(* ^ー゜)ノ
Maki had just regained his senses, but he still wasn't fully stable. He was experiencing a fragmentary blackout.
When he heard Unohana's words about killing him, it felt to him as if she were telling him he should die again.
It wasn't painful.
He wasn't bothered by how she said it.
He wasn't even bothered by the idea that he might die today.
But why would someone belittle life as if it were trash? Why take someone else's life so casually? Why play with it?
Did she know what it meant to die?
Maybe she did.
Maybe she had the guts for it.
Maybe that was simply who she was.
Life was like a simple fish in the sea. It doesn't know what will happen next. It may die in a few years, be eaten by a larger fish, or be captured.
That's how life works.
It's true. We don't know what will happen to us. We might die in our sleep, die tomorrow, die naturally, die saving someone, or even take our own life.
We all have different paths and choices.
But in the end, we face death and judgment.
The only thing we can do is play our role until our story ends.
Maki looked at the woman before him.
"So if you want to end me right here, right now… then come. I'd love to see if my story ends here."
Everyone heard his words and the ideology behind them.
It wasn't about accepting fate. Not about changing fate. Not about fighting for survival.
It was simply him playing his role in his own story.
If he died here, then that was the end.
No one spoke.
They didn't understand him.
And even if they did, they would judge him.
For someone who had died and been reborn, Maki saw the world differently.
Why try to change fate if it was already written?
That idea made him laugh.
Just because someone was born poor and became rich doesn't mean they changed fate. They only changed their lifestyle.
What if their fate had always been written as "the man born poor who rises to wealth"?
Then they had simply fulfilled their role.
There is no such thing as changing fate.
You only realize you want change, and people assume that means they changed something.
Like how you and I met today.
I'm just playing my role right here.
The others watched as he lifted his massive twin-scythe weapon.
"I asked you earlier what Santa Teresa means, right?"
"It's not one word. It's pronounced slowly, with a pause. Santa stands for prayer… and Teresa for Reaper."
Then he spoke the release command.
" Inore—"
ZAaaaaAAaaaaaaaAaaashh—
A massive surge of yellow spiritual pressure erupted around him.
It descended into the chamber. Unlike before, it wasn't controlled. This time it was fully released.
They felt it.
A gravitational force pushed down on them.
Specifically, the six young women were heavily affected. They lost their balance. Their legs trembled before they fell, forced to kneel or collapse to the ground.
It wasn't just spiritual pressure.
It carried the chakra suppression of Hashirama's physique.
Nejire, who had been hovering, was forced flat against the ground.
Soi Fon was pinned down as well.
Monet knelt, struggling to remain upright.
Black Maria dropped to one knee, her eyes still burning with desire.
Konan steadied herself on one knee using her paper wings.
Isane knelt beside them.
Yet none of them looked away from him.
Mabui, Gion, and Yoruichi also felt the raw, wild pressure crashing down on them. Their fists clenched, their expressions silent and thoughtful.
The pressure continued.
Dust once again filled the ground where he stood.
When it settled and the spiritual pressure slowly faded, they saw him.
His entire body had changed.
In this form, Maki gained an extra set of arms. They were covered in an insect-like carapace with clawed hands, and each hand held a large scythe-like weapon.
The scythes resembled the appendages of an asura, each with a small golden tassel at the end of its staff.
A golden marking extended from his forehead to below his right eye as his estigma.
A pair of crescent-moon-shaped horns grew from his head, the left horn longer than the right.
White, tendril-like appendages extended around his torso and over the sides of his abdomen.
They stared at him.
With his pale skin and long dark hair, he stood before them like a living anomaly.
They knew that transformation well.
Resurrección.
An ability used only by the Arrancar.
Now there was no doubt.
He truly was one of them.
Unohana remained silent, watching him.
Her expression was unreadable, shadows partially hiding her face.
Then—
ZAaaaaAAaaaaaaaAaaang—
She released her spiritual pressure as well.
The bystanders felt another crushing gravitational force.
The young women who had just managed to rise were forced down once again.
And they heard Unohana's voice.
"Bankai… Minazuki."
(皆尽, "All Things' End.")
The chamber trembled.
And now the real fight was about to begin.....
(*つ´･∀･)つ