"Then…"
"Let's end this here."
Gin Ichimaru raised Kamishini no Yari once more and pointed it at Kizaru. A chilling killing intent spread from his body.
"Oh… so you're only getting serious now, little brother?"
Kizaru still spoke in that same lazy drawl, but whether it was because of Gin's cold smile or the pressure pouring from him, he was beginning to feel the strain.
A Marine Admiral—
one of Headquarters' greatest powers—
was wavering.
"Kamishini no Yari — Butō!"
Gin's eyes sharpened.
In less than a thousandth of a second, the blade thrust forward faster than the eye could see, retracted at five hundred times the speed of sound, and launched into another round of killing strikes.
Within a single breath, Gin's Bankai stabbed out thousands upon thousands of times.
If a steel plate had been placed in front of him, it would have been riddled with endless holes in an instant.
Fortunately for Kizaru, the power of the Glint-Glint Fruit had reached its extreme. In his state of light, he barely avoided the storm of thrusts.
"That was close… Your attacks really are terrifying, little brother."
A flash of gold flickered, and Kizaru reappeared some distance away.
"Admiral, are you still calculating whether you can win this fight?" Gin raised his Zanpakutō again, smiling. "I suggest you give up on that idea."
"That move again…? Fine. You've attacked enough. This time, it's my turn!"
Kizaru's eyes locked onto the transformed blade in Gin's hand as his body shot upward into the sky.
"Yasakani no Magatama!"
He hovered in midair like a blazing sun.
His posture straightened, his gaze turned fierce, and a frightening aura erupted from his body, spreading across every corner of the Sabaody Archipelago.
The pressure was overwhelming enough to shake the surrounding buildings.
"No matter how strong you are…" Kizaru roared, pouring out the emotions he had kept buried all this time. "All I have to do…"
"…is kill you with absolute force!"
"That's right—here, on Sabaody, I'll kill you!"
At this moment, Kizaru had completely cast aside his usual loose and mocking demeanor.
In its place rose a terrifying dominance.
This was a Marine Admiral in full fury.
He was one of the Navy's three Admirals.
The trump card of Marine Headquarters.
One of the rulers of the sea.
How could he allow himself to lose so easily?
That was impossible.
Because—
justice must prevail!
As Kizaru roared, the power of the Glint-Glint Fruit exploded to its limit.
The sky was illuminated.
The sea churned.
The wind ceased.
The clouds froze.
All things in heaven and earth seemed to fall still—
save for that shining figure in the sky, burning like a sun suspended above the world.
"Admiral, there are still plenty of innocent civilians here, you know." Gin smiled with quiet amusement, completely unconcerned by Kizaru's rapidly rising aura. "Are you really planning to wipe them out too?"
"For justice, some sacrifices are unavoidable!"
Kizaru had already made his decision. The moment he used Yasakani no Magatama, he had accepted the worst possible outcome.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Countless beams of light rained down in an instant, pouring endlessly toward the ground below.
Though Kizaru tried to control the spread, the surrounding groves were still caught in the attack. Streets were torn apart, buildings were reduced to ruins, and innocent civilians were badly wounded.
Kizaru saw it all—
and still did not hesitate.
For justice—
he had to act.
"Oh my… what a frightening power."
Gin said that, but there wasn't even the slightest trace of fear on his face.
"Heaven's proud children, iron-walled fortress, dragon's march, lion's roar, tiger's cry, wolf's run—sever heaven and earth before collapse."
"Bakudō #81: Dankū!"
In an instant, a massive transparent barrier rose before Gin like an unscalable boundary that cut the world apart.
The rain of light crashed down—
and was blocked entirely by the invisible wall.
As the glow in the sky slowly faded, the transparent barrier never wavered once.
"What?! He blocked it?!"
Kizaru descended back to the ground, his heart shaking with disbelief.
As he reverted from his state of light, exhaustion was finally visible on his face. His usual careless expression had become deeply grave.
A fighter of his level could battle for three days and three nights under normal conditions.
But that was under normal circumstances.
Maintaining such an extreme state of light for so long put a huge burden on his body—
so great that even Kizaru was beginning to feel it.
He understood it clearly now.
If going all out still could not reverse the situation, then the balance of victory had fully tipped toward Gin Ichimaru.
"Admiral… looks like your final move didn't work after all."
After repeated exchanges, Gin had not only grasped Kizaru's fighting style—he had also found the weakness of the Glint-Glint Fruit.
As long as he could catch Kizaru's body at the instant it re-formed from light—
he could kill him in one strike.
"Wall of iron sand, tower of the monk, glowing iron, because it is resolute, it falls silent in the end!"
"Bakudō #75: Gochūtekkan!"
For most Shinigami, Kidō that required chanting was impractical in the middle of combat.
But for someone as cunning as Gin Ichimaru, finding an opening to chant was not difficult.
Five enormous iron pillars crashed down from the sky.
In Kizaru's stunned gaze, they struck his head and all four limbs with absolute precision.
Had he not been a Logia user immune to physical force, even a Sea King would have been pulverized by blows like those.
And in the very instant Kizaru's body re-formed—
Gin struck again.
Kamishini no Yari shot forward at maximum speed and pierced into his body.
Unfortunately, the angle was slightly off.
It missed Kizaru's heart.
Instead, it carved a horrifying wound through his right arm.
"Little brother… what a shame. You missed your chance."
Kizaru's body restored itself, and he paid no mind to the wound on his arm.
"Is that so, Admiral?" Gin narrowed his eyes, smiling like a fox. "And what exactly makes you so sure of that?"
The instant those words left his mouth—
Kizaru's face changed violently.
In that instant, the fragment of Kamishini no Yari left inside his arm dissolved.
The hidden blade fragment released its poison.
And the cells in his arm began to melt away instantly.
"AAARGH—!!!"
With a scream of agony—
Kizaru's right arm vanished completely.
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