Sawada Tsunayoshi's Death?

"What's this, idiot Kensei's using Bankai?" The first to arrive was undoubtedly the fastest runner, Kuna Hak. She Flash Stepped beside Hirako and jabbed.

"Baldie, is he an enemy?" The rude remark came from a yellow-haired girl who looked like a loli, Sarugaki Hiyori. She had already gripped the Zanpakuto on her back, ready to support Muguruma Kensei at any moment.

"Hiyori, Hirako hasn't made a move yet." The speaker was a braided older sister in a sailor uniform, Yadomaru Lisa. Her calm eyes saw at once that Hirako was just watching the show.

"Laying hands on a kid isn't gentlemanly conduct, you know." The jab came from a man with golden, wavy hair, dressed like a British gentleman aristocrat, Hōjōrō Jūshirō.

"Rose, that level of Reiatsu isn't from an ordinary kid." The one who retorted was a man named Aikawa Love, an afro-headed uncle in a tracksuit. Rose was their nickname for Hōjōrō Jūshirō.

"Long time no see, Lord Kukaku Shiba." The one with a completely different tone was Hachigen Ushōda. When he was in Soul Society, he had been the Vice Kido Chief of the Kido Corps, so he greeted the former Kido Chief, Kukaku Shiba, without delay.

The focus returned to Muguruma Kensei. After using his Bankai, each of his hands held a bladed knuckle-duster with teeth. His arms were wrapped in gray treads that extended to his shoulders, turning into streamers that connected behind his back. Protruding armor plates also covered his back. This was Muguruma Kensei's Bankai, Tekken - Danpū.

"Hmm, what's the combat power now?"

Kensei's ears twitched. He heard Tsunayoshi's muttering. Though he couldn't understand what Tsunayoshi meant, he could clearly tell that "Muguruma" wasn't a good word. Add to that Tsunayoshi's talk of Hollowfication—every word was dancing on Kensei's last nerve.

"Kid, don't die!"

Kensei still kindly warned him once. Then, with a Flash Step, he appeared in front of Tsunayoshi and threw a punch to the gut. With just one fist, he could bring this arrogant brat down. Muguruma Kensei had that confidence.

Muguruma Kensei's Bankai, Tekken - Danpū, could inject explosive, storm-like power into an enemy's body. As long as he willed it, the detonating force could pour in endlessly with his punches, causing explosive damage inside the opponent.

So Muguruma Kensei was confident he could injure Tsunayoshi's internal organs with a single blow. Logically, such a dangerous Bankai shouldn't be used on someone who wasn't clearly an enemy. But who told Tsunayoshi to keep provoking him with words?

It's over. That word couldn't help but surface in the minds of the onlookers. Hiyori even closed her eyes, unable to bear watching the body of this outsider, who was about her size, explode. Hachigen Ushōda had already prepared to use Kaidō.

Among them, only Kukaku Shiba remained calm. He was one of the few who had witnessed Sawada Tsunayoshi's true power. Tsunayoshi had long since mastered what they called Bankai.

Just as Kensei's iron fist was about to strike Tsunayoshi, a calm voice entered his ears. "Bankai."

"Shatter adversity, illuminate the earth, Sun..."

Violent yellow Sun Attribute flames erupted with the Bankai's activation, instantly enveloping Tsunayoshi and Kensei. Within the flames, Kensei's hand was blocked by a red glove.

Kensei looked up. His opponent had changed appearance after using Bankai. The full red boxing gloves caught his attention most. Not only that, but Tsunayoshi's forearms, legs, and forehead were now adorned with golden armor. Under the fierce flame impact, the upper part of Tsunayoshi's Shinigami Uniform had vanished, revealing his toned muscles.

But what Kensei didn't notice was a bracelet on Tsunayoshi's left arm. The bracelet had ten small torch rings arranged on it, and at its center was the emblem of the Vongola VG.

This was Tsunayoshi's Sun Attribute Bankai, the Vongola Gear Sun Armlet Ver. X.

"Bankai, huh? Now that's what I'm talking about!"

Kensei showed no regret that his fist had been blocked. Instead, he laughed out loud. Seeing Tsunayoshi's Bankai form, which looked just like a boxer from the World of the Living, he felt this was a worthy opponent for his Tekken - Danpū.

Kensei took a small step back, stretched, and wound up. Then he unleashed a flurry of wild punches at Tsunayoshi. Tsunayoshi didn't just stand there either. His fists flew in a rapid dance, clashing with Kensei's iron fists.

The two fought faster and faster. Gradually, Kensei found he couldn't keep up with Tsunayoshi's speed. This was part of the power of Tsunayoshi's Bankai: the super-activation of Sun Attribute flames. A body pushed to super-activation could unleash terrifying strength and speed.

This was Extreme Combo!

Kensei had no idea what Tsunayoshi's Bankai ability was, but he still forced himself to match Tsunayoshi's pace. Where he couldn't keep up, he used the treads on his arms to block. Even while taking hits, Kensei didn't forget to taunt Tsunayoshi.

"Give it up, kid. Your fists can't be stronger than mine!" Kensei grinned and shouted.

Tsunayoshi was about to reply when a surge of blood rushed up from his gut. He forcibly suppressed the pain, but a trickle of blood leaked from the corner of his mouth.

"Kid, my Tekken - Danpū can store explosive power inside your body. I've already built up a terrifying amount of energy in you. Whenever I want, you could blow apart at any moment!" Kensei roared. "You've already lost, kid!"

Tsunayoshi held down the pain in his stomach and shot back, "Do you people always like sharing your intel with the enemy?"

"Kid!" Tsunayoshi's retort wiped the smile off Kensei's face. "Fine then, I'll finish you with one punch!"

By now, Kensei was caught up in the heat of battle. He had completely forgotten his earlier reluctance to use Bankai. Now he only wanted to defeat Tsunayoshi with a single, full-powered blow.

Kensei tanked Tsunayoshi's rain-like punches and drove a heavy fist straight into Tsunayoshi's abdomen. The moment it made contact, Kensei detonated the explosive force stored inside Tsunayoshi's body.

Boom!

A violent, raging Reiatsu erupted from within Tsunayoshi. As the onlookers stared in shock, Tsunayoshi's body was blown clean through. Large gouts of blood splattered from his torso. A hole the size of a plate gaped open in his abdomen.

"Damn it, Hachi, save him!" Hirako reacted instantly, calling for the Visored to mount a rescue. "Rose, pull Kensei away!"

"That bald idiot went too far!" Hiyori grabbed her slipper and charged toward Kensei, intending to knock some sense into the battle-crazed man.

"Idiot, someone's dead." Kuna Hak jabbed. She wasn't slow either, already readying a Leo Kick to send Kensei flying.

The other Visored, unlike Hiyori and Kuna Hak, didn't have time for quips in this emergency. They all started moving.

"Please wait. The battle isn't over yet."

Unexpectedly, the one who stopped the Visored was Kukaku Shiba, who had come with Sawada Tsunayoshi.

"Kukaku, if we wait any longer, that kid's going to be stone cold!" Hirako said indignantly. If Tsunayoshi hadn't clearly spoken his name, he wouldn't have cared whether the kid lived or died.

In the past few moments, Hirako Shinji had figured it out. If Urahara had told Tsunayoshi his information, there was no way Tsunayoshi would have said his name backward. That was Hirako's own quirk. Urahara had no reason to tell Tsunayoshi such detailed but useless intel.

That was why Hirako had decided to save Tsunayoshi. He just hadn't expected Kukaku Shiba to stop him.

Kukaku Shiba didn't bother explaining much. The reason he stopped the Visored was simply that he didn't want them to get caught in Sawada Tsunayoshi's attack.

Kukaku Shiba's gaze locked onto the bracelet on Tsunayoshi's arm, blazing like the sun. All ten torches on the bracelet were now lit. Back when he had trained Tsunayoshi in Bankai, Tsunayoshi had deliberately found reasons to get himself hurt, only to unleash an unexpected attack at the last moment.

"What's wrong? Already out of steam?"

Kensei's mouth still showed no mercy, but in his heart, he was already feeling a little regret. He had hit too hard. A wound that let you see the scenery behind you would be a critical injury for anyone.

"Defense."

Kensei could hardly believe his ears—was this gravely wounded brat actually telling him to defend? What the hell?

Just as Kensei was about to retort, he suddenly felt a terrifying Reiatsu erupt from the brat before him—more precisely, from Tsunayoshi's fist.

Such a terrifying Reiatsu condensed into that tiny fist—what kind of fearsome attack would it unleash?

Kensei had no time to think further. A blinding light immediately engulfed Tsunayoshi's right fist, his gauntlet blazing with radiance as dazzling as the sun.

Defend? How was he supposed to defend?

Kensei barely managed to cross his arms in front of his chest before Tsunayoshi's fist slammed into his forearms. Amid the violent Reiatsu, two sharp cracks rang out.

Sunlight Counter!

The terrifying Reiatsu Kensei had sensed crashed fully onto him, utterly impossible to withstand. Kensei was blasted backward by the blazing light, vanishing from sight in an instant.

Boom!!!

From deep within the warehouse, a series of violent echoes rang out. Hachigen Ushōda's expression shifted instantly—the barrier he had set up here was damaged!

Hachigen hurriedly formed hand seals, intending to use a barrier Kido to repair the barrier, but someone moved faster than him—Kukaku Shiba, who had already prepared himself the moment he saw Tsunayoshi's Sun Armlet.

With Shiba's barrier Kido reinforcement, the warehouse's tremors seemed to subside. Hachigen let out a sigh of relief, though he couldn't shake the feeling that Shiba had come here specifically to reinforce the barrier.

Seeing the battle end, Shinji flashed over to Tsunayoshi. "Kid, don't you think you went a bit too far? This kind of mutual destruction could have been avoided."

"Mutual destruction? I don't follow," Tsunayoshi said, straightening his back and lifting his head, a full smile on his face.

Shinji could hardly believe what he saw. The plate-sized wound on Tsunayoshi's chest had vanished at some point. Wisps of white steam rose from Tsunayoshi's abdomen—the horrific through-and-through injury had already closed, and it looked like it would fully recover before long.

In other words, there had never been any mutual destruction. Sawada Tsunayoshi had regenerative abilities. The only one injured was Muguruma Kensei, who had taken Tsunayoshi's attack head-on with no way to heal himself.

(PS: Ryo's Sun Armlet was too abstract. I can understand trading blood for energy, but needing to nearly kill yourself before unleashing a big move? That's incomprehensible—especially when it uses the Sun Flame VG, the only healing flame in the entire series, yet can't heal its own user.

In this book, the Sun Armlet has been changed to possess regenerative abilities. When the protagonist uses Sun Attribute Bankai, he becomes like a berserker—able to trade HP for damage output, but also capable of healing himself. The VG's method of igniting flames through the number of hits taken has also been changed to igniting flames of varying intensity based on the severity of damage received.)