Chapter 105: Frontline Commander
"Whoa… what is that monster?!"
The moment the strange skeletal figure appeared, both allies and enemies were stunned. Omaeda could not help blurting it out.
"Quiet!" Soi Fon snapped, whipping her head around. "You are Onmitsukido. Are you seriously unable to recognize a technique like this?"
"N no, it's just… Captain, you also look like you're seeing it for the first time…" Omaeda mumbled, then immediately realized what he had said. "Uh, I'm sorry, Captain! Please forgive me! I spoke without thinking!"
Shuhei, Kira, and Iba all gave him looks that screamed, Are you tired of living?
Omaeda turned pale and began trembling on the spot, waiting for Soi Fon's fist to smash him into the ground.
But it never came.
Instead, she answered him, voice tight.
"Seeing it for the first time? Nonsense. That is… the complete form of Shunko. Not even Yoruichi and I have reached that realm."
Her eyes narrowed, and her pride sounded almost pained.
"In all of Soul Society, no one should be able to surpass us, the ones who have been desperate enough to perfect this ultimate technique."
Most people could not truly understand what Soi Fon was feeling.
But after seeing Takeru's technique easily withstand the assault of two Vice Captain level Zanpakuto, they could at least grasp its meaning.
In the current situation, with Zanpakuto sealed, this was enough to replace a Zanpakuto and become a decisive trump card.
"This is…?"
Komamura stared in disbelief.
There was no longer any need to block.
The instant the skeleton appeared, the giant blade Tenken had summoned was already pinned away by the ribs that burned like a sacred furnace. What truly wrestled with it now was the silver blue skeletal giant itself.
And that giant was Takeru.
Suddenly, the only complete Hakuda ultimate technique in Soul Society, his unique Shunko: Susanoo, flared with golden light in its eyes.
With a casual strike, it shattered the samurai sword in front of it, along with the massive armored arm that wielded it.
The direct destructive force made the Zanpakuto side recoil in fear.
Haineko and Tobiume instinctively retreated.
But there were always those who refused to believe.
"Bankai!"
Gonryomaru burst out from the left side of the cliff, springing toward Takeru. He activated Bankai in midair.
The small house on his back opened, releasing thick dark clouds. Dozens of golden lightning bolts poured out of them, flowing into the staff in his hand.
"Hehehe…!"
On Takeru's right, the golden fetus with butterfly wings, Konjiki Ashisogi Jizo, also shot out. It expanded in midair into a giant Bankai form, countless blades unfolding from its lower body as it lunged straight for Takeru.
"Hmph!"
At the same time, Gonryomaru leveled his staff and fired a lightning beam so condensed it looked like a laser meant to erase everything.
"Be careful, Captain Shimiya!"
Komamura's whole body tensed as he tried to move, intending to intercept one of them.
He was not fast enough.
As Takeru's Reiryoku surged again, Susanoo transformed further.
Flesh grew over the skeleton. Flesh wrapped bone, skin regenerated, and thick armor formed over it. The whole construct expanded again, growing to dozens of meters tall.
A Reiryoku longsword formed in one hand.
The other hand curled into a fist.
He met the two Captain level Zanpakuto head on.
The sword cleaved into the lightning beam, electricity and Kido Reiryoku grinding against each other with a savage scream.
The fist ignored the cutting blades and slammed down on the head of Konjiki Ashisogi Jizo.
A pincer attack, endured directly.
Seeing this, Ichigo and Byakuya were invigorated and pressed their assault on Hyorinmaru and Senbonzakura.
On the Zanpakuto side, Muramasa's expression turned grim, uncertain. He looked like he was forcing his mind to work at full speed, searching for an answer.
As the chaotic battle resumed, the clash at the center reached a conclusion almost immediately.
The lightning beam scattered, and the golden lightning lost its momentum.
Gonryomaru looked like he had expected nothing less. He did not even have time to react before Susanoo's enormous hand snapped toward him.
"Ah!"
Gonryomaru never imagined such a massive body could move so fast.
The back of the hand struck him squarely.
Dense lightning erupted across his body in defense, but it was useless. He was swatted away like a glowing ball, hurtling down the mountainside at terrifying speed. A tremendous crash followed.
The armor on Susanoo's hand shattered. Flesh was torn away.
Then it visibly repaired itself.
After all, it was a construct of spiritual pressure. As long as Reiryoku was sufficient, it could sustain peak condition. Trading blows was exactly what it did best.
Konjiki Ashisogi Jizo fared no better.
Susanoo grabbed it by the head with one hand, lifted it, and slammed it down off the cliff.
Another earth shaking crash rang out. Even those still on Sōkyoku Hill felt the tremor through their feet.
Boom.
Heavy footsteps crushed the earth.
Tenken's Bankai form, Kokujō Tengen Myōō, raised its sword with both hands and brought it down toward Susanoo's head.
The two giants occupied such a huge area that both sides were forced to retreat again and again just to avoid being caught in the impact.
Yet Takeru's expression never changed.
Susanoo did not even bother forming another long blade.
It caught the falling katana barehanded, gripping it firmly between both palms.
Then golden light exploded from its eyes.
Its body twisted, as if roaring without sound.
To the shock of everyone watching, it lifted Kokujō Tengen Myōō and hurled it over its shoulder into the night sky behind them.
It flew like a meteor toward the Seireitei Central Plaza several kilometers away, raising a dust plume so massive it looked like a tidal wave.
"Captain Kyōraku," Takeru said sharply, "notify the divisions immediately. Organize everyone to stabilize the situation, then evacuate the injured."
As he spoke, Susanoo formed a blade of spiritual particles and swept it across the Zanpakuto group, forcing them back.
Kyōraku froze for a fraction of a second, then reacted instantly.
"Understood!" he said. "Captain Unohana, Ukitake, we evacuate the injured first, then return to assist!"
Once the captains messages reached the divisions, each unit could rally their personnel and suppress the fighting across the Seireitei.
With the overall situation stabilized, the injured could be escorted out safely.
Those still able to fight would have enough time and strength to drag the enemy into a war of attrition.
In the end, this was the Seireitei.
This was the home ground of the Gotei 13.
There was no reason it should be overrun in a few hours by only a dozen or two dozen materialized Zanpakuto led by Muramasa.
They had time.
Time to gather intelligence. Time to find countermeasures. Time to deal with these rebellious Zanpakuto one by one.
And time to search for the Captain Commander and the others whose whereabouts were still unknown.
"Damn it… don't think you can escape!"
As the Shinigami began carrying and supporting their comrades away, Kazashiro swung his twin bladed scythe in rage.
His target was the severely injured Toshiro.
But the strike was stopped.
By Shuhei.
"You…!"
"I don't have time to listen to you," Shuhei cut him off coldly.
"Your appearance annoys me. Anything you say will only disgust me more, so don't say another word."
He raised his Asauchi.
"Right now, I just want to do what my Captain did and use my blade to block your path."
Even though his sword was still in Asauchi form, it felt inexplicably sharp in his hands, as if he were at his strongest in this state.
On the other side, Ichigo, still struggling against Hyorinmaru, was suddenly ambushed by a slash from Hollow White.
"What are you doing?!" Ichigo snapped.
"…That's what I should be asking you."
Hollow White grinned, cruel and playful.
"If you think I'm easygoing just because I haven't attacked your comrades or sided with those guys, then I'll go to the Thirteenth Division and kill a few people right now."
He leaned forward slightly.
"Follow me if you want to stop me."
Before Ichigo could respond, Hollow White vanished.
"What?!"
Ichigo almost chased immediately.
Then he forced himself to stop.
If he left, the already small number of fighters holding the Zanpakuto here would lose one more. That would place Takeru under pressure that might finally break even him.
Ichigo turned and looked at Takeru.
Takeru had noticed.
Their eyes met.
No words were needed.
Ichigo's expression hardened. He nodded once, heavy and absolute, then disappeared in Shunpo.
Takeru, meanwhile, turned and leaped cleanly off Sōkyoku Hill.
"Come on, you worthless scrap metal that doesn't know its place!" his voice rang out.
"Even if you killed your masters, as long as I'm alive, you will never become the masters of the Seireitei!"
Suzumebachi's face twisted, furious and suddenly anxious.
"Hurry up and chase him!" she shouted. "That bastard is going after Tenken and the others!"
Haineko and Tobiume's expressions changed instantly.
If the Shinigami feared losing people, the Zanpakuto feared losing their key fighters just as much.
Tenken, Gonryomaru, and Konjiki Ashisogi Jizo were all Captain class Zanpakuto. They were indispensable among the materialized Zanpakuto.
If Takeru defeated them one by one, it would be a disaster.
Wabisuke and Zabimaru immediately switched targets, abandoning Kyōraku and the others and racing after Takeru.
Senbonzakura also intended to move.
But the moment his gaze shifted, Byakuya's binding Kido arrived.
"Bakudo 61: Rikujokoro."
Six rods of light slammed down and pinned Senbonzakura in place.
"Where do you think you're going?" Byakuya's voice was calm, colder than the night.
"Abandoning your master, and abandoning your opponent."
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"If my Zanpakuto were truly so devoid of honor, then I would actually be relieved you left me."
"Ridiculous!"
Senbonzakura's masked samurai form resembled Byakuya in places, yet it carried a younger, reckless air.
"I am a thousand blades, no, billions of blades. How can a mere single sword defeat me?"
Byakuya did not flinch.
"Have you forgotten your recent defeat?"
"Even with billions of blades, you still shattered before that massive slash."
His gaze grew distant for a moment, as if he could still feel the weight of it.
"That taught me how hollow and powerless my pride was."
He looked directly at Senbonzakura again.
"The current you is like the me from before that defeat."
"No. You are worse."
"To defeat someone like you, one sword is enough."
"Such arrogance!"
Senbonzakura roared, unleashing a storm of petals toward Byakuya.
Hyorinmaru, now without an opponent for the moment, watched the battlefield and decided to pursue the retreating Shinigami.
Komamura intercepted him.
…Seireitei Central Area, Central Plaza.
This vast space surrounded the Palace of Penitence, the Sōkyoku, and key institutions like the First Division barracks.
It was large enough to hold one hundred thousand people fighting.
Under normal circumstances, it felt unnecessarily vast.
But now, as Kokujō Tengen Myōō and Takeru arrived one after another, the land itself suddenly felt fragile.
Boom.
Takeru watched coldly as Susanoo clashed swords with Kokujō Tengen Myōō.
Then his eyes shifted.
He sensed it immediately.
The number of enemies had increased.
More Zanpakuto had caught up, and some had even come from other divisions territories to join the fight.
For example, Sode no Shirayuki.
"I never imagined he could possess such terrifying combat strength even without his Zanpakuto," she murmured, eyes fixed on the silver blue giant of light.
"What's so great about it?" Suzumebachi snapped, refusing to be impressed. "It's just big!"
She transformed into a streak of golden light and shot to the top of Kokujō Tengen Myōō's head.
Her spiritual pressure surged, and her tiny body expanded to normal size.
Her right arm transformed into a missile.
"Hey, you big idiot!" she shouted at Myōō. "Back up!"
Myōō jumped back without a word, widening the distance.
"That's right!" Suzumebachi huffed, pleased.
"I've seen your moves. They're strong, sure, but there's no way you can block my Bankai."
She pointed at Takeru as if declaring victory.
"Remember this. Right here, you took one of my attacks."
"But don't misunderstand. I'm not weak and useless like that woman."
"My strength surpasses hers, and you can't use Zanpakuto tricks anymore, so this time I win!"
The missile spewed thick smoke and launched.
Under the shocked gaze of the other Zanpakuto, it struck the silver blue giant directly.
Boom!
A deafening roar shook the plaza.
Explosive flames erupted outward like a volcano, and a fierce white flash lit the Seireitei night as if it were daytime.
Across the city, countless people paused whatever they were doing and turned to look at the mushroom cloud rising into the sky.
"Cough, cough…" Haineko, covered in dust, crawled out from beneath a collapsed wall, blinking as she looked around.
"Did we get him?"
"Probably… not," Tobiume said, appearing from who knew where. She covered her mouth and nose with her sleeve, voice strained.
She did not need to explain.
Every Zanpakuto present could feel Takeru's spiritual pressure.
It had not weakened.
It had not disappeared.
It had become stronger.
More massive.
More terrifying.
"You're kidding…" Suzumebachi stared, blank and disbelieving.
As the dust settled, Sode no Shirayuki, Haineko, Tobiume, Wabisuke, Zabimaru, all of them froze.
Because what stood before them was a Takeru they were forced to look up at.
Far up.
The Susanoo had grown to at least a hundred meters tall, sitting like a small mountain.
A silver blue Karasu Tengu clad in armor.
Twin wings spread from its back, every scale and feather so vivid it looked alive.
Its spiritual pressure was no longer violently burning.
It was stable.
Dense.
Solid.
Even standing still, it inspired dread, like a living embodiment of divine might and terror.
Takeru stood on the Karasu Tengu's forehead, between its brows, arms crossed, looking down at everyone with disdain.
"You just said you've seen my moves," he said evenly.
"So I'll show you something different, so you won't be disappointed."
"Shunko: Susanoo."
"What you saw earlier was the complete form of Shunko, yes."
"But it was not the complete form of Susanoo."
His eyes sharpened.
"Now, this is its true appearance."
"Who are you trying to fool?!" Suzumebachi screamed. "The Shunko I know is not some cheating ability like this!"
"That only proves how little you know," Takeru replied calmly.
But the power this opponent called cheating was not without cost.
Takeru had already used his two Compound Potions for the day.
He had used them to extend how long he could maintain Shunko: Susanoo at full power.
The previous stages had been manageable.
This form was not.
The burden on him was heavy, because his spiritual pressure still fell short of Second Rank.
Therefore…
"Let's end this quickly," Takeru said.
His eyes flashed.
Susanoo's eyes flared with golden light.
Without hesitation, he drew his blade and struck, splitting Kokujō Tengen Myōō cleanly in two with a textbook Iaijutsu slash.
The upper half, along with the severed katana, tilted and fell.
A ridiculous amount of blood gushed from its waist, splashing down like rain, stirred by the lingering heat of the explosion.
The other Zanpakuto were shaken to the core.
They immediately unleashed their true abilities, swarming Susanoo.
Armor cracked, then repaired.
Flesh tore, then stitched itself back together.
Attacks aimed at Takeru within the head accomplished nothing.
Susanoo's defense was inherently monstrous, and even if the Zanpakuto attacks pierced that defense, the damage was weakened again and again.
And closing the distance by flying up to strike Susanoo's head was no easy feat either.
For a time, Suzumebachi and the others were locked in a bitter, grinding struggle.
"What a bunch of useless fellows."
Susanoo cleaved through the Baboon Bone Cannon with a single strike, the blade descending as if it would crush the Baboon Woman along with her weapon.
Then the night sky split with a roar.
A flying dragon surged overhead.
Bathed in moonlight, it looked sacred and beautiful, straight out of a fairy tale.
It exhaled a wave of heat.
Susanoo lifted its sword horizontally and blocked.
The Baboon Woman and the Snake Woman, who had already dropped out of Bankai, seized the opening and retreated.
Takeru raised an eyebrow.
Before he could speak, the Mushroom Woman appeared on the dragon's back.
Her spiritual pressure surged sharply.
The fairy tale dragon spread its wings, and an ocean of Star Ash scattered outward.
A rough count would be tens of thousands of fragments.
If one fragment could critically wound a seated officer, then tens of thousands were enough to erase an entire division's barracks.
Yet that terrifying power was not aimed at Takeru.
Instead, it flowed like a sparkling river of stars toward a certain location in the Seireitei.
"…!"
Takeru instantly identified the direction.
The Sixth Division district, most likely the noble district.
He piloted Susanoo upward without hesitation, arriving above the Sixth Division district just before the shining river descended.
He attacked immediately.
The long blade snapped back into its sheath with a clack.
Seven Flash.
Seven Kido Threads.
Thick strands that could also be called ropes sliced through the night sky, forming a cordon that intercepted the Star Ash cluster by force.
Boom, boom, boom, boom!
The chain of explosions was far more intense than any festival fireworks.
A sea of fire raged above the Sixth Division district, drawing the attention of countless people across the Seireitei.
Back at Sōkyoku Hill, Byakuya's gaze flickered for an instant, distracted by the battle surging toward the Sixth Division district.
But Senbonzakura did not use that moment to sneak attack.
Because Muramasa had already made a new decision.
"Retreat," he ordered. "Now is not the time to fight the Shinigami to the death."
"…"
Senbonzakura hesitated, reluctant.
Then he complied.
Meanwhile, on the Shinigami Academy grounds, the Mushroom Woman landed astride her dragon and spoke casually to the gathered Zanpakuto.
"While I have him distracted, retreat quickly. Gotei 13 reinforcements will arrive soon."
"You," Suzumebachi snapped, pointing at her, furious. "You're that guy's Zanpakuto, right? Why didn't you show up earlier? If we all teamed up, there would be no need to retreat!"
"His condition was too good," the Mushroom Woman replied, as if stating an obvious fact.
"Even I didn't want to clash head on with him then."
She waved a hand lazily.
"So after briefly hindering him, I slipped away."
"…!"
The Zanpakuto fell silent, stunned.
Suzumebachi wanted to argue, but no words came.
It was true.
That Shinigami's combat strength was abnormal.
He could fight Captain class Zanpakuto without relying on his own Zanpakuto.
He could take multiple opponents at once.
Even if Shunko was astonishing and comparable to Bankai, this still felt hard to believe.
"Don't worry," the Mushroom Woman said with a light smile. "There will be plenty of chances to fight."
"You all want a one on one confrontation with your masters, right?"
"Then a chaotic battle like this is clearly not a wise decision."
She glanced toward Sōkyoku Hill, as if sensing something.
"Besides, they seem to have reached the same conclusion I did."
The spiritual pressures of Muramasa and the other Zanpakuto were rapidly withdrawing.
They did not even try to hide it.
Clearly, they were doing it on purpose so the others could sense them and retreat in time.
Since it had come to that, Suzumebachi and the others nodded in silence.
"Oh, right," the Mushroom Woman added, sounding almost like she had remembered it late. "Bring Gonryomaru and one other with you."
.....
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