There was a sudden blip in his Reiatsu the moment Sorasen stabbed into the ground beside him. But, his body was unfortunately too slow to tag along his mind's reaction speed. Minato blinked into motion, before Aikawa could even blink.
A kick smashed into his side, catapulting him into the air. The eyes of the other Captains widened. None of them had seen anything coming. Meanwhile, Yoruichi rolled her eyes and laughed a bit.. It was about to go down..
Minato backflipped into a crouch, staring down Aikawa who stabilised himself in mid air. Sorasen twirled in his grip and then he moved. A corkscrew hurled the engraved kunai towards him in a fraction of a second. Faster than anyone could even react, the blade was only an inch from tearing into Aikawa's eyeball.
Part of Minato's incredible achievement with the Hiraishin no Jutsu in the Shinobi world was his success with shurikenjustsu. Apart from a few high ranking Uchiha, no one could boast of incredible accuracy before him. Aikawa's head tilted to the side, as Sorasen nicked his ear. His eyes were widened in that moment, when Minato simply appeared in a grabbing motion, seized the kunai in mid air and simply backhanded it straight into the Captain's eye.
Barely a second had yet to pass. Aikawa pushed himself to the limit. Pushing Reiatsu into his brain and nerves, his body shook with an adrenaline like surge. Entering into a sort of awakened state, the kunai headed for the side of his head seemed a tad slower, giving him the much needed breather to manoeuvre around it, and push himself to the side.
He landed with a flip, as his feet trailed the ground, leaving two dark grooves in the earth. Minato's brows furrowed and he flipped himself onto a pole, studying Aikawa before him intently.
"I see.. You're pushing Reiatsu into your nervous system to increase your perception and reflexes. Not bad. I guess I underestimated you myself.." Minato admitted, his eyes shining brightly. Even he hadn't thought to do this..
Aikawa wiped the blood from his nose and then supported himself with his massive club. "I thought it was impossible at first. I guess nothing is.." Aikawa laughed, hoisting his huge club onto his shoulder.
Rose furrowed his brows. "You idiot, any slight miscalculation and you'll fry your nervous system forever, turning yourself into a vegetable.." He gritted his teeth and spoke.
"Hmmm.." Shunsui's eyes squinted gently. He was more intrigued by Minato than by whatever suicidal technique Aikawa was using.
Since the beginning of the fight, not once had Minato been caught off guard, hit or even outsmarted. It was as if he was one step ahead of Aikawa every step of the way, dictating the tempo of the battle and forcing an experienced Captain like Aikawa to awaken his shikai.
Such battle instincts were peerless. No matter what, such a talent was not to be confined to the Maggots nest. "He would make a fine Lieutenant. Perhaps he could even take my place one day.." Shunsui eyes glimmered.
Meanwhile, Aikawa scoffed at Rose's comments. "If the other Captains had thought of this, maybe they wouldn't have lost they way they did. Someone needs to restore the honor of the Gotei 13.." He grinned, ignoring the blood that poured out of his nose and mouth.
"Sigh.. Let's end this before you damage yourself too much, Captain Aikawa. You're worthy of my respect." Minato got into a stance, his arms bent before him, holding Sorasen in reverse in one and the hand seal of confrontation in the other...
Aikawa whipped out Tengumaru Infront of his chest with a loud cry. "Likewise, Minato! You should give up. I can now react to your speed, and without it, you lose.." Aikawa's grip on the club tightened even further.
" TENGUMARU!!!" He roared brazenly, filling his awakened Zanpankutou with an incredible amount of reaistu, massive enough to cause a maelstrom and then he moved. The ground beneath his feet exploded.
ZOOOOOM!
The club carved a hole through the air itself as it smashed towards Minato with unreasonable power. However, Minato remained unfazed. Flicking Sorasen high up into the sky, he was gone in less than the blink of an eye.
An explosion shook the courtyard. The ground unravelled as shockwaves ripped into the land, from Aikawa's powerful onslaught. However Minato was out of his range of attack before the attack could land. He gritted his teeth, grabbed the club and then turned with an even fiercer power.
But Minato from the smoke, a shadow Clone manifested beside him.. "You thought you've adapted to my speed? Who told you my Zanpankutou's ability was speed?" Minato scoffed and then formed a hand seal with Sorasen in hand.
A ball of spinning wind and Reiatsu morphed into existence in the hands of the clone while Minato himself let out a breath. Aikawa who was charging towards him with incredible power felt a shift. His eyes widened in shock, as if reality itself was canceling out his momentum. And then he felt it. As if the world was turning on him.
Before his mind could process what exactly was happening, he was in front of Minato in a split second who had barely moved. Sorasen ripped towards his torso, while the Rasengan crushed into him from above. .
Death..
Just where exactly had he gone wrong? One moment, he was getting ready to pummel the arrogant boy and in the next, he was in a falling motion about to get torn apart by blade and Reiatsu combination attack. Just where had he gone wrong?
But...
"Enough!" The Head Captain's hoarse voice resounded with a wave of Reiatsu. Minato shook and ceased his attack on Aikawa immediately and then retreated to the side, while the Captain fell to the ground and puked blood. His eyes widened, as realisation dawned on him like a cold shower. He had lost.
Had the Head Captain not given the order in time, he wouldve died. He arose to his feet slowly, and then shook his head. "I now understand why those two lost to you.. You have my respect, Minato.." Aikawa walked to Minato, patted him on the shoulder and then picked up Tengumaru before walked back to his position with his a sigh..
Minato stood in silence. He felt their curious eyes on him, as if trying to pry into his secrets, but he kept his cool. The Head Captain turned a gaze to him, his brow raising. Minato's origins would forever be a mystery to them. And while they were curious, he didn't seem like the type to share..
"You leave for Hueco Mundo as soon as possible.." The Head Captain nodded to him. Whether it was approval or something else, Minato couldn't tell. The rest of the Captains seemed to at least acknowledge his strength.
"Old man Yama, if I may.." Shunsui stepped in at the last moment before everyone left. "There's something I wanna ask.." He sent a small smile to Minato.
"Go ahead. But he's at liberty to answer you or not.." The old man replied calmly.
"Got it.." Shunsui nodded and then turned to Minato. "What exactly is the nature of your Zanpankutou? Sorasen right?" He asked. The rest of the Captains drew their ears near, but their faces held uncomfortable expressions.
"What? You guys want to hear it too. Don't give me that.." He scoffed.
Minato turned to Yoruichi who simply nodded for him to go ahead.
"Yes, Sorasen.. Its a unique space time Zanpankutou that allows me to instantly traverse distances to the blade itself or to any object I mark with the blade.."
He spoke everything in one breath..
"Space time?"
Shunsui and the rest of them revealed surprised expressions. Even the Head Captain stirred in his seat. Brows furrowing.
"A unique Space time Zanpankutou? Isn't that like forbidden?" Shinji asked with a frown.
"Instant Teleportation eh? That explains it.." Jushiro walked to Shunsui in careful thought. Shunsui nodded. "Adding instant Teleportation to someone as fast and skillful as you is like giving wings to a tiger. No wonder Our Captains never stood a chance. They weren't just outclassed, they were outsmarted and they paid dearly for it..
Basically, anyone who can't hope to match you in pure base speed is fodder.
Add your instant Teleportation to it, and you can even one shot most 2nd and 3rd Seat Liuetenants. Even in Bankai, Captains with no prior knowledge of your abilities are just lambs waiting to be cut down in combat. It's just as easy it as it sounds.
Some Zanpankutou outclass others, in the same way, the natural talents of some Shinigami outclass others..
That's just the way the world is.." The entire grounds went silent as Shunsui poured out his thoughts and speculation. Minato squinted his eyes. He knew that straw hat Captain was dangerous. But even his prior assessment felt like an underestimation at this point.
"Hai! Don't mind me! I'm just a drunk spewing nonsense all the time.." Shunsui saw the shift in the expression on Minato's face and bailed instantly.
Of course, while speed was the base of Minato's entire battle tactics, the instant teleportation was just the base of Sorasen's power. There was so much he could do. In the earlier moments of his fight with Aikawa, he intentionally marked him with Sorasen's seal and then in the final moments, instead of teleporting himself, he did vice versa.
He teleported Aikawa to himself and then nearly finished him off. Shunsui had a good measure of Sorasen's base abilities, but that wasn't all Minato could do even at this stage..
A/N: Haven't been well for a while. I promised an extra chapter last time, I couldn't deliver. This time I will.