Suppression

"This..."

Feeling his right hand slip out of control, Ailin's left hand immediately lit up with lightning.

"Destruction Path #11—Tethering Lightning!"

"Bzzzzzz..."

A bolt of lightning shot from Ailin's left hand and struck Tetsusaiga.

"Ah—"

The lightning spread along Tetsusaiga and into Ailin's body. After letting out a muffled groan, he released Tetsusaiga with his right hand and finally regained control of it.

"Clang..."

Looking at Tetsusaiga on the ground, Ailin regarded Hibiki Hoshino with surprise, wariness, and even a hint of delight.

He was surprised because he had never expected a weapon he had made himself to be controlled by Hibiki Hoshino's Muramasa like a Zanpakuto.

He was wary because he possessed hundreds of Zanpakuto. If Muramasa truly entered his Inner World, it would likely cause him enormous trouble.

And the delight came from the same source.

Muramasa had already been copied by him. Once he created Muramasa, he would truly become a one-man army through its ability!

But all that would have to wait until he was safe.

"Humph!"

Though he had not achieved the effect he wanted, Hibiki Hoshino had disabled Ailin's Zanpakuto in a single strike, and smugness showed in his eyes.

His ability was the strongest!

"Surrender. After accepting Trial, a vile wretch like you may yet be allowed to live."

Pointing the released Muramasa at Ailin, Hibiki Hoshino spouted nonsense that even he himself did not believe.

Let Ailin go?

How could that be possible?

A man who had followed Haruko Kuchiki, who might have been his fiancée—Hibiki Hoshino found his very existence disgusting.

So—

"If you remain stubborn, I will show no mercy. My next strike will take your life."

Green light emerged from Ailin's body. In no more than a breath, the right hand injured by Destruction Path #11: Tethering Lightning had fully recovered.

"Heh, a vile wretch?"

Ailin glanced at Ginrei Kuchiki, the corner of his lips curling in a disdainful sneer.

He had only chosen to protect Haruko Kuchiki because there had been no danger to his life.

But if Ginrei Kuchiki and Hibiki Hoshino truly wanted to force that label onto him, he would not mind exposing everything.

Haruko Kuchiki had disguised herself when she entered the tavern, but that had only been an outward disguise. Her spiritual pressure had never changed.

Anyone who wanted to investigate only needed to follow Haruko Kuchiki's spiritual pressure to learn the full story.

"Without investigating the truth and relying solely on your subjective judgment, you place such a weighty accusation on me. I truly cannot bear it."

"As for you saying that your next strike will take my life—"

"Since when could a Third Seat speak so arrogantly to a Vice-Captain?"

Ailin had said that deliberately!

Indeed, in terms of rank, a Third Seat could never compare to a Vice-Captain.

But the First Division was an exception.

Still, that was merely something everyone tacitly accepted. No one had ever said it aloud.

So there was nothing wrong with Ailin saying that.

Even if Hibiki Hoshino was the Third Seat of the First Division, he was still only a "Third Seat"!

"Damn it, you bastard!"

Sure enough, Hibiki Hoshino was instantly enraged by Ailin. He became an afterimage as he charged at him.

"Projection—"

Seeing Hibiki Hoshino move, Ailin shouted and released his Zanpakuto.

"Boom!"

In an instant, Ailin's spiritual pressure surged fivefold, reaching Captain-level.

Though there was still a vast gap between him and Hibiki Hoshino, their spiritual pressures were now at least on the same level.

Ailin waved a hand, and blue light gathered before him.

At once, dozens of Zanpakuto appeared within the light.

"Fantasy Collapse!"

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—"

Blue patterns spread across the blades of those dozens of Zanpakuto, turning into arrows that flew at Hibiki Hoshino.

"Boom, boom, boom..."

Facing the incoming Zanpakuto, Hibiki Hoshino swung his sword. The purple glow radiating from Muramasa instantly spread out, enveloping the incoming blades.

But to Hibiki Hoshino's shock, these dozens of Zanpakuto had no "spirits."

The reason Hibiki Hoshino's Zanpakuto, Muramasa, could control a Shinigami's Zanpakuto was because Muramasa possessed the ability to communicate with the "spirits" of other Zanpakuto.

Moreover, after Bankai, Muramasa could enter the mental space of a Shinigami's Zanpakuto and persuade it to betray its wielder. It could even directly control the Zanpakuto's "spirit," allowing it to materialize in the outside world and serve Muramasa.

"Heh..."

Seeing Hibiki Hoshino's actions, Ailin sneered.

To deal with Hibiki Hoshino's Muramasa, Ailin had not directly taken out the actual Zanpakuto from his Inner World this time. Instead, he had used his Zanpakuto's Shikai ability—Projection!

After releasing his true Zanpakuto ability, Ailin could expend spiritual power to project all the weapons in his Inner World into the outside world.

Because they were merely Projections, these Zanpakuto were somewhat weaker than the genuine articles in his Inner World.

However, aside from Projection, Ailin possessed another ability as well.

"Fantasy Collapse!"

This was an ability that greatly increased the power of projected weapons at the cost of destroying them.

Though they only had the power for a single strike, that strike was already comparable to the strength of the genuine article.

Furthermore, since they were merely Projections of Zanpakuto and contained no "spirits" at all, they were completely immune to the effects of Hibiki Hoshino's Zanpakuto ability.

Having lost the initiative, Hibiki Hoshino could only swing Muramasa in his hand to knock aside the attacks of those dozens of Zanpakuto.

But—

"Boom, boom, boom..."

The moment those Zanpakuto were struck by Hibiki Hoshino, they exploded violently.

The power of each Zanpakuto's explosion was no weaker than Destruction Path #31: Crimson Cannon.

"Whoosh!"

A figure shot into the sky from the raging flames.

Ginrei Kuchiki, Aikawa Love, and Isshin Shiba, the three Captain-level fighters present, looked up. The other Shinigami were a beat slower, but they soon followed the Captains' gazes toward the figure standing in the air.

"No way?"

"That's the Third Seat of the First Division. He actually got hurt?"

"So strong. Those two are both incredibly strong!"

More than twenty meters above the ground, Hibiki Hoshino was enveloped in thick black smoke. He had burns on his hands and body, and even his Shinigami uniform had several holes in it.

A streak of blood also trailed from the corner of his mouth.

"Good. You really have enraged me!"

Wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth, Hibiki Hoshino looked at the three Captains in Captain's Haori below, as well as the more than fifty Shinigami around them. A vicious look appeared in his eyes.

I can't control your weapons, but can't I control theirs?

With the Zanpakuto of three Captain-level fighters and more than fifty Shinigami materialized, let's see how you die!

"Bankai—Hookless Punishment Muramasa!"