The moth caught sight of the flame

Bankai was the second stage of a Soul Reaper's Zanpakuto release after Shikai, as well as the Zanpakuto's final form. It was a more thorough, more comprehensive release and use of the Zanpakuto's abilities.

At the same time, Bankai was also the mark of a Gotei 13 captain. Under normal circumstances, only those who had mastered their Zanpakuto's Bankai were permitted to become captains of the Gotei 13. In other words, in the Soul Society, only those who had mastered Bankai could be called strong.

"Do your best~"

"Urahara, I have high hopes for you."

Sōgo Shihoin fetched a chair from somewhere and sat on it backward, his arms draped casually over its back and his chin pressed against them. He watched with interest as Kisuke Urahara lay on the ground, completely unconscious, with expressions of pain occasionally flashing across his face.

Meanwhile, inside Kisuke Urahara's inner world.

"Hey, hey, hey?"

"Miss Benihime~ Could you stop for a moment? I'll die if you keep attacking like this."

In Kisuke Urahara's inner world, amid streets that closely resembled the Seireitei, Urahara kept dodging as he begged a certain woman who was attacking him relentlessly for mercy.

"Urahara, you should know you don't have much time left. Faced with Spiritual Pressure of that level, you'll die if you can't take another step forward and grow stronger..."

The one who answered Kisuke Urahara was a breathtaking beauty dressed in red, as lovely as a celestial maiden. One look at her beauty was enough to understand why she was named Benihime.

"No, the problem is that Miss Benihime might kill me before Sōgo gets the chance."

Kisuke Urahara kept putting distance between himself and Benihime as he shook his head.

"If you're the sort of man who can't learn my true name even before his death, then wouldn't dying at my hands be better than dying at an outsider's?"

Benihime watched Kisuke Urahara as he kept putting distance between them and spoke with a somewhat complicated look in her eyes.

"True, but I have no other strengths as a man except being hard to kill. So, Miss Benihime, I'll be in your care for these next few hours before I die~"

After hearing Benihime's words, Kisuke Urahara slowly stopped dodging and released the Shikai of the Zanpakuto in his hand.

"That's a fine look in your eyes~"

"Then defeat me! Conquer me, Urahara!"

Seeing the serious, responsible look in Kisuke Urahara's eyes, Benihime smiled, then launched a fierce assault on him.

"Ah... I'm so bored~"

Slumped over the back of his chair, Sōgo Shihoin watched Kisuke Urahara's Spiritual Pressure begin to increase slowly and knew that his Bankai was practically assured. Now, all he had to do was sit here and wait, but waiting was what Sōgo hated most. Only a few minutes had passed, yet he was already getting sleepy.

Meanwhile, in the other palaces apart from Kirin Palace.

Inside Phoenix Palace, where Ōetsu Nimaiya, the creator of the Zanpakuto and the forger of every Asauchi in the Soul Society, resided.

"What absurd Spiritual Pressure is this?"

The young master of the Kuchiki Clan, who had jet-black hair and wore a haori, felt the terrifying Spiritual Pressure that seemed ready to crush him. Beads of sweat seeped nervously from his forehead.

"Hmm..."

"What a pain! That monster went and undid his seal without permission."

Ōetsu Nimaiya rubbed his fluffy hair, looking somewhat languid.

"Still, it's too early for you two to face Spiritual Pressure of this level."

Perhaps noticing the miserable state of the two disciples in his palace, Ōetsu Nimaiya activated Phoenix Palace's shielding system with a wave of his hand, blocking the powerful Spiritual Pressure that had invaded from outside.

"Teacher Ōetsu, what was that just now?"

Tokinada knelt on one knee, the sweat pouring off him already soaking a patch of the floor. He questioned Ōetsu Nimaiya in some alarm.

The moment that Spiritual Pressure bore down on him, Tokinada had felt as though an enormous mountain were pressing on his body, leaving him unable to breathe. Only after Ōetsu blocked the Spiritual Pressure just now did he have enough strength to ask him a question.

"What? You don't know?" Ōetsu Nimaiya was taken aback by Tokinada's words, then explained, "That Spiritual Pressure just now came from the Shihoin brat who arrived with you undoing the seal on his body. Aren't you close? I thought you'd be acquainted, since you're all children of the Five Great Noble Clans and around the same age."

"Not even the captains of the Gotei 13 have Spiritual Pressure like that, do they?"

"He's so powerful... But if I had that kind of power too..."

Tsunayashiro Tokinada rose from the floor. The fear he had felt upon first encountering that terrifying Spiritual Pressure was already gone from his eyes. There was only a longing, a longing for power.

"Kid, I'd advise you not to even think about power on that level. I'm not saying this to discourage you on purpose, but that brat's power is anything but ordinary. No, to be precise, it's the only one of its kind in a thousand years. That Spiritual Pressure is so strong it almost defies reason. Even members of Squad Zero like us feel tremendous pressure when facing that brat at full strength, even a sense that the slightest mistake could get us killed. So you two brats mustn't reach beyond your grasp. Just focus on doing what you can do, and that'll be enough."

Ōetsu Nimaiya addressed Tsunayashiro Tokinada and the young master of the Kuchiki Clan. People who pursued power excessively were very prone to going to extremes and ultimately falling. He feared that these two talented brats before him would become slaves obsessed with power. That would be quite embarrassing for him, since these two counted as his nominal disciples, after all.

"Power that comes only once in a thousand years?"

"What an extraordinary man. No, it's precisely because he's extraordinary that he shines. Completely different from me."

After hearing Ōetsu Nimaiya's words, Tsunayashiro Tokinada's pupils trembled slightly, while a peculiar feeling gradually arose within him. Tsunayashiro Tokinada did not abandon his pursuit of power because of Ōetsu Nimaiya's words. On the contrary, he yearned for power all the more, like a moth charging forward without hesitation upon seeing a flame.

Looks like that backfired... But never mind. None of this has anything to do with me. All I need to do is properly temper these two according to the agreement reached with the Five Great Noble Clans. The rest is none of my concern. Even if they cause trouble for the people down below later, that'll be their problem.

A few beads of sweat appeared on Ōetsu Nimaiya's forehead as he looked at the hunger for power in Tsunayashiro Tokinada's eyes. He had never expected his words to have the opposite effect, but he did not care if one or two people who pursued power emerged.

(End of chapter)