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This underground structure... interesting. Shiraha narrowed his eyes, quickly concluding it had to be Urahara Kisuke's handiwork. No one else among the Visored had the technological genius to design a concealed basement this expansive and refined. Even Hachigen Ushōda, skilled as he was, couldn't have constructed something on this scale alone.
Yoruichi leapt down from Shiraha's shoulder and silently joined the Visored gathered around Hirako Shinji. Meanwhile, Shiraha vanished in a blur of Shunpo, appearing in the center of a wide, flat space. Muguruma Kensei responded with equal speed, flashing across the field and drawing his Zanpakutō without a word.
"Hirako, how long do you think it'll take Kensei to knock Shiraha flat?" Yoruichi asked lazily, folding her arms as a playful smile tugged at her lips. Her golden eyes flicked toward the field with a glint of intrigue.
Shinji chuckled, rubbing the back of his head. "Didn't you just tell me this kid shattered the spiritual power records at Shinō Academy? Graduated in a month, beat the old Seventh Division Captain on his first day, and claimed the title himself? That's impressive—on paper. But Kensei? He's not someone you outpace with test scores and records."
Yoruichi tilted her head, lips curling. "Wrong question, Shinji. What you should be asking is how long Kensei can last against Shiraha."
Her voice was casual, but the certainty in her tone was clear. Since Shiraha's return from the 19th District, she had seen enough to form a rough idea of the power lurking beneath his calm exterior. She hadn't yet witnessed the full force of his Zanpakutō, but what she had seen told her that Muguruma Kensei wouldn't be able to overpower him so easily.
"Wow, that's a glowing review," Shinji remarked, brushing his fingers through his bangs, amused at how matter-of-fact Yoruichi sounded.
Sarugaki Hiyori scowled. "Oi, baldy. This scrawny kid is really the current Captain of the Seventh Division? I can barely sense any Reiatsu from him."
The blonde, clad in her usual red tracksuit and slippers, crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes in disbelief. From her perspective, Shiraha's presence was faint—nearly untraceable. If she hadn't been focusing intently, she might have missed him entirely.
"Hiyori, don't be so quick to judge," Shinji said with a chuckle. "If Yoruichi's this confident, there's a reason. Let's just watch."
The Visored fell into a brief silence, turning their eyes to the field where Shiraha and Kensei stood, facing each other like two statues bracing for the quake.
Muguruma Kensei studied Shiraha carefully, his entire posture taut and coiled, reading every inch of his opponent. He was looking for flaws, anything he could exploit.
"Captain Six, let me see the strength of your masked army," Shiraha said lightly, smiling.
Before Kensei could reply, a wave of deep purple Reiatsu surged outward from Shiraha like a tidal force. It swallowed the space around them, shaking the foundation of the battlefield. Kensei immediately pushed back with his own spiritual pressure, unleashing his Reiatsu to meet it—but the clash was one-sided. Shiraha hadn't even released his Shikai, yet his spiritual energy dwarfed Kensei's completely.
A deep, thunderous crack echoed across the cavern as the sheer pressure split the ground and reduced massive stones to rubble. The air vibrated from the collision of their Reiatsu, but Shiraha's dominance was absolute, pressing down on Kensei with the weight of a collapsing sky.
With Shiraha's template progress at ninety-eight percent, his spiritual power now far surpassed what he'd displayed against Komamura Sajin. The increase was dramatic—and impossible to ignore.
"No way… What the hell is this spiritual pressure?" Kensei muttered, beads of sweat rolling down his temple. His boots scraped backward across the shattered stone, and his eyes narrowed, stunned.
He had assumed that being chosen as Shiraha's opponent meant nothing more than giving the newcomer a reality check. As a former Captain, he had expected an easy victory.
But this… this wasn't something he'd prepared for.
From a distance, Shinji and the others exchanged sharp glances. Even the usually unfazed leader of the Visored felt his calm beginning to erode.
"So this is why you praised him so highly," Shinji said under his breath, his voice tinged with something rare—respect. "That Reiatsu's insane."
"I warned you," Yoruichi said flatly. "He's not someone you can toy with."
Hiyori's fists clenched as she stepped forward slightly. "This isn't good. Kensei might actually be in danger."
Clenching his jaw, Kensei raised his blade and took a firm stance. "Kuchiki Shiraha… you go first."
"Then I won't hold back," Shiraha answered, his voice calm, smile unreadable. "Senior Kensei, if you don't take this seriously, you might not walk away."
Raising his right hand, he formed the Kidō seal in a fluid motion. "Bakudō #61—Rikujōkōrō."
Without so much as an incantation, six beams of golden light erupted into existence and slammed into Kensei's body, locking him in place before he could react.
"What the—?!"
Kensei strained against the restraint, but his muscles couldn't break the binding. He gritted his teeth, furious and alarmed all at once.
"He skipped the incantation?" Lisa's eyes widened. "That's Rikujōkōrō without chanting?"
"Even with a full chant, most couldn't land that on Kensei," Love muttered, narrowing his gaze. "And he did it without one."
"To maintain that level of power without an incantation… that's not talent. That's mastery," Shinji said quietly, no longer smiling.
Chantless Kidō normally retained only a third of its original strength, but Shiraha's version displayed nearly full potency. That level of precision and control was far beyond what most Captains could achieve.
Yoruichi didn't speak, but her expression was focused, intense. She'd known he was powerful, but now she was seeing the level of refinement that power had undergone.
Without hesitation, Shiraha lifted his Zanpakutō. The stick-like blade shimmered as he coated it with Armament Haki. The surface darkened and crackled, spiritual energy flaring around it.
"Cut," he said softly.
A crescent-shaped wave of purple energy exploded from the tip of his blade, screaming through the air with deadly precision. It grew as it traveled, ten meters wide and cutting deep into the ground, leaving a gaping trench in its wake.
Kensei's expression hardened. "Tch. Then I'll show you—blow it away, Tachikaze!"
His Zanpakutō glowed and shifted into its Shikai form, reducing to a short dagger. With swift, sharp slashes, he targeted the six golden beams holding him. As his blade met the bindings, a blast of wind erupted, shattering the Kidō into fragments of reishi that dissolved into the air.
But even as the last beam faded, the energy slash was nearly upon him.
Boom.
Kensei moved with all the speed he could muster, spinning into dozens of rapid dagger strikes, each swing stirring violent gusts of wind. A vortex of air formed around him as he fought to resist the incoming slash, the battlefield erupting into a maelstrom of dust and force.
Yet Shiraha's crescent cut clean through the barrier of wind.
It struck.
"Gah—!"
Kensei's body twisted midair as blood arced from his shoulder. He landed hard, boots dragging through the broken earth before he dropped to one knee. A deep gash split across his left shoulder, seeping crimson down his arm as silence fell across the arena.
For the first time, Muguruma Kensei said nothing.
He had underestimated him. Completely.
And now, as he looked up from his wound, one truth rang louder than any impact—
This wasn't just some promising new captain.
This was someone destined to reshape Soul Society.
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