"Chika-nii, did you win already?"
As the clamor outside dwindled, Yorita Shiba lying in the hall thought of that young man. His expression flickered with complexity.
He strained to move his fingers, struggling to rise.
But before he could shift, a Zanpakuto slid silently across his throat.
The blade cold and mirror-like reflected a small boy with wild grassy hair.
"Don't move."
"Makoto-sama ordered me to keep an eye on you."
"Makoto?"
Yorita blinked, blurting out instinctively, "Isn't that man named Kuruyashiki Ryūma?"
Ryūma pursed his lips, his look turning odd.
"I'm Kuruyashiki Ryūma."
For a moment, Yorita's face twisted strangely, realization dawning.
But before he could speak again, Ryūma snapped to attention. Grabbing Yorita's collar, he yanked him aside with a Shunpo to the corner.
Boom!
A mere half a second later, a black figure crashed in like a meteor, faster than when it had burst out of the hall, embedding deep into the wall and rubble.
Dust billowed upward.
Ryūma and Yorita froze, stunned.
"Cough... cough…"
Chika Shihoin shoved aside a massive stone, clambering from the ruins with labored effort.
His clothes hung in tatters, the scarf once around his neck lost somewhere. White hair dusted with ash, his body bore bloody gashes from Zanpakutō strikes. Blood soaked his garb, pooling into dark patches, a trickle staining his lips.
Even his left gauntlet lay shattered in pieces, only the elbow segment clinging to his arm.
"Kurahahahaha!"
"Entertain this old soul a bit more!"
Before he could regroup, a petite purple figure descended from the sky. Her long blade carved a frigid arc through the night, slamming into the wreckage.
Chika gritted his teeth, lunging forward. His right gauntlet met Saitō Furofushi's blade, but from his flank, a naginata swung silently with crushing force.
Even armored, Chika couldn't withstand its might. The blow sent blood spraying from his mouth, his body tumbling into the earth, blasting a gaping crater.
Yet he lived up to his title as the Soul Society's swiftest.
Even at such close range, he evaded the naginata's lethal tip, its edge merely gouging a deep mark into his inner armor.
"Damn it!"
Unbowed by the dire odds, Chika roared, "Three against one, what skill is that?!"
"Fight me solo if you've got the guts!"
"Right?!"
Saitō clicked her tongue, kicking at Katori's rear. Her foot left a glaring mark on the pristine haori, her voice dripping with irritation. "That was my fight, newbie!"
"Stay out of it."
"Hmph!"
Katori kicked aside and shot her a cold glance. In her Shikai state, her usual timidity vanished. She brushed off Saitō's foot with a flick, turning her steely gaze to Chika.
"Hey! I'm talking to you…"
Saitō pressed on, unrelenting.
But before her words could land, a soft tread approached.
The voice preceded the figure.
"Is that so?"
That faint phrase drew every eye.
Unohana cradling Makoto stepped aside. She smiled gently at Chika, her tone even.
Nestled in Unohana's soft embrace, Makoto exhaled a long breath.
Safe at last with Unohana-mama.
"My disciple owes you quite a bit of care."
"As his master, I ought to give him some closure."
As she spoke, Unohana set Makoto down and advanced toward Chika, her expression as icy as ever.
Chika's face stiffened.
Yachiru Unohana.
The Soul Society's most diabolical criminal in history.
His left gauntlet? Shattered by her single stroke moments ago.
If such a beast unleashed her full might…
What then…
Chika had no time to ponder. The instant her chilling killing intent flared, instinct drove him to summon his all with a low shout.
"Raiōken!!!"
With that cry, his remaining armor erupted in blinding reiatsu. Lightning coiled around it, its presence awe-inspiring.
This was the true face of Raiōken.
At the cost of rapid reiatsu drain, it tripled his strength, speed, and resilience in mere moments.
Its effect outstripped even his Bankai.
Then, like a streak of living thunder, Chika charged at Unohana, staking everything.
A desperate gambit!
Unohana faced the lightning head-on, drawing her Asauchi with measured calm. Her gaze remained as frigid as ever as if nothing in this world warranted her notice.
Her blade rose...
And fell.
Simple.
Unadorned.
In that instant, Makoto's vision seemed to skip frames, catching only the second before and after the swing.
A crisp crack pierced his ears.
Chika, sensing some dire omen, halted his radiant charge midair. He recoiled several meters, leaping to maintain a wary distance from Unohana.
Yet...
Even so, his right gauntlet's surface now bore a fine web of cracks, unnoticed until that moment.
Crash!
Armor shards scattered, crumbling into debris across the ground.
A thin, elongated cut marred Chika Shihoin's arm, mere fractions from severing it entirely.
Cold sweat beaded down his forehead.
"Not a bad reaction."
Unohana regarded him, offering this measured judgment.
Then, she raised her Zanpakuto once more, its tip aimed at Chika.
"However…"
"Raiōken - Second Stage!!"
With a deafening roar, Chika's body ignited into a storm of lightning. He vanished from his spot, charging the fearsome woman with a desperate bellow, unleashing a high whip kick laden with heavy thunder.
The instant his voice fell, a concentrated burst of reiatsu erupted beneath Unohana's feet.
When she reappeared, she stood mere inches from Chika.
His form, wreathed in crackling light, pushed his reiatsu to the utmost limit of his lifetime. Thunder roared in their ears, his skin flushed blood-red.
His leg arced through the air like a titanic axe forged of lightning, shattering distance with a tearing gust. To every onlooker, it blazed a streak so radiant it seemed to sear the eyes, a pinnacle of power. The Raiōken's greaves bore faint cracks like fracturing glass, stretched to their absolute breaking point.
The culmination of a lifetime's strength!
Neither Makoto nor the distant Yorita and Ryūma could track his movements.
Even facing him head-on was a struggle.
Yet before this terrifying strike, Unohana stood serene, her single-handed sword stance unwavering.
At the same time, she gently raised her other hand to the side.
Snap!
The greave, ablaze with violent thunder, landed in her palm as if she were catching a platter, and she held it firm.
She squeezed.
And the lightning snuffed out.
In that instant, a thread of bewilderment flickered across Chika's face, beyond his control.
That devastating kick, heavy beyond measure, couldn't advance another inch.
Like an infant, utterly powerless.
Then, her Zanpakuto traced a simple arc downward.
From his chest to his abdomen, it carved a clean line.
Blood sprayed in a wide arc.
Thud!
Chika crashed to the ground.
Blood poured from his midsection, red spilling from his mouth, his eyes vacant.
Two strikes.
Makoto stared, transfixed.
Chika Shihoin who'd been an invincible force before him now lay worse off than he under Yachiru Unohana's hand.
At that moment it struck him.
His beloved Unohana-sensei was… unreasonably strong, huh?
***
Bonus Chapter:
100 Power Stones = 1 BC
300 Power Stones = 2 BC
500 Power Stones = 3 BC
700 Power Stones = 4 BC
1000 Power Stones = 5 BC
***
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