Yoruichi's Special Move

The next day—the underground base.

"Hey! You're here early, Yoruichi," Kisuke Urahara greeted her when he saw her arrive.

Yoruichi got straight to the point. "Cut the chatter and bring out that Tenshintai thing. I'm going to beat her today."

"Huh? Where's Ye Yang?" Kisuke Urahara asked curiously.

Yoruichi's expression immediately turned unnatural. "Oh, he said... he wasn't feeling well today, so he wouldn't be coming." Far away, Ye Yang sneezed as he handled paperwork in the Second Division Captain's office. "Damn it! She tricked me again. She said she was going to get some documents, then never came back. She definitely went to practice Bankai on her own. She left this whole pile of paperwork for me—how long is it going to take?"...

Kisuke Urahara brought out the Tenshintai, and Yoruichi inserted her Zanpakuto to summon Mongoose. Black light flashed, and the catwoman appeared. As soon as she emerged, she looked at Yoruichi teasingly. "Yoruichi, you've summoned me again. Don't bother trying. You're not strong enough to beat me yet."

Those words immediately made Yoruichi furious. "Hmph! You don't get to decide whether I'm strong enough. I'll show you what I can do!"

The teasing vanished from the catwoman's eyes, replaced by a blazing fighting spirit. "Let's fight," she said, then shot toward Yoruichi like an arrow loosed from a bow.

Yoruichi didn't use Shunpo to escape when she saw Mongoose charge. Instead of retreating, she advanced, taking a stance that was unmistakably the opening form of Half-Step Crushing Fist! She parried Mongoose's attack with both hands, moved her left foot forward half a step, then flung Mongoose's hand aside and threw a straight punch with her right. Mongoose had no choice but to step back and dodge. Yoruichi followed with her right foot and struck with her left, putting the force of her entire body behind it. Mongoose dodged again, but had to take another step back. From then on, Mongoose was caught in Yoruichi's rhythm. Whenever Yoruichi advanced, Mongoose could only retreat and evade. A prolonged defense was bound to fail, and Yoruichi finally found an opening, driving a straight punch at Mongoose's abdomen. Mongoose could no longer dodge and could only block with both hands, but then she felt a tremendous force strike her, sending her flying several yards into a wall and smashing a huge crater into it!

Mongoose crawled out from under the rubble in a sorry state. "That's your Half-Step Crushing Fist? What tremendous force!"

Seeing the detestable Mongoose in such a sorry state, Yoruichi said smugly, "That's right. How was it? Felt good, didn't it?" Without waiting for an answer, she used Shunpo to close in on Mongoose and keep her engaged.

The fist intent of Half-Step Crushing Fist was that, no matter how powerful the opponent, she had only this one kind of punch. No matter how the opponent defended, it would be useless; she would shatter their defense with a single punch. The crushing force of Crushing Fist lay in an instantaneous burst. Yoruichi had practiced Half-Step Crushing Fist for many years and could be said to have mastered it. In Crushing Fist alone, she was no weaker than Ye Yang.

Some of Yoruichi's punches looked fierce and powerful but were tough on the outside and strong within. Others looked weak and feeble but were full of crushing force. Feints and real attacks alternated: the false became real, and the real became false. This style of fighting caused Mongoose to suffer many hidden setbacks. Another opportunity arose, and Yoruichi seized it, driving her right fist straight at Mongoose's chest. Mongoose couldn't even dodge and was hit, flying backward.

Yoruichi used Shunpo to appear in front of Mongoose, pressing the edge of her right hand against Mongoose's chest, a faint smile at the corner of her mouth. Mongoose thought, This is bad, but it was already too late. Yoruichi's body tensed as she instantly concentrated her strength in her fist, changing her hand from a blade into a fist and releasing her power over the space of a single inch. Mongoose felt as though a star had struck her chest. She flew backward, crashing through more than a dozen pillars behind her! The force of the blow was clear.

This was another kind of punch Ye Yang had taught Yoruichi—One-Inch Punch! It had only one move, but its explosive power was more than ten times that of Crushing Fist! It emphasized throwing a powerful punch quickly over a short distance, releasing all of one's explosive power to knock down the enemy. There was only one punch, but it could destroy the enemy as easily as crushing dry weeds and smashing rotten wood!

The open area ahead had been reduced to rubble. Yoruichi shouted, "Hey! You stinking cat, are you all right?"

The center of the rubble exploded, and Mongoose flew out. There was a trace of blood at the corner of her mouth, clearly wiped away.

"If I weren't a Zanpakuto, that blow might have killed me outright. Impressive. What's it called?" Mongoose asked.

"One-Inch Punch! Releasing force within the space of an inch is called inch force! Its explosive power is more than ten times that of crushing force," Yoruichi said.

"It certainly has tremendous explosive power, but I'm the true form of a Zanpakuto. My body is far tougher than yours as a Soul Reaper, so even getting hit was no big deal."

Yoruichi said calmly, "I don't think that's true. Even if a Zanpakuto can withstand that kind of force, it's enough to injure you. How many more blows like that can you take? Stop putting on a brave front and submit to me."

Not only did Mongoose refuse to submit, she smiled teasingly. "Hehe, you think that's enough to make me submit and let you use Bankai? You're far too naive. You don't think this is all I can do, do you?"

Mongoose strolled out of the rubble toward Yoruichi, speaking as she walked. "I wasn't using my real strength before. Your One-Inch Punch is certainly explosive, but it takes some time to prepare. If you attack an opponent much faster than you, there's no way you can hit them."

"But my speed isn't far from yours. Besides, you just took a One-Inch Punch. You can't be completely unharmed. I only need to hit you three more times, and you won't be able to fight anymore," Yoruichi said.

Mongoose smiled. "You think your speed is close to mine? I'll show you what real speed is. I'm a little injured, but it's still enough."

As soon as she finished speaking, she vanished from where she stood. Before Yoruichi could react, Mongoose was already behind her. She whispered in Yoruichi's ear, "That was less than half my real speed."

Disbelief was written all over Yoruichi's face. She reached out to grab Mongoose, but missed. Mongoose had already sprung away, putting distance between them.

The disbelief in Yoruichi's eyes disappeared, replaced by an indescribable emotion. There was excitement, surprise, and amusement; she looked eager to try.

"That's more like it. How could my Zanpakuto have only that little ability? Come on, I'll definitely beat you." Yoruichi's voice was tinged with excitement.

As they spoke, the two began fighting again. With her strength fully unleashed, Mongoose held the absolute upper hand. Yoruichi was injured in every clash, but she paid it no mind, getting straight back up to fight again. An ordinary person would have grown fearful after losing battle after battle like this, but Yoruichi's attacks grew fiercer the longer she fought, and her eyes blazed with fighting spirit!

No one knew how long they fought before it finally ended with Mongoose's disappearance. Yoruichi's taut nerves relaxed all at once. "I'll definitely beat you..." she murmured before collapsing onto the ground. The intense battle had long since drained the last of her strength, and she soon fell asleep.

Two dark figures flashed over to Yoruichi's side: Kisuke Urahara and Ye Yang. Ye Yang had arrived while Yoruichi was fighting, but he hadn't interrupted. He and Kisuke Urahara had silently watched her fight, only showing themselves when it was over.

Kisuke Urahara looked at the sleeping Yoruichi. "Yoruichi really works hard. Ye Yang, I'll leave it to you to take her home."

"Yes. Well, goodbye." With that, Ye Yang lifted Yoruichi onto his back and left using Shunpo...

For the next few days, Yoruichi fought Mongoose every day. Although Mongoose thrashed her every time, Yoruichi improved daily. Gradually, she could hold out against Mongoose for ten minutes at a time without losing. By the tenth day, she could last half an hour. Those ten days could be described as hell for Yoruichi, but the corresponding improvement in her strength was extremely clear.

It was now the afternoon of the tenth day. Ye Yang and Kisuke Urahara silently watched Yoruichi fight from a distance. Today was her last chance, because Mongoose had said that if Yoruichi couldn't defeat her within ten days, Yoruichi could no longer use the Tenshintai to forcibly materialize her and would have to comprehend Bankai on her own through the normal method.

Yoruichi had already been fighting for three hours. Mongoose looked at Yoruichi's battered body and said, "Today is the last day. If you can't defeat me today, it means you're not yet capable of Bankai. Don't force it."

Yoruichi forced a smile. "I won't give up until it's over. Besides, I just thought of a pretty good idea."

Yoruichi stood motionless, as if preparing something. Suddenly, the surrounding Reishi gathered toward her at a speed visible to the naked eye, forming strands of white chains that gathered within her body. Then both her shoulders erupted, sending out chains of Reishi like lightning. The ground around Yoruichi trembled, and stones flew in every direction with her at the center.

Kisuke Urahara was horrified. "What is Yoruichi doing?! She's gathering Kidō on her arms and legs! The Kidō could explode on her limbs. This is too dangerous—has she gone mad? Ye Yang, stop her!"

Ye Yang shook his head with a bitter smile. "It's just an idea she came up with before: a fighting technique that combines Kidō and Hakuda. She uses an explosion to fuse the Kidō with her limbs for combat. But she's never tried it before, so I don't know if it'll work."

"Then is there any way to stop her?"

"No. She's already started. We can only watch." Ye Yang sighed.

As they spoke, Yoruichi charged at Mongoose. In this state, Yoruichi not only possessed tremendous destructive power, but her speed had also undergone a qualitative leap. They clashed again in the blink of an eye, but this time Yoruichi was suppressing Mongoose. Every one of Yoruichi's blows contained astonishing explosive force. With every exchange, Mongoose felt her blood and qi churning endlessly, and she was nearly sent flying several times.

At last, Yoruichi seized an opportunity and knocked Mongoose flying with one blow. Still not satisfied, she said, "Again!"

But Mongoose shook her head. "I'm done. There's no point in continuing like this. You win. What's that move called?"

Yoruichi exclaimed in delight, "What? You admit defeat? Great, I finally beat you!" She threw back her head and laughed, then said, "This move was just an idea of mine. I didn't expect it to work, so it doesn't have a name yet."

"Shunkō! How about calling it Shunkō?" Ye Yang said, stepping out from the side.

"Shunkō? Good, let's call it Shunkō," Yoruichi said.

"Is that so? Shunkō," Mongoose murmured to herself, then vanished.