"Then... even if you die under Hihiō Zabimaru's attack, you won't have any regrets, will you?" The arm gripping the Snake Tail Scepter was covered in brown fur, as if his entire right arm had turned into a baboon's. Renji Abarai swung the scepter, and the skeletal snake head opened its jaws wide, biting toward Gantenbainne.
"That depends on whether you can pull it off!" Electricity crackled from the tips of Gantenbainne's horn-shaped short blades, and golden lightning wrapped completely around both his arms.
His feet shattered the ground beneath him. Gantenbainne drew in a deep breath, locked his gaze on the bone-white serpent head lunging at him, and raised his fists.
Boom!
Hihiō Zabimaru extended wildly. Gantenbainne held it back for an instant, but then it accelerated even further, driving his body forward.
Electric light flickered across the serpent head, yet Hihiō Zabimaru's gaping jaws still could not close.
Gantenbainne braced his fists and short blades hard against the serpent's upper jaw, but he could not withstand Hihiō Zabimaru's strength. He was shoved backward and slammed into the wall behind him.
Terrifying force traveled from his arms to his shoulders, then into the wall.
A string of sharp cracking sounds overlapped into one massive roar.
The cracks crawling across the wall burst open, sending brick and stone flying everywhere.
Hihiō Zabimaru's serpentine body passed through the hole in the wall, and Renji Abarai followed close behind.
"The sky?" Renji Abarai looked up, the clear sky and drifting clouds reflected in his eyes. "This should be inside Las Noches. How could..."
"This is... the sky Aizen-sama created." Gantenbainne staggered to his feet, his broken arms hanging limply at his sides. "Aizen-sama... brought clear skies to Hueco Mundo's eternal darkness."
"It's nothing but a false illusion." Renji Abarai flicked his arm, and Hihiō Zabimaru coiled its body, gathering power. "Aizen betrayed Soul Society. Do you really think the person you see is the real him? That's just another illusion, same as this sky."
"A Shinigami Captain from Soul Society abandoning everything to come to Hueco Mundo and save Hollows. No one would believe something like that..." Gantenbainne's lips curled. "I don't need you to remind me that he is false. But what we follow is not what he gave us, but what he possesses. We were born from fear. To us, the steps of one who knows no fear shine like moonlight. And Aizen-sama, who fears nothing, is my god."
Renji Abarai swung his staff. "Too bad. To me, your god is nothing but a traitor."
"Then you are a heretic." Facing Renji Abarai's attack, Gantenbainne put his goggle-like mask back on. "Lord, grant me strength. Dragra!"
Thunder roared. A burst of Reiatsu kicked up a cloud of dust, and lightning shot out from within it, knocking the skeletal snake head away.
Renji Abarai controlled Hihiō Zabimaru to shield his body. In the next instant, a blurred shadow howled past, smashing a clear gouge into Hihiō Zabimaru's massive bone segments.
If Renji Abarai had not blocked in time, he would likely have been slammed back into the wall.
Still shaken, Renji Abarai looked toward the direction where that shadow had vanished. When Gantenbainne appeared before him again, his form had completely changed. Stark white armor covered his arms, shoulders, and back, forming something like an arch. The armor extending behind him resembled a long tail, decorated with golden relief rings.
"Since you have used your true power, I will show you my true form as well." Gantenbainne, now transformed into Dragra, glanced at the gouge in Hihiō Zabimaru. "Only... before my true self, your Bankai seems a little too fragile."
"Then go ahead and try!" Renji Abarai swung Hihiō Zabimaru, its long serpent tail curling around to protect him. "Let's see if you can destroy my Bankai!"
"The moment you chose to defend, your heart had already given you the answer." Gantenbainne interlaced his fingers. With a lash of his long tail, powerful electric light surged from his fists, becoming a yellow pillar of light that crushed everything in its path.
Renji Abarai barely managed to raise his staff. In the next instant, that terrifying pillar of light shattered Hihiō Zabimaru.
Before the snake bones could even hit the ground, Gantenbainne had already become a blurred shadow. Electric light burst from his fists and wrapped around his body, extending along his long tail. As his speed increased, it stretched into a long trail of light behind him.
In that instant, he seemed to transform into a raging dragon wreathed in golden lightning, charging straight at Renji Abarai, who had lost his defense.
["The blade segments of your Bankai are held together by your Reiatsu. If you can separate those segments..."] During their training at the Urahara Shop, Kisuke Urahara had analyzed Renji Abarai's Bankai in detail. ["That means a powerful attack can also break apart the Reiatsu between them."]
["Is there any way to strengthen its defense?"]
["Of course there is..."] Kisuke Urahara paused. ["But do you really want that?"]
["Hm?"]
["It's like how Hollows have High-Speed Regeneration, but their defense is comparatively lower. After they become Arrancar, their defense rises dramatically, but they also lose High-Speed Regeneration."] Kisuke Urahara explained further. ["Recovery and defense cannot both be maximized. Strong defense means it takes longer to recover after damage, while strong recovery inevitably means defense will not be especially high."]
It was like water. Even if a stream was cut apart, it would flow back together, but cutting through water took hardly any strength.
Cutting through ice required great force, but making the ice return to its original state took a great deal of time.
Renji Abarai asked humbly, ["Then... what should I do?"]
Kisuke Urahara did not answer directly. Instead, he gave him a suggestion. ["Bankai is a true reflection of a Shinigami's heart. Rather than asking me what to do, you should ask yourself... what goal were you aiming for when you trained to achieve your Bankai? Thinking about that will give you a better answer."]
Renji Abarai's Bankai had mainly been trained with Byakuya Kuchiki in mind.
Rukia's adoption into the Kuchiki Clan had marked the beginning of the separation between Rukia, Muten Natsu, and Renji Abarai.
And when Byakuya Kuchiki came to mind, so did the countless blades of Senbonzakura drifting through the air.
If Byakuya Kuchiki could control that many blades, then he should be able to control the blade segments of Hihiō Zabimaru.
So at the Urahara Shop, Renji Abarai spent most of his time learning to control those blade segments.
Now... it was time to test the results!
The instant Gantenbainne closed in, Renji Abarai swung the staff in his hand, and violent Reiatsu surged rapidly between the blade segments!