Having served as a Soul Reaper for over a century, Yoru Machi was also seeing the Captain-Commander's Bankai for the first time.
He had to admit that, as Soul Society's oldest Zanpakuto, Zanka no Tachi in its Bankai state possessed truly astonishing oppressive force and power.
Gathering all the flames' heat at its tip, Zanka no Tachi, East—Kyōkotsu, delivered devastating critical strikes with every swing.
Transforming his own spiritual pressure into fifteen-million-degree flames and wearing them like a cloak of fire, it both enhanced his defense and affected the surrounding environment: Zanka no Tachi, West—Kōkōjōgō.
By plunging Zanka no Tachi's blade into the ground, the Zanpakuto's heat awakened the skeletons of those Yamamoto had slain in the past, making them endlessly slaughter anyone the Captain-Commander regarded as an enemy: Zanka no Tachi, South—Kaka Jūman'oku no Metu Daizōjin.
Finally, it released a slash at tremendous speed from an extreme distance. Everything touched by that slash would be reduced to ash: Zanka no Tachi, North—Tenchi Kaijin.
Attack, defense, control, finishing moves—millennia of training had made the Captain-Commander's Zanka no Tachi exceptionally versatile.
Moreover, Zanka no Tachi had virtually no ordinary attacks in the Captain-Commander's hands; every move was an ultimate technique.
Before them, Yhwach was first restrained by the many charred corpses summoned by Zanka no Tachi, South—Kaka Jūman'oku no Metu Daizōjin, before ultimately being cut in half at the waist by Zanka no Tachi, North—Tenchi Kaijin.
Seeing Yhwach bisected and his spiritual pressure gradually weakening, the Captain-Commander had originally intended to turn and leave. But Yhwach's sudden murmur of "I'm sorry..." made him turn back in astonishment.
The Captain-Commander knew Yhwach very well. That "I'm sorry" could not possibly have been directed at him.
And if it had been meant for someone else, then who was that person?
Yhwach was the