Yamabuki realized that something was wrong. Everyone was staring at him, their eyes holding a hint of fear, and they had already drawn their Zanpakutō.
But his body shouldn't have mutated, right?
Yamabuki's first thought was to touch his face. If a mask appeared, it would mean he had Hollowfied. If no mask appeared, it would mean he was still normal.
He touched his face a couple of times, confirming it was flesh and skin, and no mask appeared. This meant he hadn't Hollowfied, so who were these people drawing their swords at? Was there something behind him?
Yamabuki quickly turned around, only to find that there was nothing behind him. That was strange.
But when he turned back, Batsu'unsai Katori had already appeared in front of him with Shunpo and slashed down with her sword.
Yamabuki was unprepared and quickly used his arm to block. The naginata directly embedded itself into the bone of his arm.
Despite such a serious injury, Yamabuki was surprised to find that he felt no pain.
And what flowed from his wound was not bright red blood, but a pale, viscous liquid, dripping onto the ground.
Yamabuki stared blankly at his wound. When did I become like this?
Katori kicked Yamabuki, and although he was sent flying by the immense force, and his ribs and internal organs were damaged, he still felt no pain.
After a moment of thought, Yamabuki understood.
What is pain? Pain is a signal.
When certain things pose a threat to the human body, the brain sends out a "pain" signal to warn humans to stay away from this dangerous thing.
But now, these attacks posed no threat to him at all. His brain naturally wouldn't send out a signal, so there would be no feeling of pain.
"But my mind is very clear right now? I haven't Hollowfied, so why are these people trying to cut me? Has this old woman finally gone crazy? She's not even sparing her own people?" Yamabuki wanted to explain, but no matter how he tried to open his mouth, only astonishing roars came out.
"Everyone, wait a moment! My mind is very clear, I haven't actively attacked you, Captain Commander?" Yamabuki could only turn to the Captain Commander for help, however, the Captain Commander had already drawn Ryūjin Jakka and slashed down with a head-on strike.
"You guys…" Yamabuki once read a manga called Franken Fran, which had a chapter about people in a city contracting a virus and becoming like zombies.
And ordinary people took up weapons and went into the streets to hunt zombies. Everyone thought these zombies had completely lost their human instincts, but when a female police officer was infected, she discovered that these zombies had not lost consciousness. Their minds were clear, they were still human, but their bodies were out of control, yet they had to watch their relatives and friends raise weapons and kill them.
How suffocating was that feeling of despair.
And in the end, the protagonist determined that it was just a disease that could be cured.
Yamabuki felt like he had become a zombie from that manga. His mind was perfectly clear, he could even control his body, but these people were actually wielding swords and trying to kill him!
We've been through life and death so many times? Can't you trust me just one more time?
Am I that unreliable?
At the critical moment, Yamabuki drew his Zanpakutō and clashed head-on with Captain-Commander Yamamoto.
Hmm? Blocked it?
Was the Captain Commander's power weakened? Or did my power increase after Hollowfication?
Before Yamabuki could think, Kinroku Izuhara ambushed him from the side, a sword stripping the skin from his arm. There was still no pain, and the speed of his injury recovery was faster than the speed of injury!
"Everyone, wait a moment, listen to me, everyone, listen to my explanation!" Yamabuki quickly used his sword to carve words on the ground, wanting to prove that he hadn't lost his mind, but these people didn't give him any chance, hacking wildly with their swords.
"You… you… you're enough!!!!"
A violent, distorted spiritual pressure instantly erupted!
Yamabuki's originally human left arm began to swell wildly, transforming into a gigantic monster's claw, grabbing Kinroku Izuhara's arm.
"You're the ones who need to calm down! I haven't lost consciousness yet! Look closely, what kind of rampaging Hollow writes on the ground!" Yamabuki roared at his former comrades, but only the roars of a frenzied beast came from his throat, not coherent words.
Captain-Commander Yamamoto coldly raised the sword in his hand: "All things in the universe, return to dust! Bankai: Zanka no Tachi!"
"Captain Commander, calm down, I am… I am Yamabuki, I told you about my Hollowfication a long time ago, weren't you going to help me?" Yamabuki felt the scorching spiritual pressure and kept retreating, but the Captain Commander gave him no chance to explain. Overwhelming flames, like raging dragons sweeping across the land, surged towards him.
Yamabuki could only retreat quickly. Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in his back. A sword was thrust into his back, piercing through his chest.
Yamabuki finally reached his limit and retaliated with a backhand slash.
The opponent's blood instantly dyed his pale skin.
But when he saw the opponent's face, his entire body froze as if struck by lightning. Unohana was covering her neck with both hands, blood gushing out like a fountain, looking at Yamabuki with an incredulous expression.
Yamabuki trembled all over, his fingers loosened, and the sword fell to the ground.
"How could this happen! Impossible! I should be able to control the Hollow's power very well! How could this happen!" Yamabuki quickly reached out to cover Unohana's wound, but she was too severely injured, almost half of her neck was severed.
Yamabuki's hands trembled, constantly shaking.
"Kaidō, hurry… hurry and activate Kaidō!" Yamabuki wanted to use the healing art to heal Unohana, but no matter how hard he tried, his most proficient Kaidō could not be activated.
Unohana closed her eyes with a look of unwillingness.
"No… how could this happen… this isn't the result I wanted!" Yamabuki stood up, covered in blood: "Bankai, yes, Bankai, my sword can control time, I must make time go back, sword, where's my sword!"
Yamabuki's sword was clearly at his feet, but when he reached for it, he found that the sword was gone.
"Useless! All useless!" Yamabuki looked at Unohana's completely lifeless body, utterly despondent.
The temperature of the surrounding space suddenly increased!
Captain-Commander Yamamoto activated his Bankai.
A slash from mid-air, and all things in the world turned to ashes!
Yamabuki gently held Unohana's corpse, watched the sun descend from the sky, and leisurely said.
"What beautiful fireworks!"
....
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