(Ryoto's pov)
I activated Tensa Zangetsu, and my upper body was once again covered. Gid did not react to my transformation. Either he got used to me pulling out new tricks and wouldn't be surprised by something like this, or he had seen so much in his life during the war that he wasn't fazed at all.
It was the first time I had used Bankai on my real body, and I couldn't feel any significant difference, which was good.
I did a test swing, but it wasn't an ordinary swing. Tensa Zangetsu got covered in a black and red aura and released it toward Gid. It wasn't as powerful as usual, as it didn't call out the name of my attack, but it still was fairly powerful.
Gid's eyes widened at my casual display of power, but it still wasn't enough to push him to unleash his power. He cut Getsuga Tenshou in half with his tail while his hands were still crossed across his chest. I'm starting to believe that he thinks this pose makes him cool.
I wasn't sitting idly when I released the nameless Getsuga. I cut the air a few more times to leave trails of Getsuga in the air to release them in a bit. Then I used Shunpo to get behind Gid the moment he couldn't see me because of my attack. My sword was pointed horizontally, and my free hand was gently placed on Tensa Zangetsu.
"Getsuga Tenshou."
I didn't scream or yell. I just said the name of my attack, and the difference in power was immediately noticeable to everyone who watched.
Gid was fast, and so were his reactions. His tail was already in motion to stop my attack, and to nobody's surprise, he blocked the Getsuga, but this time, he didn't cut it in half. It managed to push him back a few meters. Even Gid himself was shocked by this outcome if his wide-eyed expression was any indication. Not that I needed it with my Observation Haki active.
His face made me want to do something I wasn't planning on doing. To be honest, I was thinking of testing my more powerful and mostly new powers and maybe some combos, but why not? I'll test the strength of the Emperor to its fullest.
I put my hand towards my face, gathered Reiatsu, and swiped it in front of my face.
My Hollow mask just appeared, and I already felt stronger. I'm not going to use full Hollowfication. There are no whats, ifs, or buts about it. Nothing here is going to force me to use that form. Full Hollow form is only for killing. Also, I don't doubt that if I turned into Hollow in front of Gid, he wouldn't hesitate to kill me if he thought that I had lost control.
OK, maybe he would hesitate a bit for Lala's sake of nothing else, but I don't know how long he would try to save me.
Doesn't really matter in the end.
I didn't end with only my Hollow mask. I also activated Shunko and rushed.
It was the first time Gid recognized me as a threat. He realized my strength in that one exchange, and his instincts told him that I had gotten even stronger.
I signaled very clearly that I was about to swing, but the sword stopped midway, only for me to kick. Gid parried my leg and wind up his arm to punch me. His fist was about to reach me, but suddenly, it changed its course, seemingly on its own, which created an opening.
I swung Tensa Zangetsu, but it was in the opposite direction. Right now, my attack wasn't even close to reaching Gid, but with just a move of my wrist, we switched our places. In the trajectory of my sword now was Gid, who was caught off guard by the sudden change of places. Years of experience allowed him to react almost instantaneously, and he caught my sword with both of his hands, stopping it in a way that wouldn't hurt him.
I felt that he was trying to break it, so I quickly tapped the ground to shoot a column of earth to disturb his footing and create some distance, and my attempt accomplished one of these things. Gid didn't want to give me breathing room and stomped the ground to destroy my attempt, but it made his grasp on my sword a bit weaker, and I used it to the best of my abilities. I used Vector Manipulation to push Zangetsu as much as I could, and it worked as moments later, I could see Zangetsu flying away at high speed through the forest.
I jumped back with my hand stretched out, and Zangetsu returned to my hand. I quickly took a stance for my next attack. My weapon was on my head's height. Usually, I need more of a charge-up, if you will, but I didn't have time, nor do I need it this time.
I did one slash from the left.
I did one slash from the above.
I did one slash from the right.
Three slashes were made simultaneously, but that wasn't all. Each of these attacks released a powerful Getsuga Tenshou, and Gid had nowhere to run from Tsubame Gaeshi, which I had executed perfectly. He was forced to block it.
The one from above was blocked by his tail, and his sides were obviously protected by his arms.
When my attack ended, and I could see Gid again, I noticed that there was a small mark on both of his hands where he had blocked the Getsugas and he bled. It wasn't a deep wound but he bled nonetheless. I was able to wound the strongest man in the entire Galaxy and I couldn't help but to grin.
It was enough playing with Zangetsu and time to try out a new toy.
I deactivated Bankai, released my hollowfication, and took a big breath. This will be the first time I will fight in that form, and I'll be using my full strength. I can't say that I'm not a bit excited.
Seeing the minimal change in the air around me, Gid stopped and let out an even more animalistic smile.
"So, are you finally done playing around?"
"I wasn't exactly playing around before. It was the first time I was fighting someone at my full strength without worrying about killing my opponent. I was just trying to see where I stand against you." I explained my reasoning. I made fun of Gid at the beginning, but I was feeling uncharacteristically prideful back then, and the more I'll use Byakko fruit to its fullest, this feeling will definitely grow.
It was time to use my half-beast transformation and fight in it for the first time.
(Rin's pov)
My brows furrowed as I watched the fight. Ryoto acts strange. Usually, he doesn't feel so excited while fighting. At least, I believe so. Ryoto has fought only once since we connected, but to be fair, he was fighting for his life at that time—not only his but the whole Soul Society.
Maybe the cause was that strange fruit he ate. It made him more Tiger-like, so it's possible.
But changing the topic, I must admit that Lala's father is strong—very strong—and he is still holding back. Ryoto also got stronger, I could see it, and his battle style expanded since he had a lot more abilities. Although he neglects Kido as usual, he should be grateful that Captain-Commander isn't here to see it. Otherwise, according to Ryoto, he would get his favorite student and get him into shape. I'll work with him on it later.
I looked around the room to see everyone's reactions, and obviously, everyone couldn't look away from the fight. I can't really blame them. It's not every day you can witness a battle on that scale. Even in Soul Society, it didn't happen often.
"Papa seems to have fun." Lala mentioned and it caught my attention.
"What do you mean?"
"Papa loves fighting strong opponents, but he can never find someone who can keep up with him. They are either too scared to try or too weak for him to have fun. It's the first time in a long time Papa could fight like that. And it looks like Ryoto feels the same." And she smiled when she said her piece. It was a beautiful, pure smile that made me realize how Ryoto fell in love with her. She doesn't worry because, in her mind, there's nothing to worry about. She trusts Ryoto, and she trusts her father, so there is nothing to worry about when they fight. I somehow envy her this simplicity.
"So you advise just enjoying the show?" I tried to see if there was some deeper meaning behind her words, but her answer squished these suspicions.
"Ah-ha." She nodded her head before continuing to talk. "Watching Ryoto fight is always fun, and seeing his different side is interesting."
"Am I the only one who questions what is happening!!?"
Kotegawa's outburst caught everyone's attention, and the answer to her question...
"I think so."
"I'm sure of it."
"Yep."
"You do?"
"What was the question again?"
It looked like she, indeed, was the only one not in the know, and she just realized that.
"I've seen Ryoto being punched through the wall and walking from it like it was nothing. I admit that this is on a different level, but I have learned to just roll with it. It doesn't seem like he is in any danger, even if we would be dead in the first few seconds."
Mikan said calmly, although I could see some signs of nervousness. She hid them well, but funnily enough, she has the same hints that Ryoto has when he tries to hide them. Or at least he used to. He only got better at hiding his problems with age, but at the same time, we got better at reading him, so it didn't really matter to our family. A little ironic. He got better at hiding his pain so he wouldn't worry people closest to him, only for him to get better at hiding it from strangers instead.
"I've seen Nii-san sticking to the roof like it was nothing." Rito added.
"He defeated me, and I'm pretty strong!" Alme said as she raised her hand and patted her biceps to show her strength. She doesn't have big biceps, so I don't know what exactly that gesture was supposed to mean.
"He also got these crazy eyes." Rio continued the trend of opening Kotegawa's eyes to reality.
"I saw him shoot out lighting from his fingers." The thing that Kaede mentioned was news to me. I don't think Ryoto ever mentions this ability. Maybe it just slipped his mind since he's got so many, but I would assume that shooting out lighting would be at the top of the list of powers you remember. Although, now that I think about it, I could do it as well with Kido. Hado #4, Byakurai, to be exact, but I'm sure she doesn't mean that since I would have felt it if he used it.
The green-haired boy, Ren, I think his name was, started panicking and looking around for some reason.
"A-aniki webbed me to the ceiling!"
Ah. He didn't want to feel out, and he even looked proud of that event.
"Yes, I've seen that one." Kotegawa, this time, answered calmly as if everything before had been forgotten. Years of experience of not laughing when I shouldn't because my children otherwise wouldn't take me seriously and don't respect my authority came in handy.
Kotegawa's answer deflated any feeling of pride that Ren felt at being able to add something.
Then I felt a change in Ryoto, and my eyes turned toward the monitor, where Lala's dad and Ryoto were facing each other. Their fight was seemingly on pause as they talked. I was the first one to notice, but soon enough, everyone's attention got back to the ongoing conflict.
Then it happened. Ryoto started bulking up, and white fur with black stripes started growing across his body. This was the transformation he showed off during our examination together. I'm curious why he chose this form right now when his Bankai should be enough.
OK, that's a lie. I know why he did that. He wants to test it out.
And so they resumed their battle. It was the end of being careful. Ryoto started fighting like an animal, for lack of better words, and Lala's father responded in kind. They exchanged blows with each other.
A punch for a punch.
A kick for a kick.
And every wound for another to the best of their abilities.
The blood started flying, but the smile they wore never left their faces. It looked to me like two Kenpachi met each other and started fighting. It's an image I don't want to think about. One of these psychos at the time is one too many, in my opinion, and I don't count Unohana when I say it. As far as I know, she abandoned that title and even changed her name.
The battle was brutal, and not everyone present should be watching it, in my opinion. I could quickly tell, and even someone blind would be able to see it. I took a peek at Lala to see her reaction, and she didn't have any. That was surprising, as she watched this violent slugfest with a happy smile, even when Ryoto scratched her father with his sharp claws and her father landed a heavy blow on Ryoto's stomach.
Interesting.
"Why are you still going on with making babies with Ryoto!!?"
Kotegawa's outburst caught my attention, and when I turned my eyes, I could see a red-faced Kotegawa yelling at Alme.
"Why aren't you? Do we watch the same video?" Alme tilted her head as if she did not understand what Kotegawa meant, but I felt like she was intentionally leading her on.
"Besides, you aren't even married, so why are you talking about having children? You shouldn't even be having s-s-se- making love."
"But we do. Lala does as well. Sometimes we do it together. Other times, it is separate, but it always ends with satisfaction. Ryoto is good."
I swear smoke started coming out of Kotegawa's head. She couldn't comprehend what was just said to her, and her worldview was crushed. She tried to look for an ally in this crazy world, but she couldn't find him/her in me since I experienced and agreed with what Alme said. Lala did as well. She then turned to Kaede and Rio.
"I can't comment on that. I haven't slept with Ryoto yet." Rio said with a shrug.
"Me neither, but I get what Alme-San means. Seeing Ryoto bloodied like that is... sexy."
I could recognize a lustful look when I see it, and that was definitely one.
It's not the strangest confession I heard in my life, but it still managed to get me to raise my eyebrow.
"I thought it was tentacles that made you like that, but it looks like you were always that freaky." Rio said to her friend.
That broke the spell, and the lustful look was replaced with a shameful one.
"I can't help it! All this blood reminds me of our first kiss." Kaede responded quickly as she covered her face with her hands.
That was an interesting titbit of information, I guess, and it's not that strange to acquire a taste for something during your first time. Yoruichi got a bondage fetish because of that. At least, I think that was the reason. I didn't know her that well before, so I wouldn't know her tastes that much, and she wouldn't admit to it even if we tortured her.
This whole conversation turned weird, so I decided to ignore it for now, even if my motherly instincts told me to de-escalate the situation. But I'm not their mother, and they should solve their differences on their own as long as it's not too serious.
I checked on Ryoto, and I could see him being lifted up by Lala's dad, tail wrapped around his neck. Both of them were bloodied, but Gid definitely was in better condition.
This image made me furrow my eyebrows. I don't like Ryoto being like this. I should have been there helping him in his fight, but I knew that it wasn't that serious. I'm just still too serious for my own good. The world here is much less dangerous than Soul Society. There is no bigger danger hiding nearby that could kill everything you love if you are not careful.
I forcefully calmed myself down.
I know that there aren't any real dangers, so I just have to watch and see if Lala's dad goes too far and does something permanent to Ryoto.
My eyes narrowed dangerously.
Then I don't care who he is or how strong he is. He'll pay for it even if it's the last thing I'll do.
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END
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