"Byakuya, next, get a good feel for just how powerful the Shinigami's Four Arts you have overlooked truly are!"
Then, amid Byakuya Kuchiki's bewildered expression, Ailin drew the Zanpakuto at his waist.
"Watch closely, Byakuya. This is Zanjutsu!"
After giving Byakuya Kuchiki that reminder, Ailin raised the blade in his hand and swung it down fiercely.
"Whoosh—"
A slash a hundred meters high shot forth at a speed even Byakuya Kuchiki could not follow, cutting across several hills.
The next moment, under Byakuya Kuchiki's horrified gaze, the upper halves of those hills slid off at an angle and crashed to the ground with a tremendous roar, sending dust soaring into the air.
Though they were far away, Byakuya Kuchiki could still see that the cross-sections of those hills were as smooth as mirrors.
"I don't know what other people's Zanjutsu looks like—"
That was a lie.
"But to me, Zanjutsu means that once my sword falls, nothing before me remains uncut. All things can be severed!"
That was the truth.
Tenth Division Captain Isshin Shiba's Zanpakuto, Engetsu, had been created while Ailin and Hibiki Hoshino were imprisoned in the Ninth Division's Prison.
Based on the principles behind Engetsu's Getsuga Tensho, Ailin had created a weapon from the world of pirates—
Wado Ichimonji!
It was the weapon of Koshiro Shimotsuki, a reclusive Great Swordsman from the pirate world.
Through this weapon, Ailin had mastered two swordsmanship techniques entirely different from those of Shinigami: Iron Cutting and Flying Slash.
That sword strike just now had been a Flying Slash unleashed through Ailin's own mastery of the sword, without using any spiritual pressure.
Byakuya Kuchiki's eyes widened, his jaw nearly dropping.
Pointing at the several hills that had been cut cleanly in half, he stammered at Ailin, "Th-this is Zanjutsu?"
"Yes, it is