Boom! Boom! Krrk! Krrk! Boom! Krrrkk!
Like the clattering of a loom driving the world itself, a thunderous sound echoed through Shutara's Bankai space.
A gigantic golden loom, as vast as a mountain range and so complex its structure defied imagination, rose straight up from the center of the space.
It began to move. Countless enormous bolts of cloth, glowing with sacred radiance, poured out like waterfalls, slicing apart and reconstructing the battlefield in an irresistible manner.
Under Rosse's malicious control, the three members of Squad Zero, Head Captain Yamamoto, and Kyoraku Shunsui, the five strongest combatants present, were precisely sealed away, each in their own isolated compartment.
As for the two phantoms, "Rosse" and "Aizen," they were locked together in another space.
Krrrkk! Krrrkk!
The loom continued to spin madly, like the wheel of fate itself. And only now was the true killing intent of the Bankai beginning to reveal itself.
———
Meanwhile—
Inside the royal palace of Fish-Man Island, Senjumaru silently stared at the water mirror before her.
And within that mirror was the very scene of her Zanpakuto's Bankai.
No matter what, she could not have imagined that Rosse would actually be able to use her Bankai.
After all, she herself had only used it once, and that time it had been interrupted by Rosse almost the moment it was released.
Yet looking at Rosse's practiced, fluent control, she almost felt that the peerless, elegant woman in the water mirror was none other than herself.
So similar. Far too similar.
Forget Nimaiya Oetsu and the others. Even if she herself encountered such a Shutara, she would not have the slightest doubt.
It seemed she would never be returning to Soul Society.
Senjumaru let out a soft sigh, stopped dwelling on those pointless thoughts, and began to observe the battle over in Soul Society from the perspective of a bystander.
Since things had already come to this, there was no use thinking too much.
Better to see whether her Bankai could truly overcome so many powerful enemies.
She really had never tried fighting four opponents of the same level using Bankai.
"Unravel One Hank: Eyes of Many Branches. The eyes be crushed, of those who stare back".
An ancient chant filled with ominous meaning echoed through every divided space.
And Shutara Senjumaru, watching the scene in the water mirror as an observer, instantly widened her eyes in shock.
"How is that possible? Each 'hank' of my Bankai clearly corresponds to only one rule, targeting a single enemy! He… how could he cover six spaces at once with the very first hank?"
From her god's-eye view, terrifying changes occurred simultaneously within the six independent worlds separated by cloth.
Upon countless hanging fabric strips shimmering with hazy light, it was as if life had been infused into them. One by one, tens of thousands of eyes slowly "opened."
Those eyes had pupils that shifted in kaleidoscopic colors, radiating deadly temptation.
Any being that attempted to look directly at them would have its eyes burned and burst by that dazzling light in an instant, ultimately reduced to nothingness.
Within the loom space, normally, in the face of this first attack, fighting with one's eyes closed would be the best option.
However, facing this bizarre and unavoidable rule-based assault, Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto chose the most unreasonable and most overbearing response possible.
He did not dodge, nor did he close his eyes. He merely slowly spoke the one word that were enough to make all of Soul Society tremble.
"BANKAI!"
In that instant, all light within the space was extinguished.
Immediately after, a sun condensed to the extreme, as though it could burn through time and space itself, rose violently with Head Captain Yamamoto at its center.
An endless aura capable of incinerating all things was no longer wild flames, but light compressed to the absolute limit.
The spatial partitions formed by reishi cloth did not even go through a process of burning under this scorching presence. They were simply erased outright.
"You've got to be kidding me. Is that old man's Bankai really this terrifying?", The shock in Senjumaru's eyes deepened.
Fine, Rosse using her own Bankai better than she could herself could be explained. After all, he was the controller of an entire world.
But what right did Head Captain Yamamoto have to melt away more than half of her Bankai's space just by releasing his Bankai?
Even across worlds, she could clearly sense that the Bankai space released by Rosse was sturdier than when she herself released it.
And yet, under these circumstances, it had almost been burned through by Head Captain Yamamoto. That could only mean one thing. Her Bankai and Yamamoto's Bankai were not on the same level at all.
Especially when the reishi cloth burned away, Senjumaru saw Rosse toss her a glance.
She barely needed to interpret it before she instantly exploded in fury.
"You bastard! If you've got the guts, don't use my Bankai! Using it and then calling it weak, you shameless piece of trash!"
Unfortunately, no matter how Senjumaru cursed, her voice could not reach the battlefield, nor did it have any effect on either side of the fight.
———
"What a truly astonishing Bankai. As expected of you," Shutara let out a cry of admiration.
At this moment, under the influence of Head Captain Yamamoto's Bankai, the entire space was as bright as broad daylight, and the Head Captain was holding a sword that looked battered and gave off faint sparks.
From appearances alone, it was nothing more than an ordinary, damaged Zanpakuto.
But anyone of captain level or above could sense the dense killing intent contained within that blade.
Gazing upon Head Captain Yamamoto's Bankai, it was not only him who inspired awe. Everyone enveloped by the space was in awe.
This was merely the initial stage of Bankai, yet it had already completely crushed Shutara's Bankai. It could be said that the two were simply not on the same level.
Even Aizen stared at the sword in Head Captain Yamamoto's hand with fervent intensity, no one knowing what he was plotting.
However, with Kyoka Suigetsu concealing him, no one except Rosse noticed anything unusual.
Once Head Captain Yamamoto went all out, Aizen's Kyoka Suigetsu could no longer exert much influence on him.
Under the absolute gap in spiritual pressure, Aizen could even clearly sense that Kyoka Suigetsu could affect Head Captain Yamamoto for at most three seconds.
The only reason he had not yet been exposed was entirely because Rosse was maintaining Kyoka Suigetsu.
"My philosophy was never wrong. A Shinigami's battle is a battle of spiritual pressure. If your spiritual pressure isn't enough, you don't even qualify to take part."
As he watched the two powerhouses facing each other from afar at full strength, the brightest light flashed through Aizen's eyes.
This kind of peak spectacle was what he had pursued his entire life.
And he would, in the end, surpass both of the men fighting here now.
"Zanka no Tachi, Higashi: Kyokujitsujin!"
"Unravel Two Hanks: Armor of Blade Metal. There shall be nothing, to stand dressed in!"
The incantations of Head Captain Yamamoto's and Shutara's Bankai nearly exploded through the space at the same time.
In the blink of an eye, two terrifying spiritual pressures shot skyward. Under this extreme pressure, the weakest among them, Kyoraku Shunsui, found it difficult even to remain standing.
And the three members of Squad Zero all stared at Shutara in shock.
The previous Shutara Senjumaru was absolutely not this strong.
For her to still reach this level after breaking the Soul King contract could only mean that she had obtained something from the Hollow King Palace.
But at this moment, they had no intention of joining the battle.
Unable to use Bankai, they would be little more than cannon fodder in this fight. It was better to let Head Captain Yamamoto go first, and only press in if something unexpected happened.
At the same time, the battle erupted once more.
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