The Deaths of Three Captains-The Poppy Scythe's Ability

When the Tenth Division Captain saw Ten Unohana release the Blade of Slaughter, which was buried deep inside him, he tried to grab it with his other hand and pull it out. After all, everything inside him was rapidly flowing into the Blade of Slaughter.

But hadn't Ten gone to all that trouble precisely to leave the Blade of Slaughter inside the Tenth Division Captain? How could he let the captain succeed? He freed the hand that had just pushed the Tenth Division Captain's Zanpakuto out of his body and grabbed the Blade of Slaughter again.

At that moment, the blade tip in front of Ten and the Tenth Division Captain's Zanpakuto attacked again at the same time, but...

Ten finally got his hand on the Poppy Scythe and swung it at the two blades. His own body was in the way between the two, but without slowing, Ten swung the Poppy Scythe through his own body, and then—

Clang! Clang! The Poppy Scythe passed through Ten's body to block the blade attacking him from the front, yet it strangely passed through that blade too...

After passing through the blade in front of Ten, the Poppy Scythe quickly swept toward the Tenth Division Captain's Zanpakuto, but... it was too late.

The Tenth Division Captain's Zanpakuto had already cut Ten and was about to slice him in half when

the Poppy Scythe touched the Tenth Division Captain's Zanpakuto.

Ten's Poppy Scythe met the Tenth Division Captain's Zanpakuto and then... passed through it. After passing through the Tenth Division Captain's Zanpakuto...

Ten's head was pierced by the blade in front of him, the same one the Poppy Scythe had passed through,

and the Tenth Division Captain's slash also passed cleanly through Ten's body.

Ten twirled his Poppy Scythe and looked at the astonished Tenth Division Captain.

With a wicked smile, he said, "Your attacks aren't working!"

The Tenth Division Captain's presence was rapidly weakening. Ten watched the blade tip that had pierced his head slowly dissipate into the air and said to him, "That was the Fifth Division Captain's attack, wasn't it?! And you! You came here in Bankai. They say the Tenth Division Captain's Bankai can see through everything, ignoring distance and obstacles. That's why they put you on patrol. Now you can't even maintain your Bankai. But I have to say, coming to fight me in Bankai... tsk, tsk, you really thought highly of me."

Fury blazed in the Tenth Division Captain's eyes, but after Ten finished speaking, it slowly faded. Soon, the light went out of them entirely.

Ten watched the Tenth Division Captain slowly dissolve into nothingness. "The second one. But things will be troublesome from here on. Soul Society's already been alerted. The captains should be coming next, right? I still can't use my Poppy Scythe proficiently." As he spoke, Ten looked at the wound the Tenth Division Captain had given him.

"Hollowfication," Ten murmured. White matter then poured out over the wound, and it healed instantly, leaving no trace of injury.

After releasing his Hollowfication, Ten said to himself, "Luckily, the captains don't know I can use Hollowfication. Otherwise, things would be even more troublesome."

Ten seized the time to recover what he had expended. Otherwise, captains would arrive soon, and there would be at least two of them.

Outside the Space-Time Barrier

"Is this the place?" the Captain of the Seventh Division asked the Fifth Division Captain.

The Fifth Division Captain said calmly, "This is it. Be careful. His Zanpakuto is very strange, and I haven't figured out how it works yet. The Third Division Captain was called here before the Tenth Division Captain. I think both of them have probably been killed."

The Fifth Division Captain's words shocked the Captain of the Seventh Division. He had been called here by the Fifth Division Captain without even knowing what was happening. All he knew was that a captains' meeting had already begun in the Seireitei, but he hadn't gone. He had come here on his own, and he didn't know what punishment awaited him.

"Since you're here, come in," Ten said, opening the barrier.

The Fifth Division Captain and the Captain of the Seventh Division exchanged a glance, then cautiously walked inside.

Ten stood there alone, holding his released Zanpakuto.

When the Fifth Division Captain saw that Ten's wound had healed, his pupils contracted. He said to the Captain of the Seventh Division, "Something's wrong. Be careful. If things go badly, focus on defending and don't worry about attacking."

"What is it?"

The Fifth Division Captain stared at the spot where the Tenth Division Captain had cut Ten. There wasn't a trace of the wound; only the torn clothing bore witness to the earlier attack.

The Fifth Division Captain said, "You can't see any trace of the injury the Tenth Division Captain gave him just now."

The Captain of the Seventh Division's gaze sharpened as he stared at the spot the Fifth Division Captain was watching—there was nothing there but Ten's torn clothing.

"Heavenly Protection." The Captain of the Seventh Division drew and released his Zanpakuto.

A massive shield appeared in front of the Captain of the Seventh Division, shielding the Fifth Division Captain as well.

Ten had originally been in no hurry to attack, intending to recover as much as he could. As for the captains' meeting, Retsu Unohana would hold them up there. The two who had come now must have come without attending the meeting.

But when he saw the Captain of the Seventh Division release his Zanpakuto, Ten knew his recovery had come to an end.

Even so, Ten stalled as long as he could. Resting the Poppy Blade on his shoulder, he said, "Oh, you're that confident?! You're going to block my Bankai with your Shikai?"

"What?"

"Impossible."

The two captains cried out in disbelief. First, they were shocked that Ten had used Bankai so early. Second, he had actually waited for them while maintaining it.

Neither of them considered the possibility that Ten was lying, because his powerful Reiatsu was much like that of someone using Bankai.

The Captain of the Seventh Division looked at the Fifth Division Captain. "Didn't you overestimate him? Maintaining Bankai consumes a lot of Reiatsu, and he's still maintaining it. But how could a combat rookie like this have killed..."

The Fifth Division Captain also found it strange. Just now, he had clearly sensed that Ten was highly talented in combat, but now...

At that point, the Captain of the Seventh Division lost his own sense of urgency and slowly asked, "Where's the Tenth Division Captain? Is he dead?"

Ten nodded, entirely unmoved by what the two had just said.

The Captain of the Seventh Division gave a bloodthirsty smile. "Good. Then we can kill you outright."

Ten let out a long breath. His recovery was complete.

"Senka."

Ten abruptly attacked, but the Captain of the Seventh Division blocked him. "Bankai: Shadowless Unrestricted Blade."

Clang!

Ten blocked the blade tip that had appeared out of nowhere. He looked at the Fifth Division Captain's Zanpakuto. It had been released at some point, and the front part of the blade had vanished. On closer inspection, the missing section was the very blade tip that had appeared out of nowhere.

The corners of Ten's mouth slowly curled up, and he felt a flicker of excitement. From the Bankai of three of the four captains he had fought so far, and the Shikai of the remaining captain, he was finally beginning to figure out what the other captains' Zanpakuto were.

Ten had previously not understood how the duties of the Soul Reaper divisions in the future had come about. Why did the abilities of some captains' Zanpakuto match their divisions' main duties, while others did not?

Now Ten knew why. The divisions' main duties were determined by their first captains' Zanpakuto. Shigekuni Yamamoto-Genryūsai had founded the Gotei 13, and over many years, the captains had selected their members. Since they chose members according to their own combat requirements, those members naturally had to be able to work with their Zanpakuto. Thus, the divisions had gradually come to consist of members suited to their captains' Zanpakuto and took on related duties. That was also how the Gotei 13's main duties had been established.

With that, plus what Retsu Unohana had told him about some of the other captains' Zanpakuto abilities, Ten could now roughly guess what the captains' Zanpakuto could do.

In that case, the Fifth Division Captain's Zanpakuto should have the ability to attack regardless of distance. The Tenth Division Captain I just killed should have had a sight-based reconnaissance ability that either ignored distance or had a very long range. That slash when I killed the Tenth Division Captain should have been the Fifth Division Captain's. Was it an extreme long-range attack made using the field of vision the Tenth Division Captain gave him?

Ten's thoughts raced. That means I've only killed two captains who weren't known for their fighting strength. And that was with sneak attacks, cheating, and the captains having suffered serious injuries that left severe aftereffects. On top of all that, I planned for so long before getting these results. I need to work harder. Otherwise, if another Captain-level figure joins in later, I won't even mention it.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

As time passed, with no element of surprise, no sneak attacks, and two captains working together against him, Ten slowly fell into a disadvantage. Although he had absorbed everything from two Captain-level figures, the Third Division Captain and the Tenth Division Captain, he had yet to absorb it all completely. Wounds began to appear on his body one after another.

"I know what his Zanpakuto does!" the Fifth Division Captain suddenly shouted. "Any attack touched by that scythe is immediately nullified. We have to hit him before the scythe touches our attacks. But I don't know what that beautiful blade does. He hasn't used it once."

The Captain of the Seventh Division nodded, not daring to let his attention wander for an instant as he used his shield to block Ten's attacks one after another. He still didn't know what would happen if that beautiful blade cut him, so he didn't dare take the risk of being hit by the Blade of Slaughter even once. He was afraid that if it had some strange ability, he'd be done for. It wasn't impossible. If it had an enhanced version of Soi Fon's two-hit kill ability that killed in one hit, wouldn't he be done for? The chances were slim, but they weren't zero, right?

But...

Ten smiled inwardly. The battle plan worked. They were misled by the ability I showed them, just as I expected.

With that thought, Ten threw his Poppy Scythe. His Reiatsu also fell rapidly, creating the impression that he no longer had enough Reiatsu to maintain Bankai and was making a desperate gamble.

At the same time, he gripped the Blade of Slaughter in his hand, drawing the two captains' attention to it. Because they thought they had figured out the Poppy Scythe's ability, they stopped paying attention to it once they had dodged it.

"Hah!" Ten roared, raising the Blade of Slaughter high. The two captains dodged away from the area beneath it to avoid being cut, but...

"Ahh!" The Captain of the Seventh Division suddenly screamed.

The enormous Poppy Scythe was embedded in his back.

Then, at the instant the Fifth Division Captain's attention was drawn to the Captain of the Seventh Division, Ten hurled the Blade of Slaughter at him.

The Fifth Division Captain dodged it, but...

Shing! The Fifth Division Captain looked at the broken blade tip in his stomach. It was the Blade of Slaughter's distinctive tip, unlike that of an ordinary Zanpakuto.

Ten held the silver chain connecting the two weapons, extending and retracting it at will. He had carried out both attacks just now by controlling the silver chain. The chain connecting the Blade of Slaughter and the Poppy Scythe could be lengthened or shortened at will.

"So that blade's ability is..."

The Captain of the Seventh Division cried out as realization struck him: the Blade of Slaughter's ability was absorption. Knowing they had no hope of escape, he and the Fifth Division Captain launched their final counterattack.

Ten watched their attacks without concern. He gave the silver chain in his hand a slight swing, and when it touched their attacks, those attacks were nullified as well. The two captains didn't know that, however, and watched their nullified attacks strike Ten. The light slowly faded from their eyes as they gradually dissolved into nothingness...