"This... ends here and now!!"
Renji roared, fists trembling with fury.
Raizen gave a wicked smile, answering in a voice like a cold knife:
"Hm...
Show me everything you've got."
---
Renji ran.
He moved so fast his body became a blur of lightning—
He leapt, his fist flying toward Raizen's face with all the power he could summon:
"I'll end you, Raizen!!"
―――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――
The wind slapped like icy whips.
The earth quaked beneath their feet, as if warning:
Something unnatural is about to erupt.
Renji stepped forward, his fury anchoring each stride.
His eyes locked onto one thing only—Raizen.
His fist, cloaked in raw energy, ignited on approach.
But Raizen didn't even flinch.
He just... smiled.
A calm, eerie smile at first... then—
KRA-KOOM!
A violent blue explosion rang out at first contact.
Sparks flew everywhere, like the heavens themselves were gasping.
Renji's blazing punch struck—
But Raizen didn't budge.
Didn't groan.
Didn't move an inch.
He just smiled wider...
until it turned into mad, howling laughter.
Then he said, half mocking, half admiring:
"Bravo. Bravo. BRAVO.
You really are Marokai Zenshinta's grandson.
I adored that man.
But no matter what you do...
you'll never reach him.
No one ever will."
But Renji wasn't listening anymore.
He was rage incarnate.
A storm of fists and fury.
He struck.
He kicked.
He screamed.
He combusted with wrath.
—A punch to the face.
—A kick to the chest.
—A flurry of blows landing like knives.
—A strike to the shoulder.
—A spinning kick to the jaw.
—A punch to the nose followed by a brutal knee.
Every hit sparked blue lightning that could shatter mountains.
Even the air couldn't keep up.
From the depths of his lungs, Renji screamed:
"ARRRGGHAAAAA!!
WHY?!"
—Blows to the chest.
—A backflip ending in a neck-breaking kick.
—A thunderous elbow strike straight to the cheekbone.
"DO YOU—
WANT TO—
DIE?!"
Raizen took the hits like a ghost.
Unfazed.
Untouched.
Then suddenly—
His eyes narrowed.
A small smile crept onto his lips...
SWOOSH—SNAP!
He grabbed Renji's arm.
Yanked him in.
Their faces inches apart, breath colliding.
He whispered, in a voice devoid of mercy:
"Is that all you can do?"
Renji's eyes quivered.
Shaken.
Pure instinctual fear.
He tried to break free.
Tried to pull back—
But Raizen's grip was molten iron.
"Get away from me, you freak!!"
Renji screamed, panic now burning through him.
THUD!
Raizen slammed him to the ground like a ragdoll.
Pinned him.
Then placed a hand over Renji's mouth...
Pressed down.
MMPHH MMMMMPH!
The muffled screams fought to escape, but were strangled.
"Shh..."
"It'll be over quickly... and you'll suffer endlessly."
Raizen's voice oozed venom.
He pulled back slowly.
Raised his left hand to his mouth—
And exhaled:
"P̷h̷h̷h̷h̷..."
His breath—
Turned into glowing green smoke.
It swirled around his fingers like a living entity.
It coiled.
Stretched.
Compressed.
Until it became a glowing green thread.
He held it between thumb and forefinger...
And brought it to Renji's face.
MMPHHMPHHMMMM!!!
Renji thrashed.
Screamed.
Struggled.
But it was no use.
Raizen was a wall of flesh and madness.
Then, in a cold, ritual-like whisper, Raizen said:
"Oh, my precious vessel... grandson of the legend Marokai Zenshinta...
I now declare:
We shall be one—forever.
If one dies... the other dies too."
Suddenly—
The green thread unraveled, spiraling into a storm around them.
Raizen stood tall.
Renji lay bound, broken, breathless.
He couldn't move.
Couldn't scream.
Could only think:
"What the hell... is happening to me?!"
Raizen...
Began to dissolve.
From the feet upward, his body broke apart.
Until only one thing remained:
A smile.
Radiating pure evil.
Renji was finally released—
But it was too late.
The threads were everywhere.
Crawling.
Blazing with green fire more vicious than hell.
The air thickened.
The heat soared.
Breathing became a choking gasp.
"I have to get out of here!!"
Renji screamed, arm over mouth,
spinning in panic.
No escape.
Everything closing in like the jaws of a starving beast.
Each blink pulled him closer to oblivion.
"Is this how I die?"
He whispered, barely audible under the screeching flames.
Suddenly—
A thread shot out.
It hovered near his mouth, twitching—
Then—
Sssslllkk—Ttch-tch-tch-tch!'
It stabbed into his mouth.
Too fast to react.
The pain wasn't even first—
It was the shock.
Then it began...
Drawing a smile.
Renji tried to fight.
Grabbed the thread, pulled—
Only to tear more flesh.
The smile widened.
From his lips...
to his cheek...
to his ear.
More threads burst out.
Sssslllkk!!
Each stabbed a new part of him.
Shoulders.
Knees.
Joints.
Neck.
They ripped him—
Then stitched him back.
Then tore him again.
The pain became a hurricane.
His mouth was still shut.
But his face—
Smiled.
"Stop it!!
Someone!!
MAKE IT STOP!!!
AAAAAAAAAAAAHH_!!"
A scream from deep within shredded his soul.
He begged for mercy...
But not for death.
Because the flame of vengeance was still burning.
Stronger than pain.
Stronger than fear.
Then—
Silence.
Darkness.
Everything vanished.
Renji knelt, gasping—
Staring at his hands.
No blood.
No thread.
Only pain.
"Where... the hell did everything go?"
He whispered, broken.
CRACK-CRACK-CRACK—SKRRRAAAKK—FWUMP!"
The ground split open beneath him.
But he didn't scream.
Didn't resist.
He closed his eyes...
And fell.
Fell into the void.
Until—
"Renji...
Reeeeeeenjiiiiiii!"
TO BE CONTINUED...