Hisana's "Lovers' Suicide"

Everyone watched Ten Unohana standing in the Blood Sea and felt a wave of helplessness. This made no sense...

How were they supposed to fight him? His defense was unbeatable; they couldn't hurt him.

Old Man Yamamoto suddenly said, "Everyone, get out of the Blood Sea's range!"

With that, he revealed the Blood Sea's weakness, as well as its greatest strength.

Ten Unohana said admiringly, "How should I put this?" Standing atop the Blood Sea, he continued, "Should I say you live up to your reputation as Soul Society's number one Soul Reaper?"

"You pointed out the Blood Sea's weakness right away. But let me tell you, Old Man Yamamoto, what you mentioned is both the Blood Sea's advantage and its way of fighting."

Byakuya's report came just then. "Captain-Commander, we can't take to the air. The suction from the Blood Sea below is extremely strong, and the Blood Moon above is absorbing Reishi. We can't use any movement techniques like Shunpo, so we can only walk out through the Blood Sea."

Ten Unohana slowly drew Satan's Curse. The weapon, which had been chipped by Yamamoto's Bankai, was now completely intact.

Ten Unohana looked at the captains. "Then how are you going to get out? You should know you already missed your best chance to leave the Blood Sea at the very beginning. Now... it's my turn to attack!"

Ten Unohana appeared behind the Captain-Commander in an instant.

"What?!" the captains cried. The reason was simple—Ten Unohana's speed was almost unbelievable.

Boom.

A tremendous roar rang out. The Captain-Commander held his Zanpakuto, his arm trembling slightly and a trace of blood at the corner of his mouth.

"You know, the Blood Sea greatly restricts your speed, but it gives mine a huge boost. It's like the difference between a person and a fish in water. So, Old Man Yamamoto, your mainstay, couldn't retreat because of the tremendous resistance and had to take my fourfold attack head-on. Now he's starting to get hurt. What are you going to do?" Ten Unohana sensed how far Shasha and Ginhime had progressed in undoing the seal outside the Blood Sea, and grew anxious inwardly.

With Old Man Yamamoto's keen powers of observation, he would soon discover the weakness caused by the absence of the Zanpakuto spirit world.

Sure enough...

Yamamoto roared, "Everyone, attack that Blood Moon with everything you have!"

"Bankai!"

"Bankai!"

"Bankai!"

The captains unleashed their Bankai one after another and attacked the Blood Moon in the sky.

Ten Unohana sighed softly at the sight. Had they discovered it after all?

Then it might as well do some good before it disappeared!

The Blood Moon fired several Blood Moon Ceros, and without a doubt, they struck every captain.

This time, only four still had some fighting strength left: Captain-Commander Yamamoto had relied on his formidable strength to withstand a Cero head-on; Shunsui Kyōraku had used Kageoni to hide in Old Man Yamamoto's shadow; Jūshirō Ukitake had blocked his with Sōgyo no Kotowari; and Byakuya had used Senbonzakura to block his.

The other captains had all survived by various means, but they had lost their ability to fight.

The effects of the captains' attacks finally showed themselves, and the Blood Moon in the sky shattered with a resounding crash...

However—

A strange humming whine rang out.

"That's the sound of a Cero!!!"

The captains cried out, only now remembering that Ten Unohana was still beside them.

"Gran Rey Cero."

Ten Unohana pointed his index finger at the four captains who could still fight and called out softly.

At the same time, Ceros began gathering at his wings, fangs, and dragon horns. Then—

Whine—

Four Ceros from three locations converged under the direction of Ten Unohana's index finger and shot swiftly toward Yamamoto and the other three captains like a beam.

But...

"Bakudō #81: Dankū!"

"Bakudō #81: Dankū!"

"Bakudō #81: Dankū!"

"Kyōmon!"

Several Kidō stood in the Cero's path. Jūshirō Ukitake also stood directly in its way, ready to block what remained of the Cero with Sōgyo no Kotowari...

"I made a mistake," Ten Unohana said, looking at Jūshirō Ukitake's Sōgyo no Kotowari.

Then,

The Cero broke through all four Kidō and rushed toward Jūshirō Ukitake. Although it was still very powerful, Sōgyo no Kotowari could now block and reflect it.

Sure enough,

"Sōgyo no Kotowari!"

Ten Unohana watched his own Cero come rushing back at him and smiled wryly in resignation...

Bang!!

Ten Unohana looked at the hole his own Cero had blasted through his stomach and said ruefully, "Did I just ask for a beating because I had nothing better to do?" Instead of taking his opponents out of the fight, he had wounded himself.

Even so, the nature of a Hollow meant that Ten Unohana's wound was not fatal.

"Can you no longer use the Blood Sea's abilities?" Old Man Yamamoto asked sternly.

Ten Unohana was quite willing to explain, because the time he spent explaining would be enough for the seal to be undone.

"That's right. Yamamoto, you really do live up to your reputation as the oldest captain in Soul Society. Your knowledge is extraordinary. Tsk, tsk. You could even spot and exploit a temporary weakness that appeared because the Zanpakuto spirits Shasha and the others had left. You truly deserve your title as Soul Society's strongest Captain-Commander." Having said that,

He paused, then continued, "And here's a free bonus piece of information: because you destroyed the Blood Moon in the sky, all my abilities except Satan's Curse are unusable now that the Blood Moon is gone and the Zanpakuto spirits Shasha and Ginhime have left. So..."

Old Man Yamamoto cut in, "So your seal has been undone, is that it? Ten—Unohana!!!"

Ten Unohana smiled. "Bingo. You are right!!!"

Behind Ten Unohana—

A man who looked exactly like Ten Unohana in his Hollowfied form stood there blankly with his eyes closed. He wore magnificent dragon robes, and his handsome, imposing face was frozen in a cold expression.

"Now, I've achieved my goal. Everyone, you've failed..."

As Ten Unohana spoke, he slowly backed away...

"Master, catch!" Shasha shouted, throwing the Blade of Slaughter over to him. Ten Unohana took her in hand, and the captains made no move. Acting now would accomplish little; with their fighting strength reduced, they had to conserve every bit of it.

Ten Unohana caught the Blade of Slaughter, and his Hollowfication ended. The white shell on his body scattered in the wind.

"Cough—"

Having lost his Hollow constitution, the wound he had suffered earlier affected his body, making Ten Unohana cough up blood and gasp for breath.

The captains still did not attack, because with the Blade of Slaughter in Ten Unohana's hand, their attacks were unlikely to work. Ignoring their reactions, Ten Unohana slowly walked toward his sealed self...

"Heh heh, everyone, I—succeeded!" As Ten Unohana spoke, his body slowly dissolved into Reishi and traveled toward his sealed original body. Shasha and Ginhime dissolved along with him...

Roar—

The sealed Ten Unohana let out a roar, and a Hollow mask began to appear on his face.

"Attack! He's unconscious right now," Shunsui Kyōraku called.

As for Yamamoto, he had charged forward before Shunsui Kyōraku even spoke.

Swish—

A sharp sound cut through the air as Ten Unohana swiftly hurled the Blade of Slaughter at Old Man Yamamoto, but Yamamoto dodged her. He then rushed forward and slashed, opening a deep wound across Ten Unohana's chest, which healed through High-Speed Regeneration.

Now the aftereffects of Ten Unohana devouring his mirror-image Hollow had surfaced. Normally, the Hollow's consciousness should have been dominant at this point, but because Ten Unohana had devoured his mirror-image Hollow, he was unconscious and at his most dangerous. Since he was unconscious, he could not use any Zanpakuto abilities and could only rely on Hollow Hierro and High-Speed Regeneration to withstand attacks.

But under siege by so many captains, those two things were clearly not enough to keep him alive. Fortunately, Ten Unohana had planned an escape route beforehand—he had left a length of silver chain in the World of the Living, so he would not die.

"Sting all enemies to death, Suzumebachi!"

Soi Fon's ability was the quickest way to kill him. Earlier, because of the Blood Moon, Hōmonka would have been purified and absorbed by it very quickly, so she had never had a chance. But this time, despite her gravely wounded, dying body, Soi Fon finally landed two strikes.

Pop—

After a soft sound, Ten Unohana crumbled to pieces. Having done all that, Soi Fon collapsed limply to the ground...

But Old Man Yamamoto's words troubled Soi Fon—

"Don't let your guard down!"

As Yamamoto spoke, Ten Unohana, who had just crumbled to dust, slowly began gathering together again.

"Honestly... roar... I didn't expect... roar..." Ten Unohana spoke, caught between lucidity and confusion.

Yamamoto said gravely, "Is it because you have a way to stay alive that you act so recklessly? Ten Unohana, your personality has always been like this..."

Yamamoto looked at Ten Unohana and said, "Get ready to seal him! We miscalculated again this time."

Ten Unohana roared, "Then let's see, roar, who finishes first."

But Yamamoto said, "There's no need to worry about that. It's been ready for a long time." As he spoke, Mayuri Kurotsuchi tossed some unknown object toward Ten Unohana.

But—

"No!!!" A woman suddenly shouted and rushed into the battlefield, toward the seal thrown at Ten Unohana.

"Hisana!!!"

"Hisana!!!"

Byakuya Kuchiki and Ten Unohana shouted at the same time.

Ten Unohana cried urgently, "Get out of the way!"

Bang.

The seal still struck Hisana, and bands of blue Reiatsu spread out. Ten Unohana hurried forward and embraced her.

Byakuya Kuchiki, meanwhile, was held back by Jūshirō Ukitake, who prevented him from going forward.

The bands of blue Reiatsu quickly spread onto Ten Unohana.

Ten Unohana smiled bitterly. "Why put yourself through this?"

Hisana smiled and said, "I'm willing to—"

Ten Unohana said, "I wouldn't really be completely sealed away, and you... sigh—"

Hisana touched Ten Unohana's face and cut in with a smile. "I'm willing to!"

Those two declarations moved Ten Unohana's heart, and he smiled as he held Hisana tightly.

The bands of blue Reiatsu finally enveloped them both completely. Everyone stood speechless for a long time, awed by Ten Unohana's fighting strength and moved by Hisana's genuine feelings...