A slight figure stepped in front of Gen'en Kinra. At the last possible moment, Saitō Fubōfu blocked Unohana's killing blow.
"Old man, I hate to admit it, but neither of us can beat her alone. Let's team up!" Saitō Fubōfu said coldly.
Central 46... Massacred!
Unohana's expression did not change. "Both of you at once? Fine by me. A fight to the death was never meant to be fair."
Saitō Fubōfu grinned savagely and launched herself forward, thrusting her blade at Unohana's throat.
Gen'en Kinra was slower than Saitō, but his movements were more agile. He stuck close to Unohana like a shadow, his sword stabbing toward her leg.
Unohana was faster than both of them. Gripping her sword with both hands, she met Saitō Fubōfu's blade head-on. Their immense Reiatsu erupted, crushing the surrounding buildings. In the distance, the Gotei 13 members turned pale. What kind of monsters were fighting over there?
Saitō's Reiatsu was formidable, but it could not match Unohana's. Unohana knocked her back with a single strike, sending her flying. A short dagger appeared in Unohana's hand and shot toward Gen'en Kinra's left eye. Forced to swing his sword in defense, he left himself open, and Unohana kicked him away.
Saitō fought more fiercely with every exchange. She spat out blood and charged in heedlessly, while Gen'en Kinra stabbed and slashed with a sword in his right hand and an iron spike in his left.
Even so, the fight grew harder for them both. Unohana drove them back step by step.
Central 46.
"Honored members, this is bad! An intruder is fighting her way here. The Gotei 13 is holding her off, but you must leave at once!" a Central 46 guard shouted.
The Great Sage snorted. "What an unseemly fuss. Who would dare cause trouble at Central 46? Even Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto came to negotiate with us."
"My lord, this enemy is different!" the guard cried. "I'll go ask Captain Commander Yamamoto for help right now."
The Great Sage remained composed. "You youngsters have seen so little of the world. Central 46 is the heart of Soul Society. Who would be so reckless as to disregard the greater good? Nothing will happen. And even if the Gotei 13 cannot stop the intruder, we still have the guards. I have every confidence that they are no weaker than the Gotei 13."
"The Great Sage speaks wisely!"
"Exactly as the Great Sage says!"
The others rushed to flatter him. They had stood above everyone for so long that they thought it only natural for the world to revolve around them.
As they sang the Great Sage's praises, a tremendous force smashed through the doors of Central 46. A figure came tumbling inside.
The lofty sages had never seen anything like it. They froze in shock, with no idea what to do.
The figure was none other than Saitō Fubōfu. She was covered in wounds, and her breathing was ragged.
She had not crashed in of her own accord, either. Unohana had kicked her through the doors.
"Why the hell are you idiots still here? Sitting around waiting to die? Run!" Saitō Fubōfu cursed when she saw them sitting motionless. She had already sent word for them to get out, yet they were still here!
"How dare you, brat! Do you know who we are? How dare you speak to us that way!" a sage said haughtily.
Saitō Fubōfu used Flash Step to appear before him and slapped him hard across the face, leaving him seeing stars.
Everyone there was stunned. Someone had actually dared to strike a sage of Central 46.
"Guards! Get in here! Throw this wild girl out! When Yamamoto returns, I want to see how he explains this!" a Great Sage roared.
Saitō Fubōfu had reached the limit of her patience. She wanted to cut the lot of them down on the spot. Who do you bastards think I've been risking my life for?
BOOM!!!
Something smashed through the wall of Central 46. When the dust cleared, Gen'en Kinra struggled up from the rubble. Even his glasses had been shattered.
"Old man, are you all right?" Saitō shouted. Gen'en Kinra brushed dust from his clothes, coughed twice, and spat out blood.
"Not dead yet. But that woman is terrifying. No one will ever dare marry her!" Gen'en Kinra stared grimly at the hole in the wall.
Then a woman walked in with graceful steps, a sword in her hand.
Her terrifying killing intent silenced everyone.
"So this is the famous Central 46? Soul Society's highest judicial authority? I would have thought its defenses would be stronger. Bring out your strongest fighter. Otherwise..." Unohana swung her sword, sending a sage's head flying.
"I'll have to kill everyone here."
Central 46 erupted into chaos. Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto and Yamabuki Chidori had threatened them before, but neither had actually attacked. This madwoman ignored their positions and began slaughtering them. For the first time, they felt death close at hand. Their sense of superiority vanished, and they scattered like headless chickens, running in circles without finding a way out.
Unohana looked impassively at the useless crowd. These were Soul Society's highest rulers? What a disgrace.
With a casual swing, she killed another. It happened to be the dignified Great Sage from earlier. In death, he was nothing but a heap of flesh.
Gen'en Kinra and Saitō Fubōfu could not let Unohana continue killing. Their mission was to protect the Seireitei. Unfortunately, the useless members of Central 46 fell within that duty too.
"Don't fight! Please! If you fight here, the shockwaves from your Reiatsu will crush us all! Don't do it!" a sage wailed.
At least you aren't completely useless. You know your own limits. If three Captain-level fighters unleashed their Reiatsu at once, almost no one here would survive.
But Gen'en Kinra and Saitō could no longer worry about that. They surged forward with all their Reiatsu. Three powerful forces collided, their colors merging into a pillar that shot into the sky. Half of Central 46 collapsed in an instant.
Unohana spotted several people trying to flee and flicked a handful of concealed weapons at them, pinning them to the ground.
The sages of Central 46 could never have imagined that, in a few short minutes, their esteemed ranks would be cut by more than half. Once this was over, Central 46's power structure would have to be reshuffled.
The collision of those three Reiatsu finally woke Yamabuki Chidori from his afternoon nap.
Yamabuki Chidori vs. Unohana Yachiru
Yamabuki Chidori had been napping in his office when a deafening crash came from Central 46. Startled, he sat bolt upright.
"What happened? Did the Quincy attack?" Yamabuki Chidori hurriedly patted his face to wake himself up and looked toward Central 46. A pillar of three-colored Reiatsu soared into the sky, blowing half the complex apart.
Yamabuki Chidori could not help saying, "What a sight. Wait, this isn't the time to admire it. I need to find out what happened!"
He immediately used Flash Step and headed for Central 46.
Inside Central 46, everything was in ruins. Half of the Great Sages who normally looked down on everyone lay dead on the ground. The rest wept and wailed, with none of the composure expected of an elite.
Gen'en Kinra lay on the ground, completely unable to fight. Saitō Fubōfu panted as she glared at the woman before her. Even against two captains, their opponent had defeated them without taking a scratch. Her strength was absurd.
"Will you bring out your strongest fighter now? If you don't, you'll die," Unohana said in the gentlest of voices. Saitō gritted her teeth. The Gotei 13's best fighters were away on missions. If the Captain Commander were here, you wouldn't be acting so arrogant.
"It seems you won't tell me. Farewell, little girl." Unohana raised her sword toward Saitō Fubōfu's chest. Saitō had no strength left to resist. She could only watch as the blade descended. But the next instant, Unohana's expression changed. Her sword had not pierced Saitō Fubōfu. The girl had vanished into thin air.
"Made it just in time."
A young man's voice rang out. Unohana eyed the boy who had suddenly appeared before her.
Yamabuki Chidori held Saitō Fubōfu in one arm and a sword in the other. As he looked around at the devastation, delight welled up inside him. Who did this? Damn, this feels good. I've been sick of Central 46 for ages. His face showed grief at the sight of those once-lofty fools wailing in misery, but inside, he was thrilled.
"Y-Yamabuki Chidori! You're here! Thank goodness! Kill this madwoman!" To the members of Central 46, Yamabuki Chidori looked like their salvation.
But when Yamabuki Chidori got a clear look at the "madwoman," his heart sank.
"Unohana... Yachiru!" A chill ran through him. The wildest of the Gotei 13's First Generation Captains had finally arrived.
Yamabuki Chidori suddenly remembered the mountain of corpses he had seen in Gomukui District not long ago. There was no need to guess who had made it.
"Can you move?" Yamabuki Chidori asked Saitō, who was in his arms.
"Of course I can. Ow!" Saitō said, trying to sound proud.
Saitō had wounds of every size across her body. Yamabuki Chidori used healing Kido to treat them a little.
"I never thought you'd be the one to save me when it mattered most," Saitō Fubōfu said, her cheeks reddening slightly.
"You still owe me twenty-nine days of work. I can't let you die yet. Leave this to me and take the old man away." Yamabuki Chidori kept a wary eye on Unohana.
"You're joking, right? The old man and I couldn't beat her together. How could you?" Saitō Fubōfu said anxiously. As she saw it, their only hope was to bring back the Captain Commander immediately. This woman was beyond what an ordinary captain could handle.
"Don't underestimate me. Take the old man and go. I'll handle this," Yamabuki Chidori said with confidence. "And the rest of you!"
Yamabuki Chidori pointed his sword at the remaining members of Central 46. "If you don't want to die, leave now. Seal off everything within five kilometers—no, fifteen kilometers. Don't let anyone in. If someone gets caught in this and dies, don't blame me."
At last, the members of Central 46 saw a chance to survive. They scrambled out of that hell and ordered the other Soul Reapers to erect a barrier around a fifteen-kilometer radius. It was not to be opened unless Yamabuki Chidori had been confirmed to have killed the enemy.
Unohana quietly watched Yamabuki Chidori issue his orders until only the two of them remained.
"Are you the strongest member of the Gotei 13?" Unohana asked.
"No. I'm just an administrator. Plenty of people are stronger than me. But none of our fighters are here, so you'll have to settle for me. I'm Yamabuki Chidori, Chief Strategist of the Gotei 13," he said evenly. He was still wearing his haori, but instead of a division number, a large character for "strategy" marked its back.
An administrator? Unohana was disappointed. His Reiatsu was certainly strong, but it was roughly on par with the two she had just beaten. He could not possibly defeat her.
One strike should settle this.
Unohana appeared before Yamabuki Chidori in an instant and brought her sword down. Just as the blade was about to reach him, he vanished. Then a cold edge brushed her cheek. A sword. So fast!
Unohana sprang away, the blade grazing her cheek as it passed.
"Too bad. I thought I could finish you in one blow!" Yamabuki Chidori smiled. In the next instant, his smile turned ferocious. "Flash Blossom!"
Yamabuki Chidori pushed Flash Step to its limit, using its speed to lend power to his swordsmanship.
But Unohana's Flash Step was faster, and her swordsmanship was fiercer. She used the same principle, adding the speed of Flash Step to her strikes.
They flashed past each other and came to a stop where the other had stood.
"Ah! That hurts! What a fast sword!" Yamabuki Chidori looked at the wound on his shoulder.
Surprise crossed Unohana's face. Yamabuki Chidori's sword had left a shallow cut on the back of her hand. It was slight, but it had been a long time since anyone had wounded her.
Yamabuki Chidori had fared worse. Blood poured from his shoulder.
The next instant, Unohana's expression grew stranger still. Yamabuki Chidori began using healing Kido on himself, and within seconds, the wound had closed completely.
"What ability is that?" Unohana asked in surprise.
"It's healing Kido, a type of Kidō Soul Reapers use to treat injuries. Want to learn? I can teach you!" Yamabuki Chidori asked with a grin.
His opponent was undeniably strong, but so far, she was still within what he could handle. I have the advantage!
Super Regeneration
"Healing Kido? An interesting ability," Unohana said calmly. Her presence shifted from violent to serene as she gripped her sword with both hands and waited for Yamabuki Chidori to attack.
Yamabuki Chidori used Flash Step again, slipping past Unohana like a phantom. This time she did not attack. With the smallest of movements, she evaded his surprise strike.
What? Yamabuki Chidori's expression changed. He landed on one foot, spun, and charged again at tremendous speed. Unohana's face turned cold. They flashed past each other, and she flicked the blood from her blade. The droplets drew a straight line across the ground.
A ghastly horizontal wound gaped across Yamabuki Chidori's stomach. If he had not checked his momentum in time, the strike might have cut him in half and spilled his intestines onto the ground.
Yamabuki Chidori hurriedly absorbed the surrounding Reishi and combined it with healing Kido. The wound began to close rapidly.
"Your sword is fast, but you leave too many openings. I don't even need to attack. I can just wait for you to run onto my blade. I never thought the Gotei 13 would rely on someone like you as its last line of defense. How disappointing." Unohana shook her head slightly. She had expected a thrilling battle, but her opponent's strength had left her dissatisfied.
Once Yamabuki Chidori felt his wound had mostly healed, he took two steps back and fixed his eyes on Unohana.
She had spotted a flaw in his swordsmanship in an instant and wounded him with a casual strike. It was like the Dugu Nine Swords from a martial arts novel.
So a sword could be used like that.
Yamabuki Chidori took a deep breath. This time, he did not use Flash Step. He walked slowly forward until he stood two meters from Unohana.
"Hm? What are you doing?" Unohana asked.
Yamabuki Chidori struck without warning. Every technique in the world had an opening; that much was certain. As he approached, he had been studying Unohana's swordsmanship for flaws. He had soon found one.
His sword shot toward Unohana's chest like lightning. A flicker passed through her eyes. Had this boy seen through an opening in my swordsmanship? Was his eye really that keen? Impossible. Was it a lucky guess?
Those thoughts flashed through Unohana's mind, but life and death on the battlefield could be decided in an instant. She had no time to dwell on them. She tilted aside to avoid his sword and thrust with her own.
A savage grin spread across Yamabuki Chidori's face. He made no move to defend himself. His recovery was extraordinary. He could absorb Reishi and use healing Kido at the same time. Who knew whether he might one day develop Hard Skin, Blut Vene, and Super-Speed Regeneration as well?
Unohana's sword drove toward Yamabuki Chidori's chest. He thrust his own blade toward hers.
Let's see which of us dies first. Don't dodge if you dare!
CLANG!!!
Forced into a corner, Unohana had no choice but to pull back her sword to defend herself.
He had a strange art that let him heal wounds quickly. She had no such ability.
When experts crossed swords, an instant could decide life or death.
In that instant, Unohana was forced onto the defensive. Yamabuki Chidori unleashed a storm of attacks, each strike aimed at one of her openings and forcing her farther back.
What was going on? His Reiatsu and swordsmanship were improving at a frightening pace. Was this really the same person as before? Surprise showed on Unohana's face, but that alone would not be enough to defeat her.
A master swordswoman, Unohana could see the flaws in her enemies' techniques—and knew the flaws in her own.
Yamabuki Chidori's sword rained blows upon her, but though he kept driving her back, he could not wound her.
As their swords clashed, the blade in Unohana's hand suddenly vanished. Yamabuki Chidori froze. What just happened?
Before you continue