Kokujō Tengen Myō'ō was terrifyingly huge, but at least it still had a humanoid shape.
What burst out of the spirit ink tide, however, was nothing short of a monster.
It was only a head, yet so enormous that the mountain-like scales and armored plates on its skull were clearly visible. It looked like some nameless abyssal creature rising from the depths of the sea, breaking through black waves, opening a savage maw lined with teeth like jagged peaks, ready to swallow everything in its path.
The abyssal jaws snapped shut.
The force was so overwhelming that even the monster itself couldn't withstand it, exploding into a storm of scattered spirit ink.
Bankai—Rin'en Bokukō!
When Muten Natsu released his Bankai, the ink shark manifested within his inner world would take form in reality through spirit ink. Using the ink traces he had spread across a wide area to absorb Reishi, it would surge out from the ink sea and strike.
The more ink there was, the more Reishi it absorbed, and the faster it absorbed it. The stronger the final attack became.
Instead of standing by the water longing for fish, better to step back and weave a net.
Rather than staring at fat fish in the pond, go home and prepare the net to catch them.
The ink traces Muten Natsu had left behind were that net.
Only in the end, it wasn't him catching the fish.
It was the fish coming out to catch something else.
Humans stand by the abyss envying the fish. Fish approach the shore envying humans.
When Rin'en Bokukō was first released in Shikai, Muten Natsu had not yet mastered Myōki. It was only after he fully grasped Myōki's Shikai that Rin'en Bokukō's Bankai was truly complete.
Because of that, Rin'en Bokukō inevitably carried some of Myōki's one-strike-kill nature.
The longer the preparation, the more terrifying the final burst.
But... it could only erupt once.
The ink that filled the sky vanished.
Muten Natsu fell from above, stumbling when he landed, nearly collapsing.
"Puh—!"
He spat out a large mouthful of blood. Rin'en Bokukō unleashed power far beyond what he could normally control, and the price was that his own body suffered from wielding it.
The upper half of his Shihakushō had been completely shattered. The spirit ink that had once flowed thickly over both arms had dwindled to a pitifully thin stream, barely winding across his sharply defined muscles.
Muten Natsu was in bad shape.
But Sajin Komamura was worse.
Cracks crawled across the massive armor of Kokujō Tengen Myō'ō. The armor along its right waist and abdomen had completely disappeared, exposing the strange, skin-wrapped skeleton beneath. The little flesh it had was visibly corroded, and several ribs had been reduced to half their length.
In the end, it was only natural that a sustained-type Bankai like Kokujō Tengen Myō'ō would be at a disadvantage against an explosive, burst-type Bankai like Rin'en Bokukō.
If anything, the fact that Kokujō Tengen Myō'ō hadn't been completely erased in that head-on clash was proof enough of Sajin Komamura's overwhelming strength.
"Gah—!"
Sajin Komamura coughed up blood, staining the fur on his face red.
"Muten Natsu... cough... you..."
Behind him, Kokujō Tengen Myō'ō slowly dissipated.
Blood poured from Sajin Komamura's right waist and abdomen, where a large chunk of flesh was plainly missing.
His body had sustained the same damage as Kokujō Tengen Myō'ō.
"Muten Natsu...!"
Ignoring the wounds covering his body, Sajin Komamura struggled to lift his blade.
"You... cough!"
The moment he opened his mouth, blood sprayed out, and the gashes across his body spasmed violently.
"You possess... such immense power... and yet you choose the wrong path... The hard-won stability of Soul Society... the efforts of countless Shinigami... Do you intend to destroy it all?!"
"Captain Unohana once told me about a strange kind of spiritual illness."
Muten Natsu barely steadied himself, a faint trace of nostalgia flickering in his eyes.
"It was a special kind of Reishi tumor. Most of the time it only caused a little itching or numbness. But if the tumor and the surrounding tissue were severely stimulated, it would immediately deteriorate into something fatal."
Sajin Komamura swayed.
"You think Seireitei harbors a problem serious enough to become fatal? That if it isn't dealt with, it will eventually destroy everything... Then all the more reason you shouldn't use such extreme methods. You've gone too far..."
"No. What I mean is..."
Blood vessels surfaced in Muten Natsu's eyes.
"I'm that tumor. And if anyone dares touch me or the people around me, then we all go down together."
"..."
His right hand was completely useless now. Sajin Komamura silently shifted his sword to his left hand.
"Come!"
Muten Natsu spread his fingers. The ringed hilt of Myōki materialized in his palm. He pulled it free with difficulty, using the blade to brace himself upright.
There was nothing left to say.
Only battle.
Both grievously wounded, they inhaled at almost the same moment—
—and charged.
Steel flashed. Crimson blood sprayed in different directions and splattered onto the ground.
Sajin Komamura's massive body crashed down with a thunderous impact.
Muten Natsu lowered his head.
A thin line of blood ran diagonally from his left shoulder down to his waist. It slowly parted—and then burst open, spraying blood.
In that final clash, Muten Natsu had lost out to sheer size.
Even though his condition had been slightly better, even though he was faster, even though his angles were sharper... he had still been cut by Sajin Komamura.
Thud.
He couldn't hold himself up any longer and collapsed.
"Captain!"
Tetsuzaemon Iba rushed to Sajin Komamura's side at top speed and immediately began using Kaidō.
Orihime Inoue was a step slower, but she activated Sōten Kisshun from a distance to stabilize Muten Natsu's injuries.
When Iba noticed her move, he stiffened for a moment. Once he realized she was healing, he let out a breath and focused entirely on treating Sajin Komamura.
"Orihime," Ririn asked anxiously as she watched the wound on Muten Natsu's chest rapidly close, "how is he?"
Orihime Inoue pressed both hands against Sōten Kisshun, pouring in more Reiryoku to strengthen the healing.
"He'll be fine... I'll heal him... We promised."
"But..."
Ririn heard hurried footsteps approaching. A lot of them.
That number could only belong to Shinigami.
If they stayed here—
"Orihime, stop the healing."
Muten Natsu guided the remaining ink across his body to the edges of his not-yet-fully-healed wounds, temporarily sealing them.
"We're leaving... now."
Orihime Inoue bit her lower lip, dismissed the barrier, and helped him to his feet.
If only... if only she could heal faster...
Ririn made a snap decision and cast an illusion to conceal the two of them.
Voices erupted in chaos as Ichigo Kurosaki and Ganju Shiba came sprinting over, a large group of Shinigami chasing behind them.
"Muten!" Ichigo Kurosaki shouted anxiously. "Where are you?!"
Ganju Shiba ran while glancing back to avoid being caught, scanning the area for Muten Natsu's trail. The devastation here—and the lingering Reiatsu in the air—left him deeply shaken.
What the hell happened here...
..
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