Chapter 35: The Dissection Table
The standoff shattered.
Gin moved first. He didn't crouch or tense; he simply let his wrist flick forward.
"Shoot to kill, Shinsō."
The silver blade vanished. In its place, a beam of white light elongated instantly, aiming to punch a hole directly through Szayelaporro's throat.
The Espada didn't dodge. He raised his left hand, his index finger extended.
PING.
The tip of Shinsō struck a tiny, hexagonal barrier of concentrated pink energy generated at the tip of Szayelaporro's finger. The impact created a shockwave that kicked up a circle of dust, but the scientist didn't slide back an inch.
"Crude," Szayelaporro sneered. "Did you really think a linear attack would work on me? I calculated the trajectory of your extension the moment your shoulder twitched."
"Calculated this!" Naruto roared.
He capitalized on the engagement, launching himself from the canyon wall. He descended like a meteor, Nozarashi raised high for a vertical cleave. The air pressure from the swing alone cracked the ground beneath Szayelaporro's feet before the blade even connected.
Szayelaporro looked up. He drew Fornicarás with a smooth, practiced motion. He didn't try to block the massive cleaver head-on. Instead, he stepped into the swing, moving dangerously close to Naruto's body. He placed the flat of his katana against the side of Nozarashi's blade and angled it.
SCREEEEEECH.
Metal screamed against metal. By adjusting the angle of impact, Szayelaporro deflected the kinetic energy of Naruto's strike. Nozarashi slid harmlessly to the side, smashing into the ground and obliterating a ten-meter section of rock.
Naruto stumbled, his balance compromised by the redirection.
Szayelaporro spun, his movement efficient and devoid of wasted energy. He drove his knee into Naruto's stomach, sending the Jinchuriki skidding backward. Simultaneously, he slashed backward with his sword, anticipating Gin's follow-up.
Gin, who had appeared behind him in the chaos, was forced to duck the blind slash. A lock of silver hair was severed, drifting slowly to the ground.
"My, my," Gin noted, retreating to a safe distance. "You've been practicing your forms, Szayelaporro-kun. Last I checked, you despised getting your hands dirty."
"Evolution requires adaptation," Szayelaporro replied, flicking dust from his pristine white coat. "I realized that relying solely on my creations was... inefficient. To be the perfect being, one must possess martial perfection as well."
Naruto ripped Nozarashi from the bedrock, growling. "You talk too much."
He charged again. This time, he didn't swing wildly. He feinted a high slash, then dropped his weight, spinning low for a sweep aimed at the Espada's legs.
Szayelaporro hopped over the blade, floating momentarily in the air. He reached into his coat and threw three small, capsule-like objects at the ground.
HISSS.
A cloud of purple, corrosive gas erupted instantly, enveloping Naruto.
"Nerve gas," Szayelaporro narrated with glee. "Modified to specifically target the chakra networks of high-stamina individuals. Breathe deep, specimen."
Naruto didn't breathe. He roared.
"Kenshō!"
He swung Nozarashi in a violent circle. The golden wave of Reiatsu blew the gas away instantly, dispersing the cloud. He burst through the lingering vapor, his fist glowing with concentrated energy. He punched Szayelaporro square in the chest.
The Espada's Hierro rang like a bell. Szayelaporro slid back ten meters, his boots carving deep furrows in the earth. He looked down at his chest. There was a slight crack in his carapace armor.
"Fascinating," Szayelaporro murmured, touching the crack. "Your physical output fluctuates. You are subconsciously restraining yourself to match my perceived durability. A psychological limiter? How deliciously flawed."
Gin appeared on Szayelaporro's flank, Shinsō already extending. "Don't get distracted."
The blade shot towards the Espada's temple. Szayelaporro tilted his head, the blade grazing his cheek, drawing a thin line of blood. He grabbed the extended blade of Shinsō with his bare hand, his grip crushing.
"I am not distracted," Szayelaporro hissed. "I am multitasking."
He yanked Shinsō, pulling Gin off-balance and towards him. With his free hand, he thrust Fornicarás forward, aiming to impale the former Captain.
Gin's smile didn't waver. He let go of his Zanpakutō.
Szayelaporro stumbled backward, the sudden lack of resistance throwing off his aim. Gin dropped low, sweeping Szayelaporro's legs and retrieving his sword in one fluid motion. He spun, slashing downward.
Szayelaporro blocked with his own blade, sparks flying.
"Naruto-kun!" Gin called out, locked in a blade clash with the Espada. "If you're done playin' with the gas, I could use a big stick right about now!"
"I'm not your subordinate!" Naruto yelled, but he was already moving.
He appeared above them, gravity and Reiatsu accelerating his descent. He gripped Nozarashi with both hands. "Ryōdan!"
Szayelaporro's eyes widened behind his glasses. He couldn't block both. He kicked Gin away and threw himself backward using Sonído, moving faster than sound.
BOOOOM.
Naruto's strike hit the ground where they had been standing. The earth didn't just crack; it split. A fissure, fifty meters long and dark as the abyss, opened up in the wasteland.
Szayelaporro landed on a spire of rock, looking down at the destruction. He adjusted his glasses, a manic grin spreading across his face.
"Excellent," he whispered. "The data is pouring in. Your speed, your reaction times, your muscle density... I have enough for the preliminary baseline."
He sheathed Fornicarás.
"The warm-up is concluded," Szayelaporro announced, spreading his arms. The air around him began to distort, turning a sickly, vibrant pink. "You have proven worthy of phase two. Let us see how you handle... biological re-engineering."
He brought his hand to his mouth.
"Sip, Fornicarás."
----
Chapter 35, Part 2: The Judgment of Light
The command was spoken. "Sip, Fornicarás."
Szayelaporro opened his mouth unhinging his jaw, and swallowed his sword whole.
The world convulsed. A geyser of thick, pink spiritual pressure erupted, blotting out the sun. It wasn't just energy; it was a physical substance, a mist that smelled of amniotic fluid and chemical burns.
From the rim of the crater, Team 7 recoiled.
"What... what is that?" Sakura gagged, covering her nose and mouth. "His chakra... it feels slimy."
"It's not chakra," Kakashi said, his voice tight. He lifted his headband, his Sharingan spinning wildly as it tried to comprehend the transformation. "It's dense. Heavy. It's rewriting the atmosphere around him."
On the far side, Sasuke stood frozen. He watched as the pink pillar expanded, his knuckles white on his sword hilt. 'I thought I had reached the peak,' he thought, bitter bile rising in his throat. 'I have Orochimaru's power. I have the Curse Mark. But this... this is a monster. And Naruto is standing right next to it, looking bored.'
"Magnificent," Orochimaru breathed, his golden eyes wide with avarice. "To think the evolutionary path went this deep..."
The pink mist cleared. Szayelaporro was gone. In his place stood a monstrosity. His lower body had become a mass of purple tentacles, rooting him to the ground like a grotesque sea anemone. His upper body was clad in segmented gray armor, and four massive, branch-like wings dripped with a viscous liquid from his back.
"Behold," Szayelaporro's voice echoed, distorted and layered. "The beginning of perfection."
"You look like a overgrown squid," Naruto commented, unimpressed. "Yachiru, what do you think?"
From her perch on a distant rock, safe from the immediate blast zone, Yachiru cupped her hands around her mouth. "He looks squishy, Kenny! Pop him!"
"You heard the lady," Naruto said.
He charged. Nozarashi came down in a blur.
Szayelaporro didn't dodge. Two of his massive wings snapped forward, hardening instantly. They caught the cleaver. The ground cracked, but the wings held.
"Brute force," Szayelaporro sighed. "How tedious."
The teardrop-shaped tips of his wings opened. A torrent of black liquid shot out—Carbon-Copy.
Naruto instinctively leaped back, his Kenpachi senses screaming at him not to let the liquid touch him. The black sludge hit the ground where he had stood, hissing and bubbling. It began to rise, forming into a shape... a shape that looked exactly like Naruto.
"Nasty stuff," Gin noted, appearing on a pillar of rock above the fray. "I wouldn't touch that if I were you, Naruto-kun."
"I wasn't planning on it!" Naruto yelled back.
Szayelaporro turned his amber eyes toward Gin. "You are next, traitor. Your little needle won't pierce this form."
He lashed out. A dozen tentacles shot from his base, moving with whipping speed to ensnare Gin. Gin flickered away, reappearing on another rock, but the tentacles pursued relentlessly, smashing through stone as if it were Styrofoam.
Gin frowned slightly. His wakizashi felt light in his hand. Too light. Against this density of Reiryoku, against a being that could clone him or crush him with biology alone, the trickster's blade wasn't the right fit. The snake needed to shed its skin.
"You know, Szayelaporro-kun," Gin called out, dodging a massive wing-strike that pulverized his foothold. "I've done a lot of thinkin' since I woke up in this strange place. About lies. About snakes."
He landed in a clear space, putting distance between himself and the monster. He sheathed his wakizashi.
"What are you doing?" Szayelaporro sneered. "Surrendering?"
"No," Gin said. His smile changed. It wasn't the mocking, fox-like grin he usually wore. It was serene. Beatific. "I'm just decidng that I'm done hidin'."
He held the sheathed sword out in front of him. But as he gripped it, the wakizashi form shattered. The wood and steel peeled away like a chrysalis, dissolving into light.
In his hand, he now held a short walking staff made of white, lacquered wood. It radiated a cold, pure heat that made the air shimmer.
Sasuke's eyes narrowed. 'A transformation? No... a different weapon entirely?'
"What is that?" Yamato whispered, sensing the shift in pressure. "It feels... holy."
Gin opened his eyes. The sky-blue irises glowed with an internal luminescence.
"Sabake (Render Judgment)," Gin whispered. "Kamishini no Yari – Shinkōsō (God-Killing Spear – Divine Ray Spear)."
The white wood of the staff exploded.
In his hand was no longer a staff, but a sleek, matte-white metal polearm, six feet long. The blade at the top was not steel, but a two-foot-long spearhead of translucent, crystalline blue-white energy. It hummed with a sound that vibrated in the bones of everyone present.
"A spear?" Szayelaporro laughed. "You think that will save you?"
He sent a wave of tentacles crashing down on Gin.
Gin didn't move his feet. He simply thrust the spear forward.
There was no sound. No sonic boom.
Sonic Piercing.
The spear didn't extend. It didn't shoot a beam. One moment, Gin was holding it. The next instant, a hole, perfectly circular and smooth, appeared through the mass of tentacles, through Szayelaporro's wing, and punched through the rock wall behind him for a mile.
The tentacles didn't just fall apart. The area around the hole began to glow with a blinding white light.
Radiant Fragmentation.
"What—?" Szayelaporro gasped.
The tentacles dissolved. They didn't rot; they unraveled into dust and light particles, the "divine poison" overloading their cellular structure.
Silence fell over the battlefield.
"It's not a trick," Gin said softly, twirling the spear of light. "It's just the truth. You're messy, Szayelaporro. I'm here to clean you up."
Kabuto adjusted his glasses, his hand trembling. "That speed... I didn't even see him attack."
Orochimaru's tongue darted out. "He didn't attack, Kabuto. He simply... decided the target was hit."
Naruto, standing amidst the puddles of black clone-liquid, looked at Gin and let out a low whistle. "Show off."
Gin smiled, and for the first time, it looked like the smile of an executioner. "Your turn, Kenny. Don't let me have all the fun."
Tbc