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"Bankai—!"
"Kannonbiraki Benihime Aratame!"
…
With a furious shout, Urahara Kisuke stood beneath his army-green fisherman's hat, eyes half-lidded.
The instant his spiritual pressure hit its peak, the cane-sword in his hand vanished completely.
That sight alone was enough to spark everyone's curiosity.
Fifth Division
Underground Chamber
"Well, well…"
"I thought after seeing so many future scenes, nothing could surprise me anymore. Who knew Urahara Kisuke would actually reveal his final trump card?"
"In the entire Gotei Thirteen, aside from the old man, I doubt anyone's ever seen his Bankai, right?"
Ichimaru Gin's Kyoto accent was thick with fascination.
Originally, he had already grown tired of these pure-blooded Quincy who simply could not be killed. He had no interest in watching their smug faces any longer.
But now…
Urahara Kisuke had delivered a massive surprise at just the right moment.
The Bankai of the Zanpakutō Benihime.
This was his first time seeing it.
"Gin, you're right. This really is an incredibly rare payoff…"
Aizen was intrigued as well.
Even after witnessing so many fragments of the future, Urahara Kisuke remained one of the very few people in the Soul Society whom Aizen considered a genuine threat.
You could even say—
Facing the only man whose intellect surpassed his own, Aizen had always found Urahara difficult to read. And he longed to uncover every secret hidden within him.
Clearly…
This ranking video had given him a huge assist.
"My guess… Benihime's Bankai is probably some kind of rule-based ability," Ichimaru Gin said, eyes locked on the screen.
At that moment—
As Urahara's spiritual pressure continued to climb—
Benihime suddenly disappeared from his hand.
"Hm? His Zanpakutō vanished?" Aizen frowned.
On the surface, Urahara looked unchanged.
But Aizen could clearly sense it. Within the space swallowed by the massive sphere of poison, a mysterious force was steadily seeping in.
And then—
"Aizen-taichō, look behind him! There's multicolored spiritual pressure rapidly condensing!" Gin exclaimed.
In the video—
A radiant pillar of light shot into the sky behind Urahara.
Within the seven-colored glow, a colossal, awe-inspiring figure slowly took shape.
"This is…"
The clouds parted.
Holy light descended.
When they finally saw the true form of that immense presence, Aizen and Ichimaru Gin cried out in unison:
"Kannon… the Bodhisattva?!"
Shock.
Even Aizen froze for a moment.
Behind Urahara Kisuke—
Stood the sacred Kannon, watching over him.
Clad in an ancient kimono woven like silk, pure white and noble.
The sight stood in stark contrast to the roiling sea of purple poison covering the ground.
More than that—
The moment the holy Kannon appeared—
The heavens shifted, the clouds scattered.
Brilliant rainbow light poured down across the land, as if it could cleanse all things under heaven.
"…Something's wrong."
In that instant, Askin Nakk Le Vaar's expression changed drastically.
He could clearly feel it.
The poisonous domain he had created was being firmly suppressed under the holy radiance.
"What kind of ability… is this…?"
The sense of danger in his chest only grew stronger.
Instead of acting rashly, Askin hesitated.
Because—
His instincts were screaming at him.
If he dared to attack recklessly now, the price he'd pay would be devastating.
Elsewhere
Twelfth Division, Research and Development Institute
"Awesome!!!"
"As expected of the man who founded the Research and Development Institute! Urahara-san's Bankai is insane!"
Staring straight at the translucent screen, Akōn, the Third Seat, was practically vibrating with excitement. Rainbow light reflected across his face, and he even used an honorific when talking about Urahara.
But—
He failed to notice.
Standing beside him, Mayuri Kurotsuchi's expression had darkened to the point it looked like it could drip.
"Damn it… Urahara Kisuke, you bastard!"
Behind the blue-and-white mask, Mayuri's eyes were filled with malice. He slammed his fist onto the table, barely containing his fury.
That damned man!
He had been gone from Soul Society for nearly a hundred years!
So why did he have to come back now, steal all the spotlight, and show off like this?!
"I don't understand it. And I refuse to accept it!"
Mayuri ground his teeth, his glare sharp enough to devour someone whole.
Comparisons really do kill.
Ever since these ranking videos appeared, he had been waiting for his own moment to take the stage. And what happened?
The very first person featured was Urahara Kisuke.
At first, Mayuri had clung to hope. He told himself that in later rankings, he would definitely overshadow Urahara.
But instead…
After all that waiting, not only did he fail to make the list—
He was forced to watch Urahara enjoy his second glorious highlight.
Damn it!
Why?!
We're both scientists, aren't we?!
How could I possibly be inferior to him?!
Mayuri Kurotsuchi absolutely refused to accept this.
He was even so consumed by jealousy that he was practically on the verge of losing his mind.
Back to the video.
"Urahara Kisuke…"
"I didn't expect that, even with death staring you in the face, you'd still dare to strike back. You've got guts, I'll give you that!"
He spread his hands wide.
Highly concentrated poison particles floated around his body, dancing in the air.
Askin Nakk Le Vaar took a slow breath, calming himself as his confidence returned.
"Heh… if I keep holding back and end up dying, that's one thing. But I can't let Miss Yoruichi get dragged down with me," Urahara said lightly, placing his striped bucket hat on the ground. He chuckled at himself. "A man's gotta take responsibility when it counts, right?"
"At a time like this, you're still joking?" Askin scoffed. "You're really calm. No wonder His Majesty personally named you one of the Five Special War Potentials…"
Askin opened his palm.
Poison so dense it made your scalp crawl condensed into two glowing rings hovering above his hand.
And when he finished speaking,
the real world erupted with reactions from all sides.
"The Five Special War Potentials?" Aizen's eyes lit up. "Gin, write that down. That's important information."
"Understood, Captain Aizen."
Staring at Askin's back, Ichimaru Gin muttered from the bottom of his heart, "Man… this poison guy really can't keep his mouth shut. Just how many secrets has he spilled already across these fights?"
The True World Castle…
Schrift abilities…
The Five Special War Potentials…
In Gin's eyes, Askin might as well have stood up and announced he was an undercover agent.
"Now, now, Gin, don't put it that way," Aizen said, slipping his gentle, harmless smile back into place. "After all, his future self wouldn't know this compilation video even existed. Besides, the more he reveals, the better it is for our future plans."
"Tch, tch…"
"The pure-blood Quincy side is probably ready to crucify him right about now."
Gin grinned mischievously.
He could already picture Askin getting torn apart by furious accusations.
Sure enough.
Inside the Silverframe Castle, the air was filled with nonstop shouting and curses.
"Askin Nakk Le Vaar, you idiot! How can you just blurt out classified information like that? You've practically stripped the Wandenreich naked!"
Lille Barro roared in rage.
Damn it…
Fight if you want to fight…
But why does your mouth fire nonstop like a machine gun?
What are you trying to do, flirt with a Shinigami?
Absolutely cursed luck.
If he weren't worried about starting internal conflict, Lille would have grabbed his sniper rifle and blown that bastard's head off on the spot.
"Lille's right," Gerard Valkyrie added coldly. "If you don't kill that Shinigami, I'll personally pin you to the castle gates with my spear."
"…!"
With two monsters glaring at him, Askin felt his whole body tense up. Cold sweat drenched his back as helplessness washed over him.
This is ridiculous!
Future me messed up. Why am I the one getting punished for it?
And besides…
Now that I know what happens later, can't I just fix this bad habit starting now?
Why jump straight to death threats?
Askin felt like crying.
All he could do was pray that his future self really did manage to kill Urahara Kisuke.
At the same time,
the battle reached its decisive moment.
"I don't really understand what your Bankai does," Askin said coolly, "but I'm done dragging this out."
With a flick of his arm, he hurled the poison rings forward.
"Heh… I was thinking the same thing," Urahara replied calmly, his eyes sharpening as he stayed right where he was.
"Hm? You're not even going to dodge?"
Every spectator held their breath.
Everything so far had proven just how terrifying that purple poison was, and now it was compressed into two deadly rings.
If they hit,
death would be instant.
But what happened next
left everyone staring in disbelief.
"Shhh—!!!"
The poison rings screamed through the air and detonated in front of Urahara.
Yet the splashing poison, just as it was about to touch him, began to blur and fade, vanishing completely into thin air.
From start to finish,
Urahara never made a single defensive move.
He simply stood there, effortlessly neutralizing the poisonous tide.
"That's impossible!" Askin's eyes went wide. "Urahara Kisuke, what did you just do?!"
Shock.
Utter disbelief.
What he had just witnessed was completely beyond Askin's understanding.
He couldn't comprehend how his attack had failed inside his own poisonous field.
"Heh…"
"No need to look so shocked, pure-blood Quincy," Urahara said calmly, his expression unchanged. "The poison didn't disappear. I just remodeled it."
"Remodeled?" Askin frowned.
"Yes. As you can see, the power of Benihime's Bankai is the ability to restructure anything it touches."
Bathed in the holy glow, Urahara looked almost serene. Beneath his feet, the poisonous field visibly receded.
"Damn it… I really underestimated you!"
A sharp sense of danger surged through Askin.
He clenched his hand, forming a staff of poison, and snarled, "I was planning to keep experimenting with my toxins on you. But now I'll just kill you outright!"
"Supreme Poison Sphere!"
The purple staff swung down as Askin roared.
In an instant, every poison particle around him detonated, transforming into a cascading flood of thick, viscous venom that surged outward like a tidal wave.
Air, ground, buildings…
Everything within the poisonous field was swallowed whole by the high-density toxin.
Even the sacred Kannon was engulfed.
The camera itself was drowned in purple rain.
The final image the audience could see
was an endless sea of poison, as both Urahara Kisuke and Askin Nakk Le Vaar vanished within it.
The outcome was never revealed.
Whether Urahara survived the poison sea or perished within it, no one knew.
The compilation ended there.
"..."
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