"Captain! I, Yukawa, unworthy as I am, have mastered Bankai!"
"Oh my, is that so."
The day after experimenting with 19th Seat Heike and finishing various personal trials.
When I reported that to Captain Unohana in the Captain's office, she said it lightly like this.
"...Um, is that all?"
"I can tell just by looking that you have mastered Bankai. The Reiatsu you are wearing is completely different from the day before yesterday; it's like you're a different person."
Is it... like that? I don't have any Shinigami among my close acquaintances who said "I mastered Bankai," so I don't know.
"Besides, I believed you would master Bankai, you know. In other words, this result is inevitable. Why do I need to be surprised at that?"
"C-Captain...!"
She believed in me.
Just thinking that, I felt tears welling up. It might be that I'm just being deceived, but saying something like that is unfair...
"Right right, with this you have technically obtained the minimum qualification to become a Captain, but... what will you do?"
"...Ah! Come to think of it, that was true."
To become a Captain of the Gotei 13, first mastering Bankai is required as a minimum condition. There are various things, but first and foremost, a Shinigami must be strong.
But I haven't really cared about it until now...
Because I was only thinking about the moment I would meet Harribel and Bambietta.
"Right now, the Captain seat of the Tenth Division is vacant, you know? Would you like to challenge it?"
"The Tenth Division, is it...?"
The Tenth Division has been without a Captain for quite a while. Currently, the Lieutenant is acting as Captain.
Ah, come to think of it, the Eleventh Division had something like that too. Nostalgic...
"Hmm... no, I cannot think that far right now."
"Is that so. Then that is no problem."
"...Um, it might be rude to ask this after refusing, but is it okay?"
The Captain is also a member of the Gotei 13, right? Then, pulling strings for another department that is short-handed or something like that is...
"It does not matter. Even though the person herself says she does not want to do it, it is not something to force, is it? Besides, you have been in the Fourth Division for a long time. Even if you suddenly went to the Tenth Division, you probably wouldn't be able to utilize that power."
I think Captain duties aren't that different anywhere... well no, since I haven't been a high-ranking officer or Lieutenant for long, I think I would struggle, but...
"Above all... you haven't shown me the strength of mastering Bankai yet, have you?"
"...!!!!!!"
She says it in a light tone as if making small talk or something insignificant, but deep within those words, a bloodcurdling killing intent was embedded.
A normal Shinigami would probably only feel "Hmm, a little strange?", but the current me understands very well.
"The next training session is... ah, in a month, is it... I can hardly wait..."
Does one say a day feels like a thousand autumns?
With innocent feelings like looking forward to a birthday or Christmas, yet thinking about something disturbingly chilling...
The sky is blessed with clear weather without a single cloud, and sunlight should be streaming in gently, but inside this room alone, it is wrapped in tremendous dark clouds.
I have only a terrible premonition that makes phrases like "stepping on a tiger's tail" or "running through a minefield" seem like child's play.
On this day, I seriously wished.
Please! Let next month never come!! ...Like that.
"It's nice weather."
"Yes..."
Well, the flow of time cannot be stopped just by an individual praying.
Time flew by in the blink of an eye, and the day of training with the Captain arrived.
The training ground in the mountains, now a familiar place to commute.
The days when I used up all my stamina just coming here feel nostalgic; now, just running normally doesn't even disturb my breath.
"It has been long... About five hundred years since you started having me train you here..."
"That is... however, I was also able to master Bankai!"
"That is true. Bankai is so difficult that it is said even a talented person needs ten years of devoted training... For one without talent, it would probably be impossible even if it took a lifetime. In that sense, thinking that you had talent—no, let me say it clearly. I think you have talent."
I have talent, is it... It might be the first time I've been praised by the Captain unreservedly like that.
"Th-Thank you very much!"
"Possessing talent I do not have, climbing up here without rotting away... It is safe to say today is the day your efforts were rewarded. Today is a very good day... better than very good, and..."
"—!!"
I somehow catch the Captain's sword strike released without sound.
"...Due to being very good... don't you think so?"
"No... dying is still a bit troubling..."
Although the tone is like small talk, what is transmitted from the tip of the crossed blades is genuine killing intent—a presence tens of times denser than what I had felt until now assaults me like a debris flow.
"...Then, show me you can survive!"
"Even without being told, I intend to!!"
Finally, it has come!
The day Captain Unohana attacks seriously!!
"...Kuh!"
The Captain's sword is phantasmagoric.
Just when I thought she released countless sword flashes, she unleashes a killing blow without any warning. The moment I dodged that killing blow, I was punched with her free hand.
The damage is nil—in addition to the robustness I've trained, I now heal almost unconsciously at this level—but the awareness that I couldn't fully defend and was preempted weighs a little heavily on me.
"...Are you not going to use Shikai?"
"Captain... you aren't using it either, are you?"
As soon as I said that, the Captain's eyes became incredibly cold.
"Feigning ignorance... You know my Shikai too, right?"
The Captain's Shikai—Minazuki—transforms the blade into a huge ray-like creature upon release. This ray can carry people on top to move, but its true value lies solely in the ability to heal those it swallows.
It is a Zanpakuto with a creature summoning type ability, which is rare even overall, and it can be said to be quite an effective ability for rear support.
...Naturally, since the blade transforms, even if Reiatsu increases, it does not lead to combat ability—the combat ability the Captain desires.
'By the way, I am summoned too!! My turn!! Summon slime!!'
Be quiet for now, seriously, really!
"I am saying 'Fight with your Shikai', Airi?"
"Gh!"
I thought I dodged, but I couldn't dodge completely. My cheek was lightly cut, and blood flows thinly.
"If you have mastered Bankai, the same influence appears in Shikai as well... Simply put, Reiatsu becomes stronger, and since you have made the Zanpakuto submit, it is natural. In a sense, now is the true Shikai. I want to try breaking that."
...!!!!!!
"Nubatama!!"
'Here immediately upon call!!'
I acted almost at an instinctual level.
By mastering Bankai, there is no need to utter the release command, and Shikai becomes possible just by calling the name.
Seeing the blade turn pitch black in Shikai state, the Captain smiled thinly with satisfaction.
"Yes, that is it. First, I wanted to try breaking that!!"
"Hiii!!"
She attacks with a face like a demon god, but I am used to this too.
I secrete mucus all at once and wrap it around my body in an instant. Since it's an effect directed at myself, manipulating it is easy.
While covering my whole body thinly with mucus, I still caught that blow with my sword.
"Oh my?"
"I cannot respond to your request so easily, Captain? I have grown too. Please do not think you can cut me so easily."
"Very well, that makes it worth breaking... Be cut for my sake!"
Countless slashes boasting godspeed were unleashed.
I should have caught all of them with my blade and parried them, but...
"I was... cut..."
"Fufu... good. This sensation of not cutting even though I should have cut, it is strange no matter how many times I experience it..."
I missed receiving one stroke. If this were actual combat, I would undoubtedly have been cut.
But unlike before, there isn't even an impact.
Parrying the attack completely,
"And it seems there is no damage either! It can be said to be proof that you are mastering Shikai perfectly along with the results of your daily training. Splendid, truly splendid."
'I am honored by your praise...'
I won't retort!!
"However, I already know that Shikai is weak against heat. With your weakness known to the enemy, how will you endure next!?"
The Captain's attack began again.
Normally, if she used fire-type Kido, it would be settled in an instant, but the Captain dares not to do that. Her goal is to keep raising the temperature with frictional heat by adding slashes repeatedly and make it ignite.
Until now I was broken by that, but don't think the same trick will work so many times over hundreds of years!!
I prevent attacks repeatedly and show counterattacks, but still, the Captain's ability is above mine. Although there is no damage, attacks are slowly landing on me.
"This is the end, ignition!"
"...Naive!!"
"Wha!?"
I receive the Captain's sword with technique and body, and parry it as is with my ability.
Seeing it parried without igniting, the Captain widened her eyes slightly.
In the training until now, she had completely seen through how many attacks were needed to ignite.
But conversely, that is the chance.
Nubatama's Shikai is the summoned slime main body. And that main body can be made to flow. While being cut, I kept moving the main body smeared on my body surface skillfully, continuing to prevent the temperature rise.
The result was a huge success.
Against the Captain, I created a momentary opening worth a thousand gold.
"Yaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!"
"Kuh!!"
Just for this moment, offense and defense switched.
She tried to catch my full-power blow, but fell slightly short.
Captain Unohana's posture broke greatly.
"There!"
"Fufu..."
The reversal of offense and defense continues as is.
Frantically, swinging my sword as if trying everything I had been taught until now, I continued to launch attacks at the Captain.
But as expected of the Captain, while parrying my attacks, she slowly recovers from the disadvantage.
"Now!!"
"Hmph!!"
I unleash a full-power slash, but the Captain has already regained her stance and swings a counterattack blade.
Two swords intersect, and—
"...Haa... haa..."
"...Fufufu"
—Both swords stopped just before piercing the opponent's brow.
"Ufufufufufu, splendid."
"No, not yet..."
I was given words of joy, but I couldn't rejoice honestly.
"This is training, so there should be tactics and techniques in training. Above all, the Captain was fighting only with a sword. Shinigami can also use Kido... True, the way of fighting might have been serious, but you were still holding back, and it's this..."
This is training.
Even if it looks like killing each other, it is training.
It is not a serious battle, a death match. Besides, I was supposed to be dominant, but I was pushed back in the blink of an eye...
"If you understand that, there should be no problem."
However, the Captain showed an attitude as if to say even that was factored in.
"True, you are still rough around the edges, but you have become strong enough to be given a passing grade. As expected, mastering Bankai was worth it."
"I-Is that so...?"
"Of course. With this, I can also get serious..."
...Eh, wh-what did you just say...
I had no time to question.
Floating a fearless smile, the Captain re-readied her sword, and—
"Bankai————"
—In an instant, it was an illusion as if a rain of blood had fallen around.
Bright red liquid painted the entire area, and that blood eventually gathered into the blade, creating a red blade.
A space where the smell of rot pierces the nose and rust color dominates everything.
Standing there is Captain Unohana holding a dark black sword dripping with fresh blood.
The moment I saw it, fear was forced upon me to understand. All instincts continue to ring alarms of danger.
"This is enough for entertainment, right?"
"Bankai!! ——————!!"
The only thing that can oppose this is Bankai.
I release true power to match the Captain.
The entire sword is dyed pitch black, and black erodes the surrounding space as if repainting the red world of Minazuki, and...—
"It was splendid."
—While dyeing her whole body bright red, the Captain said so.
That red is a mixture of my splashed blood and the red from the wounds the Captain herself received. The Captain's haori, which should have been pure white, is now stained so red that there is no white part left, and the Shihakusho is stiff with dried blood.
It's the same for me; my whole body was made into a bloodman.
"I-Is it over..."
"Yes, of course. If it's this much including Bankai, it was worth my effort."
Although she says so indifferently, the Captain is also covered in wounds all over her body.
She has sustained major injuries that make it strange she can stand, and she seems too exhausted to even use Kaido.
So I am currently treating her desperately.
The cause is that due to the Captain's Bankai, it went beyond training and became a genuine death match.
It was incredibly scary.
I think I died about four digits times.
I think I managed to kill the Captain about fifty times too, but...
...Eh? I'm not saying anything strange.
Because the Captain's Bankai, Minazuki, has the ability to continue fighting without being able to die.
As the name implies, those swallowed by the Bankai are made to fight gaining "Minna" (All) "Tsuki" (Exhausted/Unending) life.
Therefore... Minazuki.
Being able to live and fight even with a carotid artery cut was an amazing experience...
And since it is Bankai state, the Captain's Reiatsu also rose at once, and I continued to fight desperately against numerous terrifying sword techniques.
'It was suuuuper scary!! Mayday Mayday!! It was a serious go-to-heaven state... Terra-kowasu, terra-kowasu indeed...'
See, rarely Nubatama is seriously frightened.
...Eh? You don't understand? This is this child's genuine reaction.
So, I don't want to die either, so I desperately manipulated the Bankai I just learned.
I think I fought doing everything I could think of.
However, even in that situation, the Captain fought only with swordsmanship, so I thought she was holding back after all.
"How is this?"
"Hmm, seems there are no problems... Airi, thank you for your hard work."
"No... all these wounds were inflicted by me."
It took a little time, but recovery is complete.
...Unlike me who continued to receive clean wounds caused only by swordsmanship, the Captain's wounds were varied. So recovery took that much time.
"You don't need to feel so responsible."
"B-But..."
"Well, if you insist..."
"Airi. Please let me experience the chiropractic you perform."
With a beaming smile, an outrageous bombshell statement flew out.
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]