The vial of flesh tonic that could instantly restore Kurotsuchi Mayuri's body shattered as Shiraha tossed it aside. He didn't bother taking the Zanpakutō hanging from Mayuri's waist either. He knew that the moment that blade pierced its owner's flesh, it would liquefy into a pool of toxic green acid.
He remembered clearly how Ishida Uryu, during the Quincy's final form, had defeated Mayuri at the cost of all his own powers. The scientist had survived only by the thinnest margin, crawling away half-dead.
After completing his task, Shiraha quietly invoked the incantation for Cang once more, returning to his original position and dispelling the stopped time.
The entire sequence had taken no more than 0.05 seconds.
The stillness dissolved. Time resumed its natural flow.
"Ah! Damn it! Kuchiki Shiraha! What the hell did you do to me?!"
Mayuri's eyes widened, pupils contracting sharply as pain tore through his body. Half his torso lay severed on the ground, blood gurgling and pooling beneath him. The others stood frozen, faces paling as they registered what had just occurred.
Even Kyoraku Shunsui and Ukitake Jūshirō hadn't seen how Shiraha had moved.
Even Yamamoto Genryūsai, whose gaze had watched countless battles unfold, felt a flicker of surprise.
Not even he had seen the strike.
Could this be… Shiraha's Zanpakutō's Shikai?
"Captain Mayuri! Are you all right?!"
Nemu ran to his side, panic flashing in her eyes.
"Yinmeng! Quickly—use the flesh tonic! On me! Now!" Mayuri barked, fury twisting his expression.
"Captain Mayuri… the tonic you carried… it's broken."
Nemu glanced toward the shattered glass and the spreading green fluid on the floor.
"Then give me yours, idiot! You can't even handle something this simple?!"
Mayuri snarled, writhing from pain and anger alike.
"Captain, I… I don't have any more on me."
Her voice dropped, quiet and trembling.
"You useless fool! Completely unreliable!"
Mayuri's rage only deepened, his expression distorting further.
"Captain Unohana," murmured Isane Kotetsu, "did you see what just happened?"
Unohana's calm eyes shifted toward Shiraha. "No. It appears to be a Kidō Forbidden Technique—time manipulation, perhaps even time stop."
Even she, the First Generation Kenpachi, hadn't seen the method.
There was only one plausible explanation—
Someone had used Kidō Forbidden Technique: Time Stop.
And that someone could only be Kuchiki Shiraha.
"Also…" Unohana's gaze narrowed. "Captain Mayuri's Reiatsu has diminished—reduced to vice-captain level. How curious."
The other captains sensed it too. The change in Mayuri's spiritual pressure was undeniable.
"Shunsui," Jūshirō murmured, "did you catch how Shiraha struck?"
"No," Shunsui replied, voice thoughtful. "But this isn't the same Shikai he used before. Those wounds appeared all at once—instantly."
Renji frowned, still staring at the blood dripping from Shiraha's blade. "Could that really be Captain Shiraha's Shikai? Then how… how could anyone even see it coming?"
No one could.
The evidence was obvious—the blood on Shiraha's Zanpakutō could only belong to Mayuri. Even Yamamoto Genryūsai, even the oldest and most battle-hardened among them, hadn't perceived the strike.
Yamamoto's stern voice finally cut through the murmurs. "Kuchiki Shiraha. You will explain this. Did you injure Captain Mayuri using the Kidō Forbidden Technique—Time Stop?"
The old captain's eyes narrowed slightly, his tone heavy. His and Unohana's deductions had already aligned. It could only have been Shiraha.
But even for him, something didn't add up. How could this young captain have invoked a forbidden Kidō of such magnitude without incantation or preparation? Even the Grand Kidō Chief would struggle to wield such control.
Manipulating time was beyond the known limits of any Zanpakutō.
And Shiraha's ability until now had always been to control gravity and space, not time.
Suddenly, Mayuri's laughter cut through the tension. It was jagged, deranged. "Bankai! Konjiki Ashisogi Jizō!"
The air quaked as he released his blade, blood-streaked and trembling, with only one arm left to hold it.
But Shiraha's earlier strike had already done more than wound him—it had reversed his time by a century. His body, his Reiatsu, his very essence had regressed to that of his vice-captain self from a hundred years ago.
The result was inevitable.
Reiatsu surged around Mayuri, flaring violently—then collapsed in on itself.
"Stop!" Yamamoto's deep voice rang out, cutting through the chaos. "Captain Mayuri! How dare you release Bankai within the Seireitei!"
Before the old captain could intervene, Mayuri's spiritual pressure sputtered out entirely. His Bankai failed to manifest.
"What… what did you do to me, Shiraha?!" Mayuri screamed, wild-eyed. "Why can't I release Bankai?! Why is my Reiatsu—like this?!"
Shiraha's tone was calm, unhurried. "Captain Mayuri, I already told you. This is my Zanpakutō's Shikai—it governs time itself."
He raised his bloodstained blade, speaking with quiet precision. "Once my Zanpakutō cuts an opponent, their time rewinds one hundred years. Their strength, their condition, their very existence return to what they were then. The effect remains until I die or release it myself."
With a soft flick, Shiraha shook the remaining blood from his blade and smiled faintly.
He hadn't killed Mayuri for a reason. If the Twelfth Division Captain died here, even Yamamoto would have no choice but to strip Shiraha of his rank and exile him from the Thirteen Court Guard Squads.
But even if that happened, it wouldn't matter.
Even Yamamoto's Bankai could not suppress the full might of Shiraha's Zanpakutō—the power to command time itself.
"What?!"
For once, Yamamoto Genryūsai's composure cracked. His pupils contracted, a rare look of sheer disbelief flashing in his ancient eyes.
{🥳 The Fanfic is now fully completed! 🎉
You can access 300+ advance chapters right now on Patreon—available for subscription or purchase! ✨
👉 patreon.com/Oreski
🥰 Your support keeps me motivated and eager to create even more amazing stories!}