Chapter 36: The Theater of Organs
The silence following Gin's attack was heavy, broken only by the sizzling sound of Szayelaporro's disintegrated tentacles fading into motes of light. The Espada stared at the charred, smooth stump of his wing, his amber eyes narrowing behind his glasses.
"Light," Szayelaporro murmured, his voice echoing with clinical fascination. "High-density Reiryoku condensed into a photonic state. It vibrates at a frequency that disrupts cellular cohesion. You aren't cutting matter, Ichimaru. You're unraveling the atomic bonds."
He looked up, his smile returning, colder than before. "A fascinating hypothesis. I shall enjoy dismantling it."
"Stop talking!" Naruto roared.
He was tired of the science lecture. He launched himself off a pillar of rock, Nozarashi raised high. The massive cleaver descended, a guillotine of golden pressure aimed at the scientist's skull. His long, black-streaked blonde hair whipped behind him like a banner of war, and his loose, traditional Shinigami-style robes—a gift from Unohana—fluttered with the force of his movement.
Szayelaporro didn't move his feet. The massive, bulbous sac at the base of his tentacled lower body suddenly contracted.
SPLORCH.
A torrent of viscous black liquid—Carbon-Copy—erupted upwards, meeting Naruto in mid-air. Naruto twisted violently, using the flat of his blade to shield himself from the spray, but the sheer volume engulfed him.
He landed on the other side, shaking the sludge from his blade. "Gross."
The puddle he had left behind began to bubble. It rose, twisting and thickening, until it took the shape of a boy with long, wild blonde hair streaked with black, wearing tattered black robes. The clone opened its eyes—black sclera, golden irises—and grinned.
"A clone?" Naruto scoffed. "I invented clones."
He swung Nozarashi at his duplicate. The clone swung its own liquid Nozarashi.
BOOM.
The clash sent a shockwave rippling through the crater. They were perfectly matched in strength. Naruto gritted his teeth, pushing against the clone's blade. "It copied my strength?"
"And your speed. And your spiritual density," Szayelaporro narrated from his perch. "It is a perfect reflection. To defeat it, you must defeat yourself."
"Boring," Gin commented.
The silver-haired reaper flickered. He didn't aim for the clone. He aimed for the source.
"Ray Pulse."
Gin swept his white spear horizontally. A crescent of blinding blue-white energy tore through the air. It wasn't a physical blade; it was a wave of disintegration.
Szayelaporro's eyes widened. He threw his wings forward, wrapping them around his body to form a spherical shield. "Telon Balon!"
The Ray Pulse struck the sphere. The protective membrane didn't crack; it hissed and burned, layers of spirit matter peeling away like burnt skin under the intense light. Szayelaporro was forced back, his boots digging trenches in the rock as he struggled to maintain the shield.
"Naruto!" Gin shouted, his tone sharp. "Stop playin' with your shadow and hit him while he's blind!"
Naruto didn't need telling twice. He roared, channeling a surge of Reiatsu into his legs. He ignored the clone, tanking a slash across his back that tore his robe and drew blood, and rocketed toward the defensive ball of wings.
"Gotcha!"
Naruto swung Nozarashi with both hands, aiming for the spot Gin's light had weakened.
CRACK.
The sphere shattered. Szayelaporro was revealed, his armor smoking. But he wasn't panicked. He was grinning.
As Naruto's blade came down, one of the massive, purple, drop-shaped appendages hanging from Szayelaporro's wing lashed out. It didn't strike Naruto; it engulfed him. It swallowed him whole like a python snatching a rat.
"Naruto!" Sakura screamed from the ridge.
Inside the fleshy prison, Naruto thrashed, his Reiatsu flaring to burst out.
"Teatro de Titere," Szayelaporro whispered.
He spat Naruto out.
Naruto tumbled across the ground, covered in purple slime, coughing. "What the hell was that? You didn't even hurt me."
"Oh, but I did," Szayelaporro said. He held up his hand. Draped across his palm was a small, crude voodoo doll. It looked exactly like Naruto—long hair, black streaks, robes and all. "I have captured your essence."
Naruto stared at the doll. "A toy? You're fighting me with a doll?"
Szayelaporro smiled sadistically. He reached into the doll's chest cavity, which opened like a grotesque locket. Inside were tiny, pulsating organs.
"Let's start with... the stomach."
He flicked a tiny, bean-shaped organ with his finger.
CRUNCH.
Naruto's eyes bulged. He collapsed to his knees, vomiting a massive amount of blood. He clutched his stomach, his face twisting in agony. There was no external wound, but inside, his stomach had just been subjected to the force of a hydraulic press.
"Naruto!" Yamato yelled, stepping forward, wood ready to spring.
"Don't move!" Kakashi ordered, holding him back. "We don't know the range of that technique. If we intervene, he might capture us too."
"Fascinating," Szayelaporro mused, watching Naruto struggle to breathe. "His regenerative factor is already attempting to repair the organ. The Uzumaki vitality... or perhaps the beast within? Let's try something more vital."
He reached for the doll's heart.
WHOOSH.
A spear of white light pierced the air, aiming straight for the doll in Szayelaporro's hand.
Szayelaporro snatched his hand back, barely saving the doll. The spear—Gin's Shinkōsō—embedded itself in his shoulder instead.
SIZZLE.
Szayelaporro hissed in pain as the "divine poison" began to eat away at his shoulder, turning the flesh to dust.
"You're interruptin' the show, Gin," Szayelaporro snarled, glaring at his former superior.
Gin stood twenty meters away, his spear held loosely, his sky-blue eyes cold and judging. "I told you, Szayelaporro-kun. I'm here to clean up the mess. And that doll... it's cheating."
"It is science!" Szayelaporro retorted.
He looked back at Naruto, intending to crush the heart organ.
But Naruto was gone.
Szayelaporro looked up just in time to see a golden blur descending from the sky. Naruto, blood still dripping from his chin, his eyes burning with a rage that transcended pain.
"Give me back..." Naruto roared, Nozarashi raised. "...MY GUTS!"
Szayelaporro was forced to drop the doll to block the strike with all four of his remaining wings.
BOOOOM.
The impact shattered the platform they stood on. The doll fell into a fissure, tumbling into the darkness below.
Naruto landed, panting heavily, blood staining his shirt. The internal damage was massive, but his Kenpachi soul refused to let him stay down. He pointed his cleaver at the scientist. "You like breaking things from the inside? Fine. Then I'll break you from the outside until there's nothing left!"
Szayelaporro floated back, hovering in the air. His shoulder was regenerating, the white dust of Gin's attack sloughing off as fresh flesh knit together. But his expression had changed. The arrogance was still there, but the playfulness was gone.
He looked at Gin, whose spear hummed with a terrifying, purifying light. He looked at Naruto, a beast who shrugged off internal organ rupture through sheer hate.
"I see," Szayelaporro said, his voice echoing with a distorted, metallic timbre. "I calculated the variables. I analyzed the data. But it seems..."
He placed his hands together, his Reiatsu spiking, turning the sky a deep, bruised purple.
"...that the current parameters of this vessel are insufficient for specimens of your quality."
The air grew heavy. Gravity seemed to increase tenfold. Sasuke, watching from the shadows, felt a chill run down his spine that had nothing to do with the temperature. 'He's... getting stronger?'
"You forced Nnoitra to release his limits," Szayelaporro said, his body beginning to glow with a blinding, white light. "It is only fair that I do the same."
His silhouette began to change. The dress-like tentacles receded. The bulky carapace cracked and fell away.
"Fornicarás: Cópula Divina."
Tbc