Oh no.
Orihime Inoue watched Muten Natsu's retreating back with worry.
If it were just an argument, Muten would probably have traded a few more moves with this senior.
But accusing Retsu Unohana…
That was a different matter entirely.
"Heh…" Muten Natsu let out a soft laugh. "Seireitei Communications' The Path of Justice is still running, isn't it? Must be nice. Even if it's unpopular, it keeps getting serialized. That's the privilege of the 9th Division Captain doubling as Editor-in-Chief, right?"
"In the name of justice, I will arrest you and throw you in prison!" Shūhei Hisagi swung his Zanpakutō. "Reap—Kazeshini!"
Clatter!
Chains rattled as a spinning blade tore through the air toward Muten Natsu, the gale it whipped up sharp enough to cut.
Ink Fortress Flash!
Muten Natsu knocked the flying blade aside and slashed forward in a streak of cold light, pressing toward Shūhei Hisagi.
Another gust surged as a second spinning blade came screaming at him.
Muten Natsu shifted sideways to avoid it, then turned with the motion and struck back.
Shūhei Hisagi yanked on the chains. The rotating blades dragged the wind with them, carving toward the back of Muten Natsu's head.
With a slight bend of his knees, Muten Natsu sprang upward, evading the strike from behind. He flipped in midair and landed smoothly.
Clank—
The two chained, double-headed scythe blades dropped neatly into Shūhei Hisagi's hands, their edges gleaming with a biting chill.
Unlike ordinary scythes, each weapon had a curved blade on both ends. The edges curved in an S-shape, one up and one down.
Together, the pair formed four crescent blades in total.
"So this is your Zanpakutō?" Muten Natsu brushed a finger across the cut on his cheek left by the scythe. "Interesting."
"I'm not very satisfied with it." Shūhei Hisagi glanced at Kazeshini in his hands. "I don't really like how it looks."
"Oh?"
"Look at it…" Shūhei Hisagi held one sharp edge across his own neck. "Its shape practically screams: 'Go on. Sever their head. Take their life.'"
"A Zanpakutō is a Shinigami's mirror." Muten Natsu narrowed his eyes. "If you dislike your Zanpakutō, you dislike yourself. Need counseling?"
"At the very least… not from you." Shūhei Hisagi tugged the chain and set the scythes spinning. His fingers loosened slightly, and the rotating blades sliced through the air at blinding speed.
Muten Natsu charged straight in. Kazeshini clearly excelled at long-range combat. If he wanted the advantage, he had to close the distance.
Ink Fortress Flash!
Sparks burst amid splashes of ink, only to be shredded apart by the arc of his blade.
Muten Natsu knocked one spinning scythe aside and stepped forward.
But Shūhei Hisagi also advanced, gripping a scythe as he closed the gap, its razor-sharp tip cutting straight down at him.
As Muten Natsu raised his blade to block, the muscles in Shūhei Hisagi's arms bulged. One scythe hooked onto the black blade. With his other hand, he yanked the chain. The scythe that had been knocked away earlier came spinning back toward the center of Muten Natsu's back.
Muten Natsu tilted his head to avoid it. Shūhei Hisagi twisted his wrist, and the opposite blade of the scythe hooked on the black blade swept toward Muten Natsu's throat.
Ink spread outward, absorbing the strike.
But Shūhei Hisagi had already seized the other scythe and swung it in a hooking arc toward the back of Muten Natsu's neck.
Muten Natsu ducked to evade—only to see Shūhei Hisagi's rising knee rapidly filling his vision.
With a sharp twist of his wrist, Muten Natsu swung his arm down. The pommel of his black blade slammed into Shūhei Hisagi's knee, forcefully stopping the upward strike. His body shifted from a low crouch into a backward lean as the scythe's edge skimmed past the tip of his nose. At the same time, he snapped his leg out, kicking Shūhei Hisagi's other leg.
Shūhei Hisagi lost his balance and pitched forward—straight toward the point of the black blade.
At the last second, his other foot hit the ground. He wrenched his body sideways, changing his angle just enough to avoid impaling himself. In the same motion, he hurled the scythe in his hand at Muten Natsu, braced himself with one hand on the ground, and threw the other as well. As he spun back upright, he immediately jerked both arms hard!
Muten Natsu was still leaning back, caught at an awkward angle with little leverage to respond. Two spinning scythes tore toward him at once.
Ink Fortress Flash!
Spreading ink swallowed one scythe. The black blade tore free from the ink's cover and deflected the second. Muten Natsu used the momentum to rise—but before he could fully steady himself, the two scythes, yanked back by Shūhei Hisagi, came screaming in again.
Muten Natsu spread his fingers slightly, and Myōki sprang from his left palm into his grasp.
With both Zanpakutō in hand, he swung them together, knocking the two scythes away.
"Dual Zanpakutō…" Shūhei Hisagi steadied Kazeshini once more. "You're exceptionally gifted. You could have become an outstanding Shinigami."
"Gifted, huh…" Muten Natsu angled his body slightly. "If I hadn't been thrown into the Nest of Maggots because of that 'gift,' I might've believed you."
His gaze lingered on Kazeshini in Shūhei Hisagi's hands. During their exchange, that peculiar Zanpakutō had left a deep impression on him.
Objectively speaking, its Shikai wasn't particularly impressive.
Compared to Myōki's Ink Fortress and Soul Essence Stealing, Kazeshini merely changed form and extended its reach with chains.
And yet, in Shūhei Hisagi's hands, that simple ability had displayed terrifying killing power.
"Your Myōki carries the intent to cut someone down in a single stroke." Shūhei Hisagi noticed his gaze and narrowed his eyes. "Are you afraid of that?"
The black blade scraped against Myōki with a grating screech. Muten Natsu let out a low laugh.
"Are you afraid of your Kazeshini?"
"I am." Shūhei Hisagi nodded. "Kazeshini's path is hard to predict, and its blades are too sharp. One lapse in attention, and a criminal who should be sent to prison… ends up carved into pieces."
Muten Natsu arched a brow. "Sounds like you're afraid of your own strength."
"Everyone should fear their own power," Shūhei Hisagi said quietly. "[If you don't fear the blade you hold, you have no right to wield it.] That's from The Path of Justice. You should read it carefully."
Muten Natsu glanced at the progress bar hovering across the glowing light screen before him.
"When I didn't have a mind of my own, I liked quoting other people too."
"When I was arrogant, I used to scoff at my seniors' teachings." Shūhei Hisagi's frown deepened. "I've seen the way you fight. Anger. Violence. Exhilaration. Everything but fear. You have no sense of what your actions will bring about. You're like a crying child, pouring all your strength into venting your frustration at the world."
The hand gripping the black blade trembled faintly.
"Look at the blade in your hand. It wounds. It kills. Feel the state of mind of the one facing its edge. Only by fearing it can you truly face what you've done and return to the right path." Shūhei Hisagi's tone grew heavy. "Don't… keep making the same mistake."
"No… that's not right!"
The sudden voice cut through the tension.
Shūhei Hisagi turned toward Orihime Inoue.
"Just because you've never seen Muten afraid doesn't mean he doesn't feel fear!" Orihime Inoue remembered the way he had held her so tightly—the suffocating terror in that moment was something she would never forget.
"He isn't even afraid of hurting himself. Why would he fear hurting others? What he's afraid of is the people around him getting hurt. That fear is what forces him to keep sharpening his blade. You want him to understand the fear of facing a blade… but can you understand the fear of standing alone?"
"It's precisely because he doesn't fear facing a blade that he stands alone." Shūhei Hisagi's eyes were steady. "The path of justice has never lacked companions."
"You—" Orihime Inoue tried to continue, but Ririn on her shoulder stopped her.
"Forget it, Orihime. These Shinigami always think they're justice." Ririn let out a cold laugh. "As long as they wave that banner, they can do whatever they want."
"But…" Orihime Inoue looked toward Muten Natsu.
She knew better than anyone that he wasn't what Shūhei Hisagi claimed.
Because she knew his fear.
That kind of fear…
The same fear she carried.
On the day she argued with her Nii-san, he died.
Even though he never blamed her, she could never forgive herself.
If only… if only she hadn't argued with him that day.
If only Nii-san hadn't died.
That "if" kept circling in her head, impossible to shake.
But there would never be a chance to prove it.
From that day on, Orihime Inoue began to fear.
She feared the effect she had on other people.
If she argued with someone, maybe that person would die.
If she spoke to someone, maybe that person would die.
If she walked alongside someone, maybe that person would die.
Because… with one look, one word, one small movement, a life could vanish.
Just like Muten Natsu, back when she first met him.
The Muten Natsu Nii-san brought home was incredibly polite.
He didn't want to cause Nii-san or her any trouble. If someone helped him, he'd find a way to repay it. Once he'd found somewhere to stay, he moved out right away, desperate to keep his distance from everyone.
He wanted to shut himself away.
At first, Orihime Inoue didn't understand why he was like that. Only after Nii-san died did she truly grasp it.
He was afraid of what his existence might do to others, so he did everything he could to stay away from them.
And only when she found herself trapped in the same kind of predicament did Orihime Inoue understand the helplessness hidden beneath Muten Natsu's politeness.
Being alone was suffocating.
Right when she didn't know what to do…
Muten Natsu reached out his hand to her.
Helpless as he was, he still reached for someone just as helpless.
Because she understood Muten Natsu's pain, Orihime Inoue knew exactly how much courage it had taken for him to do that.
Muten Natsu, Tatsuki Arisawa, Rukia Kuchiki…
Everyone had their own fear.
But no one put it into words. No one wanted the people beside them to drown in it.
Instead, they held on to each other's trembling hands, letting the warmth in their palms and the courage in their hearts carry them forward.
So…
What she needed to do wasn't deny someone else's way of thinking.
It was to steady Muten Natsu's resolve.
"Muten, we didn't come here to vent our anger. We came to save Rukia." Orihime Inoue lifted her eyes. "I'm right here. I came here with you, and I'll keep walking with you."
"Seriously…" Muten Natsu lowered his lashes, the trembling of the black blade in his hand growing even worse. "I was planning to talk a little longer while we waited for the repairs to finish."
Shūhei Hisagi looked at that black blade. He'd thought Muten Natsu was shaking out of fear, but now it seemed more like the sword itself was trembling on its own.
"Repairs?"
"The Research and Development Institute did a lot of tests on my blade. Some damage was inevitable, so it's been under repair." Muten Natsu let out a long breath. "But I can't wait anymore…"
His fingers tightened. The black blade gave a soft, clear hum.
"Right now, I just want to cut you down."
Shūhei Hisagi's eyes widened. The instant Muten Natsu moved, he threw a scythe.
Chains clattered, but Muten Natsu was faster.
He stepped in and swept the first scythe aside, then advanced again and knocked away the second. With both blades moving, he spun as he pressed forward, closing the distance on Shūhei Hisagi without pause.
This was the full, completed form of his spinning slashes.
With a sword in each hand, every swing fed into the other through the rotation of his body. Even the motion of drawing back became another strike. The spinning turned into a vicious storm of blades that crushed forward, the air itself screaming in panic as it was shredded.
Shūhei Hisagi yanked the chains again and again, driving the whirling scythes at Muten Natsu, only for them to be batted away every time.
Kazeshini's proud, unpredictable trajectory was useless against a relentless, airtight wall of twin blades.
No matter how strange the path, the target was still Muten Natsu.
And all Muten Natsu had to do was swing.
Compared to chains being whipped around, the force behind Muten Natsu's twin blades was simply unbreakable.
In the blink of an eye, he broke through to Shūhei Hisagi's range.
Shūhei Hisagi flashed backward, at the same time reaching up to undo the chain wrapped around his arm.
Before the chain could even hit the ground, it detonated.
A surging blast wave shattered large swaths of brick and stone, and even the water in the channel erupted into white mist.
Black ink bled through the fog. Two streaks of blade light slashed toward Shūhei Hisagi at the same time.
Ink Fortress Double Flash!
Crossed chains snapped up in front of Shūhei Hisagi, catching the twin slashes as they extended. By changing their length and retreating step by step, he barely managed to bleed off that terrifying force.
"Bakudō #62—Hyapporankan!" Shūhei Hisagi tugged the chain, striking at Muten Natsu with a scythe while his free hand tore out a pillar of light and hurled it forward.
The pillar split in midair, scattering chaotically as it blanketed Muten Natsu, then fell in a rapid, rain-like cascade.
Muten Natsu's twin blades spun into a frenzy, swatting every beam away and pinning them into the ground.
The wind's howl sharpened to a shriek. Kazeshini's two scythes whirled through the air, and when the chain linking them was blocked by the falling light pillars, their trajectory shifted immediately. At the same time, the scythes' speed and force surged to a frightening level.
Again and again, Muten Natsu tried to force his way in, only to be turned back by the scythes' faster, denser barrage.
Then, on the floating light screen before him, the long progress bar finally reached the end.
Muten Natsu leapt into the air. Myōki vanished into his left hand, and with his now-free left hand he seized the black blade by the spine.
"Roam—Bokukō (Ink Shark)!"