"I am Captain Aiyan's snake."
"A snake with cold skin and no emotions, seeking only its prey—and swallowing it whole."
"Do you understand, Captain?"
Faced with Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni's furious scolding, Ichimaru Gin only smiled, unfazed.
"Hateful!"
Hearing this, Yamamoto grew even more enraged. But when he recalled the speed of Ichimaru Gin's Kamishini no Yari, he dared not gamble.
If it had been him a thousand years ago, he would not have hesitated. Even if the one held at blade's edge was his own son, he would have cut him down without pause.
But now—
Now, he carried too many burdens.
His Zanpakutō, the strongest of all flame-types, after a thousand years of tempering, had grown even more powerful. And yet at this moment, it felt bound by countless shackles and chains.
No matter how scorching the flames burned, they could not kill.
No matter how sharp the edge gleamed, it could not strike.
"Oh? What's this?" Gin tilted his head, lips curving higher. "Can such a little trick really make the strongest Shinigami of a thousand years helpless? What an honor!"
The smile on his lips widened.
"I never expected it. The children Captain Aiyan brought back aren't just geniuses—they're terrifying. With that will and that strength… even without Unohana Yachiru's restraint, I doubt I could escape your fangs."
Just as Yamamoto wavered between advance and retreat, Kyoraku Shunsui—who had been skewered by Kamishini no Yari moments earlier—suddenly raised his head with trembling hands.
"Oh? So you're still alive?" Gin's eyes slid sideways. "Did my strike miss the mark? As expected of Kyōraku Shinsui… you managed to avoid a clean kill from Kamishini no Yari."
Though Gin's Reiatsu consciousness remained locked on Yamamoto, his gaze shifted to the wound in Shunsui's chest.
Indeed—the left chest had been pierced, but the strike had landed just off-center.
Less than a centimeter's deviation—yet enough to spare his heart.
Today's children truly are stronger than ever.
This blade… was not wasted.
"Still," Gin murmured,
"I should thank you. Thanks to your sacrifice, I was able to draw out such a dangerous opponent—and deal with him first."
Bloodied but smiling, Kyoraku's lips curled.
"Katen Kyōkotsu… Hesitation Wound-Sharing."
Like a freezing gale stirred by Hyōrinmaru, biting Reiatsu spread in all directions and crashed toward Gin.
"Ichimaru Gin—" his voice rasped, "will you lend me your Bankai, Kamishini no Yari?"
But even as the words left his mouth, Shunsui's grin froze.
Gin remained unharmed before him.
Meanwhile, the strength in Shunsui's arms gave way. He, who had barely propped himself from the blood-soaked ground, slumped again, face pressing once more into the scarlet pool.
Eyes bloodshot and wide, he gasped in shock.
"W-what did you do? Why… why can't I feel it?!"
"Captain Kyōraku, you nearly startled me just now." Gin lowered his gaze to his own body, then slowly turned back, jewel-blue eyes gleaming with mockery.
"Incredible… didn't you just say you couldn't escape my fangs? If it's snake's tooth, of course a bite means venom." His voice softened, dripping with cruelty. "And you've been poisoned, Kyōraku-taichō."
All the while, his blade remained trained on Shunsui, angled so Yamamoto could see it clearly.
Exactly so.
Even with Gin's back turned to him, Yamamoto dared not recklessly swing his sword.
"Troublesome… seems I've fallen right into Ichimaru Gin's hands," Shunsui thought bitterly in the blood-soaked earth.
"My Bankai… I can't use it."
At first, he'd even been grateful to Gin. That stab had shattered his Bankai, yes—but in doing so, it forced Aiyan's most dangerous subordinate into the open.
And beyond that—
It had aligned perfectly with Katen Kyōkotsu: Black Pine's first ability: Hesitation Wound-Sharing.
Injury shared.
But when Shunsui tried to activate his Bankai, he realized his Reiatsu was paralyzed—utterly unresponsive.
His Zanpakutō, too.
It was as if a snake's venom had bitten into his soul, freezing everything.
No Bankai.
No Reiatsu.
No movement.
Yes—this was one of Ichimaru Gin's Bankai abilities.
Beyond its speed, length, and cell-dissolving poison, Gin's Kamishini no Yari had been reforged differently than in the original worldline.
He had not split his soul with Rangiku. Instead, he had inscribed Shinsō with the entirety of his essence.
And so—what was already the fastest and longest Zanpakutō became something even more monstrous.
Once stabbed, the victim was bitten by the snake itself.
Limbs, Reiatsu, Zanpakutō—all paralyzed in an instant.
Of course, the original abilities remained as well:
—Five hundred times the speed of sound.
—Thirteen thousand meters of reach.
—A toxin that dissolved cells outright.
All this—and more.
And it was because of this that Shunsui had been instantly defeated.
…
"It seems Kyōraku Shinsui has completely retired."
At this moment, Aiyan descended from the skies above Seireitei, stepping lightly onto the ground and striding toward the execution platform.
He took ten steps in all.
And in those ten steps, the entire battlefield shifted, shaking Soul Society itself.
Ten steps earlier—
Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni stood with ten captains, thirteen lieutenants, and two thousand Shinigami—the gathered might of the Gotei 13.
Ten steps later—
Two thousand Shinigami lay scattered unconscious.
Chōjirō Sasakibe, even with Bankai, was slain by Rangiku's mere Shikai.
Jūshirō Ukitake, Komamura Sajin, and Shiba Kaien had fallen to Tōsen Kaname's Enma Kōrogi.
And Kyoraku Shunsui, the man thought to be Yamamoto's successor, lay helpless in blood, felled by Gin's Kamishini no Yari.
Most damning of all—
Six captains now stood in line, guarding Aiyan's path:
—Shihōin Yoruichi, Captain of the 2nd.
—Unohana Retsu, Captain of the 4th.
—Kuchiki Byakuya, Captain of the 6th.
—Ichimaru Gin, Captain of the 7th.
—Tōsen Kaname, Captain of the 9th.
—Kurotsuchi Mayuri, Captain of the 12th.
Six pillars of the Gotei now arrayed against Soul Society itself.
"What a flawless Bankai," Aiyan murmured.
"In an instant, you felled the one just beneath Yamamoto, paving the way for me to seize Soul Society's authority. Gin—only you could achieve such a thing."
He gazed at Ichimaru Gin. And at this once-in-a-century genius, his praise carried no restraint.
Yes—he commanded others even stronger than Gin.
Like his masterpiece of Blessing of Both Hands—Unohana Yachiru.
Once she unleashed her full power, even Gin could not match her.
And Matsumoto Rangiku, fused with the Hōgyoku—her evolution could easily surpass Gin in time.
But neither Unohana Yachiru nor Matsumoto Rangiku could do what Gin had just done: strike down Kyoraku Shunsui instantly, without cost.
That was Gin's singular talent.
No one else who wielded Kamishini no Yari could replicate it.
Just as Hitsugaya Tōshirō held the mightiest ice-type Zanpakutō yet was far from the second-strongest Shinigami in a millennium, so too was Gin's brilliance uniquely his own.
Only Gin, and Kamishini no Yari together, could carve such a record.
"Thank you for your hard work, Gin."