Call out!
Golden light blood from the tip of the blade, and with a sharp, air-splitting sound, a laser beam shot forth from the Shining Kōfūin.
"Snort!"
In midair, Unohana Yachiru vanished instantly. When she reappeared, she was already fifty ters away. Releasing her left hand from her chest, she revealed ten bleeding holes embedded deep into her flesh.
"You dodged it?"
"Such a beautiful Shunpo… I had intended to pierce straight through you."
"It seems I underestimated you a little."
Aiyan lowered the Zanpakutō in his right hand, replaying in his mind the image of Unohana Yachiru twisting her body at the last possible mont to evade the laser aid at her heart.
That kind of battle instinct—where the body reacts an instant ahead of thought—made him offer quiet praise.
"Phew…"
"I was nearly killed by that strike."
"It seems you've completely seen through my Bankai and my swordsmanship."
Unohana exhaled, then smiled with a joy only she could feel—joy at standing on the edge of death. At the sa ti, she realized Aiyan's every move seed prepared for her in advance.
Whether it was preemptively elentalizing his chest or aiming the laser perfectly at her heart, every action had been anticipated.
"It's not that I 'seem' to have seen through you."
"I have completely seen through you," Aiyan corrected.
"Oh?"
At his words, Unohana's fingers tightened on her blade—and then she unleashed her counterattack.
Tsk.
Blood surged from her palm like a droplet, soaking the blade until it turned crimson. It then erupted outward, transforming into blood-red sword light that lted everything before it.
Whether sand or air, all was dissolved—not cut, but corroded away. Even the spiritual particles in the atmosphere could not withstand it.
Boom!
Aiyan raised his sword in one hand, casually deflecting the bloody sword light.
Whoosh,
Whoosh,
Whoosh!
Seeing this, Unohana was not discouraged. She stepped into Shunpo, wielding her blade with both hands.
In an instant, bloody slashes swept across the desert like a sudden storm, battering Aiyan from every direction.
Yet, before this feast of crimson, he did not move even a single step. He simply waved his sword one-handed, deflecting every incoming strike.
Not a single scarlet slash could pass his guard—let alone injure him.
Crack!
In just seconds, the desert for kiloters around was carved into countless trenches, like a cake sliced into dozens of uneven pieces. Only the small area beneath Aiyan's feet remained untouched.
"Enough with the aningless attacks."
"You must have sothing stronger."
Aiyan flicked away three more slashes, then spoke as he cut down a hundred more in one breath. Unohana's Reiatsu was beginning to wane, her movents growing just slightly slower.
"This blade…"
"I've only used it against the Captain-Commander."
"When I faced you at the Shin'ō Academy, I used only the swordsmanship portion of it."
Her eyes glead with bloodlust. Gripping her blade with both hands, Unohana's Zanpakutō extended, its edge curving into a slender crimson scythe.
Blood-red Reiatsu erupted from her body, first flooding outward like a river of gore before converging entirely into the blade.
When the final trace of red Reiatsu in the air was absorbed, she stepped forward and swung down.
"Song of Annihilation — Yachiru."
With a single swing, the air and even the spiritual particles dissolved instantly. The desert split open beneath the scarlet blade as it lted the sky itself, carving a rift thousands of ters long, descending like a blood-colored sky over Hueco Mundo.
Seeing the massive blade descending—not so much falling as collapsing the heavens themselves—Aiyan's lips curled into a faint smile. Raising the Shining Kōfūin above his head, he t the strike head-on.
BOOM!
The impact thundered like a teorite striking the earth. A storm of blood-red Reiatsu tore through the desert, eroding everything in its path.
And yet—
The next instant, the giant blade halted in midair, caught directly above Aiyan. No matter how Unohana pressed, or how much Reiatsu she poured into it, it would not advance even a centiter.
It was as if he were holding up a collapsing sky with one hand and one sword.
This scene left Unohana stunned—Shikai against Bankai, yet the outco was complete domination.
Only, it was not Aiyan's Shikai that was overpowered. It was her Bankai that was crushed.
"You look surprised."
"Surely the Captain-Commander of two thousand years ago could do at least this much?"
Aiyan's wrist tensed, and golden light erupted from his sword, swallowing Unohana's crimson blade entirely.
When the light faded, the massive blood sky had vanished. In its place was a single golden fissure snaking across the heavens of Hueco Mundo, twisting through the void like a celestial serpent.
If Unohana's blade had split the blood-red sky, Aiyan's had cleaved the heavens themselves.
"No…"
"He could do it too. The thod was different, but the result was the sa—my swordsmanship, my Bankai, my power all reduced to nothing before Ryūjin Jakka."
She turned from the golden fissure back to him.
"You are now the equal of Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni as he was a thousand years ago… no, slightly stronger."
At her words, Aiyan's Reiatsu surged upward, piercing the starry sky like a golden river suspended in the heavens, rolling and surging. Even the First Generation Kenpachi felt her body tense under its pressure, as though bearing the weight of a mountain.
"Slightly stronger than the Captain-Commander of a thousand years ago?"
"What an arrogant assessnt."
"No… that judgnt cos only from your limited perception of power."
Aiyan stood beneath the golden river, gazing down at her.
"How long did it take for him to defeat you?"
He asked each word clearly.
Unohana did not answer, but slowly raised her left hand, spreading her fingers one by one.
"I see."
"As thanks for helping train, for letting step into the realm of a true Shinigami—"
"I will correct your perception of power."
In the next mont, Aiyan appeared directly above her, descending along with the golden river of Reiatsu flowing upward toward Hueco Mundo's ceiling.
"When—?!"
Unohana's eyes widened. She hadn't even had ti to sense the movent. Instinct alone drove her hands upward, gripping the hilt with her right hand and bracing the spine of the blade with her left.
Her entire body tensed.
And it was the right choice.
"The Holy Sword's — Saigo no Sabaki!"
...
If you enjoyed this book, don't forget to vote with a Power Stone and take a few seconds to leave a review
Join my P@treon for advance chapters and special content!
[email protected]/Ren_Saga
Reviews
All reviews (0)