As Gilgamesh chanted, golden ripples suddenly appeared one after another across the ground beneath Isshin Shiba's feet.
His instincts warned him of danger, and Isshin Shiba fled without a second thought, using Flash Step.
At that very moment, enormous golden chains burst from the ripples in the earth, stretching from the heavens to the ground.
Watching the scene before him, Isshin Shiba's pupils began to tremble.
Reflected in his eyes, the enormous golden chains seemed to connect the heavens and earth.
Before those colossal chains, Isshin Shiba felt as tiny as an ant.
His heart began to quiver, and Gilgamesh's words kept surfacing in his mind.
Divinity...
The true power of Enkidu...
That chant, so much like a Zanpakuto release incantation...
Isshin Shiba couldn't help murmuring in a trembling voice.
"What in the world is going on!?"
"Are those chains stretching from the heavens to the ground his Bankai?"
"But didn't he say he didn't have a Zanpakuto?"
"And if this is Bankai, why can't I sense any spiritual pressure at all?"
Isshin Shiba wasn't the only one. Kaien Shiba and Yoruichi Shihouin, who were fighting in the distance, were also drawn by the commotion as the Noble Phantasm Enkidu was released.
When they saw the enormous golden chains stretching from the heavens to the ground, Kaien Shiba and Yoruichi Shihouin were both stunned.
They were far enough away to see the entire scene, which made it all the more shocking.
The spectacle was so astonishing that they even forgot they were in the middle of a fight.
After a brief silence, Kaien Shiba and Yoruichi Shihouin rushed toward Enkidu as it was being released.
Kaien Shiba was worried about Isshin Shiba.
As Isshin Shiba's nephew, Kaien Shiba knew him well. He knew that these enormous chains definitely weren't the power of Isshin Shiba's Zanpakuto.
Yoruichi Shihouin was worried about Gilgamesh.
She didn't know Isshin Shiba, and she had never seen Gilgamesh use Enkidu.
But she had just sensed Isshin Shiba's undisguised spiritual pressure.
Now, seeing Enkidu stretch from the heavens to the ground, Yoruichi Shihouin assumed Isshin Shiba had unleashed his Bankai.
So she was worried that Gilgamesh might be in danger.
Just as Yoruichi Shihouin and Kaien Shiba raced toward them, the chains stretching from the heavens to the ground suddenly converged, forming one vast chain that swept across the sky, roaming freely like a golden dragon from myth.
Isshin Shiba's instinctive warning of danger reached an unprecedented peak.
Run!
Run!
Run!
The word run kept appearing in his mind, growing larger until it filled his every thought.
His body followed its instinct to survive, using Flash Step again and again as he fled at full speed.
The display seemed to enrage the Golden Dragon of the Heavens roaming across the sky. It plunged toward Isshin Shiba like a meteor.
The air tore apart in its wake, space roared, and boundless waves of air surged, whipping up a violent gale.
The scene was like a natural disaster, as if the Golden Dragon of the Heavens were venting its fury.
Kaien Shiba and Yoruichi Shihouin saw it from afar. Before they even got close, they felt their hearts seize.
And that was nothing compared to what Isshin Shiba must have felt as he faced the Golden Dragon of the Heavens head-on.
But Isshin Shiba was worthy of being a Captain-level fighter. Even now, he didn't lose his composure.
He clenched his teeth and forced himself to stay calm, pouring his spiritual pressure into his Zanpakuto, Engetsu, as if it were limitless.
He wasn't in a state that could sustain Bankai.
Isshin Shiba knew that the only thing he could do now was risk everything and unleash the strongest Getsuga Tensho of his life.
Eyes wide with fury, Isshin Shiba raised Engetsu high and roared, "Getsuga... Tensho!!!"
As Isshin Shiba brought Engetsu down, a blazing blade of spiritual pressure surged into the air. Like Ittō Kasō, it slashed straight toward Roaming Dragon of the Heavens.
At that moment, the heavens and earth seemed to fall silent.
In Kaien Shiba and Yoruichi Shihouin's eyes, the collision created a terrifying burst of pressure that spread outward in a surging ring of wind, mixed with drifting flames.
At the center of the collision, sand and stones filled the air. They couldn't see what was happening inside; all they could make out were the parts of Enkidu still visible beyond the storm of debris.
Then the delayed sound rang out.
Boom!
The terrifying shock waves forced Kaien Shiba and Yoruichi Shihouin to halt their Flash Steps. They hovered in midair, their hearts already in their throats.
Once the dust settled, Enkidu gradually faded away, along with the Golden Throne beneath Gilgamesh, returning to the Gate of Babylon.
Then the Gate of the Gods closed.
Kaien Shiba and Yoruichi Shihouin arrived a moment later.
Yoruichi Shihouin immediately went to Gilgamesh. After checking him carefully and finding him unharmed, she finally let out a sigh of relief.
Only then did Yoruichi Shihouin turn her attention to the surroundings.
She saw that the terrain had been completely transformed by the battle. The ground was split open, trees had fallen, and craters of all shapes and sizes and varying depths stretched as far as the eye could see.
Kaien Shiba and Isshin Shiba were in the largest crater.
Isshin Shiba sat slumped on the ground, his face full of relief at having survived. He gasped for breath.
Isshin Shiba knew he was alive not because his strongest Getsuga Tensho had stopped Enkidu, but because Gilgamesh hadn't meant to take his life.
Enkidu had seemed to crash toward him, but its trajectory had been off. After scattering his Getsuga Tensho, it slammed into the ground beside him.
Kaien Shiba looked at the enormous, bottomless crater beside Isshin Shiba, like a small lake. Cold sweat had already broken out across his face.
Though he hadn't faced it directly, just looking at the rift Enkidu had carved into the earth left Kaien Shiba feeling suffocated and crushed by... fear!
That was right. Kaien Shiba, a Captain-level fighter, felt fear toward the Charisma of the Beautiful Boy, who appeared to be only around twelve years old.
Isshin Shiba finally came to his senses. Leaning on his Zanpakuto, which had reverted from Shikai, he struggled to his feet and remarked, "What a terrifying guy."
"I'm willing to believe he really is Gilgamesh now."
"If he isn't, I truly have no idea what those relics without any spiritual pressure are, or how to explain those incomprehensible abilities."
As he spoke, Isshin Shiba looked at Kaien Shiba, who still had a slight frown and hadn't accepted the truth. His expression turned serious. "Kaien, be careful from now on. Don't antagonize him under any circumstances. At least, not yet."
"He has the power to keep both of us here."
Kaien Shiba froze. He hadn't expected Isshin Shiba to say that.
Before Kaien Shiba could ask anything, Isshin Shiba continued, "Do you know? Those golden vortices he summoned are actually connected to his treasury."
"According to him, his treasury contains the original versions of every human myth."
"That chain stretching from the heavens to the ground just now, Enkidu, is only one of those mythological originals."
"And I can tell that Enkidu isn't the strongest mythological original he possesses..."
Before Isshin Shiba could finish, Gilgamesh spoke in an approving voice. "As expected of a captain of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads. Your instincts are indeed sharp."
"Indeed, Enkidu is not my strongest Noble Phantasm."
"I don't mind telling you. My strongest Noble Phantasm is called... Ea!"
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