"Head of the Kuchiki Clan, we meet again."
Among the six figures, the white-haired man wearing a cloak spoke from the center. He was the same person who had briefly clashed with Byakuya earlier.
Seeing that Byakuya showed no particular reaction, the man immediately grew more self-important.
"I am Ryōdōji Ganryū. Does the head of the Kuchiki Clan know of the Ryōdōji Clan?"
"I do."
Byakuya Kuchiki was not exaggerating. As a captain tied closely to the nobility, he had read the records of all the noble houses.
"The Ryōdōji Clan. For attempting to seize control of the Seireitei, they were sentenced by Central 46 to exile in the Dangai."
Hearing Byakuya speak of their suffering in such an indifferent tone, Ganryū flew into a rage.
The agony of their exile had been reduced to a light, casual sentence from Byakuya's mouth.
That only strengthened his resolve to destroy Soul Society.
"Head of the Kuchiki Clan, hand over the Memory Rosary, and tonight we may spare your life," Ganryū said arrogantly.
In his view, so what if Byakuya was a captain?
There were six of them.
And because they had been exiled into the Dangai, their clan had mastered the ability to use the power of the Blanks. With a large number of Blanks nearby to replenish their strength, taking down a single captain would not be difficult.
"Noisy."
Byakuya had no intention of continuing to converse with Ganryū.
Since his opponents had come for Senna, there was no need for further words.
He would simply act.
"Scatter, Senbonzakura."
His Zanpakutō released.
A sea of pink petals surged into the sky.
Ganryū's side had the advantage in numbers, but when had Byakuya ever feared fighting against a group?
As Senbonzakura surged forward, Ganryū and the other five immediately scattered. Each held their own weapon and launched an attack toward Byakuya.
A crossbow.
Twin giant hammers.
A double-edged greatsword.
Paired halberds.
And mechanical hooked chains.
Those were the weapons of Ganryū's subordinates. Their equipment covered both close and long range, making them perfectly capable of fighting a positional battle.
Unfortunately, the one they had encountered was Byakuya, who feared positional warfare least of all.
Byakuya held his sword hilt and continuously adjusted its direction. Under Senbonzakura's assault, these people could not get anywhere near him or Senna.
However, because he had to protect Senna, Byakuya kept most of the petals around himself. For a time, he could not find a good opportunity to take down one of his opponents.
Seeing the stalemate, Senna immediately removed her Gigai and released her Zanpakutō.
With determination written across her face, she said,
"Byakuya, I can fight too!"
Byakuya glanced at Senna's khakkhara. He did not dampen her enthusiasm. Instead, he deliberately picked out a relatively manageable opponent for her.
"Leave the one with the double-edged greatsword to you."
"Understood."
Senna stepped on maple leaves, held her khakkhara, and charged out.
And Senna's charge immediately drew the attention of every member of the Ryōdōji Clan.
That was the opening.
Senbonzakura suddenly shifted into a spiral shape. A powerful surge of Kidō Reiatsu rushed out together with the petals.
"Hadō #73: Sōren Sōkatsui!"
The mighty Kidō directly struck one person down.
The petals of Senbonzakura then severed both of his hands, preventing him from using that exaggerated weapon again.
The first person Byakuya chose to bring down was the one wielding the massive twin hammers.
The moment their comrade fell, a series of steel cables shot toward Byakuya.
Byakuya calmly threw out a rod of light. The light split into multiple rods, completely blocking all the steel cables.
"Bakudō #62: Hyapporankan."
Byakuya's voice sounded behind the chain user.
After throwing Hyapporankan, he had directly used Senka to move behind the enemy. Senbonzakura condensed back into a blade, and with one slash, Byakuya cut down both the man and the toolbox for his steel cables.
Every encounter ended in an instant.
Once Byakuya was freed to act, his combat strength was simply not something these Ryōdōji retainers could handle.
Aside from the one being delayed by Senna, only three people remained. And Ganryū, their leader, had all his attention on Senna.
In other words, only two still posed any real threat.
End it quickly.
Do not let Ganryū react.
Byakuya directly released his Zanpakutō from his hand and said,
"Bankai. Senbonzakura Kageyoshi."
A tremendous mass of cherry-blossom blades suddenly covered the entire battlefield. While blocking Ganryū's line of sight, they launched an attack against the remaining two subordinates.
The woman holding the crossbow had no chance of resisting with the small weapon in her hands. She was swallowed by the sea of petals in an instant.
As for the dark-skinned man wielding paired halberds, he still tried to resist, only to be wrapped inside a huge mass of petals.
Gōkei: Senbonzakura Kageyoshi.
The sphere of petals would cut him to pieces.
Only then did Ganryū belatedly realize that, aside from the subordinate still playing around with Senna, all his other men had been taken down by Byakuya alone.
Was the gap truly that great?
No.
The Ryōdōji had power that belonged to the Ryōdōji.
"Idiots! Use the Blanks!"
Ganryū shouted.
Only then did his subordinates belatedly react.
Indeed, their exile had caused them to lose the power of their Zanpakutō. However, their clan had also mastered the use of Blanks within the Dangai.
The man with the double-edged greatsword casually inhaled, and dozens of Blanks were drawn into his greatsword.
The sudden burst of sword light several meters long startled Senna. Forced to block in haste, not only was Mirokumaru cut in two, but she herself was struck by the aftershock. Her chest was covered in blood.
"Senna!"
The sudden change on Senna's side startled Byakuya.
Just as he was about to rush over and support her, an enormous Reiatsu appeared above his head.
It was a green sword of light several dozen meters tall.
When Ganryū had called for his companions to absorb the Blanks, he had already begun acting.
Like the center of a whirlpool, he was absorbing the power of the surrounding Blanks in large quantities.
When Ganryū poured the power of the Blanks into the sword of light, the power contained within that blade had already surpassed captain level.
Before destroying Soul Society, he would first collect some interest from the Kuchiki Clan.
With that thought in mind, Ganryū stabbed the sword of light downward without hesitation.
"Lord Byakuya!"
At that moment, Hisana's memories once again gained the upper hand, and Senna let out a pained cry.
At the critical instant, the cherry-blossom blades still blocked in front of Byakuya, preventing Ganryū from killing him in one strike.
However, taking Ganryū's attack head-on was indeed unpleasant for Byakuya.
When the petals scattered, the Reiatsu released by the explosion of the light sword left Byakuya's entire body covered with tiny wounds.
Before long, he had become drenched in blood.
How miserable.
Seeing Byakuya in that state, Ganryū's lips curved into a smug smile.
Just as he had thought, as long as he had enough Blanks, a mere captain was not invincible.
Seeing Byakuya's terrible condition, Senna forgot her own pain and tried to run toward him.
But in the next instant, the man holding the greatsword appeared behind her, grabbed her by the back, and hurled her into the sky.
Senna could not resist at all.
Although all her thoughts were focused on Byakuya, the damage to her Zanpakutō and her body were real.
After being thrown into the air, she fell into Ganryū's hands.
Ganryū's smile deepened.
The Memory Rosary had fallen into his hands.
On top of that, he was about to slay Byakuya Kuchiki, the head of one of the great noble houses.
Everything seemed perfect.
A large number of Blanks surged into the short sword in Ganryū's right hand.
Using the same trick again, the short sword rapidly expanded. Ganryū pointed the ten-meter sword in his hand at Byakuya.
This would be the fatal blow.
Senna panicked.
She struggled desperately, but she could not affect Ganryū in the slightest. In her desperation, she could only bite down on Ganryū's left arm.
However, Senna's anger did not stop Ganryū's movements.
The slight pain in his arm instead stirred the pleasure in his heart even more.
Soon.
Very soon.
Byakuya Kuchiki, you will go first.
Soon after, I will make all of Soul Society accompany you in death!
The giant sword of light in his hand slashed down toward Byakuya.
Facing this absolutely unfavorable situation, Byakuya Kuchiki's expression remained as calm as ever, as though the person facing death was not him at all.
He even had the leisure to adjust his clothing.
His fingertips swept across his collar, opening the neckline of his Shihakushō slightly.
A white camellia appeared on the left side of his chest.
"Limiter Release."
Byakuya Kuchiki spoke calmly.
A terrifying Reiatsu suddenly erupted from his body. Merely the impact of his Reiatsu shattered the sword of light above him.
As one of the captains who obeyed Soul Society's rules most strictly, how could Byakuya Kuchiki possibly visit the World of the Living without placing a Reiatsu limiter on himself as required?
When Ganryū and the others appeared, Byakuya had already quietly submitted a request to Soul Society to release his limiter.
Because they were currently in an emergency situation, Soul Society's reply came quickly, and Byakuya's request was swiftly approved.
Ganryū was somewhat dumbfounded.
He had never seen such powerful Reiatsu before.
Were captains all this strong?
Had their revenge against Soul Society truly been nothing but a joke?
For a moment, Ganryū made no reaction at all.
Not until intense pain came from his left arm.
The petals of Senbonzakura had shredded his left arm, and Senna fell from the sky.
The sea of petals formed a slide in midair, safely escorting Senna all the way back to Byakuya's side.
"Are you all right?"
Byakuya caught Senna and asked.
Senna shook her head repeatedly.
Her palm stopped about a fist's distance away from Byakuya's arm, her eyes filled with heartache.
Whenever it concerned Byakuya himself, Hisana's memories once again gained the upper hand.
"I'm sorry. It's all because of me that Lord Byakuya…"
Byakuya placed his hand on Senna's head, forcibly stopping her self-reproach.
"We will speak of the rest later. First, I will deal with this small fry."
Ganryū's face turned ashen.
He frantically absorbed Blanks, trying to recover from his severed arm, but the effect was minimal. This was not an injury that could be healed in a short time.
He had to flee.
That thought appeared in Ganryū's mind.
Capturing Senna could only wait until the next opportunity.
At that moment, the subordinates whom Byakuya had knocked down had all absorbed the power of the Blanks and recovered somewhat from their injuries.
They gathered around Ganryū together, awaiting his command.
"Go—"
Before Ganryū could say the word to flee, Byakuya had already raised his hand toward them.
An icy killing intent was released at the same time.
Senkei: Senbonzakura Kageyoshi.
A massive sea of petals was about to devour Ganryū and the others.
In his desperation, Ganryū no longer had the leisure to issue any orders. His hand formed a strange Kidō gesture, and in an instant, he seized control of the bodies of his five subordinates.
This was a secret art possessed only by the main branch of the Ryōdōji Clan.
When members of the branch families were born, the main family planted a special Kidō within their bodies. This allowed the main family to temporarily control them.
It was precisely by relying on this secret art that the Ryōdōji Clan had survived the turbulent currents of the Kōtotsu within the Dangai.
At critical moments, they had survived by sacrificing members from the outermost edges of the clan.
And now, activating the secret art once again, Ganryū arranged his five subordinates one after another in front of himself.
Byakuya's Reiatsu had shocked him too greatly.
No matter how long these subordinates could block him, he had to fight for that final sliver of hope.
The pink waves swallowed the entire Ryōdōji Clan.
Byakuya even controlled Senbonzakura to grind them down carefully, giving them no chance to survive.
A trace of displeasure flashed across Byakuya's face.
There were only five bodies within Senbonzakura.
That Ganryū had truly managed to escape…
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