Guidance from the 10th Division
"Toshiro, you're still working as hard as ever," Isshin remarked, looking around at his surroundings.
This was Isshin's training ground when he was in the 10th Division. After he left Soul Society, it naturally became the place used by his successor Toshiro.
Aside from its location, this place is completely different from Isshin remember. There are scattered, unmelted ice shards everywhere, clearly traces of Toshiro's training here.
"I can't stop striving to become stronger." Toshiro slowly drew Hyōrinmaru, pointed at Isshin, and said, "Nice to meet you, Captain Isshin!"
"I know, bring it on, Toshiro!" Isshin said, drawing his Zanpakuto as well.
"Excuse me!" Toshiro shouted Zanpakuto high. "Bankai! Daiguren Hyōrinmaru!"
As the spiritual pressure of Bankai spread, a large swath of ice and snow blew onto Isshin's face. Isshin was dumbfounded. Shouldn't normal instruction be like Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto and Tsuna, with attacks going back and forth, gradually increasing in intensity?
Who taught you to go all out right from the start?
For some reason, Isshin thinking about Tsuna's comment during a casual conversation: when it comes to captains who always Bankai in a fight, Toshiro was on the list.
That's way too fast!
Isshin his thoughts, a barrage of ice crystals swept towards him from Toshiro's direction. He quickly dodged with Flash Step, but the next spot he could step on was already waiting for him, with ice pillars blooming from the ground.
"Burn, Engetsu!"
A massive amount of spiritual pressure condensed on Isshin 'Zanpakuto, and as the blade swung, intense flames surged towards his feet.
Under the sudden attack of high temperature, the newly formed ice gradually melted, Isshin blocking Toshiro's offensive.
Wearing his Bankai attire, Toshiro stepped out of the ice crystals, his eyes filled with unwavering determination.
Engetsu, like Ryūjin Jakka, belongs to the fire-type Zanpakuto.
After witnessing the battle between Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto and Tsuna, Toshiro temporarily lost interest in challenging Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto. However, just because he couldn't keep up with Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto's pace despite wielding the number one Ice Style Zanpakuto, it didn't mean he couldn't try other fire-type opponents.
So after the battle between Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto and Tsuna, Toshiro kept urging Isshin to have a fight with him.
Seeing the release of Engetsu now, Toshiro felt his blood boil, and even the hand holding the sword trembled with excitement. He had already regarded Engetsu as a lower-ranking replacement for Ryūjin Jakka, and he was ready to let him see the difference between him and Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto!
Toshiro, who was still feigning Isshin, understood Toshiro's feelings after seeing the look in his eyes. It's good for young people to have passion, but Engetsu is Engetsu, not a substitute for Ryūjin Jakka.
Facing the approaching Toshiro with its wings flapping, Isshin swung his sword and unleashed a fiery crescent moon. Toshiro immediately clasped his wings together and curled into a ball to resist the impact of the flames.
After passing through the flames, Toshiro, now free to move again, was even more excited. This small wave of fire was practically Ryūjin Jakka of Ryujin Jakka.
Isshin somewhat helpless. If he didn't wake Toshiro up from his current state, the training would be meaningless. This brat was already obsessed with being the number one in both Ryūjin Jakka and Hyōrinmaru.
Isshin to stop running away and instead held the Engetsu upright in front of his chest, quietly waiting for Toshiro's attack.
"Captain, you'll get hurt if you don't use your abilities!"
Seeing that there wasn't a single flame on the Engetsu, Toshiro, who was charging forward, flashed a hint of displeasure in his eyes and gave Isshin slightly "kind" reminder.
"Don't worry, I'm capable enough to be your captain," Isshin said calmly.
"Then I'll force you to unleash your full power!" Toshiro gritted his teeth and made his decision.
In the blink of an eye, Toshiro appeared in front of Isshin. The Daiguren Hyōrinmaru, imbued with the power of swirling ice and snow, gathered at the tip of the blade, and Toshiro thrust the sword towards Isshin's chest.
Contrary to expectations, Toshiro was Isshin calm and collected downward slash of his sword, shouting, "Getsuga Tensho!"
Boom!
A violent explosion rang out in front of Isshin, leaving a long, narrow gash on the ground in front of him. Toshiro had already been pushed away to some unknown place by the spiritual pressure unleashed by Isshin's single strike.
Getsuga Tensho, this is Isshin's Getsuga Tensho. Unlike Ichigo's Getsuga Tensho, which unleashes energy madly regardless of spiritual pressure, Isshin's Getsuga Tensho focuses more on instantaneous explosive power.
It's not that Ichigo's Crescent Moon technique is unusable with Ichigo Isshin, but rather that close-range burst damage is better suited to the Blade of Engetsu.
At the moment when Engetsu and Daiguren Hyōrinmaru collided, Isshin unleashed the power of Getsuga Tensho. Toshiro, who was already somewhat distracted, was caught off guard by the former captain's signature move and was Isshin unprepared.
With a ticking sound, Toshiro emerged from the pile of rubble. There was still a difference in spiritual pressure between his Shikai and Bankai; this Getsuga Tensho only left a palm-sized cut on his shoulder.
After freezing the knife wound, Toshiro flew back to Isshin's vicinity.
"Awake now?" Isshin said, holding up Engetsu. "This is Engetsu, not Ryūjin Jakka. You won't be able to beat me using the same methods you use against Ryūjin Jakka."
After taking a deep breath, Toshiro said, "I've learned a lot, Captain. I'll take this seriously from now on!"
"That's right, let's have a friendly spar..."
Before Isshin could finish speaking, he saw ice pillars rise up from the ground and surround him. Isshin was embarrassed. He had originally planned to laugh it off with Toshiro, but he never expected this brat to be so decisive.
It had been too long since he'd used his skills. Isshin criticizing himself, he observed the enormous ice pillars and recognized the move as Toshiro's Sennen Hyōrō.
"Just trapping me won't win you the game," Isshin continued to mock.
"At least let me see your Bankai, Captain!" Toshiro said calmly.
Through that Getsuga Tensho, Toshiro had already remembered Isshin's preferred fighting style. Close-range, high-burst combat was Isshin's favorite. Compared to Isshin's Zanjutsu, the flames that the Engetsu Slash came with were just an extra.
Now that Toshiro has sealed Isshin's movement space with the Sennen Hyōrō, he only needs to keep harassing him with long-range ice attacks to keep whipping Isshin from a distance.
As for Isshin's flames, Toshiro believes that breaking the Sennen Hyōrō would be quite difficult, unless Isshin is willing to unleash his Bankai...
Speaking of Isshin's Bankai, Toshiro is speechless. He has been a member of Isshin's Isshin for many years and has become a core member of the 10th Division, but he still doesn't know what Isshin's Bankai is.
Every time he offered to train with Isshin, Isshin would refuse, citing Toshiro's lack of strength and the fact that Toshiro's Bankai was too powerful and he might accidentally injure himself.
And after Toshiro learned Bankai, this irresponsible captain simply disappeared...
Now that he had the chance, Toshiro simply avoided Engetsu's sharp edge and used ranged attacks to force Isshin to unleash his ultimate move.
Toshiro's teeth were aching Isshin. He had guessed what Toshiro was thinking, but he really didn't feel any pressure from Toshiro's attack intensity.
Flash Step dodging a couple of ice crystals with Shunpo, then melting another batch with flames, Toshiro's seemingly continuous attack intensity was far inferior to that of the two he faced today.
Toshiro gradually realized that this shameless former captain would be hard to force out with his Bankai unless he got serious.
Toshiro simply Zanpakuto high, and under his control, all the ice pillars rapidly converged on Isshin, about to crush Isshin into pieces.
"Hey, Toshiro..."
At this moment, Toshiro. Isshin Isshin, cut his finger with his sword, smeared the blood on the blade, and broke through towards an ice pillar.
"Crescent Moon, Sky Rush!"
Intense flames erupted on the Engetsu. When the flames touched Isshin's blood, they expanded and exploded as if they had come into contact with gasoline. Then, Isshin compressed and controlled them, and slashed out with his sword.
With a deafening explosion and the sound of ice cracking, Isshin successfully escaped the combined attack of the Sennen Hyōrō. Before he could even catch his breath, he was greeted by the Daiguren Hyōrinmaru, which had turned into a blur in the air.
Ryūsō no Kogetsu!
With a snap, the Zanpakuto pierced Isshin's shoulder, and a huge ice cross stood horizontally in the air.
Toshiro casually flicked his Zanpakuto; after all, it was one of his trump cards, and he didn't believe Isshin could really break his technique in its Shikai state.
However, Toshiro didn't notice that in the ice cross of Ryūsō no Kogetsu, the shoulder of Isshin that he had pierced was bleeding slightly.
Logically, in such an extremely low temperature environment, Isshin should not be able to bleed at all. However, this blood seemed to carry an extremely high temperature, completely ignoring the freezing ability of the cross, and quickly spread within the cross.
A thin stream of blood quietly flowed to Isshin's lips. Under the influence of the high temperature, Isshin's lips were unfrozen, and Isshin spiritual pressure began to burst forth from his lips. At this moment, Isshin's blood stream had already pierced through the entire ice cross like tree roots.
Flames spread wildly along the blood-stained path in the ice cross, turning the originally ice-blue cross crimson. Fine cracking sounds echoed continuously, and with a deafening boom, the Ryūsō no Kogetsu was shattered by Isshin.
Isshin raised his hand to wipe the flames from the corner of his mouth. Fortunately, the flames from the Engetsu could be ignited through his blood, otherwise, that little guy Toshiro would have really succeeded.
"Hehe, Hachi, you're nothing special."
Isshin stood with his hands on his hips, grinning smugly, completely oblivious to Toshiro's dark expression.
Just as Toshiro was pondering what methods to use to force this shameless former captain, he saw Isshin raise his head slightly, looking righteous and awe-inspiring, and say something.
"Since you've gone to such lengths, as your senior, I'll grant your request a little."
Actually, Isshin was quite nervous. What if Toshiro went too far next? Wouldn't he die young? It would be safer to unleash his ultimate attack...
"Bankai!"
Suddenly, the Engetsu erupted with intense flames, engulfing Isshin. Along with this, Isshin's spiritual pressure also increased. Even more surprisingly, the Engetsu in Isshin's hand shattered into six diamond-shaped pieces...
As the flames coalesced, Isshin's Bankai gradually came to completion...
"Setsuna Enka!"