"You beat me up like this… and you still want me to forge a blade for you!?"
Oetsu's eyes bulged as he pointed at his face, swollen into a proper pig's head, staring in disbelief at the black-haired boy in front of him.
He honestly couldn't believe it.
So he'd stayed away from Seireitei for a few hundred years, and in that time the Gotei had evolved this much?
Had people's faces really gotten this thick?
Cole raised an eyebrow, spun the golden staff in his hand, and with just one casual sweep he whipped up a nearly tyrannical gust of wind.
"You got a problem with that?"
"Of course I've got a problem!! Don't tell me you think what I showed just now was my full power!"
Oetsu glared darkly at Cole.
Just now, he'd never expected Cole to be that strong, and he'd fought him head-on, which was why he'd been beaten so miserably.
But now—
He felt it was about time to show a bit of his real strength.
With that in mind, Oetsu reached into the box at his side, drew out his own zanpakuto, and leveled it at Cole.
Cole chuckled.
"Still using that zanpakuto? Didn't we already prove it doesn't work on me?"
Just moments ago, Oetsu had been wielding this very blade when Cole smacked him eight hundred meters away with a single swing.
Oetsu gave the zanpakuto a light flourish. Its edge was so sharp it seemed to slice the air itself. With his face still black with anger, he said,
"Don't underestimate Sayafushi. Even if it's a failure, it has the greatest cutting power— it can cleave even through high-density reishi attacks."
This zanpakuto was one of his works from thousands of years ago. It possessed absurd sharpness and smoothness; no matter how you swung it, it would never chip or break.
It was a blade so sharp that even blood couldn't cling to it.
But precisely because of those same properties, he'd never been able to craft a suitable scabbard for it, and had been forced to keep it sealed in that portable tank of suspension fluid.
After a few experimental swings, Oetsu thought for a moment and regretfully put the blade away.
Sharp it certainly was—
But against Cole, it wasn't going to do much.
So he turned instead toward Saiko, held out his right hand, and said,
"Saiko, get over here. I'm going to need your power."
At his call, Saiko's body turned into a streak of light and flew toward Oetsu.
In the blink of an eye, she transformed into a long-handled war hammer.
Watching this, Cole couldn't help but exclaim in surprise,
"The manifested zanpakuto you created… they actually have full zanpakuto weapon forms from the start?"
During the recent zanpakuto rebellion, when Muramasa had bewitched the blades, what appeared had only been the manifested spirits of the zanpakuto—
Their real bodies had still remained with their Shinigami.
But Oetsu was different.
He seemed to directly materialize zanpakuto themselves, giving the blades independent life.
Compared to Muramasa's method, this was more than one level higher.
Seeing the tension between the two ramping up again, Shunsui felt a wave of helplessness and had no choice but to step out and play the peacemaker.
"Oetsu, Cole, both of you calm down. Quit fooling around. We need to hurry up and stop Aizen. What if those two in the Royal Guard can't hold him?"
Having just witnessed the Zero Division's combat power, his expectations for them weren't exactly high.
Oetsu shot him a sidelong glance, swung the long-handled hammer once, and said blandly,
"You're overthinking it. Forget one so-called Aizen— even if ten of him showed up, they still wouldn't beat those two."
He'd lived for millions of years, and aside from the Soul King, he'd never seen anyone stronger than Ichibē.
That guy's ability—
Was practically reality-warping.
"Senjumaru is no slouch either. With a thousand arms, in a real fight she's a perfect support unit."
Shunsui was genuinely surprised; even he didn't know how strong Ichibē really was.
Just then, his expression suddenly changed as he looked at the long-handled hammer now resting against his own zanpakuto.
"Oetsu, what are you doing?"
Oetsu's face remained perfectly calm.
"Nothing much. I just think that even with me and my personal guard, beating that intruder will be tough. So I'm recruiting two helpers, that's all."
Before Shunsui could process what Oetsu meant, he felt his zanpakuto start to tremble violently.
Reiatsu surged along the blade, and then—
Two familiar figures appeared before everyone's eyes.
Shunsui stared, dumbstruck.
"Katen Kyōkotsu, how did the two of you get out here?"
The newcomers were the manifested forms of Katen Kyōkotsu— Katen and Kyōkotsu. The tall and the small woman both looked around in confusion.
"We don't know either. We just felt our bodies shake, and then we were suddenly here."
Shunsui snapped back to his senses and looked at Oetsu.
"You did this? You hammered Katen Kyōkotsu out of my blade?"
"Obviously."
Oetsu's tone was full of pride.
He was the Sword God, the one who had forged every zanpakuto in Seireitei. Of course he possessed unique abilities when it came to zanpakuto.
Calling him the king of zanpakuto wouldn't be an exaggeration.
He hefted the long-handled hammer again, eyes glinting as he turned toward Cole's golden staff.
"Brat, have you ever fought against your own zanpakuto?"
Cole couldn't help raising an eyebrow, interest lighting up his face as he strode forward.
"Can't say I have. You're telling me you can hammer my zanpakuto's spirit out?"
Last time, when Muramasa appeared, he hadn't been able to seduce the spirit inside Ruyi Jingu Bang into betraying Cole.
Come to think of it, Cole had never once seen the so-called spirit of his own zanpakuto.
Normally, you had to communicate with your zanpakuto, earn its recognition, and only then would it tell you its true name.
But for him, all he had to do was keep raising his stats and his zanpakuto would keep getting stronger.
From beginning to end, he'd never once seen this so-called sword spirit.
"If you can really hammer its spirit out, that'd be pretty fun. Don't tell me it'll turn out to be the Great Sage Equal to Heaven?"
The more he thought about it, the hotter his gaze became. His steps quickened, and he swung his staff at Oetsu again with a heavy arc.
"Come on, hurry up and hit it already!"
Oetsu sucked in a cold breath and hurriedly backed away.
"You're insane! Even if you're strong, your zanpakuto has the same combat power you do. Aren't you afraid of dying!?"
He truly didn't dare take that blow head-on.
He could indeed use Saiko to hammer the spirit out of Ruyi Jingu Bang—
But the sheer force riding on that strike was something he couldn't withstand at all. If he tried, he'd probably get knocked out of the sky again just like before.
Cole couldn't care less. When his first swing didn't connect, he immediately followed with another, grinning.
"Hurry up, or I'm going to get serious."
If he activated Ruyi Jingu Bang's Sea-Calming Divine Needle ability and pinned down the surrounding space, Oetsu wouldn't even have the option of running.
Veins bulged on Oetsu's forehead as he finally lost his patience.
He swung the long-handled hammer and roared,
"You little bastard! Don't look down on me!! I'm a blacksmith, you know— my strength isn't that pathetic!"
Every year he forged thousands upon thousands of zanpakuto.
Each and every shallow blade had to be hammered out blow by blow, each strike requiring him to put his full strength into it.
Over endless cycles, without rest—
His power had grown countless times stronger in the process.
"With Saiko as my weapon, my strength gets boosted several times over. Even if I'm not on his level, there's no way I'll lose that—"
Gritting his teeth, Oetsu brought the hammer down hard against the golden staff.
The sound of air splitting echoed through the sky.
The head of the long-handled hammer shot forward like a meteor and smashed into the golden staff, ringing against it like a giant bell.
"Dong!!!"
The deep, booming impact almost turned into a shockwave.
Oetsu let out a scream as his body was sent flying backward like a shooting star, nearly tumbling clean off the Zero Division Palace.
Fortunately, he wasn't alone this time.
Kisuke, Shinji, Shunsui, Isshin, and the other captains all moved at once.
Multiple spells of Bakudō (Binding Way) hurled out together, finally arresting Oetsu's trajectory right at the edge of the palace.
He slumped against the invisible barrier of Dankū (Severing Void), his hands trembling uncontrollably as he cursed,
"That monster…"
In that instant, he'd honestly thought the Kōtotsu (Precipice World Cleaner) from the Dangai had rammed into him.
When everyone saw the state he was in, they were all badly shaken as well.
Their eyes all went to his hands.
The Sword God's palms were torn open at the tiger's mouth, blood soaking the grip and nearly staining the long-handled hammer red.
The force of that clash had been so great that it had literally ripped open the hands of the Sword God himself.
After a few seconds catching his breath, Oetsu ground his teeth and glared at Cole.
"Making me eat a loss this big… you've really done it now. Next, you're the one who's in trouble. Get ready."
Once Saiko, in her hammer form, struck a zanpakuto—
The blade's spirit would be knocked out, no exceptions.
And once that happened, as the creator of all zanpakuto, Oetsu could forcibly meddle with that spirit using his ability.
"Oh yeah?"
Cole's voice came lazily as he twisted the golden staff in his hands, eyes roaming over its surface without missing a single detail.
"You said you hammered my zanpakuto's spirit out. So how come… I don't see any change at all?"
He'd been fully prepared a moment ago, eagerly anticipating the appearance of his blade's spirit.
But no matter how he looked, he didn't see anything.
Oetsu was stunned as well.
He couldn't help glancing around.
"Wait… where's your zanpakuto spirit, brat!?"
Every Shinigami's zanpakuto had been forged by his hands.
And the hammer he used for forging— was precisely Saiko's long-handled hammer form.
Every zanpakuto born under Saiko's hammer was under her overwhelming suppressive authority.
All it ever took was a single strike.
The blade's spirit would be smashed out without fail.
He gave the long-handled hammer a little shake, his voice suddenly sounding just a bit uncertain.
"Saiko… did you not hit it just now?"
The hammer glowed softly, and the bandage-masked girl materialized, looking dazed.
"I hit that staff… it's really hard. My head hurts. I'm going to go take a nap. Don't use me for fighting anymore…"
Mumbling that, Saiko went limp and toppled straight into Rukia's arms, fast asleep.
Hearing her report, Oetsu's expression went blank.
He stared at his hands and muttered,
"How is that possible? How can there be a zanpakuto my hammer can't knock the spirit out of?"
Cole snorted.
"Sounds to me like this 'Sword God' title of yours is a little watered down, old man. So, how do you want to die? I'm not letting you off easy."
He cracked his knuckles as he strode toward Oetsu, eyes gleaming with menace.
Oetsu: "…"
He swallowed dryly, looked up at Cole, and forced a strained smile.
"Uh… could you at least not hit my face?"
(End of Chapter)
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