Chapter 128: Shimiya Takeru's Terrifying Methods.
Those who received the battle reports began their own rescue operations.
Meanwhile, in the real world Seireitei, both armies were already locked in a brutal grind.
The Fourth Division leveraged the terrain and their familiarity with the streets, rapidly setting up temporary field hospitals along the outer edge of the battlefield. The elite were the ones clashing at the front, but the rest of each squad was far from idle. They were split into reserves and logistics, feeding the war machine from behind.
Personnel and resources poured into those field hospitals without pause. A complete wartime supply chain formed in real time. Even a makeshift field base was beginning to take shape.
And because of that, Haschwalth arrived.
In his eyes, destroying the Fourth Division's field hospitals and eliminating the two reigai Captain and Lieutenant stationed there was a higher priority than hunting powerful figures at the front. Break the lungs of the army, and the body collapses.
Unfortunately for him, the Gotei 13 had the same idea.
When Haschwalth advanced to within two hundred meters of the field hospital, he was intercepted.
"Sorry. The road ahead is closed."
"Well, yeah. That's how it is. We'd appreciate it if you turned around and went back."
Two men in haori stepped forward from the far end of the street. Their eyes crackled with high concentration reishi lightning. Each carried twin blades.
One looked serious.
The other looked like he was strolling to a festival.
Yet both were radiating pressure, and something sharper than pressure.
Killing intent.
Even Haschwalth's expression shifted slightly.
They were reigai, yet they were so real they might as well have been the originals. And the originals were not ordinary men.
"Kyōraku Shunsui. Ukitake Jūshirō."
"And Unohana Retsu," Haschwalth added, eyes flicking toward the rear, "ready to support you at any time."
"Is it really wise to concentrate top tier combat power in a place like this?"
"It's perfectly fine."
Reigai Kyōraku lowered his gaze to the overlapping rings of rainbow light beneath his feet and chuckled.
"With Captain Shimiya's Kidō empowerment, even if your soldiers are better trained, the gap's been leveled."
Reigai Ukitake nodded, expression calm but firm.
"I never imagined such Kidō could exist. It's worthy of Captain Shimiya. He always brings surprises."
"And because of that," Ukitake continued, "we can't let him down."
Kyōraku slipped in smoothly, voice light.
"The other Captains and reinforcements are probably thrilled. Let them have their chances to shine."
"Ukitake and I don't even like fighting that much, so we came to the rear."
He spread his hands.
"It's fate that we met. Why don't we chat to pass the time? If we really start, nobody's going to have a good time, right?"
Haschwalth stared at them for a long moment, then asked abruptly.
"Why do you fight for the Seireitei?"
"You should know that even if you win, fortune will never tilt in your favor. The fate waiting for you is extinction."
"The Wandenreich seeks to overthrow the Gotei 13 and erase all Shinigami. Strictly speaking, you are derivatives of Shinigami, not the originals."
"We have no conflict of interest."
"Surrender now, and I will accept you into the Wandenreich, as Grand Master of the Sternritter."
Reigai Kyōraku fell silent, something complex passing through his eyes.
But reigai Ukitake drew a deep breath and answered without wavering.
"As you say, we are manufactured fakes. Kagerōza once promised us we would replace the originals as Captains of the Gotei 13."
"That was our shared wish."
"Now that wish will never be fulfilled."
"But we don't want to vanish quietly, either."
Ukitake's gaze sharpened.
"Captain Shimiya gave us an opportunity."
"An opportunity to fulfill our wish."
"And that is to protect the Seireitei in the originals' place."
"There is nothing strange about it."
"Our memories, even our personalities, come from them. Our power is even superior."
"So our desire to protect this world will not lose to theirs."
Haschwalth's face didn't change, but his eyes deepened.
"Is that so."
"But whether it is you or them, neither can protect this world."
"The reason is simple."
"My name is Jugram Haschwalth."
"His Majesty bestowed upon me the schrift 'B', The Balance."
"My stance represents the stance of the world."
"Even if you put everything on the scales, it cannot outweigh my single sword."
"If you still refuse to step aside, then I will send you on your way ahead of schedule."
Words like law slashed toward their throats.
Reigai Kyōraku and reigai Ukitake raised their blades, refusing to be snuffed out, and struck first.
Their spiritual pressure surged like a mountain. Their momentum alone inspired awe, and dread.
It drew countless eyes.
On the flank of the field hospital, within the Ninth Division's jurisdiction, another street had already turned into a slaughter ground.
"Has Haschwalth joined the fight too? Another one trying to steal the credit. How annoying."
Candice Catnipp stood on a rooftop, staring into the distance as she complained.
In front of her, Bambietta flew, Vollständig blazing. Wings of reishi stretched behind her back, and a reishi pentagram hovered above her head.
"Candy! Stop staring off and help me take down this bastard!"
"I thought you said not to interfere," Candice snapped back. "In the end you used Vollständig and still couldn't finish him. And you have the nerve to ask for help?"
"To be trash in front of the enemy is one thing. Can you not come near us? You'll drag our reputation down."
Before Candice could add more, Liltotto spoke, expressionless and merciless.
"Uwah, that's so harsh." Giselle Gewelle cried out, long black hair swaying. "Even if it's true, bullying Little Bambi like that is too much."
Then she leaned in, eyes shining with malice.
"You should've told me those lines earlier so I could say them myself. I wanted Little Bambi's cute rage all to myself."
"Lili, I haven't had today's afternoon tea yet."
Meninas McAllon rubbed her stomach, as calm as if she were shopping instead of waging war.
"War makes me hungry too. Let's find something to fill up on first."
"Seriously, I can't just eat random things like you!"
"Then endure it. Later we'll go to the nobles' houses and make them serve tea."
Candice finally cut in, stepping onto reishi and rising, her gaze snapping down to Bambietta's opponent.
The target inside their encirclement was a single man.
Green hair.
Twin blades.
That alone made his identity unmistakable.
The former Twelfth Division member and high security prisoner.
Yushima Oshu.
"Heh. All at once?" Yushima's mouth curled. "Fine. Come."
"I prepared to become the enemy of the world a long, long time ago."
"A few of you aren't even worth mentioning."
"What did you say!"
Candice's face darkened. Electricity crackled along her skin with a sharp hiss.
"See?" Liltotto said coldly. "I was right. Little Bambi's such trash everyone gets looked down on."
"Aaaah… I'm so angry!"
Bambietta flushed, fury drowning reason. She erupted with spiritual pressure. Streets buckled. Houses on both sides collapsed into ruins.
Then she charged through the gale, hurling a barrage of reishi bombs.
"I told you. Useless."
Yushima's expression didn't even shift.
His twin blades spun like a storm, opening a spatial maw. The bombs were swallowed, then returned.
Bambietta grit her teeth and detonated the returned bombs in succession, chaining explosions until half the sky turned red.
"Now!"
Boom boom boom!
Using the flames as cover, she fired reishi bombs into the ground with brutal precision, detonating the area around Yushima.
"So what if you can reflect attacks? Shockwaves from every direction will crush your organs!"
"I don't believe you can defend from all sides at once!"
Her grin held for eight seconds.
Then it froze.
Flames, wind, dust, even the pressure itself collapsed toward a single point as if dragged into a vortex.
When visibility returned, Yushima stood in the center of devastation, raising an eyebrow with a look that said, is that all.
"…?!"
"My Zanpakutō, Shinketsu, manipulates space by absorbing spiritual power," Yushima said, voice level.
"Everything in Soul Society is reishi, including the impact of explosions."
"I only need to direct absorption toward my side. Anything that touches me becomes mine."
"And then…"
He cut off his own sentence, swinging behind him without looking.
His body vanished, as if teleporting.
Meninas's punch from the sky missed and slammed into the street, carving a crater over fifty meters wide.
"Galvano Blast!"
Candice fired a thunderous light arrow, a voltage like a natural disaster, straight at the Yushima who appeared behind Meninas.
It should have been a sure hit.
Instead, a blast of wind detonated in its path, the stored aftermath Yushima had absorbed earlier. The arrow was neutralized. Candice herself was blown back.
"Hado #58: Tenran."
Yushima's gaze swept the field as he cast in the opposite direction.
A mid level Hado used by him roared like a storm, sweeping out with the momentum of a far higher spell.
Liltotto, who had opened her mouth wide to bite, and Giselle, who was firing arrows for fun, were both forced back.
Watching him dismantle the Female Knights' offense as if it were routine, Bambietta nearly ground her teeth apart.
"Are you kidding me?! A prisoner is this strong?!"
"He can't even use Bankai, so schrift theft is useless."
"To be this strong with just Shikai… is the Gotei 13 doing this on purpose?"
"Captains on the surface, and monster class prisoners trained in secret by survival of the fittest?"
"Shut up!" Candice roared through dust, rage crackling. "I don't care what he is. I'm killing him!"
Thunder rolled.
A thick bolt of lightning fell, engulfing Candice's body.
"[Galtano]!"
Her Vollständig fully manifested. A pentagram like an arc hovered above her head, and lightning shaped wings spread behind her. Her spiritual pressure surged, an increase no less impactful than Bankai.
"A Zanpakutō that can absorb reishi is too dangerous," Liltotto said, eyes narrowing. "It has to be erased. [Gaguel]."
Meninas followed. "That's right. Let's all put in some effort. [Gaguel]."
Giselle sighed theatrically. "Ehh. I don't want to, it's tiring. But it's awkward if I don't. Fine. [Giselle]."
One by one, Vollständig flared.
Pressure spiked.
Air thickened.
Even loose pebbles trembled.
"Is this the Quincy's ultimate form?"
Yushima's eyes tightened as he studied the female Quincies, reishi angels incarnate.
"Scared now?!" Candice raised a cyan lightning broadsword, her grin vicious. "Too late to beg!"
"In essence, it's just using reishi to strengthen your abilities," Yushima replied flatly. "What's scary about that?"
Then his gaze dropped to the overlapping halos beneath his feet.
Focus Aura. Thorn Aura. Strong Strike Aura. Endurance Aura. Vampirism Aura. Brilliance Aura. Command Aura. Unholy Aura.
Eight auras.
Eight boons.
Eight absurd advantages spread across an entire battlefield.
Yushima could feel it.
He didn't gain more spiritual pressure, but his survivability, his efficiency, his recovery, his offense, all climbed.
It was practical power, the kind that wins wars.
"These tricks that enhance abilities," Yushima said, voice turning colder, "we have one for every person on our side."
"The ones who should be afraid are you."
"Pretentious nonsense!" Candice snarled. "Comparing that to our Vollständig is unforgivable."
She hurled the lightning broadsword.
"[Galvano Javelin]!"
The other four attacked in unison.
"Group attack?" Yushima's smile widened, a hint of madness slipping through. "I said I don't care."
"Because no matter what, it still can't compare to Shimiya Takeru."
The moment they received the blessing, everyone understood each aura's function. That understanding made the blessing sharper, easier to use.
And because they understood it, everyone on the Shinigami side also understood something else.
What Shimiya Takeru had done, alone, while fighting the enemy's king.
It was almost like he was shielding the entire Seireitei with his spiritual pressure while dueling the enemy commander with his blade.
"He's done so much…!" Yushima's eyes flashed. "What reason do I have to be afraid?!"
He steeled himself, preparing to stake everything on one decisive move.
Then two figures appeared.
"Dance wildly, Raikū!"
"Scatter, Arazome Shigure!"
Attacks meant to kill Yushima were either swallowed by space or absorbed as reishi.
The ones who intervened were Kagerōza and Nozomi.
"You two…!"
Yushima's eyes widened, shock breaking through.
"Monopolizing five enemies," Nozomi said coolly, voice like ice, "that kind of impatience is how you end up locked in a cell again."
"We finally got Shimiya to owe us a favor," Kagerōza added, holding his twin winged blade in guard without looking back. "If we don't kill one or two, he'll find an excuse to go back on his word."
"So sorry. We're stepping in."
Yushima fell silent.
Two modified souls had been created from his reishi. They should have merged into another Yushima Oshu.
The original should have slept forever in a cell, while the obsession to destroy this unreasonable world lived on in a more perfect successor.
Shimiya Takeru had ruined that "perfect" plan.
And yet, Kagerōza and Nozomi had followed that same logic, using their reishi to synthesize a Yushima Oshu and return that power to him, reviving him in the strong form he wanted.
It made Yushima's feelings toward Takeru painfully complex.
Gratitude. Hatred. Something in between.
He didn't even fully understand why he'd agreed to fight after waking.
It wasn't kindness.
It wasn't freedom.
It wasn't pride.
It wasn't even the old, juvenile urge to prove something to Seireitei.
It took Kagerōza and Nozomi stepping in, blocking in front of him, ending his lonely battle like the past, for the truth to settle into his chest.
He wasn't alone anymore.
"Is that so…" Yushima smiled, something relieved and sharp in it. "I underestimated Shimiya Takeru."
"The terrifying part of his methods was never just the obvious surface."
That sigh, unprompted, confused Kagerōza and Nozomi.
And the shift in Yushima's aura made Candice and the others feel as if this enemy had become someone else entirely.
Candice's stomach sank. She mocked to cover it.
"Two helpers show up and you already look like you've won. There's a limit to overconfidence."
"They have Kidō blessings," Yushima replied, grin widening, "so their combat power is higher than you think."
"But that's not the point."
His voice sharpened like a knife.
"The reason I'm confident is them."
"Are companions I created with my own hands."
"Partners who can fight beside me."
"You fear my Zanpakutō, so you swarm me."
"Now two more Zanpakutō just as troublesome as mine are here."
"If you count it…"
His grin turned feral.
"You have to deal with three 'me's."
"And there are only five of you."
"If you want to kill us, go find ten more people."
"Kagerōza. Nozomi. I'll leave my back to you."
Then Yushima charged, alone, straight at the Female Knights.
Yet it felt like an army moved behind him.
"Hahaha! Let everyone see our strength!"
"Let me say this first," Kagerōza snapped, launching his attack, "I'm not colluding with you two prisoners."
"I'm responding to Captain Shimiya's call to fight the enemy."
Nozomi moved with him.
Moves were returned exactly as they came.
Absorbed reishi became blades and storms.
"Oooooh…!"
Under their cover, Yushima's blade tore through the air, its cold light reflecting the Female Knights' changing faces like mirrors.
On the suspension bridge near the Sixth Division's jurisdiction, screams erupted.
"Ah!"
"Waaah!"
"Monster!"
"Run!"
Even with aura blessings, even as elites in the eyes of ordinary Squad Members, the combat squads met something that dragged up an instinct older than courage.
Fear.
Sternritter 'F', Äs Nödt.
The one whose ability symbolized The Fear.
He was massacring Squad Members with terrifying efficiency. Reishi light cones formed beside him and fired like arrows. Anyone struck fell into bottomless terror, went mad, collapsed, and suffocated.
It was worse than having an arrow through the heart.
Even those untouched broke when they saw their comrades.
Fear was contagious.
Fear was not something you could crush with a speech.
Then a blazing fire bomb flew in.
Äs Nödt was swallowed by the explosion.
When the smoke cleared, his cloak was gone, his uniform scorched black, and he looked wretched.
"Taking my [Kongōbaku] and only ending up like that," a cold voice said, amused. "Your clothes didn't even fully break. You're no weakling."
Withered flesh. Tattered clothes.
Yet the man walking forward looked no less monstrous than Äs Nödt.
Kuchiki Kōga.
Äs Nödt's voice came out strange, wary.
"You are… Kuchiki Kyōka?"
"It's Kōga," Kōga replied, spreading his hands. "I stopped being Kuchiki long ago."
Äs Nödt's eyes remained flat.
"Names don't matter."
"What matters is whether you want to fight me."
"With your Zanpakutō ability, even if I don't target it, it won't work."
"Swap with someone else."
"I'd rather fight the Captains. Even if they're fakes, they're worth killing."
Kōga's grin widened, eerie.
"Ha? You think without Muramasa I'm not an excellent Shinigami?"
"You think without relying on Muramasa…"
"I can't defeat someone of your level?"
A deep purple spiritual pressure ignited around Kōga, stirring a violent storm. Snow clouds churned. Purple lightning ripped through the sky like a seal cracking.
Äs Nödt's pupils contracted.
"Are you also… Ginrei?"
"This spiritual pressure… even without releasing a Zanpakutō, he has already surpassed Kuchiki Byakuya after Bankai in the intelligence…"
Äs Nödt tried to move.
His body wouldn't obey.
It was as if countless ropes bound him in place.
Not far away, Muramasa stood with hands in his pockets, expression calm.
"A mental type ability that makes enemies fall into fear," he murmured, tone flat. "How pitiful."
"After that kind of inhuman torture, Kōga's psychological endurance is terrifying."
"And this power I have to control hearts ultimately comes from Kōga's spiritual type ability."
"As my mental endurance grew, this power evolved too. I can now activate [Shadow Binding Technique] without needing a reflection medium."
"This is only the beginning."
"Experience it yourself."
"How terrifying Kōga is…"
"Without relying on a Zanpakutō."
"Though I hate to thank that fellow Shimiya Takeru, even if Kuchiki Ginrei were resurrected, he would surely be speechless seeing today's Kōga, wouldn't he?"
.....
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