Hatake Hayato didn't respond. Suddenly, he stabbed his long sword into the ground and began forming complex hand seals.
The blade of Kaminari Ōkami trembled violently, and countless bolts of lightning shot out from the ground, weaving into a massive cage of thunder in the center of the ring.
The blinding light forced many people to cover their eyes, and several spectators sitting closest even smelled burnt hair.
"Kaminari Ōkami: Tenrin Satsu!"
At the moment the entire cage collapsed toward the center, Arata's figure suddenly became blurred.
When they were able to see him again, his blade was already resting on Hatake Hayato's neck and the lightning cage was strangely suspended in the air, like a paused screen.
"Disperse."
As soon as Arata uttered the word, the powerful cage of lightning exploded.
In the face of absolute spiritual power difference, no matter how many tricks and techniques one has, it all becomes mere decoration, a sandcastle.
Scattered spiritual fragments fell like snowflakes, breaking into colorful halos in the sunlight.
That picturesque beauty was in sharp contrast to Hatake Hayato's completely pale face.
"Impossible… completely impossible!" A tremble of despair ran through Hayato's hoarse voice. Staggering back a few steps, he stared at Arata with bloodshot eyes.
"How could you so easily…"
Arata ignored the shock in his voice. His gaze fell to the scars on Hayato's arm, those new and old marks hadn't been caused by training; they were clearly bite marks, as if something had repeatedly gnawed at that flesh.
"Hatake-kun." Arata lowered his voice and sheathed his Zanpakutō at his belt. "That sword will kill you."
Those words pierced Hatake Hayato straight in the heart. He trembled and suddenly burst into maniacal laughter: "Hahahaha… You think I don't know that?"
His bony fingers passed over the wolf's head carved into Kaminari Ōkami's hilt, and the ruby "eyes" flickered eerily.
"But compared to being butchered by those 'above'…" Hayato's voice suddenly deepened, and his hunched body straightened fully, "I'd rather die on the battlefield!"
At the instant the final syllable echoed, he suddenly flipped the long sword and stabbed it into his own stomach.
The wolf's head etched into the blade instantly came to life, opening its bloody jaws and viciously devouring his flesh and blood.
"Aaaaaaaaagh!!"
A piercing scream shattered the silence of the entire stadium!
Under the horrified gaze of the audience, Hayato's strong body began to shrink at a speed visible to the naked eye, his skin wrinkling in an instant, and his black hair turning white.
In just three seconds, the young man had turned into a shriveled, dying old man!
Blood flowed down the blade, yet strangely, not a single drop fell to the ground. Kaminari Ōkami greedily absorbed it all.
The wolf's eyes glowed a bright red and slowly rotated, as if life had been injected into them.
"What?!" A wave of exclamations swept through the crowd, and even Shiba Isshin on the judge's seat suddenly jumped to his feet.
"Is that… Shikai?" Toshiro widened his eyes in the crowd, but his intuition told him that things weren't that simple at all.
Soi Fong exclaimed in surprise: "Something's wrong! These aren't normal reiatsu fluctuations at all!"
In the center of the ring, the withered Hatake Hayato suddenly erupted with terrifying spiritual power.
His reiatsu, which just moments ago was barely at the level of a seated officer, in one surge broke through the threshold and reached the upper limit of lieutenant level, even causing the clouds high above to form a vortex!
Arata's pupils sharply contracted. His earlier suspicion proved to be correct.
This Kaminari Ōkami wasn't a "frequently released" Zanpakutō at all, this was clearly a Bakkōtō that devoured the spiritual energy of its wielder!
And now, Kaminari Ōkami was fully activated!
The biological weapon that the Kasumiōji family was secretly developing in the original story had now appeared in the hands of a low-ranking noble!
"Die!" Hatake Hayato swung the sword, blood pouring from every orifice, and a massive wolf of thunder opened its jaws and lunged at Arata.
Everywhere it passed, space distorted, and even the protective barriers in the front row of the stands cracked.
"Arata! Watch out!"
"Master Saito, get out of the way!"
"Don't take him head-on!"
At that critical moment, Arata drew his sword again.
"Dark Flame Slash!"
A cold flame suddenly ignited along Meigetsu's blade, and a purple crescent-shaped slash flew straight toward the giant thunder wolf.
At the moment of the swing, the entire world seemed to fall silent.
Shhhhhhhhhhrrrt——!
With the sound of tearing, the enormous wolf was split down the middle.
A crumbling wave of spiritual particles crashed down on both sides like a tsunami, showering the barrier in dazzling sparks.
After slicing through Kaminari Ōkami, the purple crescent turned on its own and soared into the sky, as if it were alive, carefully avoiding any area where the audience was seated.
"Even this…" Hatake Hayato staggered back, his murky eyes nearly popping out of their sockets.
The attack he had traded his life for was so easily broken!
Arata's figure suddenly appeared before him, and Meigetsu's tip pierced the blood-red ruby "eye" carved into the wolf's head.
"This… is the core, isn't it?"
With a sharp crack sound, the ruby in the wolf's eye shattered.
The blade let out a wail like a death rattle, and dark red reiatsu gushed from the cracks like a poisonous snake, but Arata's spiritual power tightly suppressed it.
"Just as I thought." Arata smirked coldly, and with his fingers formed a Bakudō sealing spell. "This isn't a Zanpakutō at all, but…"
"Shut up!" Hatake Hayato suddenly lunged, crouched like a beast, claws aimed directly at Arata's throat. "That man's plan must not—"
However, his words were left hanging in the air.
Meigetsu's blade traced a graceful arc, and Hatake Hayato's severed head soared into the sky.
"Bakudō 63: Sajō Sabaku!"
The Bakkōtō, now without a master, thrashed wildly, but before it could explode, it was bound in a layered net of golden chains.
The entire arena fell silent for a moment.
Only when Hayato's headless body thudded to the ground did the crowd erupt in deafening screams.
Several weaker-stomached soldiers vomited on the spot, and even the captains, accustomed to blood and death, wore grim expressions.
"The match is over!" Shiba Isshin announced the verdict this time without his usual jokes. "The winner is Saito Arata!"
Arata didn't feel the slightest joy from the victory.
He crouched and wrapped the sealed Bakkōtō fragments in his reiatsu.
Through the semi-transparent membrane of spiritual power, one could see the dark red reiatsu within those fragments still pulsing restlessly, as if the host's death had made it even more feral.
"Arata-kun." Soi Fong suddenly appeared at the edge of the ring. In her signature black uniform, she nearly blended with the shadows. "The captain wants to see you. Immediately."
She cast a meaningful glance at the sealed fragment. "Bring it with you."
"Understood."
As he followed Soi Fong toward the exit, Arata clearly felt several particularly intense gazes from the stands.
A glint from Aizen pushing up his glasses, a serious stare from Kuchiki Byakuya, and… the pale face of the Kasumiōji family representative.
"Due to a serious incident, today's official group competition is temporarily suspended!"
"We ask all spectators and participants to vacate the arena in an orderly manner!"
"I repeat, due to today's event…"
On the training field, unit commanders assumed the role of on-site officers, guiding people out in orderly lines with the help of security and logistics teams.
But their expressions were far from pleasant, especially Kyoraku Shunsui's.
"Looks like the old man will have to hold another meeting tonight…"
…
As they passed through a special corridor of the Central Arena, Soi Fong suddenly lowered her voice: "Arata, you knew from the start that something was wrong with that sword, didn't you?"
Arata didn't answer directly; he simply gave the sealed object in his hand a light shake. "What we should be worried about now is—how did this weapon end up in the hands of a low-ranking noble?"
At that same moment, in a dark Japanese-style room, a teacup shattered on the floor.
"Useless! All of them useless!" the old man in ornate robes roared hoarsely, his expression twisted. "You couldn't even make him reveal his Shikai!"
A hoarse male voice came from the shadows: "Sir, shall we deal with the Hatake house?"
"No rush." The old man ran his finger along the golden ring on his thumb and suddenly grinned maliciously. "If we can't gauge how deep he is… then we'll send 'that' onto the stage personally."
At his signal, a servant brought forth a gilded wooden box.
The moment it was opened, dark red reiatsu climbed up the beams like a living creature.
Inside the box lay five metal fragments, identical in appearance to the one now resting in the hands of Yamamoto Genryūsai.