Chapter 59: What Crime Did My Daughter Commit? |
Seireitei.
The tension within the Seireitei held steady as the clash of Reiatsu between the Gotei 13 captains and the duo of Nelliel and Lilith dragged on.
After a few seconds of strained silence, Captain Sajin Komamura of the Seventh Division took the initiative.
Stepping forward, he brandished his Zanpakuto and shouted with iron resolve, "Bankai! Kokujo Tengen Myo'o!"
Sajin hadn't acted out of mere aggression or bloodlust. Despite its colossal size, his Bankai posed the least threat to his nearby allies.
The abilities of captains like Shunsui Kyoraku, Kaname Tosen, and Retsu Unohana would only hinder one another, as their releases affected the entire surrounding area.
Boom!
Amidst a staggering eruption of Reiatsu, a hundred-meter-tall giant materialized behind Sajin, its massive blade mimicking the movements of its master's Zanpakuto.
Lilith cast an indifferent glance at the towering titan. A torrent of power that clearly wasn't Reiatsu began to surge from her crimson eyes.
A massive surge of blood-red chakra erupted into the sky like a turbulent river, coiling and solidifying into a giant of equal scale. It drew a gargantuan, crimson blade from its sheath. This was no Zanpakuto ability; it was the power of her evolved Dojutsu—the Complete Susanoo!
Thud!
The gargantuan blade of Lilith's Complete Susanoo clashed with the massive sword of Sajin's Kokujo Tengen Myo'o, accompanied by a bone-jarring roar. The earth groaned and shattered beneath them, a web of massive cracks spreading through the ground. The Kokujo Tengen Myo'o stumbled back before crashing heavily onto the earth.
In that brief exchange, the Complete Susanoo proved itself far superior in terms of raw physical strength.
"That giant isn't made of Reiatsu," Mayuri Kurotsuchi observed, his eyes narrowing as he scrutinized the bloody colossus. "It feels more like... the power of a monster!"
"Step back, Captain Mayuri," Isshin Shiba warned before swinging his Zanpakuto. A dense shroud of concentrated Reiatsu gathered on his blade as he unleashed it toward the Susanoo. "Getsuga Tensho!"
Whish!
A massive crescent of energy sliced through the air, slamming directly into the Susanoo's waist. However, the titan merely swayed for a second before stabilizing. Not a single scratch marked its heavy armor.
"Unharmed..." Isshin muttered in disbelief, unable to find even a hairline fracture on the Susanoo's plating.
Whish!
Lilith seized the opening while the Tenth Division Captain was still reeling from the failure of his strongest attack. Isshin blocked the Susanoo's massive blade with his own, but the struggle lasted only a heartbeat before he was ruthlessly swept aside by the crimson edge.
"Hado 63: Raikoho!"
Appearing suddenly behind the Susanoo, Sosuke Aizen thrust out an open palm, unleashing a violent storm of intertwining lightning bolts.
Reacting instantly, Lilith guided her Complete Susanoo to raise its hand, clutching a relatively small bow while the other hand drew back the string.
Whirrr!
The Songu Chishita, which was normally massive, looked like a child's toy in the grip of the gargantuan Susanoo.
But.
As the Susanoo's massive fingers pulled back the string, a blood-red arrow materialized. A wave of dread washed over the surrounding captains.
Without a word, Lilith released the terrifying crimson arrow into the open space before her.
To an onlooker, it might have seemed like she missed. However, Aizen's expression shifted drastically the moment the projectile left the bow.
The blood-red arrow streaked directly toward Aizen, who had been concealing his presence using Kyoka Suigetsu!
'How is this possible? Is this yet another monster ability?'
Aizen narrowed his eyes and met the arrow with a diagonal slash of his Zanpakuto, pushing all extraneous thoughts aside.
The power of that single shot was enough to break an ordinary captain, even one in Bankai, but Aizen held his ground. Relying on exquisite Reiatsu control, he deflected the arrow's trajectory, sending it hurtling toward the horizon.
While Lilith suppressed the others, Nelliel was busy contending with Shunsui Kyoraku, Jushiro Ukitake, and Retsu Unohana.
The Reiatsu radiating from Unohana, who had yet to even release her Shikai, was far more oppressive than that of Kyoraku or Ukitake.
Even her unreleased Zanpakuto felt more lethal than the Shikai of the other captains.
"Captain Unohana..." Shunsui Kyoraku said, looking toward the woman standing calmly before Nelliel.
Retsu Unohana offered a gentle smile. "Your Bankai isn't suitable for a place like this, and Captain Ukitake's health is far from ideal. Please, allow me to handle this opponent."
Kyoraku glanced at the pale Jushiro Ukitake before nodding with a smile, adjusting his straw hat. "Then we'll leave it to you, Captain Unohana."
Whish!
With that, the Fourth Division Captain swung her blade at Nelliel.
Unohana's attacks were devastatingly powerful despite the lack of a release, a testament to her supreme swordsmanship. However, Nelliel, in her Resurreccion form, managed to parry the strikes with her bone lance without much difficulty.
Whish!
Suddenly, Shunsui Kyoraku appeared at Nelliel's side, launching a rapid flurry of strikes with his twin Zanpakuto.
Since the full circumstances regarding Nelliel were still unclear, the Eighth Division Captain was merely trying to incapacitate her rather than aiming for the kill.
Nelliel leaned to the side and unleashed a Cero, forcing Kyoraku to retreat abruptly.
The sickly Jushiro Ukitake exhaled and joined the fray, intending to help Unohana and Kyoraku suppress Nelliel as quickly as possible.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
While this battle lacked the sheer scale of the conflict involving Lilith, it was no less intense or dangerous. Both sides were locked in a stalemate of raw power.
Compared to Retsu Unohana, who countered the enemy's massive Reiatsu with ease, the other captains were clearly struggling to keep their footing.
The destructive scale of Ryujin Jakka's abilities made it a poor fit for a group battle. Consequently, the Captain-Commander had held back from intervening, while Aizen had no intention of revealing his true, transcendent-level Reiatsu.
Furthermore, Yoruichi, who was the closest to reaching a higher tier of power among the standard captains, refused to use her Shunko, simply declining to fight at full strength.
This allowed Lilith to not only hold her own against eight captains but even gain a slight upper hand!
The Complete Susanoo, a manifestation of the Six Paths' power, and the Songu Chishita, a manifestation of Shinigami power, worked in perfect harmony in Lilith's hands.
Every strike Lilith made applied immense pressure to the captains surrounding her. Confronting her arrows head-on was out of the question!
Genryusai Yamamoto, watching both battles from within a shroud of flames, grit his teeth.
"Utterly irresponsible!"
There was no shred of coordination between the captains; they fought as if they were alone. To make matters worse, Retsu Unohana hadn't even released her Zanpakuto, seemingly afraid of accidentally harming her opponent.
"Step aside!" Yamamoto bellowed, marching toward the site of Lilith's battle.
Whish! Whish!
The eight captains surrounding Lilith immediately dispersed in different directions the moment their leader's command rang out.
Genryusai Yamamoto approached Lilith, wreathed in towering infernos, and swung his Zanpakuto at the Complete Susanoo. "Taimatsu!"
With a monumental eruption of Reiatsu that resembled a sea of burning oil, the Ryujin Jakka spewed a colossal torrent of fire. It took the form of a massive vortex as it hurtled toward the Susanoo.
From within her Susanoo, Lilith watched Yamamoto's every move with absolute focus. Out of all the captains present, only two posed a real threat to her: Sosuke Aizen and Genryusai Yamamoto.
But.
Just as she was about to retaliate, Lilith suddenly lowered her hand and looked up at the sky, completely ignoring the approaching fire tornado.
She watched as the sky above the battlefield rippled like the surface of a calm lake. From that distortion, a human figure emerged, casually waving a hand toward the massive torrent of flames.
It was as if a bucket of cold water had been dumped onto the battlefield.
Whish!
The terrifying fire tornado that threatened to engulf the Complete Susanoo vanished instantly, reduced to a harmless puff of smoke by a crushing, irresistible force.
"!"
Shock and realization dawned on the faces of every captain present—Yamamoto, Yoruichi Shihoin, Sosuke Aizen, Mayuri Kurotsuchi, and Retsu Unohana.
Even Nelliel, in the midst of her deadly duel with Retsu Unohana, and Soi Fon, who had just finished evacuating Hisana and Rukia to safety, froze as they looked up at the figure standing in the sky above the Seireitei.
A handsome young man with silver-white hair slowly lowered his hand after extinguishing the raging flames of Ryujin Jakka with exaggerated ease.
It was Yeruashi himself!
"Lord Yeruashi," Nelliel said, blocking one last strike from Retsu Unohana with her lance before retreating rapidly toward him.
The diminutive Lilith immediately dispersed her Complete Susanoo and appeared at her father's left side.
Yeruashi looked down indifferently at the Captain-Commander of the Gotei 13, whose muscled, scarred body was still wreathed in flickering flames. "Tell me," he asked calmly. "What crime exactly did my daughter and my subordinate commit?"
"Yamamoto... Genryusai?"