BOOOOM—!!!
Under the stunned and reverent gazes of every noble and Shinigami across Seireitei—
that sky-piercing, cloud-shredding, invincible tornado-shaped flame-cleaving slash
collided head-on with the black Dragon-Flame Hymn—
and the impact detonated like the end of the world.
Panic flooded Seireitei.
"This is insane!!!"
"Just watching from far away…"
"I nearly got blinded by that flash—permanently!"
"I don't want to become a blind man just because I watched a fight!"
Up on Sōkyoku Hill, Omaeda's shrill wail rang out.
He clutched his eyes in terror, his fat face drained white.
If he weren't afraid of humiliating himself forever in front of the captains—
with his usual cowardice, he would've sprinted away from Seireitei on the spot,
as far as possible, to the safest place imaginable.
And truthfully—
Omaeda wasn't the only one whose instincts screamed run.
The difference was that the others didn't show it as openly.
With the captains gathered together, everyone released spiritual pressure in sync,
barely holding the line—
so the psychological shock of that apocalyptic explosion wouldn't shatter them outright.
Kyōraku Shunsui was one of the first to open his eyes again.
Using the brim of his hat as cover, he narrowed his gaze toward the battlefield below.
The forest and vegetation were simply… gone.
The whole plain had been erased into an empty, scorched wasteland.
"Those black dragon flames…"
"they've been completely wiped out."
"But the old man's tornado slash disappeared too."
"By the looks of it… that exchange ended in a draw."
Ukitake Jūshirō, standing beside him, looked worried.
"Yes… but there's one thing you're missing."
"On the surface, it looks evenly matched."
"But if Bai Chen can't even close the distance…"
"then in the end, he's still at a disadvantage."
Ukitake genuinely wanted Bai Chen to keep shining—
to pull out another trump card equal to the Hadō #99–level spectacle they'd just witnessed.
In his eyes, it was possible.
And the battle was likely to shift into Bai Chen being forced into defense—
blocking, parrying, enduring—
until he was finally crushed under Ryūjin Jakka's pressure.
But then—
reality slapped that prediction to pieces.
Because the next moment—
the battle flipped again.
"Hao Fire—Ash-Dust Hidden Ignition!!!"
No one expected it.
Just as the battlefield seemed to settle—
Bai Chen's shout boomed out again, heavy and decisive.
A blazing mass of spiritual-pressure–condensed superheated ash-dust erupted outward.
In mere moments, it spread across the field—
igniting the ambient reishi and producing scorching damage without distinguishing friend from foe.
At the same time, the expanding ash-cloud blocked all vision.
Including Yamamoto's.
And even spiritual sensing became unstable—
the ash-fire storm was too violent, too chaotic, too disruptive.
"Are you kidding me?!"
"In this situation, he still dares to counterattack?!"
"That 'Ash-Dust Hidden Ignition'…"
"That's clearly another finisher-class flame technique!"
Shiba Isshin stood frozen, mouth hanging open.
His own zanpakutō, Engetsu, was fire-type too—
yet in Shikai it could only coat flames in a small area to boost basic slashes.
He couldn't freely command fire and carpet-bomb a battlefield like this.
After watching Bai Chen unleash two grand flame arts back-to-back—
Isshin felt something close to despair.
Even if Bai Chen ultimately lost—
those two displays alone proved it:
Hao Fire Fan belonged among the top-tier fire-type blades.
And it surpassed Engetsu by a ridiculous margin.
Matsumoto Rangiku, breathing hard, stared at the fire-ash haze with wide eyes.
"Captain Isshin… do you think Bai Chen is going to use this smoke…"
"to rush in and ambush the Captain-Commander?"
"That's… way too bold!!!"
Isshin nodded, eyes bright.
"Very possible."
"That's Bai Chen's style—he'll walk the edge."
"Using flame-smoke as cover, closing in…"
"and landing a surprise strike up close…"
"It actually might work."
It sounded absurd.
"Ambushing the Captain-Commander"—who would believe it?
And yet—
for some reason, Isshin felt Bai Chen might really pull it off.
Inside the Ash-Fire Haze
On the scorched plain, Yamamoto stood still, Ryūjin Jakka in hand.
His vision was swallowed by the burning ash cloud.
Even for him—
even with his mastery of fire—
he couldn't pinpoint Bai Chen's location inside the haze.
"Astonishing…" Yamamoto said, voice low.
"It's been over two thousand years…"
"and yet something can still make me open my eyes in surprise."
"Bai Chen… your zanpakutō…"
"I acknowledge its strength."
That alone shook the spectators.
"Hao Fire Fan" carved itself into everyone's memory.
Then the silence deepened.
Bai Chen didn't answer.
It was as if he'd vanished completely into the ash haze.
And the more silent it became—
the more oppressive the atmosphere felt.
No one could predict where Bai Chen would strike from—
or whether another reversal was coming.
"Bai Chen…"
"Show yourself."
"Hiding in front of me…"
"is nothing but wasted time."
"It won't decide this fight."
Yamamoto narrowed his eyes, scanning.
Then—
in the instant his words finished—
a voice rose behind him like a ghost:
"Captain-Commander, you're right."
"Any trick meant to conceal one's position…"
"is meaningless in your eyes."
Bai Chen appeared—like an image resolving from grayscale into reality.
Left hand gripping Hao Fire Fan, right hand raised high.
He spoke calmly, even respectfully.
"Just now, using the haze…"
"I forced the battlefield's flames…"
"to surge several times more violently than before."
"You noticed that, didn't you?"
"So what?" Yamamoto asked, still facing away.
His expression didn't change.
But his grip tightened.
If Bai Chen attacked—
Yamamoto would turn and cleave, repeating the same overwhelming flame-slash to erase him.
Bai Chen's tone sharpened.
"You forgot something."
"My Hao Fire Fan can absorb flames… and convert them into ammunition."
His palm slammed down onto the fan.
Spiritual power erupted—driving into the ground.
"In an instant—high compression."
"And then… full release on your body."
"At that intensity…"
"even you—Captain-Commander…"
"even with flame protection…"
might not endure it."
Those words landed like a sentence.
Then Bai Chen continued, almost conversationally—
as if explaining a technique to a fellow expert.
"Captain-Commander…"
"I haven't mastered the truly legendary Kidō…"
"But I do know one thing clearly—"
"Hadō #96: Ittō Kasō."
"A single blade of flame that destroys both target and self."
"I can simulate that power…"
"with Hao Fire Fan."
Yamamoto's expression finally twitched.
A flicker of alarm—sharp and real.
And Bai Chen roared:
"Hao Fire—One-Blade Cremation!!!"
All the high-pressure flames released at once.
A gigantic, blade-shaped superheated inferno burst outward—
and detonated directly on Yamamoto's aged body.
A fire-version of Unharmed: One-Blade Cremation—
simulated through Hao Fire Fan—
and unleashed in full view of Seireitei.
Once again—
Seireitei exploded into uproar.
The viewing atmosphere surged to its peak.
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