Flicking his fingers, the blood mist surged and separated the part of Bazz-B's soul that belonged to Yhwach. Bazz-B immediately felt a hollow emptiness, as if a defect had opened inside his body and he urgently needed something to fill it.
He awakened again at once.
He noticed his state. The blood mist still coiled around him, restricting his movements; or rather, even if he wanted to move now, he could not do much at all, because he could feel that his strength was gone.
Looking at Mazuru seated on the throne before him, Bazz-B recalled what had happened. Cang Du and Quilge had died one after another, and then it had been his turn. He knew exactly what that meant. There was no doubt that Yhwach, seeing they were captured and deciding they had no value, had directly launched Auswählen and taken back the soul fragments he had bestowed on their bodies.
'So, I'm already dead.'
He felt terrible for a moment. Ever since meeting Yhwach and personally experiencing the pain he brought, his greatest purpose in becoming stronger had been to become Yhwach's close aid and then wait for a chance to kill him. But now, after his own death, all of that had come to nothing. After all, he was dead.
Immediately, Bazz-B thought of something else. After Auswählen is launched, those quincy whose power is withdrawn either have their power greatly reduced or die directly. There was no doubt Yhwach would not keep them alive this time just to silence them. Therefore, after taking back the soul fragments, their souls, memories, and all experiences would be swallowed by Yhwach.
But he could still think and remained conscious now. What was this for?
Bazz-B remembered that Mazuru had forcibly detained the part of Yhwach's soul fragment that emerged from Askin's body within the crimson barrier.
"What exactly did you do?" Bazz-B asked, looking at Mazuru, his voice indifferent.
"It's just that, after realizing I had underestimated Yhwach, I did what was needed to fix it." Mazuru said calmly, then fixed his eyes on Bazz-B. "I thought that when you wake up, the first thing you would do was spit harsh words to show me you would rather die than surrender. But your performance surprises me."
"It's useless to resist, isn't it?" Bazz-B said coldly. "After all, I'm already dead. And since you can forcibly detain my soul that should have returned to Yhwach, you must have a way to get everything you want to know from me."
"You really think highly of me." Mazuru replied evenly, though he did not deny it.
He truly could do it. He had even planned to read the information directly from Bazz-B's soul if Bazz-B had resisted. Instead, Bazz-B was calmer than expected.
"So," Mazuru asked, looking at him, "will you tell me what you know?"
Bazz-B said in a deep voice, "What do you want to ask?"
"Huh? You'll just tell me the information so easily?" Mazuru was a little surprised.
"I already said the reason." Bazz-B replied. "Neither resignation nor anger can change the fact that I'm dead. Now that I'm dead, I can't do what I wanted to do when I was alive. Since there's still a chance to cause some trouble for Yhwach after death, why shouldn't I do it?"
Mazuru heard the implication in Bazz-B's words. Bazz-B did not seem to respect Yhwach as much as Cang Du, Askin, and the others did. But now was not the time to dig into that.
"How do you take the shinigami Bankai? What's the reason, or rather, the principle behind it?" Mazuru asked his first question.
After learning of this from Ishida Soken back then, he had remained vigilant and even asked Urahara Kisuke to prepare countermeasures in advance. He did not know whether Kisuke could research anything from words alone. Bazz-B nodded.But now, after getting Bazz-B, a current member of the Sternritters, Mazuru naturally wanted to hear his explanation. Although Soken had once been a member of the Sternritters, that was in the past; when he left, Yhwach had not yet returned, let alone preparing for the war against the Soul Society. In other words, much of his intelligence was outdated.
Bazz-B had not expected Mazuru's first question to be this, but he answered at once: "Before a shinigami releases his Bankai, we need to point the Medallion in our hand at the shinigami, and by doing that we can take his Bankai."
"As for the principle…" Bazz-B paused, then asked Mazuru, "In your view, what is the meaning of the shinigami's Bankai?"
"The final form of the Zanpakutō that allows its full ability to be liberated and used more thoroughly and comprehensively." Mazuru gave a simple answer.
"Yes, we thought just like that," Bazz-B said calmly, "but our Invisible Empire has observed for thousands of years and finally discovered the truth."
He continued, his voice calm but filled with conviction. "A Zanpakutō is a reflection of its wielder's soul. During Shikai, only a portion of its strength is released. The rest remains sealed. Only when a shinigami completely subdues and harmonizes with their Zanpakutō spirit can they manifest Bankai."
"When that happens, the sealed spirit within the Zanpakutō materializes outside, merging with the shinigami's body and soul. That's why the Shinigami's form changes—the weapon, the appearance, even the aura."
Mazuru listened quietly, absorbing every word.
"In that state," Bazz-B went on, "their power expands—but so does their vulnerability. When the Zanpakutō's soul manifests outside, it can be touched, influenced, or even sealed."
Mazuru's eyes darkened slightly. "So when Bankai externalizes the soul of the Zanpakutō, that's when it becomes targetable."
Bazz-B nodded.
"In this form, the shinigami's power indeed increases greatly, but it also gives us the opportunity to seal and even steal the Bankai of the Zanpakutō. Through thousands of years of observation, we secretly collected the Reiatsu Frequency after a shinigami releases their Bankai, and then, when they release it, we would just need to adjust the reishi inside the Medallion to the same frequency as the Zanpakutō, and aim it at the Zanpakutō."
"Reveal it, release the power, reseal it. That's all there is to it."
*****
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✓ Killed For 100 Years in Hueco Mundo, Aizen Invited Me To Soul Society!
✓ Naruto: Senmei Asahi
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