Tap... tap... tap...
Chōjirō Sasakibe—long renowned for his "loyalty and courage"—actually took two unconscious steps backward. His heavy footsteps echoed crisply against the bluestone pavement.
But he quickly realized his lapse in composure. Drawing his Zanpakutō and pointing it at Fūjin Taichi, he declared:
"As elites among the Shinigami, even if our blades are broken, we will never retreat!
Be it Hakuda or Kidō, as long as we hold the conviction to defeat this criminal, victory will be ours! Now—charge!"
"Yes…!"
Though the division members responded in unison, the confidence that had filled their voices at the start was gone. It was clear that fear of Fūjin Taichi had taken root in their hearts.
"I'll repeat myself," Taichi said calmly, gripping the hilt of Tsukumo once more. "I only cut your blades just now. If you're foolish enough to persist, next time I'll be cutting off your heads."
Out of consideration for his former comrades, he didn't want to go too far. But if they insisted on pushing him, that would be another matter.
"Loyalty! Honor! With the pride of elites, eradicate all evil!"
Seeing his subordinates hesitate, Sasakibe shouted sternly:
"Pierce him—Gonryōmaru!"
A flash of light shimmered from his Zanpakutō. The hilt transformed into a Western-style circular guard, and the blade grew longer and slimmer. Aside from that, its released form showed little outward change.
"Oh, releasing your Shikai? I'm terrified of being drowned by your 'mercy,' Vice-Captain Sasakibe!"
Taichi knew Sasakibe was often mocked for "holding back" (holding water), so he taunted him intentionally.
"Legend says a thousand years ago, you used Bankai to leave a scar on the Captain-Commander's bald head—and you've treated that as your daily source of pride ever since.
But let's be honest—that was just a sparring session where he had no intent to fight seriously. In fact, that so-called 'spar' was him holding back to test your ability!
And now you twist that story into your own excuse for 'holding back'? Heh… don't make me laugh, Vice-Captain!"
"What? So fast?!"
Sasakibe's heart jolted. Taichi had vanished from sight—and reappeared behind him in an instant.
"What are you spacing out for, Vice-Captain? Or have you grown so dull that you can't even see my Shunpo?"
Taichi raised his right hand, forming it into a knife-hand strike, and slashed diagonally toward Sasakibe's neck.
Not good!
Sasakibe's mind reacted in alarm—but before his body could respond, he was sent flying by the blow.
BOOM!
He slammed heavily into a white stone wall. Dust billowed, fragments of stone scattering everywhere, and a human-shaped crater appeared in the surface.
"Loyalty… will never yield! Courage… will never retreat!"
Trembling, Sasakibe pushed himself up and picked up his Zanpakutō.
"Bank—"
BOOM!
Before he could finish the word, Taichi appeared again and grabbed his entire face with one hand, slamming him brutally into the stone wall.
"Ugh—!"
Sasakibe's body convulsed violently a few times before going limp. He slid slowly to the ground. Behind him, thin crimson lines of blood trickled down through the cracks in the wall.
"Vice-Captain Sasakibe," Taichi said quietly, "glory resides in the heart—not in outward display.
And the loyalty I believe in is loyalty to justice—not blind obedience to those useless members of Central 46 who occupy their seats without merit.
As for courage, it means facing difficulties head-on—not charging recklessly without distinguishing right from wrong like you just did.
Get some rest. I'll apologize to you another day."
With that, Taichi turned and walked toward Hill of Penitence.
"Vice-Captain Sasakibe!!"
Only after Taichi had gone some distance did the division members snap out of their daze. They cried out and rushed forward, hurriedly lifting the unconscious Sasakibe.
"By the way—"
"Gah!"
Taichi's sudden voice startled them so badly that they dropped Sasakibe to the ground again. They huddled together nervously, staring at him.
"I was just thinking," Taichi said casually, "searching like this isn't very efficient. But if I use Bakudō, I'm afraid certain people might notice…"
Fūjin Taichi scratched the back of his head, then pointed at one of the members.
"So, I'll have to trouble you to use Spirit Ribbons to help me find someone!"
"W-Who do you want to find...?" the Shinigami asked with a trembling voice.
"The Captain of Ninth Division—Kaname Tōsen!"
...
Thud!
After knocking the last Sixth Division member to the ground, Renji Abarai grinned smugly.
"Tch, I told you! I could take on a hundred of you pampered noble brats!"
"Is that so…"
"What?!"
Renji's heart jolted. He spun around quickly, only to see a handsome shinigami standing on a nearby rooftop.
The man wore a white captain's haori and a kenseikan adorning his head and neck.
A gentle breeze passed at just that moment, stirring his white haori and the silver-white kazahana scarf on his chest, producing faint rustling sounds in the air.
Yet his expression remained completely unmoved. He stood silently on the eaves, his violet eyes looking down at Renji with chilling indifference.
"C-Captain Kuchiki!!"
Although Renji had only recently begun to grasp Bankai, he knew very well the gap between himself and Byakuya Kuchiki.
And judging from the situation, the head of the Kuchiki Clan—the foremost of the Four Great Noble Houses—had not come here to praise him.
"Renji, so in your eyes, shinigami born into noble families are this worthless. It seems I didn't waste my effort transferring you from the Eleventh Division."
"Uh, Captain… no, I—"
Renji had wanted to say: I only despise those who constantly flaunt their lineage. I wasn't talking about you.
On the contrary, Captain Kuchiki, who treats origins equally and even broke convention to promote me as vice-captain of the Sixth Division, is someone I deeply respect!
But the words reached his lips—and he swallowed them back down.
He knew Byakuya's cold and proud nature. Such explanations would never move him.
And besides, Renji wasn't the kind of man who could openly speak his true feelings like that.
After hesitating for a long while, he finally drew his Zanpakutō and pointed it toward Byakuya from afar. The blade gleamed dazzlingly beneath the blazing sun overhead.
"Oh? You who disregard Seireitei's laws and division discipline… have you now grown to the point where you can't even see the vast chasm right before you?"
"..."
Renji said nothing.
He understood that although Byakuya could treat people equally regardless of origin, the blood of noble pride still flowed in his veins.
Byakuya would never truly acknowledge his strength—nor truly see his effort.
Even though from the very beginning Renji had sincerely set defeating him as his goal—and had trained hard and alone for that very purpose…
I suppose Captain Kuchiki would never lower his head to look at me because of that…
A flicker of loneliness passed through Renji's eyes before his expression hardened.
His left hand lightly brushed along the blade of his Zanpakutō as he shouted:
"Captain Kuchiki—no matter how vast the chasm you believe exists, I'll fill it with this power of mine! So then… Roar, Zabimaru!!"