Otherwise, how could Yamamoto withstand flames even more intense than his previous fire armor?
The only explanation—
His body had fused with the flames themselves.
Another wave of heat surged forward.
Step by step, Yamamoto advanced, intending to force Tsunayoshi back through sheer temperature alone.
Tsunayoshi frowned.
Losing in battle was one thing.
But being defeated purely through environmental pressure?
That, he refused to accept.
With the Cloud Attribute's propagation, he would never lack weapons—
And likewise, never lack defenses.
If his current body couldn't withstand the heat—
Then he would simply add another layer.
Purple flames ignited across his entire body.
Before him, Koyuki expanded into its Needle Sphere Form—
But just as it reached his size, it suddenly exploded.
The cloud-like fragments hovered and multiplied across Tsunayoshi's body under the pull of the flames.
In the blink of an eye—
A new armor formed.
Modeled after Yamamoto's flame cloak—
A purple thorned armor.
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