"Oh my… to think the Fourth Seat of the Eleventh Division would allow an Adjuchas-class Menos to escape so casually."
Her tone carried theatrical regret, though her eyes betrayed calculation.
Kazumichi Asayuki stood amidst the fractured spirit terrain, her white haori stained faintly with dust and blood. In the far distance, the remnants of distorted Garganta residue still shimmeredthe trace of Wonderweiss and the Hollow woman vanishing.
"To capture such a rare Adjuchas, I sacrificed many subordinates," she continued lightly. "I even intended to use him as the perfect culprit… should certain nobles require an unfortunate accident."
Raizen Kōpublicly known within the Gotei 13 as Ito Makoto, Fourth Seat of the Eleventh Divisionwatched her without expression.
"Oh? So the Lady of the Asayuki noble house admits she imprisoned that Adjuchas deliberately… leaked its Reiatsu to lure its allies… and planned to erase rival noble families amid the chaos?"
His voice carried no accusation. Only calm.
Asayuki's lips curved faintly.
"I have no idea what you are implying, Fourth Seat."
"Was it not," she continued smoothly, "that during a sanctioned noble hunting excursion, an unidentified Menos Grande breached the perimeter… resulting in tragic casualties? And that the heroic Fourth Seat of the Eleventh Division eliminated the invaders?"
She tilted her head.
"A most tragic tale."
Before the last syllable settled
The silver-white blade in her hand writhed.
The Bakuyōtō.
The forbidden blade shimmered unnaturally as liquid-metal Reiryoku spilled outward, spreading across the ground like living mercury.
Without incantation
Spikes erupted.
Raizen vanished.
Shunpo.
The "pierced" body dissolved into a fading afterimage.
He reappeared behind her in a single breath, blade descending.
Steel sang.
The moment his Zanpakutō connected, a violent oscillation surged through her body.
Raizen's Reiatsu carried vibration propertiesan advanced application of compressed spiritual pressure, refined through relentless combat in the Eleventh Division. The tremor transmitted through blade contact, disrupting internal Reiryoku flow.
But
The mercury reacted.
It rippled violently, absorbing much of the vibrational force before it could devastate her spiritual core.
Raizen narrowed his eyes.
So it disperses kinetic spiritual interference…
Interesting.
More concerning
The Reiatsu emanating from Asayuki was no longer lieutenant-level.
It was brushing against Captain-class density.
The Bakuyōtō pulsed greedily in her grip.
Unlike a Zanpakutō, which reflects its master's soul, a Bakuyōtō devours external Reiryoku to amplify its wielder. Historically sealed due to instability, such blades were forbidden within Seireitei.
And yet
Within Raizen's high-level concealment barrieran advanced multi-layered Kidō field designed to distort spiritual perception across several kilometersher power was still pressing outward.
The barrier consumed tremendous Reiryoku to maintain.
He needed to end this swiftly.
Fortunately, the suppression effect remained active.
Within the field:
Enemy physical ability and Reiatsu output reduced by approximately thirty percent.
His own speed and physical strength amplified proportionally.
Even with artificially boosted Captain-tier pressure, she was suppressed.
His blade descended again.
At the instant it would have separated her head
Liquid metal swallowed her.
Raizen retreated immediately.
He had already tested the mercury's proximity effect.
Within one shaku, spiritual flow destabilizedas if time itself thickened.
"Hado #54: Haien."
A disc of violet flame erupted from his fingertip, expanding into a rotating spiritual incineration ring.
The mercury surged upward, forming a polished shield.
Haien detonated
The barrier held.
Asayuki's voice drifted through the metallic cocoon.
"To think… even after feeding my Bakuyōtō with the concentrated bloodline Reiryoku of multiple noble houses… I cannot overcome you."
Her tone shifted.
"Fourth Seat… you are dangerous."
Raizen did not relax.
"Bakuyōtō consume their wielder's Reiryoku over time. Killing nobles to sustain it is reckless."
A soft laugh.
"This one is special. It prefers refined bloodline Reiryoku. I simply provide it suitable nourishment."
The mercury burst outward again, tendrils lashing through the air.
Raizen exhaled slowly.
"Zanmetsu: Third Form Severing Net."
A black lattice of compressed Reiatsu manifested midair, intercepting the mercury strands and binding them in vibrating containment.
In that same instant
Shunpo.
He appeared before her.
Blade descending.
From her sleeve
A snow-white serpent shot forward.
Its speed rivaled flash step.
Fangs pierced his shoulder.
Cold.
Instant, piercing cold.
The serpent dissolved
Reforming into a sealed blade in her grasp.
"My Zanpakutō," she said softly, "Shirayuki Ryūkiss."
White Dragon's Kiss.
So not an Asauchi.
A fully released Shikai in serpentine form.
Raizen felt freezing Reiryoku spreading through his spiritual pathways.
A venomnot physical.
Spiritual frost.
But he did not retreat.
Eleventh Division doctrine:
If you draw steel, you draw blood.
He twisted.
His blade carved across her shoulder.
Blood scattered.
She staggered
But the mercury tore free from the net and sealed her wound almost instantly.
Regeneration through external Reiryoku reinforcement.
Troublesome.
Raizen stepped back, analyzing.
She smiled.
"Being bitten by Shirayuki Ryūkiss leaves a freezing toxin in the Reiryoku channels. Even with Captain-class density, it will take time to purge."
The cold intensified.
Then
She sheathed both Zanpakutō and Bakuyōtō.
And walked toward him.
His blade rested at her throat.
She did not stop.
Steel parted skin.
Blood ran warm down the edge.
"Do not misunderstand," she whispered.
She rose on her toes
And pressed her lips to the wound on his shoulder.
Reiryoku transferred.
The frost shattered.
The cold vanished instantly.
Raizen's eyes sharpened.
Antidote via direct spiritual exchange.
Reckless.
Or confident.
He vanished backward in Shunpo, widening the distance.
Mercury flowed back to her neck, sealing the cut seamlessly.
Not regeneration.
Reconstruction via absorbed Reiryoku.
She tilted her head.
"How did you learn of the Bakuyōtō's secret, Fourth Seat?"
Her gaze was probing now.
Not playful.
Raizen's expression did not change.
"Guess."
In the distance
He felt it.
Multiple high-density Reiatsu signatures are approaching.
Captain-level.
The concealment field would not deceive them much longer.
This encounter was reaching its limit.
And neither of them had revealed everything.
The battlefield fell into temporary stillness.
Two predators.
Both calculating.
Both smiling.
Neither was victorious.
Not yet.
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