"Bankai!"
Ambition burned within the brown-haired woman—a desire to forge the strongest Zanpakutō in Rosen's arsenal. She reached out, placing a hand on the head of the snake-toothed boy beside her.
BOOM!
Billowing white mist erupted from her palm, a ferocious torrent resembling a white python. It swallowed both of them whole in an instant.
The next second, as the mist dissipated, the snake-toothed boy was gone. Only a pair of light-armored shoulders remained, part of a structure that now fused with the woman's form. The brown-haired warrior, Zabimaru, stood alone at the entrance to the Judge's Forbidden Zone.
Her right hand was now a bone-white snake blade, jaws gaping to reveal a razor-sharp fang. A massive tail coiled around her waist like a belt of living muscle, while her left arm swelled grotesquely, muscles bulging like stone—resembling the limb of a mythical Beast King.
Left hand: Snake Blade. Right arm: Ape Arm.
This was Zabimaru's Bankai.
"Dual King Snake Tail Maru!"
Zabimaru grinned, a wild, chilling expression twisting her face. She raised her left hand; the snake blade ignited with orange-red flames.
BOOM!
Rings of sonic booms cracked the air as the snake blade surged forward like a released serpent, trailing violent shockwaves. It lashed toward Benn Beckman and Monster.
CRACK!
Before the Red-Haired Pirates' executives could counter, the extended blade detonated. The flames surrounding it expanded a hundredfold, transforming into a shockwave of devastating force that swallowed the duo whole.
CLANG.
Before the shockwave even subsided, Sode no Shirayuki raised her ice blade, pointing it directly at the center of the explosion. The air instantly froze. Whoosh—whoosh! A torrent of glacial air descended from the sky, engulfing the dissipating shockwaves and the figures within, freezing them solid.
"Hey!" Zabimaru roared. "Sode no Shirayuki! They're mine!"
She had planned to use the corpses of two Yonko executives to make her name known across the seas. She didn't want to share the glory.
"Idiot," Sode no Shirayuki replied coolly.
"What did you say?" Zabimaru flared with rage.
"You were the one who wanted a two-on-two battle," Sode no Shirayuki said, glancing sideways.
"That's right," Zabimaru frowned, confused by the logic.
"Now it is two against two." Sode no Shirayuki pointed to herself, then to Zabimaru.
"Huh?"
Zabimaru paused, the realization hitting her. After Bankai, the snake-toothed boy had become the snake-blade in her hand. They had effectively merged into one. With Sode no Shirayuki included, the math remained balanced. The logic was sound, and since she had spoken it, Zabimaru couldn't refute it.
"Why do you think Hana-nee said it was eight against eight?" Sode no Shirayuki added, invoking the Commander's authority. Zabimaru fell silent.
"Hmph! Fine!" Zabimaru snorted, dropping the argument. "But don't slow me down. I'm finishing this first."
She charged forward, snake-blade raised, aiming for the figures struggling to break free of the ice. Xiu Baixue followed without a word, her thoughts identical to Zabimaru's: to be the fastest Zanpakutō to defeat a pirate.
Meanwhile, elsewhere.
"Bankai!"
Tenken erupted with a chilling aura. Its form rose steadily, transforming into a majestic, mountain-sized warrior clad in black armor amidst a towering column of dust. It swung its arm in a devastating slash.
"Kujo Tenken Myōō!"
A massive blade descended from the sky like a mountain, carrying immense pressure. It slashed down toward one of the Red-Haired Pirates' executives, Roar Gabu.
CRACK!
A flash of light. A massive shockwave accompanied by a cloud of dust swept outward, cleaving the beach of the Judge's Forbidden Zone in two. Roar Gabu was buried deep within the fissure.
On the other side, Rem Jones tightened his grip on his staff. His Armament Haki surged, coating the weapon in the black sheen of unbreakable iron. His eyes, hidden behind sunglasses, tracked the girl hovering mid-air—dressed in a black and yellow patterned dress with long brown braids.
She was small, only the size of a normal human hand. Yet Rem Jones didn't lower his guard. His tension was palpable, his senses fixed on the unknown abilities of this Zanpakutō. Specifically, the golden stinger in her right hand.
"Don't be so tense," the girl said, her voice light. "Not every Zanpakutō is like Hana-nee's, with abilities complex and deadly enough to rot the world. Take me, for example. I only have one ability. It's very simple."
She bowed slightly in mid-air. "If nothing unexpected happens, you'll understand it completely before you die. My name is Suzumebachi. Pleased to meet you."
As soon as she finished speaking—Whoosh!—she vanished. A streak of golden light, she rushed toward Rem Jones.
"So fast!"
Rem Jones's pupils contracted. He thrust his black staff forward like a rainbow, the Armament Haki flaring. But Suzumebachi twisted in the air, spiraling around the Haki-coated weapon. She dragged it in a circular arc before slicing past the back of his hand.
"I was hit... but I'm not injured?"
Rem Jones glanced at his right hand. There, a strange, black butterfly-like pattern marked his skin. Just one look sent a shiver down his spine—an instinctual fear of death.
Whoosh!
Before he could process it, Suzumebachi transformed into a golden flash again, lunging straight for the black pattern on the back of his hand.
"She's targeting the back of my hand," Rem Jones analyzed, using his Observation Haki to predict her trajectory. "But why? With her speed and that weapon, a strike to the head, throat, or heart would be fatal. The back of the hand is trivial."
Yet, his Observation Haki screamed a frantic warning. Intuition, reason, and Haki all screamed the same conclusion: Death.
If she struck the same spot twice—reinforced that butterfly pattern—the consequences would be irreversible and catastrophic.
Rem Jones stomped the ground, dodging to the side just as a golden light grazed his shoulder.
"Another identical pattern," he muttered, glancing at the new mark on his shoulder. No pain. No injury. Just the ominous black butterfly.
"See?" Suzumebachi smiled, hovering nearby. "It's simple. You saw it once and you guessed it."
She didn't seem discouraged that the Red-Haired officer was guarding himself so effectively.
"What exactly is this?" Rem Jones kept his expression neutral, though apprehension crept behind his sunglasses.
"Heemonka," Suzumebachi answered without hesitation. It was just the name of the pattern. "If I'm not mistaken, my first attack—no matter where it hits, eyes, throat, heart—leaves no pain. Only this pattern."
"And then?" Rem Jones pressed.
"The first attack is merely a scratch," Suzumebachi's smile widened, her eyes gleaming with a predatory light. "The second attack is fatal. It's called a Level Two Finishing Move. Correct?"
"I knew it," Suzumebachi clapped her hands. "My ability is very simple. Anyone who sees it once can guess it. Just as you said."
"Then you must know the drawback," Rem Jones countered, his voice confident. "Your first attack is completely ineffective. As long as I am careful and don't let you strike the same spot twice, you cannot inflict damage on me. Conversely, any of my attacks landing on you would be devastating."
"Absolutely correct," Suzumebachi agreed, praising him. "A Level Two Finishing Move is indeed easy to defend against. I think so too."
She paused, her smile fading slightly. "But then... what if it's a one-hit kill?"
Rem Jones's face changed color. A thought flashed through his mind—he had overlooked something. He had prejudicially assumed the two-hit finisher was her Bankai.
In reality, it was merely...
"That's right," Suzumebachi's voice dropped, the playfulness vanishing, replaced by a chilling, predatory gaze. "Level Two Finishing Move. But that's just my Shikai."
She raised her right arm, the stinger-like weapon aiming at Rem Jones from a distance.
"Bankai!"
—-
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