The sky split open.
Floodwaters poured down from above, a vast expanse of white that swallowed Tsunayoshi, Inaba, and the dead souls alike.
"Tch. Tsunayoshi's technique really is terrifying."
Retsu Unohana clicked her tongue softly, silently calculating whether her blood pool could withstand such a disaster-like attack.
"Is this rain really that exaggerated?"
Ichigo knew how powerful Unohana was. For the first Kenpachi to call something terrifying was no small matter.
"Ichigo, you haven't forgotten the nature of the Rain-attribute Flame, have you?"
Tatsuki suddenly spoke.
"Tranquility."
Ichigo naturally remembered, but he had not thought deeply about it.
"Flames that contain the trait of tranquility—if even a little touches you, the lightest result is slowed movement. At worst, you fall into complete stagnation."
As the person who understood Tsunayoshi's power best, Tatsuki pointed toward the rain zone and said:
"Every single drop of rain in there is the purest Rain-attribute Flame."
"Take me as an example. If even two drops stuck to me, my movements would probably stop completely, and Tsunayoshi could easily kill me."
Only then did Ichigo truly sense how powerful that rain was.
He could not help replacing Tatsuki with himself in that example.
Could Tensa Zangetsu's speed cut away every drop of rain?
In rainfall that dense, Ichigo admitted that he could not do it. Even if his initial speed could keep him temporarily unharmed, the tranquility effect would continue to exist. His sword-swinging speed would only grow slower and slower until he eventually sank within that torrential rain.
"Captain-Commander, may I ask whether you could handle this technique if you were on the battlefield?"
Unohana asked curiously. After witnessing the previous Cloud-attribute Transcendent Bankai, she could not help comparing Yamamoto's power with Tsunayoshi's.
Yamamoto did not answer. Instead, he opened his eyes and stared at the rain, seemingly thinking about something.
It was Ryūjin Jakka beside him who spoke instead.
"Unless Zanjitsu Gokui's power is pushed to its maximum, turning oneself completely into the sun and using ultra-high temperature to evaporate the rainwater before it reaches the body."
"However, that method consumes an enormous amount of Reiatsu. In order to preserve his fighting strength, Old Man Yama has never pushed Zanjitsu Gokui to its maximum."
"So it can still be dealt with?" Unohana asked.
"More or less. That so-called Transcendent Bankai is indeed very strong, but our Zanka no Tachi is not weak either…"
Ryūjin Jakka said casually.
"No. Sawada Tsunayoshi has not used his full strength at all."
The first to refute Ryūjin Jakka was actually Yamamoto, his master.
"He has yet to draw his other sword."
Ryūjin Jakka's smug expression immediately vanished.
Being connected to Yamamoto's mind, he naturally understood what Yamamoto meant. Using their full power to counter one of the opponent's minor techniques was not a worthwhile exchange at all.
Only then did Ryūjin Jakka understand why Yamamoto had not spoken.
He had been thinking about a method other than Zanjitsu Gokui to counter this downpour.
Within the torrential rain, Tsunayoshi quietly raised his face and felt the raindrops strike him. He made no further move.
He was not worried at all that the dead souls could harm him. Within this tranquilizing downpour, the dead souls had no possibility of moving.
Looking at the sky, which resembled the Milky Way bursting its banks, Tsunayoshi casually said:
"I'll call this move Heavenly River Cascade. Hiten Style: Heavenly River Cascade. (Shigure Sōen-ryū style name)."
The downpour came quickly and left just as quickly.
Although it had been a disaster-like storm, once the Rain-attribute Flame in the upper layers was exhausted, it stopped without hesitation.
High in the sky, the fiery hell created by South: Kaka Jūmanokushi Daisōjin had already vanished. As for those revived dead souls, not even ashes remained.
After one rain, the chaotic sky returned to clear and fresh weather.
Only two figures remained standing high in the air.
One was Tsunayoshi, holding the left-hand katana, with three fish-dragon daggers swimming around him.
The other was Inaba, wearing Yamamoto's skin, now looking like a drenched chicken. Not a single flame could be seen on his body. Even the once-scorching Zanpakutō had completely turned into a dark gray fire poker.
All the flame-wrapped dead souls had been washed away by the downpour, and even Zanjitsu Gokui on his body had been extinguished along with them.
What had been extinguished was not only Zanjitsu Gokui, but also Zanka no Tachi, which had been venting fire everywhere.
If Inaba had not imitated Ryūjin Jakka's method and forcibly erupted Zanjitsu Gokui the moment the storm descended, perhaps he himself would have been extinguished by the downpour as well.
Unfortunately, the few sparks he had forcibly unleashed could not gain momentum within the torrential rain. Although Inaba had barely preserved himself, he still ended up looking like a soaked mess.
Ichigo felt someone elbow him twice.
Turning his head, he saw that it was actually Ryūjin Jakka. Just as Ichigo wondered why Ryūjin Jakka had come to him, since the two of them had no real connection, Ryūjin Jakka spoke quietly.
"Hey, Kurosaki boy, do you have one of those recording devices on you? You know, the thing you people in the World of the Living call a camera. Hurry up and take a picture of Old Man Yama looking this pathetic. I'll rely on that to live a good life from now on!"
Before Ichigo could reply, Ryūjin Jakka felt a powerful hand grip his shoulder.
He did not even need to turn around to know who it was.
Just as Ryūjin Jakka was about to run, a surge of Reiatsu came from the hand. Guided by Yamamoto's Reiatsu, Ryūjin Jakka voluntarily returned to the Zanpakutō.
No matter what, Yamamoto would never allow an image of his own disgraceful appearance to circulate.
He called loudly to Tsunayoshi:
"End this quickly, Sawada Tsunayoshi."
Tsunayoshi laughed with a soft puff.
Seeing Inaba's appearance, he could completely understand Yamamoto's feelings. The Yamamoto skin right now really did somewhat undermine the dignity of Yamamoto as Captain-Commander.
"End this?"
Hearing Yamamoto's words, Inaba stiffly pulled at the corners of his mouth.
Since when had he become meat on the chopping block?
The feeling of being at someone else's mercy made his mentality, as someone who had always considered himself the one pulling the strings from behind the scenes, begin to collapse.
"Are you joking? Even if this ends, you will all pay the price!"
Inaba roared with a savage expression.
The eruption of Reiatsu driven by his emotions allowed him to break through the restraints of tranquility. He shouted so hard that even his voice cracked.
Fortunately, Ryūjin Jakka had already been taken back by Yamamoto. Otherwise, if he had seen Yamamoto looking like this, he would have held it over him for a lifetime.
With a whoosh, a tiny flame once again ignited on that pitch-black fire poker.
Looking at Inaba's body, dense red lines appeared across the Yamamoto skin he wore. It looked almost like a Yamamoto version of Blut Vene. Inaba had ignited even the Reiatsu flowing through his bloodline.
As expected of a high-tech product from Squad 12 , this Reigai had even copied the original owner's bloodline. That was what allowed Inaba to use this desperate technique.
"Not good. He's going all out!"
Yamamoto did not even call Tsunayoshi by name and directly revealed Inaba's intent.
But at this point, it seemed to be a little too late.
A smile appeared on Inaba's face. Without any preparatory stance, Zanka no Tachi in his hand swung forward with all his strength in a horizontal slash.
That blackened fire poker suddenly cracked apart.
Violent Reiatsu and high temperature erupted from Zanka no Tachi together. In this slash, heaven and earth turned the same shade of gray.
North: Tenchi Kaijin.
Yamamoto's original technique was meant to turn everything touched by the slash between heaven and earth into ash.
But when used by Inaba, its nature had changed.
Because his own condition was already terrible, and because his control over Yamamoto's ability was far from skilled, Inaba's Tenchi Kaijin swept all of its power across heaven and earth.
With Zanka no Tachi's collapse, everything inside it—flames, high heat, and even the ash produced by the blade's own fragmentation—was all thrown toward Tsunayoshi by Inaba.
Inaba's Tenchi Kaijin truly lived up to the name "Heaven and Earth in Ashes."
Heaven and earth became a vast haze of gray, making people feel as though they were standing inside smog. It was filled entirely with fragments of Zanka no Tachi, and those fragments would still burn and explode.
Of course, in terms of power, it was far inferior to the true Tenchi Kaijin.
That was Yamamoto's strongest Zanjutsu.
This unfocused technique could not kill Tsunayoshi, but as a wide-area attack that covered the entire field, it filled the whole region with gray.
Flames would burn on the remaining ash. Inaba's move was not meant to kill Tsunayoshi. It was meant to destroy this entire area, even dragging Ichigo and the others into the attack range. If he could kill even a few of them, that was enough.
Even in the final moments of his life, Inaba's mind remained clear.
His expression of impotent rage had also been an act. That final smile was what he truly felt.
Perhaps it was relief.
Ever since he had been created by Ōko Yushima, Inaba had devoted himself to the Modified Soul Project. Yet before absolute power, all his efforts had been useless.
Then what had all the effort of his life been for?
Perhaps Nozomi Kujō's choice had been correct after all.
Within the gray sky, no one knew Inaba's final thoughts.
Blood-red color wrapped around Ichigo and the others.
Amid the gray that filled the sky, Retsu Unohana released Minazuki, using a pool of blood to protect everyone.
The moment Minazuki was released, the surrounding temperature and Reiatsu immediately pressed down on them. Fortunately, Unohana's reaction was fast enough, so no one was injured.
Just as Ichigo and the others prepared to act together to resist Inaba's version of Tenchi Kaijin, the cry of a swallow drew their attention.
Within the gray sky, a patch of azure light abruptly appeared.
It was as though the sky had been opened.
Led by the rain swallow, the gray sky was gradually split open by a shuttle-shaped radiance. The shuttle grew wider and wider, slowly replacing the entire gray sky.
Under the influence of the rain swallow Kojirō, gentle Rain-attribute Flame spread across the sky, soothing the violent Reiatsu in the air and settling the drifting haze.
The sky gradually brightened.
Tsunayoshi's right hand gripped his Zanpakutō. He maintained a forward-thrusting stance, while Kojirō from the sword hilt continued flying through the sky.
This sword had split open the ashes between heaven and earth.
Special Style: Heaven-Opening.
Yes, let's call it that.
One sword to renew the sky.
Looking at the beautiful scene in the air, Tsunayoshi did not immediately pursue Inaba. Instead, he quietly enjoyed the reborn sky.
It was not only Tsunayoshi.
Inaba was stunned as well.
His already tattered body no longer had any ability to fight. Relying on Yamamoto's instinctive power, he stood in the sky and stared blankly at the freely flying rain swallow.
So the sky could be this beautiful.
For someone like him, who had only ever known how to lower his head and research, had he discovered it too late…?
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