"Tss!"
A silver-white blade punched through a chest.
Muramasa's eyes flew wide, staring at the sword that had pierced his heart in disbelief.
All around, the manifested zanpakuto stiffened, grips whitening on their weapons as they glared at Byakuya.
"Byakuya!!"
"How dare you strike Mr. Muramasa!"
"I knew Soul Reapers couldn't be trusted!"
"Kill him!!"
Roars crashed one after another.
Muramasa lifted his head, dazed, and rasped at the impassive man before him, "W…why?"
Free Ryujin Jakka, and the Soul Reapers would be finished—Seireitei would fall under the zanpakuto. The Kuchiki clan would rise to the throne of heaven. With his ties to Kuchiki Koga, Byakuya would stand beneath only one and above ten thousand. So why… kill him now?
Byakuya twisted the blade and said coolly, "I am Kuchiki Byakuya, twenty-eighth head of the Kuchiki. How could I consort with a zanpakuto that colludes with Hollows?"
His silver-white edge scattered on the wind.
"Scatter—Senbonzakura."
Blossoms detonated inside Muramasa. Petal-light flashed, and his whole body was swallowed in a storm of cherry.
Shing! Shing! Shing—
Blade-light flickered madly. Blood burst. Muramasa's scream ripped the air.
High above, Hyorinmaru glared down, raised its blade, and hacked toward the ground with a roar. "Byakuya!!"
A mountain of ice reared from the blow, pure white frost racing out to bury Byakuya beneath it. Katen Kyokotsu and Sogyo no Kotowari lunged in tandem.
Byakuya did not follow through. With a single step he withdrew, voice still flat. "Muramasa is dead. Wake up."
Under a thousand cutting blossoms, Muramasa's body was riddled—blood rained; there was almost no chance of life left.
The next instant, a flood of pallid matter geysered from his wounds, engulfing him like a tide.
"Shhh—!"
"Shhh—!!"
"Rrrraugh!!"
From the pale torrent came countless Hollow shrieks. Skulls, torsos, arms—grotesque parts clawed outward, struggling to break free.
The manifested spirits stared, dumbstruck. The Hollows Muramasa devoured were erupting, his mind wholly polluted. Even if they saved him now, he would be nothing but a Hollowfied monster. And they would not stand with Hollows.
Shunsui and the captains had barely exhaled when Byakuya pointed toward the distant Sogyoku and said, voice low, "Captain Ukitake, seal Sogyoku at once. Do not let it kill the Head-Captain. Captain Shunsui—go, save him."
Ukitake and Shunsui nodded in unison—and were promptly blocked by Katen Kyokotsu and Sogyo no Kotowari.
Shunsui's mouth quirked, helpless. "Katen, Kyokotsu… Muramasa is dead. You two still haven't sobered up?"
Katen smiled, eyes narrowing. "Who can say? We follow you—and her."
Kyokotsu said evenly, "I don't want to watch you cry. Why do you always play with Katen? I want to talk to you too."
Shunsui sighed from the soul. First time double-sword felt like trouble—his blades were… jealous of each other.
Ukitake coughed and tried a gentler tack with Sogyo no Kotowari. "Little ones, please—Sogyoku's going to kill teacher. You don't want that, do you?"
"Yii-yaa!" chimed the twin spirits.
Ukitake: "…"
Too cute was also a problem—sometimes even their own master couldn't understand them.
"Boy from Kuchiki—where is Genryusai sealed?" Shutara turned to Byakuya.
Byakuya met her gaze, then pointed at a far mountain, voice steady. "In a cavern there. I scouted it. The Head-Captain seems unable to move."
Shutara nodded, parasol twirling, smiling lightly. "Sealed by a zanpakuto… Genryusai has lost face this time. Those old monsters will laugh for centuries…"
She tapped the ground and flashed away as a streak of gold.
Battle resumed between spirits and Soul Reapers. Yoruichi glanced over. "Cole, aren't you going to help?"
Cole was still wrestling with the Seven-Mirror Sword. He didn't look up. "When Soul Society itself isn't going all out, why should I?"
Nanao, eyes wet watching him manhandle the sacred blade, protested, "That's nonsense! Captain Shunsui is fighting with everything he has—he was even badly hurt by Katen Kyokotsu!"
Cole tilted his head at her. "You're a member of one of the Four Great Houses. Do you really know nothing of the Royal Guard?"
Nanao blinked, lost. Yoruichi, however, looked away, suddenly sheepish. Nanao didn't know—but she did. Zero Division had more than one as strong as Shutara… and yet they'd sent only her. They simply didn't care. Even if Seireitei burned, as long as the Soul Society endured, that loss was… acceptable.
After all, Seireitei had only existed for a thousand years. Those palace fossils had lived millions—even tens of millions.
"And another thing…"
Cole looked at Yoruichi again, voice mild. " 'Heaven-Bestowed Armory'—what a grand title. Yet aside from you, where are the Shihōin with their shinki?"
Yoruichi coughed. "I'm right here, aren't I?"
"Then go all out." Cole's lips twitched. "You really think I don't know your true level?"
Yoruichi flinched. Her full-power state was… embarrassing. She had zero intention of showing it off.
"So why should I be the one to risk my neck?" Cole shook his head, resumed browbeating the Seven-Mirror Sword, and added lazily, "Zero Division stands above. You nobles stand above. Always scheming to make others bleed while you keep your hands clean—looking down like gods who believe they can hold all strings. If that's how it is, what's the point in me charging in? Better to watch the show—and keep my friends safe."
Yoruichi had no place to hide her face. She coughed into her fist. "Where's Ichigo, then?"
That kid was a bull—hands moved before brain. No need to prod him—he'd be yelling and swinging Zangetsu already.
"Ichigo…" Cole pointed toward Fifth Division. "That blockhead's still looking for Zangetsu. He's stomping around in a Hollow mask—like Zangetsu doesn't hate that most."
Ever since he got the bull-headed Hollow form, the boy had turned into an actual bull—trying to subdue Zangetsu with Hollow power. He'd eaten a beating for it and still hadn't found Zangetsu.
Yoruichi's temples throbbed. "Isn't he afraid the Head-Captain will come out and take his head off with one swing?"
Nanao huffed and puffed her cheeks. "We don't need those two brats. Once the Head-Captain is freed, this ends."
She gazed at the colossal mountain in the distance. As long as Shutara reached him first, Genryusai would end the rebellion in minutes. No need for human Soul Reapers at all.
Yoruichi nodded slightly. "Shutara's speed isn't below mine. She'll beat Sogyoku there."
Cole arched a brow, studying the still-raging battlefield. The fighting hadn't stopped, but smiles had crept onto many faces—confidence blooming too soon.
"Why that look?" Yoruichi asked.
Cole rubbed his temples. "Maybe I'm overthinking it, but something feels off."
It had been too long since he'd watched the Zanpakuto Unknown Tales closely. But he remembered: the Head-Captain wasn't captured; he sealed himself—to keep Ryujin Jakka in check. Break that seal, and the self-restraints vanish. The zanpakuto would fully manifest.
But Muramasa was dead. Ryujin Jakka shouldn't rampage. And yet…
"Butterfly effect? Or a deeper scheme? Don't tell me this is Aizen again…"
He shook it off and went back to bullying the Seven-Mirror Sword. Whatever happened, Zero Division would clean up. If Ryujin Jakka truly rampaged, it wouldn't just be Seireitei that burned; even the Palace might be split with one stroke. Those high-and-mighty ancients wouldn't sit still.
Yoruichi, though, felt a chill and looked toward the mountain. "Honestly… I feel it too." Even with family ties, Muramasa trusted Byakuya too much. Even fathers and sons rarely trusted like that. And on the field… Muramasa's death hadn't broken the spell on the manifested blades. The dread in her gut grew.
"Can a single dead zanpakuto really control this many…?"
…
At the foot of the colossal peak, Shutara dropped to the cave mouth and smiled into the darkness. "Genryusai—how did you end up sealed? Aren't you afraid of being mocked?"
She could already feel it clearly—Genryusai's reiatsu poured from within. The cave mouth fairly hummed with a barrier.
She glanced back; the phoenix of flame, Sogyoku, rushed like an undying bird on blazing wings. Shutara didn't hesitate. Six golden skeletal arms wove, spinning silken threads that crossed and crossed again—until they became a razor-fine net. With a shriek of cutting, the threads sliced into the tunnel, shearing stone to powder—until they struck a wall of crackling seal-craft. Lightning and fire burst along the filaments, snapping them.
"Hm?" Shutara's brows rose. "Such a powerful barrier and seal—how could a mere zanpakuto create this?"
Even so, she didn't slow. One golden hand pinched her needle-thin blade and gave the barrier a prick—and a stroke. The seal parted.
She was the Grand Weaver of Zero Division, maker of every Soul Reaper's shihakusho. Her blade and threads could weave all things—and pierce any ward.
Then her face changed. "No."
The blast of reiatsu that met her was a volcano's breath—searing, wave on wave, as if an eruption was inevitable. This was no sealed state. It was a dam at the breaking point.
"Ko—!"
Fire poured from the cave—sky-burying light. Heat and blaze like a falling sun. The torrent drove Shutara back; she stared at the incandescent glow and the mountain already melting beneath it. The temperature strained the extreme; the cave's stone ran red, liquefying to ooze like magma. Heat detonated within the peak and raced outward; searing cracks spiderwebbed through the whole mass.
The gray mountain donned a thousand glowing ribbons—terrible and, perversely, beautiful.
Shutara swallowed. "What… is happening?"
Far away, Soul Reapers stared, awed. For a heartbeat they thought the Head-Captain had simply broken free and unleashed Ryujin Jakka's might.
Shunsui grimaced under his kasa. "The old man's really mad—coming out swinging like that. What do we even do if he's that angry?"
Ukitake gripped the wooden shield, eyes narrowing. "No… this is too much."
In mere seconds the cloud-piercing massif burned red; air itself wavered in the heat. Even if the Head-Captain was furious—could it go this far?
Shunsui felt it too.
Before their eyes, the crimson peak thundered—and split from earth to sky. Melted stone fountained into the air, arcs of red tracing meteor-lines before hammering the ground.
Boom—!
Boom—!
Boom—!
Globs of red slammed down, pocking the land with craters.
(End of Chapter)
[Check Out My P@treon For 20+ Extra Chapters On All My Fanfics!!]
[[email protected]/Draumel]
[Thank You For Your Support!]