"Bakudō #63: Sajo Sabaku!"
Blue light suddenly flickered from the index and middle fingers of Taichi Fūjin's left hand, which were pressed against Rangiku Matsumoto's back.
In an instant, a thick chain formed from spiritual energy wrapped tightly around her voluptuous body and limbs, binding her completely and leaving her unable to move!
"Taichi, don't hurt Rangiku-san!"
Seeing Rangiku tied up like a bundle, Izuru Kira cried out anxiously, like an ant on a hot pan.
"Kira, I told you before," Taichi said as he pushed Rangiku down onto the ground and looked up at Kira.
"Told me what?"
"No matter what choice you make, I can understand your feelings and your actions! But if you're here to stop me, then come at me prepared to die!"
"Taichi…"
A flicker of complicated emotion passed through Kira's eyes. After a long pause, it gradually hardened into determination.
He gripped his Zanpakutō with both hands and murmured:
"Raise your head… Wabisuke."
Whoosh.
The blade's overall appearance barely changed, except that the very tip bent into an inverted Π shape, like a broken serrated hook.
According to Bleach canon, Wabisuke doubles the weight of anything it cuts. As the strikes accumulate, the enemy eventually collapses under the unbearable weight—
But there is a prerequisite: Kira's spiritual pressure must be equal to or greater than his opponent's. Otherwise, the ability has no effect.
Moreover, Wabisuke's weight-increasing ability only works on physical-type Zanpakutō. Against Kidō-type Zanpakutō, it is equally useless.
Taichi knew Kira's ability well. So when he saw Wabisuke released, he shook his head slightly.
"It seems you still don't understand… the friendship between us… and the gap."
"What?!"
In the instant of Kira's surprise, Taichi had already appeared behind him. Raising his right arm, he brought down a heavy knife-hand strike with a sharp smack! Kira collapsed face-first onto the ground, unconscious.
"Damn it…"
Ikkaku Madarame cursed as he looked at the broken halves of Hōzukimaru in his hand, then glanced around.
Yumichika Ayasegawa was still pinned to the cliff wall by Taichi's Bakudō.
Shūhei Hisagi had already passed out from that earlier strike. Clearly, neither of them could continue fighting.
Worse still, Rangiku and Kira had been subdued in an instant—perhaps the two of them had held back somewhat—
But regardless, that didn't change the fact that, counting carefully, only Tetsuzaemon Iba and Ikkaku himself still barely retained the ability to face Taichi.
However, his Zanpakutō had been snapped in two by Taichi's bare hands, and he wasn't skilled in Kidō.
That meant the only option left was hand-to-hand combat!
"Mr. Iba!" Ikkaku shouted urgently. "That guy isn't some small fry! This isn't the time to hold anything back… or we'll all be nailed to the pillar of shame today!"
"Hmph, you don't need to tell me! I got kicked earlier too… and it… really… hurt!" Iba muttered. He glanced at the broken Hōzukimaru, then at Taichi not far away, thinking to himself:
Taichi Fūjin… I really underestimated him.
Not only can he overpower multiple vice-captains alone, he's strong enough to snap Ikkaku's Zanpakutō with his bare hands…
That level of power… already belongs to captain-class Shinigami, doesn't it?!
And yet… all these years, no one in Soul Society ever realized how strong Taichi truly was.
Everyone thought he was just a lucky survivor who escaped the "White Hollow" by sheer chance—then conveniently used by Captain-Commander Yamamoto as a pawn to placate Central 46…
Who would have known… that until today, Taichi Fūjin had hidden his strength so deeply?!
Thinking this, Iba shouted again at Ikkaku:
"Hey, Ikkaku! Stop holding back too! I know you've already mastered that power… So release it!"
"Mr. Iba, don't make this hard for me!"
Ikkaku Madarame spread out his Zanpakutō, now broken into two pieces, and gave a bitter smile. "If I force a release in this condition… it'll only make the damaged sword spirit even harder to recover!"
"Hmph! At a time like this, you're still worrying about that?!"
Tetsuzaemon Iba snapped angrily. "You've already realized it, haven't you? That guy must have secretly mastered Bankai too—
Even if all the vice-captains of the Gotei 13 showed up right now, we'd probably just be humiliating ourselves! So… the only hope of 'defeating him' rests on you—since you've also trained in Bankai!"
"Yare yare… if you put it that way, I guess I can't refuse," Ikkaku sighed. "But I hope you won't tell anyone that I've already mastered Bankai—
Especially don't tell Captain Zaraki! I… still want to stay by his side. Even if I'm just a seated officer, I'm satisfied with that!"
"Hmph. Fine, I got it!" Iba frowned, then quickly added, "Ikkaku, I'll buy you time for your Bankai!
Now, Avoid the reefs and shoals, become the master of the helm—Nishikigoi Kaiyūtsuri! First Form: Hidden Mist!"
The instant Iba finished the release command, his Zanpakutō transformed into the shape of an oar. The protruding blade became a slender golden fishhook!
He swung it forward, and a thick gray mist poured out from the oar-shaped blade, rapidly obscuring everyone's vision!
"Alright—now's the time!"
Ikkaku picked up the broken halves of his Zanpakutō with both hands. His eyes turned blood-red as an invisible pressure radiated from his body.
"Bankai: Ryūmon Hōzuki—"
However, before he could finish the word "maru," he stared in shock as Taichi appeared directly in front of him.
Taichi's right hand firmly gripped the blade of Hōzukimaru, halting the Bankai activation. He smiled faintly.
"Bankai isn't allowed, you know… Saitama-sensei."
"Im—Impossible!!"
Ikkaku's eyes widened to their limits as he stared at Taichi's calm face. "Could it be… could it be that you… have already reached beyond captain-class strength—? B-But how is that possible?!"
"As long as you soak yourself in the library at Shin'ō Academy until four in the morning every day… and swing your blade ten thousand and one times daily—
Of course, most people just saw me zoning out once or twice in class and assumed I was an arrogant slacker with no real talent… They never noticed those little details."
Taichi gave a self-mocking smile. Then he curled the middle finger of his left hand and aimed it at Ikkaku's forehead.
"Then let them witness my strength once more…Demon Brow-Flick—"
BOOM!!
The immense spiritual pressure concentrated at Taichi's fingertip exploded at the instant he flicked Ikkaku's forehead, releasing a massive shockwave—
And in that moment, Ikkaku was blasted hundreds of meters away from Sokyoku Hill!!!