My gaze fell on the man across from me.
Golden hair. Blue eyes. A gentle smile on his face.
Unlike the captains of Soul Society, he didn't have that cold hardness tempered by countless battles. Instead, he felt like afternoon sunlight—warm enough to lower your guard.
And yet, the speed he'd displayed earlier had already surpassed the realm of ordinary Shinigami shunpo.
Byakuya Kuchiki didn't care.
These mortal tricks were nothing more than a stage set a little more to his liking.
He was here to uphold Seireitei's dignity—to uphold the honor of the Four Great Noble Houses.
The man before him bore the title "Fourth Hokage," a recognized powerhouse in this world.
Defeating him would be the most direct declaration of all.
"Your speed is fast," Byakuya said.
For the twenty-eighth head of the Kuchiki clan, acknowledging an opponent's merits was a necessary courtesy before battle.
Minato's smile didn't change. He merely watched quietly.
That calm attitude irritated Byakuya.
It was as if, no matter what he did next, it was already within the other man's expectations.
A noble's pride did not permit such disregard.
"But no matter how fast you are, you can't outrun the rules."
The moment the words fell, Byakuya's right hand pressed to the hilt at his waist.
Senbonzakura.
This blade was the glory passed down through the Kuchiki clan for generations—one of the most beautiful zanpakuto in Soul Society, and the embodiment of the "rules" he controlled.
Rules meant that no matter how fast you were, you could not escape the reach of his blade.
Minato noticed the motion. His hands hung naturally at his sides, with no sign of hand seals.
Byakuya said nothing more.
Action was the best way to shatter all doubt.
"Chire, Senbonzakura."
The blade in his hand lost its solid form in an instant.
It didn't turn into light—it shattered into billions of tiny blades, almost impossible to see with the naked eye.
Each one refracted the sunlight, taking on a pale pink sheen like cherry blossoms.
Then, in the next instant, the pink storm was born.
Centered on Byakuya's will, it surged toward Minato's position.
The pink torrent poured in from all directions—above and below, left and right, front and back—sealing every possible space Minato could evade into.
It formed a constantly shrinking pink sphere, meant to grind its target into the finest dust.
This was Byakuya's rule.
Within his "no-injury circle," Senbonzakura's assault was absolute.
Any enemy who tried to approach him would be shredded by this beautiful storm of blades.
He watched the golden figure about to be swallowed whole, his eyes not wavering in the slightest.
The fight should end here.
But at the very last moment—just before the countless blades could touch Minato's body—
The man who had maintained that gentle smile finally moved.
A pure golden light flared around him.
And with that light, Minato's figure vanished.
The billion blades that made up the pink torrent, having lost their target, slammed into each other.
The impact made the entire barrier space tremble.
Gone? How could he be gone?
Byakuya's spiritual pressure sensing covered the entire battlefield—yet he couldn't catch a trace of movement.
It wasn't shunpo. No matter how fast shunpo was, it would leave reishi disturbances along its path.
But that movement had left nothing.
It was as if space itself had shifted.
Something metallic lightly pressed against the back of his neck.
Byakuya's muscles instantly went taut.
His prideful "no-injury circle"—that domain where absolute offense and defense were one—had been infiltrated from behind without the slightest sound.
"Kuchiki-taichō, your blade is beautiful."
A gentle voice spoke at his ear.
Minato.
Byakuya's mind went blank.
When had he gotten behind him?
Why hadn't he sensed anything at all?
Senbonzakura's blades still swirled around his body in the tightest defensive formation—yet the other man had passed straight through that defense and placed a weapon at his vital point.
This wasn't a matter of speed anymore.
This was the most complete trampling of his "rules."
"But in front of absolute speed, no matter how beautiful the flowers are, they're only a motionless landscape."
A motionless landscape…
The sure-kill formation he took pride in—billions of blades—was, in the other man's eyes, nothing but something static and insignificant.
Pressing against his neck was an oddly shaped kunai.
A three-pronged blade, with sealing paper wrapped around the handle.
Byakuya could feel it—there was a kind of power in it that he couldn't understand at all.
In the very first exchange, he had already lost.
The other man hadn't even shown any intent to attack. In a near-instructional manner, he had simply demonstrated the gap between them.
Byakuya slowly turned around and looked directly at the blond man again.
"How did you do it?"
As a captain of the Gotei 13, as the head of the Kuchiki clan, he had never imagined he would ask a question like this.
"Flying Thunder God Technique," Minato answered plainly, idly toying with the special kunai in his hand.
"A speed that surpasses the 'rules' you understand."
Flying Thunder God Technique…
Byakuya chewed on the unfamiliar name.
He exhausted everything he knew, and still couldn't comprehend what kind of power it was.
Soul Society didn't have it. Hueco Mundo didn't have it. No world he knew had such an absurd method of movement.
He clenched his fist.
In this moment, a noble's dignity had been shattered.
In the distance, Shunsui's usual carefree expression vanished.
He pressed his straw hat down, hiding the seriousness in his eyes.
"Ahh… now that's something incredible."
Beside him, Jushiro looked just as grave. He was sickly, but his eye for battle was razor-sharp.
"Byakuya's Senbonzakura was completely破解ed. That man—Minato—his technique is probably the natural enemy of every large-area zanpakuto."
Shunsui nodded. "Not just large-area attacks. Once he's marked you… you probably can't ever shake him off. Byakuya's pride just took a brutal hit."
Jushiro coughed twice, then looked at Shunsui. "We can't let him keep fighting alone."
"I know." Shunsui's hand rested on the hilts of his paired swords.
Jushiro also tightened his grip on his hilt.
They couldn't just watch the Sixth Division captain be humiliated here.
No matter what, they represented all of Seireitei.
Their spiritual pressure began to rise as they prepared to step into the battlefield.
But the moment they were about to move—
Two figures appeared before them without warning, blocking their path.
One was a white-haired man with red eyes, wearing blue armor, his face cold as frost.
Arms folded across his chest, he stood there and radiated a pressure that made the heart seize.
The other was a red-haired woman.
Her long red hair danced in the air, and behind her, several golden chains appeared out of thin air—slowly writhing like living things, oozing danger.
Shunsui and Jushiro stopped.
They could both feel it—these two were unfathomably strong.
"Gentlemen, this way is closed," said the white-haired man—Tobirama.
His voice was even colder than Byakuya's, without a shred of human warmth.
"If you want to jump someone, then you can't leave us out," the red-haired woman—Kushina—said with a bright smile.
But the golden chains behind her, eager to strike, made that smile carry pure menace.
Shunsui looked at them and spoke slowly. "So you were prepared for this from the start."
Tobirama didn't answer. He simply stared at them with those red eyes.
A top-tier 2v2 showdown was about to erupt.
Inside the barrier, Byakuya had noticed what was happening outside as well.
He drew in a deep breath, forcibly crushing the humiliation and shock in his chest.
He still hadn't lost.
If shikai wasn't enough, then he'd use bankai.
In Kuchiki Byakuya's dictionary, there was no word for "retreat."
He raised his zanpakuto again, and an even larger, even colder spiritual pressure burst out of him.
"Ban…"
Only one syllable had left his mouth when Minato vanished again.
Byakuya's heart sank.
He immediately pushed his sensing to the limit, guarding against all directions.
This time, Minato didn't appear behind him.
He appeared at the edge of the barrier—beside the man who called himself Shinju.
Shinju looked at Minato and nodded, as if he was very satisfied with the result.
(End of Chapter)
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