"This…!?"
Even Byakuya Kuchiki, whose composure was legendary, felt his breath catch.
The spiritual pressure wasn't merely immense—it carried a presence, dense and ancient, like sunlight turned to judgment. Golden light coiled around the blade in Akira's hand, humming with an almost divine weight. It was not just power… it was authority. And it terrified him.
For a captain of his standing to feel genuine fear—that alone spoke volumes.
"No… this has gone too far!" Renji growled, his hand twitching toward Zabimaru. But it was already too late. Akira's reiatsu had peaked.
"Excalibur!"
A single downward slash—and the world flooded gold.
BOOM—!
The blast didn't just blind; it erased. The training ground vaporized into a crater so deep it cracked the bedrock beneath Seireitei. Shockwaves rippled across the districts, rattling windows as far as the Maggots' Nest. Shinigami across the Court of Pure Souls looked skyward, where a column of golden radiance pierced the heavens like a spear of divine retribution.
When the light faded, silence fell—thick, stunned, disbelieving.
The arena was gone. And with it… Kuchiki Takuto. Not a shred of his shihakushō remained.
"That… that was just his shikai?" someone whispered.
"Impossible…"
Akira lowered his blade, the golden glow receding. "It seems I've won." His voice carried no triumph—only cold finality. He raised the sword again, its edge glinting. "Who among you wishes to challenge me next?"
No one moved. No one spoke.
What madness is this? The sheer destructive force of that release—no seated officer, perhaps not even a captain, would risk facing it blindly.
Byakuya turned without a word, his white scarf fluttering. Renji lingered a moment longer, fists clenched, eyes burning.
"You… you killed him," Renji finally hissed, voice raw.
Akira's gaze didn't waver. "The seat examination allows lethal force. Takuto himself admitted to 'accidents' during past trials—three unseated shinigami died under his blade last year. The system permits it. I merely used it."
Renji opened his mouth—then closed it. There was no refuting the truth.
Akira hadn't acted rashly. He'd calculated. He knew killing a Kuchiki would paint a target on his back from all Four Great Houses. He knew the Sixth Division would watch him like a viper in their midst.
But he also knew: power like this couldn't be ignored. And in Soul Society, power demanded recognition.
"Captain," Akira said evenly, sheathing his zanpakutō. "I trust my placement is now clear?"
Byakuya paused, eyes sharp as winter steel.
"Your reiatsu exceeds that of any third seat I have seen. That technique… it defies the norm. Most captains could not achieve such devastation with shikai alone." He exhaled, a rare concession. "You will assume the position of Third Seat of the Sixth Division. Collect your insignia after the proceedings."
Then, with one last unreadable glance—part warning, part wary respect—he turned and walked away.
Akira knew—despite Byakuya's outward adherence to fairness—that he had earned the captain's hostility.
And that was exactly what he wanted.
As for the rest of the Sixth Division, none dared voice their objections.
After all, how many Shinigami—even those who had mastered Bankai—could level an entire reinforced training ground with a single strike?
Perhaps a handful of captains might manage such destruction… but in one blow? That was another matter entirely.
…
After leaving the arena, Akira returned to his quarters and collapsed onto his futon, utterly drained.
"I didn't expect that one attack to exhaust my Reiatsu completely…" he muttered. "Spiritual stamina is still my greatest weakness."
Unbeknownst to him, news of the Sixth Division's seating examination had already begun to spread like wildfire through the Seireitei.
Under the full force of his Zanpakutō's release—Excalibur—the training ground had been reduced to rubble. The shockwave had rattled barracks across the district, and the blinding column of light that pierced the sky could not have gone unnoticed.
Fifth Division Barracks
Aizen Sōsuke set his teacup down and removed his glasses, his unreadable gaze fixed on the horizon where the Sixth Division's grounds once stood.
"That power…" he murmured. "Even among the Gotei 13's captains, such raw destructive force is rare. Has another Shinigami awakened Bankai so suddenly?"
If so, this new variable merited close observation.
First Division Headquarters
Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni stood motionless, his cane resting lightly against the floor. His expression gave nothing away—but his attention was clearly drawn toward the Sixth Division.
"Captain-Commander," Chōjirō Sasakibe said, his voice unusually tense, "do you recognize a Zanpakutō capable of such devastation?"
In all his centuries of service, Sasakibe could recall no Shinigami—save perhaps a select few captains—who could unleash such overwhelming power.
"I do not," Yamamoto replied slowly. "But we will learn the truth soon enough."
Before Sasakibe could respond, a figure materialized before them in a burst of shunpo—Byakuya Kuchiki, his haori pristine, his composure unshaken.
Sasakibe exhaled in understanding. Of course the captain would report this himself.
"Your division continues to produce exceptional talent, Captain Kuchiki," Sasakibe said carefully. "Beyond your own prowess, it seems another prodigy has manifested Bankai. May I ask who?"
But Byakuya's reply silenced the room.
"The Shinigami responsible is Akira," he stated, voice calm yet edged with something unreadable. "And he has not yet achieved Bankai."
"Impossible!" Sasakibe exclaimed before he could stop himself. "Without Bankai, such destruction defies reason!"
Even Yamamoto's brow furrowed slightly.
"Those training grounds are reinforced with Sekkiseki-laced stone," the Captain-Commander said gravely. "Ordinary Shikai—even among lieutenants—cannot so much as chip them."
"If what you say is true," Sasakibe whispered, "then once this Akira does attain Bankai… his power may rival that of the most formidable captains."
Byakuya gave a single, solemn nod.
"Indeed. That is why I suspect his Zanpakutō may be the strongest light-manifesting Zanpakutō ever recorded in Soul Reaper history."