"Although I personally do not completely agree with your execution… The seriousness of the matter now has gone far beyond a public trial."
"For the sake of order and justice in Soul Society… I can only say — I'm sorry."
Chōjirō Sasakibe stood beneath the oval canopy of thunder. Looking at Lisa Yadōmaru, Kensei Muguruma, and the others who had escaped, his gaze shifted from hesitation to cold determination.
As the Lieutenant of the First Division since the founding of the Gotei 13, he had witnessed the long history of Seireitei.
He knew better than anyone that the situation before him was as grave as the Quincy invasion of Soul Society a thousand years ago.
This was no longer the simple matter of executing one or two captains or lieutenants.
To stabilize the situation — even if he did not agree in his heart with Central 46's verdict — as Yamamoto Genryūsai's right hand, and the man who had sworn two thousand years ago to make up for the Captain-Commander's weaknesses, he could not allow Seireitei to collapse into irreparable chaos.
"Forgive me… but I will kill you all here."
Once his murderous intent hardened, Sasakibe swung his Zanpakutō directly at the fleeing Kensei, Mashiro, Lisa, and the others.
Boom!
Thunder roared, sReiatsung the heavens. Eleven golden bolts of lightning, forged by Reiatsu, dropped from the storm-filled sky of Seireitei like pythons bursting from their lairs, crashing down upon Lisa, Hachigen, and the rest.
Before such thunder, their Shunpo seemed agonizingly slow.
"Your Zanpakutō!"
At that critical moment, Suì-Fēng appeared in a flash, carrying a bundle of blades wrapped together.
They were the fugitives' Zanpakutō.
"Perfect timing!"
Seeing this, Kensei ignored any gratitude and immediately gripped his weapon's hilt.
"Bankai · Tekken Tachikaze!"
A hurricane of Reiatsu burst forth in all directions, tearing the ground apart, sending sand and stone flying. The gale surged upward, slowing the descent of the eleven golden bolts.
Boom!
With Bankai unleashed, Kensei leapt into the sky, fists clenched.
The storm dragon of Reiatsu coiled around him, his punches exploding outward as he struck directly at the lightning bolts.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
For a moment, hurricanes and lightning clashed in a deadlock. But within seconds, the violent storm was torn apart, shredded into countless streams of smoke by Sasakibe's golden thunder.
"What—?"
Kensei's eyes widened, his stoic expression shattering into disbelief.
"How can a Bankai be a mere Lieutenant… overwhelm my Tekken Tachikaze?"
Sasakibe snorted coldly.
"It's just Muguruma Kensei. As the name suggests, how could a Bankai wielded with such meager Reiatsu ever surpass my Kōkō Gonryō Rikyū, forged through centuries of resolve?"
He waved his Zanpakutō again, driving the eleven golden bolts down with even greater force.
Lisa, Love Aikawa, and the others panicked, preparing to release their own Zanpakutō in support. But just as they were about to move, their vision darkened.
Not only theirs — all the captains and lieutenants noticed it. Even the golden thunderbolts themselves dimmed.
Looking closer, their faces turned pale.
Each of the eleven lightning strikes was being wrapped in a thin layer of gray smoke.
It seemed fragile… yet it blanketed the entire sky, smothering both the bolts and even Sasakibe himself beneath his thunder canopy.
Realizing something was wrong, Sasakibe turned his head—
Crack!
The moment the gray smoke enshrouded the lightning and the canopy, both shattered like porcelain cut apart by thousands of blades. In an instant, they dissolved into fragments of golden light.
"Growl… Haineko."
A woman's voice drifted up faintly from below the execution platform.
"Matsumoto Rangiku!"
Sasakibe turned, fixing his gaze on the female lieutenant standing behind him, sword in hand.
At that moment, Rangiku held her Zanpakutō loosely, its blade spewing storm-like smoke. It resembled Ryūjin Jakka's flames after Shikai, except instead of fire, it unleashed swirling ash.
"Lieutenant Sasakibe," she said flatly, "your Bankai is standing in Captain Aiyan's way."
Her expression was unreadable as she dispersed the smoke and calmly slid her blade back into its sheath.
Indeed—
She had not acted to save Lisa, Mashiro, or the others.
She acted because Sasakibe's Bankai, if left unchecked, would block Aiyan's path to the execution platform.
Puff.
Sasakibe opened his mouth, as if to speak. But before a word escaped, his entire body erupted into a mist of scarlet blood.
Countless claw-like wounds split open across his flesh, as if he had been mauled by a beast. From head to toe, his skin was raked with crimson lines.
Then—
His body collapsed forward, lifeless, blood pooling beneath him until his form lay in a spreading scarlet stain.
The scene left every captain and lieutenant on the platform — except Aiyan, Gin Ichimaru, and Unohana — utterly stunned.
"Shikai alone… destroyed what Sasakibe honed for thousands of years?"
Even Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni was shaken.
No one knew Sasakibe's strength better than him.
This was the man who, a thousand years ago, had left a scar upon Yamamoto himself with Bankai.
True, Yamamoto had held back at the time, fighting only with swordsmanship and not even releasing his Shikai. But even so, Sasakibe's ability was undeniable.
And yet—
Matsumoto Rangiku, who had been at the Shin'ō Academy for less than a year, had crushed that Bankai with nothing but Shikai.
"Impossible…!"
"How could this happen? She's only trained for half a year!"
"Matsumoto Rangiku… she defeated Lieutenant Sasakibe instantly — with Shikai alone! She crushed Kōkō Gonryō Rikyū!"
"Bottom defeating top… Shikai defeated Bankai…!"
Komamura Sajin, Amagai Shūsuke, and several other lieutenants stared at Rangiku in shock.
They had enrolled a century before her. And yet here she was, cutting down the First Division's Lieutenant — a man who had even clashed with Kensei's Bankai — with a single strike.
"An incredible Shikai…"
"Even Kōkō Gonryō Rikyū, which can command the weather, was sliced apart like paper."
"It rivals the strongest elemental Zanpakutō in destructive range and power."
Kyoraku Shunsui's gaze darkened as he studied her.
Until now, he had only seen three Shikai capable of covering such vast ranges:
Kuchiki Ginrei's, the most formidable Zanpakutō of the flow-type.
Yamamoto Genryūsai's Ryūjin Jakka, the most powerful fire-type.
Aiyan Sōsuke's, the Zanpakutō of light and darkness.
And now, he had seen a fourth.
Matsumoto Rangiku.