"Tōshirō… you're as hardworking as ever," Isshin said with a sigh as he looked around.
This was the training ground he used when he had once served as the Captain of the Tenth Division. After he left Soul Society, the place naturally passed to his successor—Hitsugaya Tōshirō.
Aside from its location, the area had changed completely from what Isshin remembered. Patches of shattered ice were scattered everywhere, many of them still unmelted. It was obvious these were traces left behind by Hitsugaya's training.
"If I want to become stronger, I can't afford to stop," Hitsugaya said as he slowly drew Hyorinmaru, pointing it toward Isshin.
"Please guide me, Captain Isshin!"
"I know, I know. Come at me, Tōshirō!" Isshin replied, drawing his own Zanpakutō.
"Excuse me."
Hitsugaya raised his blade high and shouted:
"Bankai—Daiguren Hyorinmaru!"
The surge of spiritual pressure from his Bankai spread outward, blasting a storm of ice and snow straight into Isshin's face.
Isshin froze in disbelief.
Wasn't a normal spar supposed to be like Yamamoto and Tsunayoshi's earlier fight—starting with basic exchanges and gradually increasing intensity?
Who taught you to open with your ultimate move right away?!
For some reason, Isshin suddenly remembered a comment Tsunayoshi had once made during idle conversation:
Among captains who immediately use Bankai in battle, Hitsugaya definitely ranks high.
But this was ridiculously fast!
While Isshin's thoughts wandered, a barrage of ice crystals had already shot toward him. He quickly used Shunpo to evade, but the moment he landed, pillars of ice erupted from the ground beneath his feet.
"Burn, Engetsu!"
A massive amount of spiritual pressure gathered along Isshin's blade. As he swung downward, blazing flames surged toward the ground.
The sudden burst of heat melted the newly formed ice, stopping Hitsugaya's attack.
Hitsugaya stepped forward through the field of ice crystals, wearing the armor of his Bankai. His gaze was unwavering.
Engetsu, like Ryūjin Jakka, was a fire-type Zanpakutō.
After witnessing the battle between Yamamoto and Tsunayoshi, Hitsugaya had temporarily given up any thoughts of challenging Yamamoto. But as the wielder of the strongest ice-type Zanpakutō, failing to reach Yamamoto's level didn't mean he couldn't challenge other fire-type opponents.
So after that battle, Hitsugaya had repeatedly pushed Isshin to spar with him.
Now that he had seen Engetsu released, his blood boiled. Even the hand holding his sword trembled slightly with excitement.
In his mind, Engetsu was essentially a lesser version of Ryūjin Jakka.
Through this fight, he would see just how far he still was from Yamamoto.
Isshin, who had been quietly hoping for a relaxed spar, immediately understood Hitsugaya's mood the moment he saw that determined look.
Youthful passion was good.
But Engetsu was Engetsu.
It was not some substitute for Ryūjin Jakka.
As Hitsugaya charged forward with wings spread wide, Isshin swung his blade horizontally, sending out a crescent-shaped wave of flames.
Hitsugaya immediately folded his wings together, curling into a defensive sphere to withstand the impact.
Bursting through the flames, he regained his flight posture. His excitement grew even stronger.
This small wave of fire—if you rounded up generously—could almost count as the sea of flames produced by Ryūjin Jakka.
Isshin sighed.
If he didn't wake Hitsugaya up now, the rest of the training would be meaningless. The kid had clearly become obsessed with the titles of "strongest fire-type Zanpakutō" and "strongest ice-type Zanpakutō."
So Isshin stopped retreating.
He held Engetsu upright before his chest and calmly waited for Hitsugaya's attack.
"Captain, if you don't use your abilities, you'll get hurt!" Hitsugaya warned, noticing that Engetsu showed no trace of flames.
"Don't worry," Isshin replied lightly. "I have at least enough skill to be your captain."
Then I'll force you to use everything you've got.
Hitsugaya clenched his teeth and made up his mind.
In the blink of an eye, he appeared directly before Isshin. Daiguren Hyorinmaru gathered swirling ice and snow at its tip as he thrust straight toward Isshin's chest.
But instead of the blazing inferno he expected, Isshin simply swung his blade downward calmly.
At the same time, he shouted:
"Getsuga Tenshō!"
BOOM!
A thunderous explosion erupted in front of Isshin. A long gash tore across the ground before him, while Hitsugaya had already been blasted far into the distance by the burst of spiritual pressure.
This was Isshin's Getsuga Tenshō.
Unlike Ichigo's version—which unleashed massive waves of energy with reckless abandon—Isshin's Getsuga focused on instantaneous explosive power.
Ichigo's style wasn't impossible for Isshin to use.
But close-range bursts suited Engetsu far better.
At the moment Engetsu collided with Daiguren Hyorinmaru, the explosive power of the Getsuga detonated. Hitsugaya—who had been somewhat distracted and hadn't expected his former captain's signature technique—was completely caught off guard.
Drip… drip…
Hitsugaya emerged from a pile of rubble. The difference in spiritual pressure between Shikai and Bankai still existed, so the Getsuga had only left a palm-sized wound on his shoulder.
After freezing the injury to stop the bleeding, Hitsugaya flew back toward Isshin.
"Awake now?" Isshin said, holding Engetsu horizontally.
"This is Engetsu—not Ryūjin Jakka. If you fight me the way you'd fight Yamamoto, you won't win."
Hitsugaya took a deep breath.
"I understand, Captain. I'll take this seriously now."
"That's more like it. It's just a spar—"
Before Isshin could finish speaking, massive pillars of ice erupted from the ground, surrounding him.
Isshin froze awkwardly.
He had been planning to crack a joke or two—but the kid had moved way too fast.
Guess I'm a bit rusty…
Isshin examined the towering ice pillars and quickly recognized the technique.
Thousand-Year Ice Prison.
"Just trapping me won't beat me," Isshin taunted.
"At least show me your Bankai, Captain," Hitsugaya said calmly.
From that Getsuga earlier, Hitsugaya had recalled Isshin's preferred fighting style.
Isshin specialized in close-range explosive combat. Compared to his swordsmanship, Engetsu's flames were merely a bonus.
By sealing Isshin's movement with the ice prison and attacking from a distance, Hitsugaya could maintain a safe range and continuously bombard him.
As for Isshin's flames, breaking through the Thousand-Year Ice Prison wouldn't be easy—
Unless Isshin used Bankai.
Thinking about Isshin's Bankai made Hitsugaya annoyed.
He had served under Isshin for years, even becoming a core member of the Tenth Division, yet he still had no idea what Isshin's Bankai actually was.
Every time he requested training, Isshin would refuse, claiming his Bankai was too powerful and might accidentally harm him.
And once Hitsugaya finally achieved Bankai himself—
That irresponsible captain simply disappeared from Soul Society.
Now that the opportunity had arrived, Hitsugaya deliberately avoided Engetsu's blade, using long-range attacks to force Isshin into revealing his trump card.
Isshin felt his teeth ache.
He understood Hitsugaya's plan perfectly.
But honestly…
The kid's attack power wasn't putting much pressure on him.
Dodging a few ice shards with Shunpo, melting a few others with flames—the barrage looked impressive, but compared to those two earlier today, it was nothing.
Hitsugaya gradually realized the same thing.
If he didn't get serious, he would never force this shameless former captain to use Bankai.
So he raised his Zanpakutō high.
Under his control, all the ice pillars rapidly closed in toward Isshin, threatening to crush him completely.
"Hey, hey, Tōshirō—"
Of course, Hitsugaya ignored him.
Gritting his teeth, Isshin sliced his finger and smeared blood across Engetsu's blade before charging toward one of the ice pillars.
"Getsuga… Tenshō!"
Flames erupted violently from Engetsu.
When they touched Isshin's blood, the fire ignited like gasoline—exploding outward before being compressed and unleashed in a single slash.
BOOM!
The thunderous blast shattered the converging ice prison. Isshin burst free from the collapsing structure—only to be met immediately by Daiguren Hyorinmaru descending like a streak through the sky.
"Ryūsenka!"
CRACK.
The blade pierced Isshin's shoulder.
A massive ice cross formed instantly in the air.
Hitsugaya flicked his Zanpakutō lightly.
No matter what, this was one of his finishing techniques. He refused to believe Isshin could break it while still in Shikai.
But he didn't notice something.
Inside the frozen cross, blood slowly flowed from Isshin's wound.
Under such extreme cold, bleeding should have been impossible.
Yet this blood seemed to carry intense heat, completely ignoring the ice's freezing power as it spread through the cross.
A thin line of blood reached Isshin's lips.
The heat melted the ice sealing his mouth, and spiritual pressure burst forth.
By then, the blood had spread like roots throughout the entire ice cross.
Flames erupted along the blood-filled paths.
The originally pale-blue cross turned bright red as cracks spread rapidly through the ice.
BOOM!
The Ryūsenka shattered.
Isshin wiped the flames from his lips.
Fortunately, Engetsu's fire could ignite through his blood.
Otherwise, the kid might actually have succeeded.
"Heh… Shiro, that's all you've got?"
Isshin laughed smugly with his hands on his hips.
He completely failed to notice the dark lines forming on Hitsugaya's face.
Just as Hitsugaya was considering how to force this shameless ex-captain into using Bankai—
Isshin suddenly raised his chin with a heroic expression.
"Well, since you've come this far, as your senior I suppose I can satisfy your request."
In truth, Isshin was a little nervous.
If Hitsugaya's next attack went too far, he might actually end up in serious trouble.
Better to use Bankai now.
"Bankai!"
Engetsu erupted with blazing flames that engulfed Isshin completely.
His spiritual pressure surged dramatically.
Even more astonishing—
The blade of Engetsu shattered into six diamond-shaped fragments.
As the flames condensed, Isshin's Bankai gradually took form.
"Setsuna Enka!"
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