Chapter 133: The Strongest Shinigami's Fist
Hours earlier, at the Technical Development Bureau.
"Let me kill Yhwach?"
Mochizuki, who was using his Fusion Ability to forge a makakyo blade, could not help looking up at the black-haired youth across the experimental table.
"Yes."
Takeru stared at the blade as it gradually took shape, yet what he spoke about was something entirely unrelated.
"Yhwach is not at his peak right now. He is strong, but not unbeatable. But once he is pushed to the brink, he will definitely do everything he can to recover his peak power."
"He becomes terrifying in that state."
"So the best option is to kill him before that happens."
"I have a way to affect his mental and psychological state, which should weaken and numb his perception to some extent."
"If that step succeeds, I am confident I can kill him in one strike while he is off guard."
"However, the opponent is still the King of the Quincy. It is hard to say what kind of life-saving methods he might have, so we need a backup plan."
"If I fail to kill him, then... you, who can observe Seireitei at all times and be virtually anywhere, can intervene immediately and exploit his weakened perception to launch a sneak attack."
"Like me, kill him in one strike."
Hearing that, Mochizuki thought for a moment before speaking.
"That would not be difficult for me."
"Then I'll leave it to you."
"Wait."
As Takeru turned to leave, Mochizuki suddenly called out to him.
"There is one more problem."
"What is it?"
"If I also fail to kill Yhwach, or even force out his full power, then what? How do we respond? Have you considered that?"
"Are you lacking confidence in yourself?"
"...I just maintain the minimum caution toward things I do not understand."
"Don't worry. If it really comes to that, then... I can only apologize to the Captain Commander and the others. As for you... run as far away as you can."
"?"
...
The blood splashing before his eyes stirred up old thoughts.
Even now, Mochizuki still did not understand the meaning of those final words.
But it did not matter.
Yhwach would die by his blade.
"You... you lackeys of despicable beings!"
Mochizuki's thoughts were not the only thing stirred by that strike.
Yhwach himself was shaken as well.
His pupils trembled, and his face twisted viciously.
The scene of being betrayed a thousand years ago was still vivid in his mind, and the phantom pain in his chest lingered as if it had never left.
Every time he remembered it, he wanted to kill the one who had attacked him from behind.
Pain itself was nothing. Even a fatal wound was nothing in Yhwach's eyes.
What he could never forgive was being obstructed by some insignificant obstacle and forced to halt his march toward a new future.
To commit despicable acts with a lowly body, what a heinous crime.
Even draining the five lakes and four seas could not extinguish Yhwach's rage.
Even devoting everything would not be enough to erase his hatred.
"Unforgivable... unforgivable!"
"I never asked for your forgiveness."
Mochizuki's expression did not change. He tightened his grip on the hilt and tried to slash all the way through Yhwach's body in one motion.
But the blade would not move at all. No matter how hard he pulled, it would not come free.
It was not being held in place by muscle.
Instead, Yhwach raised a hand and grabbed the section of blade protruding from his chest.
"A mere heart... a mere fatal wound... Zaraki Kyougen, do you think I am one of those weak lives in your eyes, the kind that can be killed just by taking off the head or destroying the heart?!"
Terrifying spiritual pressure erupted from Yhwach's entire body, tinged with a bloody hue, as if the deep blue reishi itself had been dyed with blood.
Ignoring the worsening injury, he bent the blade with his bare hand, then turned and slashed with his Quincy cross blade.
"After being pierced through the heart by my Shikai blade, your heart should have been scorched and melted by all logic, yet you still have the strength to counterattack?!"
Zaraki Kyouya, fused with the atmospheric reishi, had fully witnessed the opponent's strength.
For spiritual bodies, as long as the heart beats, spiritual pressure is generated, and a spiritual body's life force is linked to that spiritual pressure.
With Yhwach's level of spiritual pressure, the strength of his life force was easy to imagine.
That was why, instead of slashing across Yhwach's back to cut him in half, Zaraki Kyouya had preferred to target a fatal point like the heart and block spiritual pressure generation at its source.
In terms of results, he had indeed succeeded.
However, Yhwach not only did not die on the spot, he rose like a wounded beast and counterattacked.
Zaraki Kyouya barely managed to withdraw his blade and retreat, using Shunpo to gain distance while looking for another chance to finish him.
But the moment he landed, a white flash struck him and sent him flying uncontrollably for hundreds of meters before he smashed into the plaza wall.
"Cough, cough, cough...!"
Zaraki Kyouya vomited blood and looked down.
Half a broken blade was lodged in his chest.
That was the tip Yhwach had snapped off and thrown back.
"What a monster...!"
A blade denser than the Sōkyoku's spear had been broken that easily.
And the broken tip had been thrown back like a concealed weapon, nearly killing him in a single hit.
After all, ever since Zaraki Kyouya cleverly awakened his Bankai, he had never released it, so his physical body had never actually been trained. Even after releasing the fusion, he was still physically at the level of an ordinary soul from the time he escaped the execution grounds.
He could not even compare to a normal Shinigami, much less contend with Yhwach.
Surviving two attacks without dying was already a miracle.
That said, with the tip of his own Zanpakuto piercing his internal organs, Zaraki Kyouya was now like an ordinary person stabbed by a knife. He could do nothing but sit amid the ruins and cling to life.
Boom!
A loud crash drew Zaraki Kyouya's attention. He barely raised his head and looked forward.
Dust billowed as two figures burst out of the cloud and flew backward.
It was Takeru and Yhwach.
Judging from their positions, Yhwach had probably intended to deliver the finishing blow to him, the hateful failed ambusher, only to be barely intercepted by Takeru.
The reishi explosion left both sides in a miserable state.
"Huff... huff..."
Takeru knelt on one knee, gripping his blade with one hand and bracing himself with the other. His spiritual pressure, which had dropped to rock bottom, was slowly rising again, and the signs of ruptured blood vessels and internal bleeding on the surface of his body began to stop.
That was because he had used [Corruption Potion] three times in a row, reaching the daily limit.
The effect of [Corruption Potion] was excellent.
In addition to continuously restoring a small amount of spiritual pressure and stamina, it could force out extra spiritual power like an adrenaline injection to deal with a crisis.
Because of that, Takeru, whose spiritual pressure had been drained dry by Shikai and whose body could no longer bear the strain, unexpectedly managed to interrupt Yhwach's furious strike and save Zaraki Kyouya from death.
"I take back what I said earlier! You may be young, but you are just as cunning and deceitful as Yamamoto Genryusai!"
Yhwach covered his heart and staggered to his feet, his face filled with rage.
"Unfortunately, neither you nor that despicable ambusher are enough to take my life... I grant myself an intact heart!"
Dense, massive reishi gathered in his palm and flowed into the wound in his chest, repairing the nearly destroyed heart and making it beat powerfully once more.
"Isn't that just using spiritual pressure to heal yourself? Then why not heal the injuries I gave you too? Is it because the spiritual pressure remaining in those wounds is so dense that you think... if you waste power on them, you won't be able to keep going?"
Takeru also staggered to his feet with his blade in hand. His surviving left eye shone like a cold star, sharp and icy as it pierced through Yhwach's intentions.
"Correct. Your slash is far more terrifying than Zaraki Kyougen's. Repairing it would be troublesome. Better to deal with it slowly after killing all of you. Though I do not know where your extra strength came from... the halo at your feet has already disappeared. Without question... the one who truly 'cannot sustain this' is you!"
Yes.
The Kido Aura had disappeared.
After Shikai, Takeru's spiritual pressure dropped to freezing point, and the Kido could no longer remain active.
Otherwise, with [Vampirism Aura] automatically activating [Bakudo] to heal him based on damage dealt to enemies, Zaraki Kyouya would not have been so badly wounded.
Takeru's condition would have been slightly better as well.
"I won't give you any more chances!"
The joy of escaping death and the words of victory had all been shattered by Zaraki Kyouya's intervention.
Yhwach stopped talking. With a swing of his blade, a spirit bow appeared above him and fired massive Heiligenschein arrows at Takeru one after another, determined to reduce him to ashes.
Boom...!
Terrifying spiritual pressure fluctuations and constant explosions shook the earth. Even from more than ten kilometers away, people could feel the tremors, sense the cold killing intent and fury inside that spiritual pressure, and feel their hair stand on end.
A deep unease rose in their hearts.
Especially when the Gotei 13 realized the halo beneath their feet was gone.
Takeru's spiritual pressure had fallen off a cliff.
That unease reached its peak.
"Save him! Go save him...! Tell those Captain-level guys... forget the enemies in front of them, those small fries don't matter, go support Shino Ward... Shimiya... Shimiya Takeru must not die!"
Kageroza, eyes bloodshot, roared into the communicator desperately. Without even waiting for a response from the Technical Development Bureau on the other end, he turned and shouted at Yushima Oko.
"Leave this to me and Nozomi! If Shimiya Takeru dies, everything we've done loses its meaning!"
"Yes!"
Yushima Oko did not hesitate. He immediately abandoned their hard-won gains and flashed away.
The only remaining Schutzstaffel members, Liltotto and Giselle Gewelle, were stunned by the sudden change. Before they could react, Kageroza was already charging at them with the momentum of someone fighting to the death.
Yushima Oko, who could perform spatial transfers, was extremely fast. In less than a minute, he arrived in Shino Ward.
To his relief, Takeru was not dead yet.
But his situation was critical.
He had almost no ability to fight back and was being completely suppressed by Yhwach.
At this rate, being shot to death by light arrows was only a matter of time.
The moment he saw that, Yushima Oko intervened decisively.
Unexpectedly, the Sternritter side also had reinforcements.
"You are...?!"
"Sternritter, Loyd Lloyd."
The man with an eye on his forehead looked ordinary enough, but in the next instant,
"No unrelated parties shall disturb His Majesty's enjoyment."
He transformed into Yushima Oko's appearance and spoke coldly with the same face and voice.
"?!"
Yushima Oko's heart sank.
A transformation ability? Then perhaps... he could be treated as his own reigai.
As the creator of the reigai, he would not lose to such an ability.
But he had no idea how much time it would cost him, and that lost time was exactly what Takeru could not afford.
Boom!
An explosion lit Yushima Oko's face red, making him turn his head.
The surviving twin, the other holder of schrift [Y], Loyd, who had transformed into "Yushima Oko," attacked without hesitation.
"Do not think you can bypass me with your Zanpakuto and enter that battlefield. After all, the abilities you have, I have them too...!"
"Damn it!"
Yushima Oko gritted his teeth and forced himself to focus on the enemy in front of him, trying to eliminate him as quickly as possible.
On the other side, Takeru, under Yhwach's assault, was in no better condition.
He dodged and weaved, and his Shunpo was far better than it had been before the battle.
However, Yhwach's Heiligenschein was on a completely different level from that of any other Quincy.
If other Quincies were shooting arrows, then Yhwach was manipulating reishi itself to destroy his opponent. The gap in understanding and application of technique was simply too great.
In this situation, Yhwach seemed determined to keep his distance and fight solely with Heiligenschein.
As a result, Takeru could not close in for close combat no matter how he moved, and even simple evasion became more and more difficult.
"..."
A strange light flickered in Takeru's eyes, as if he had made some decision.
At that moment, Yhwach suddenly changed tactics.
"The Antithesis!"
A spiritual ring capable of forcibly stealing another's power was thrown out by Yhwach and appeared above Takeru's head.
Seeing it, Takeru let out a quiet sigh inside.
"Ban..."
"Bankai!"
A figure suddenly rushed into the altar-like space and activated Bankai before Takeru, allowing that power to be stolen by Yhwach instead.
"Argh!"
"!?"
Takeru looked at the woman in front of him in shock.
She endured the discomfort of having her Bankai stolen, did not look back, did not say a word, raised her spiritual pressure to the limit, and charged straight at Yhwach.
"What?"
A trace of surprise flashed across Yhwach's face. But when he saw another insignificant figure interfere in the battlefield and rush him head-on, he snorted coldly and directly unleashed the deep blue flame mixed with gold in his hand, the power stolen from her.
"Seeking death!"
The high-density reishi flames instantly swept across the sky.
Yet the one charging in showed no fear at all, forcibly unleashing a move comparable to Bankai once more.
"Mugen Shunko!"
With whirlwinds entangled around her limbs, she charged into the flames. Her spiritual body cracked apart as she poured out all her power at once, canceling most of the reishi fire.
The remaining blue flames drifted around Takeru like snowflakes.
They did not injure him in the slightest, though the heat seared his skin.
"Have I been too arrogant?"
Yhwach murmured softly.
"Even with the power of [The Almighty], I cannot comprehend the thoughts of such insignificant individuals."
"You rush in only to have your power stolen by me and die by your own strength. It may seem I am granting you a favor, but whether it is [The Antithesis] or Heiligenschein, I can still use them. The outcome was already decided, so what difference does it make whether you die sooner or later?"
"Even a counterfeit still has some strength. Looking at it this way... is it because the original's thoughts are simply too foolish? How pitiful."
"However, every soul that dies on this battlefield will push me toward the predetermined future. In that sense, it may be called a glorious salvation."
The moment those words fell, Takeru appeared in front of him almost without warning.
His eyes were utterly still.
But the black-red lightning wrapped around his blade was undeniably violent.
"?!"
The familiar spiritual pressure fluctuation shocked Yhwach, and he swung his blade immediately.
Clang!
The Quincy cross blade was cut apart by Takeru.
The remaining force carved into Yhwach as well, shattering even the patterns of [Seikessen] and severing his shoulder and the right arm that held the Quincy cross blade.
"Ah!"
Badly wounded, Yhwach also went mad. His spiritual pressure roared as he switched to [Kekko], gaining overwhelming physical ability. His left arm seemed to turn into an arm of light as he endured the pain, grabbed Takeru's sword wrist, and tore it off.
A true eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.
But Takeru completely ignored the loss of his right arm and Zanpakuto.
He clenched his left fist.
Its knuckles were also wrapped in black-red lightning. Beneath his blood-soaked shinigami uniform, his wrist was covered in blood, and veins bulged violently.
He punched through the atmosphere and drove his fist into Yhwach's face like a falling comet.
In that instant, Yhwach seemed to see a certain hot-tempered old man throwing a punch at him.
"Ikotsu!"
That fist carried overwhelming force capable of distorting space.
It sank deep into Yhwach's face, nearly crushing eyes filled with shock and fury.
Boom!
Using the Hakuda technique passed down from Yamamoto Genryusai, Takeru sent Yhwach flying a thousand meters away, blasting him clear out of Shino Ward Plaza.
.....
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