Ichimaru Gin steadied himself, eyes falling on the tear in his haori, then lifting to meet Uchiha Senya's triumphant gaze.
The mountaintop lay in dead silence, broken only by their ragged breathing and the wailing night wind.
Gin slowly raised his hand, brushing his fingertips over the crimson-stained fabric.
Heh… A faint, chilling laugh escaped him, the trace of blood catching the moonlight.
Then his gaze lifted—cold, sharp, precise. It pierced Senya's violently beating pupils, filled with madness and fear.
"Uchiha Senya… you are truly naive."
Shinsō rose in Gin's hand, tip fixed on Senya. But this time, his Spiritual Pressure remained restrained, solid, lethal—like a dark current beneath the deep sea.
The interference device still hummed, yet Gin's eyes betrayed one truth: he had found a way to endure it. Or perhaps… he simply did not care.
The mad delight on Senya's face froze. Fear, raw and unrelenting, replaced it as he stared into Gin's abyssal gaze.
His hand, clutching his blade, trembled uncontrollably.
He now realized his previous strike had not ended the battle. Instead, it had torn off the last shred of patience from his opponent, unleashing a far more terrifying predator.
"You monster!"
Senya pressed the interference device again, trying to maximize its power. The buzzing sharpened, cutting through the night.
At that instant, Gin moved.
Shinsō vanished. A silver streak tore through the air.
"Bankai—Kamishini no Yari!"
Too fast. Impossible to track.
Senya swung in desperation, but his movements were half a beat too slow. Shinsō pierced straight for his heart. Blood spurted, eyes widening in shock.
Gin descended silently beside him. The usual fake smile had vanished. Only the predator remained.
"Now."
Fear vanished from Senya's face, replaced by cold triumph.
But Gin's pupils contracted as he saw Senya's eyes—scarlet, with three black tomoe slowly rotating.
"Sharingan, Genjutsu!"
A mental stab, invisible yet lethal, pierced Gin's mind. The mountaintop twisted and shattered.
Rukongai streets appeared.
And there—Matsumoto Rangiku, smiling brightly, unaware of the shadows with blades poised behind her.
A scream, silent yet deafening, erupted in Gin's chest.
"Rangiku—!!!"
Logic shattered. Instinct and desperation drove him forward, body aching, heart burning.
"It's over, Ichimaru Gin."
Senya's triumphant voice rang as he swung his Zanpakuto at Gin, wide open.
Bang—!
Shinsō intercepted. The strike slammed like a battering ram. Gin spat a mouthful of blood, ribs shattered. His body was flung over the cliff, tracing a violent arc into the abyss.
Senya, panting, ignored his own wound. His scarlet Sharingan faded. Satisfaction lingered in his eyes.
"Hmph… Genius Captain, venomous snake… nothing more than this."
Even the deepest love, he mused, was merely a weakness to exploit.
Gin's orange-red hair tie—fallen during the impact—caught his gaze. A relic of decades of secret affection for Rangiku.
Senya bent, fingers twisting it.
"Matsumoto Rangiku… you will never know what he sacrificed… and you will never know how terribly he lost."
The hair tie, like a withered leaf, was released. The biting wind swallowed it, spiraling into the abyss, disappearing from sight.