Tobirama and Kushina stood shoulder to shoulder, blocking Shunsui and Jushiro's path.
"Yare yare… what a hassle," Shunsui said, straw hat tilted low, a flashy pink women's haori draped over his shoulders. With one hand at the brim of his hat, his gaze settled on Tobirama.
"Looks like we've run into a truly troublesome opponent."
Before the words even finished, Shunsui and Jushiro moved at the same time.
Their spiritual pressure didn't explode in some earthshaking way. Instead, it warped the space around them in a strange, unsettling manner.
"Hana Kaze Midarete, Hana Kami Naki; Ten Kaze Midarete, Tenma Warau—Katen Kyokotsu (Flower Wind in Turmoil, Flower God Wails; Heavenly Wind in Turmoil, Heavenly Demon Laughs—Bone-Crazed Flower Heaven)!"
Shunsui murmured softly as his paired blades became a long katana and a short wakizashi.
An invisible rule-based force instantly enveloped the entire battlefield.
"Nami wa Itate, Ware ga Tate; Ikazuchi wa Itate, Ware ga Yaiba—Sōgyo no Kotowari (Waves Become My Shield, Lightning Becomes My Blade—Pisces Rin)!"
Jushiro's zanpakuto released as well, turning into two fish-shaped blades linked by a rope strung with small tags.
The fight erupted instantly.
Kushina's temperament was fiery—she was the first to lose patience.
With a sudden burst, she lunged at Shunsui, her chakra-wrapped fist whistling through the air as it shot for his face.
Shunsui didn't dodge. He only leaned back slightly.
Kushina's punch missed.
No—she didn't miss.
At the moment her fist was about to touch Shunsui's face, she felt as if she'd struck not flesh, but cotton—every ounce of power smoothly dispersed, completely unloaded.
Her heart tightened. She immediately retreated.
"'Kageoni,'" Shunsui drawled lazily. "If you step on my shadow… you lose."
Kushina glanced down.
Her foot was planted squarely inside Shunsui's shadow.
A sharp, stabbing pain tore up from the sole of her foot, like countless steel needles piercing through. She grunted and jumped away, widening the distance.
What kind of ridiculous ability was this?
On the other side, Tobirama had already engaged Jushiro.
His hands flew through seals, so fast they left only afterimages.
"Suiton: Suiryu Dan no Jutsu (Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu)!"
A massive water dragon roared forward.
This wasn't an ordinary water dragon—highly compressed chakra churned within its body. If it landed, the resulting blast would be enough to flatten a small mountain.
Jushiro's expression didn't change. He raised the blade in his left hand.
The water dragon slammed into the sword—yet instead of exploding, it was swallowed as though by an invisible vortex.
The enormous dragon vanished in an instant.
A flicker of surprise crossed Tobirama's red eyes.
Then Jushiro lifted the blade in his right hand, aiming it at Tobirama.
"Here. Take it back."
The roar returned.
An identical water dragon burst from the right blade—faster, and seemingly even stronger than before.
Tobirama reacted instantly. He slammed a hand to the ground, and a thick wall of water surged upward.
The water dragon crashed into it with a thunderous boom. Spray exploded outward, and the entire riverbank shook.
Tobirama stared at the shattered water wall, his gaze turning heavy.
Absorb energy… then release it from the other side—faster, stronger.
Kushina rubbed her numb ankle, her expression ugly.
She couldn't get close to Shunsui at all. His abilities were too bizarre—one absurd "rule" after another tying her hands.
First it was "don't step on shadows," then it was "Zangeki," where if they attacked at the same time, the one with higher spiritual pressure would deal greater damage.
Kushina's chakra reserves were enormous, but in terms of instantaneous output, she still couldn't gain the upper hand.
Tobirama was in a deadlock too.
Any water technique he used—no matter the form—was absorbed by that strange pair of blades and returned at him with interest.
He tried closing in with taijutsu, but Jushiro's swordsmanship was extremely refined, leaving neither side able to find an opening.
This style of fighting was suffocating—frustrating in a way they'd never experienced before.
Just then, a calm voice sounded in both Tobirama's and Kushina's minds.
"Mother—his ability is 'turning children's games into reality.' The rules are set by his zanpakuto. Once you enter the game's range, you must obey. Don't try to brute-force it—use the rules, or leave the rules."
"Tobirama-sama—his zanpakuto's core is that rope connecting the two blades. Energy is absorbed by the left, transmitted through the rope, and released by the right. Cut the transmission path."
It was Shinju.
Both of their eyes cleared instantly.
So that's how it works.
"'Irooni,'" Shunsui's voice sounded again. "If we say the same color, we get cut. Then… I choose 'red.'"
The moment he said it, Kushina's vivid red hair stirred without wind.
A thought flashed through her mind immediately.
Don't say red.
Her eyes snapped to Shunsui's pink kimono.
"Pink!"
For the first time, Shunsui's lazy expression shifted.
A line of blood opened across his chest, soaking into his clothing.
He glanced down at the wound, then looked back up at Kushina—and couldn't help laughing.
"Ahh… I got played."
Now!
Golden chakra chains snapped out from Kushina's back like living vipers, whipping in from every direction to bind Shunsui.
"Adamantine Sealing Chains!"
Shunsui's figure turned hazy. He used shunpo to weave through the net, trying to evade the encirclement.
"Tobirama-sama!" Kushina shouted.
She didn't need to.
Tobirama was already moving.
He stopped using large-scale water techniques and instead condensed chakra at his fingertips.
A single bead of water formed—then was compressed and stretched in an instant, becoming a high-pressure blade of water, thin as a cicada's wing and sharp enough to cut anything.
"Suiton: Suidanha (Water Style: Water Severing Wave)!"
His target wasn't Jushiro himself, nor the twin blades—
It was the rope connecting them!
Jushiro's face changed sharply.
He tried to withdraw and guard, but it was too late.
Suidanha was too fast—thought to strike, strike to hit.
One of the tags on the rope was cleanly severed.
Jushiro let out a muffled groan. The absorption-and-return cycle of Sōgyo no Kotowari broke instantly, and unstable energy rampaged inside him, forcing him into a coughing fit.
Now!
Tobirama vanished from where he stood.
He appeared behind Jushiro—not to attack, but to place a hand on Kushina's shoulder.
In the next instant, both of them disappeared.
Shunsui, fully focused on dodging the golden chains, suddenly felt a ripple in space.
Tobirama, carrying Kushina, appeared directly above him.
"Flying Thunder God Technique!"
A speed beyond shunpo.
A leap through space itself.
Shunsui didn't have time to react.
Kushina looked down, excitement and ferocity flashing across her face.
"Got you!"
Clatter—!
Dozens of golden chains rained down. This wasn't pursuit anymore.
It was coverage.
Their target wasn't Shunsui, and it wasn't Jushiro—
It was the ground beneath them.
The chains plunged into the earth like roots, then burst out elsewhere, instantly forming a golden cage that locked both captains inside.
The true use of Adamantine Sealing Chains wasn't "binding."
It was creating a barrier you couldn't break out of.
Shunsui stopped, staring at the airtight cage of golden chains, each one pulsing with terrifying sealing power.
Jushiro steadied his breathing, the coughing fading. He looked at Tobirama—those red eyes held no emotion at all, calm as a bottomless lake.
Space-time ninjutsu.
And a sealing art this absolute.
Together, these two were a nightmare for any technique-based opponent.
Shunsui raised both hands, his lazy demeanor returning in full.
"Alright, alright. We're done—we're done."
He waved as if surrendering.
"If we keep going, the two of us old men are going to have our tricks exposed."
Jushiro also lowered Sōgyo no Kotowari. He looked at Tobirama and Kushina, smiling gently, then coughed twice.
Tobirama and Kushina exchanged a glance. Kushina clicked her tongue and withdrew the chains.
The golden links turned into motes of light and vanished behind her.
They both knew the truth.
The two captains hadn't gone all out.
The man in the hat had been "playing games" from start to finish—and the sickly white-haired man's spiritual pressure was far deeper than what he'd shown.
This fight was less about deciding a winner…
And more about probing each other.
Tobirama stared at them, voice cold.
"You came to this world—what's your real purpose?"
Shunsui pressed down his straw hat, hiding his expression.
"We're just here to find someone. But it looks like… this place is a lot more lively than we expected."
As his words fell, several violent explosions erupted in the distant sky.
Different—but equally overwhelming—powers burst out from every corner of Konoha.
Other captains. The Espada.
They had all found their opponents.
The brawl had fully ignited—and the scale of this chaos had already exceeded everyone's expectations.
(End of Chapter)
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