Chapter 225
Tessai Tsukabishi's Reiatsu transformed into black strips of cloth, surging towards the puppet dolls like a tidal wave, obscuring the sky.
"Second Movement - Hyakurensan"
After that.
Dull, lifeless spikes emerged from the void, striking the puppet wrapped in strips of cloth with perfect unison.
"Ta-da!"
After the cloth strip sealed off the movement, the Reiatsu, which was originally around level Fifth-Class Reii, began to rapidly decrease until it disappeared.
"Finale: Manji Bankin Tai--"
"Finale: The Bankin Taihō!"
"??"
Tessai Tsukabishi finished chanting, Haruto's voice suddenly cut straight in!
"Buzz!"
A stone tablet bearing the swastika pattern emerged from the void above—this was the Bankin Taihō of Tessai Tsukabishi —at the same time, around the puppet whose Reiatsu and movement were completely Shibari by "Shiryū" and "Hyakurensan," an identical stone tablet was formed.
The difference lies in...
It didn't crash down on the target; instead, it covered the puppet within the created area from the very beginning.
Thump!
A muffled thud echoed through the seemingly impenetrable room.
"..."
"Your Tsukabishi, I understand."
"..."
Tessai Tsukabishi froze on the spot.
Five Dragon Destruction?
He wasn't really familiar with that person, so it's understandable that he was defeated by Haruto's wildly imaginative ideas.
But speaking of Number Ninety-Nine's Bakudō Bankin...
He was chosen by the previous Grand Master of the Kidō and held that position for hundreds of years because of his unparalleled mastery of the Bankin. The young Tessai Tsukabishi mastered the Bankin in just six months, becoming the Grim Soul Reaper who mastered the ninety-nine Kidō the fastest in the history of the Kidō Corps.
Now.
... how long?
Was it about two minutes?
Tessai Tsukabishi couldn't believe his eyes. He was still in a daze and didn't even notice that his fingers were twitching so badly that the veins were almost knotted together.
"Really."
Haruto looked at the Bankin Taihō he had unleashed.
"Bakudō #99 and Hadō #99 were probably invented by the same Soul Reaper."
Haruto made his judgment.
There are three forms of the Bankin.
The earliest form of "Shiryū" was very simple in its composition, consisting of the most basic ability of all Bakudō: "Ropes and chains".
From "This Hainawa" and "Hōrin" to "Bakudō Tsuriboshi," there is a series of Kidō) that require transforming Reiatsu into this form.
The so-called "first song" of the Bankin is to fuse, strengthen, and classify the abilities of this type of Kidō into one category.
Based on this.
Then one can unleash the second move, "Hyakurensan":
It is not difficult to see that the shape of this long nail is very similar to "Rikujōkōrō", "Hyapporankan" and "Gochūtekkan".
This involves further suppressing Reiatsu pressure while still maintaining control over actions.
At last.
The final move of the control and annihilation type: "Bankin Taihō" is about to make its appearance - the final chapter of Bankin, no matter how you look at it, is not a simple suppression; the internal spacetime compression and heavy mass force flow will cause great damage to the sealed target.
Haruto was able to copy the final move before Tessai Tsukabishi because, in addition to his superb reading and comprehension speed, he also had a high level of proficiency with similar Kidō: the combination of Dankū with Kurohitsugi or Senju Kōten Taihō had been used by Haruto on various opponents many times, so when he saw this move, a sense of familiarity arose spontaneously.
Nothing more.
Practice makes perfect.
At this point, Haruto fully understood that the Bankin Taihō, like the Five Dragon Destruction, belonged to the category of Kidō that were not limited by the technique itself and whose upper limit was determined by the strength of the user.
"Your Tsukabishi, Woling."
"..."
"Great Kidō Priest!"
"Ah!?"
Tessai Tsukabishi finally awoke from his daze.
"Are there any even more powerful moves?"
"..."
Even more powerful moves?
Have!
Spatial transfer and time stop.
The former is so powerful that it would affect the stability of the Soul Society's space, while the latter would disrupt the Flow of time in the Soul Society, so both are completely prohibited from use by the Central 46 Chambers.
Both of these are Kidō that are no less powerful than the Five Dragon Destruction and the Bankin Taihō.
The problem is --
If you don't become a great Kidō master, you won't even have the chance to pass on your teachings!
So...
Tessai Tsukabishi simply chose to remain silent.
"If not, um, that..."
"It seems that Tsukabishi can now set off for Hueco Mundo?"
"... puff!"
That night.
The Tsunayashiro Clan mansion.
"The Kusaka Clan's son is utterly useless."
En Kusaka may look young, but she's actually several hundred years old. The old man from the Tsunayashiro Clan who calls him "kid" is definitely ridiculously old.
"If you think he's useless, why don't you go out and deal with Shigekuni Yamamoto yourself?"
The Tsunayashiro Clan has many branches.
The "breeding" style of education, where both the main branch and branch families have inheritance rights, while enhancing competitiveness and fairness, has also created an extremely disharmonious atmosphere within the family.
"You--"
"Let's all be quiet."
However, no matter how fierce the argument below is, this person's speech still needs to be listened to:
The patriarch who determined his status through raising Gu poison possessed not only the power to make decisions with a single word, but also the power to suppress the entire Tsunayashiro Clan.
"Let's put the matter of the Kusaka Clan aside for now."
"The result wasn't ideal, but we did learn quite a bit about their situation."
When the patriarch spoke, the elders below could only listen quietly, none daring to utter a word: they were not strong individuals who had survived the battle of raising Gu, but rather deserters who had given up their position as patriarch from the very beginning and didn't even dare to compete.
This is also how the Tsunayashiro Clan established the absolute authority of the family head.
"That kid from the Thirteenth Division didn't even hesitate to kill his own savior, and he even took possession of the Kyōshiba Family's sacred artifact. This shows that the original plan targeting him is definitely not going to work."
The original plan is unknown, but it is likely that the Tsunayashiro Clan originally intended to target those close to Haruto —the fact that all members of the Shin'ō Academy team except Byakuya were on leave suggests there might be something fishy going on.
"But..."
He essentially handed us the opportunity.
The patriarch remained completely calm: someone who could control the most powerful noble family in Soul Society wouldn't let such trivial matters disturb his mind.
"What does the head of the family mean?"
An elder in the lower seat promptly added a question.
"Shigekuni Yamamoto originally intended to groom him, didn't he?"
"Yes."
Whether you understand something or not, you should pretend to be humble and eager to learn; that's the kind of subordinate your leader wants to see.
"Then let's use this to sabotage it."
"A captain and a mid-level nobleman... who opposes our Tsunayashiro Clan, how could we let him rise so easily!"
"... yes!"
If Haruto were here, he would be absolutely astonished by Captain-Commander Yamamoto's actions.
The captain is easy to talk to.
The Gotei 13 are currently facing a severe shortage of personnel. Although there are no vacancies for captains, this is precisely the situation that has never been lacking in the history of Soul Society.
Judging from Haruto's achievements, nearly half of the captains of the Gotei 13 are no match for him, so there will be very little opposition to promoting him.
As for mid-level nobles...
The Tsunayashiro Clan will definitely oppose this, but they are currently at a disadvantage in their competition with the Kuchiki Clan. If the Shihoin Clan, who are allies of the Kuchiki Clan, cooperate with them, it will be a sure thing for Haruto to be promoted to a mid-level noble.
You need to know.
The nobles rose through the ranks step by step.
Even though he once held a noble status, now that he has returned to the Seireitei's Kyōshiba Family, Seigen still has to climb back up from the lower-ranking noble class.
To be given a mid-level noble position right off the bat, and at such a young age as Haruto, who is at the Captain-level... it's not impossible for Seireitei to produce a new high-level noble in the future.
There are only so many upper-class nobles in Seireitei, and each of them is a family that has a significant influence on Soul Society.
Temporary advantages and disadvantages, wins and losses are normal, but if Haruto were to climb to the top, that would be a true defeat for the Tsunayashiro Clan.
So in any case.
Even if it means sacrificing some short-term benefits, the Tsunayashiro Clan must suppress Haruto's rise to power.
The Tsunayashiro Clan hadn't made a move before because they hadn't found a suitable entry point; now, Haruto's move, while depriving them of the opportunity to exert pressure from the Central 46 Chambers, had finally revealed a breakthrough sufficient to control public opinion.
One week later.
Haruto has been temporarily transferred from the World of the Living back to Soul Society, is enjoying a rare vacation.
--Although every day in the World of the Living is like a vacation, there are still subtle differences in the details.
"A-Qing, something terrible has happened!"
"Um?"
There weren't many Soul Reaper around at the Ōmae Kagura Dessert Shop now, so Haruto could leisurely avoid the stares of passersby.
"What kind of behavior is this, all flustered and disorganized!"
"Snap."
Ayaka hit Haruto directly on the forehead with a rolled-up newspaper.
You still have time to joke around!