Chapter 84: A Senior's Duty
The size of a Zanpakutō increases with the wielder's spiritual pressure.
This is fundamental knowledge every Shinigami learns during their academy days.
All seated officers and above are trained to compress the size of their Zanpakutō.
Especially at the captain level, compressing one's Zanpakutō had already become part of daily life.
Who would constantly resize their Zanpakutō mid-battle like this?!
Kensei gripped his sword with both hands, raised it overhead, and gritted his teeth as he struggled for several seconds—finally managing to withstand Satoru's slash.
Regaining his composure, he bared his teeth in a somewhat ferocious grin.
There was a significant difference in durability between a compressed Zanpakutō and one at its full size.
An enlarged Zanpakutō would be drastically weakened.
Since you love expanding it so much, I'll just cut it in half!
With a fierce swing, he brought his Zanpakutō down from overhead to his front—
"Blast Away, Tachikaze!!"
The moment his release command echoed, his spiritual pressure surged in layers.
The blinding radiance of his reiatsu forced many watching Shinigami to raise their hands to shield their eyes.
In Kensei's grip, the once meter-long Zanpakutō transformed into a short dagger.
Threads of azure spiritual wind coiled around him, swirling and flowing.
A piece of floor tile shattered earlier in the battle was lightly grazed by one of these wind threads—instantly reduced to fragments!
Shinigami standing too close to the battlefield couldn't help but tense at the sight of those threads, an instinctive urge to retreat creeping into their minds.
"Break!!"
Kensei roared as he launched himself skyward like a drill, his body spinning rapidly.
Holding his Zanpakutō outstretched, he became a whirling projectile, razor-sharp wind threads spiraling around him as he shot straight toward Satoru!
Faced with this unstoppable assault, Satoru would surely raise his blade to block.
But a Zanpakutō repeatedly resized in such a short time would inevitably weaken in structure.
Under the destructive force of "Tachikaze," Satoru's blade would surely snap!
Yet—in that very instant—a sudden sense of danger flashed through Kensei's mind.
Instinctively, he glanced toward the source of the threat with his peripheral vision.
To his shock, several shadowy tendrils erupted from the ground, flexible as spears, converging on him from all directions!
At the same time, Satoru's release command rang out:
"Pierce through, King Crimson!" [T/N: Uff, that's a cringy name...]
Kensei twisted midair, stomping on a hastily formed spiritual platform to halt his momentum.
The wind threads around him spiraled outward, lashing at the encroaching shadow spears.
Spears of shadow and threads of wind clashed endlessly, multiplying and countering each other.
Despite being just two combatants, the battle felt like a full-scale war.
While controlling the wind threads, Kensei didn't remain idle.
Gripping his dagger, he prepared to exploit the chaos and strike at Satoru directly.
…Wait, where was Satoru?
At some point, Satoru had vanished from his original position.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The sound of slicing air!
The moment he registered it, Kensei bellowed and swung his fist, dagger reversed in his grip.
CLANG!!
A spinning Zanpakutō was sent flying by his punch.
Why just the Zanpakutō?
As this thought crossed his mind, Kensei's peripheral vision caught the flicker of a Shunpo.
Got you!
He slashed horizontally with his dagger.
But the moment his blade swept out—leaving his chest wide open—Kensei's eyes widened in shock as Satoru suddenly materialized right in front of him.
Facing Kensei's handsome face, Satoru threw a punch—
BOOM!!!!
The tremendous force distorted Kensei's entire face, his head yanking his neck, his neck dragging his body as he was sent flying backward like an arrow before crashing violently into the ground!
Outside the defensive barrier, Aizen gave a slight nod.
Satoru's fighting style, though somewhat reckless and lacking in aesthetics, was undeniably practical.
Especially that initial swordsmanship sequence—it carried a hint of his own essence.
It seemed this guy had absorbed quite a bit from their training sessions together.
At least his usual goodwill of holding nothing back during their spars and demonstrating all his sword techniques hadn't gone to waste.
On the high platform, Shunsui couldn't help but click his tongue.
"Truly remarkable… Old Man Yamamoto, what kind of monster have you taken in?"
The strength Kensei had displayed already far surpassed that of his own vice-captain.
Yet against such an opponent, his junior brother hadn't just held his own—he'd effortlessly dominated.
No wonder Old Man Yamamoto had insisted on setting up this scenario.
With his junior brother's potential, given the right environment to grow, soaring to the top was only a matter of time.
A commoner by birth, unbound by constraints, yet wielding formidable power and a dazzling future.
For those unrestrained nobles, his junior's existence was nothing short of a formidable deterrent.
After today, many would likely start considering how to deal with him…
Yamamoto spoke calmly, "As his senior, you know what to do."
Shunsui adjusted his hat, lowering his head slightly.
Given his circumstances, he couldn't become Old Man Yamamoto's blade.
But until his junior fully matured, he would fulfill his duty as a senior.
If anyone dared make a move against him… well, he'd remind them why he hadn't been a captain all these years for nothing.
Satoru hovered midair, retracting his fist and flexing his fingers.
Though Kensei had a poor track record and was often mocked online as a "power level benchmark," in reality, he was quite strong.
However, against him, Kensei had one fatal flaw.
He knew Kensei's abilities inside out—while Kensei had no clue about his.
Uncertainty bred hesitation, an instinctive wariness of potential hidden moves.
In high-level battles, even half a second of distraction could shift the entire tide.
Still, this advantage merely accelerated his victory.
Even without knowing Kensei's abilities, he was confident he'd win regardless.
As the dust settled, Kensei's figure slowly came into view.
His once-handsome, upright form now looked somewhat disheveled.
Yet the fire in his eyes burned fiercer than ever.
Gazing up at Satoru, Kensei wiped the blood from his lips with the back of his hand.
Then, he grinned—a fierce, almost savage smile.
"Satoru… I take back what I said earlier."
"You really do have what it takes to be an examiner."
"In recognition of that, I'll now fight you with my true power!"
Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, he took a deep breath—
And roared—
"Bankai!!"
"Tekken Tachikaze!!"
To be honest, Kensei Muguruma's ability design is pretty awesome.
If it weren't for his unfortunate timing of appearance, he might have truly become a core force.
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