Chapter 13: Bankai: Shunkan Mugen! |
Bankai is the second and final release of a Zanpakuto, the signature ability of Gotei 13 captains that elevates them far above all other Shinigami.
Every instance of achieving Bankai holds a special place in the long history of the Soul Society!
In the thousands of years since the creation of the Asauchi, only forty-one cases of reaching Bankai had ever been recorded. Every soul who unleashed a Bankai was an official Shinigami within the Gotei 13, and later, almost every one of them served as the captain of a squad.
But today...
The forty-second instance of achieving Bankai in the history of the Soul Society had occurred.
Accompanied by a titanic surge of Reiatsu, a brilliant golden radiance erupted from Yeruashi's body.
On the path to achieving Bankai, every Shinigami must pass through countless battles on the brink of life and death alongside their Zanpakuto until they forge the strongest and deepest bond.
But for Yeruashi, this was an incredibly simple task.
Previously, Yoruichi had felt only a fraction of his Reiatsu; in reality, it was far, far greater than she could have ever imagined!
In fact, he possessed immense spiritual power, no less than that of Retsu Unohana!
With such vast spiritual strength, it was naturally no great difficulty for Yeruashi to pour in the necessary volume of spiritual energy and completely subdue the formed spirit's persona in a very short span of time!
"Bankai."
"Shunkan Mugen."
Yeruashi raised his Zanpakuto and spoke calmly, completing the Bankai release under shocked and dazed stares.
With the appearance of the bright golden glow, the blade's shape in his hand didn't undergo any significant changes, maintaining the form of a vintage clock's golden hand.
But the Bankai release was certainly accompanied by visible changes.
Behind Yeruashi, a massive golden clock appeared!
Apparently, this clock was a completely physical and tangible projection of his illusory clock!
This was the form of Yeruashi's Zanpakuto after releasing his Bankai!
'So this is... my Bankai...'
'It seems the Zanpakuto, forged under the influence of my spiritual power, has absorbed a small part of the illusory clock's strength. I wonder... what its ability is...'
Yeruashi closed his eyes and focused, beginning to grasp the power of his Bankai.
At that moment, no one in the kendo training room except Lilith could remain standing, not even the kendo instructor.
The instructor dropped to one knee under the weight of that titanic Reiatsu, leaning on his sword with trembling hands, struggling with all his might to keep from collapsing onto the floor completely.
The academy students with the weakest spiritual power lost consciousness entirely, while more talented students like Marechiyo Omaeda managed to stay awake but were pinned to the floor by the overwhelming Reiatsu, unable to move even a finger.
A few students who still clung to consciousness could only watch Yeruashi's movements, though by this point, their gazes no longer showed extreme shock. Every thought that had raced through their minds earlier had been mercilessly torn to shreds and could not take any meaningful shape.
It was as if the students had just woken from a long dream and were in a hazy state, simply not comprehending what was happening right before their eyes.
...
The territory of the Second Squad of the Gotei 13.
Marenoshin Omaeda had just brought Rukia and Hisana to the Second Squad's grounds. Initially, he had intended to settle them somewhere in the vicinity of the Seireitei, but after careful consideration, he concluded that the best choice was to house Rukia and Hisana close to the Second Squad.
That way, if Rukia and Hisana encountered any problems, they could immediately go to him in the Second Squad. In essence, building a relationship with them was equivalent to building one with Yeruashi and Lilith. Was there any sense in refusing the chance to establish ties with two future Lieutenants, or perhaps even Captains of the Gotei 13? Not to mention that he owed Yeruashi his life.
Yoruichi returned to the Second Squad territory almost simultaneously with Omaeda, as she had been settling the aftermath of the recent Hollow attack.
"Did everything go well?"
She first glanced at Rukia and Hisana following Omaeda, then asked.
Omaeda nodded. "Yes, thanks to your recommendation, there were no difficulties with enrollment in the Shin'o Academy. Given their talent, they'll have no trouble graduating early in the near future. Soon, the Captain might have two very capable Shinigami at her disposal."
"Of course, they'll graduate from the academy soon, but I wouldn't count on them being subordinates, as they're both talented enough to become Captains."
Yoruichi crossed her arms over her chest and shook her head, then looked at Hisana and Rukia again. "They are..."
"They are close to Yeruashi."
Omaeda explained, "Yeruashi and Lilith will be able to move their family into the Seireitei soon, so I thought there was no point in leaving them in Rukongai."
"Good."
Yoruichi nodded, not objecting to Omaeda's decision. "Then take good care of their move and settling in."
After those words, Yoruichi sank into thought, deciding whether she should report everything to the Captain-Commander. Given Yeruashi and Lilith's potential, they would surely attract immense attention soon. Once this information reached Genryusai Yamamoto's ears, he would undoubtedly investigate such remarkable newcomers, then certainly summon her as the Captain who gave the recommendation for their enrollment in the Shin'o Academy.
It would be better to notify the Captain-Commander on her own initiative.
While Yoruichi was reflecting on this, a similar thought occurred to Marenoshin. "Captain, perhaps it is worth informing the Captain-Commander..."
Yoruichi opened her mouth to reply but suddenly turned her head toward the Shin'o Academy.
Omaeda snapped his head around after Yoruichi, for he felt a massive Reiatsu emanating from the direction of the Shin'o Academy.
This gargantuan Reiatsu matched the level of a Gotei 13 Captain's Reiatsu at the moment of a Bankai release!
The mere fact of a Bankai being unleashed by one of the Gotei 13 Captains at the Shin'o Academy was already a remarkable event, but the problem was...
That Reiatsu did not belong to any of the Captains he knew!
'Whose Reiatsu is this?!'
Omaeda fell into a stupor.
Yoruichi, having suppressed the intense shock and surprise caused by this burst of Reiatsu with great effort, took a deep breath and slapped her forehead. "It's too late to report now..."
Yoruichi had previously approached and carefully examined Yeruashi, so she was able to recognize his Reiatsu, unlike Omaeda.
This titanic Reiatsu that appeared in the Shin'o Academy was greater... much greater than what Yoruichi had previously felt from Yeruashi, but it undoubtedly belonged to him...
Reiatsu at the level of a Gotei 13 Captain!
No...
Not quite...
Reiatsu at the level of a Bankai release!
"Achieved Bankai upon his very first contact with an Asauchi? I didn't expect him to cause such a stir at the Shin'o Academy on his very first day..."
Yoruichi let out a helpless sigh.
Though it might seem at first glance that she took what happened quite calmly, in reality, her mind was far from settled. While there were cases of unleashing Shikai on the first day after entering the academy, achieving Bankai on the very first day...
That was more like a completely absurd and unfunny joke!
Take the Lieutenants of the Gotei 13, for example—not only did they possess Reiatsu on the same level as Yeruashi and Lilith, but they were also some of the most qualified Shinigami. They might try to resort to special training methods to reach Bankai faster, but even then, no one could guarantee success, and such training carried immense risks.
...
Territory of the Fifth Squad of the Gotei 13.
Sosuke Aizen stood by the window in a spacious and clean office. He carefully wielded small scissors, pruning the branches of a beautiful plant on the windowsill.
"This Reiatsu..."
Aizen turned his head toward the Shin'o Academy and whispered in surprise. He immediately concluded that this was Reiatsu at the level of a Bankai release, one that did not belong to any of the Gotei 13 Captains.
Aizen always paid close attention to every Captain and talented Shinigami with the potential to reach Captain level. Therefore, he wouldn't have been surprised at all if one of the Shinigami he had previously noted had achieved Bankai.
But the current situation completely exceeded his expectations.
It was a completely unfamiliar Reiatsu at the level of a Bankai release.
Aizen narrowed his eyes and whispered, still looking toward the Shin'o Academy. "Just who is he?"
...
Territory of the Fourth Squad of the Gotei 13.
Retsu Unohana sat in the middle of a spacious square room, completely devoid of furniture. Her eyes were closed, and her Zanpakuto lay across her knees.
In this quiet and peaceful setting, there was a faint sense of a gradually waxing and waning sword intent emanating from Unohana's body, which felt like a razor-sharp blade.
Suddenly.
Unohana emerged from her meditation and snapped her head around, looking toward the Shin'o Academy.
'This Reiatsu...'
'Someone achieved Bankai?'
Unohana wasn't greatly surprised by an unfamiliar Reiatsu; being one of the oldest Captains of the Gotei 13, she had seen enough cases of Bankai being unleashed.
But still...
This Reiatsu felt vaguely familiar to Unohana, as if she had met its owner once before, but searching her memory, she found no recollection of even remotely similar Reiatsu.
"I've never met him, yet it feels vaguely familiar..."
Unohana whispered thoughtfully, then rose abruptly and left the room, slinging her Zanpakuto over her shoulder as she went.
At the same time, across the territories of other squads...
Rojuro Otoribashi, Shinji Hirako, Ginrei Kuchiki... all the Gotei 13 Captains, including Captain-Commander Genryusai Yamamoto, looked toward the Shin'o Academy.
Their expressions mirrored roughly the same emotion—surprise!
...
Shin'o Academy.
Of everyone present in the kendo training room, only Lilith was not suppressed by Yeruashi's gargantuan Reiatsu, though even she felt a certain pressure.
"Is this Big Brother's Bankai? It's beautiful..."
Lilith smiled and whispered, looking at the Zanpakuto in Yeruashi's hands and the massive clock behind him. From her perspective, what happened didn't seem surprising or unexpected; after all, even she had managed to achieve Shikai in just a few minutes.
Yeruashi opened his eyes and brandished his golden Zanpakuto. "Yes, but the power of Bankai is notably harder to control..."
He had faced such a problem only for the second time since gaining full control over his own energy and power, following his mastery of Armament Haki and swordsmanship in the One Piece world.
The first time was with the power of the Six Paths evolution gained in the One Punch Man world.
Yeruashi had excellent Reiatsu control, but managing the power of a Bankai required extremely fine and precise control.
If you are able to easily place ten million 300-nanometer transistors on a processor, it doesn't mean you can place a hundred million 30-nanometer transistors on the exact same processor. The accuracy required during these two operations is on completely different levels.
But a more important reason for the control issues was the fact that a small portion of the illusory clock's power was used during the Bankai release.
To date, Yeruashi had unlocked seven abilities of the illusory clock, and opening the eighth would take several decades. Therefore, an insufficient understanding of the illusory clock's power certainly complicated Bankai control noticeably.
Whoosh!!
As Yeruashi continued to grasp the strength of his Bankai, a figure suddenly swept into the kendo training room.
It was Yoruichi.
She crossed her arms and grinned at Yeruashi. "Hey, how does it feel? Reaching Bankai."
Without waiting for Yeruashi's answer, Yoruichi's figure suddenly vanished and reappeared directly behind him.
She placed an index finger to her lips and began to examine the massive golden clock hovering behind Yeruashi with interest. "I certainly assumed you had the potential to reach Captain level, but achieving Bankai on your very first day after entering the Shin'o Academy... that's a bit much, don't you think? Until today, the record for reaching Bankai was three years... how did you even do it?!"
Yoruichi was greatly surprised, but she didn't begin to fear Yeruashi's power just because he had achieved Bankai. In truth, the speed of achieving Bankai doesn't reflect its strength; furthermore, a Shinigami must practice a great deal to manifest the full potential of their Bankai.
She was simply curious about how Yeruashi had managed to reach Bankai in such a short amount of time.
Yeruashi replied calmly, continuing to hold the Zanpakuto before him. "Aren't you aware that you just have to fill the Asauchi with your spiritual power, Captain?"
"..."
The corner of Yoruichi's mouth began to twitch nervously.
Of course she knew you had to fill the Asauchi with spiritual power and then communicate with the resulting sword spirit to achieve Bankai. Every first-year at the Shin'o Academy knows that perfectly well! The point of the question was the speed!!
But regardless of the reason—be it unprecedented talent or a special predisposition for wielding a Zanpakuto—he had, in any case, set an absolute record for the speed of achieving Bankai in the history of the Soul Society!