"You finally came."
Kuchiki Kōga stared at the man standing amid the rain of petals, speaking in a tone that was hard to tell—sorrow, or relief.
"End this farce… please."
The man—Kuchiki Byakuya—spoke with a pained heaviness.
"Do I even have a way back?"
Kuchiki Kōga gripped his Zanpakutō and stood on the ground, the corner of his mouth twitching.
"Rukia didn't die. She's back."
Kuchiki Byakuya said the reason that had finally made him resolve himself.
But to Kuchiki Kōga as he was now, it meant little.
"Is that so? Then that's truly… wonderful news~"
Was it good news?
Of course it was.
But by this point, Kuchiki Kōga had no road left to retreat to.
The Tsunayashiro clan—having lost Higashino Shuuichi's protection—was now being slaughtered by his Zanpakutō, Muramasa, over there.
Sure, the ones dying were the Tsunayashiro clan's members with no real strength and no real status… but even so, that was enough to make those Tsunayashiro nobles feel pain, wasn't it?
He wouldn't be forgiven so easily.
He could only keep moving forward.
"If you keep moving forward… you'll die."
Kuchiki Byakuya continued.
He wasn't a fool. He could see the situation clearly. But in Kuchiki Byakuya's eyes, there was still a way to save things.
As long as this could be brought to an end here—put a full stop on it—then with enough maneuvering, Kuchiki Kōga might only end up imprisoned in Muken (Infinite Hell).
What Kuchiki Byakuya didn't know was that Kuchiki Kōga's Zanpakutō, Muramasa, had already gone off to do something—and was in the middle of doing something big.
"Then let me die. Perfect. If I can die by your blade, it'll ease the suspicion on the Kuchiki clan a little, right?
After all… this was my personal action. It has nothing to do with the Kuchiki clan."
Kuchiki Kōga said firmly, then raised his Zanpakutō toward Kuchiki Byakuya beneath the sakura-petal storm.
"Hyōga Seiran (Ice Fang Conquering Storm)!"
The blizzard roared back into being—so violent that even the endless petals couldn't hinder it in the slightest.
"Ken'atsu (Sword Pressure)!"
Komamura Sajin had long wanted to continue this fight.
Seeing Kuchiki Kōga refuse Kuchiki Byakuya's offer and launch an attack, Komamura didn't hesitate—he struck at Kuchiki Kōga directly.
That extreme Reiatsu (Spiritual Pressure) fell from the sky, tearing open a rift through the blizzard itself.
But it was also that blizzard's obstruction that kept Komamura Sajin's blow from reaching Kuchiki Kōga.
And within that storm—fending off the razor-sharp assaults—Kuchiki Byakuya felt the very last trace of expectation he'd held for Kuchiki Kōga crumble away.
He understood it.
His uncle by marriage… was beyond saving.
"Scatter… Senbonzakura Kageyoshi!"
Kuchiki Byakuya let his Zanpakutō slip from his palm.
The blade stood upright, sank into ripples in the earth, and vanished—only for hundreds, then thousands, of enormous blades to rise again from ripples on both sides.
Then, inside the blizzard, those towering blades seemed to be blown apart by the storm—shattering into petal-like fragments that danced in layered waves through the sky.
In the blink of an eye, everywhere Kuchiki Kōga looked was filled with pink petals.
They were countless blades.
And under Kuchiki Byakuya's control, every one of them bared its edge.
In that moment, no matter how strong Kuchiki Kōga's Kidō (Demon Arts) might be, no matter how fierce his Kendō (Swordsmanship) might be—unless he could reach the level of Unohana Retsu or Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni…
There was only one path left: to be ground down alive, until death, within those petals.
Unless Kuchiki Kōga was willing to recall Muramasa—then, with one man and one blade, he might still have the capital to contend with Kuchiki Byakuya and Komamura Sajin.
But Kuchiki Kōga refused to do that.
Because even if he did… it would only buy him a little hope of surviving.
And what would it mean for him to live?
It would mean nothing.
Nothing at all.
When the first petal pierced through Kuchiki Kōga's defense and carved a thin line of blood across his body, the dominoes of collapse began to fall.
One cut. Two. Three…
Komamura Sajin had already abandoned attacking and turned into a spectator.
Because anyone with eyes could see it: what remained was garbage time.
This was the first time he'd ever witnessed the Kuchiki clan head's Bankai.
All he could say was—worthy of the head of one of the Five Great Noble Houses.
So young, and yet… his Bankai was still extraordinary.
Beneath a sky of petal-rain, inside a sea of blades… how many Shinigami could survive?
Kuchiki Kōga—who stubbornly refused to recall Muramasa—certainly couldn't.
Let this battle be ended by the Kuchiki clan head himself.
That was Komamura Sajin's thought—and it was the thought in every Shinigami's heart here, including Kuchiki Kōga's own.
However, outside the battlefield, there was one person who didn't think that way.
"You don't really need to do that, do you? According to that plan you talked about, isn't everything unfolding exactly as planned?
Let Kuchiki Kōga die here while taking the blame for you—pretty nice, isn't it~"
Urozakuro loved watching a show, but she wasn't exactly smart.
"You don't understand. A living Kuchiki Kōga—one who has completely lost his shackles—is far more terrifying than a Kuchiki Byakuya who still wears the shackle of being a Five Great Noble.
Especially when you know… you still haven't gotten that Kuchiki Kōga into your hands."
Higashino Shuuichi rolled his shoulders and smiled.
"Then what are you going to do—show yourself and help him?
Wouldn't that make it impossible to carry out your later plans?"
Urozakuro acted like she understood Zanpakutō perfectly—like a quick poke made everything clear—but she still couldn't figure out what Higashino Shuuichi intended.
Higashino Shuuichi merely exchanged a smile with his Zanpakutō.
"And that's the limit of your ability, Urozakuro. You only know what I could do before—but as for the new ability I've obtained, I still need a great deal of time to merge with it and explore it."
"New ability? You mean…"
Urozakuro recalled that earlier, Higashino Shuuichi really had held a strange conversation with his own Zanpakutō—and that his Zanpakutō had even handed him an ancient-looking book.
"Bankai, Heihō Sogen. Heisenkei (Combined Battle Stratagem): Tōryō Kanchū (Switching the Beams and Pillars)!"
Higashino Shuuichi didn't answer her directly.
He answered with action.
At the same time, within the petal-rain—just as Kuchiki Kōga had prepared to accept his fate—he heard a voice in his mind.
A voice he knew all too well.
"If I give you a chance to escape… will you take it?"
It was Higashino Shuuichi's voice.
Kuchiki Kōga was absolutely certain.
"I don't need to escape. I only need those Tsunayashiro nobles to pay the price—for what they've done, for their arrogance!"
He didn't know what Higashino Shuuichi planned, but he refused without a second thought.
Because from the moment he gathered Reiatsu (Spiritual Pressure) into his palm and pierced through Eizen Kyōichirō's chest… he had never intended to leave himself a way out.
"Then what if I tell you… I plan to do the same?"
Kuchiki Kōga's eyes widened.
He never imagined Higashino Shuuichi would give that answer.
Kuchiki Kōga had reasons—plenty of motive.
But why would Higashino Shuuichi do something like that?
Kuchiki Kōga couldn't understand.
"What's your reason? I don't believe you'd offend the Tsunayashiro clan for no reason—no matter if it's for the sake of the Kuchiki clan!"
It was strange—Kuchiki Kōga was clearly maddened by rage, and yet when faced with Higashino Shuuichi's answer, he still kept a sliver of rationality.
And Higashino Shuuichi's reply was blunt—so blunt that Kuchiki Kōga couldn't find a single point to refute.
"Simple. I don't like the Tsunayashiro clan. And whether I offend them or not doesn't matter—if I kill every last Tsunayashiro, there won't be consequences.
Worst case… your Kuchiki clan will protect me, won't it?"
That answer was very Higashino Shuuichi.
Kuchiki Kōga had thought he was already insane—only to find someone even more insane.
And worse… someone who seemed like he truly had the strength to do it.
By comparison, Kuchiki Kōga suddenly felt like what he'd been doing was almost mild.
"You're sure?"
Kuchiki Kōga could hardly believe his ears.
But Higashino Shuuichi clearly didn't want to waste time any longer.
"Believe it or not is your problem. If you want to see the day the Tsunayashiro clan collapses with your own eyes, then drop your guard and accept my power."
At this point, Kuchiki Kōga was like a candle in the wind.
Not a single part of him was unscathed. He couldn't even stand—he could only lie face-down on the ground, letting those blade-like petals "execute" him bit by bit.
Feeling the message coming from Muramasa's side—that he'd been intercepted by Kyōraku Shunsui and was locked in a bitter struggle—Kuchiki Kōga weighed what he truly wanted.
He didn't want to die like this.
If anything… at the very least, those disgusting Tsunayashiro nobles should die before him!
In his mind surfaced again the mocking words Eizen Kyōichirō had thrown at him inside his room.
Those shameless nobles… they all deserved to die!
Yes.
How could he fall here—while those people went on to live happily ever after?
The sins he'd suffered, the pain the bullied commoners had suffered…
Those nobles should taste it all—tenfold!
"This… ends now."
High in the air, Kuchiki Byakuya looked down at Kuchiki Kōga—whose inhalations were already fewer than his exhalations.
There was helplessness in his heart, but this was the only way to ease the conflict between the Kuchiki clan and the Tsunayashiro clan after this incident.
Otherwise, Soul Society would fall into complete chaos.
"Sakkei (Momentary Scene): Senbonzakura Kageyoshi!"
Kuchiki Byakuya pointed with a sweep of his hand.
All the scattered blades gathered toward a single point in the sky—growing denser and larger until a massive sphere formed overhead.
Then, in an instant, that sphere became nothing but a hollow void, and a pink torrent of light poured down like the sky itself collapsing—forming, between it and Kuchiki Kōga, a pink galaxy that spanned heaven and earth.
Under that pink Reiatsu (Spiritual Pressure), nothing living should remain.
At least… that was how Kuchiki Byakuya understood it.
But the moment a terrifying Reiatsu (Spiritual Pressure) erupted behind him—
both Komamura Sajin and Kuchiki Byakuya froze in shock.
Nadegiri.
A slash that cleaved through the cloud layer—so overwhelming it felt like heaven and earth were split into two.
It was also one of Captain-Commander Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni's signature techniques.
Why would Kuchiki Kōga know that?
"Even I haven't learned that move… Chikushō!"
Komamura Sajin thought with jealous bitterness.
After the aftershock of that monstrous slash came—
a slightly disheveled Kuchiki Byakuya and Komamura Sajin, and a battlefield that looked as if it had been plowed over by artillery.
Even after being ravaged for so long by Senbonzakura Kageyoshi, the land beneath their feet had never looked like this.
And more importantly—
Kuchiki Byakuya and Komamura Sajin saw that the Kuchiki Kōga who had unleashed that slash… was completely healed.
"As expected… even if it isn't my own body, as long as the Reiatsu is sufficient, I can still bring out the corresponding strength. The essence of a Shinigami's power, when you get down to it, is Reiatsu."
Higashino Shuuichi muttered in a voice only he could hear, then held his blade and stepped upward through the air—one step at a time—until he stood higher than Kuchiki Byakuya and Komamura Sajin by a full margin.
"Your body… and that slash…"
Kuchiki Byakuya stared at this "Kuchiki Kōga" who should have been the same person—yet whose aura, movements, and that kingly gaze were all utterly different—and voiced his doubt.
And vaguely, from this Kuchiki Kōga, he felt as if he were seeing the shadow of someone else.
"Higashino Shuuichi…"
Kuchiki Byakuya turned his head—and saw Komamura Sajin say the name that had formed in his heart.
Having fought Higashino Shuuichi directly many times, and having been beaten down by Higashino Shuuichi again and again—if there was anyone in Soul Society most familiar with that kind of presence, Komamura Sajin was absolutely among the top.
After all, those who had been smashed by Higashino Shuuichi countless times and still not been killed—aside from Higashino Shuuichi's students and a few "old friends"—were rare indeed.
"Heh. That's right. This is one of my abilities too—I can directly copy a Shinigami's power and make it my own.
Not only that… I can copy their combat instincts completely as well!"
"Kuchiki Kōga"—that is, Higashino Shuuichi—explained shamelessly.
After all, Zanpakutō abilities came in all shapes and sizes.
As long as you could make it sound convincing, and as long as they didn't go check the Great Spirit Book Corridor… anyone would believe whatever you said.
"Is that so? Then I'd like to see how much you can steal from Shuuichi-sama, you impostor!"
Right then, another voice rang out from above.
Kuchiki Byakuya looked up—
and saw it was the Captain of the 2nd Division, Soi Fon.
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