Returning to the battlefield where Tsunayoshi was fighting the Monk, Yamamoto had been sealed away by Senjumaru's Bankai, bringing the battle back to a one-on-one confrontation between Tsunayoshi and the Monk.
Facing Tsunayoshi's attack, the Monk clapped his hands together.
"Hadō of the Hidden Arts, Third Path—Tekken Satsu!"
A violent hurricane erupted and blocked Tsunayoshi's advance. At the same time, the Monk had already blackened Ichimonji with ink.
As Tsunayoshi struggled against the gale, he looked up and saw a vast expanse of ink pouring down toward him. By the time he tried to transform himself into lightning, it was already too late.
This was one of the Monk's combination attacks. First, he used Hidden Hadō to suppress Tsunayoshi's movements, then used ink to blacken his name. Once Tsunayoshi was covered in that ink, he would become nothing more than a powerful walking corpse.
Just thinking about it made the Monk smile.
At that critical moment, a green figure suddenly appeared over Tsunayoshi's body and blocked the terrifying ink for him.
It was Ghost!
No...
Who was this?
When Ghost was splashed with ink and turned into a little black figure, Tsunayoshi realized that he seemed to have forgotten the name of the person who had protected him. The name was right on the tip of his tongue, yet no matter how hard he tried, he could not say it.
More importantly, because Ghost was an indispensable component of Tsunayoshi's Lightning-type Bankai, the moment Ghost's name was erased, Tsunayoshi could clearly feel the power of his Beyond Bankai rapidly disappearing.
One-third of his power had suddenly vanished.
"That damn Ichibē Hyōsube!"
Feeling that he had suddenly lost the name of one of his battle companions, Tsunayoshi cursed the Monk.
The Monk's eyes had already turned completely white. With an eerie expression, he spoke in an icy voice.
"Didn't I tell you not to call my name?!"
Tsunayoshi was just about to open his mouth and retort when he discovered that he could no longer make a sound.
Just by calling the Monk's name once, the Monk had directly stripped Tsunayoshi of his ability to speak.
The Monk laughed.
Combined with his sinister face, that cold smile made him even more terrifying. He could clearly sense that Tsunayoshi's Reiatsu had weakened.
Even Ōetsu had never fought an opponent of this caliber.
He really had wasted far too many years.
The Monk raised his foot and walked toward Tsunayoshi. He intended to take this candidate for Soul King power into his custody.
Tsunayoshi stretched out both hands as though grasping something invisible, then suddenly thrust them forward.
Every Zanpakutō in the surrounding area that was wrapped in Iron Sand began to tremble simultaneously. They rose into the air and shot toward the Monk like a storm of blades.
The Monk snorted.
How could such a chaotic attack possibly injure him?
He transformed into an agile, heavyset figure, weaving through the rain of swords. From time to time, he used Ichimonji to deflect the blades, effortlessly neutralizing Tsunayoshi's desperate attack.
At least, that was how the Monk saw it.
Sawada Tsunayoshi was already at the end of his strength. What ability did he have left to resist?
What the Monk failed to notice was that all of the Zanpakutō were flying in the same direction.
That direction was toward the current Captain-Commander of the Gotei 13—
Shunsui Kyōraku.
The blades landed all around Kyōraku.
Kyōraku immediately understood Tsunayoshi's intention.
He was returning all of the Zanpakutō to him.
But then what was Tsunayoshi going to do?
In a battle of this level, he had actually dared to divert his attention from attacking the Monk and perform such a seemingly insignificant maneuver.
Was this not already a critical moment?
Kyōraku had no idea what Tsunayoshi was thinking, but he could clearly sense that Tsunayoshi's Reiatsu had weakened considerably.
The Monk likewise could not understand the purpose of Tsunayoshi's seemingly pointless action.
But it did not matter.
It was time to take him.
Senri Tsūtenshō was raised high into the air.
The Monk intended to crush Tsunayoshi with a single palm, just like swatting a fly.
Smack!
The impact of Senri Tsūtenshō sent dust billowing into the air.
A gigantic palm print was left in the ground.
There was no thunder.
No resistance.
The lightning in the sky disappeared without a trace.
It seemed that everything was over.
Tsunayoshi had not used his Lightning-type power to resist.
The dark clouds overhead grew increasingly oppressive. Without even a single streak of lightning weaving through them, the atmosphere seemed heavier than before.
"It's over. Shihōin Yoruichi, if you don't leave now, be careful that I don't take you as well!"
The Monk shouted toward Yoruichi, who was still fighting Kirinji high in the sky.
The Monk had no need to negotiate with Yoruichi, but because she bore the Shihōin name, he was willing to show her some leniency.
As for the other two people trapped by Senjumaru, he would deal with them after taking care of the two candidates for Soul King power.
"Give it up, Shihōin. The battle is already over."
Kirinji rested his Zanpakutō on his shoulder as he spoke.
He no longer wanted to fight Yoruichi.
Both of them were speedsters, and their attacks constantly missed their mark. Fighting someone so slippery was extremely irritating.
"The sky sure is dark."
Yoruichi also stopped moving and looked up at the dark clouds overhead with a sigh.
"Quit with the pointless metaphors. The Monk isn't someone you can reason with. Be careful, or he'll take you too."
Kirinji kindly warned her.
"When that happens, even the Shihōin Clan won't be able to protect you."
"It doesn't matter. I left the Shihōin Clan a long time ago. I'm just a carefree wanderer now."
Yoruichi paid no attention to Kirinji's warning.
She had arranged for her younger brother to succeed her as head of the clan long ago. With nothing left tying her down, she had left to roam the world alongside Kisuke Urahara.
"Then you should leave all the more. Matters concerning Squad Zero aren't something you can interfere in."
Kirinji waved his hand dismissively.
"Even if the sky is this dark, there will always be a ray of light, won't there?"
Without the support of Lightning-type power, the dark clouds gradually began to disperse.
A beam of light streamed down through the cracks in the clouds.
The light fell not far from Yoruichi and Kirinji.
And the place where it touched the ground...
was the palm print left behind by Senri Tsūtenshō.
"Stop making ridiculous comparisons, or I'll—"
Kirinji was just about to get serious and scare Yoruichi a little when a powerful Reiatsu suddenly caught his attention.
Light.
Blinding light erupted from the center of the palm print.
In that instant, the beam became the sole focal point of the gloomy surroundings.
Even the Monk, who had been heading toward Ichigo's location, stopped in his tracks and looked back at the mark he had left behind.
"Could it be...?"
The light at the center of the palm print slowly condensed into a human shape.
As the figure took form, the brilliance gradually faded.
It was Sawada Tsunayoshi—
the very person who had just taken the Monk's palm strike head-on.
His upper body was bare.
A pair of silver-white gauntlets covered his hands, while golden metallic armor covered his lower body. Two square devices were mounted near his shoulder blades.
At first glance, Tsunayoshi appeared to have activated a Sun-type Bankai.
But there was one major difference.
The most eye-catching feature was the vivid lizard emblem on the left side of his chest.
Just looking at it gave the strange impression that the creature represented by the emblem was glaring viciously back at you.
As everyone waited for Tsunayoshi to explain what kind of power this was, he simply brought two fingers together and thrust them straight into his own throat.
He pulled his fingers back.
Threads of yellow light enveloped his throat.
Tsunayoshi opened his mouth and coughed out a couple of hoarse sounds, adjusting to his new voice.
What Tsunayoshi had done was actually very simple.
Since the Monk had destroyed his voice, he had simply destroyed his own vocal cords physically and then used the extraordinary regenerative properties of the Sun attribute to create new ones.
After coughing twice, Tsunayoshi finally adjusted to his new voice.
He spoke.
"Beyond Bankai—Rebirth Activation, Sun..."
Rebirth.
After merging with Beyond Bankai, the Sun attribute's regenerative ability had reached an astonishing level—one capable of bringing someone back from the brink of death.
What Tsunayoshi had just done was allow his own voice to undergo rebirth.
"One after another... Just what is wrong with this world?"
The Monk was not merely bored anymore.
He was actually getting angry.
For someone who controlled the very concept of names, destroying an enemy's voice by erasing his name was an excellent ability.
Yet day after day, he kept encountering people who somehow managed to undermine the dignity of his abilities.
Sōsuke Aizen was one.
Sawada Tsunayoshi was another.
Not a single one of these people was willing to make things easy for him.
The Monk was beginning to resemble a helpless parent watching one troublesome junior after another wreak havoc in the household.
Seal them!
All of them!
I'll seal every last one of you!
The Monk stepped forward and launched another attack.
In an instant, he appeared directly before Tsunayoshi.
Ichimonji in his hand was simultaneously a blade and a brush, making it impossible to tell which form it was currently taking.
As a blade, it could inflict wounds upon the enemy.
As a brush, it could blacken the enemy's name.
Either form was advantageous to the Monk, while his opponent had to contend with the difficulty of defending against both.
That was true for everyone else.
For Tsunayoshi, however, his objective was very clear.
Evade the brush's attacks.
And when Ichimonji became a blade, counterattack.
The Monk's swordsmanship was extremely refined. It was impossible for Tsunayoshi to avoid every single attack while simultaneously finding opportunities to strike back.
But compared with allowing the blade to cut his body, Tsunayoshi was even less willing to let the ink splash onto him.
With the enhancement of his regenerative power, Tsunayoshi's speed reached its absolute peak.
His dynamic visual acuity was equally extraordinary, allowing him to continuously evade the Monk's attacks.
Focus.
Concentrate everything into a single point.
A sharp glint flashed through Tsunayoshi's eyes.
He had caught the instant Ichimonji changed.
The next attack would be a blade!
White light suddenly covered Tsunayoshi's body.
It was the color of sunlight.
Super Activation!
Tsunayoshi accelerated violently.
At the same moment that Ichimonji pierced into his shoulder, he drove a straight punch toward the Monk.
Boom!
Blood sprayed from Tsunayoshi's body.
The Monk, meanwhile, was sent flying backward by the force of Tsunayoshi's punch.
It looked like a reckless exchange of injuries.
But Tsunayoshi possessed the Sun attribute.
He could heal himself.
In the end, the Monk was the one who had suffered the greater loss.
Whoosh.
A cluster of yellow flames suddenly ignited behind Tsunayoshi's head.
Illuminated by the flames, a golden solar disk faintly emerged before everyone's eyes.
It was the energy gauge that had evolved from the Sun Vongola Ring's Bracelet.
Even after its evolution, it continued to perform its fundamental function.
Flames burned atop the golden solar disk.
And faintly...
it seemed to grant Tsunayoshi a trace of divinity.
The Monk rose from the ground, veins bulging across his entire body.
That punch had been far from weak.
It had forced him to use the power of the Ōken to defend himself.
Very strong.
Very tough.
He couldn't afford to meet him head-on.
Seeing that Tsunayoshi remained completely unharmed, the thought of fighting through indirect means immediately appeared in the Monk's mind.
He swept his hands through the air, forming various Kidō spells before hurling them toward Tsunayoshi all at once.
Who would have thought that the Monk would one day need Kidō to cover his attacks?
However, when it came to Kidō, the Monk was clearly inferior to Aizen, who had integrated Kidō into his Beyond Bankai.
These were not Aizen's fantastical Kidō imbued with the dreamlike properties of the Hōgyoku.
Tsunayoshi didn't take them seriously at all.
His body suddenly split into numerous afterimages.
With Super Activation boosting him, Tsunayoshi moved so quickly that even the human eye could no longer track his position.
He passed effortlessly through the barrage of Kidō.
If things continued like this, Tsunayoshi only needed to keep dodging and throwing punches to defeat the Monk.
However, during that brief interval while Tsunayoshi was evading the Kidō, the Monk had already begun performing a ritual dance.
Between heaven and earth, every substance bearing the name "Black" surged toward the Monk.
Having seen the video before, Tsunayoshi immediately became serious.
This was the technique that had even caused Aizen to suffer.
Futen Taisatsuryō!
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