"So he's actually using that technique..."
Far off in the distance, Kuryashiki Kenpachi watched the center of the battlefield shift, recalling sothing Higashi Shuuichi had said not long after agreeing to train under him in Hell.
"Captain, I want to create a brand new Kidō. Sothing that'll let safely guide the reiryoku of these Sinners back to Soul Society, and release it cleanly."
That's how Shuuichi had phrased it.
"That's a good idea. Whatever you need from , just say the word."
That had been Kuryashiki's answer.
And so the spell Shuuichi was casting now—Hadō: Hell Execution Aria—was a collaboration born from both of them.
Shuuichi provided the idea and theory. Kuryashiki, with his unorthodox mastery of combat and Kidō, helped craft and test the spell's chanics.
"Show them what you've got, Shuuichi..." Kuryashiki murmured.
In the distance, as Execution Aria activated, the dull-grey mists unique to Hell pooled beneath Shuuichi's feet and bled outward across the ground.
Screams. Cries. Wails of anguish.
They rose from below, from the depths, clawing their way upward.
The ancient nos tried to escape the spreading zone—only to find themselves gripped by countless ashen skeletal hands, rising from the earth and anchoring their bodies in place.
Ikeda Yukisuke, reacting a second faster than most, leapt into the air—smirking, ready to mock Shuuichi for missing him—
But then he froze.
On the demon shadows still clinging to him from his Bankai—skeletal hands sprouted there too.
At the edge of the field, where the fog stopped expanding, Shuuichi stood. Half his body still intact.
The other half, reduced to a blackened skeleton of charred bone and ash.
He had tapped into Hell directly. A temporary transformation—pseudo-Sinner form.
"Wherever Hell reaches, all sin shall be punished."
His voice was deep and resonant, like the ringing of a temple bell in an empty canyon.
It echoed through the Execution Field, penetrating every heart and soul within it.
Then ca the collapse.
Those gripped by skeletal hands—shattered into dust.
No exceptions. Not even the demonic manifestations of Yukisuke's Bankai.
Hell vs Hell. And Yukisuke's power, borrowed as it was, couldn't win.
His Zanpakutō had only borrowed power from Hell.
Shuuichi had beco a conduit, pulling from Hell's core.
Only he could pull this off.
Why?
Because he was the only one who had both:
The ability to channel Hell's power through Semyoubasa, the noble Zanpakutō of the Douma Clan.
And the ability to survive pseudo-Sinner transformation, thanks to the Spirit King's fingernail fragnt embedded in his soul.
The aria ended.
All was quiet.
Only two remained on the battlefield: Higashi Shuuichi and Ikeda Yukisuke.
It was no accident. Shuuichi had spared him intentionally—only his demon shell had been destroyed.
The "invincible" Bankai was sealed.
"Heh... hahahahahaha!"
Yukisuke looked shocked at first, but quickly burst into mad laughter.
Sure, his shadows couldn't revive anymore. Sure, the nos around him had stopped endlessly respawning.
But so what?
Shuuichi's body was still half destroyed—locked in a form he couldn't fully control.
He'd lost half his power.
Yukisuke's real strength never ca from his Bankai anyway.
That was a gift he'd only acquired after arriving in Hell.
What made him fearso... was his blade.
He still had that.
And so, with renewed bloodlust, he charged.
But just as he neared, Shuuichi's remaining eye flicked upward—icy and cold.
"Flow Sever."
A whisper. A movent.
The air in front of Yukisuke shattered like fragile glass—
—and along with it, his legs.
He collapsed mid-swing. His raised blade never even touched Shuuichi.
The fight was over.
Shuuichi calmly withdrew Semyoubasa, the sacred Douma Zanpakutō, and began inscribing the Divine Pattern onto Yukisuke's broken body.
There would be no more interruptions.
Any nos who dared revive inside the aria's radius would be punished instantly—just like Yukisuke's demonic shell had been.
Hell had welcod Shuuichi.
But outside Hell?
This spell's duration would plumt.
His mortal body could barely handle it.
But right now?
Right here?
This was his dominion.
He finished the seal.
Then, with quiet finality, Shuuichi canceled Hell: Execution Aria.
And casually ended Yukisuke's life.
One instant later, Yukisuke respawned—bright-eyed and full of madness.
But now...
A glowing mark—the Divine Pattern—burned brightly on his chest.
Until Shuuichi had fully drained his soul of reiryoku, that mark would never vanish.
"You bastard! I've figured you out now, Shinigami! Let's go again!"
Yukisuke howled, unknowing.
He had never seen this kind of seal before. He had no idea what it ant.
Shuuichi said nothing.
He didn't even glance back.
He turned and walked toward Kuryashiki Kenpachi.
"Damn you! You think you can ignore ? Bank—"
But the word never finished.
A round, white creature appeared in front of Yukisuke—blood-red maw yawning open.
CHOMP.
It swallowed him whole in one clean bite.
A thick tongue licked its chops.
The creature gave a loud, satisfied belch.
This... was Kuryashiki Kenpachi's Shikai.
Gaki no Kairō — Gluttonous Corridor.
Reviews
All reviews (0)