Meanwhile—just as Wooden Dragon's release shockwaves erupted twice in a row on the high plateau near the Repentance Chamber, the sheer force of it blasted apart the clouds overhead.
Just as Bai Chen had mocked—
Even with a Kidō barrier suppressing the area, and even though the buildings around the Repentance Chamber were all made from seki-seki stone (spirit-sealing stone), the disturbance was still far too huge to fully contain.
So in the blink of an eye, it alarmed all of Seireitei—and instantly drew the attention of the entire Gotei 13.
First Division Headquarters
Inside the 1st Division office—normally silent—the second surge hit, and confused exclamations rang out.
"?!"
"That was… Wooden Dragon's pressure!"
"It came from the direction of the Repentance Chamber!"
"Why is Bai Chen releasing his Zanpakutō there?!"
Sasakibe Chōjirō's white brows knitted into a hard knot. He strode to the window and stared south, toward the Repentance Chamber, stunned.
Today was only Bai Chen's first day in the division.
And per Seireitei's written regulations—
Unless there was a Ryoka invasion, an internal rebellion, or another emergency, even seated officers and captains were not allowed to release their Zanpakutō freely inside Seireitei.
"So…"
"Is there an enemy attack at the Repentance Chamber?"
"That can't be right…!"
After a brief moment, Chōjirō shook his head hard and rejected the idea.
The 1st Division was the head of all divisions. If something required suppression, he would've received intelligence from the Onmitsukidō or the Research & Development Bureau—
and in any case, even if there was an incident, it wouldn't fall to a brand-new third seat like Bai Chen.
Were the captains just… sitting around eating lunch?
"Chōjirō…"
"You're missing one key detail."
The Head Captain's voice cut in at the perfect time.
"Wooden Dragon's pressure surged twice."
"And the interval was extremely short."
Chōjirō's pupils contracted.
A cold, creeping dread climbed up his spine.
The Head Captain continued calmly, laying it out piece by piece:
"If it can shake all of Seireitei…"
"then both surges were real."
"And there is no world where two 'Wooden Dragons' can exist at once."
His eyes—normally clouded with age—flared bright, like twin torches.
"Someone used some method to steal or copy Wooden Dragon's power in a short time…"
"And across all of Soul Society, only one person can do that."
He paused—but the answer was already obvious.
"Tsunayashiro Tokinada…"
Chōjirō said it at once, grinding his teeth.
"That man who was ordered restrained by Central 46 after committing murder…"
"He must've used the Tsunayashiro clan's inherited 'divine weapon'—Enrakyōten—to copy Wooden Dragon."
"Correct."
The Head Captain nodded, voice cold.
"Only Enrakyōten can perfectly replicate another Zanpakutō."
"I simply didn't expect Tokinada—after lying low for so long—to set his sights on Bai Chen."
Chōjirō's brows remained deeply furrowed.
"Head Captain… what do we do?"
"Do we go immediately and stop Tokinada?"
"If we let him continue, the damage to Seireitei could be catastrophic!"
But contrary to Chōjirō's tension, the Head Captain remained seated—steady and unmoved.
"There's no need to panic."
"Even if we do nothing, this disturbance will settle soon."
"Enrakyōten may copy everything…"
"but Shinigami battles still come down to the same thing in the end."
"Spiritual pressure."
His tone carried clear trust in Bai Chen.
"With a large enough gap in pressure…"
"Tokinada will lose quickly."
"When that happens, we'll bring men to the Repentance Chamber."
Back at the Repentance Chamber Plateau
Everything unfolded exactly as the Head Captain predicted.
Tokinada had copied Wooden Dragon.
And Enrakyōten had transformed into a thorn-blade that looked identical.
But before Tokinada could savor his triumph—
the moment he tried to actually use Wood Release…
he discovered something horrifying.
That thorn-blade—aside from basic slashes and thrusts—
couldn't produce any techniques at all.
"Impossible!!!"
"Absolutely impossible!!!"
"I copied it perfectly!!!"
His eyes went bloodshot. Veins bulged. He looked like he was collapsing into madness.
"It copied the appearance…!"
"But why can't I condense spiritual pressure and summon forests and trees?!"
That violent rise-and-drop—the high of victory smashed into the floor in an instant—made Tokinada's mind snap.
He swung the blade wildly and howled.
Bai Chen watched with a flat expression.
"This is what happens when power goes to your head."
Then his eyes narrowed slightly.
"But after rage…"
"comes desperate, reckless madness."
Sure enough—after his screaming fit, Tokinada raised his Zanpakutō again.
As the copy faded, the thorn-blade vanished—returning to that eerie bladeless hilt form.
And then—
Around Tokinada, more than thirty scattered spiritual pressures emerged, animal-like and vicious.
In the next instant, they solidified into terrifying white monsters—each a giant sphere over three meters wide, lined with massive teeth.
Bai Chen's eyes lit up.
"...So it really appeared."
"A rare biological, summon-type Zanpakutō power…"
He poured spiritual pressure into Wooden Dragon.
"The Seventh Kenpachi's Zanpakutō ability…"
"Hungry Corridor."
And in the same breath, Bai Chen launched Wood Release without hesitation:
"Deadly Poison—Deep Forest Emergence!"
The ground churned like a vortex.
The barren plateau split apart—
BOOOOM—!!
Black fissures spiderwebbed outward. Colossal trees and vines erupted upward, and at their crowns bloomed countless massive flowers.
As the vines lunged forward and coiled, they released thick, visible pollen—forming a pale yellow haze that dulled nerves and numbed the body.
"What is this?!"
"Bai Chen—you can… use poison too?!"
Tokinada's deranged face froze stiff.
All he could see now was—
a tide of vines and trunks blotting out the sky,
and a fog so dense his visibility collapsed to nothing.
In that instant, Tokinada sobered up.
And then he realized the most despairing truth of all:
The sealed Kidō barrier they'd built to trap Bai Chen…
had become his own grave.
Worse—
the toothed summons he'd just formed with Hungry Corridor were instantly tangled by vines.
Their spiritual pressure was drained in seconds—
they shriveled, then disintegrated and vanished.
Tokinada's eyes widened in horror.
"They're gone…"
"Hungry Corridor's power…"
"It was absorbed—stolen!!!"
He could no longer sense even a trace of that power inside Enrakyōten.
That lost ability—revived for only a moment—
had been ripped away the instant it was caught.
Bai Chen smiled faintly.
"You've noticed it, haven't you?"
"From the start… this trap was built for you."
And as satisfaction settled into his bones, a new thought sparked in Bai Chen's mind:
If he'd successfully plundered Hungry Corridor…
and if he combined it with the second template still dormant in his soul space—
could he someday summon an even greater creature?
Madara's legendary summon…
the Nine-Tails.
◇ I'll drop one bonus chapter for every 10 reviews (leave a review/comment!)
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ Read 60 chapters ahead on P@treon: patreon.com/KageNaruto