Each Other's Bonds (3)

Hueco Mundo remains a desolate and barren world.

Watching the Garganta disappear, the Shadow withdrew his gaze, rubbed his slightly long black hair, and placed one hand on the black Zanpakutō stuck at his feet. Black Shade continued to spill out, and the next moment, the robust figure of the Eroding Wolf appeared.

"They've all been sent away!" With his arms crossed over his chest, the Eroding Wolf bared his sharp fangs.

"Hmm!" Shadow responded, looking at Eroding Wolf, and said, "Alright, enough talk, what are the conditions for Bankai? Let's get started!"

"That's true!"

Nodding, Eroding Wolf took three steps back. Knowing that Shadow's time was limited, he didn't waste any more words and went straight to the point. Black Reiatsu surged into the sky, as if something was pulling it. From all directions, far away, and even further away, Shade were constantly gathering around Eroding Wolf, turning into two-meter-tall, faceless Shadow Puppets.

Shadow frowned. What was this? He could sense that the Shadow Puppets were very strong, each possessing power no less than that of Lieutenant, with the strongest even reaching Captain-class strength. But was that all? Shadow wasn't exaggerating; even if they were all Captain-class, they wouldn't be a big deal to him.

He didn't take this power seriously, but Shadow also knew very well that his Bankai would definitely not be that simple, nor could it be that simple.

Sure enough, in just about ten seconds, the number of Shadow Puppets had reached an astonishing level. Shadow grinned, estimating that there were at least two thousand or more, and they were still increasing.

"Little Wolf!" Shadow's voice was slightly hoarse, but of course, he wasn't afraid.

"This is the reason I had you choose Bankai Mundo as the location for practicing Hueco Mundo!" Eroding Wolf said calmly. "Neither the World of the Living nor Soul Society can achieve this level Shade skill. Shadow, you are Shade, and so am I. Shade are present in every corner of the world; you could say they are a microcosm of the world. Only in the undisturbed and dark Hueco Mundo can my abilities be maximized..."

"These Shadow Puppets are actually aggregates of Hueco Mundo's power, you understand what I mean? They are not easy to deal with. Right now, they are generating more than three hundred per second, which is an astonishing number! To achieve Bankai, you must make them all disappear!"

"All disappeared..."

"That's right, they all disappeared, not one left. But as I said before, these Shadow Puppets are the convergence of Hueco Mundo's power. As long as this power continues, the Shadow Puppets will never disappear!" With a somewhat helpless smile, Eroding Wolf explained, "You know, right? You've already qualified for Bankai. In theory, as your sword spirit, you could Bankai at any time if I agreed. But ultimately, that's not possible, because we are both bound by restrictions—the restrictions of this world!"

"The world's... restriction!" Shadow suddenly understood something.

The Eroding Wolf's voice carried a hint of heaviness, yet also a sense of pride.

"That's exactly what you think. We're too strong! Strong enough to destroy this world. So even the rules of heaven and earth are suppressing us. Shadow, kill! What rules, what heaven and earth? They're all nonsense. We are the strongest!"

His body trembled slightly, Eroding Wolf's voice was shrouded in an indescribable gloom.

"In time and all things, where there is light, there must be a corresponding darkness. Light and darkness are inherently intertwined. Time, space, rules, power, and even the world itself all have Shade —that is our power, that is your power..."

"Watch out, Shadow! The conditions for this Bankai aren't set by me anymore; the world is watching you!" Eroding Wolf grinned. "Bankai... your next opponent is this world..."

"The world, haha..."

Shadow suddenly laughed, a hearty laugh, a very... excited laugh.

"Isn't this great! I thought it would end so easily, wouldn't that be so boring!"

His slightly long black hair moved without wind, and his body trembled with excitement. His eyes, which were dark but gleamed with an eerie red light, turned blood red with excitement.

That was the color of yearning for blood, the color of yearning for battle, the color of yearning for slaughter...

"Let's go, Little Wolf!"

"Ah!"

······

The World of the Living, the battlefield.

"Hey! They got beaten up pretty badly!"

Carrying a nicked sword, Kenpachi Zaraki swept his wild, beast-like gaze over the heavily injured people within the Kido barrier on the ground: Soi Fon arm, Toshiro Hitsugaya covered in wounds, and the disheveled Shunsui Kyōraku and Jūshirō Ukitake. Kenpachi Zaraki, his fighting spirit surging.

"Then tell me, which of those three Espada is the strongest? I want to go and fight him! Hahaha..."

"Hmph! The strongest!" Byakuya Kuchiki scoffed. "At your level, huh!"

"Ah! What do you mean by that, Byakuya Kuchiki!" Kenpachi Zaraki grinned savagely, clearly annoyed. "Or do you want to try it out first? Don't talk to your senior brother like that! Kid, I'm enough on my own. You can just hide in the back and keep panting!"

"Yeah!"

Byakuya Kuchiki's eye twitched, and he stared at Kenpachi Zaraki without backing down. Their eyes met in the air, making a series of crackling sounds.

"I'd love to see what use your knife, which can't even cut through skin, is!"

"Killing you is enough!"

"······"

Kenpachi Zaraki's volatile temper and Byakuya Kuchiki's sharp edge filled their conversation with a palpable tension.

"Kenny, keep it up! And Big Whitey, keep it up too!"

Yachiru Kusajishi jumped up and down, cheering from the sidelines.

"Hey! Lieutenant Kusajishi!"

Everyone was quite helpless.

"Big brother!"

"Captain, Captain Zaraki!"

Rukia Kuchiki and Renji Abarai pulled one of them back. They couldn't let the two of them continue arguing like this. They were certain that, based on past experience, another word could lead to a fight. With the enemy present, they couldn't afford to start fighting amongst themselves.

"Huh! These two!" Shunsui Kyōraku sighed helplessly; "They haven't even exchanged three sentences, and they're already arguing again. Hey! Little Nanao, they're like this in Hueco Mundo too, aren't they!"

"Ah!" Nanao Ise's lips twitched violently; even she, usually calm and composed, couldn't help but be exasperated. "Captain, you're right! Captain Kuchiki and Captain Zaraki just had a fight in Hueco Mundo!"

"Speaking of which, whenever Kuchiki meets Zaraki, it's like he becomes a completely different person!" Jūshirō Ukitake scratched his head and chuckled dryly, not knowing what to say.

"Isn't this great!" Retsu Unohana walked towards Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto, then turned back upon hearing this, saying, "Isn't it full of energy!"

"What kind of vitality is this?!"

Ichigo Kurosaki couldn't help but feel annoyed and thought, "This kind of confrontation isn't even energetic anymore!"

"Oh, Kurosaki!"

As if hearing Ichigo Kurosaki's quiet muttering, Retsu Unohana looked over, her smile widening, and even her tone seemed to slow down for a moment.

Did you just say anything?

"N-nothing... it's nothing!"

His heart skipped a beat, and Ichigo Kurosaki broke out in a cold sweat, waving his hands frantically.

"Yeah!"

"Captain Unohana!"

Seemingly unmoved by the farce between Byakuya Kuchiki and Kenpachi Zaraki, Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto. What he wanted to know most now was why they had returned to the World of the Living. After all, opening the Garganta was a very complicated process. With Mayuri Kurotsuchi's abilities, he could only bring back one or two people at most, let alone so many. Therefore, Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto had never considered the combat strength of these people from the very beginning.

"Shadow brought us back!"

Even without Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto explaining, Retsu Unohana knew what he was asking.

"Shadow!"

Opening his cloudy eyes, Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto finally showed a hint of surprise. He knew, of course, that Shadow had the ability to open the Garganta at will, but he didn't understand why Shadow had gone to Hueco Mundo.

"They said they wanted to practice Bankai!"

"Nani! Bankai!"

Hearing Retsu Unohana's answer, Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto, Shunsui Kyōraku, Jūshirō Ukitake, Soi Fon, Toshiro Hitsugaya, Rangiku Matsumoto, and the others were all stunned. To train Bankai at this time? What a joke! How could they possibly do it? In the thousands of years of history of Soul Society, the fastest Bankai to date takes at least three days.

"What is that Shadow guy up to!" Shunsui Kyōraku said in a serious voice.

"Lord Shadow must have his reasons for doing this!"

Despite her surprise, confusion, and belief that it would be difficult, Soi Fon still believed in Shadow. She felt that even if it was difficult, as long as that person said it, he would definitely do it.

"Yes! There's nothing to worry about!" Jūshirō Ukitake smiled. "Shadow is always a steady person; he wouldn't do something he's not sure about at a time like this!"

"Just trust him!"

Retsu Unohana's gaze swept across the battlefield, her tone turning slightly somber; "No matter what, we just need to wait for him to return!"

"That's true!"

Suddenly, a tearing sound came, a sound they recognized—the sound of space shattering. Looking up, they saw that space began to distort beside the burning flames, and Big Black cavity, hundreds of meters in diameter, appeared.