Fierce Battle

In the world of Soul Reapers, a Soul Reaper's most powerful move and ultimate trump card was the final release of their Zanpakuto—Bankai!

After achieving Bankai, the most basic effect was that a Soul Reaper's spiritual pressure would surge five to tenfold.

Beyond that, the Soul Reaper could fully control and use all of their Zanpakuto's abilities.

The power of Bankai was directly proportional to the difficulty of mastering it.

Throughout the entire Gotei 13, public information indicated that only the thirteen Captains had achieved it.

Now that the Seireitei had been peaceful for nearly two thousand years, in order to maintain the safety of its residents, Captain-Commander Yamamoto had once issued a ban—

Soul Reapers at Captain-level and above were forbidden from releasing their Zanpakuto.

Of course, what this prohibition barred Captains from doing was using Bankai.

The gap in spiritual pressure between Captain-level Soul Reapers and those below that level was simply too great.

If Captains released their spiritual pressure at full force, even Vice-Captains within three li would be caught up in it.

Bankai, moreover, could increase a Captain's spiritual pressure by five to ten times.

If two Captain-level Soul Reapers fought using Bankai, then aside from other Captains, every Soul Reaper within five li would be in mortal danger.

Ailin had never imagined that Hibiki Hoshino would actually dare violate Captain-Commander Yamamoto's ban and use Bankai within the Seireitei!

However, what eased Ailin's mind was that the Purple-haired Gloomy Man who had appeared beside Hibiki Hoshino did not extend his long-nailed hand toward him, but toward the Soul Reapers watching from the other side.

"Hoshino, how dare you..."

Among them, only Ginrei Kuchiki knew the true ability of Hibiki Hoshino's Zanpakuto.

But he had never expected this man to actually dare use that ability on them.

"Quick, seal off your hearts!"

Faced with Hibiki Hoshino's ability, Ginrei Kuchiki only had time to say this to the others before closing his eyes, entering his soul space, and sealing off his heart.

But Ginrei Kuchiki's warning had clearly come too late!

"How is this possible..."

Before these Soul Reapers could feel anything else, strange auras flew out from their bodies one after another, condensing into dark figures wielding Zanpakuto.

Some took the form of humanoid beings with other appearances.

"W-What is going on..."

The Soul Reapers whose auras had condensed into dark figures had no idea what those shadows were.

After all, they had yet to fully nurture their own Zanpakuto.

But the Soul Reapers who watched their auras condense into figures with distinct forms were shocked beyond measure.

Those were the forms of their Zanpakuto! How had they escaped from their soul spaces?

"Hey, Tengumaru, what are you doing?"

"Engetsu?"

"Niaoniang, why did you come out?"

For a moment, the Soul Reapers who recognized their Zanpakuto rushed forward, wanting to ask what was wrong with them.

Yet to their surprise, their Zanpakuto ignored all their calls. Instead, they turned into afterimages and pounced toward Ailin.

"Projection—"

Facing the incoming Zanpakuto, Ailin did not dare let his guard down.

One Zanpakuto after another appeared before Ailin. Compared to the several dozen Zanpakuto he had used to attack Hibiki Hoshino before, this time he had projected every Zanpakuto in his Inner World apart from those embedded in the Hill of Swords.

The appearance of several hundred Zanpakuto densely filling the sky made every Soul Reaper present gasp.

"Run! Everyone, get out of here now!"

"This is no longer a battle you can interfere in. Leave immediately!"

Seeing this, Isshin Shiba, Captain of the Tenth Division, immediately stepped to the front. He drew the Zanpakuto at his waist and unleashed his spiritual pressure, shielding the Soul Reapers behind him so they would not lose their will under the crushing pressure of the two powerful spiritual forces ahead.

On the other side, Aikawa Love quickly joined Isshin Shiba in releasing his spiritual pressure, while also ordering the Soul Reapers of his division to withdraw first.

Having received the orders of the two Captains, the Soul Reapers quickly retreated.

In the end, only the high-spirited Hibiki Hoshino in the sky, Ailin surrounded by hundreds of Zanpakuto, Ginrei Kuchiki with his heart sealed off, and the spiritual-pressure-releasing Isshin Shiba and Aikawa Love remained in this area.

The eruption of Captain-level spiritual pressure also drew the attention of most Soul Reapers within the Seireitei.

Shihoin Yoruichi, Captain of the Second Division; Hirako Shinji, Captain of the Fifth Division; Shunsui Kyōraku, Captain of the Eighth Division; and Kensei Muguruma, Captain of the Ninth Division, were all rushing toward the Kuchiki Clan.

Fantasy Collapse!

A vast amount of spiritual power transformed into patterns that spread across the Zanpakuto flying around Ailin. Then, with a wave of Ailin's hand, the hundreds of Zanpakuto became streaks of blue light and shot toward the more than sixty materialized Zanpakuto.

Boom boom boom boom boom boom...

The entrance to the Kuchiki Clan estate and the nearby alleys became the backdrop for countless explosions at that moment.

If the Kuchiki Clan had not been so wealthy that even their courtyard walls were built from Killer Stone, a material highly resistant to spiritual power, then at least one-fifth of the estate would likely have been destroyed in that chain of explosions.

Even so, the alley opposite the Kuchiki Clan estate had nearly been reduced to broken bricks and rubble.

Even the Kuchiki Clan's walls had gained several cracks.

If such attacks came a few more times, even the walls built from Killer Stone would likely follow the other alleys into ruin.

Whoosh—

Swoosh swoosh—

Seven or eight figures burst out of the flames.

After Ailin's previous wave of attacks, the Zanpakuto of ordinary Soul Reapers had been completely wiped out.

Even several Zanpakuto belonging to Seat Officers had been destroyed.

The Zanpakuto that rushed out of the explosion were those that had completed their release the instant they encountered the attack.

At the same time, they had been fortunate enough to stand directly behind the Zanpakuto of Aikawa Love, Captain of the Seventh Division, and Isshin Shiba, Captain of the Tenth Division. Most of the explosive force had been blocked by those two powerful Zanpakuto, allowing them to survive.

After all, they were merely projected imitations. Even though Fantasy Collapse had raised their power to the level of the originals, they were still far too weak compared to Captain-level Zanpakuto.

It was far too unrealistic to think that projected Zanpakuto alone could bombard Captain-level Zanpakuto into defeat.

However...

Slap!

Ailin slapped the sheath of the Zanpakuto at his waist. Instantly, a faint ripple of spiritual pressure emanated from it.

Hum hum...

Sensing the sheath's spiritual-pressure fluctuations, Tetsusaiga, which Ailin had thrown some distance away earlier, suddenly began to tremble.

The next moment, Tetsusaiga on the ground turned into a black shadow, swiftly flew toward Ailin, and landed in his grasp.