"Limit of the thousands hands, respectful hands, unable to touch the darkness. Shooting hands unable to reflect the blue sky. The road that basks in light, the wind that ignited the embers, time that gathers when both are together, there is no need to be hesitant, obey my orders. Light bullets, eight bodies, nine items, book of heaven, diseased treasure, great wheel, grey fortress tower. Aim far away, scatter brightly and cleanly when fired. Hado Number Ninety-One: Senju Koten Taiho!"
As the final words of the incantation were spoken, dozens of spiritual power cones, compressed to the absolute extreme and glowing with a pale crimson light, appeared out of thin air around her.
Like a pack of bloodthirsty sharks that had locked onto their prey, carrying terrifying heat enough to vaporize mountains, they tore through the void and shot straight toward that humanoid sun.
"Utterly pointless!"
Head Captain Yamamoto let out a cold snort, his voice carrying anger at having his absolute power underestimated.
He did not make a single unnecessary move to dodge or defend, instead pushing straight forward, head-on, against Hado Number Ninety-One, a spell capable of instantly killing any captain.
The essence of Senju Koten Taiho was detonation through ultra-high heat, completely vaporizing the enemy.
But before his current Zanjitsu Gokui, burning at fifteen million degrees, any form of high-temperature attack was nothing more than tossing a matchstick into the sun.
'Ridiculous!'
Sure enough, the dozens of pale crimson light cones, the moment they touched the hellfire garment burning over his body, were intercepted and swallowed instantly, melting away like snow and turning into nothingness.
"Is it really useless?"
At that very moment, Shutara under Rosse's control curled her lips into a playful smile of schemes successfully carried out.
And almost the instant her words fell, Head Captain Yamamoto's expression changed sharply.
From the very points where the light cones had been devoured by Zanjitsu Gokui, countless jet-black bandages burst forth, erupting wildly from the gaps in the flames. Like awakened venomous snakes, they crazily coiled toward Head Captain Yamamoto's true body.
"Bakudo Ninety-Nine? So it's a double Kido, and the Bakudo was perfectly hidden beneath the Hado," The observing Kyoraku Shunsui revealed the origin of those bandages, his expression incomparably grave.
This level of battle, whether in spiritual pressure or technique, far exceeded his imagination.
Forget joining in. Even getting brushed by the aftershock would mean either death or severe injury for him.
"Hmph! Futile effort!"
A cold snort rang out from within the black bandage prison, filled with unquestionable disdain.
Within Head Captain Yamamoto's body, an even more massive spiritual pressure awakened with a thunderous surge, like a living volcano on the verge of eruption.
A Shinigami's battle, at its core, is a battle of spiritual pressure.
The most direct and effective way to break a Bakudo is to use even greater spiritual pressure to brutally blow it apart from the inside.
However, to counter this forbidden-level Bakudo Ninety-Nine, Head Captain Yamamoto had to divert all the spiritual pressure that Zanjitsu Gokui used for defense, turning it inward for the breakout.
As a result, that holy garment burning with the fire of the sun was temporarily released.
"Unravel Five Hanks: Burning Field! Until turned to ashes, there shall be no escape!"
At that very moment, the fifth hank activated.
World-burning flames were born from nothing.
These were not ordinary flames, but soul-burning fire ignited by the laws of Shutara's Bankai.
They wrapped around Head Captain Yamamoto's body with precise, frenzied intent.
And this happened to be the exact moment when Head Captain Yamamoto lost the protection of Zanjitsu Gokui.
Even though his Zanpakuto itself was the embodiment of flames, under this conceptual fire specifically targeting him, there was no way he could remain completely unharmed.
Raging flames instantly swallowed Yamamoto's figure, illuminating the entire dark Bankai space and dyeing everything in apocalyptic crimson.
"Hey now, the Head Captain isn't going to get burned to death, is he?", Seeing this, for the first time a serious expression appeared on Hikifune Kirio's usually plump, smiling face.
She could clearly sense that at the center of the firestorm, Head Captain Yamamoto's spiritual pressure was rapidly declining at an alarming rate.
She was just about to move in to support him, when a hand stopped her.
"Relax. That guy won't be defeated so easily. With Shutara's strength, it's still not enough to deal with him at full power. We just need to be ready and make sure Shutara doesn't escape."
Ever since the battle began, the three of them had remained in a state where they could act at any moment.
The instant Shutara showed any opening, they would swarm together and cut off every possible route of escape.
Hiss!
After burning for a full minute, the flames finally dispersed completely.
When the last wisp of fire slowly faded, revealing the figure at the center of the storm, even Rosse and Aizen could not help but show a trace of amazement in their eyes.
Head Captain Yamamoto's shihakusho had long since turned to ash. That muscular body, covered in battle scars spanning a thousand years and carved like granite, was now completely exposed to the air.
At this moment, countless fresh, charred marks had been added atop those already vicious scars.
Thin strands of smoke drifted upward from his body, which looked as though it had just endured endless hammering and tempering.
From close enough, one could even smell the strange scorched scent of protein being cooked.
If it were an ordinary captain, suffering injuries this severe would already be enough to strip them of all combat capability.
But unfortunately, the one standing here now was Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto.
The strongest Shinigami in Soul Society.
"Not a bad attack. Striking with your fiercest assault during the brief gap when I couldn't use spiritual pressure for defense. Unfortunately, those attacks were still a bit too soft."
Head Captain Yamamoto even had the leisure to offer a critique, as though he were still completely unscathed.
"Ha!"
Immediately after, Head Captain Yamamoto drew his blade once more.
This time, however, he did not slash at Shutara. Instead, he plunged Ryujin Jakka straight into the ground.
"Zanka no Tachi, Minami: Kaka Juman'okushi Daisojin!"
Buzz!
Within Shutara's Bankai domain, a small domain under Head Captain Yamamoto's control spread open.
This was a death world filled with purgatory.
Accompanied by the wails of the dead, countless skeletons crawled up from the ground, their bodies burning with searing flames, lunging toward Shutara.
This was the third stage of Head Captain Yamamoto's Bankai, capable of summoning those he had personally killed in the past. Their strength was no longer at its peak, but each still possessed at least vice-captain-level power.
Most importantly, the number of these undead was virtually endless.
Even beings beyond the captain level would have to treat an infinite siege of vice-captain-level enemies with caution.
But in Head Captain Yamamoto's eyes, this move was nothing more than a control skill used before unleashing his final attack.
Just like the earlier extreme ice assault, he never expected this to kill Shutara.
As long as it bought him a bit of time, that was enough.
This battle had already gone on long enough. It was time to draw the final period.
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