Chapter 167: Tenfold Increase of Resurrección
Anger.
As an emotion shared by all normal life, it is usually defined as something negative.
It was also the Aspect of Death symbolized by No. 10 of the Espada.
But that was not why Yammy Llargo was furious right now.
"What the hell is this... are you kidding me? Where did that Captain with hair like a hedgehog go, the one always running around with that pink haired brat? There isn't even a single Shinigami wearing a haori here, just one..."
Crawling out from the collapsed canyon, he shook the dust and rubble from his body. His furious gaze swept the battlefield before finally locking onto the only target left standing.
"You stupid brat who doesn't know your place."
"Even if I don't want to end up bald like Madarame, being called a brat by you is still a little too condescending. I am Hisagi Shūhei, Lieutenant of Squad 9."
Shūhei stood atop a jutting pile of broken rock, barely reaching eye level with Yammy's massive frame, which towered over 5 meters high.
The insignia of Squad 9 was tied around the arm of his sleeveless shinigami uniform. His dual scythes, already released into Shikai, hung in his hands on long chains. His expression was steady, his whole bearing resolute, giving off the aura of a man who no longer feared overwhelming power.
At his feet, 8 halos of different colors overlapped and circled one another.
They were layered like tree rings and tinted like a rainbow.
This was a war type Kidō created by Takeru.
The Kidō Aura possessed 8 different effects, providing comprehensive support for survival.
When Takeru left with Ichigo and Aizen and went straight for the enemy stronghold, he had not completely abandoned the battlefield here either. As he flew off, he activated the Kidō Aura and spread it over all allies, giving them a measure of assistance.
"Just a Lieutenant, and instead of helping clean up those Kōkon, you stayed here waiting for me, an Espada who could smash your Captain to pieces. So who exactly is looking down on whom?"
Even though Shūhei was no longer the man he had been before, and his spiritual pressure had clearly exceeded the level of an ordinary Lieutenant, Yammy still did not take him seriously.
"I know exactly how strong you are. That's why I never assumed I could kill you. If I can stop you, that's enough. That way, I can lighten the burden on the Captains. I stand here with that resolve."
"Stop me...?"
Shūhei's determined words utterly enraged Yammy.
"First that hedgehog headed bastard, then that woman who stole my rank, and now even trash like you dares to provoke me!?"
"You think I won't slaughter you?"
"Rage, Ira!"
In that instant, Shūhei felt as though a volcano had burst from the earth and transformed into a grotesque, crimson behemoth.
It stood nearly 50 meters tall, like some monster risen from purgatory itself. Its unimaginable spiritual pressure churned around it like molten lava, scorching the land.
The ground suffered another devastating collapse, forcing Shūhei to retreat hundreds of meters.
At this moment, it felt less like facing an enemy and more like standing alone before a natural disaster.
All he could feel was his own helplessness and insignificance.
"The Espada... are they all monsters on this level...?! And this form... it's completely different from the intelligence we had before, just like Captain Kurosaki said."
"Scared now, aren't you? This is the power we gained after passing through death itself!"
Perhaps it was because he had the advantage of height, or perhaps because his newly acquired power had inflated his arrogance. Yammy looked down at the tiny Shinigami below like he was nothing more than an insect.
"I heard your Shinigami Bankai can increase combat power 5 to 10 times. Coincidentally, we Espada went through another evolution after death."
"The power we gain after Resurrección now is exactly the same as your Bankai, a full 10 fold increase!"
"And on top of that, the spiritual pressure I've built up by eating and sleeping erupts through anger. The longer I fight, the stronger I get."
"Not just you. Even that hedgehog headed bastard wouldn't stand a chance against me."
"I'll crush you, you little obstacle, and then move on to the others!"
With that roar, Yammy unleashed his attack.
The sound pressure alone was comparable to a howling typhoon.
The cracked ground split apart layer by layer, and a shockwave carrying countless loose boulders became a raging sandstorm that swallowed Shūhei whole.
Even with the protection of the new shinigami uniform and the defensive reinforcement of the halo beneath him, there was no way to remain unhurt.
So...
"Yeah, I'm scared. Compared to you, angry and fearless, I really am weak, and I really am afraid. But there is one thing you can never do, and that's offer blood and life for a battle this terrifying, a battle that looks completely unwinnable..."
"Bankai... Fushi no Kojyo!"
The roaring sandstorm tore past him, only to be split apart by a sudden eruption of spiritual pressure.
Chains coiled around Shūhei's arms and neck. The chain around his neck extended upward, forming an iron sphere like a pitch black sun suspended in the air.
"...Bankai?"
Looking at Shūhei's transformed appearance, Yammy was genuinely surprised.
"Yes. Bankai... the ultimate secret of a Zanpakutō, a power I only reached after more than a year of training, supported by all my comrades. Even I never thought that someone like me, someone who fears the blade in his own hands, would one day be able to master Bankai."
Through data transport work, Rangiku had fulfilled her promise. She had tirelessly given him psychological counseling and supplements that accelerated his cultivation.
At some point, he and the newly appointed Captain, Zaraki Kyouya, had also begun meeting often to study the essence of release, to understand the thoughts of their Zanpakutō and the meaning behind their true names.
He had even been fortunate enough to enter the hyperbolic time chamber once, through the favor of his former superior.
And the result was this.
He had reached the Captain class secret art, Bankai, while still a Lieutenant.
"So what if it's Bankai? I'll blow you and your Bankai apart together!"
Seeing Shūhei's calm expression, so utterly mismatched with his current state, only made Yammy more irritated. He raised both fists, thick and immense like the pillars of heaven themselves, and brought them crashing down with a surge of spiritual pressure.
"Rage Giant!"
If that blow had hit the earth cleanly, the entire area would have been reduced to dust, leaving behind nothing but himself, sand, and air.
If he had done this in the Human World, then even with lower reishi density limiting its full power, it would still have triggered a catastrophic earthquake.
But after those world destroying fists came down, although everything within several kilometers was instantly obliterated, Shūhei did not die.
His body had been horribly mangled. Of the iron sphere floating above him, less than half remained.
And yet despite taking what should have been fatal damage, he still did not die.
Blood spilled from the corner of his mouth as he drew in a breath tinged with iron and stood firm on the broken ground.
The dual scythe blades in his hands were gone.
But following the chains connected to their handles, one could see that both scythes had wrapped themselves around Yammy's wrists.
Not only that, but from the massive shadow spreading beneath Yammy's feet, dozens of chains rose like living serpents. They coiled around his ankles, calves, thighs, waist, and torso, then bit down again and again.
The damage each bite caused was minor, closer to insect stings than real wounds.
But there was no denying the fact that neither his hard Hierro nor his thick muscles and bones could withstand the gnawing of those chains.
"You think this can hold me?"
Yammy roared in pain and yanked at the chains. Yet every chain he snapped was instantly replaced by more, as if they were endless.
Then after several moments, he realized something was wrong.
The vast strength that had seemed limitless was fading.
His body turned weak. His knees slammed into the ground, and he panted heavily while glaring at Shūhei.
"It's... absorbing my reishi...?!"
"To be more accurate, we're sharing spiritual pressure. No matter what injuries either of us takes, neither of us can die. We can also use each other's spiritual pressure to recover... In other words, we'll keep fighting in this state of immortality until all of our spiritual pressure runs dry."
As he spoke, Shūhei's mangled body healed at a rapid rate. The chains and the iron sphere above him restored themselves as well, making him seem truly immortal.
"And more importantly, I'm not connected to you through those chains. From the moment I activated Bankai, our lives became linked."
"Damn it!"
Yammy exploded in fury.
He had no intention of losing to such a cowardly power, so he erupted again with his rage, shattered the chains wrapped around him, and tried to flee the Bankai's range altogether in search of a less disgusting opponent.
That thought was crushed the next instant.
The moment he used Sonído to leap away, the chains connected to the black sphere above Shūhei's head yanked him back by force.
It was absolute and tyrannical, like a law of nature made visible.
"I told you, our lives are linked. Our spiritual pressure is shared until it runs out. In that case, how could you possibly escape before the fight is over? You should just stay here and finish this battle whose conclusion was decided the moment it began."
Shūhei looked at Yammy the way one might look at a fool.
"Once we've both collapsed from exhaustion, I'll interview the loser like a proper reporter and ask what they thought of the fight. Then you can curse me out all you like."
Hearing that, Yammy's eyes widened and the corners of his mouth twitched. It was as if he was so furious he could only laugh, yet he could not even find words.
After a long silence, he spat out only one.
"...Damn it!"
...
Elsewhere, Zaraki Kyouya stood atop a rocky peak, looking in the direction where Yammy and Shūhei were fighting.
Then a Cero came crashing in.
It swallowed his figure whole, obliterated the rocky summit beneath him, and triggered a massive explosion.
When the dust and smoke began to drift apart, Szayelaporro calmly pushed up his glasses while the harsh wind swept through his hair. There was no joy of victory on his face, only the ease of a man who believed he had everything under control.
"So, after 200 years, it seems your time in hiding did not dull your edge, Zaraki... Kenpachi."
"Your face means nothing to me."
Kyouya's figure appeared several meters behind him. Though he had not immediately counterattacked, his cold gaze stayed locked on Szayelaporro, as if trying to extract information from him instead.
"But I'll never forget yours."
Szayelaporro turned around. A dark smile spread across his face as he looked Kyouya up and down with the keen eyes of someone evaluating a specimen.
"After all, the ability you displayed when you killed Kuruyashiki Kenpachi back then gave me a great deal of inspiration. If possible, I would have preferred to witness it myself instead of analyzing the battle through recorded spiritual insect footage."
Hearing that long buried name from the mouth of an Arrancar did make Kyouya pause.
But the explanation came to him quickly enough.
"I see. So the day Kuruyashiki died, he had actually gone to subdue you, or perhaps one of your subordinates. But before he could finish the task, he ran into me."
"Szayelaporro Granz. Based on the intelligence, you're a technician with some actual skill. Which means it's entirely possible that, while I was still immature, you were hiding in some corner of space and spying on the battle between me and Kuruyashiki without being discovered."
"Or rather... that's exactly what happened."
Clap. Clap.
Szayelaporro applauded without hesitation.
"Congratulations, you guessed right. Though one detail must be corrected. I am not merely a technician with some skill. I am the greatest scientist of all. Even if I lost once to Mayuri Kurotsuchi, and even if I was outplayed once by Kisuke Urahara, the fact remains that I created the Method of Life and Death Circulation and thereby touched perfect life itself. In every sense, I stand above them."
"That said..."
He lowered his hands, and his smile became unsettling.
"It seems that even this method still requires refinement. It remains far from true perfection."
"So, Zaraki Kenpachi... may I trouble you for a favor?"
"..."
"After more than 200 years, I am no longer who I was before. I want to make up for the regret I left behind that day. If I can thoroughly dissect your body and your abilities, then perhaps I can create the truly perfect method of eternal life. Your name will be engraved forever in my heart. Under such a magnificent proposal, you have no reason to refuse."
"Of course, even if you do refuse, it changes nothing. Because..."
Szayelaporro's smile widened even further, until it became positively revolting.
"Back then, I split away the violent part of myself so that I could devote myself entirely to research. That is why I ended up as Number 9. But now that I have died once already, I have reclaimed the reishi data of that discarded soul."
"The current me is not merely a Vasto Lorde class Arrancar. I am now the true Number 0, surpassing even the First Espada, surpassing the greatest version of myself from the past!"
"Mayuri Kurotsuchi, Kisuke Urahara, and you, all of you will be captured and turned into stepping stones on my path to perfect life... Sip, Fornicarás!"
Faced with the demonic transformation before him, and the spiritual pressure now swelling far beyond Captain level, Kyouya's gaze remained as sharp as lightning.
There was not a trace of fear in his eyes, nor any hesitation.
His body looked slender enough that one might think a single punch could shatter it, yet the spiritual pressure condensed inside it had been honed to the utmost extreme. His entire presence felt like a razor thin Zanpakutō, and together with the Kidō Aura blooming beneath his feet, he radiated a severe and overwhelming pressure of his own.
"I should correct one detail as well. I am not Zaraki Kyougen. I am Zaraki Kyouya, current Captain of Squad 9."
"That said, I don't mind finishing what Kuruyashiki failed to finish back then."
"And that is... cutting you down."
...
At the same time, another declaration echoed across another battlefield.
"Slay me? What foolish arrogance."
Zommari Rureaux, the 8th Espada, looked expressionlessly at the rough looking man standing across the cliff from him.
"I am glorious and sacred, a servant of that lord. How could I possibly be slain by a mere Shinigami?"
"Is that so? Then I'll have to test whether your so called glorious and sacred body can endure a blade personally praised by the Captain Commander."
Amagai, once hot blooded and impulsive, now wore an expression as cold as steel.
He held a sword in each hand, his Zanpakutō in one and his makakyō blade in the other, and stood atop the Kidō Aura with a heroic bearing.
That personal makakyō blade, originally forged to deal with Quincy, seemed to have developed a special connection to his soul after the great war. It might even have completed an evolution of its own after absorbing so much spiritual pressure.
Because of that, he had commissioned the Technical Development Bureau to completely remake it.
Takeru had also lent a hand in the process by using Word Spirit, Heaven and Earth as a Furnace.
As a result, it had become a spiritual blade that could directly draw on Amagai's spiritual pressure, resonate with Raika, further amplify Raika's performance, and release a field that suppressed non Shinigami powers.
Though it was not a Zanpakutō, it complemented Raika so perfectly that it could almost be treated as a second "paired blade."
"Then I shall grant you death in my master's name."
"Then once I cut you down, I'll go cut down that master of yours too. If I can't cut him, then I'll burn him to ash, like the filth he is."
Those words made Zommari's face twist with fury.
"You dare insult that lord? Unforgivable!"
"Settle down, Cursing Eye Monk!"
"Bankai... Raika Gōen Kaku!"
Both men unleashed their full spiritual pressure at the same time.
Within 2 immense pillars of reishi storm, their transformed figures stood facing each other, each already feeling the dangerous pressure of the other.
Amagai knew perfectly well that his enemy's spiritual pressure exceeded his own.
Even so, there was not the slightest sign of retreat in him.
"Even if you're much, much stronger than the intelligence reports said, I haven't stood still over this past year either. For the sake of the Captain Commander, and for the future of the world, I'll cut you down even if it costs me my life!"
.....
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