"Dragon Bind Tiger Tail!"
"Silver Chariot!"
Kensei skipped past Kishita Hanta, whose transformation he'd already seen once, to collect Shirakura Shin'ichirō's Bankai CG. Admittedly, Shirakura's aesthetic sense was a bit better than Kishita's. His body was covered in gleaming silver armor, and he held a slender rapier. It remained to be seen how effective it was in combat.
Shing—
Shirakura's rapier traced a silver arc through the air, the released sword pressure carving grooves inches deep into the ground. The eyes visible through the slits of the silver visor fixed on Kensei. "Brat, you will die here today!"
Kensei curled his lip. Every cliché villain spouts lines like this. So unimaginative. Highly concentrated Kidō gathered at his back and shoulders, and with the signature explosive sound, Kensei activated Shunkō mode. The moment a sense of danger prickled at him, Kensei instinctively raised his arm and punched. The Shirakura in his original position was already just a fading afterimage.
Clang!
Fist met rapier, scattering sparks. Two figures moved at speeds difficult for the naked eye to follow, leaving behind only the sharp reports of collisions. Shirakura's Bankai seemed to amplify the speed of his thrusts. Even with Kensei's instinctive sense of the attack direction, several shallow cuts appeared on his body. If he hadn't desperately twisted his body to avoid the rapier's tip, he'd probably have several bloody holes by now.
"Dragon's Roar Cannon!"
Kishita, who had been motionless behind them, suddenly roared. Hearing this, Shirakura immediately used Shunpo to retreat. Simultaneously, a sphere of highly compressed spiritual energy materialized right before Kensei's face. With a deafening roar, a blinding white light swallowed everything nearby.
"Did we get him?"
"Don't let your guard down! This brat isn't that simple!"
Kishita Hanta, having been defeated by Kensei once, was already charging another Dragon's Roar Cannon. You couldn't afford to be careless against a monster like this; even the smallest opening could be seized.
"Kishita, the same move won't work on me twice."
Kensei's calm voice rang out as he walked slowly from the clouds of dust churned up by the explosion. Casually brushing dust from his already tattered clothes, the exposed skin showed no wounds from the recent blast.
"Impossible!"
The two looked as if they'd seen a ghost, utterly incredulous. Kishita immediately fired another Dragon's Roar Cannon. Kensei's hand glowed with an identical spiritual pressure construct. He nonchalantly caught the cannonball and, to Kishita's horror, crushed it like glass in his grip, without even a ripple of disturbance.
The two Captains' minds went blank. They felt they must be hallucinating. Their hands holding their Zanpakutō trembled involuntarily. Anyone seeing Kensei effortlessly neutralize a high-density spiritual pressure attack like popping a bubble would be shaken.
Kensei naturally wouldn't let this opportunity slip. Boosted by Shunkō, he was practically teleporting as he closed in on Kishita Hanta. "Exit stage left, Kishita Hanta!" As he spoke, Kensei's right hand was already touching Kishita's chest. The spiritual pressure concentrated in his hand erupted instantly. The tremendous force punched straight through Kishita's body, the resulting shockwave continuing onward to scatter the clouds in the sky.
"Impossible..."
Kishita stumbled back a few steps before his body collapsed backward like a puppet with its strings cut. The blood gushing from the hole in his chest dyed the ground red. Until his death, he couldn't believe that Kensei, who had barely defeated him the day before, had grown so powerful in just one day.
"I'm a person who hates trouble. To prevent any more fools from trying to rescue you in the future, I have to eliminate this... nuisance."
After using Ikotsu to create a cavity in Kishita's chest, Kensei shifted his attention to Shirakura Shin'ichirō. As for the consequences of killing a Captain, Kensei truly didn't care. Not only would Old Man Yama definitely protect him, but worst-case scenario, he could just cling to Aizen's leg and have him use Kyōka Suigetsu to replace the entire Central 46.
"You ready?"
Under Kensei's predatory, razor-sharp gaze, Shirakura felt fear towards this confident, arrogant youth for the first time. But he knew he couldn't run. His only choice was to raise his sword and meet Kensei's challenge. Releasing all his spiritual pressure, Shirakura's rapier transformed into dozens of silver streaks of light targeting every vital point on Kensei's body. The sounds of the rapier tearing through the air rose and fell, forming a net that enveloped Kensei.
"Oh? So you're approaching me instead of running away?"
A faint smile played on Kensei's lips. He applied the principles of Ikotsu to both hands—Hmm, this should probably be called 'Half-Bone' then. Relying on his keen combat intuition to minimize damage, he pummeled Shirakura Shin'ichirō's body with a flurry of strikes from both sides. It had to be said, Shirakura's armor was indeed tough. If it were the fragile Kishita eating this combo of standard attacks mixed with specials, he'd have been deader than dead long ago.
The shockwaves from their battle continuously ravaged the surrounding ground. No matter how hard Shirakura's armor was, numerous fist marks now dented its surface. Moreover, the concussive force transmitted through the armor was taking its toll; he felt his internal organs were about to be shaken to pieces. Looking at Kensei, who, despite bleeding quite a bit, had only sustained minor injuries, Shirakura felt a wave of frustration.
"Kensei Kenzuru. This is my all-out attack. Only today, meeting you, have I learned what a true genius is. I respect you. Please, go all out as well. Let me die knowing I faced your full strength."
"You're a traitor. What's with the noble act in front of me? Cut the pretentious crap. If you truly respected me, you'd just kill yourself and save me the trouble."
Hearing Kensei's insult, Shirakura was so angry his nose practically twisted. He poured every last bit of his spiritual pressure into his sword, even squeezing out more in his fury.
Although Kensei verbally looked down on Shirakura, he knew this was the time to go all out. Slipping up now would be a joke. He rapidly recalled the spiritual pressure flow method of Ikotsu and began deducing Sōkotsu.
"Silver Chariot: Requiem!"
"Sōkotsu!"
Transformed into a silver blur, Shirakura unleashed his final strike, colliding with Kensei, who moved so fast he created a sonic boom. Sōkotsu was already immensely powerful; coupled with the amplification from Kensei's Shunkō mode, the result was that Shirakura's corpse ended up far more mangled than Kishita's. However, Shirakura had one advantage over Kishita: his final attack struck Kensei's left shoulder, inflicting a serious wound.
"Hiss—"
Confirming Shirakura was utterly lifeless, Kensei immediately deactivated Shunkō mode, collapsing to the ground with gritted teeth, groaning in pain. The strain Sōkotsu placed on his body while in Shunkō state was excessive. Kensei felt as if countless fine needles were jabbing into every nerve in both arms. The pain arched his back like a dying shrimp.
Never using that combo again. Too painful...
Beads of sweat the size of peas, mixed with blood, dripped continuously onto the ground. Kensei kept sucking in sharp breaths, trying to lessen the pain. Then he noticed the area Shirakura had struck starting to change color.
"Holy shit, Shirakura! You poisoned me even after death?! What a piece of trash!"
That was the final straw. Kensei's head lolled to the side as he passed out completely.