Facing Shimo—so openly unguarded—Kuchiki Kōga hesitated instead.
What's this brat trying to do?
Did he… shut his heart off completely?
But very quickly, the savagery returned to Kōga's face.
Now that he'd obtained this new power, he no longer feared anyone.
"Just a damn little punk!"
Kōga raised Muramasa high. Spiritual pressure surged, and he activated his ability toward Shimo's Zanpakutō, Akatsuki.
Bang!
A white figure was blasted out from Akatsuki and hurled into the nearby mountains.
Rumble—!
The ridge collapsed. Countless boulders crashed down, burying the figure beneath an avalanche of stone.
Shimo lightly shook Akatsuki in his hand and said, almost curious:
"So it still didn't manifest?"
Kōga roared, furious.
"Muramasa!"
"Where's your power?!"
"Why hasn't that brat changed at all?!"
Crash!
The rubble exploded outward, and the white figure flew free.
It was Muramasa, already manifested—dressed in white, with long, eerie nails like a ghost.
Muramasa crawled out of the shattered rock, terror flickering in his expression.
"It was nullified!"
Muramasa forced out an explanation. "My power doesn't work on him at all!"
"The moment I entered his Zanpakutō inner world, I was struck by an overwhelming force and blasted out!"
Shimo looked mildly surprised.
He glanced at Akatsuki in his hand, sensing it carefully.
No need to test it further.
Muramasa hadn't even pierced the outer layer of spiritual pressure protection—let alone reached the Zanpakutō's inner world.
Only now did Shimo realize that the defensive effect of his upgraded Spiritual Pressure had strengthened beyond what it used to be.
An ability like Muramasa's simply couldn't invade it.
Kōga shook his head, a vicious grin spreading across his face.
"Doesn't matter."
"You're still going to die."
"Even if you can resist Muramasa's ability—do you think you can escape absolute power?!"
He opened his palm. Muramasa reverted to a Zanpakutō and snapped back into his grip in an instant.
"Kongōbaku!"
Muramasa thrust like a growling beast. The blade-tip erupted with scorching flames that swallowed Shimo whole.
"Why is it," Shimo's voice came calmly from within the fire, "that the incompetent always talk the loudest?"
Kōga's expression fell—disappointed, even.
To him, Shimo was already dead in those flames.
"Incompetent?"
A clear voice rang out from the inferno.
"That's all your 'power' amounts to."
Limitless Sword: Drizzle Rain.
Fine, dense rain fell from above, slicing the flames apart and extinguishing them instantly.
Shimo stepped out unscathed.
"Hah… now that looks a little more like a worthy enemy."
Kōga's mind seemed… unstable.
"What's your name?!"
"Captain of the Third Division," Shimo replied evenly. "Kyōraku Shimo."
Kōga's pupils tightened. For a heartbeat, clarity flashed through his eyes.
"The Kyōraku clan… that high noble house?"
As a former Kuchiki, he knew exactly what the Kyōraku were.
"Doesn't matter!" Kōga snarled, his face twisting. "Everyone envies my power!"
"So I'll become even stronger—kill everyone!"
"Then no one will envy me anymore!"
Watching his delusion, Shimo shook his head in disappointment.
At this point, Kōga was clearly not thinking rationally.
"Power… or hatred?" Shimo said calmly. "Your eyes can't see this world anymore."
Muramasa pointed toward Shimo from afar. Kōga's spiritual pressure spiked, and Kidō light bloomed at the blade tip.
In an instant, dozens of green streaks shot out—piercing even the limitations of space itself and racing toward Shimo.
"Bakudō No. 81: Dankū. (Splitting Void)"
Shimo extended his palm, holding it before him.
A transparent barrier formed—severing the space.
Having comprehended forbidden Kidō, his mastery had advanced yet again.
Even without incantation, the power was terrifying.
The green streaks slammed into Dankū, rippling across it in layers.
Kōga's pupils contracted. Then he bared his teeth, rage flooding his face.
"So I underestimated you."
"I didn't think the Kyōraku clan would produce another prodigy."
Shimo nodded with a deeply satisfied look, and said modestly:
"You flatter me, you flatter me."
…While wearing an expression so proud that even a blind man could see it.
That lazy arrogance was gasoline on Kōga's fire.
He had always been someone who loathed the world—now Shimo's attitude ignited him into boundless fury.
His spiritual pressure grew restless, violent, unstable.
Shimo's brow lifted, his expression turning oddly curious.
"That kind of power…"
---
At the same time, Nelliel—who had been chasing Senbonzakura alongside Shunsui and the others—halted abruptly, as if her feet were nailed to the ground.
She sniffed, her face strange.
"That smell…"
"It's from Shimo's direction!"
"I'm going to help Shimo!"
In the next instant, Nel vanished—racing straight toward him.
Shunsui sighed, helpless, then turned his attention to the manifested Senbonzakura fighting Byakuya.
"Looks like I'll have to finish you quickly."
He drew a breath.
"Flower Wind Rage and Flower God Roar, Heavenly Wind Rage and Heavenly Demon Sneer—"
"Katen Kyōkotsu!"
Spiritual pressure surged, blanketing the entire region.
The storm of cherry blossoms slowed—almost as if stunned by Shunsui's change.
---
Nel used Sonído, reaching Shimo at top speed.
In her calm eyes flickered unmistakable concern.
"Shimo…"
Shimo blinked at her arrival, then gently patted her waist-length hair.
"Don't worry."
"There was a small complication, but this guy can't do anything to me."
His voice carried absolute confidence.
Nel froze for a second—then her face broke into a radiant smile, and she answered firmly:
"Mm!"
Across from them, Kōga's spiritual pressure shifted again.
His face became savage, and he erupted into manic laughter.
"Hahaha—this is it!"
"Power great enough to destroy everything!"
White bone began pushing out from the openings in his face, gradually wrapping around his head.
Twisting spiritual pressure coated his entire body—
Blood-red and black-violet energies interweaving around him like living things.
The white bone formed into striped mask-like plates, like a prison that locked him inside.
Hollowfication.
Shimo's expression grew strange as he studied Kōga closely.
The nature of Kōga's soul had already changed.
Seeing this, Shimo became even more certain of what he'd suspected before.
Kōga's unsealing was absolutely Aizen's handiwork.
Right now, only Aizen had the means to push a Shinigami into Hollowfication like this.
"What a waste," Shimo said with faint disappointment. "Kuchiki Kōga is already dead."
Nel looked curiously at Shimo, waiting for him to continue.
"The potential inside his soul is being forced out completely—leaving nothing behind."
"Even if he somehow escapes my hands… he still won't survive."
"The moment the power in his soul is burned out… that will be his death."
Kōga's laughter cut off for an instant—he'd heard Shimo.
Then he laughed even harder.
"From your hands… escape?!"
"Brat—you know nothing about power!"
His mouth stretched into an unnatural angle—his jaw seeming to dislocate, dropping several inches.
Blood-red and black-violet spiritual pressure tangled together, compressing into a huge sphere of spirit particles inside his mouth.
Cero.
BOOOOM—!
A Cero tens of meters wide erupted, leaving no space to dodge.
Blood-red dominated it, while black-violet energy crawled across the beam like a living thing.
From Kōga as the starting point, the ground in front of him was instantly vaporized.
Shimo reversed his grip and slashed.
He didn't even release Shikai—he met it with pure swordsmanship.
The hilt spun through his palm.
The energy tore free and shot straight at the Cero.
Compared to a beam that filled the horizon, Shimo's slash looked almost laughably small.
Limitless Sword: Two Severings.
Unlike Zaraki's brutal two-handed swings, Shimo had clearly learned through battle—absorbing what he saw and making it his own.
Ultimate Spiritual Pressure... Release!
HUM—!
In the next instant, Shimo's spiritual pressure flooded the entire wildland—
And even reached Shunsui's battlefield.
The river of rampaging cherry blossoms trembled in midair, its speed sharply reduced.
The manifested Senbonzakura stared in shock, unable to imagine spiritual pressure of this magnitude.
Even Shunsui's outgoing pressure faltered slightly.
A glint of astonishment flashed in his eyes.
"This kid… The hell? He got stronger again..."
Byakuya said nothing. His sealed blade strikes accelerated.
Shimo's strength placed immense pressure on him.
Back then, Byakuya had suppressed Shimo with a single Senka.
But now… Byakuya suspected he wouldn't survive even one Senka from Shimo.
Had someone who was once his peer… already pulled so far ahead?
A trace of unwillingness flickered in Byakuya's eyes.
He wanted to become stronger.
At the very least… strong enough to see Shimo's back as he walked ahead.
—
The moment Shimo's spiritual pressure erupted, shock flashed across Kōga's crazed eyes.
That crushing pressure dragged old memories back to the surface.
Back then, he was weaker than he was now—any captain's spiritual pressure could make him struggle to breathe.
But now, Kōga believed he was inferior to no captain.
After Hollowfication, his spiritual pressure had multiplied.
And yet—even so—under Shimo's pressure, he felt fear he hadn't tasted in ages.
"How is that possible?!"
Kōga's expression grew even more deranged—his corroded soul burning away faster.
"I'm the strongest!"
A black energy cleaved through the world, splitting the massive Cero beam in two.
The Cero scraped past Shimo and Nel, then slammed into the already ravaged wildland.
BOOOOM—!
A monstrous Hollow-energy explosion erupted skyward, swallowing everything within dozens of miles in an instant.
All of Seireitei felt that terrifying power.
Shinigami who had already subdued their own Zanpakutō rushed toward the source.
When Seireitei was threatened, Shinigami were still willing to stake their lives.
As the choking dust dispersed, the scene reappeared.
Kōga's pupils shrank.
Shimo still stood before him exactly as he had at the start—
Not injured. Not even a speck of dust on his captain's haori.
"Looks like I need even more power!"
Kōga shrieked, forcing the fear out of his emotions.
Shimo frowned slightly.
He suddenly realized Kōga might be pushing toward a final modification.
And sure enough—
The moment that thought formed, Kōga's spiritual pressure changed again.
Violent spiritual pressure surged from his soul.
White bone poured out from every part of his body, wrapping him completely.
Kōga raised Muramasa—then opened that gaping maw and swallowed the blade whole.
Hollow spiritual pressure gradually ground away what remained of his Shinigami spiritual pressure.
"Blood… of the swamp—Muramasa, Unhooked Execution!"
Resurrección.
That hoarse roar echoed across the wildland like a dying man's final salvation.
"Another one who can use Resurrección," Shimo said calmly. "Unfortunately… this is a last Resurrección fueled by his own soul."
Nel stepped forward, ready to strike—
But Shimo stopped her.
"Let me."
After the Resurrección completed, Kuchiki Kōga became a monster in the truest sense.
Twisted limbs, covered in countless mouths. As they opened and closed, they released bizarre vibrations that gnawed at the mind.
His scorched skin looked like it had been roasted alive—horrifying to behold.
HUM—
The gaping mouths on Kōga's body opened.
That strange vibration locked onto Shimo in an instant.
Space itself rippled.
Shimo suddenly realized the surroundings had changed.
He stood on air in the void, the ground below filled with countless broken stone pillars.
Blood-red was the dominant color here—everything drenched in it.
"Hahaha—surprised, aren't you?!"
Kōga's monster-voice overlapped into many voices at once.
"This… is my world!"
-----------------------------///
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