"So… is it finally over?"
Beneath the white skull mask, Wind Demon · Yone's pale yellow eyes stared fixedly at the vast ocean below as he muttered to himself.
"Of course—not, Wind Demon!"
Having once again donned his black Shihakushō, Fūjin Taichi suddenly appeared behind Wind Demon Yone. The dagger-like short blade in his hand was already pressed against Yone's back.
"What?! When did you—?!" Yone was startled and instinctively darted forward, pulling some distance away before turning to face Fūjin Taichi from afar.
"Oh?" Fūjin Taichi said calmly, his violet pupils locked onto Yone.
"Wind Demon, why deliberately widen the distance? If you truly wanted to kill me, you should be closing in to attack…
Or is it that you've already begun to fear me—so much so that the moment I appeared, you instinctively fled?"
"Taichi… what nonsense are you spouting?!" Yone snarled. "I did this only to launch a more effective attack!!"
He raised his Zanpakutō with his left hand and slashed diagonally toward Fūjin Taichi, roaring:
"Heavenly Flames Scorch the Plains!!"
Boom!
A blade of purple flame, carrying an earth-shattering heat, tore through the air and shot straight toward Fūjin Taichi.
"Heh… have you run out of tricks, Wind Demon?"
Facing the incoming purple blade, there wasn't a hint of panic on Fūjin Taichi's face.
Only when the flaming blade was about to reach his face did he chuckle softly and casually sweep his left hand diagonally in front of him—
Instantly, a ten-meter-tall white wall of wind materialized out of thin air!
Hiss—
The massive purple flame blade slammed into the white wind wall, producing a sound unique to spatial distortion.
Then the wind wall seemed to open an invisible maw, devouring the purple blade bit by bit until nothing remained…
"What?! This is—"
Yone was shaken. Damn it! So he's already earned my brother's recognition and gained the power to command space!
"Surprised, Wind Demon?"
Fūjin Taichi's voice sounded again—right behind him.
The short Zanpakutō in his hand pointed straight at Yone's back.
"Don't get cocky, Taichi!!"
The shock vanished from Yone's face, replaced by a smug grin.
"You think victory is already yours? Hehehe… how laughable—"
"What?!"
"Blazing Flames · First Layer · Light Residing Abode."
Yone intoned in a low voice.
Boom!
A gigantic cross suddenly erupted behind Fūjin Taichi. His body stiffened as if paralyzed, pinned in a cruciform pose, unable to move at all.
"What is this?" Taichi, well aware of the Bleach trope where characters explain their abilities to enemies for ultimate satisfaction, asked calmly.
"Blazing Flames · First Layer · Light Residing Abode."
Yone turned around coldly, his blazing eyes fixed on Taichi.
"It is the first layer of my Bankai—Blazing Flame Demon · Twenty-Sixfold Purgatory!"
"I see… and then?" Fūjin Taichi asked indifferently.
"Then I'll let you experience my power—layer by layer!! Now—"
Yone suddenly forced open Fūjin Taichi's mouth with his right hand, clamped his fingers around Taichi's tongue, stretched it several meters outward—
—and with a swift slash, cut it off at the root!
"!!!"
Agonizing pain exploded in Fūjin Taichi's mouth. With his tongue severed, he couldn't scream—only muffled, frantic sounds escaped as bright red blood slowly spilled from his lips…
"Blazing Flames · Second Layer · Void-Dwelling Execution." Yone murmured.
The Zanpakutō in his left hand transformed into an enormous pair of shears, poised to snip apart Fūjin Taichi's ten fingers—
But in that very instant, Fūjin Taichi vanished into thin air!
Hiss—
Almost simultaneously, he reappeared behind Yone and drove the sharp short blade straight through Yone's chest.
Green blood sprayed in all directions.
"Wh-What?! This... this is impossible! You were trapped by my cross; you couldn't have escaped—" Yone cried out in disbelief.
"Mm… mmm…"
Fūjin Taichi frowned, trying to speak, only then realizing his tongue had been severed—he couldn't utter a single word.
So he stepped around to Yone's front, extended his left hand, grabbed the skull mask—
—and crushed it with a slight squeeze.
Crack!
The skull mask shattered, revealing her exquisitely beautiful yet deathly pale face.
Her pale yellow eyes stared at Fūjin Taichi in stunned disbelief.
At the very instant the skull mask shattered, Fūjin Taichi's wounds began to heal as well. He lightly worked his jaw, then spoke:
"Don't look so shocked, Wind Demon · Yone. This is just one of the 'Twelve Functions of my Zanpakutō.'
Well then—you've lost."
"Tch…"
Yone snorted coldly and turned her head to the side, clearly unwilling to acknowledge Fūjin Taichi.
Fūjin Taichi didn't mind at all. He calmly took Zanpakutō · Kyūjūkyū from Wind Demon · Yone's hand and chuckled:
"Sorry about that, Wind Demon. I still have some use for this blade—so I can't lend it to you just yet."
"Taichi!"
Yone cursed inwardly and said bitterly,
"You may have suppressed me using my brother's spatial power… but in my heart, you'll always be that Taichi who didn't even dare to speak that man's name!"
"Heh… Aizen, you mean?"
Fūjin Taichi replied with a calm smile.
"There's no need to dwell on that anymore, Yone. Once the time is ripe… I'll deal with him myself."
"Hmph!"
"Whether you believe me or not, just wait quietly and see."
As he spoke, Fūjin Taichi lightly brushed his left hand across the blade of Zanpakutō · Kyūjūkyū and whispered:
"But for now… return to me, Kyūjūkyū."
"Taichi! Remember this—my power is only temporarily lent to you!
The moment fear is reborn in your heart, I will burn this entire wasteland to ashes with heavenly fire!"
"Heh… that moment will never come, Wind Demon · Yone,"
Fūjin Taichi said softly, watching her form gradually fade away.
"I shall take your words at face value… Taichi…"
With her final words, Wind Demon · Yone vanished completely from the Inner World, as if she had never existed at all—
Yet Fūjin Taichi knew she was still hidden somewhere within his soul, waiting for the moment she would descend upon the wasteland once more.
Perhaps by then,Yone's power would grow alongside his own…
But that was no longer something Fūjin Taichi concerned himself with.
"1st Division… Captain-Commander… Aizen… and even Yhwach…"
He fastened both Zanpakutō back at his waist, then spread open his right hand. A streak of purple light flashed past, and a white skull mask with red markings appeared in his palm.
"Do you truly wish to dance before me as well?"
Splash!
Suddenly, rain began to fall across the once-calm Inner World. Fūjin Taichi tilted his head slightly, letting the gentle rain strike his face and slowly run down his sharp, handsome features.
"For the next ten thousand years, you will all remember this—
My name is Fūjin Taichi: the happiest Shinigami the future Soul Society has ever known… and the only one!"
Boom!
The surging ocean vanished without a trace. In its place, a magnificent golden palace rose from the wasteland, radiating boundless brilliance beneath the orange-gold sunlight—