The instant the thought flickered in Unohana's mind, the surrounding darkness of Muken dissolved, receding like a tide.
In its place, an ancient battlefield materialized, strewn with blood, weapons, and countless corpses. Endless skeletons carpeted the ground, rusted blades thrust into the earth, yellow sand swirling in the air.
Only Unohana and Makoto stood amidst the desolation.
Makoto stood calmly.
Behind him, a skeletal gate loomed, its frame faintly revealing glimpses of an indescribable hellscape.
"Living idly and dying as if dreaming; binding the truth and fixing the falsehood; pursue the cause and invert the consequence..."
"Oharai Gougi."
With his low chant, Makoto's Zanpakuto transformed into a sleek, razor-sharp black nodachi, its black-and-red ribbon trailing from his wrist, swaying in the chill wind.
From the hellish gate behind him, a faint, eerie nursery rhyme echoed.
Though Unohana had witnessed his Shikai before, facing the enigmatic gate again stirred memories of that afternoon when she watched this young man clash with Yhwach.
And because of that, she could now unleash her full strength without restraint.
"Bankai - Minazuki."
In near-perfect sync, a crimson sea of blood surged across the battlefield, spreading from Unohana in all directions. It devoured sand and bones with tsunami-like ease.
Their Reiatsu domains clashed, vying for dominance. The violent fluctuations sent low-pressure tremors rippling through the air, as if space itself might tear.
Unohana's dual blades, long and short, melted into the blood, becoming flowing ribbons of crimson.
They spread, coating the ground.
At last, the battlefield split: yellow sand on one side, blood sea on the other, their boundary a roiling, unyielding clash.
In that moment, their gazes locked, brimming with irrepressible excitement and hunger.
A hunger for battle.
Their eyes met.
Unnoticed by Unohana, a faint pink heart-shaped glint flashed in both their gazes.
"World of Ecstasy."
Their voices rang out in unison.
[Playlife World: Ultimate Clash! Sensory Inversion!?]
[Objective: Fight, my darling!]
[Rule: Pain and pleasure swap, until one reaches the pinnacle!]
[Note: Who's the S, who's the M? The future household crown will be decided by combat! The loser eats dust!!]
The stark rules materialized in Makoto's vision and, simultaneously, in Unohana's mind.
Her crescent-moon eyes widened in shock.
What in the world?!
That split-second pause was all Makoto needed.
He surged forward, his step unleashing a staggering Reiatsu shockwave.
Boom!
His form vanished.
When he reappeared, he was behind Unohana.
Oharai Gougi sliced through the air with a piercing wail, whipping her raven hair into a frenzy.
But her Tier 20 Zanjutsu was unmatched. Her left hand snapped out, the short blood-blade parrying his strike, while her long blade thrust toward Makoto's chest.
Seeing her move, Makoto subtly angled his wrist downward.
Clang!
Oharai Gougi met the blood-blade, sliding as if caught on a sticky iron rod.
Before Unohana could redirect, Makoto pressed harder.
As if willing to take her blade to his chest just to wound her.
Unohana, seasoned by eons of such life-for-injury tactics, reacted with practiced ease. Her left wrist twisted, aiming to deflect his blade.
This way, even if he took her strike, she'd suffer only a minor cut.
But how could Makoto…
The thought flashed through her mind as Oharai Gougi's longer-than-usual blade nicked her wrist.
A faint smirk crossed Makoto's face.
"Ugh?!"
The moment the blade grazed her forearm, Unohana froze, as if struck by lightning. Her body halted, trembling.
Her right hand's thrust stalled, the long blade stopping less than an inch from Makoto's chest.
Unable to advance.
Makoto leisurely withdrew his nodachi, gazing calmly at his sensei.
Sweat beaded on Unohana's brow.
A long-forgotten sensation surged from the wound, flooding her mind. Her body heated, her cheeks flushing a vivid peach.
The ever-stoic Unohana's face tightened, radiant with color.
Even Makoto had never seen her like this.
"Huff… huff…"
"Truly your style, Makoto."
Easing slightly, Unohana lifted her head, panting softly. Her complex gaze, shimmering with emotion, met his.
"Don't call me underhanded, sensei." Makoto said. "Just as your Bankai corrodes with overwhelming vitality, my Zanpakuto has its own rules."
After countless battles, Shikai activations, and inner struggles, Makoto had learned to shrug off others' judgments.
Now, even facing Unohana, he bared his true power without reservation.
[Well done!]
[That's the spirit, Makoto!]
[I want a fountain show!]
'Shut up already!'
'I'm just accepting my ability's quirks, not some depraved superhero!'
Makoto grumbled inwardly but kept his face impassive.
He raised his black nodachi with commanding presence, his voice steady. "So, please adapt to this unique 'suffering' quickly."
"Otherwise…"
He lifted the blade, pointing its tip forward. "…I won't give you another chance to pause."
Unohana's gaze grew more intricate, but she took a deep breath, suppressing the unfamiliar sensation.
She steadied herself.
The pain of a blade's cut? She'd endured it countless times over endless years.
Even a prodigy like Soul Society's greatest villain had once trained under countless masters.
Every warrior had been defeated.
Only one like Unohana, supreme in swordsmanship, could achieve such timeless mastery.
[Zanjutsu: Tier 20]
In the Soul Society's million-year history, she alone held that rank.
But devotion to the blade had left other emotions neglected.
This sudden, alien sensation was utterly foreign.
Yet, hearing her disciple's words, a faint, manic smile curved her lips. "…Underestimating me, are you?"
The words sparked a subtle thrill in Makoto's heart.
In the next instant, the blood sea around Unohana churned violently. Crimson blades, like pillars, erupted skyward from both sides.
Swish,
Before Makoto could react, a barrage of piercing winds roared past his ears.
Makoto's black nodachi whirled backward, weaving a tempest impenetrable to the onslaught.
The crimson blood-blades struck the dark swordlight, shattering into bursts of scattered droplets. The splattering blood pricked his skin like fine needles, igniting an electrifying comfort that tingled his scalp.
Yes.
In this script, Makoto's cheat was [Controlled Ecstasy].
Compared to Unohana, his sensory experience was but a fraction, perhaps one percent of hers.
Thus, these minor wounds were no hindrance; they fueled a surge of adrenaline, a thrilling rush that quickened his blade by a fraction.
Yet, as he swung backward, Unohana's form glided like white foam cresting a blood-sea wave. In an instant, she cleaved through the tide, materializing before him.
Her twin blood-blades traced crescent arcs, closing within three feet as she lunged low.
Oharai Gougi, mid-swing, couldn't return in time. Makoto threw himself backward, rolling meters away. The blood-blade grazed his abdomen, carving a brilliant ring through the air.
But before Unohana could pivot, the black nodachi, guided by its ribbon, skimmed the ground, whipping upward like a windmill.
In a flash, blood sprayed, a radiant burst erupting between them.
Clang!
Their steps slid back, carving long furrows through blood-sea and sand.
Unohana's form trembled faintly.
In that clash, her own Zanpakuto had nicked her. The mist in her eyes deepened, now equal parts killing intent and euphoria.
This newfound ecstasy elevated her combat to a plane beyond her norm.
Her gaze locked on Makoto, her serene beauty radiating vivid excitement.
Her usual tranquil smile twisted into fervor.
"More! I need more!"
With a murmured chant, Unohana, still trembling, charged at blinding speed.
Makoto's heart jolted.
A tidal wave of blood-blades surged from the sea's depths, crashing toward him.
Boom!
The sandy battlefield split, a hundred-meter gash torn in an instant.
Unohana's form followed, impossibly swift.
[Wall of Sighs]
[Flawless Circle]
[Hierro]
[Final Dawn]
A cascade of bond traits activated, barely matching her speed. Blood-blades poured like a deluge, relentless and unending.
The battlefield quaked under their ferocious duel, their forms a blur.
Only shockwaves rippled through the air, vanishing as sand and blood-sea churned.
Until the final moment.
Thud.
A black figure shot from the fray, crashing deep into the earth.
Makoto crouched, the ground beneath him spiderwebbed, sand surging skyward like a reverse waterfall.
Before him, Unohana stood.
Unlike him, her radiant face glowed with an otherworldly fervor.
Her gaze burned with unmasked, irrepressible excitement and hunger.
Crimson stains marked her arms, calves, and thighs.
The relentless ecstasy boiled her mind.
"Makoto…"
She whispered his name, her eyes shimmering with dazzling pink.
Her blood-blade dragged across the ground, advancing slowly, carving a deep scar.
Makoto rose, but his footing faltered.
Glancing down, he noticed a shallow cut on his tendon, unnoticed until now.
"Excessive ecstasy dulls the pain of battle." Unohana's voice purred, soft as a caress. "But it also traps you in its depths."
"Until death."
Her smile, feverish and near-manic, met his gaze. "But you've got more, don't you, Makoto?"
"Greater power."
"As expected of sensei." Makoto said, rising on one leg with a wry exhale. "But that power… even I haven't fully mastered it."
"And it's only good for one strike."
"So…"
His resolve hardened, eyes locking onto Unohana.
"Please, sensei, watch me closely."
Sensing his determination, Unohana's frenzied expression flickered with curiosity.
But in the next instant, her euphoria-addled mind chilled.
A faint, flame-like Hollow energy stirred within Makoto.
The [Perfect Lifeform] trait allowed his body to harbor diverse powers.
Yet, even Ichigo Kurosaki, the Temu Soul King, struggled with power conflicts. Makoto was no exception.
The Hollow energy, once manageable in his depleted state, now clashed with his restored Shinigami power, erupting like oil meeting water, sparking explosive bursts.
But this conflict birthed an unprecedented strength.
Makoto's body flushed, glowing red, muscles swelling faintly.
Veins bulged beneath his skin, nerves taut, eyes narrowing to slits.
A short horn sprouted from his forehead.
His Reiatsu surged, eclipsing Unohana's Bankai.
She froze, her flushed face tightening.
A Hollow?
The realization sparked a primal danger sense.
Makoto rose, steam rising from his searing body.
His crimson gaze fixed on her, veins throbbing as he restrained an urge.
His grip on the nodachi tightened, muscles bulging.
Huff,
Five seconds?
No, three.
The thought flashed, and he launched like an arrow.
A drumroll of sonic booms exploded before Unohana.
Reiatsu flames wreathed his blade, slashing downward.
BOOM!!!
The thunderous clash shattered eardrums.
One strike deflected Unohana's blade.
Her shock lingered as the blade veered.
A surge of ecstasy, stronger than ever, flooded her mind.
Only then did she notice the long gash on her shoulder.
Before she could react, a second slash roared horizontally.
Her twin blood-blades crossed to block.
Thud,
The impact, like a hammer's blow, jolted her body.
Ecstasy surged, but blood sprayed from her mouth.
The force sent her tumbling through the air, skidding across the blood-sea for meters.
Makoto clung to fleeting clarity, his muscles and bones screaming as Shinigami and Hollow powers clashed, threatening to consume each other.
Yet, in that moment, an azure shimmer caught his eye.
It bloomed at Unohana's chest.
A grin spread across his face, his voice hoarse. "Please watch me closely…"
"Sensei!"
The instant his words fell, Unohana's world froze.
Hearing, touch, sight, smell, all senses melted into an indescribable void.
She looked up, watching Makoto's blade thrust toward her.
His form, moving beyond supersonic, blurred into the sand and blood-sea, a long, flowing line.
Even his blade grew indistinct.
Yet, guided by instinct, Unohana mirrored his motion, raising her blade.
A mutual charge.
Breath, steps, heartbeat, thought, all vanished.
In that moment, only the man before her filled Unohana's eyes.
Unconsciously, her radiant face bloomed with a never-before-seen, radiant smile.
Yes.
This was what she craved…
The ultimate battle!
Clang!
Blood-blade and black nodachi crossed, sparking a fine line of fire in their fleeting clash.
Then, penetration.
Splurch.
Two sounds merged.
They stood at the boundary of sand and sea, like lovers in a fervent embrace.
Each drove their blade into the other's chest.
Unohana looked up, meeting Makoto's gaze. Her shimmering eyes glowed, the flush fading with her blood.
A dazed expression froze on her face.
She had reached her desired pinnacle.
Lowering her head, she leaned into her disciple's broad embrace, a faint smile curving her lips as she whispered, "Take it all."
"Everything I am."
…
[Heir of the Soul King · Activated]
[Yachiru Unohana Breaks Talent Shackle]
[Zanjutsu: Tier 20 → Tier 21 ↑]
[Peerless Blade in Progress]
[Zanjutsu: Tier 16 → Tier 17 ↑]
***
Bonus Chapter:
100 Power Stones = 1 BC
300 Power Stones = 2 BC
500 Power Stones = 3 BC
700 Power Stones = 4 BC
1000 Power Stones = 5 BC
***
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