Boom! Boom! Boom!
Up in the sky, two figures—one wreathed in red, the other in white—clashed again and again. Their movements were so fast that all anyone could see were red and white afterimages streaking through the air.
The sky blazed with scorching flames, and the Shinigami watching from below were already drenched in sweat.
Every collision thundered like a storm.
Neither side showed any sign of backing down. Both were fighting without restraint, pouring all their strength into overpowering the other head-on.
"Too strong… this kind of close combat…" Unohana Retsu's eyes gleamed as she watched the battle above.
Muguruma Kensei swallowed hard. "Captain Unohana, you'd better calm down. Those two aren't even on the same level as us. If you go up there… you'll die."
Hirako Shinji gave a bitter smile and nodded. "Exactly. Forget Nanaya for a second—just the captain's Bankai flames alone could burn us all to ashes."
Even among captains, there were massive differences in power.
Shinji himself was considered one of the top captains, yet he would never dare get too close to Yamamoto Genryūsai for fear of being set ablaze.
"Captain Hitsugaya!"
A familiar drawling voice came from nearby. Ichimaru Gin strolled over, fox-like smile in place, as if the heat meant nothing to him. "The weather's getting hotter and hotter. How about making a little ice to cool us down?"
"…Ichimaru Gin." Hitsugaya Tōshirō's expression hardened as memories of unpleasant encounters resurfaced. He snorted but didn't refuse—many of the nearby Shinigami were already near their limits from the heat.
Drawing Hyōrinmaru, he swung casually.
"Ice Dragon Tail!"
A massive wall of ice surged up from the ground, stretching all the way into the sky until it reached the battlefield above, where Nanaya and the old man were locked in combat.
But under Yamamoto's scorching flames, the ice didn't last a second.
The wall melted before their eyes, water turning to steam, then the steam itself vanishing into nothingness.
Hitsugaya's eyes widened. "It melted instantly… Is the gap between me and the captain really that huge!?"
He hadn't even fought Yamamoto directly—just the heat from Ryūjin Jakka alone had been enough to obliterate his ice.
"Don't take it too hard," Komamura Sajin said. "That's the captain's Bankai. Those flames are as hot as the core of the sun."
Then another thought struck him.
"But… if it's that hot, how is Nanaya even surviving?"
"Bankai—Daiguren Hyōrinmaru!"
Hitsugaya gritted his teeth, fully activating his Bankai. Hyōrinmaru's icy power surged, freezing the moisture in the air into pure white frost that condensed into a towering pillar of ice reaching into the heavens.
As the colossal ice pillar formed, the suffocating heat eased, and the surrounding temperature dropped sharply. The Shinigami nearby sighed in relief.
Just moments earlier, Yamamoto's flames had made breathing difficult, and it had felt like their very bodies might ignite.
Seeing the relief on their faces, Hitsugaya allowed himself a small smile.
But it vanished almost instantly.
Because in the sky, Nanaya merely approached the ice pillar… and it was gone. Completely erased by something unseen.
A faint, brittle sound echoed.
"Those bones…"
Kurotsuchi Mayuri's eyes glittered with greed as he stared at the white protrusions jutting from Nanaya's body. "Yes… those bones carry unimaginable power. Anything they touch is erased from existence…"
"That's why the captain's flames can't burn him…"
"No—correction. They do burn him, but whatever damage remains can't get past the defense his reiatsu forms around him."
The surrounding Shinigami were stunned.
Nanaya—someone they wouldn't dare approach—wasn't just holding his own against Yamamoto… he seemed to be slowly gaining the upper hand.
"Tch… that burns, old man!" Nanaya hissed, glaring at Yamamoto Genryūsai.
Even with the Co-Killing Gray Bones active and Truth-Seeking Orbs shielding his body, the 15-million-degree heat still reached him.
His regeneration kept him alive, but without it, he'd have been cooked through already.
Still… his face was dark with irritation.
Yamamoto's face darkened even more than before.
"Brat… are you making fun of me!?" he growled, glaring at Qiye with fury.
At first, Yamamoto only wanted to spar with this infuriating human, just enough to teach him a lesson—show him the true scale of the world so he wouldn't act so recklessly again.
But now? He had already used three of his four great directional techniques—East, West, and South—and this kid was still standing, moving around like nothing happened.
It felt like he was slapping his own face.
"Stop rambling already!" Qiye barked back. He raised his free left hand and pointed straight at Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni.
"If I wasn't fighting you, do you really think others would just politely wait for you to finish your Bankai?"
The moment his words ended, sharp white bone spikes shot out from Qiye's palm.
"Shikotsumyaku—Ash-Killing Bone!"
Yamamoto's pupils shrank. His instinct was to jump back, but the attack was far too fast.
Before he could retreat more than a few meters, the jagged bone pierced through his captain's robe.
In an instant, the endless flames surrounding him—burning at over 1,500 degrees Celsius—flared violently, his cloak of fire scattering in all directions. Even a piece of his flesh was obliterated.
"Well, old man, what do you think?" Qiye smirked, his voice dripping with pride.
"This is the Ash-Killing Bone—a strike that pierces through time and space itself, rotting its target from the inside out…
"If you admit I'm stronger than you, maybe I'll let you live."
He spoke with confidence. After all, the Divine Tree had been his own creation. Even without eating its fruit, he already possessed the abilities of Ōtsutsuki Kaguya.
Right now, he was beyond even a Six Paths being.
Yamamoto's anger boiled over, the veins on his forehead throbbing.
"You arrogant brat… you truly have no idea how high the sky is, or how deep the earth runs."
For a thousand years, he had been the strongest Shinigami alive. Even Yamato from Squad Zero had to address him with respect. No one—no one—had ever dared speak to him like this.
Finally, his patience snapped. His voice was cold and deep as he swept his gaze across the battlefield.
"Move back. You can't withstand my next attack."
The nearby Shinigami froze, their faces turning pale.
Without a word, many of them hurried to get behind him. The aftershocks from the earlier fight were already overwhelming—if Yamamoto was warning them now, the next move would be on an entirely different level.
Even the other captains glanced at each other uncertainly.
Hitsugaya Tōshirō frowned. "What? Even we captains have to fall back?"
Once everyone had cleared the area, Yamamoto let out a slow breath. Then, gripping Ryūjin Jakka, he drove the blade deep into the ground.
A surge of violent flames exploded outward, racing across the battlefield.
In seconds, the heat spread through the earth, melting everything in its path. The surrounding buildings dissolved into rubble. The white stone streets of the Seireitei blackened into charred ground, glowing red and burning like the pits of Hell itself.
Even the sky seemed to darken, the air thick with heat and ash, creating an oppressive, suffocating atmosphere.
From the scorched earth, in full view of stunned Shinigami, Menos Grande, and countless onlookers, skeletal warriors wreathed in roaring flames began to crawl up from below.
"…Well, looks like the old man's seriously pissed," someone muttered. "He's even using that move…"
Far away, in a small izakaya, Kyōraku Shunsui held a cup of sake and gazed toward the fiery sky with a hint of surprise.
"Just like the rumors say… the power to command life and death itself, to destroy, and to reshape the world… Incredible."
Starrk took a sip from his own cup and gave a weary sigh. "Yeah. That old man of yours has one hell of a temper."
Kyōraku glanced sideways at him. "You don't seem worried about your king."
A faint smile crossed Starrk's lips. Thinking about the sheer power Qiye had already shown, he replied, "Rather than worry about our king… you should probably be worrying about your captain."
Lilynette, already tipsy, mumbled into her drink, "The king has the power to control life and death… and to create entire worlds…"
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