Seeing that Tsunayoshi's abilities had not been affected at all, Ōetsu had no disappointment whatsoever. As the creator of Zanpakutō, he knew all too well that only the blades he had personally forged could be controlled by him.
But this was enough. Ōetsu refused to believe that Sawada Tsunayoshi could withstand the countless Zanpakutō surrounding him.
"Lightning, huh? Then let me show you what true thunder is!"
With a casual gesture from Ōetsu, a Zanpakutō fell into his hand. Golden Reiatsu surged skyward from the blade before spreading out high above, forming a gigantic golden canopy.
"Kinshara Raijū Gōkakyū!"
As Ōetsu's voice fell, countless terrifying bolts of lightning suddenly descended from the golden canopy. Every bolt pursued Tsunayoshi directly. Combined with the continuous thunderclaps, it was nothing short of divine punishment.
The Zanpakutō in Ōetsu's hand was Chojiro Sasakibe's Gonryōmaru. Every one of these Zanpakutō had been forged by his own hands, and he understood the limits of their power even better than their wielders did.
In Ōetsu's hands, Gonryōmaru's Bankai, Kōkō Gonryō Rikyū, had become an area-wide attack capable of saturating an entire region with lightning. In Sasakibe's hands, however, it manifested as a fighting style that wrapped lightning around the blade for direct assaults.
The lightning unleashed by Kōkō Gonryō Rikyū was pure lightning-based Reiatsu. Even Tsunayoshi had no way to completely evade it through Hollowfication.
Moreover, this Bankai was being powered by Ōetsu's own Reiatsu. Its might was therefore many times greater than when Sasakibe wielded it.
Amid the constantly roaring forest of lightning, Tsunayoshi even brought out Lambo's shield, boosting his defensive capabilities in every aspect.
Naturally, Ōetsu wasn't satisfied with merely letting Tsunayoshi get struck by lightning.
Another Zanpakutō, shaped like a short blade, flew into his hand.
As the wielder of Kōkō Gonryō Rikyū, Ōetsu could clearly sense that the power of a single Bankai still wasn't enough to place sufficient pressure on Tsunayoshi.
So he decided to add another weapon to the mix.
Under Ōetsu's control, the short blade transformed into a missile mounted on his arm. Its exaggerated appearance made it instantly recognizable.
Soi Fon's Bankai—
Jakuhō Raikōben!
Soi Fon, who had been watching the battle, froze.
When Sasakibe's Bankai had appeared, she hadn't felt much of anything. But when she saw Jakuhō Raikōben appear in Ōetsu's hand, she felt an absurd sense of unease.
What was even more unsettling was that the Jakuhō Raikōben Ōetsu had produced was considerably larger than the one she wielded.
Soi Fon's expression stiffened. She could already roughly imagine how devastating this shot would be.
As for warning Tsunayoshi?
Forget it.
The instant Ōetsu released Bankai, he had already aimed the missile at Tsunayoshi. There was no way Soi Fon's warning could possibly be faster than Ōetsu's attack.
The golden projectile shot forward like a long needle, threading through the gaps between countless bolts of lightning before appearing behind Tsunayoshi.
The moment Jakuhō Raikōben was fired, an overwhelming sense of danger hammered Tsunayoshi's mind.
His Hyper Intuition told him that this was not the time to look back. The final instant had to be used for—
BOOM!!!
The moment Jakuhō Raikōben reached Tsunayoshi, it detonated immediately, giving him no opportunity to touch the weapon and somehow interfere with it.
The explosive energy instantly swallowed Tsunayoshi whole.
The shockwave continued expanding outward, and an enormous mushroom cloud rose into the sky, drawing the attention of everyone throughout Soul Society.
Soi Fon, who had been watching from nearby, was left completely dumbfounded. Even when the blast wave knocked her off her feet, she didn't seem to notice.
How powerful Jakuhō Raikōben was, she knew better than anyone.
If the Stealth Force hadn't required every mission to minimize collateral damage, forcing her to operate discreetly, Soi Fon would genuinely have liked to see whether such an all-encompassing bombardment could be used to accomplish an assassination mission perfectly.
Likewise, the Jakuhō Raikōben wielded by Ōetsu was vastly more powerful than Soi Fon's.
The explosion directly blasted apart a corner of the Seireitei, creating a breach through which one could reach the outer Rukongai without even passing through a Senkaimon.
Kyōraku didn't have time to worry about Tsunayoshi's condition at the center of the explosion.
He immediately ordered the surrounding captains to secure the breach while leading the Kidō Corps in repairing the barrier that the explosion had broken through.
BOOM!
Another thunderclap suddenly rang out, its roar echoing throughout Soul Society.
Most of the observing Soul Reapers assumed Ōetsu had unleashed some new technique with Kōkō Gonryō Rikyū.
Only Ōetsu knew that this thunder had not come from the canopy he had summoned.
There was no point waiting for the smoke to clear.
Ōetsu pulled a Zanpakutō from beside his feet and summoned a gigantic skeletal serpent, sending it lunging toward the center of the smoke.
Whatever Tsunayoshi's condition was, Ōetsu was determined to find out.
Alive or dead, he would see the man himself.
The enormous serpent formed from Zabimaru's power soon halted in its tracks.
Immediately afterward, a flash of green light swept across its body.
With a series of creaking sounds, the skeletal serpent was torn apart by overwhelming Reiatsu, splitting into countless individual bones.
At the same time as this Reiatsu erupted, the smoke gradually dispersed, revealing Tsunayoshi at the center.
He was clad in completely black armor, his features obscured from view.
A horned helmet covered his head, while a shield-shaped breastplate bearing the Vongola Family crest protected his chest.
Beyond Bankai.
At the critical moment, Tsunayoshi had activated the Lightning-type Beyond Bankai, the form with the greatest defensive power.
Now, beneath the lightning of Kōkō Gonryō Rikyū, he stood as though bathing in a gentle drizzle, showing no discomfort whatsoever.
Beyond Bankai?
Ōetsu had no idea what had happened to Tsunayoshi.
However, the Soul Reapers who had previously witnessed the Cloud-type Beyond Bankai had already guessed what Tsunayoshi had done.
But hadn't they said that the power of Beyond Bankai was enough to shake Soul Society?
Why did that armor look so calm?
It was almost as though an undead warrior were standing there.
The next moment, the armor moved.
It merely raised one arm slightly, yet countless serpents of lightning churned across the sky, accompanied by endless thunder.
The entire Soul Society seemed to have been plunged beneath a heavenly tribulation.
"Damn it!"
Kyōraku cried out in shock.
If his guess was correct, every movement Tsunayoshi made in this Beyond Bankai state would draw upon the lightning in the sky.
If Tsunayoshi entered a full battle state, wouldn't the entire Soul Society be subjected to the lightning's assault?
Kyōraku hurriedly glanced toward Ukitake, only to slap his forehead in frustration a moment later.
Ukitake's Zanpakutō had already been taken by Ōetsu.
And even if it hadn't been, Ukitake's Bankai could never have covered the entirety of Soul Society.
Fortunately, the situation Kyōraku feared did not occur.
Tsunayoshi merely raised his arm and pointed one finger toward Ōetsu.
Deep rumbling thunder emanated from beneath the armor.
"Eight Thunder Gods!"
Suddenly, eight enormous pillars of lightning, each ten meters wide, descended from the heavens.
They attacked Ōetsu simultaneously from eight different directions, completely sealing off every possible escape route.
The moment Ōetsu sensed the agitated lightning in the sky, he immediately threw Gonryōmaru from his hand.
What the hell was the point of Kōkō Gonryō Rikyū anymore? Its power had already been assimilated into that green energy.
He needed something stronger to protect himself.
The choice was obvious.
Black Rope Heavenly Scourge King!
Just before the lightning descended, Ōetsu summoned a gigantic black-armored warrior above his head.
Tsunayoshi's Eight Thunder Gods had indeed completely locked onto Ōetsu's position.
In that case, Ōetsu simply needed to defend against all eight lightning pillars at once.
The eight lightning pillars crashed down upon Black Rope Heavenly Scourge King.
Its enormous body trembled violently, releasing agonized screams.
"Black Rope Heavenly Scourge King!"
Seeing his Zanpakutō suffer such agony, Komamura Sajin couldn't restrain himself and shouted out.
But shouting wasn't enough.
He wanted to rush over and save his Zanpakutō.
A black curved blade suddenly stabbed into the ground before Komamura.
Furious, Komamura demanded, "Why are you stopping me, Captain-Commander Kyōraku?!"
Kyōraku appeared before Komamura in Shunpo and picked up Katen Kyōkotsu.
"Trust Tsunayoshi. He knows what he's doing."
Komamura looked up again.
Just as Kyōraku had said, when Black Rope Heavenly Scourge King was on the verge of collapse, the lightning suddenly withdrew.
And at precisely that moment, Ōetsu drew a Zanpakutō that made even Kyōraku tremble.
"Bankai—Katen Kyōkotsu: Karamatsu Shinjū."
The Katen Kyōkotsu in Kyōraku's possession contained Hakkyōken hidden within it, so Ōetsu had been unable to control it.
But the Zanpakutō he had taken possessed the full power of its Zanpakutō spirit.
Black ink-like shadows quietly bloomed around Ōetsu, forming a completely black withered pine tree.
A massive stage silently materialized.
At its center appeared the physical manifestation of Katen Kyōkotsu's spirit—a mature, beautiful woman.
This was truly bad.
No one understood just how terrifying this Bankai was better than Kyōraku did.
Once Karamatsu Shinjū was unleashed, it meant that the battle had reached the point of risking one's life.
The mature woman representing Katen Kyōkotsu opened a folding fan and began dancing quietly upon the stage.
It was a performance based on Noh, an adult game of life and death.
First Act: Dance.
First Section — Tameiki no Kizu, Wounds Shared by Hesitation.
The injuries suffered by one's opponent would appear upon oneself as though the wounds were being shared.
Without the slightest hesitation, Ōetsu picked up a Zanpakutō and slashed it across his own body.
He was immortal.
Tsunayoshi was not.
With a flash, one of Ōetsu's arms fell to the ground.
At the same instant, violent lightning erupted from the left arm of Tsunayoshi's armored form.
Ōetsu frowned slightly.
Even this method of sharing the same fate and forcing both sides to suffer hadn't managed to injure Tsunayoshi.
Just how powerful was the defensive capability of that armor?
The second act began.
Zange no Shitone — Pillow of Remorse.
A man who regretted injuring his opponent would lie upon his bed in remorse and become afflicted with an incurable disease.
Nothing happened.
Ōetsu had miscalculated.
He should never have allowed Black Rope Heavenly Scourge King to take the full force of Tsunayoshi's lightning.
If he had merely shared a portion of the damage, an incurable disease would have appeared on Tsunayoshi's body as well.
Since that wouldn't work—
Then came the third act.
Dangyū no Fuchi — The Abyss of Severed Fish.
Having made their resolve, the two men plunged together into the surging water, remaining there until their Reiatsu was completely exhausted.
The world of Noh disappeared.
In its place, the two appeared within an enormous expanse of dark water.
Their Reiatsu began rapidly draining away.
This was a direct contest of their respective Reiatsu—the two sides forcibly competing against each other's spiritual power.
Kyōraku could only watch the two figures in the center of the stage anxiously.
Once someone was dragged into Karamatsu Shinjū, those outside could no longer interfere with the two people on the stage.
All they could do was watch helplessly as the performance reached its conclusion.
Ōetsu never expected to completely exhaust all of Tsunayoshi's Reiatsu.
The Reiatsu of both men was powerful enough to shake an entire world.
What Ōetsu wanted was merely a single moment of weakness from Tsunayoshi.
And soon, Ōetsu found his opportunity.
The seemingly indestructible armor began to show signs of loosening.
The shoulders.
The waist.
Even the neck.
Those connecting joints were the weak points.
He only needed the slightest opening, and Ōetsu could bring Tsunayoshi down.
Finale — Ito-kiri Basami, Blood-Stained Throat.
A woman's love was unbearably cruel.
She ignored the noisy man before her.
At his throat shone white threads saturated with longing.
At the very least, with these hands, cut them apart and cast them away.
The tangled threads of attachment would end here.
The world suddenly turned pure white.
A touch of crimson appeared at Ōetsu's fingertips.
He pointed toward the gap around Tsunayoshi's neck and swept his finger across it.
Extremely sharp Reiatsu condensed into threads, instantly slicing through Tsunayoshi's neck.
And that wasn't all.
Ōetsu hadn't forgotten Tsunayoshi's Hollowfication.
The moment his attack reached Tsunayoshi's neck, countless spherical masses of Reiatsu would erupt.
Using the resulting explosion of Reiatsu, Ōetsu intended to completely engulf Tsunayoshi's head and throat.
◇ BONUS & SUPPORT
◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 10 reviews — drop a comment!
◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ Read 70+ chapters ahead on P@treon → patreon.com/Sagamaster789