Chapter 8: Is He the One? |
Shinigami possess immense power.
The flare of Reiatsu at the moment a Bankai is released, even by an average Captain of the Gotei 13, can lead to massive consequences. Weak control of Reiatsu in such a situation would likely inflict irreparable damage on any ordinary souls in the surrounding region. This is even truer for the strongest Captains, such as Retsu Unohana and Genryusai Yamamoto, who possess titanic spiritual power.
When Zanka no Tachi—the Bankai of Genryusai Yamamoto—is unleashed, it generates a terrifying flame with the temperature of the sun's core. Simply activating Zanka no Tachi within the Soul Society, without taking a single step, is enough to gradually inflict immense damage on the entire dimension!
As for Retsu Unohana, who currently surpasses all Gotei 13 Captains except for Genryusai Yamamoto, she also wields power far beyond that of an ordinary Captain. If one were to rate Genryusai Yamamoto's strength at a 10, Retsu Unohana would sit comfortably at a 7!
But.
From Yeruashi's current perspective, this was merely decent strength. Even if his combat power were measured solely by his energy and physical constitution, excluding the abilities of the Illusory Clock, it would still exceed a rating of 30!
'Such powerful Reiatsu, truly worthy of the first Kenpachi...'
'It seems I should get a little serious...'
Yeruashi spoke slowly, feeling the gargantuan Reiatsu as he watched the thick, dark-red liquid rapidly engulf the surroundings, turning the landscape into a vision of hell.
It would be overextending to face a Bankai of such respectable power using only a kitchen knife. While he wasn't certain he couldn't withstand the Bankai's force, he had no desire to end up in an awkward position if Unohana managed to nick or even shatter the blade of his culinary tool.
Hummm!!!
A golden radiance surged from Yeruashi's hand, enveloping the kitchen knife and reshaping it into a fully realized blade!
Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion!
"Oh-ho... is this a form of recognition for my strength, then?"
By now, Unohana had regained her calm and gentle demeanor, at least on the surface. Yet her eyes burned like a fierce conflagration, desperate to consume and incinerate Yeruashi at any cost!!
Rather than dampening Unohana's fighting spirit, Yeruashi's terrifying power only served to excite her further! The thirst to battle a powerful opponent completely overrode all her other senses and desires!!
She could only truly enjoy life in those moments when she fought worthy adversaries with every ounce of her being!
Whoosh!!!
Unohana's figure suddenly vanished. An instant later, she appeared before Yeruashi, delivering a lightning-fast strike. By this point, her sword's blade had completely transformed into a viscous, dark-red liquid. As she struck, it behaved more like a bloody whip than a traditional blade.
Swish!
Yeruashi smoothly swung the golden blade, positioning it directly in the path of the surging crimson whip.
When the two weapons collided, arcs of light scattered in every direction. Some radiated a brilliant gold, while others pulsed with a grim, blood-red luminescence.
Yeruashi blocked Unohana's first post-Bankai strike without the slightest difficulty.
"..."
Unohana smiled at Yeruashi.
It was a gentle, elegant smile, like a beautiful lily, but beneath it lay a terrifying killing intent that had reached unprecedented heights.
Her smile betrayed her wonderful mood, while her burning battle intent fully demonstrated her joy in that moment.
He could withstand her Bankai!
She had finally met an opponent against whom she could fight with everything she had!
It was a long-forgotten sensation—the blood boiling in her veins, the pure ecstasy of combat...
Unohana finally had the chance to go all out!
Clang! Clang! Clang!!!
She threw herself forward with feral intensity, unleashing a horrific barrage of attacks. In her right hand, she wielded her Zanpakuto, while her left held a crimson blade formed from the viscous liquid.
Yet Yeruashi remained rooted to the spot, methodically parrying every one of her strikes with his golden blade. Gradually, Unohana's furious onslaught began to wane, as not a single one of her attacks managed to penetrate Yeruashi's defense.
Boom! Boom! Boom!!!
At first glance, the two were engaged in a fairly standard close-quarters duel, devoid of flashy or cumbersome maneuvers. However, the numerous shockwaves created by the rapid and powerful collisions began to stack. Eventually, a massive shockwave accompanied by a terrifying roar rippled outward from the point of impact.
The air trembled and distorted.
Houses crumbled and collapsed.
The earth shuddered and cracked.
Lieutenant Kotetsu was forced to retreat several kilometers from the site of the battle.
She could withstand the typical Reiatsu eruption of a Gotei 13 Captain, but not the release of a Bankai. Even after fleeing more than a kilometer away, Kotetsu continued to feel immense pressure from Unohana's surging Reiatsu!
"How... how could it come to this...?"
"He wasn't even crushed by the Captain's Bankai..."
Beads of cold sweat rolled down Kotetsu's cheeks, and her body shook along with the ground and the air itself. Because the dark-red liquid and the incredibly dense Reiatsu enveloped the area within a radius of several hundred meters, Kotetsu couldn't see the specific details of the duel. However, that didn't stop her from feeling the sheer fury and uncompromising nature of their clash.
Huge, deep fissures over a kilometer long stretched across the ground from the center of the conflict.
"This is bad..."
"The Captain is capable of concentrating all her striking power into a single point thanks to her supreme Reiatsu control, but the secondary effects of the collision are still dealing massive damage to the surrounding area..."
Kotetsu whispered anxiously. Even as a Lieutenant of the Gotei 13, she could exert zero influence on a battle of this caliber. She felt like a small boat in the middle of a massive storm, the weight of Unohana's terrifying Reiatsu pressing down on her shoulders.
Nearby.
Hisana was also paralyzed with shock at the horrific confrontation.
"Incredible..."
She couldn't personally feel the titanic Reiatsu raging across the landscape, but a simple glance from afar was enough to understand how terrifying the battle was.
It completely shattered Hisana's previous perceptions of Shinigami strength. She had never imagined that souls this powerful could even exist!
"Will Mr. Yeruashi be alright?"
Hisana took a deep breath and turned to Lilith, tearing her eyes away from the battlefield, which was now completely shrouded in the frightening, bloody liquid.
Lilith spoke calmly, her hands folded behind her back. "In this entire world, no one except for Zero is capable of surpassing my elder brother in strength."
"Zero?"
Hisana asked, sounding puzzled.
Lilith turned her head back to the battle, clearly signaling she had no intention of explaining further. However, at the tips of her fingers, a blood-red flame flickered and died out repeatedly.
Unohana was strong.
From the moment of her birth, Lilith had been the strongest being in existence, second only to Yeruashi himself. But after leaving the One Piece world, she had encountered several beings who surpassed her. In this world especially, there were more than a few entities significantly stronger than her.
Lilith was well aware that none of these powerful beings could ever hope to defeat Yeruashi, but as his daughter, she was starting to feel deeply frustrated. She found herself able to offer Yeruashi less and less assistance; for instance, she didn't believe she could currently defeat Unohana.
'I must... become stronger...'
Lilith whispered softly.
For the first time since her birth, she felt a genuine hunger for power, simply because she wanted to be of use to her father.
...
The battle showed no signs of stopping.
Throughout the fight, Unohana experienced a long-forgotten pleasure. After some time, when her emotions reached their zenith, she fell into a brief state of catharsis.
But when she came to her senses, she was surprised to find that Yeruashi remained in the exact same state as he had been at the start of the battle.
Calm and serene.
It was as if this battle couldn't stir any emotion in him at all.
"Does a battle with me... fail to evoke any emotion in you whatsoever?"
Unohana addressed Yeruashi.
Her gentle voice and warm smile stood in stark contrast to her blood-soaked Zanpakuto, which continued to emit a stream of frighteningly viscous liquid.
A clear winner had yet to emerge, but Unohana already realized that Yeruashi was far stronger than she was. Throughout the entire fight, he had done nothing but defend passively, yet not a single one of her countless attacks had managed to bypass his blade.
Of course, there were kendo styles oriented toward defense, but those were the exception. The vast majority of swordmasters focused on the attack. Therefore, the fact that she had no chance of breaking through Yeruashi's defense despite her best efforts meant she would be at a severe disadvantage the moment he decided to take the initiative.
"I've never been particularly interested in fighting."
Yeruashi replied calmly, methodically parrying Unohana's rapid-fire attacks.
He had never been a combat maniac who thrived on bloody battles. While he didn't feel any irritation toward fighting, he didn't derive much pleasure from it either. He much preferred overwhelming and absolute power. Crushing a mighty opponent with sheer dominance—that was what was truly fun and exciting. As for brutal struggles on the edge of life and death... those were just tedious and exhausting...
Retsu Unohana possessed the exact opposite mentality. She felt zero interest in crushing weaker opponents, but derived unprecedented ecstasy from fighting on the brink of death.
"Just as I thought..."
"It seems I've only caused you unnecessary trouble."
Unohana spoke in an apologetic tone. "I'm certainly glad you chose to hold back for the sake of a duel with a weaker opponent, but I... I very much want to see your attack."
She had experienced unprecedented enjoyment during this prolonged battle, but a woman's desires are never truly satisfied...
The same applied to Unohana's thirst for battle; now, she wanted to clash with Yeruashi's offense!
She couldn't force Yeruashi to attack actively, as she was unable to break through his passive defense. Thus, her only option was to ask directly for the chance to see Yeruashi's sword in its full glory.
Unohana understood perfectly that such a request was tantamount to seeking death, but even the threat of oblivion couldn't suppress her desire to feel his true strength.
An incomprehensible level of kendo, a calm and unshakeable demeanor, immense power, and incredible speed... in those brief moments when their blades crossed, every Reishi in Unohana's body trembled with excitement.
She couldn't resist the temptation!
"Well, since a lady is asking..."
Yeruashi smiled. "I can hardly refuse."
Without hesitation, Unohana broke off her offensive and retreated about ten meters, raising her Zanpakuto before her.
She was fully aware that Yeruashi's next attack might be fatal, yet she craved to see his sword more than anything. Unohana wasn't looking to die—if she did, she couldn't continue enjoying battles—so her will to live was actually stronger than that of many ordinary people.
It seemed contradictory, but that was the essence of Unohana. She had survived a fierce battle with a young Zaraki, only to eventually fall to his sword years later so he could hear his Zanpakuto's voice and awaken his true power when a great threat loomed over the Soul Society.
Unohana was willing to protect something important even at the cost of her life; otherwise, she would try to avoid death at any cost, even if it meant paying with defeat, humiliation, or anything else. From her perspective, all those things were insignificant compared to the pleasure of the next fight.
"I'm coming."
Yeruashi told her.
"Come!"
Unohana took a deep breath and tightened her grip on her Zanpakuto, preparing to use the strongest defensive move she had mastered in her long life in the Soul Society.
Yeruashi took a step forward, pursued by Unohana's focused and concentrated gaze.
He approached her calmly and unhurriedly, showing no burst of speed or any threatening movements, and then he simply swung his sword.
The ground shattered, the sky collapsed, and space itself... splintered!
The foundation of the Soul Society was built on the power of the Soul King, mixed with a small portion of Yeruashi's own power.
A dimension formed from the Reishi of the Soul King possessed far greater durability than the spatial fabric of the real world.
Yeruashi's blade sliced through space, forming a rift as dark as ink that instantly spanned the sky and the earth.
Silence.
Space was cleaved without a single sound or roar.
Unohana defended with everything she had, but whether it was her kendo, her massive Reiatsu, or anything else, none of it seemed to matter before Yeruashi's blade.
The vast mass of bloody liquid and the raging Reiatsu were split in half like a parted sea.
Everything that stood in the way of Yeruashi's blade seemed incredibly fragile and vulnerable.
Reiatsu, Zanpakuto, space itself...
Everything between heaven and earth, including Unohana herself, was divided in two. It was as if an artist had dipped a brush into black ink and drawn a line directly across a freshly finished landscape.
"..."
Unohana's eyes, fixed on Yeruashi in that moment, shone with an excitement and pleasure she had never known.
She had never encountered such strength.
She had never even imagined such power existed.
Upon clashing with this force, Unohana's entire soul and heart trembled. Every Reishi in her body, hungry for battle with the strong, transmitted unprecedented emotions of joy and satisfaction to her brain, pushing her emotions to an unparalleled climax.
'What a shame...'
'I will never be able to feel this again...'
In that moment, alongside the incredible high of satisfaction, she felt the rapid approach of death.
Truthfully, when she had headed to the outskirts of the Rukongai, she had hoped to find someone worthy of inheriting her kendo of eight thousand styles, but now that no longer mattered. With this single strike, Yeruashi had clearly demonstrated that her kendo was nothing special or extraordinary.
In that case, searching for a successor was also pointless.
Unohana closed her eyes with those thoughts.
Her consciousness gradually began to sink into darkness, and her spiritual power rapidly dissipated.
But.
Just as her consciousness was about to dissolve into the void, a voice reached her from the side.
"Don't be in a hurry to die."
Accompanied by that soft voice, a mysterious and warm power flowed into Unohana's body, rapidly restoring her shattered soul to an ideal state.
Stunned, Unohana snapped her eyes open to see Yeruashi standing before her, lowering a hand he had reached out toward her.
Unohana knew exactly how horrific her injury had been.
Her body had been cleaved in two and her soul's heart destroyed beyond any hope of recovery, at least according to her medical knowledge.
Yet this man had managed to rid her of a fatal wound without any visible side effects!
Yeruashi lowered his hand and said calmly, "Continue walking the path of the sword. I look forward to seeing your progress..."
Unohana was a very talented swordsman, but she had strayed from the true path of the sword because she placed too much emphasis on the power of a Shinigami and her Zanpakuto.
Once Unohana glimpsed the correct path, it shouldn't take her long to cross into the next level.
Since the path of the sword is infinite, Yeruashi sought to see as many high-level swordsmen as possible to further hone his own blade.
Whoosh!
With those words, Yeruashi vanished instantly.
Unohana stared in dazed shock at the spot where he had stood moments before. She was, of course, overjoyed at the chance to escape certain death, as it meant she could continue to enjoy combat.
But at that moment, entirely different thoughts and memories flooded her mind.
Several days ago.
The mysterious incident that had affected not only the entire Soul Society but also Hueco Mundo.
A flare of Reiatsu at the moment Captain-Commander Genryusai Yamamoto released his Bankai was capable of stirring an unprecedented storm within the Soul Society, but it still wasn't enough to reach every corner of the dimension, let alone affect another world entirely.
Following that terrifying and mysterious incident, she had encountered an incredibly powerful opponent who completely surpassed her in kendo and possessed unimaginable medical skills.
A coincidence?
She didn't think so.
If this truly wasn't a coincidence, then this man...
Unohana took a deep breath as she considered the identity of the mysterious stranger.
According to the will of the Soul King, it was the duty of the Gotei 13 to maintain order and peace in the Soul Society.
The will of the Soul King, who created the entire Soul Society, was supreme and absolute. It was no exaggeration to say that the existence of the Soul King was synonymous with the existence of the Soul Society itself!
But.
In ancient legends, there were not one, but two kings who had created the Soul Society and Hueco Mundo.
One was the Soul King, residing in the Soul King Palace, while the existence of the other had never been confirmed because he had left absolutely no trace in the long history of the Soul Society.
He was known as... the King of Hollows!