"Sorry, Kaname Tōsen! No matter what this thing you call 'justice' really is—I only believe that justice lies in my hands! Charge forward, Yamata no Orochi!!"
Although Saitō Keichirō did not understand what was going on with the Hollow mask on Tōsen's face, he swiftly drew his Zanpakutō and recited its release command.
"Hisss—!"
The moment Keichirō released his Zanpakutō, his black Shihakushō transformed into silver armor.
His blade became a massive serpent over a hundred meters tall, its body covered in white reverse scales. It raised eight snake heads and flicked crimson tongues at Tōsen—
"Hmph! That ridiculous thing… is that what you call 'justice'?
In my eyes… it is nothing but a blasphemy against justice!" Tōsen snorted coldly as he sensed the transformation of Keichirō's Zanpakutō.
"Go, Yamata no Orochi!!"
Keichirō leapt onto one of the white serpent heads. Instantly, the other seven heads rose in unison and fired sixteen red beams from their eyes—
"Bakudō #81: Dankū!"
Unhurried, Tōsen raised his left hand and formed a massive defensive wall of Kidō before him, completely blocking Yamata no Orochi's attack.
"What?!"
Keichirō was stunned. Even while wearing a Hollow mask, Tōsen could still use a Shinigami's Kidō? But… what exactly was going on??
"Seventh Seat Saitō! Is this the extent of your 'justice'? You can't even break through a mere Bakudō #81…"
Standing proudly behind the Dankū barrier, Tōsen shook his head and sighed.
"This is precisely why justice refuses to descend upon the world—because people like you, who defile it, exist!!"
"Tch. I think the reason you can't see the justice in this world… is because you're blind! Now then—Water Serpent, Ground Surge!"
With a roar, Keichirō commanded his serpent. The Yamata no Orochi beneath him spat out an enormous column of pale blue water.
Immediately, another head released a bolt of blue lightning, which merged with the water column to form a water serpent crackling with electric arcs. It shot toward the Dankū barrier.
Boom!
The swift blue water serpent slammed into the air wall, but aside from rippling white waves across its surface, it had no effect.
"I told you—attacks at this level are useless against me—What?! This is—"
Tōsen was slightly startled as two streams of fire suddenly shot in from either side of the Dankū barrier, engulfing him almost instantly!
"The water serpent was just a feint! The real attack is Fire Serpent Torrent—high-temperature flames combined with gale-force winds to amplify their power!"
Seeing Tōsen struck by the fire serpent, Keichirō smirked.
"Oh, and I forgot to mention—my Yamata no Orochi possesses eight attributes: wind, fire, thunder, lightning, water, earth, mist, and poison!
Each combination produces different variations of power—I call it the Divine Boundary! Because this justice was bestowed upon me by the gods!"
"Oh… is that so?"
"What?! When did you—?!"
Hearing Tōsen's voice suddenly sound from behind him, Keichirō was shocked. He immediately grabbed his Zanpakutō and slashed backward—
Smack!
Kaname Tōsen neither dodged nor avoided. He simply raised his left hand and caught Saitō Keichirō's Zanpakutō in his grip. No matter how hard Keichirō struggled, he could not pull it free.
"I've warned you again and again, Seventh Seat Saitō," Tōsen said indifferently.
"What?"
"Justice is a sacred word! You… do not casually place it upon garbage!!"
As he spoke, Tōsen slashed down with his blade. With a sharp shhk, a surge of blood burst from Keichirō Keichirō's chest—
"Urgh…"
Struck in the chest, Keichirō let out a muffled groan and collapsed onto one of Yamata no Orochi's heads. One hand clutched his wound, while the other still gripped his Zanpakutō tightly.
"Oh? Your Shikai seems similar to that of that Ryoka boy, Ichigo Kurosaki…"
Through the heightened spiritual perception granted by his Hollowfication, Tōsen's blind eyes "observed" the silver armor covering Keichirō's body. Slightly surprised, he said, "Could he be from a branch family of your Saitō clan?"
"…"
Keichirō did not respond. He only stared at Tōsen, silently calculating how to free himself from his opponent's grasp.
"Forget it. The question is meaningless anyway…"
Without waiting for an answer, Tōsen attempted to snap Keichirō's Zanpakutō in front of him—but soon discovered that he simply couldn't.
"…"
A frown creased Tōsen's brow beneath his mask. He could not understand why, with his current power, he was unable to break the Zanpakutō of a mere seated officer.
This was far too strange.
As far as Tōsen knew, although the Saitō family was a major clan within the Kidō Corps of the Soul Society—even the former Commander of the Kidō Corps, Grand Kidō Chief Tessai Tsukabishi, had been a disciple of the current head, Saitō Jūshirō—
In the final analysis, the Saitō clan's exceptional talent lay in Kidō. In other aspects—such as swordsmanship, hand-to-hand combat, flash step, and spiritual pressure—they were not particularly outstanding!!
Logically speaking, as a captain-class Shinigami who had broken the limits of a Shinigami through Aizen's use of the incomplete Hōgyoku and obtained Hollow powers, Tōsen should have been able to destroy a seated officer's Zanpakutō with ease…
"But… why can't I even break his blade?! Is my power still insufficient?? How… how is that possible?!"
Though filled with doubt, Tōsen soon stopped dwelling on the matter. Instead, he raised his Zanpakutō, Suzumushi, and aimed it at Saitō Keichirō's head—
After all, he thought: since I can't solve the problem, I'll just eliminate the one who created it. And I can use this opportunity to give that bastard Fūjin Taichi a warning as well!