A crushing spiritual pressure suddenly enveloped the hearts of the three.
"Ichigo, do you understand now? This is not an opponent you can afford to be careless against!"
Shihouin Yoruichi shouted urgently, her golden eyes sharp with intensity.
"Use your strongest form from the start!"
Kurosaki Ichigo's expression turned serious. Tightening his grip on Zangetsu with both hands, he steadied himself.
"I understand! I might as well show Akira—your captain's Bankai! I've already mastered it!"
As his voice fell, a surge of violent energy exploded outward.
"Bankai! Tensa Zangetsu!"
Black and red Reiatsu swirled around Ichigo, forming a spiraling air current. His spiritual pressure condensed, and in an instant, his Shihakushō transformed into a sleek, black coat, the signature of his Bankai state.
"Shunko!"
Yoruichi activated her enhanced mode in an instant. Highly compressed Kidō crackled around her back and shoulders, coursing through her limbs. Her clothes tore where the energy surged, amplifying her destructive force with every movement.
"Let's go!"
"Got it!" Ichigo responded, his voice resolute.
Without hesitation, he shot forward, his speed breaking through the air like a black flash. Yoruichi followed suit, her movement so rapid it tore the atmosphere apart, producing a sonic boom.
Ichigo's Tensa Zangetsu struck upward from the lower left. At the same time, Yoruichi's Shunko-enhanced kick sliced downward from the upper right.
Yet, just as their attacks were about to connect—
"Trying to match speed with me? How laughable."
A faint, mocking sneer seemed to echo in their ears.
In that instant, Akira moved. Holding a blade in each hand—his left wielding a katana, his right gripping a shorter sword—he stabbed outward with precise, controlled thrusts.
Ichigo and Yoruichi's eyes widened.
Compared to their aggressive assaults, Akira's strikes seemed almost… ordinary.
But—
His blades pierced directly through the narrow gap in their attacks!
"What—?!"
"Damn it!"
A sudden surge of danger shot through Ichigo and Yoruichi's instincts. Without hesitation, they abandoned their attack and leaped backward.
By the time they stopped, they had retreated dozens of meters away.
Akira remained where he was, still holding his blades in a stabbing posture. But now—
A few fresh drops of blood slowly trickled down the edges of Hikari's Mirror and the Sword of Oath of Victory.
Ichigo winced. A sharp pain spread across his shoulder as a thin but deep cut appeared.
Yoruichi reached up, touching her cheek—where a small, precise wound had formed.
"…What was that just now?!"
Their breaths were heavy. Their instincts screamed that they had just encountered something beyond their comprehension.
Akira simply stood there, his expression unreadable.
Before she could even process what had happened, a metallic taste filled her mouth. A sharp pain surged through her chest as she coughed up a mouthful of blood.
"Yoruichi!" Kurosaki Ichigo's eyes widened in shock. "Are you alright!?"
"..."
Yoruichi waved a hand dismissively, steadying her breath. The sheer force of her high-speed movement had been too extreme, forcing her to abruptly change direction mid-motion. That sudden shift in inertia had caused internal damage—but that wasn't what alarmed her the most.
What truly sent a chill down Yoruichi's spine was Akira's sword. The instant he struck, she and Ichigo had been completely overwhelmed, forced back in a split second.
It wasn't some illusion or special ability—of that, she was certain. This was pure, refined swordsmanship.
What terrifying swordplay…
Yoruichi's heart sank.
"Just a single thrust—yet he instantly exploited the weakness in our footwork. Impossible…!"
Thinking back, the two spiritual pressures she had sensed while approaching the battle had undoubtedly belonged to Akira and Unohana Retsu.
As the head of the Shihōin Clan, Yoruichi knew all too well the true horror that lay behind Unohana's gentle demeanor. She was the original Kenpachi, the first and deadliest master of combat in Soul Society's history.
Yet now, as Yoruichi laid eyes on Akira, she couldn't see a single wound on his body.
Did he just fight Unohana Retsu to a standstill…?
A 50-50 match against the First Generation Kenpachi?
Initially, Yoruichi had assumed Akira's strength lay in his diverse and powerful abilities, perhaps making him comparable to the most notorious villains in Soul Society's history.
But now, she understood—his swordsmanship alone was enough to put him on that level.
"That's absurd… That's the First Kenpachi we're talking about…!"
"What are you mumbling about, Yoruichi?"
Ichigo, still catching his breath, clenched his fist. Even without fully understanding the situation, he had felt it firsthand—at the moment of Akira's attack, his guard had been utterly meaningless. In a single instant, his opponent had seen through his defenses and struck the weakest point.
And then—broken through it.
Yet Ichigo had never relied solely on swordsmanship. Gritting his teeth, he turned toward Ishida.
"Hey, Ishida! What the hell was that just now? Why didn't you attack? You were supposed to cover us!"
"Huh?" Ishida Uryū snapped out of his daze, his hands slightly trembling. "...Oh. Yeah. Right."
From his vantage point at the battle's edge, he had seen everything with terrifying clarity. The moment Akira's blade moved—it was as if something beyond human comprehension had awakened.
That swordsmanship... It wasn't just skill—it was enlightenment.
Even Ishida's soul felt as though it had been pierced. The sheer murderous intent radiating from Akira had momentarily numbed his very thoughts.
But the most terrifying part?
Even when Akira had been attacking Ichigo and Yoruichi—there had been no openings in his stance.
As an archer, Ishida's instincts were razor-sharp, honed to detect the slightest flaw in an opponent's movements. And yet, no matter how hard he tried to focus, every fiber of his being screamed the same thing:
There is no weakness to exploit.
No matter how he aimed, no matter what angle he considered—there was no way to strike first.
"Forget it," Akira muttered, his expression unreadable. "I'm not feeling great, so let's wrap this up quickly."
His grip on his sword tightened. Then, with a slow breath—he released.
"Reflect—Hikari Looks in the Mirror."
Ichigo and Ishida both stiffened at the words.
Wait. That wasn't the same release command Akira had used for his Shikai earlier…!
A bead of cold sweat rolled down Yoruichi's temple.
I almost forgot—he's been fighting like this while poisoned.
"Even under those conditions, he was this strong… And now he's about to use Shikai again?" Yoruichi exhaled sharply, tension creeping into her voice. "This is bad… I have a really bad feeling about this."
She wasn't wrong.
Because what they were about to face next—was one of Akira's true cheat-level abilities.
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