Momo Hinamori appeared beside Harry in an instant. She turned around, and the timidity that had once filled her eyes was gone, replaced by absolute obedience to Harry's command.
An unwavering desire to fight surged through her as her Reiatsu continued rising. Second Division Captain Suì-Fēng stared at the familiar yet strangely different young woman in disbelief.
"Fourth Seat Hinamori... your Reiatsu..."
But that was only the beginning.
Almost simultaneously, Tōshirō Hitsugaya rose into the air. The temperature around him plummeted, and white frost climbed from the cuffs of his pants as ice-blue Reiatsu poured from his body like a waterfall, freezing the surrounding rubble into crystalline ice.
His Reiatsu carried a bone-piercing chill. Icicle-shaped reishi condensed behind him into translucent wings, while the pressure of another Spirit Class One Reiatsu made the Soul Reapers below involuntarily shiver.
Most of the captains knew that Hitsugaya's Bankai was exceptionally powerful. However, his insufficient Reiatsu had previously prevented him from entering its fully matured state. The three ice flowers hovering behind him would gradually lose their petals, forcing his Bankai to end once the last petal vanished.
Now that he possessed Spirit Class One Reiatsu, the three floating ice flowers had completely disappeared.
Hitsugaya had successfully entered his fully matured Bankai. He would no longer be forced out of Bankai when the final ice petal fell.
His voice was cold as Hyōrinmaru rotated in his hand, fine particles of ice forming within the surrounding blue Reiatsu.
"Anyone who wants the Hōgyoku will have to get past me first."
His gaze swept across the assembled captains. Even while surrounded by several of them, there was no trace of retreat in his eyes.
Everything he did was for the greater good.
Rangiku Matsumoto moved a little more slowly. Haineko, which had previously rested loosely across her shoulder, was now held firmly in her hand. Pale pink Reiatsu erupted from her body before instantly transforming into an enormous cloud of drifting ash.
This was her Bankai. Her Zanpakutō dissolved into a vast ash mist, with every particle possessing tremendous cutting power. In that respect, it bore certain similarities to Byakuya Kuchiki's Bankai.
The ash appeared soft and harmless, but it was extraordinarily dense. Every particle of reishi carried the sharpness of a blade, and the energy contained within Rangiku's pale pink Reiatsu possessed some of the same oppressive weight as Shunsui Kyōraku's.
There was no doubt about it. She also possessed Spirit Class One Reiatsu.
"Sorry, Captains."
Rangiku's voice retained some of its usual laziness, but the determination in her eyes was unmistakable. The pale pink ash gathered before her and formed a defensive barrier.
"I've chosen to trust Captain Potter."
Her Reiatsu spread outward and intertwined with Momo's orange-red flames and Hitsugaya's ice-blue frost. Three Spirit Class One Reiatsu signatures formed a stable triangle across Sōkyoku Hill, protecting Harry and the Hōgyoku in his palm at its center.
Every captain froze.
Captain-Commander Yamamoto's cane stopped in midair, and his clouded eyes filled with shock.
He had known that the three of them possessed considerable strength, but he had assumed that they had reached Spirit Class Three at most. He had never imagined that all three were concealing Spirit Class One Reiatsu.
Shunsui lowered the hand that had been preparing to draw his sword. He covered half his face with his folding fan, his eyes filled with disbelief.
"Hinamori, Rangiku, and little Tōshirō... Just how much has Harry been hiding?"
Byakuya's Reiatsu receded slightly. His lips parted as he stared blankly at the scene, clearly caught off guard by the sudden revelation.
Kenpachi Zaraki, on the other hand, widened his eye in excitement as his Reiatsu surged uncontrollably.
"Ha! So the three of you were this strong all along! I should've sparred with you when I had the chance!"
His desire to fight seemed ready to pierce the heavens. He stared at the three intertwined Reiatsu signatures, almost unable to restrain himself from charging forward.
The three Spirit Class One Reiatsu signatures trembled through the air, colliding with the spiritual pressure of Captain-Commander Yamamoto and the other captains to create invisible shock waves.
Fragments of stone trembled and bounced across Sōkyoku Hill. A battle over possession of the Hōgyoku, and perhaps even the fate of the Three Worlds, was moments away from erupting.
The first person to attack was not a member of the Gotei 13.
It was Sōsuke Aizen.
His figure moved like a ghost. He instantly appeared a short distance from Harry, drew his sword, and unleashed an extremely compressed wave of sword pressure. It flew toward Harry at tremendous speed, aimed directly at the hand holding the Hōgyoku.
The attack contained power beyond Spirit Class One and moved so quickly that the surrounding captains saw only a blur.
Although Momo, Hitsugaya, and Rangiku all possessed Spirit Class One Reiatsu, none of them could have blocked such an attack alone.
Fortunately, none of them was fighting alone.
"Not a chance!"
Momo swung Tobiume horizontally and intercepted Aizen's slash.
The instant the two attacks collided, Aizen's sword pressure visibly began overwhelming Momo's Reiatsu.
Just before the slash could break past her and strike Harry, however, Hitsugaya and Rangiku's Reiatsu suddenly poured into Momo.
The combined power of three Spirit Class One fighters instantly surpassed the limits of Spirit Class One, reaching the same level as Aizen.
Empowered by threefold Reiatsu, Momo easily shattered Aizen's attack.
Everyone witnessed what had happened. Twelfth Division Captain Mayuri Kurotsuchi narrowed his eyes thoughtfully.
"What an interesting technique. It perfectly combines the Reiatsu of three individuals. Whenever one of them attacks or defends, the Reiatsu of the other two is immediately concentrated within that person.
"In other words, anyone who fights even one of them must simultaneously fight all three.
"How frightening, Captain Potter. Not only is your Reiatsu exceptionally powerful, but your research abilities would also make you perfectly qualified to lead the Twelfth Division.
"Even so, how long can Fourth Seat Hinamori and the others maintain this? There are two transcendent-level combatants present, after all."
Mayuri turned toward Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto, who had already become furious beyond measure.
"Captain-Commander Yamamoto, I'm afraid you will have to use your full strength to break through the defensive line established by Fourth Seat Hinamori and her companions. Otherwise, we may be incapable of doing anything to Captain Potter.
"Captain Potter has already begun absorbing the Hōgyoku. It contains extraordinary power. If he succeeds and increases his strength even further, there may truly be no one left who can oppose him."
Yamamoto nodded slightly.
The next instant, his aged hand tightened around his cane. The weapon that had accompanied him for a thousand years shattered apart.
Splinters of wood scattered through the air, revealing an ancient katana hidden within the cane.
Its sheath was dark red, resembling sandalwood scorched by fire. Dark cord was wrapped around the hilt, while its simple square guard radiated a faint heat beneath the sunlight.
It was the Captain-Commander's Zanpakutō, Ryūjin Jakka.
"Reduce all creation to ash, Ryūjin Jakka!"
The release command left Yamamoto's lips in a low voice. There was no earthshaking roar, only the authority accumulated over a thousand years.
The instant he finished speaking, orange-red flames erupted around the blade.
They were not ordinary flames, but extreme heat comparable to the surface of the sun.
As the blade moved through the air, space itself seemed to distort from the heat. The rubble scattered across the ground instantly cracked, releasing trails of white smoke.
Momo, Hitsugaya, and Rangiku immediately tensed in front of their formation.
Momo's Reiatsu instinctively surged. Hitsugaya condensed his ice into an even thicker barrier, while Rangiku's ash mist became increasingly dense.
They all assumed that the Captain-Commander intended to completely destroy their defensive line and attack Harry behind them.
Yamamoto's movements certainly appeared to confirm their suspicions.
He gripped his sword with both hands. The flames surrounding its blade condensed into a translucent arc of fire, which he swung violently toward the three of them.
However, a moment before the fiery blade struck Hitsugaya at the front of the formation, Yamamoto abruptly twisted his wrists.
The trajectory of the orange-red flames suddenly changed.
Like a fire serpent forcibly bent in another direction, the attack swept past the edge of Hitsugaya and the others before surging toward Aizen with even greater heat.
The change happened too quickly for anyone to react.
Even Aizen had to treat such a powerful attack with extreme caution.
His pupils abruptly contracted. He could clearly sense that both the heat and Reiatsu contained within the fiery blade surpassed his own.
Aizen instinctively raised his Zanpakutō horizontally in front of his chest to block.
Although he managed to intercept the strike, the overwhelming heat still scorched his body.
"Captain-Commander, what is the meaning of this?"
Aizen's collar was burned away, and he was forced several steps backward to disperse the force of the attack.
Surprise flashed through his eyes before transforming into a cold smile.
"I see. I was your true target from the very beginning."
Momo and the others were equally stunned. They had never expected the Captain-Commander's apparent attack against them to be a diversion aimed at Aizen.
Yamamoto remained where he was, gripping Ryūjin Jakka. The orange-red flames illuminated his aged face. There was no hesitation in his eyes, only unwavering determination.
"Aizen, you have betrayed Soul Society, coveted the Hōgyoku, and attempted to overturn the order of the Three Worlds. Whatever Potter's intentions may be, you remain the most immediate threat and must be eliminated first."
He raised his blade slightly, and the flames surged once more.
"I will deal with you as quickly as possible. Afterward, I will correct Harry's misguided beliefs."
Yamamoto swung his sword again.
Several orange-red blades of fire shot outward, but they did not target anyone. Instead, they landed around the perimeter of Sōkyoku Hill and formed a circular wall of flames.
The heat isolated Sōkyoku Hill from the outside world, trapping everyone present within the ring and preventing anyone from escaping.
Aizen studied the wall of flames surrounding them, then looked at Yamamoto's piercing eyes. An excited smile gradually appeared upon his lips.
He slowly drew his Zanpakutō. His Reiatsu collided with the orange-red flames, producing a series of faint explosions.
"Interesting. It is an honor to have the Captain-Commander take me so seriously."
The situation on Sōkyoku Hill instantly changed.
What had begun as a confrontation over Harry and the Hōgyoku became a supreme battle between Aizen and the Captain-Commander.
Although Yamamoto had decided to defeat Aizen quickly, the other captains did not remain idle. They released their Zanpakutō and attacked Hitsugaya, Rangiku, and Momo, hoping to slow Harry's absorption of the Hōgyoku and buy time for the Captain-Commander.
Their strategy proved effective.
The violent and chaotic Reiatsu interfered with Harry's perception of the Hōgyoku, disrupting his attempts to deconstruct it and reducing the speed at which he could absorb it.
Several of the assembled captains possessed Spirit Class One Reiatsu.
Thirteenth Division Captain Jūshirō Ukitake, Fourth Division Captain Retsu Unohana, and Eighth Division Captain Shunsui Kyōraku were all Spirit Class One fighters.
They were seasoned warriors whose combat experience far surpassed that of Momo, Hitsugaya, and Rangiku. Supported by the other captains, they gradually overwhelmed the three, even though the Trinity Guardian Array allowed Harry's companions to combine the power of three Spirit Class One fighters.
Fortunately, they did not need to hold out for long.
After only a few minutes, the Hōgyoku in Harry's palm began to dissolve. The resulting dark blue liquid slowly seeped into his body, and his Reiatsu rose to an even greater level.
Every captain saw what was happening, and their attacks immediately became fiercer.
Aizen and Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto also noticed the transformation from their distant battlefield.
At that point, Aizen could no longer remain calm. While struggling to defend himself against the Captain-Commander's attacks, he shouted anxiously, "Captain-Commander Yamamoto, are you truly going to stand there and watch him absorb the entire Hōgyoku?"
Yamamoto did not answer, but his actions served as a response.
The Captain-Commander stopped attacking and turned his attention toward Harry.
A heavy sigh escaped his lips and echoed across the empty execution grounds.
"Potter, you have forced my hand."
Before the words had faded, Yamamoto tightened his fingers and gripped Ryūjin Jakka's hilt with both hands.
The previously restrained orange-red flames suddenly surged upward. A moment later, their blazing radiance vanished as every flame was absorbed into the Zanpakutō.
The sword in the Captain-Commander's hands turned black and gray.
It no longer radiated obvious heat, yet it carried the deathly silence of all things reaching their end. Even the surrounding reishi seemed to have been burned away, leaving the air oppressively still.
"Bankai, Zanka no Tachi!"
The Captain-Commander's roar shook heaven and earth as his Bankai was fully released.
Ryūjin Jakka's blade was now black as ink, with dark golden patterns running along its edge. Worn red cord encircled its hilt, and an intricate flame design covered the guard.
This was the forbidden power that had protected the Gotei 13 for a thousand years, Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto's Bankai, Zanka no Tachi.
The instant his Bankai was completed, the ground of Sōkyoku Hill began to crack.
Black scorch marks spread through the fractures. Wherever they passed, rubble turned to ash and reishi was completely incinerated.
Aizen instinctively retreated several steps, his eyes becoming solemn behind his glasses.
He had witnessed the power of Zanka no Tachi before and understood that it was no ordinary Bankai. It was a force of destruction capable of overturning Soul Society itself.
Yamamoto did not hesitate.
The arm holding Zanka no Tachi swung forward.
There was no deafening explosion, only a black flash cutting across the sky.
It was not a physical slash, but the pure concept of scorching annihilation. Wherever it passed, space itself was burned into a distorted scar.
Even the defensive line created by Momo, Hitsugaya, and Rangiku shook violently. Their pale pink, ice-blue, and orange-red Reiatsu was instantly devoured by the invisible heat, destroying more than half of their combined defense.
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