First Encounter with Bankai

Whoosh!

At Ailin and the others' speed, they reached a small battlefield in mere seconds.

On this small battlefield, five people wielding strange weapons were besieging a Shinigami dressed in a Shinigami uniform.

The reason the weapons in the five attackers' hands were strange was that their hilts had no guards. Instead, they had things resembling octopus tentacles.

Those octopus tentacles even seemed to be alive. They wound along the users' right hands and pierced into their arms.

The reason Ailin sensed that their spiritual pressure was chaotic was because part of the spiritual pressure around them came from the blades in their hands.

Moyao Blades!

The weapon wielded by the Shinigami they were besieging was a spear.

A Shinigami's weapon was generally a Zanpakuto.

However, every Shinigami could meld their soul with an Asauchi through "Blade Zen," nurturing a Zanpakuto unique to themselves.

By calling out their Zanpakuto's name, a Shinigami could obtain its power.

Normally, a released Zanpakuto's form and abilities would change.

Clearly, this Shinigami was a powerful fighter capable of releasing his Zanpakuto.

Every time he swung his spear, a bolt of lightning shot from its tip, knocking down the Death Warriors surrounding him. That alone showed how powerful this Shinigami was.

Yet after the fallen Death Warriors poured their spiritual pressure into their Moyao Blades, they quickly recovered, rose to their feet, and resumed their joint assault on the Shinigami.

"Are you reinforcements from the Gotei 13? Please assist us in apprehending this criminal."

Upon seeing Ailin and the others arrive, one of the Death Warriors immediately called for their aid.

Although they could see that their opponent was a fellow Shinigami, the Punishment Corps had received orders to assist the Kasumiōji Clan in suppressing the attackers.

Thus, Ailin and the others could only draw the Zanpakuto at their waists and attack the Shinigami.

At the sight of Ailin and the others, the Shinigami's movements visibly paused.

However, once Ailin and the others joined the battle, he showed no mercy.

With a sweep of the spear in his hands, the young Shinigami deflected all of Ailin and the others' attacks.

Feeling the force behind the young Shinigami's spear, Ailin's entire body shook. A tremendous force traveled through the spear, forcing his body to stagger backward.

"Not good!"

The moment he was knocked back, Ailin caught sight of a flash of blue light.

Without time to worry about anything else, Ailin hurriedly raised his free left hand before him, the back of his hand facing outward.

"Kidō #8: Restrain!"

A transparent glow appeared before the back of Ailin's hand. The next instant, the attack arrived.

After driving back the attacking Shinigami, the young Shinigami let out a shout as blue lightning crackled over his spear.

"Thunder Strike!"

Boom!

With a swing of the young Shinigami's spear, the lightning instantly transformed into dozens of thunderbolts that struck everyone present.

Boom!

The others suffered severe injuries in an instant beneath that lightning.

On Ailin's side, because he had cast Kidō #8 in advance, the light barrier held back the lightning for a moment before being shattered.

Bang!

Using the brief instant in which Kidō #8 blocked the lightning, Ailin made his own response.

"Projection—"

"Sword Shield!"

Blue spiritual power condensed before Ailin. More than a dozen longswords took shape in front of him, forming a shield made of swords.

As long as a weapon existed within Ailin's Unlimited Blade Works, he only needed to expend some spiritual power to project it into the outside world.

However, because they were merely projections of the weapons within Unlimited Blade Works, they were one rank lower than the "originals" inside Unlimited Blade Works.

Boom!

The lightning collided with the Sword Shield. Having already broken through one Kidō spell, its power had weakened somewhat. The remaining force only fully dissipated after shattering more than half of Ailin's Sword Shield.

Borrowing that force, Ailin retreated some distance farther and steadied himself.

"Hmm?"

Seeing that Ailin was the only one among the group whom he had not knocked down, the young Shinigami intended to advance and attack him. However, under the Moyao Blades' abilities, the Kasumiōji Clan's Death Warriors quickly recovered and once more joined the siege against him.

Seeing this, Ailin did not rush to join the encirclement. Instead, he went to his companions' side, held both hands above one of their bodies, and released a blue glow.

Healing Art!

Among Ailin's many Zanpakuto were several members of the Punishment Corps proficient in Healing Art.

After absorbing their experience, Ailin's Healing Art was now no weaker than anyone else's.

"Thanks, brother. Once this mission is over, I'll treat you to a drink."

"Sure. Brother, go hold them off first. I'll treat the other brothers."

"Alright."

After treating several more Shinigami, Ailin became the battlefield medic of this small skirmish.

The Kasumiōji Clan's Death Warriors had the Moyao Blade to restore them.

The Second Division Punishment Corps comrades also had Ailin's Healing Art to support them after they were injured.

More than ten minutes later, three of the Kasumiōji Clan's Death Warriors had fallen. Of the five from the Second Division, three were also severely wounded, their combat strength greatly reduced.

However, the Young Shinigami was also nearing his limit.

"Kill!"

Another round of attacks came. At this point, the spiritual pressure around each of the Kasumiōji Clan's Death Warriors had condensed into tangible light, while the Moyao Blade tentacles in their hands had already spread to their necks and below their chests.

Though the Death Warriors wielding the Moyao Blade in this state were still inferior to the Young Shinigami, the gap was not much.

Before long, several more wounds appeared on the Young Shinigami's body.

Just as the Young Shinigami was about to collapse, Ailin suddenly sensed a powerful spiritual pressure rushing toward them at tremendous speed. He did not dare delay. Disregarding the fact that he had yet to fully heal the three severely wounded men, he kicked one wounded man onto his back, grabbed one in each hand, and swiftly retreated from the battlefield.

Boom!

A powerful blast of fire surged in from the distance. The violent explosion sent Ailin and the others flying.

"Pfft..."

"Damn it. Did things go wrong on the main battlefield? They actually let that person break through."

Climbing up from the ground, Ailin felt pain all over his body. Turning his head, he saw a man step out of the flames. The Giant Sword in his hand was slightly curved, with a red groove running through its center.

Strands of flame burned within the groove of the Giant Sword, and the surrounding air rippled beneath the intense heat.

At the same time, the spiritual pressure emanating from the man made Ailin feel as though he were deep beneath the sea. Forget moving—even breathing seemed like an impossible luxury.

"Captain-level. This is definitely Captain-level spiritual pressure!"

"And the state of that Zanpakuto is definitely Bankai!"