Chapter 28: Shunko! |
'Bankai from someone besides a Captain?'
'This might be more difficult than I anticipated.'
Torashi narrowed his eyes and whispered, staring at the miniature Lilith standing before him.
At that moment, Lilith gripped the bowstring with her delicate fingers and calmly pulled her hand back. Because of the massive size difference between Lilith and her Bankai, the movement of her arm barely pulled the string, yet a blood-red light flared to life before her, condensing into the form of a jagged arrow.
Whoosh!
An instant later, as her slender fingers released the string, the massive crimson arrow sliced through the air with terrifying speed. Torashi barely had time to cross his arms, thick beastly claws erupting from his hands in the blink of an eye.
Boom!
The massive arrow distorted the very air as it slammed into Torashi's crossed claws with a thunderous roar, forcing him back several yards.
Roar!
Blocking the attack had clearly taken a significant toll on his body. His chest heaved, and cold sweat beaded on his forehead.
"It seems my current form isn't enough to defeat you. In that case..."
Torashi took a heavy breath and whispered as he glared at Lilith, who hovered before her gargantuan bow.
Then, accompanied by a deafening tiger's roar, his pupils dilated and his spine arched violently.
The Wolf Clan, which Sajin Komamura belongs to, possesses a secret ritual to transform into humans, allowing them to gain a more human appearance and a significant power boost.
The Panther Clan possessed a similar ability!
However, their transformation was the exact opposite of the Wolf Clan's.
While the Wolf Clan sought a human form, the Panther Clan transformed into beasts!
Rip! Tear! Crack!
With a thunderous roar, Torashi's meager clothing shredded to pieces, revealing bulging muscles and rapidly growing fur.
Within seconds, his humanoid body had transformed into a black tiger nearly sixteen feet long, radiating waves of Reiatsu far more powerful than before.
This spiritual pressure was now comparable to Lilith's after she released her Bankai!
"Not bad at all."
Yeruashi casually swung his Zanpakuto, parrying another heavy blow from Justin. He smirked and whispered to himself as he watched Torashi’s transformation nearby.
This transformation couldn't compare to Komamura's human ritual, so Torashi's combat power was, at best, equivalent to an average Captain’s Bankai. But that was exactly what was needed—Lilith’s soul form possessed roughly the same level of power.
Torashi would serve as the perfect whetstone for Lilith's blade.
"Hey... you damn Shinigami! You dare get distracted while fighting me? Don't be so arrogant! Don't you dare look down on me!"
Justin felt a surge of rage when he realized Yeruashi was paying attention to other battles while fighting him.
With a furious shout, he unleashed a flurry of strikes with his massive, jagged Bankai. Each blow felt significantly heavier than the last!
Yeruashi only turned his attention back to his opponent when he felt an interesting change. "...So, your Bankai has a fascinating ability. With every clash, your next attack becomes slightly stronger than the previous one, doesn't it?"
"You noticed!"
Justin grinned like a predator, continuing his relentless assault. "Then try to beat me as fast as you can, because soon, you won't have a single chance of survival!"
Yeruashi smiled and drawled, "How terrifying."
The ability to stack power with every strike was even more intriguing to Yeruashi than Aizen’s absolute hypnosis. He was genuinely curious to see where the limit was.
To what extent would this strength continue to grow?
While Yeruashi continued to block Justin’s attacks effortlessly, a fierce battle raged between Torashi and Lilith.
Their spiritual pressure was roughly equal. Lilith held the advantage in raw attack power through her Bankai, while Torashi had the upper hand in agility in his beast form.
The winner of this balanced, violent duel wouldn't be decided anytime soon unless something unexpected occurred.
Yoruichi slowly recovered from her shock and let out a sigh of relief. The advantage was still on their side.
She no longer feared the appearance of a fourth Captain-level enemy. Given how easily Yeruashi was handling his opponent, the two of them could certainly hold off three enemies of that caliber together!
"It seems your subordinates are in a precarious position."
Yoruichi smirked at the King of the Panthers, who still stood watching from the sidelines.
Org snorted coldly. "I didn't expect your subordinates to stop them, but don't forget... the greatest King of all is still here!"
Boom!
A massive, untamed surge of Reiatsu followed his words.
Org took a confident step forward, ascending into the air over the deep abyss. He looked down at Yoruichi and spoke with a voice like rolling thunder. "Come... show this King the power of a Shinigami Captain!"
"As you wish."
Yoruichi replied calmly. She released a powerful pulse of Reiatsu, vanished instantly, and reappeared behind Org, launching a swift kick toward his neck.
Even though she attacked with her bare hands, her mastery of Hakuda and Shunpo made the strike as lethal as a Shikai attack!
Yoruichi owned a Zanpakuto and had even achieved Bankai, but her Bankai suffered from a flaw common among some Shinigami—it was too cumbersome. Furthermore, she wasn't particularly fond of Kendo.
The Bankai's form placed too many restrictions on her fast, flexible combat style, which relied on Hakuda and Shunpo. Consequently, she preferred not to use her Zanpakuto at all. Instead, she had developed an advanced martial art combining Hakuda and Kido, elevating her natural strengths to an entirely new level.
As a result...
The Shunko Yoruichi developed was more effective than her Bankai!
Thwack!
Org whipped his massive torso around, catching Yoruichi’s leg with a muscular arm. He seemed to react to her incredible speed without much effort.
Her foot, wreathed in concentrated Reiatsu, slammed into the King's wrist with a resounding crack.
Swish!
Without missing a beat, Yoruichi twisted her body in mid-air, slicing her palm like a blade toward his throat.
But Org blocked again with his massive arm, showing off his reflexes. He clenched his other hand and threw a lightning-fast counter-punch.
Whoosh!
Yoruichi dodged with grace, arching her back like a lithe black cat.
As the heavy fist whistled past her cheek, she had already snapped a kick toward his head.
Org raised his arm to block, but the force of the blow was far greater than it appeared.
His massive frame shuddered, and he was sent flying down several dozen yards before he managed to stabilize himself.
Yoruichi landed a perfect flip in the air and looked down at him. "Impressive speed and reaction time, but you'll need another few hundred years of training to match me..."
"Is that so?"
Org slowly lowered his hands and spoke coldly, gazing up at her. "Have you become so arrogant just from tickling this Great King? You die today, Shinigami Captain!"
Yoruichi merely smirked, dismissing his threats. She vanished again using Shunpo.
Boom! Bang! Crash!
Org and Yoruichi clashed in hand-to-hand combat once more.
The contrast between them was stark—it looked like a massive bodybuilder fighting a small girl. One swipe of his hand should have been enough to sweep her away. But in reality... Yoruichi held the absolute advantage!
Yoruichi didn't just outclass Soi Fon in agility; she had reached the pinnacle of Hakuda and Shunpo.
Thus, Great Org could only dream of touching a single hair on her head, even with his beastly instincts and natural flexibility.
The fight was like a cat playing with a tiger.
The tiger had the size, but the cat had the speed.
Normally, a tiger would crush a cat easily, but what if there wasn't such a massive gap in raw strength and size?
The answer was obvious.
The tiger was in trouble. The agile cat would simply drive it to exhaustion and death.
As the battle dragged on, more and more small wounds began to open on Org's body.
Eventually, Great Org let out a thunderous roar and leaped back, seemingly done with this exchange.
"You are indeed worthy of witnessing the true power of this Great King, Shinigami Captain."
"In that case..."
"The warm-up is over. It's time for the real battle!"
Org shouted and dropped to all fours, tensing every muscle in his body.
Amidst a violent surge of Reiatsu, his body twisted and grew, transforming into a golden tiger with black stripes, nearly twenty feet long!
Beast transformation!
Org's beast form was significantly more powerful than Torashi's. The pulses of Reiatsu radiating from him were far more intense!
Even among the Gotei 13 Captains, spiritual pressure varied.
While Torashi had barely touched the Captain level in his normal state and reached the level of an average Captain after transforming, Great Org’s Reiatsu in his beast form was comparable to that of a strong Captain!
That meant his spiritual pressure would be among the strongest in the Gotei 13, excluding a few ancient monsters...
As the shockwave of Reiatsu spread, the elite Shinigami of the Second Division and the Onmitsukido felt their bodies tremble uncontrollably.
Soi Fon, also under immense pressure, cast a stunned glance at the Panther King and whispered tensely, "Yoruichi-sama..."
To counter such Reiatsu, a Shinigami usually had to release their Bankai. But doing so would severely limit Yoruichi's speed and mobility, potentially leading to an even more dangerous situation!
However, while Soi Fon was on edge, Yoruichi remained perfectly calm, observing Great Org’s beast form with an unruffled gaze.
She wasn't surprised. If Torashi could transform, his King certainly could too.
Yoruichi lowered her arms and said quietly, catching Soi Fon’s eye, "Soi Fon, do you know why my Shinigami uniform has no sleeves or back?"
"?!"
Soi Fon was bewildered, unable to understand why Yoruichi was asking such a thing in the middle of a battle. But she received her answer almost immediately.
Yoruichi slowly raised her right arm to the side, parallel to the ground, and then suddenly clenched her fist.
Crackle!
A raging torrent of concentrated Reiatsu erupted from her body, arcing in all directions like bolts of lightning.
The force of the spiritual pressure instantly shredded her white Captain’s haori, revealing the black Shinigami outfit beneath, designed without sleeves or a back.
"Because the Reiatsu would simply tear the fabric in those places when I use this technique."
Cloaked in crackling arcs of concentrated Reiatsu, Yoruichi cast a cold gaze at Great Org and said calmly, "This technique combines the use of Kido and Hakuda."
"It's called... Shunko!"
The powerful eruption of Reiatsu and Yoruichi's voice immediately drew the attention of everyone present. Every Shinigami and member of the Panther Clan, except for the ever-composed Lilith, was stunned.
The Panther Clan could clearly feel that Yoruichi’s Reiatsu was no weaker than Org’s!
So, this was the true face of a Gotei 13 Captain?!
Yoruichi possessed such overwhelming power and skill that the gathered Panther Clan members found it difficult to even imagine that twelve more such terrifying opponents existed!
Was there any hope for them in this war?
As Torashi’s morale plummeted, his movements grew sluggish and erratic. Lilith wasted no time in exploiting his distraction, launching a relentless assault to seize the upper hand!
At the same time, Yeruashi looked at Yoruichi with admiration.
Charisma and bearing can significantly affect a person's level of charm.
In Yeruashi’s estimation, Yoruichi’s charm had just surpassed ninety points.
Speaking of her charm...
In the future, she would develop an even more powerful form of Shunko—Shunko: Raiju Senkei: Hanki Hannun! The charm level of that form, with its cat tail and feline ears, would surely be even higher...
It was quite possible that, in the original timeline, Yoruichi had developed that form based on the beast transformation of the Panther Clan.
"The prelude is over."
Yoruichi spoke coldly and vanished without even leaving an afterimage. She reappeared directly in front of the Panther King and delivered a lightning-fast punch.
Her fist was wreathed in a massive amount of Reiatsu, compressed to its limit through Kido.
The destructive force of this seemingly simple punch exceeded that of a level eighty Hado!
"..."
Org tensed and let out a savage roar, swinging a clawed paw to meet her fist.
Boom!!
With a deafening explosion, the sky was flooded with a blinding light. The surrounding Reishi surged in every direction like a tidal wave.
Whether it was the hundreds of members from the Second Division and Onmitsukido or the thousands from the Panther Clan, everyone trembled and retreated, pushed back by the raging storm of spiritual pressure.