"Fine by me." Kagerōza Inaba laughed. "Once she's dead, I'll make you an even better... ngh!"
A blade shot forward and pierced Kagerōza Inaba's chest. Gin Ichimaru turned his head toward him. "As long as you can't move your Zanpakutō, you can't use your ability. Am I wrong?"
"You..." Kagerōza Inaba reached for the blade protruding from his chest. "You're not a Reigai?!"
"What a shame. You thought I was already dead, so you let my Reigai run wild in the World of the Living." Gin Ichimaru retracted Shinsō until it was the length of a short blade, leaving Kagerōza Inaba grasping at empty air. "Since you used my Reishi to create it, of course I could sense the Reigai's presence. Come to think of it, I was probably the first person to notice the Reigai."
The moment Gin Ichimaru sensed his own Reiatsu beside Rangiku Matsumoto, he knew something was wrong.
Everything after that had been simple.
Unlike the other Reigai, which fought alongside one another, Gin Ichimaru's Reigai had always attacked from a distance.
On a battlefield where the situation changed from one instant to the next, Gin Ichimaru had countless opportunities to eliminate his Reigai and take its place.
"Do you understand what you're doing...?" Kagerōza Inaba's body trembled, his eyes bulging with fury. "Soul Society can only rely on me now... Only I can keep Soul Society... keep the entire world functioning in an orderly manner... You're destroying this world!"
"Nonsense!" Rangiku Matsumoto shouted back. "You caused all of this, and now you're trying to use that as an excuse to absolve yourself?"
"Enough with the pointless excuses." Gin Ichimaru opened his eyes slightly, a faint light gleaming in his pale blue irises. "Who helped you recover the vast amount of research data from the Dangai, allowing your research to progress so quickly? Who told you about Rangiku's secret mission? Who told you about the Ōin's abilities? And who... forged the token that convinced so many Captains to believe your false orders?"
"Hahahahaha..." Kagerōza Inaba's bloodstained smile twisted into something ghastly. "Sorry, but those aren't questions a Reigai can answer."
Kagerōza Inaba began to dissipate even faster than an ordinary spirit body. "Even after seeing what happened with Muten Natsu, why did you still think you could find the real me?"
"So that's how it is..." Gin Ichimaru smiled, unconcerned. "Still, what you just said is enough to establish your guilt."
"Guilt?" Kagerōza Inaba gave a derisive snort. "Only the defeated are put on trial. Once I succeed, I'll become a being who stands above all of Soul Society!"
"Every one of them comes up with the same kind of lunacy." Gin Ichimaru shook his head, then smiled at Rangiku Matsumoto. "Did that scare you?"
"Gin..." The situation had reversed so quickly that Rangiku Matsumoto could barely process it.
"You should understand what happened by now." Gin Ichimaru put away his Zanpakutō. "I'll leave the rest to you."
"You're leaving again?" Rangiku Matsumoto grabbed Gin Ichimaru's wrist. "This is the perfect opportunity. The credit for this should be enough to..."
"Rangiku, this isn't over yet," Gin Ichimaru interrupted. "As a dead man, I can do far more than I ever could while alive, and no one will notice."
"But..." Rangiku Matsumoto tightened her grip around his wrist.
["If you don't want to let go, then hold on tight."]
She had once said those words to Orihime Inoue. Yet now that it was her turn, she could find no reason to keep holding on.
From Gin Ichimaru's questions, Rangiku Matsumoto could tell that many mysteries still lay behind everything that had happened. They had not even found the real Kagerōza Inaba yet, and even if they did, there would still be much more to investigate.
Judging by the current situation, something was clearly wrong with Soul Society. Or rather, problems that had always existed were finally being exposed.
If Gin remained in Soul Society, he could easily be imprisoned under the spiritual laws, just as she had been.
From that perspective, instead of returning to Soul Society, Gin Ichimaru really should remain hidden as he had before. It would make investigating everything far safer and easier.
Reason told Rangiku Matsumoto that this was the right choice, but she could not suppress her desire to be with him.
I don't want to let go of your hand.
I don't want you to leave again.
"Oh, right..." Gin Ichimaru said, as though something had just occurred to him. "Once all this is over, let's go see the Christmas tree together."
Rangiku Matsumoto abruptly looked up. The deep reluctance in her eyes melted into joy.
"...Okay."
...
"They must be terribly discouraged right now... How pitiful." Kagerōza Inaba looked at Nozomi Kujō before him. "Just like you. You kept running, but you still ended up in my hands."
"You won't succeed." Nozomi Kujō stared at him coldly. "Kisuke Urahara has better technology than you, and Muten Natsu is stronger than you. They'll stop you!"
"I don't agree with your assessment, but I can understand why they want to stop me." Kagerōza Inaba removed the cap from Nozomi Kujō's head and tossed it aside. He brushed back her green hair. "What I can't understand is..." He suddenly seized her hair, his eyes widening with fury. "Why did you run? Why are you resisting? Why are you trying to stop me? Why?!"
"Let go..." Nozomi Kujō was yanked to the floor and struggled desperately.
"We were always one, and now we will become one again. Haven't you ever felt how incomplete you are? Haven't you longed for the moment when the emptiness inside you would finally be filled?" Kagerōza Inaba dragged Nozomi Kujō toward the fusion chamber by her hair. "You were born for this. It is the sole reason you exist!"
"I refuse!" Nozomi Kujō glared at Kagerōza Inaba. "I can't change what I was given, but I can still make my own choices."
Kagerōza Inaba stopped. "Your own choices?"
"You can make your own choices too." Nozomi Kujō looked straight into Kagerōza Inaba's stunned eyes. "You can choose to continue Ōko Yushima's revenge, but you can also choose to start a new life under a new identity. With your technology, it isn't too late to stop."
"...You're right. I should make my own choice." Kagerōza Inaba laughed coldly and threw Nozomi Kujō into the fusion chamber. "And this is my choice!"
The chamber door closed, sealing Nozomi Kujō inside.
Kagerōza Inaba entered another fusion chamber. As the door closed, he ordered his latest creations, the completely reliable Reigai Mayuri Kurotsuchi and Reigai Nemu Kurotsuchi, "Begin the fusion!"
Reigai Mayuri Kurotsuchi inserted several steel needles connected to wires into his head. Complex streams of data raced across his eyes as his deathly pale hands flew over the keyboard.
The massive, intricate apparatus slowly came to life. Under Nemu Kurotsuchi's calibration, every parameter reached the required level.
The fusion officially began.
...
"Sasakibe," Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto called. "Any new information?"
"Nothing new at present," 1st Division Lieutenant Chōjirō Sasakibe replied respectfully.
"I see..." Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto slowly moved his brush across the paper. "Regarding the Visored... I had originally intended to give you the position of Captain."
"Please allow me to decline, Genryūsai-sama."
"Will you not even serve as acting Captain?"
"I once swore that as long as you remain in your position, I will serve as Lieutenant for the rest of my life and remain at your side." Chōjirō Sasakibe's gaze was resolute. "As your right-hand man, I will help shoulder your burdens!"
"You mastered Bankai before Shunsui and Jūshirō were even born, yet you have never revealed it to anyone but me." Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto let out a long breath and set down his brush. "Have your skills grown rusty?"
"No!" Chōjirō Sasakibe answered honestly. "I have staked my life on ensuring that this Bankai can serve Genryūsai-sama. Year after year, I have devoted everything to refining it without neglecting my training for even a moment!"
"Good." Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto gripped his wooden staff. "The time has come. It is time to bring this to an end."
Chōjirō Sasakibe looked puzzled. "What are you referring to...?"
A violent surge of Reiatsu erupted into the sky.
Chōjirō Sasakibe froze, then turned toward the Sōkyoku.
"So it has already begun." Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto tapped his staff against the floor. "Let us go, Sasakibe."
"Yes, Genryūsai-sama."
Without a moment's hesitation, Chōjirō Sasakibe followed Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto toward the summit of the Sōkyoku.
"You've... come?" At the summit of the Sōkyoku, a young man with short green hair stood holding a long-handled, double-bladed weapon. He looked at the two men before him. "Captain-Commander-sama..."
The weapon in his hands closely resembled Raikū, except for the hollow, gear-shaped ring attached to its long handle.
"Kagerōza Inaba..." Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto's aged voice rang out. "Or should I call you Ōko Yushima now?"
"I didn't expect you to still remember my name, Captain-Commander-sama." Ōko Yushima, born from the fusion of Kagerōza Inaba and Nozomi Kujō, looked more like Nozomi Kujō, but his voice and manner of speaking resembled Kagerōza Inaba. "Could it be that you once considered rescuing me from the Nest of Maggots? You took far too long. So long that I had already escaped on my own."
"Surrender now, and you may still put your technology to proper use." Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto's Captain's Haori fluttered despite the absence of wind. He released only a trace of the terrifying Reiatsu that seemed capable of burning the entire world to ash, yet the surrounding air already trembled beneath it. "But if you persist in your folly..."
"Had you said that a hundred years ago, it might have worked." Ōko Yushima shook his head, his lips curling into a contemptuous smile. "Unfortunately, a hundred years have passed. I'm no longer obsessed with technological research as I once was. I haven't lost my way. I've finally understood the truth. From the very beginning, I should never have tried to make you understand the greatness of my research. I should have forced you to accept it!"
"Is that your answer?" Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto barked. "Utterly foolish!"
"You secretly replaced the people around me with Reigai, making me hesitate because I could no longer tell them apart. That showed a measure of cunning." Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto tightened his fingers. The wooden staff shattered, revealing the Zanpakutō concealed within. "But now you dare reveal yourself and stand before me like this..."
As the final word left his lips, Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto was already standing directly in front of Ōko Yushima.
His Zanpakutō swept through Ōko Yushima's body, and raging flames erupted into the sky.
"As expected... of the Captain-Commander." Ōko Yushima's voice came from another direction. "All the effort I spent creating your Reigai was worth it."
Whoosh!
Scorching flames exploded outward.
A Reigai Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto appeared with lightning dancing in his eyes and charged straight at the original.
At the same time, Chōjirō Sasakibe's Reigai emerged and confronted the real Chōjirō Sasakibe.
Chōjirō Sasakibe drew his Zanpakutō. The instant their blades met, he realized that his opponent's strength was no weaker than his own.
Because the Reigai attacked without any concern for the consequences, its power was even enough to suppress him.
Chōjirō Sasakibe calmly defended himself while keeping part of his attention on Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto's battle.
Compared with Chōjirō Sasakibe's fight against his Reigai, the battle involving Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto was far more intense.
Scorching flames collided and intertwined, reducing everything they touched to ash.
...This is bad!
Chōjirō Sasakibe suddenly understood the heart of the problem.
Unlike the Reigai, which could unleash its power without restraint, the real Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto had to consider the damage their battle might cause to Seireitei. Not only was he unable to fight at full strength, but he also had to suppress the power released by his Reigai.
With every exchange, Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto had to block the Reigai's attack while containing the power it released. He was expending several times as much energy as his opponent.
Most importantly, unlike the real Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto, his Reigai still had two intact arms.
He was fighting with one arm against two, unable to use his full strength, all while consuming even more energy to suppress the power his opponent unleashed.
Chōjirō Sasakibe realized that Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto truly had changed.
In the past, the Captain-Commander would already have unleashed his full power without caring about the consequences and utterly annihilated the treasonous enemy before him.
But now...
Chōjirō Sasakibe swung his blade and forced his Reigai back. Then he accelerated in an instant and charged toward Ōko Yushima.
Genryūsai-sama's mercy must not become a weakness for such a treasonous man to exploit!
"You think someone like you can hurt me?" Ōko Yushima snorted and spun the great blade in his hands. "Seethe, Sumitsukigasa!"
A strange distortion appeared, and Ōko Yushima vanished from Chōjirō Sasakibe's sight.
Was that... Shunpo?
No!
Chōjirō Sasakibe could detect no lingering trail of Reiatsu. This was...
A massive blade swept toward Chōjirō Sasakibe's neck from behind, its chilling killing intent completely undisguised.
Chōjirō Sasakibe reacted instantly, whirling around and driving his Zanpakutō into his attacker's chest!
***
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