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*****
Invisible gravity bound the Phoenix's body, twisting the very fabric of space until the distortion was visible to the naked eye. Lava, frost, and lasers rained down from every direction, converging on her position.
Four Navy Admirals, each possessing power equivalent to a natural disaster, were now focusing their cataclysmic abilities on a single target.
"Truly a magnificent sight," Senju Hashirama remarked, shielding his eyes with one hand as he watched the sky. He was genuinely impressed by the sheer scale of the power being displayed.
Beside him, Tsunade's face was pale with shock. "This level of destructive power... wouldn't it be enough to wipe out all of Konoha?"
"What are you so surprised about?" Hashirama looked at her with genuine confusion, as if stating the obvious. "Since they were summoned by the Master, they must have this level of capability, right?"
Tsunade stared at Hashirama with narrowed eyes, her mouth twitching. She felt like he was insulting her—no, he was insulting almost everyone present.
As expected of you, Grandfather! she sighed inwardly, rolling her eyes when she realized he hadn't even noticed her expression.
Meanwhile, Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni, Captain-Commander of the Gotei 13, shared a similar sentiment. Though the scorching lava falling from the sky paled in comparison to his Ryūjin Jakka, it was still formidable.
He glanced at the Shinigami gathering around him, having finished off the surrounding enemies. A sharp light flashed in his narrow eyes as he whispered, "Prepare yourselves for sacrifice."
Even he could feel the suffocating pressure radiating from the Phoenix.
"Yes, sir!" they responded in unison, their gazes fixed on Madelyne Pryor. Some wore bitter smiles, others looks of fanatical determination, but all were ready to fight for Mike, their Master.
Under the watchful eyes of the gathered armies, just as the terrifying barrage was about to strike her, the Phoenix finally moved.
Her long red hair drifted behind her. She reached out and made a crushing motion with her hand. An invisible wave of force erupted from her, sweeping outward in a perfect circle.
Instantly, the falling lava shells and the soaring ice birds disintegrated into fine powder, scattering in the wind. Kizaru's beams of golden light slammed into an invisible, indestructible wall, resulting in a series of violent explosions.
Boom! Boom!
Amidst the fireworks of golden lasers, the Phoenix remained seated firmly upon her throne. Her expression was indifferent, her gaze cold and haughty.
A moment later, a pillar of invisible telekinetic force crashed down toward Fujitora. Sensing the danger, Fujitora attempted to dodge, but found there was nowhere to hide. The force hemmed him in from all sides, and even the ground beneath him began to churn and surge.
In that moment, it felt as though the entire world had turned hostile toward him.
Fujitora's expression shifted. He lowered his stance, channeling an immense amount of gravity into his blade before swinging it with everything he had.
"Gravity Blade: Raging Tiger!"
He swung his sword in a wide horizontal arc. A massive wave of gravitational force erupted along the blade's path, crushing everything in front of him. The terrifying pressure collided head-on with the Phoenix's telekinesis.
Boom!
The collision let out a thunderous crack. Gravity twisted against psionic force, causing the space to fracture. Fujitora seized the opening, leaping onto a floating rock under his control to fly out of the impact zone.
The Phoenix arched an eyebrow. Gravity? Quite a decent ability.
Feeling the weight pressing on her, she let out a cold sneer. If she wanted someone dead, no one could stop her. Her eyes flashed, and she exhaled softly.
Suddenly, the world changed. It was as if every atom in the vicinity had fallen under her absolute control.
Fujitora, still flying on his rock, suddenly realized the stone beneath his feet had transmuted into solid steel. Worse, the metal began to flow like liquid, creeping up his legs to bind him.
He let out a low shout, coating his legs in Armament Haki. With a burst of explosive power, he leapt away.
But invisible telekinetic threads had already saturated the space. The moment he moved, those forces—carrying the power to decompose matter—swarmed toward him.
Fujitora roared, his blade a blur as he unleashed a whirlwind of gravity strikes to fend off the invisible assault.
Suddenly, the Phoenix's heart stirred. The telekinetic pressure vanished, allowing Fujitora's gravity strikes to slam harmlessly into the desert, carving deep gouges in the sand.
Feeling the ground shake, Fujitora froze.
In the next second, the sword in his hand quietly disintegrated. Almost simultaneously, the blade's fragments reformed in mid-air, reversing direction and lunging toward Fujitora's chest.
Clang!
A sharp metallic ring echoed. Fujitora groaned as he was sent flying backward.
The Phoenix looked on, slightly surprised but mostly annoyed. I didn't kill him?
Lava and ice continued to pelt her, but they simply dissolved upon entering her personal space. As for Kizaru's lasers, she didn't even bother to block them. She allowed the energy to strike her directly, using the Phoenix Force to consume the beams like they were nothing more than light snacks.
"How terrifying..." Kizaru murmured.
If it weren't for Fujitora's exceptional Observation Haki and his cautious use of Haki to protect his vitals, that reversed blade would have pierced his heart.
At that moment, another contender joined the fray.
A high-pressure blade of water rose from the ground, shrieking as it sliced through the air toward the Phoenix. Like the others, it disintegrated before it could get within three meters of her.
But a split second later, following a flash of cold light, Senju Tobirama appeared directly above her head. A barrage of water dragons descended from the sky with immense impact.
The Phoenix glanced at Tobirama with annoyance. Just as she was about to drag him down with her telekinesis, he vanished. The water dragons crashed down with monumental force, but as they hit her field, they vanished silently, as if they had never existed.
The onlookers watched with a sense of helplessness, while Tobirama let out a soft huff. The gap in power was indeed immense.
It's up to you, Brother, Tobirama thought. He wove a set of hand signs and shouted, "Bringer-of-Darkness Jutsu!"
This was a high-level genjutsu designed to hallucinate the target's vision and strip away all light. However, such an ability—meant to affect the brain or the mind—was utterly useless against the Phoenix's god-like psionic defenses.
Realizing this, Tobirama's concern deepened.
Then, Hashirama's voice boomed through the air. "Wood Release: Wood Dragon Jutsu!"
A massive wooden dragon soared through the sky, diving toward the Phoenix. But it, too, could not get close.
Hashirama, now in Sage Mode, gave a wry smile. His expression then hardened as he dropped toward the ground, landing on a gargantuan wooden golem rising from the earth.
The golem leapt, its massive fist hurtling toward the Phoenix. The palm, which was capable of catching a Tailed Beast Bomb, was instantly frozen in place the moment it entered the space around her, followed by a rapid decomposition.
The space surrounding the Phoenix was like an absolute, impenetrable sanctuary. All attacks were neutralized.
But Hashirama wasn't finished. If one fist wasn't enough, he would use a thousand!
"Sage Art: Wood Release: True Several Thousand Hands!"
Hashirama slammed his palms together. A colossal statue of Kannon, the size of a mountain with countless giant arms, rose from the desert. Hashirama stood atop its head, looking like a mere speck of dust.
Looking at the gargantuan statue, the Phoenix gave a faint smile. It was quite beautiful. It would make a nice collectible, but destroying it would be even more satisfying.
"Ha!" Hashirama roared.
The statue responded to his fury, its thousand fists raining down like a localized apocalypse. The sheer force of the punches whipped up gales that blotted out the sun.
Seated on her throne, the Phoenix looked at the descending fists and laughed mockingly. She pointed a single finger.
Decompose...
Every single fist began to crumble. Before Hashirama could even process his disbelief, the rate of decomposition accelerated violently. In a single breath, the mountain-sized statue was reduced to a mere torso.
The Flying Raijin formula on Hashirama's back flickered. Just as the Phoenix's power was about to touch him, he vanished, reappearing instantly beside Namikaze Minato.
"Thanks!" Hashirama said, wiping sweat from his brow with a bitter laugh. "That woman is too strong. I'm no match for her! Haha!"
Minato spun a specialized kunai on his finger, mentally calculating the trajectory of the previous attacks to find a gap in her defense. His heart sank.
There were none. It was a 360-degree, flawless defense.
And most terrifyingly, since the start of the battle, the Phoenix hadn't even stood up from her throne. She hadn't even begun to fight seriously.
Suddenly, several figures appeared in the air, surrounding the perimeter of her defense. They were the Captains of the Gotei 13.
"Bankai: Katen Kyōkotsu: Karamatsu Shinjū!"
Kyōraku Shunsui, wearing his straw hat and flamboyant pink kimono, was the first to act. A shadowy female figure appeared behind him, vanishing with his sword stroke as black pine trees began to grow from the void.
"Customized rules? A game I'm forced to play?"
Feeling the nature of the Bankai, the Phoenix chuckled, her eyes gleaming with disdain. With a surge of Phoenix Force, the "stage" set by Shunsui's Bankai shattered instantly.
But in the next instant, a storm of pink flower petals, rapid-fire blade thrusts, a freezing ice dragon, a massive black cleaver, and lethal poisonous gases all converged on her at once.
The Phoenix looked at the approaching Captains, then noticed Mike watching the scene as if it were a play. A flash of rage crossed her eyes.
So, Mike didn't even view her as a threat? He was just letting his summons deal with her, as if she weren't even on his level? Did he think she was only worthy of fighting these "toys"?
Damn him! She was the only one allowed to look down on others!
As the Phoenix Force surged within her, ready to wipe these "toys" out like trash, one figure moved faster than the rest, appearing directly above her.
An old man.
He held a blade wreathed in flames. His muscular upper body was covered in scars, and his eyes burned with an infinite intent to kill.
Captain-Commander of the Gotei 13, Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni.
"Bankai: Zanka no Tachi!"
His low, gravelly voice echoed. A seemingly ordinary, scorched katana descended toward her.
The Phoenix narrowed her eyes. For the first time since the battle began, her expression turned solemn.
In her perception, it felt as though a miniature sun was condensed at the very tip of that blade, waiting to explode with unimaginable energy the moment it touched her.
But... energy?
The corners of the Phoenix's mouth curled into a mocking smile. She would see how this energy tasted.
The blade, which carried the concentrated heat of the sun's core, slashed down ferociously.
Then, something impossible happened.
The tip of the blade actually sliced through her defense. The field that combined matter manipulation and telekinesis, which had rendered all other attacks into bubbles, was cut open by that terrifying heat!
Yamamoto let out a low grunt. Having breached her perimeter, he didn't hesitate to aim the Zanka no Tachi directly at the Phoenix's head.
But just as the blade was a foot away, a slender, white finger appeared in its path, meeting the tip of the sword.
The Shinigami watched in absolute horror. The blade that had sliced through her absolute defense had stopped. Blocked by a single finger.
Ting!
A clear chime rang out. While the others felt their hearts sink, Mike gave a faint smile, a playful glint in his eyes.
Things were getting interesting. The Phoenix was finally getting serious.
It wasn't just a finger that stopped the blade; it was compressed Phoenix Force, forming an inconspicuous but indestructible layer of protection on her fingertip.
Yamamoto froze for a split second, his eyes widening. Streams of fire erupted from his blade like roaring dragons, spiraling around the point of contact. Then, a miniature 'sun' erupted from the tip of the sword, swallowing the Phoenix whole.
Yamamoto's body trembled as he exerted every ounce of control to keep the explosion compressed within a two-meter diameter. Despite his efforts, the heat—capable of incinerating the world—radiated outward, causing the ice mountain beneath Mike to melt instantly.
Mike raised an eyebrow and simply stepped off the crumbling ice, hovering in mid-air. He peered into the center of the 'sun' and sighed. While the technique was terrifying, it wouldn't do much to the Phoenix. He suspected Yamamoto's attack was merely a distraction.
As the thought crossed his mind, the 'sun' engulfing the Phoenix began to shrink at an exaggerated speed. Within seconds, it vanished.
It hadn't dissipated. It had been swallowed.
Looking at the bewildered Yamamoto, the Phoenix's lips curled. She lightly licked her red lips and gave him a nod of approval.
"Tastes pretty good."
At that moment, the combined attacks of the other Captains finally reached her. But hidden within that storm of energy, two faint glints of cold light suddenly bared their fangs.
(End of Chapter)