Evenly matched?
Deadlocked?
No.
Before Aiyan's Hadō Forbidden Technique · Flame Control, Furuoki's Sakuren no Homura-giri couldn't even last a moment—it was completely overpowered.
Split cleanly in two.
"How… how is this possible?"
Furuoki's immortal eyes widened, his face twisting in disbelief.
Swoosh.
At that moment—
Aiyan's raised right hand slashed down gently, as if slicing through a leaf, with no effort or exertion.
The golden palm, which had just cleaved through the giant lava blade, followed in a seamless arc.
The Amaterasu blade flared, casting a streak of black flame across Furuoki's form.
Boom—
With a sound like a meteorite crashing down, the broken half of the lava blade plummeted and embedded itself into the earth nearby.
Not far away, Furuoki flickered into view once more.
But his left shoulder was empty.
That arm—severed and burned—was completely gone.
Upon landing, he said nothing. No cries, no screams.
He turned silently to face Aiyan.
One arm gone.
Yet the pain of amputation didn't even make him grunt. The earlier rage and madness had receded, replaced by a creeping, twisted grin. His lips curled upward. His tongue slid out slowly.
And then—his Reiatsu spiked.
Instead of falling, it exploded skyward.
"Hehehe… hahahahaha!!"
Furuoki's tongue slithered across his lips as he laughed like a madman. With his remaining right hand, he stabbed Zanpakutō into the ground with a clang.
Crack!
From where the blade was planted, hundreds of fissures spread outward like serpents slithering from a nest.
In an instant—
Within the barrier, the already-ruined Tsunayashiro mansion shattered like dried earth. Spiderweb cracks devoured everything.
"Bankai · Shōnetsu no Naraku."
Accompanied by manic laughter and a guttural roar, every single fissure became a volcanic maw, vomiting molten lava.
With just one release, the entire foundation collapsed into chaos. The ruins were submerged in flames—a sea of magma and fire, as if the gates of hell had opened wide.
True to the name of his Zanpakutō's Bankai · Shōnetsu no Naraku.
A world scorched in fire. Earth devoured in magma. A hellscape brought to life.
Furuoki hadn't even launched a proper attack yet.
And already, the entire Tsunayashiro estate—spanning dozens of kilometers—had transformed into a molten sea of damnation.
The erupting waves of heat caused the surrounding barrier to twist violently, on the verge of collapse.
Fortunately—
At the critical moment, Aizen raised his palm.
With sheer force, he reinforced the barrier—stronger than the one Yamada Seinosuke spent ten years constructing.
Though stabilized, the barrier rippled under the pressure of boiling heat. The lava tides thickened into a burning current, threatening to devour everything.
For most Shinigami—even a typical Gotei 13 captain—this alone would be fatal.
Furuoki didn't need to lift a finger. Just activating Bankai and letting the magma flow would be enough to obliterate any ordinary opponent.
And now—
His Reiatsu was climbing alongside his Zanpakutō's full release.
Thousands of years of dormant power surged forth like a beast awakened.
Below, an ocean of molten fury.
Above, Reiatsu boiled the air, warping every inch of space into unbearable heat.
Shinigami and Zanpakutō—unified.
This is an apocalypse.
And that was with the barrier in place.
If it weren't…
This hell would have easily spread twice as far.
"It's no wonder," Aiyan muttered, suspended mid-air, eyes calmly surveying the sea of death below.
"No wonder thirteen people nearly wiped out the Quincy army under Yhwach's command. Even if Chōjirō Sasakibe hadn't stabbed him in the back, they still would've lost."
The captains of the First Generation Gotei…
They weren't like today's Shinigami.
They didn't just fight to win—they fought to annihilate.
Every one of them wielded a wide range type Zanpakutō, merciless in both nature and method.
In their eyes, civilians and comrades were collateral damage. All that mattered was killing the enemy.
Yhwach may have been the one who invaded the Soul Society…
But in truth, the Quincies were the ones fighting for survival.
"So? What now?"
Furuoki sat cross-legged on the lava, lifting one knee and resting his arm on it. His tongue flicked over his lips as he looked up at Aiyan.
"After Bankai, the heat's on par with Ryūjin Jakka."
Aiyan flicked his fingers.
A wisp of Amaterasu flame fell onto the lava, no longer burning it instantly to ash.
Instead, it held. A stalemate.
Clearly, this was no ordinary magma.
Not the thousand-degree variety of nature. This was a hellfire forged in Bankai, rivaling even Ryūjin Jakka.
"Is it just about temperature?"
Furuoki gave a low chuckle and stirred the lava with his sword.
Boom!
Dozens of towering pillars of lava fire erupted like volcanic geysers, scorching with a fury that could bore through the crust of the earth and shatter mountains.
Each one surged at Aiyan from all directions.
"This is what First Generation captains are like?"
"They're completely different from modern Gotei."
Tōsen Kaname and Yamada Seinosuke could only stare.
Lava pillars stretched skyward, each over a hundred meters long—still growing.
Furuoki hadn't even started fighting seriously.
"Hadō Forbidden Technique · Flame Control!"
Aiyan stood calmly amidst the chaos.
No retreat.
No fear.
He released golden light, conjuring six massive golden palms, each gripping a shield forged from Amaterasu's fire.
With those, he intercepted the countless lava pillars.
In Shikai, magma had been effortlessly burned by Amaterasu.
But after Bankai—
Now they clashed evenly, like two forces of nature wrestling for dominance.
Boom!
A massive shockwave rolled out like a volcanic eruption, hurling fire and smoke across the battlefield.
When the smoke cleared—
Aiyan still stood there, unmoved.
But the Amaterasu shields had been broken.
Furuoki's Bankai form had pushed him hard enough to shatter defenses once thought invincible.
This wasn't Kuchiki Ginrei—a Shinigami with the strongest water-type Zanpakutō, but not the strength to match.
No.
Furuoki Otagawa — First Generation Captain — was an entirely different class.
"What now?"
Furuoki rose from the lava sea, his body reforming.
Magma wrapped around his missing shoulder, solidifying into a molten arm, replacing the one severed by Amaterasu.
"Furuoki Otagawa."
"Captain of the First Generation Gotei."
Aiyan placed his hand on the hilt of his sword.
"Fine. You've earned the right to die by my Zanpakutō."
Shh—
With a single motion, he drew his Zanpakutō from its scabbard.
For the first time in this battle…
Aiyan held his Zanpakutō.
Until now, he'd relied only on Kidō.
Only now, facing Furuoki's Bankai, had he acknowledged the opponent with his Zanpakutō.
It was a gesture of respect—
One earned through power.
...
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