"Captains, enjoy this feast!" Kumoi laughed maniacally and retreated toward the edge of the barrier. "Once you become puppets of the Demon Flower, the entire Soul Society will... "
His deranged speech was abruptly cut off.
A slash of purple‑black blade light suddenly fell from the ceiling and precisely severed Kumoi's hand, the one holding the remote control.
As blood sprayed through the air, Arata's figure appeared behind Kumoi like a ghost, and the tip of the Zanpakutō Meigetsu pressed against the old man's throat.
"Unfortunately for you, your plan ends here," Arata said coldly and simultaneously swung his left hand, the barrier of spiritual pressure separated the hallucinogenic gas from them.
Kumoi's eyes widened in disbelief. "Impossible! How can you resist the Demon Flower's effects?!"
"Because I already fell for that trick once." Arata curled his lips into a cold smile and shouted to the captains: "Everyone, fall back! Leave the gas to me!"
The moment he said that, the Heart of the Soul King inside him began to throb violently, and spiritual pressure mixed with purple‑black and bright gold surged out of him like a tide.
Wherever it passed, the dark red hallucinogenic mist melted away.
"This…" Ukitake Jūshirō stared at Arata in shock. "Arata's spiritual pressure…"
"It's unbelievable! Several times stronger than the last time we met." Kyōraku Shunsui sharply sensed the power in that spiritual energy, and a profound thought flickered in his eyes.
While Arata cleared the gas, Soi‑Fong and Gin Ichimaru had already subdued Kumoi's subordinate who held the Demon Flower.
The other captains also restrained all Kasumiōji guards present in the hall.
Unohana Retsu instantly appeared beside Rurichiyo and gently shielded her behind her.
"Grandpa Kumoi…" Rurichiyo, eyes red, looked at the defeated old man. "Why did you betray me? Is the honor of the Kasumiōji family so meaningless to you?"
Upon hearing this, the savage expression on Kumoi's face gradually twisted into warped fanaticism. "Honor? Hahaha… little girl, you understand nothing!"
"Only by seizing the power of the Bakkōtō can the Kasumiōji family replace the Gotei 13! And then—"
"Shut up, old man." Zaraki Kenpachi cut him off impatiently, placing his Zanpakutō right at Kumoi's neck. "I hate listening to crap like this."
It seemed the situation was under control, but Arata's perception suddenly caught something abnormal—spiritual energy inside Kumoi's subordinate, who was held down by Soi‑Fong, began swelling erratically!
"Captain Soi‑Fong, be careful!" Arata shouted as he spun around.
Before he finished, the man's body suddenly swelled and twisted, dark red lines identical to those of the Demon Flower appearing beneath his skin.
He let out a scream no longer human, and his arms transformed into sharp blades that slashed toward Soi‑Fong.
At the critical moment, a red light flashed.
Shiba Kūkaku had appeared in the banquet hall at some point, and the spirit bomb in her hand struck the creature square in the chest, blasting it several meters back.
"Everyone, on guard!" Captain Yamamoto finally spoke, his voice resounding like a great bell. "Those Bakkōtō blades possess consciousness and life. Do not let them touch you!"
As if to confirm Yamamoto's words, the mutated man who had been blown away rose again after landing, and the massive hole in his chest began healing at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Even worse, the dark red lines on his body started spreading everywhere, turning the floor beneath his steps into flesh‑like tissue.
"Tsk, disgusting ability." Zaraki Kenpachi licked his lips excitedly. "I'm taking this one!"
"Captain Zaraki, don't rush in!" Unohana Retsu warned, "Ordinary Zanpakutō cuts don't work on them!"
Arata quickly analyzed the situation, when he suddenly noticed a strange smile on Kumoi's face—the one whose hand Arata had severed earlier.
His heart skipped, and he immediately probed Kumoi's body with spiritual pressure. Just as he suspected, he found dark red lines spreading from within.
"Everyone back!" Arata grabbed Kumoi and hurled him far away, shouting: "The Bakkōtō seeds have long been planted in their bodies!"
As if to confirm his words, Kumoi began transforming mid‑air.
Under his wrinkled old skin, bulging tumors swelled, then exploded with a pop, turning him into a pulsating monster of flesh and blood.
"Hahaha… too late for you!" Kumoi, no longer human in shape, laughed grotesquely. "The entire Kasumiōji family has already transformed. You cannot escape!"
The walls around the banquet hall suddenly burst open as dozens of Kasumiōji guards stormed inside.
Without exception, all were in various stages of mutation, and some had already lost their human form entirely.
"Damn it…" Arata gripped his Zanpakutō tightly, rapidly calculating battle strategy. "Kūkaku, protect Rurichiyo!"
"Understood!" Kūkaku immediately positioned herself beside Rurichiyo and drew several enhanced spirit bombs from her robes.
In response, the captains all sprang into action.
They charged to deal with the incoming mutated guards, while Unohana Retsu and Arata focused on Kumoi and the fully mutated creature his most loyal man had become.
"Arata‑kun, do you have a plan?" Unohana asked softly, her Zanpakutō carving a graceful arc through the air.
"Their cores should still be the Bakkōtō fragments," Arata said, eyes fixed on the two monsters. "As long as we can locate and destroy the fragments…"
"Then we'll do as you say."
"Their cores should still be the Bakkōtō fragments." Arata stared at the two monsters. "As long as we can locate and destroy the fragments…"
The battle was seconds from erupting.
The monster formed from Kumoi struck first. Its body, made of countless blood‑hungry tendrils, suddenly expanded, and dozens of spikes shot toward the two of them like a rain of spears.
It must be admitted, after being corroded and mutated by the Bakkōtō, the strength of these people had drastically increased.
Kasumiōji Kumoi, who moments ago looked utterly helpless, suddenly exploded with speed comparable to a vice‑captain.
"Bakudō #81: Dankū!" Arata instantly activated a high‑level bakudō, a transparent barrier blocked most of the attacks.
At the same moment, Unohana Retsu had already appeared at the monster's flank, her blade tracing an elegant arc as it sliced off several tendrils at the root.
However, the severed limbs regenerated the moment they hit the floor, even splitting into more small tendrils.
"Truly troublesome…" Unohana frowned slightly.
To her, the strength and speed of these monsters were insignificant; the only real problem was their division and regeneration abilities.
"This won't work…" Arata monitored the battle while fending off Kumoi's attacks.
Suddenly, he noticed a rhythmic pulse emanating from the chests of both monsters, occurring at regular intervals, as if something inside was beating.
Just as he suspected, the weakness was usually the heart.
"Sensei, strike their chests!" Arata shouted loudly.
As soon as he spoke, he launched his own attack.
A massive surge of spiritual pressure flooded into his Zanpakutō, and Meigetsu's blade ignited with eerie purple flame.
"Dark Flame Slash!"
A crescent of purple‑black energy cut through the air and flew straight for Kumoi's chest.
Sensing danger, the monster pulled back its tendrils and interwove them in front of its chest into a massive shield.
Boom!
When the slash struck the shield, a violent cloud of dust and debris shot upward.
"Heh, that's a bit much…"
"Arata‑kun's attack was really stopped?"
"This is the power bestowed upon me by Lord Tsunayashiro Akutagawa!" Kumoi's twisted voice echoed from the smoke. "How could a simple sword strike harm me?"
When the smoke cleared, it revealed that the monster born from Kumoi had indeed suffered a horrific wound across its chest, but the dark red granulation twitched and regenerated at a speed visible to the eye.
Even more unsettling, deep in the wound, one could glimpse a crystalline, pulsating core, the Bakkōtō fragment.
"I understand now…" Unohana Retsu narrowed her beautiful eyes. "Implant the sword's core into the body and gain nearly immortal regenerative ability."