Kisuke nearly coughed blood.
He was a scientist—the top of the top—and of course he researched and created all kinds of things.
And what could be more valuable to study than a zanpakuto?
With that in mind, he'd modified his Benihime: creating multiple Shikai patterns, altering the zanpakuto's type, and so on.
At first, everything seemed… normal.
After all, he wasn't the only one who did such things.
Mayuri was even crazier than him; not only had he changed the zanpakuto's Shikai, he'd turned the Bankai form into a complete mess.
But there was no helping it now.
With the zanpakuto manifestations rebelling, Kisuke could only lower himself and apologize to Benihime—
and in return, Benihime hurled several hundred blazing fireballs at him.
"Go to hell, you scum!"
Benihime looked at Kisuke with icy eyes, unwilling to forgive her master at all.
Kisuke yelped as explosions chased him around, emerging like a man who'd rolled through a coal pit.
"Kisuke, was it fun to 'modify' a zanpakuto?"
Benihime spoke again, gaze growing colder as she leveled her blade at him; threads of red reiatsu laced the air.
"Then how about I modify your body?"
Kisuke felt his scalp prickle; the last thing he wanted was to be remodeled into a monster.
"…"
"Serves you right…" Cole couldn't help a quiet snicker.
Though Muramasa had incited the blades, making them hate their masters, that hatred had depths.
And Benihime's resentment toward Kisuke had peaked—she might actually turn him into a little dog at this rate.
With that thought, Cole prepared to go back to bullying Kyoka Suigetsu—
when his brows drew tight. He casually smashed the incoming Getsuga Tenshō (Moon-Fang Heaven-Piercer) with a single staff swing.
"Zangetsu…"
At Ichigo's side appeared a black-cloaked middle-aged man, Zangetsu gripped in his hand.
"Zangetsu…"
Ichigo was startled. He stared at the cloaked uncle.
"Zangetsu-san, were you tempted as well?"
Zangetsu raised his blade. "Ichigo, is Zangetsu's power really that unworthy—that you must rely on your Hollow's? "
Ichigo's mind flashed back to his fight with the Baboon King, Zabimaru.
He truly hadn't used Zangetsu's power then—only his Hollowfication.
He scratched his head, embarrassed. "Zangetsu-san, it's a misunderstanding. I was worried I'd cut that guy in half, so I…"
"No, Ichigo."
Zangetsu leveled the blade at him.
"You cling to the Hollow because you haven't truly mastered Zangetsu. Next, I'll show you what the real Zangetsu is…"
He blurred forward, blade howling.
"Clang!!"
Two Zangetsu smashed together—sparks leapt, the screech set teeth on edge.
"This look on Zangetsu-san is… a little chilling." Cole drew his gaze back.
He wasn't worried about Ichigo; Zangetsu wouldn't harm him—instead he'd make him stronger than before.
Just then, a shard of cold light flashed through Cole's eyes.
"What are you doing in my inner world?"
"Come out!"
He slammed the Ruyi Jingu Bang into the ground; the Dinghaishenzhen's suppressive power detonated.
A heartbeat later, Muramasa's figure surfaced from the void as if swatted by that blow, staring in disbelief.
"How did you do that!?"
He'd entered the heart-scape of Cole's zanpakuto and seen a sky-piercing golden pillar exuding power to suppress heaven and earth.
But before he could whisper temptation, the pillar had expelled him outright—nearly pinning him in that world forever.
For one with Muramasa's power, rejection by a zanpakuto was rare; even if rejected, the blade itself couldn't beat him.
Yet that golden staff had hurled him out in an instant.
"Idiot. You thought you could bewitch the Needle that Calms the Sea?"
Cole's mouth curled.
His zanpakuto had only two powers: to grow heavier/larger—and to suppress.
It was famed for the might to "pin the sea."
If it could pin an ocean, what was one masterless zanpakuto?
"As long as I kill you, the bewitchment on the blades should collapse, right?"
Cole's eyes turned hard. He stepped forward and brought the golden staff down.
Muramasa's face went white; he hastily phased his body to mist—
still a beat too slow.
His left arm was nearly pulped before he scrambled back into the inner world, wretched and fleeing.
Seeing Muramasa wounded, all the zanpakuto changed color, fury igniting as they glared at Cole.
Katen: "Cole, I'll never forgive you, you bastard!"
Kyokotsu: "Muramasa saved us—he's our hero!"
Sogyo no Kotowari: "Ii—yaa—ii—yaa…"
Senbonzakura: "I'll cut you into a thousand pieces…"
Benihime: "Since you've struck, I'll kill you first—before I remodel Kisuke."
Cole blinked—and opted to solve the immediate problem. He turned to Benihime and said earnestly,
"Lady Benihime, I sincerely suggest you deal with Kisuke first. He's slippery—what if he runs?"
Kisuke, who'd just exhaled in relief, turned purple.
After a few seconds' hesitation, Benihime actually followed Cole's advice. She aimed her blade back at Kisuke.
"Kisuke, today you die."
Kisuke's lips twitched uncontrollably. At last he looked at Cole with a face like thunder.
"Thank you so much, Mr. Cole!"
"Don't mention it." Cole waved it off, ignoring Kisuke's murderous stare. He looked to Shunsui.
"Captain Shunsui, Soi Fong, Renji—if I 'accidentally' break your zanpakuto, you won't blame me, right?"
Renji's mouth quivered. "Cole, my Zanpakuto's almost broken already…"
His Zabimaru, since taking that one staff-smash, lay limp on the Confession Palace like a paralyzed serpent—
one step from shattering.
Shunsui coughed twice, embarrassed. "If possible, please go easy, Mr. Cole."
He really didn't want to be a captain with no Bankai. That would be mortifying.
"Go easy…"
Veins popped on Cole's forehead. In a flash he seized Shunsui by the collar.
"Then do something about your blade!"
"Ahhhh!!!"
Like a bowling ball, Shunsui sailed straight into Katen and Kyokotsu.
The pair's eyes lit up; they cleaved toward the lower half of Shunsui without hesitation.
Shunsui blanched.
He'd lived for centuries, but he'd never intended to become a eunuch!
"Bakudō #61: Rikujōkōrō (Six Rods Prison Light)!"
"Bakudō #63: Sajō Sabaku (Locking Bondage Stripes)!"
Two no-chant bindings flared out, barely stalling Katen Kyokotsu's advance.
Cole looked to Soi Fong next—
She clutched her chest and glared warily. "Don't you dare throw me out there, Cole! I can't beat Suzumebachi right now."
Her leg was injured; Suzumebachi would bully her to death.
Cole clicked his tongue and turned his glare on the dying Kyoka Suigetsu.
"I'll finish you first—then Muramasa."
Kyoka Suigetsu nearly wet himself, screaming for help, calling Muramasa, Sogyo no Kotowari, and other blades by name.
Suddenly—
a powerful reiatsu surged. Another savage sword-pressure blocked Cole's path.
He didn't need to look to know who it was. He sighed.
"What a pain."
"Flower-sister, your monster has come again."
Sure enough, beside Unohana stood a woman in a black hood, her form obscured.
Kyoka Suigetsu's eyes lit up.
"Minazuki, hurry and save me!"
"Muramasa, keep your Minazuki out of this!!"
If it were Unohana's terrifying blade, it would not be weaker than Katen Kyokotsu—
enough to fight Cole to a standstill.
But to Kyoka Suigetsu's despair, the hooded Minazuki didn't even glance his way.
She raised her blade to meet Unohana's.
"Master, let's fight—just the two of us."
Woman and blade locked eyes—
and saw the same heat and joy.
They were Yachiru Unohana and her blade Minazuki: masters of eight thousand styles of swordplay.
Closest companions—
and the opponents each wished most to cross blades with.
Steel met steel a hundred times in a single second—
sword-light flashed, steps wove in flowing "hoho," argent gleams danced.
In a few short seconds they'd switched through hundreds of completely different sword paths, every cut terrible and keen—
yet still dead even, neither able to press the other.
Cole rubbed his chin. "Perfectly matched. In pure sword craft, Minazuki isn't worse than Flower-sister."
Under normal circumstances, going toe-to-toe with Unohana was a bad idea for anyone.
But Minazuki clearly stood apart—
proving just how monstrous Yachiru Unohana truly was.
At that very moment, Muramasa's low voice rang in multiple zanpakuto minds:
"You—save Kyoka Suigetsu!"
At the instant the words fell, several blades' eyes went hazy; by reflex, they tightened grips and intoned:
"Bankai!!!"
Benihime's reiatsu surged. She stared down Kisuke and spoke coolly:
"Kannonbiraki Benihime Aratame (Opened-Red Princess Reconstruction)!!!"
In a blink, her Bankai unfolded.
Benihime manifested gigantic—
classic coiffure; sleeveless robe; limbs jointed like a puppet.
In this form, a single slash ripped the earth—then, horror followed.
Black threads unfurled, stitching the ground back together; half of them drifted toward Kisuke, as if to sew him into the land itself.
"Kisuke, don't run. I'll remodel you into the ultimate lifeform you always dreamed of."
Her eyes cold, Benihime gave chase.
Elsewhere—
as Ichigo entered Hollowfication and pressed the uncle into retreat, Zangetsu suddenly swung and barked:
"Bankai!"
"Tensa Zangetsu!"
Ichigo sucked in a breath.
On the field where Minazuki and Unohana clashed—
though the frenzy of battle gave Minazuki high resistance to hypnosis, she still spoke by instinct:
"Bankai!"
"Minazuki!"
Blood-hued "space" descended.
Shunsui and Soi Fong, rushing in to help, felt their hearts sink.
Sure enough—
Soi Fong saw her Suzumebachi swell in size; the lithe form turned into a gaudy loli-style rocket buggy.
A golden missile jutted from her left arm.
"Bankai!"
"Jakuhō Raikōben (Wasp's Thunder Whip)!"
Soi Fong's face went crimson. She whipped her gaze around, terrified someone would laugh at her Bankai's look.
Everyone kept wisely silent—
except Cole, who burst out laughing. "Soi Fong, I've always wanted to say it—head of an assassination corps, and your Bankai is a single big missile! Hahaha… top-tier 'heavy-firepower assassination'!"
"C-Cole!!!"
Soi Fong went scarlet to her ears, pounced, and bit him hard.
She'd avoided using Bankai precisely because she couldn't stand how it looked—
and now someone had seen it.
"Ow, ow, ow…"
Cole winced as she hung off him—then his expression sharpened as he glanced at the pained Sode no Shirayuki.
"Sode no Shirayuki…"
The snow-white beauty's brows twisted with anguish and struggle.
"Cole-kun…"
She felt her will twisting—
her love for Cole turning, inch by inch, into hatred.
Cole didn't hesitate. He lunged to her—
and halfway there, Bankai-form Benihime and Katen Kyokotsu both slashed.
"Ah!"
"Ah!"
Benihime's cut split the earth, then sewed it shut—racing at Cole as if to reconstruct him.
Katen Kyokotsu's cut made black motes freckle Cole's skin; a hacking cough tore from his chest.
"Kisuke!" Shunsui yelled over him. "Cole must not be cut by Benihime's blade—her Bankai will reconstruct him to death!"
"And you, Cole-boy, get away from Katen Kyokotsu—her game will make you 'sicken' worse and worse until you bleed out!"
"You two…" Cole swore. "All this trouble and not a lick of help!"
He slammed the golden staff down.
The sea-pinning force suppressed the endlessly slicing-and-stitching ground—
and pressed his own "worsening illness" flat.
Then, anger blazing in his eyes, he smashed the ground beneath Sode no Shirayuki's feet.
"Beast—get out!!!"
(End of Chapter)
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