Yuko jumped at Shinobu's warning. She turned and saw that Ignorance was still in the middle of transforming, with no way to interrupt her. She gave Shinobu a speechless look. "Don't scare me. She hasn't even—"
The next instant, every hair on Yuko's body stood on end. Before she could think, her body moved. She twisted sharply and raised her purple-flame-wreathed Zanpakuto across her chest.
Clang!!
The deafening clash of metal rang out as a black blade struck Yuko's sword. The impact hit her like a battering ram. The sea beneath her feet caved into a huge crater, and she flew backward, plowing a long white wake across the water.
Yuko forced herself to steady herself in midair. The web of her hand was numb. She glanced down at her sword, and her pupils contracted.
A gap had been cut through the purple flames around the blade. Worse, a hairline crack had appeared in the steel beneath them.
This Zanpakuto might have been formed in her inner world, but its abilities were exactly the same.
Brute force alone could not explain this. It had to be Ignorance's Bankai.
The power to destroy anything.
As the saying went, spiritual pressure determined the floor; abilities determined the ceiling.
That held true for Soul Reapers, Hollows, and Quincy alike.
If Yuko and Ignorance had not possessed equal spiritual pressure, Yuko's Zanpakuto would probably have broken already.
"So this is your Bankai?" Yuko raised her head and stared gravely at Ignorance, who was walking toward her across the water. "The power to destroy... everything?"
Ignorance stopped, her bare foot resting lightly on the water. A delighted, cruel smile spread across her face as she pointed the Black Blade at Yuko.
"Not just things."
Before her words had faded, she shot toward Yuko.
In sheer