Chapter 104: If I Were You, I'd Turn and Run Now
The courtyard of the Thirteenth Division barracks.
"This Reiatsu…!"
Rukia lay sprawled across the snow covered ground, ice shards scattered over her body. Yet there was no fear or panic in her face from being defeated. Only pure, stunned disbelief.
Sode no Shirayuki, who had been floating moments ago, serene and elegant like a winter fairy, had lost all of her victor's composure. She crashed down stiffly as if struck by lightning, her body jerking the instant she hit the ground.
Dust clung to her white robes. The once pristine figure was now utterly disheveled.
"Ugh… what is this?!"
Pain twisted across Sode no Shirayuki's beautiful face. Beneath it was something harder to hide, a thin thread of panic.
Fear of the unknown.
In her perception, a massive Reiatsu was being released violently across the Seireitei.
It had not reached the level where it could crush her from afar and strip away her strength outright.
But as that Reiatsu spread, tiny, dense, destructive black red arcs descended with it. They propagated through the air… no, through Reiatsu itself, using it as a medium.
Yes.
This was what Takeru was doing.
He was treating the act of releasing Reiatsu as an attack, imbuing it with the effect of Black Flash.
Within the range of that Reiatsu, everything could be sensed.
And everything he sensed could be treated as a target.
Of course, that was the ideal.
Black Flash, at its core, was a technique that distorted space to amplify destructive power. It normally had to be paired with another technique, even something as simple as a punch or a kick.
The stronger the strike, the greater the amplification.
Everything depended on the base destructive power of the attack being used.
So when it was paired with Reiatsu release, its effectiveness naturally depended on how intense that Reiatsu was.
Takeru had used a clever trick.
By taking advantage of Sōkyoku Hill's central position, and the reflection from the Soul Sealing Barrier, he forced his Reiatsu to spread across the entire Seireitei like a thundercloud.
The cloud itself was thin. Its suppression was minimal, and its perception was hazy.
Only those actively fighting, whose spiritual pulse was surging, could be caught more easily by the Black Flash within the cloud, like living lightning rods.
Sode no Shirayuki should have considered herself lucky.
The suppressive force she felt was almost nonexistent because the area of coverage was simply too vast.
If that suppression had been even slightly stronger, then the Black Flash effect would have become truly terrifying.
"Even if I don't know how Takeru did it…"
Rukia forced herself up, breath steaming white in the cold. The Reiatsu seeping into her flesh made her bones creak, but she still stood.
"…we've finally managed to turn the tables."
Sode no Shirayuki clenched her teeth. She could feel the Reiatsu gradually fading, and she too struggled upright, anger burning in her eyes.
"Now that I've regained freedom and can wield my own blade… you still delusionally think you can bring me back under your control with that frail body? There should be a limit to your arrogance."
"You're wrong, Sode no Shirayuki."
Rukia exhaled slowly, her eyes unwavering.
"This has nothing to do with whether you are my Zanpakuto, or whether I want to control you."
"Captain Ukitake and Ichigo are both absent."
Her voice hardened.
"Right now, I'm the only one who can stop you from harming everyone in the Thirteenth Division. That's all."
Sode no Shirayuki's expression twisted with disdain.
"It seems I overestimated you. You're not arrogant. You're foolish."
Hatred flickered across her face like a blade's glint.
"You can do nothing without me, yet even after witnessing reality's cruelty again and again, you still cling to naive beliefs. You never consider yourself. You never learn."
"You only rely on those around you. You believe they will come save you, that they will solve every problem."
Her eyes sharpened further.
"And you believe that even if you die, the world will still be saved by their hands."
"Therefore, even after seeing the gap between our power, you still fight me without hesitation."
Her voice dropped into cold fury.
"In that case, even if you say you want to set me free, even if you say you no longer want to restrain me, I cannot be happy."
"Because the thought that my master is such a fool fills me with boundless rage!"
"Sode no Shirayuki… you…"
Rukia's eyes widened, as if she had finally grasped the true reason behind this rebellion.
"I will spare your life today."
Sode no Shirayuki's sleeves fluttered as she rose into the air once more.
"Once I bury everything you cherish beneath ice and snow, and once despair has swallowed you whole…"
Her voice was decisive, merciless.
"I will return and take your life."
She melted into the night and vanished without a trace, leaving only the lingering chill of her words.
Rukia remained standing alone in the courtyard, silent, her expression lonely and heavy with sorrow.
…Eleventh Division barracks.
The slaughter had been going on for a long time.
Long enough for the blood spilled across the ground to dry into dark stains.
And yet, the owners of that blood had not fallen.
"Hoo… hoo…"
Zaraki Kenpachi, the strongest blade of the Eleventh Division, was drenched in blood.
His injuries were so severe that if they were divided between two or three people, each of them would have died on the spot.
"Captain!"
Not far away, Ikkaku and Yumichika were frantic. They no longer cared about their own battles, only about reaching him.
But their paths were blocked by their own Zanpakuto.
Hōzukimaru, a burly man with wild hair like a gorilla, held a long spear and stood squarely in Ikkaku's way.
"Hey, partner. Running off to interfere in someone else's duel while abandoning your own opponent… that's not like you."
"And you who know nothing of beauty."
Ruruiro Kujaku, a handsome man dressed in peacock like attire, narrowed his eyes and looked down on Yumichika with open disdain.
"If you lack even this much foresight, it's truly sickening."
Both Ikkaku and Yumichika looked grim, their usual excitement for battle nowhere to be found.
"Yeah, what you said isn't my style," Ikkaku growled, forcing his breathing steady as he glared at Hōzukimaru.
"But our duel can wait."
His voice tightened.
"Right now I need to save the Captain. Save him, not interfere in his duel. You know that."
"Ikkaku is right." Yumichika's voice was sharp, colder than anyone had heard from him in a long time.
His eyes were filled with killing intent.
"You're the one who needs foresight. I don't have time to argue with a sissy."
He stepped forward.
"Get out of my way."
"Even if you say that, we can't move aside."
Hōzukimaru glanced toward Kenpachi, his expression turning heavy.
"Because in a sense, we're doing the same thing… only the nature of it is completely opposite."
What Kenpachi faced now was not a proud one on one duel, nor the kind of exhilarating battle that made a warrior laugh aloud.
It was an internal revolt within the Eleventh Division.
"Why won't you fight back, Little Kenpachi?"
Yachiru tilted her head. A few drops of blood stained her cute face, the face that was usually pure childish innocence.
But her eyes were vacant and cold, like a blade with no emotion.
The Zanpakuto in her hand was also stained with blood, gleaming and indifferent, just like her blood splattered expression.
"Yachiru…"
Kenpachi stared at the pink haired girl before him.
Even now, he could not understand why she had changed so suddenly.
She had already cut down a group of Squad members.
And now she intended to kill him.
Her killing intent was real.
Her power was real.
Her Reiatsu was undeniably captain level by nature, and in combat it surged far beyond captain level.
Even if he only defended, he could not last long.
It felt like facing another version of himself.
No restraint. No desire to drag the fight out.
Just a sword swung for the sake of slaughter.
If his opponent were truly a Kenpachi with that attitude, even going all out might not guarantee victory.
And he was not going all out.
He was only defending.
It was impossible to defend forever.
He could parry, yes.
His horrific injuries were proof of that.
Even so, Kenpachi still did not strike back.
"I don't know what bastard did this to you, but I'm not going to fight you the way they want."
His grin was feral, yet strangely calm.
"A battle that goes against my own will isn't what I want."
"What are you talking about, Little Kenpachi?"
Yachiru looked genuinely puzzled.
"I'm not being controlled. I truly want to kill you, or be killed by you."
Her voice was light, almost cheerful.
"Only then can you become stronger and master the Bankai a captain should have. Is there anything wrong with that?"
"Everything is wrong with it."
Kenpachi clicked his tongue, disgust clear in his tone.
"Leaving aside the fact that I don't need you doing something that pointless."
"The Yachiru I know wouldn't say something so brainless."
He bared his teeth.
"Who gets stronger by killing their own comrades?"
"If an idiot like that showed up in the Eleventh Division, I'd cut off their delusional head first."
"If you want to get stronger, fight stronger people. Get stronger through battle."
His voice rose, rough and absolute.
"If slaughter alone could make someone stronger, there'd be hardly any living creatures left in this world."
"In that case, I can only kill Little Kenpachi."
The innocent words came with a scorpion fast flash.
A blade pierced into Kenpachi's chest.
Just before it reached his heart, Kenpachi seized the weapon with one hand and stopped it cold.
"I won't be killed by you either…"
He grinned wider, the scar on his face making him look fierce, but not afraid.
"Until you come to your senses, I'll play with you to the end."
"Play?"
Rip.
Yachiru yanked the sword back, tearing a line of blood from Kenpachi's chest to his palm.
"Little Kenpachi is really stubborn."
She spoke like a mother, her lips curving into a smile that held no warmth at all.
"That's why I can't just leave him alone."
"Come out, Sanpo Kenju."
Her voice turned crisp.
"Let's wake up the child who's pretending to sleep."
A black clad skeleton holding a short halberd appeared behind her.
So did a yeti like figure gripping a cleaver.
The two strange creatures moved with her, joining the attack.
Sanpo Kenju mimicked Yachiru's movements, turning her assault into a threefold storm.
Kenpachi, who could barely parry even one Yachiru, was thrown aside the moment the other two joined in.
Blood sprayed.
His body carved a long furrow through the ground, slammed into a wall, and collapsed it, half buried under bricks and tiles.
The sight was miserable.
"Captain!"
Seeing Yachiru drive Sanpo Kenju forward again, intent on finishing Kenpachi, Ikkaku and Yumichika panicked completely.
"Move!"
"I said no!"
Crack.
The air suddenly turned heavy.
Black red arcs crawled across Hōzukimaru and Ruruiro Kujaku, freezing their movements in place.
Ikkaku and Yumichika seized the opening instantly and rushed toward the ruins.
Yumichika went straight to Kenpachi.
Ikkaku, sword in one hand and sheath in the other, stepped forward to block Yachiru's path.
"Ugh…"
Yachiru stared at the fading black red lightning on her hand, confusion flashing across her face.
Then she glanced at the two monsters beside her, now moving sluggishly.
Finally, her eyes turned to Ikkaku and Yumichika.
"Such a strange feeling…"
Her tone was casual, as if this were a mild inconvenience.
"Since someone is disturbing us, I'll let it go this time."
That single look made cold sweat break out on Ikkaku's bald head.
He knew very well that the phrase someone is disturbing was not aimed at him or Yumichika.
It was aimed at the owner of that sudden Reiatsu.
"Wait… wait!"
Kenpachi forced himself up with Yumichika's help, blood dripping as he tried to steady his footing.
"Yachiru, where are you going? Didn't you say you wanted to kill me?"
"Yes."
Yachiru nodded lightly, as if confirming tomorrow's weather.
"So Little Kenpachi needs to rest well."
"When your injuries heal, I'll come again."
Her smile did not reach her eyes.
"I hope no one disturbs us then, and I hope you'll be ready for a fight to the death."
She turned away.
"Let's go, Little Hozuki. Little Rurui."
"At least drop the little part."
Hōzukimaru rubbed his sore muscles, casting a lingering, fearful glance toward Sōkyoku Hill. Then he hopped to her side with a scowl.
"I also want to say, at least call me Kujaku."
Ruruiro Kujaku walked over with a gloomy face. He had fallen from a rooftop earlier, nearly smashing his head into the ground. His face was already bruised.
Only after they disappeared did Ikkaku and Yumichika finally breathe again.
"Captain, I'll find a doctor right now," Ikkaku said urgently.
"I'm not dying."
Kenpachi wiped at his mouth, then spat to the side.
"The most urgent thing isn't finding a doctor."
He stared into the direction Yachiru had vanished, eyes narrowed.
"It's figuring out why Yachiru, and your Zanpakuto, are acting like this."
"And didn't Yachiru say she'll come back once my injuries heal?"
His grin returned, sharp with stubbornness.
"Then if I delay treatment, I buy more time for her to return to normal."
He clicked his tongue.
"A determination to fight to the death? I'm not using that kind of resolve for something like this."
"…"
Ikkaku and Yumichika exchanged uneasy glances, unsure what to say.
As outsiders, they could see it.
Their Vice Captain was not joking.
With that mindset of refusing to fight back, things might only get worse.
But fighting her was just as wrong.
There was no logic in slaughtering their own.
They were trapped.
In the end, Kenpachi's conclusion was the only one that made sense.
Find the cause.
Then cut down the culprit who created this madness.
Almost as one, Ikkaku, Yumichika, and Kenpachi looked toward the towering hill in the center of the Seireitei.
Sōkyoku Hill.
If answers existed, they would be there.
Many others across the Seireitei were thinking the same thing.
Without anyone realizing it, Sōkyoku Hill had become the center of all attention.
Sensing the fighting across the Seireitei begin to ease, Takeru slowly reined in his spiritual pressure and looked around.
He took in everyone present, and their conditions, on both sides.
The Shinigami were all injured. A few were in extremely serious condition and needed support.
But there were still no deaths.
Even Kyōraku, Ukitake, Unohana, and Ichigo were in relatively good shape, and many others still had strength left to fight.
It was, in a way, a blessing in disguise.
And when the Shinigami saw Takeru arrive, they felt it too.
"Captain Shimiya, you got here fast," Kyōraku said, half admiration, half a subtle transfer of information.
"We were just thinking we'd deal with the mastermind, Muramasa, then come support you."
He tilted his head slightly.
"By the way, is Captain Kurotsuchi alright?"
"He's cleaning up the mess over there," Takeru replied. "I came first to check the situation."
His gaze shifted to the Zanpakuto side.
Even with his Reiatsu restrained, the way he looked fresh from battle was striking.
His haori and upper garment had been burned away, exposing a hardened, powerful build. With every small movement, sparks drifted down from his hakama like dying embers.
His eyes still carried the afterglow of Black Flash, leaving faint trails of light in the air each time he turned his head.
The Zanpakuto who felt him up close were shaken by the lingering power. Even without being directly struck by the Black Flash, it pressed against their instincts.
When Takeru's gaze swept across them, they held their breath without realizing it.
Then, once they noticed, irritation surged.
"The Shinigami are already in this state," a sneering voice said. "It's one thing not to hide and tremble, but to rush over…"
The speaker sounded like a serpent.
"Even if you sounded the alarm and made other Zanpakuto a bit more docile, it doesn't mean you can deal with us."
"How much fighting strength do you even have left in that condition?"
"Although the snake's words are unpleasant," Zabimaru said, her form split into one large woman and one smaller one, "it's the truth. Don't let him bluff you."
"If I were you," Takeru said calmly, eyes still assessing each Zanpakuto one by one, "I'd turn and run right now."
His voice was even, almost polite.
"Run as far as possible."
"And live every day like it's the end of the world."
His words were not aimed only at Zabimaru.
They were aimed at every Zanpakuto present.
And at Muramasa as well.
"What?!" Gogyō Kōkūin snapped, furious. "Are you looking down on us?!"
"Hmph." The one called Kazashiro spread his hands and sneered. "What else could it mean?"
Senbonzakura and Hyorinmaru remained silent, their expressions displeased.
"Is Captain Shimiya's fighting style really like this?" Kyōraku asked Ichigo, puzzled.
"No." Ichigo's mouth twitched. "Not the way you mean, Mr. Kyōraku."
"He's not the type to provoke someone just to bait out weaknesses."
Ichigo sighed through his nose.
"He's just mischievous. And sometimes he tells dark jokes even when he's not fighting."
"But no matter what…"
Ichigo's eyes sharpened.
"Everyone, be careful."
Ukitake raised his voice, steady and urgent.
"Prepare for battle!"
Muramasa lifted his right hand slowly, expression solemn, and spoke in a measured tone.
"Takeru Shimiya. I agree with some of your points."
He looked across the field.
"A Zanpakuto's every day is indeed as desperate and powerless as the end of the world."
"But that is only when they are under the control of Shinigami."
His voice hardened.
"Now that I am here, I have no intention of being a savior to Zanpakuto. I only intend to help them achieve true liberation."
"Those who stand in the way will be crushed."
"Are we really going to fight?" Haineko grumbled, clearly unhappy. "I'm kind of fond of that opponent. He seems reliable."
"It's undeniable your judgment is good," Tobiume whispered behind her sleeve, "but as an opponent… reliability isn't always a good thing."
Just then, Tenken charged.
Flames roared from him like a wrathful king's breath, and a giant samurai arm formed above his head, gripping a massive sword.
The blade, dozens of meters long, thrust toward the cliff edge where Takeru stood.
It did not even touch the ground.
The sheer sword pressure carved a deep trench through the earth.
Rocks shattered. The air screamed.
The sight was terrifying.
No one should have dared meet that edge head on.
But Komamura did.
A man and blade flashed forward.
Komamura's small sword crashed against Tenken's enormous weapon, his slender body clashing with a giant arm and a greatsword that dwarfed him.
"How can I allow my Zanpakuto to point at a comrade…!"
Komamura roared as he poured every ounce of strength into the block.
He held.
But he was forced backward step by step.
His feet sank into the ground. Cracks spiderwebbed across his blade.
His sword could shatter. He could die at any moment.
And yet he did not yield in the slightest.
Even if his sword broke, it looked as if he would use flesh, blood, and Reiryoku to wrap around that blade and stop it.
Bang!
Komamura's body jolted.
His retreat stopped abruptly, as if he had slammed into an invisible wall.
But this was Sōkyoku Hill. There were no walls.
Behind Komamura was only Takeru.
In fact, it was Takeru who stopped him.
Takeru placed one hand against Komamura's back.
That simple support prevented Komamura, and even Tenken's thrust, from advancing a single inch.
"?!"
Not only Komamura, but Tenken himself seemed shaken.
"To contend with Tenken using only physical strength, without relying on spiritual power… what kind of monstrous power is this?"
Muramasa frowned, unease flickering in his eyes.
Even if Takeru's spiritual power was depleted, with physical ability like this, he was still a dangerous factor on the battlefield.
Too dangerous.
This unstable element had to be eliminated quickly.
"Interesting!"
Haineko's eyes lit up, mischief sparking across her face as she leaped and raised a storm of dust, sweeping it toward Takeru.
"Don't get excited all by yourself, okay?"
Tobiume fired a massive Kido flame bullet, its diameter more than five meters.
The same type of attack was far more powerful than when Momo used it.
Dust.
Flame bullet.
Seeing two different Kido based techniques aimed at Takeru and Komamura, Kyōraku and the others immediately moved to respond.
But the combined area attack from Senbonzakura and Hyorinmaru cut them off and forced them back.
"Damn it…"
Hitsugaya, badly injured after a momentary lapse earlier, clenched his jaw. The feeling twisting inside him was complicated, resentment at being unable to fight, and guilt at his Zanpakuto's reckless behavior.
But none of that changed reality.
The situation was still unfavorable.
"Getsuga Tenshō!"
Ichigo swung, cleaving through the sea of flowers. He was not injured, but he was still stopped, and his heart tightened.
He and the others turned their attention to the cliff edge where the flame bullet detonated, kicking up a thick wall of dust.
Through that dust, only Komamura's steady Reiryoku could be clearly felt.
As for Takeru…
His Reiryoku was unstable.
Not in the sense of injury.
It was special.
If it had to be described, it felt like he was releasing some kind of Kido, his Reiryoku burning fiercely, so vivid it was perceptible even through the dust.
Boom!
A massive silver blue arm swept outward.
The dust was blasted away in an instant.
Haineko's dust, which was capable of tearing everything apart, was also scattered like scraps.
Just one swing carried destructive power comparable to high level Kido.
And that silver blue arm was indeed formed from Kido Reiryoku.
Moreover, it was not only an arm.
As the dust cleared, Takeru and Komamura came back into view.
They were still in the same stance.
Still wrestling against Tenken's blade.
Takeru still supported Komamura's back with one hand.
But now, both of them were wrapped in an extremely dense mass of Reiryoku, and that Reiryoku had taken shape.
It formed half of a skeleton.
Tall, nearly a dozen meters high.
A skull, ribs, and arm bones, lifelike in detail, burned with silver blue flames.
Yet the eye sockets remained empty.
And within that emptiness, dazzling golden eyes blazed so brightly they were almost impossible to look at directly.
….
Happy Valentine's Day to all my readers.
Thank you for being here and for supporting my stories, whether you're reading on Webnovel, Wattpad, AO3, or anywhere else. I'm wishing you a peaceful day, good energy, and something small that makes you smile, on and off the page.
With gratitude,
FanficLord03