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This article, Opposition against the Shiroyasha, was added by Participants of the 20 vs. Seireitou Roleplay who determines its usage on this wiki. |
Upon a large rock formation in the vast outskirts of the Rukongai, in a place long abandoned by all manner of life and the gods of death themselves, stood tall a man with flowing silver hair, his arms crossed across his torso with a calm yet resolute facial expression worn upon his face. His eyes gave away the truth, even though his face did not; he was anxious for the events soon to come. The power he possessed roared echoes in his lifetime, and today, he'd have the chance to push himself to the very limits that his strength would allow... and beyond them.
"So it begins. Come forth, my opponents. Kawahiru Seireitou stands here, awaiting your arrival." he had spoken.
The Challengers[]
A slim young man with pale skin and long, wavy dark hair struck the ground, the stone producing a dull thud. He raised his head and opened his eyes. "Shirōyasha? Ginpachi? Hakuda no Yonkō?" he asked, pausing between each name. "Kawahiru Seireitou? For surely you must be he whom I have heard tell of since I was a child. Your power is indeed immense," he said, noting the Reiatsu thick in the air. "So what is it you have come here for?"
Another slim figure struck the ground, this one with short-cropped straight hair. He stood up and looked around. "Fancy seeing you here already, Tsugawa."
"But of course, Taira," Tsugawa Kyōbashi replied flatly.
"Guess so. Well, well, Seireitou?" Taira Kyōbashi said, turning. "Granted, that was some display of Reiatsu, but I never thought to see you. What'cha doing all the way out here?"
Ere any response could be given, however, another figure appeared suddenly out of thin air: a tall, broad-shouldered man clad in a white Shihakushō landed nearby the other newcomers, his long jet black hair fluttering behind him. Immediately he fixed the intense gaze of his piercing, bright yellow eyes on the powerful Sōzōshin, yet his scarred face remained seemingly relaxed.
"Prince Kawahiru", began Hikari Maebure sternly. "While I no longer consider myself capable of dethroning your father, this day presents an exceptional opportunity. With my full might and the aid of the others I shall slay you, thus eliminating one of the Soul King's heirs."
Subsequently, he calmly placed his hand on the ivory hilt of his Zanpakutō, although he refrained from any further action after sensing the imminent arrival of another participant.
The next participant to step foot in the soon-to-be graveyard had been none other than Masatsura Kusunoki himself . As he sensed the Reiatsu saturate into the atmosphere obviously abandoned area he licked his lips the ancient bloodlust of the Kusunoki clan had awoken in him. "Seireitou Kawahiru, with such a challenge that stands before, a challenge you yourself proposed you've hung the sword of damocles over your own head."
Finishing the sentence, he merely focused his molten gold gaze at the man on the rock formation, awaiting for the rest of the warriors to arrive.
Elsewhere...
A feeling of dread came over the distant Rukongai's inhabited area. The Shiroyasha's exertion of power was hardly different than the feeling that an impending storm, as citizens of the Rukongai all ran as fast as they could into their homes to escape this horrid sensation brought upon them.
Or, was it Seireitou that caused them to respond this way? Or was it something else?
A fairly tall man, cloaked in what could only be described as a Quincy's attire, the Vandenreich's, specifically. A pair of black pants, strapped with various belts carrying Ginto and other devices, along with a trenchcoat, donned by a longer coat over it. Over all of this was a hooded white cloak, concealing all but the lower half of his face. This being would be the real source of this district's fear, as none before him had forgotten the time when his kind had attacked them not but just a few days ago...
"You know your orders." the older voice of his leader spoke to him through his earpiece. "Find Kawahiru Seireitou, and either convince him or force him to return to the palace. There, I will speak with him and make him one of our own."
"I understand, your Majesty." The cloaked man replied in a humble tone.
"I don't normally tolerate failure in these sorts of assignments," the voice of his King spoke with a reluctant sigh, almost as if he was dreading sending one of his top agents on such a mission to begin with. "but seeing as how you're going against one of the very heirs of the Spirit King himself, I'll make an exception. You're one of the best agents belonging to the Stern Ritter, so I find it only fitting that I send one of your calibur to deal with this monster. It's with reluctance that I can't send any more Stern Ritter to assist you. After our slight losses in Seireitei, i'm sparing what use of them I can until the next battle. And if we can get the famed Shiroyasha on our side, somehow..."
The voice's tone took a slightly more sinister version of itself. "Then Soul Society will certainly fall for sure!"
"It will fall with or without his assistance, your Highness." Asumu replied back with an honest and confident filled tone, hidden through a cold and determined gaze. "The Shinigami will feel the wrath of the Quincy full force before being extinguished into oblivion. Of this, I will make sure of."
"Good luck, Stern Ritter "S"..." his King spoke one last time. "Lord knows, you're going to need it."
Wth that, the voice cut itself off, and Asumu was alone. He couldn't tarry any further; if he stayed in this district too long, more Shinigami might come out to deal with him. He had to move. Thanks to Seireitou's exertion of Spiritual Pressure earlier, he knew exactly where to go. But why was Seireitou so far out to begin with?
A few long deployments of Hirenkyaku would be all that he needed to come to his designated area. A rocky landscape, barren and devoid of the same habitation that was in the previous district, would be where the Shiroyasha resided? Strange, he thought. He'd expected Seireitou to be far out from society, but why this place? Was he expecting a fight? But coming closer to the battlefield itself was what really got to him. He could feel other Spiritual Pressures in the area, lower than Seireitou's but still numbering in great quantity. What was happening?
Arriving to the battlefield and seeing these beings of various designs and appearances, he scowled slightly at the sight of them. More Shinigami interfering with his objective? This was an action that wouldn't go unpunished. At this rate, he wanted to eliminate all of the opposition before coming to Seireitou in person. However, before the desire overcame his thought process, he had an idea: Why not use these fools to his advantage if the confrontation ended up in a brawl? Certainly, they could be useful to him after all.
With one more Hirenkyaku burst, he reappeared before Seireitou, in front of the other challengers as if he didn't acknowledge their presence in the slightest. Pulling his hood down, revealing a youthful man with short white hair and calm, collected blue eyes, he gazed at the Shiroyasha as his cloak billowed slightly in the winds that were building.
"Seireitou Kawahiru." the Quincy spoke in a slightly loud voice, holding no emotion in his words. "I am Asumu Godai, Stern Ritter "S" of the Vandenreich. You have been graced by his Majesty to become one of his Special War Assets. Therefore, I am obligated to bring you back to his palace, so that you may be blessed properly. Since you are essentially challenging all of this lot into a battle, then I might as well join in it, so that I may bring you to his Majesty against your will."
A squint of his eyes was what followed, showing the seriousness of his words and his appearance. "No one defies the will of Lord Juhabach and continues to carry their lives." With this statement, a Quincy cross dangled from his hand, and with a gathering of Reishi, manifested into a unique, cross shaped bow that he held at his side, ready to draw and do battle with when the situation came to.
Sitting his rump across a broad boulder, Gekkō Kirameki looked at the gathering of powerful opponents with a strange mixture of both boredom and excitement. The other weirdos where nothing if not bland, all except for that Asumu guy. However, the one being that held his attention captive was the man with the silver hair. No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't get an appropriate reading on the man's power. But that only succeeded in peaking his interest. Dressed in his usual attire of a tattered shihakushō that flared out into ragged ends, Gekkō grasped the hilt of his zanpakutō. His body radiated with a silver aura as he flashed himself towards the battle field.
He landed directly next to the Quincy Asumu and in front of the Shiroyasha. "Pleased to make your acquaintance, Seireitou Kawahiru." Gekkō said, a mixed tone of both seriousness and light-mindedness present in his voice, as he released his zanpakutō into its Shikai.
High over the mountain range known as Toge spun a giant vortex of immense spiritual pressure. It crackled and swirled in place as it slowly ripped open and formed a giant demonic looking mouth. Kodokuna Okami slowly emerged from the special created Garganta looking portal as his eyes fell upon the scene that was taking place bellow him. The strongest that Seireitei had to offer were all gathering to one specific spot to fight the overwhelming Shiroyasha.
"Greetings to all who have managed to arrive early, and congratulations to all of us who are getting to participate in this battle." Kodokuna bowed as he spoke, showing his respect to all of his fellow combatants as he slowly descended from the air. His own hair, almost as silver as the Shiroyasha's, flowed from side to side as he entered the presence of Seireitou Kawahiru. "My name is Kodokuna Okami. It is more then an honor to met you."
Drawing his sword, Makari, Kodokuna stepped forward and prepared for combat. However, he was well aware that the fight wouldn't start for a good few minutes or so. He just wanted to make sure that he was well prepared. "I look forward to fighting along side all of you. Do not hesitate to ask for my assistance! We are in this together."
As he continued to speak, his Garganta crackled as another figure slowly emerged. However, the instant his silhouette was visible, he vanished in the blink of an eye. His body left behind a small burst of smoke as the Garganta snapped shut. A smile drawing from cheek to cheek on Kodokuna's face as he realized at that instance, who had arrived. "I appologize ahead of time, there is indeed at lease one rebellious one amongst us."
Climbing towards a rock, a long purple haired person appears, he scouts the area to see if he's found the battlefield. Grabbing onto a rock, he climbs up. "Time to hone my skills, I don't need to use Shunpo." he said. He then jumps on top of a tree and stands on the branches. He can now see everything. He jumps of the branch and and does a grace dive on to bush and survives. Getting of the bush Kanjiro looks towards everyone. "My names Kanjiro Kawashima and I'm here to fight." said the man
Just then, as all of the assorted combatants took up positions around the infamous Shirōyasha, an ominous rumble crossed the air. As an emerald crackle began to quake the landscape, visual tendrils of spacial distortive energy crossed across their midst. It began humming, and crackling, louder, and louder, until within a single vibrant thunderclap... CRACK-BOOM!
...a young, black cloaked form of the prodigious heir to the Takuji Clan appeared before them all. As he looked over with onyx eyes, he drew a semblence of a smile, as subtle it may be to his old mentor, "Hello there, Shirōyasha. Its been quite some time since we've clashed blades...let alone that you dared to lay out such an interesting challenge to so many fighters. Getting bored in your old age, Seireitou-dono?"
With all the powerful Reiatsu surrounding one local area of the outskirts of the Rukongai, it was only logical it would attract others to investigate. Coming from, the Panteon of the Senjungami was Mushoku Kaigan . An ancient combatant with over 3000 years of immense knowledge. Appearing from a swirling vortex, a tall man appeared out of it. He had waist long purple hair and emotionless light purple eyes. In high class dark kimono and haori with sandals, he appeared on the coming battle ground and saw the Shirōyasha.
"Seireitou Kawahiru, Huh? This is a rather rare. As I see there are numerous beings, here. I can only guess that a battle will follow. Mr. Kawahiru, I have heard the rumors of your powers. I look forward to test my powers against someone of your level. My name is Mushoku Kaigan, nice to make your acquaintance." However, there were two things unique about this combantant. One, his Reiryoku was rather.... heavenly or divine for lack of better words. Secondly, and far more curious Mushoku Kaigan bares a stricking similar appearance to Seireitou Kawahiru's older brother Kamui.
As the wind started getting stronger, it also started to gather around a single point. The surrounding space seemed to gather the wind in a circle, charging the air around it with static electricity while at the same time as boulders and rocks got damaged by the sheer force of the air before it exploded outwards. The first thing one could hear from the dust was a soft couching as Alex Saoirse emerged from the dust. Looking at the field with his blood red eyes, he took a deep breath to steady his breathing. "This seems interesting, although i wasn't expecting other races than shinigami. " Trying to sense the strength of the others, he removed his long coat and threw it behind one of the rocks, he preferred to keep that one intact if he could help it after all.
"So what now?" asked Mizu. "Are you going to respond to Seireitou's call?"
"Not sure," answered Hikaru. "We've already fought once before at the Yonkō Reunion. It would kind of be redundant."
"I could go fight him myself," said Mizu. "I need the practice." He then took notice of Kirika carrying her Zanpakutō at her side, something that she had not done in a long time. Hikaru shot up when he saw this as well.
"Kirika?" asked the Kurosaki brothers tentatively.
She turned to face the two of them, wearing the glare that Hikaru remembered when she was still a priestess at Shadow Island; the hardened face of a warrior trapped in a hell of powers that played upon every fear, regret, and hesitation. Hikaru knew that he could not let her go at this alone. "Mizu will fight first, all right?"
Kirika nodded.
Hikaru stood up, grabbing his sakabatō kept safely in its sheathe. "Let's go."
The three arrived at the edge of the battlefield, surveying the others who have gathered to battle Seireitou. No words needed to be spoken between Hikaru and Seireitou. Each other knew of the others presence.
Off in the distance, a man in a black cloak was staring at Hikaru. "So there he is, again. Let us see how he reacts to my presence."
Looking clueless Kaito Musashi wandering around, then he saw a field, Kaito said to himself "is that a battlefield" ? He looked closer and saw several individuals facing a silver-haired man. Then he decided to go over and join everyone facing the silver-haired man.
The Faceoff[]
Seireitou's eyes remained ever so consistent in their unwavering composure, a small little smile etched onto his facial expression. "It seems... our party is now complete." He walked onto the landscape, standing his ground as he crossed his arms, his silver hair fluttering in the winds.
"Let's get this dance started with a bang." he spoke, his spiritual pressure layering a thick dense blanket over the entire area, causing all within the space to quickly pick up on its broadening intensity. Likewise, this served a dual purpose of making sure to locate each and every combatant; eliminating the possibility of a sneak-attack ambush. He now awaited the first brave soul to make their move.
"Maybe back-up would have been preferable after all..." Asumu thought, flinching and digging his boots into the ground beneath him to keep from skidding back from the massive amount of Spiritual Pressure that his target was emiting. This battle hadn't even started, and he was already dreading the long struggle ahead of him. But, at that same time, he had been given an order from his King, and he wouldn't choose now of all times to back down from such a demand.
Not when the war hinged on this conflict.
With that, he moved first.
He wouldn't dare try to stay near his silver-haired opponent, not with this level of Reiatsu being exerted. The soles of his boots briefly shined with a light blue glow, and with a backwards leap of Hirenkyaku, he took his first shot. His bow's crosshairs aiming right at Seireitou's torso, the three circles of the cross shaped weapon each strinked down into the bow's center. But within the same instant of doing so, they all quickly expanded back to their original size with a blink. Doing this caused three arm-sized arrows to fire from each individual circle, creating a total of nine Heilig Pfeil that soared towards Seireitou at incredible speeds, with the intent to turn his chest into a shot up mess.
In doing this, Asumu's leap allowed him to go behind most of the other opponents. If they wished to charge into battle head first like the group of barbarians that they all were, they could be his guests. He wouldn't be like them; he would wait. He would wait and see just what kind of force that they had wrought, and how he would subdue it.
After closing his eyes, Seireitou stood his ground. As the arrows neared him... closer, closer. With no warning, they shattered instantaneously into specks of reishi. The man's eyes reopened, his smirk still evident on his unnerved face. This was his Muken martial art, the art of the Empty Fist. It was merely a fragment of what was to come... the surface of the water that hid the depths of a god's power. They would soon learn with whom they were dealing with.
"I expected disappointment from the Quincy, but I hope the rest of you will provide me with a much more interesting waltz." he had challenged. Seireitou had no intention to make any moves quite yet. He wished to see just what these people were all capable of.
Mushoku standing from a far distance, from Asumu decided against his thinking. As Seireitou Kawahiru possesses great power, it would be logical to see if he has useable weaknesses. Mushoku then started to float in mid-air, putting his right hand in the pocket of his haori at his waist. " I would normally, not start battle with the first attack, however someone of your level is an exception. I shall start off with this, my Hokorite (ほこりて, dust hand)."
An enormus amount of dust appeared, out of his pocket when he removed his hand. However, this dust was far from the usual kind. It was dust from Sekkiseki. "Let see you deal, with this." With, the slightest of hand gestures the wave of Sekkiseki dust rushes toward the Kawahiru.
Quite again, Seireitou needed not to move or alter his standing position. But an even wider grin was portrayed on his face. As the waves of sekki-seki dust began their attack, upon nearing the man's person, their paths suddenly changed. Parallel to the Muken, Seireitou also possessed the Hōkōryū; one of the pinnacles of soft-type martial arts. As if led by some unknown force, the dust broke away from its line of attack and began to move in a different direction, losing a linear motion and assuming a orbiting motion, moving around the silver-haired man's being as it began to form rings, as if it were circling a planetary body.
But of course, this was neither spiritual nor physical a power that the Hōkōryū was enacting. It was the man's very will, providing the path for the substance to follow. By Mushoku's actions, he provided Seireitou with an additional defense against reiatsu-based attacks; an action most unwise on the part of the challengers. It circled in various rings of floating sekki-seki sand around Seireitou's being, now under the command of the latter's willpower and no longer Mushoku's to control. Sending any more of this dust would just end in similar actions, perhaps even giving him something else to attack the group with. Seireitou waited and watched as he anticipated that the next wave of attacks would come shortly...
"Damn fool," Shindō muttered aloud, as he observed Mushoku's form of attack against the Shirōyasha. He knew all too well from his lessons he briefly undertook from the White Hairs himself, that distributing such tactcs would only hinder their efforts against winning this Battle Royale, not aid them. Not even bothering to lecture his competition, Shindō's eyes narrowed upon the oscillating storm of Spirit Energy repelling grains orbiting around Seireitō.
Focusing his vision, he could tell there was a small gap of space between Seireitou and the weaponized dust defense. Calculating to be nearly a foot in radius precisely, Shindō focused on the set distance between him and Seireitou, clasping his hands together, causing a violet flash of light to emit from his palms. Within a mere few seconds, he released his hands to a precise six inches apart, causing a similar eruption of light to emanate around Seireitou...
...and, within an instant...
CLAP-BOOM!
...Seireitou's body disappeared, and reappeared directly into the atmosphere, nearly a good hundred meters or so. Simultaneously, Shindō had also ensured he had teleported away from the empty mass of sand and the other warriors. Within this moment, Shindō grasped onto the hilt of his Zanpakutō, channeling the mass of negative electrons within the atmosphere, silently and swiftly releasing his sword into its true form.
"Sandā Gakudan!"
CRACK-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM...!
Within a single flash of light, the atmosphere itself became vividly alive with a wrathful force of nature, directed upon Seireitou himself. Within an instant, pillars of pressurized electrical forces began relentlessly homing in and pummeling the infamous Shirōyasha, and aiming to not only rip him apart, but electrocute, and scald his body to horrendous degrees.
Within the midst of the chaos, Shindō held a stoic visage, a rare smile lit upon his lightning reflected face. He reveled in the opportunity in taking a chance of knocking such a renowned warrior from his pedestal, and take it for himself. And now, he could preform a critical blow against his opponent, whereas those before him have failed.
If the order were reversed, Seireitou would've indeed had no way out of this. But due to Shindō's naivety from being young, he would've had no way of knowing. Hōkōryū, the art of direction, initiated once more. His arms remained crossed across his torso, his smile ever present, as the lightning strikes began to snap and bend, curling around his body to form a barrier-like shield. But it wasn't merely for defense. He took just a little lightning from the storm to shield himself from possible attacks, forming an almost ribcage-like barrier around his person as he directed the remaining arcs of electricity down for the battlefield below.
One... Two... Five... Seven... Seireitou quickly took notice of every combatant that came to face off with the white demon, and he had a special party favor for each and every one of them.
The remaining lightning arcs from the skies, not tied into forming the ribcage-shaped defense, were redirected from the storm and send tunneling for the ground below in the form of multiple beams of intensified electricity, aimed to wipe out each and every one of his opponents in one fell swoop.
A bolt of vermillion lightning collided with the beam headed towards Hikaru, Kirika, and Mizu. The latter had unleashed his Zanpakutō's Rakurai technique, cancelling out all the power of the lightning blast. "Try again, chalk-locks!" He thrust himself into the fray, crimson bolts gathering around his sword. "Call that a storm? THIS is a storm!" The bolts began forming a board underneath Mizu's feet, with which he began surfing in mid-air towards the sky. He flew directly into the clouds of the storm, which slowly began turning a blood red. "Ryūketsu Rakurai (流血落雷, thunderbolt bloodshed)." The bolts around Mizu's blade melded into a single column of a highly focused electrical energy beam, crashing down towards Seireitou, intending to hit the Shiroyasha with the torrent of power he had dared to inflict against Hikaru and his family.
"This one will be a bit more tricky..." Seireitou seemed slightly alarmed, but still felt no need to break his crossed-arms stance. "...But it doesn't change anything. Just like before..." He was becoming slightly annoyed. Apparently, his opponents didn't understand quite yet that simply striking with overwhelming force would just blow up in their face. And actually, that was what was about to happen to poor Mizu. With a simple Hōkōryū flick, the force of the lightning beam began to crackle and break off into millions of small electrical strands, bending around in a medley of directions as they all reformed in the exact same position. But this time... the beam was aimed for the thunderclouds above. And to Mizu's mistake, because he was within the clouds, and that the redirected beam itself was, for all intents and purposes, connected physically with the raging storm clouds, the Hōkōryū preformed its redirection, causing the entire thunderstorm to collapse onto Mizu in addition to the beam from earlier being fired back into the clouds. The deafening explosion began, as the thunderstorm imploded onto Mizu's body, with the intent to completely eradicate the Shinigami's body. Because the flow of energy itself was redirected and manipulated, not even Mizu's ability would be able to reassume control, as he lacked the same level of power over his Zanpakutō as Seireitou did with his Hakuda. The silver-haired man stood, watching as the lightning concluded its immense collapse onto Mizu.
The result was Seireitou's body being illuminated by the light, appearing like an angel of death, prepared to strike them all with the judgment of the heavens themselves and to show them all the meaning of the power of a god. He stood, crossed arms, awaiting the next assault as he was rather sure of Mizu's demise.
Hikaru blinked. "Huh, that happened."
"What do you mean 'Huh, that happened.'?!" yelled Kirika. "Mizu's probably bacon right now!"
The red haired Yonkō shook his head. "He's taken worse hits. Let's see how everyone else faces off against Sei."
Kirika sighed. She wasn't sure whether her husband had too much faith in Mizu's abilities, or she underestimated her brother-in-law.
Sighing, Gekkō walked forth. "Guess, I'm up." He said, his entire being illuminating with an intense spiritual energy. From the stories he had heard, and the way this guy was wiping the floor with some of the most powerful beings he had ever seen, Gekkō automatically new that charging in like an idiot wouldn't work. At least not in the way he would hope. It would work for the Shiroyasha, however.
Endowing his blade with the destructive spiritual energy of the Harudōga. Gekkō slashed towards the white-haired man several times. Releasing several Harudōga Mūshōs at the man with extreme speeds. The dark forces homed in onto the Shiroyasha, quickly melding into one huge energy wave. They ruptured the land to rubble as the closed in on their target.
However, that was only a distraction.
Using Hohō, Gekkō flashed above Seireitou. "Bakudō # 75. Gochūtekkan!" He yelled, as five incredibly tall and thick pillars, which where all endowed with the dark energies Gekkō had infused into the Kidō and where connected to each other by chains, plummeted towards the White Demon.
"Ohoho... One of you favors multiple step attacks. Sadly, your samba could use some work." Seireitou mused. It wasn't a difficult thing really, using his Hōkōryū once again. And because Gekkō's Harudōga attack was composed originally of several miniature attacks, he provided the silver-haired man with more than enough material. The first part was simple enough. Gazing upon the impeding dark energy attack, with Hōkōryū, he split the massive blast into its original several component waves. Then, in the same instant, Seireitou's gaze was tilted upwards, his arms still crossed, as he looked upon the Bakudō coming down to crush him. Smirking, he sent about half of the various energy waves up toward the Bakudō, creating a massive explosion as fragments of the destroyed binding spell went flying in all directions. Even if those spells were composed of dark energy, it was only logical that dark energy would be capable of destroying it. Similar forces were known to repel each other, so quite easily, they could be used to destroy one another. He had destroyed the Bakudō and, with any luck, hopefully caused Gekkō to garner some distance from the silver-haired man.
Hōkōryū Onslaught[]
The spiritual energy construct defense, crafted by a lightning ribcage obtained from Shindō's earlier attacks and a dark solidified humanoid cloak obtained from Gekkō's attack, collected via Hōkōryū.
As for the other dark energy waves, the Hōkōryū drew them inwards and were used to surround the original lightning ribcage-shaped barrier he created from Shindō's previous attack. He bent their shapes and even personified them slightly, imprinting his own will onto the energy he drew in via the Hōkōryū Hakuda technique, crafting an almost humanoid-like dark energy cloak surrounding the ribcage defense, strengthening the overall barrier Seireitou had set up from the careless attacks of his opponent. By doing such an act, he'd be able to actually command the structure to move in accordance with his mental orders, similar to that of the Bankai of Sajin Komamura. It assumed a rather demonic appearance due to the nature of Gekkō's dark energy, taking on a dark blue color. In reference to its now personified appearance, two of the remaining Harudōga attacks Gekkō fired were grasped by the constructs hands, another quick flick of Hōkōryū locking the energy flow of the dark energy waves so as to stabilize them and form lance-like weapons for combat. It was now, in his mind, complete. With this spiritual construct acting as a nearly invincible defense, and the potential attacks he could cast with the cloaked barrier, he'd need no longer use his own abilities to fight off his attackers. Unless they had some strategy to defeat it... which he doubted.
With a stoic expression, he faced the attackers; those he could visibly see, including Gekkō. "I'm going to give everybody some advice! So make sure to listen up." he announced, his facial expression changing slightly. He didn't come here to kill them, nor to humiliate them. Seireitou, at his core, always served as a mentor. And he wished solely to make sure that the next generation of fighters would be capable of seeking what he sought, rather than merely following in his footsteps and repeating his same mistakes in life. Peace. But for that... he'd need to force them to fight with everything they have, even if death must be a casualty for them. "Attacking me with brute force won't work, I've trained far too long in my lifetime and fought enough opponents to have devised more than a sufficient amount of strategies to counter any form of overwhelming force. Therefore, you must figure out a way to attack in such a way that I am unable to anticipate it before it makes contact with me! That is the only way!" he explained, hoping that his words would help his opponents in some manner.
Hikari Maebure's so far stoic face twitched momentarily.
Kawahiru's power was truly debilitating and all-encompassing, yet Hikari's resolve did not waver. He was a pure-blood Sōzōshin as well, the last head of the House Maebure. A veteran of countless conflicts and battles, he had become an accomplished war hero centuries before young Kawahiru was even born. Son of the Soul King or not, Maebure refused to consider him unbeatable.
Hearing Seireitou's words, Hikari promptly drew his Zanpakutō, Tteooleuneun Taeyang. As the blade was slicing the air in a swift motion it dissipated suddenly in a brief flash of light, only to be replaced by a narrow beam of energy of burnt orange colour. Having released his Shikai, he leaped at the Prince at full speed.
Rather than charging head on, however, he stopped abruptly and changed direction, leaving a number of ghostly afterimages behind. Running circles around the demonic apparition of dark energy surrounding Kawahiru, Hikari assembled a small army of Shunpo clones. The flickering copies surrounded Seireitou completely within a split second.
"Maboroshi", uttered Maebure silently.
All of a sudden the number of afterimages multiplied considerably, overshadowing the giant of dark energy with sheer numbers. They were running, leaping, rebounding, charging and then retreating, each of them at a different time and in a different direction. Then, they all opened their mouths simultaneously.
"Hyapporankan, Shakkahō, Hōrin, Aikadan, Sajō Sabaku, Kuyō Shibari, Sōren Sōkatsui, Raikohō, Tenran...", the clones were uttering all at the same time whilst pointing their free hands at the stationary Kawahiru.
Then, the massive volley of various Kidō spells crashed down on Seireitou, observed attentively by a single Hikari Maebure who remained immobile for a moment during the manoeuvre. Subsequently, as the techniques were about to strike Kawahiru, Maebure plunged at him with his Zanpakutō held two-handed in a Shunpo-empowered thrust.
"Tch..." Seireitou let out a soft sigh of annoyance. Perhaps he shouldn't bother explaining how to beat him. Perhaps the use of Kidō earlier on in the fight would've been wise, as it would've made it more difficult to take hold of spells with Hōkōryū, but now that he had created such a massive construct, such a strategy would be rather pointless now. Seireitou could only mentally facepalm at the poor timing by his opponents as he could feel the impacts, one by one, as each and every one of the spells began to explode onto the reiatsu construct. But each and every time they did, Hikari would no longer have his will imprinted over the spells he cast as they would've served their intended purpose, and the energy comprising them would be taken by the Hōkōryū and assimilated into the large construct, further empowering it as it began to grow slightly, gaining four arms now and those hands each held a lance-like weapon like the former ones before it. The brilliant blue aura glowed brightly, illuminating the entire area and eradicating the shadows hiding away the other opponents who dared to try and mask their presence under cover of darkness.
Hikari's sword strike, strong as it was, produced nary a crack on the construct's wall. All that succeeded from the attack was the counterforce generated by the enacted force, causing Hikari to be pushed back a ways away from Seireitou and his energy construct. His attack, although far more effective in theory, failed, just as the ones before him. The time for Seireitou to start the genocide soon approached... but he continued to extend his patience as he watched for the next set of attacks.
"Tch...Even The Heavens Bleed, Hakushomei!" Upon the release command of his Shikai being stated, a massive amount of reiatsu explodes from the body of Masatsura, the golden color of it seemingly capable of out shining even the brightest of stars the density of it seemed to cause the ground to tremble before it's might as Masatsura drew his blade. Upon the release of Hakushomei, It's blade had become coated the the roaring flames of the Ten No Honō ability, which with a single downward stroke of the blade, were sent burning there way towards the Shiroyasha in the form of a tidel wave of golden flames.
That however would not be the only assult by the Kusunoki, as around the same time the flames sent on there path of destructon, ten pink spears of energy formed on either side of him as he began the incantation to the Hado spell Senjū Kōten Taihō. "Limit of the thousands hands, respectful hands, unable to touch the darkness. Shooting hands unable to reflect the blue sky. The road that basks in light, the wind that ignited the embers, time that gathers when both are together, there is no need to be hesitant, obey my orders. Light bullets, eight bodies, nine items, book of heaven, diseased treasure, great wheel, grey fortress tower. Aim far away, scatter brightly and cleanly when fired" Upon the culmination of the incantion once the spell had reached its full power was it too launched towards the Kawahiru, the spell and combined with the shikai's flames, if they hit there target should be more then enough to do in the construct of spiritual energy.
"Yet again..."
Seireitou's disappointment was beginning to boil over onto utter pity. He warned them about using overwhelming force against it. Not only did the numbers not matter but it also didn't matter how strong the attack. Hōkōryū was a martial art that stood as the pinnacle of soft-type combat: turning the attacker's force to their disadvantage, with the defender exerting minimal force. The shield did, however, crack under the pressure. But only for an instant. Once both explosions occured, prompting earthquakes originating from the point of impact, and the energy was loosed from Masatsura's will, the energy began to bend and curl, as if being sewn into the broken construct and repairing the damage it inflicted upon it. The end result of the combination attack served nothing more than to fuel the construct's defensive and subsequent offensive power, a grave situation that made it ever so difficult to fight the silver-haired combatant.
"Time... for a little taste. Let's mambo." he mused, as each of the construct's six arms held their energy lances out horizontally and aimed for six different directions in a circular formation. At the tip of each, a small orb of reiseī formed and compressed. "Reihikari." the silver-haired Yonkō uttered, as enourmous bursts of spiritual energy erupted from each of the six lance tips, crushing through the rock formations in the area and causing massive devastation to the entire landscape. Cliffs began to loosen and fall, boulders falling like snow from the skies as debris from the destruction. Seireitou wanted to pressure his opponents now, to see what he could force them to do in order to survive against him in this battle.
Subsequently around the same time that Seireitou fired his Reihikari, Kodokuna found it the perfect time to spring into action. "He is right. Working together would be the best route to take. Brute force will not work on him. A combined attack is out of the question, as he'll just use it against us and strengthen that beast." Flashing out of the view of his comrades, Kodokuna began his assault. "I'll start by finding away around that Reihikari he can fire..." Drawing his Onitaberu back, he rushed high up into the falling shards of earth that were created from the immensly powerful technique fired by the silve-haired demon.
"I'll start with a straight forward assault..." Cleaving one of the boulders in two with a single strike from his sword, Kodokuna took grasp of the individual halves and hurled them toward Seireitou. The only thing saught to gain from this was a pure distraction, and a rather simple one to achieve. "I thank you for his advice, but is it really needed? You see the power we can deliver, but you are simply just stronger. A god amongst men is what I would call you. Though, in mythology, many gods are opposed by those who once worshiped them." Allowing for his Onitaberu to levitate, Kodokuna spun it, and released a torrent of wind into the falling shards of earth that he had hurled toward Seireitou. "Some people spend all their time looking at the bigger picture, when the littler one held the most information and detail...."
"Cero Oscuras" Placing his index and middle finger up to his face as the barrage of earth shards continued to hurdle toward the mass structure of stolen energy, Kodokuna began to produce a dark crimson aura. The negativity releasing off of his person was that reminiscent to an Espada level arrancar, and much more dangerous then any wicked beast could produce. "Begone...with the anger of a thousand Hollows..." Bringing his Onitaberu down for one final strike, Kodokuna shrouded the falling boulders in an overwhelming amount of spiritual energy, all the while flashing back to his original position on the ground.
With that, Seireitou grit his teeth. And finally... the patience had soon ended.
"I'm telling you... it's useless!" he roared, ripples of spiritual pressure long built up within the construct began to span outwards, disrupting the peaceful tranquility of the skies and clouds above, replacing it with a sense of dread, feelings of death filling the air as the silver-haired man stared at the incoming attack with a menacing glare. The falling rocks were of no consequence, bouncing off of the energy construct without even so much as scratching the surface. Instantaneously, the wind torrent sent out by Kododuna was met with an invisible force; one that had been used beforehand, against the Quincy named Asumu. The martial art, Muken, was used once more. But with an added twist: the will to attack with Ikkotsu had been materialized instead of a normal strike. The vibration fist versus the wind storm, as the two opposing forces canceled one another out, resulting in a ceasefire. However, the engagement was not quite finished.
The incoming black Cero quickly caught his eye. A simple matter. Hōkōryū was just like that of the Empty Fist style, limited only by the user's perception and senses. This time, however... the energy beam was curved and twisted, losing its linear form and turned into a spiral-like whirlpool of reiatsu as it was soon sewn right into the construct, causing its size to slowly grow as the energy lances it was wielding suddenly took on a black color instead of blue, to symbolize the integration of the Cero Oscuros into the construct. Once more, Seireitou foiled another attempt at attacking him using the same Hakuda technique as before. So far, it was rather evident. Hōkōryū and Muken... These two techniques alone could end the lives of each and every challenger in an instant if Seireitou so wished. It did not matter how strong the energy attack nor its range... nor its broadness. Regardless of such qualities, the Hōkōryū could effortlessly alter its path; a skill acquired through a thousand years of mastering the ancient Hakuda styles, which emphasized the mastery of one's own will and body, which would allow the manipulation of another's. His disappointment in them was exponentially rising with each passing moment, his annoyed expression masking the true intensity of his brooding pity for the ones who had come here today.
"Perhaps instead of one at a time... you should come at me as a group." he advised with a soft tone of voice, completely in contrast to the annoyance he felt within.
Tsugawa sheathed his Zanpakutō, having used it to absorb the lightning redirected from Shindō's attack at him and Taira. Of course, this was only natural for his Narunosuke. He let out a sigh. "Clearly, they cannot comprehend the situation."
Taira nodded. "Kidō won't get this thing, so take it down with Hakuda!" he replied. He and Tsugawa leapt towards the enormous being. They each drew back a single arm, bringing it down in a knife-hand strike with bone-shattering force. They each aimed for the construct's shoulder on their side, recognizing that breaking those joints would be the fastest way to victory. In doing so, they left an opening, right down the middle. "Hey blue-hair, you do somethin' now!" Taira shouted at Kaitō as they neared the giant.
As soon as he heard him shout, Kaitō immediately used his Shunpō to attack the opening on the large construct, and put as much force into the attack as he could.
"Ohoho... So it seems you lot had some dance moves left in your repertoire." Seireitou had mused. He was quite amused at their attempts at besting him in an exchange of Hakuda. So much so that he didn't even lift a finger. He watched as the duo known as Taira and Tsugawa attempted to strike the shoulder of the energy construct with a fierce knifehand assault. To counter such a silly maneuver would be child's play. Hōkōryū is a technique of direction. It doesn't not act according to some predetermined law of equilibrium, such as spreading out even among the entirety of the construct. The flow of energy would follow the whim of its tamer; the will of the Hakuda Grandmaster whom was facing these opponents. With a simple change in gaze, the direction of energy changed course as each of the individual "rivers" were all converging onto one point: the shoulder that was being struck by Taira and Tsugawa. As such, their attack was completely thwarted; resulting in absolutely zero damage to the structure. It was quite silly to call it an "opening". Subsequently, the attack carried out by Kaitō yielded nothing short of failure as well. It was simply... far too late in the lifespan of the energy construct for such simple attacks to cause it severely damage. Furthermore, it would take far more than just some basic concussive force to break through. Seireitou had shut his eyes for a moment, lowering his head slightly.
"I will give you credit for thinking you could fight me on my terms. However, you are far too much of an amatuer to tango with me." the silver-haired man remarked, opening his eyes and then raising his head to catch the three in his gaze. Just he had done once before, he materialized his will to strike; a skill obtained through centuries of training and realization: the Muken. A straight punch, a knifehand strike, a backfist, a hook punch, an uppercut, a hammer fist... were merely basic examples of the attacks that Muken could project outwards. Each of the three were struck by the Muken. The result was debatable, but regardless, it was more than sufficient in its execution and power to push them back from the construct, creating quite a distance. He looked toward the others with a sense of mockery. "Yes, it would seem as though your friends were quite effective before I stomped them. Now here is your chance to beat me!" Seireitou stated, making a motion as if he was wiping dust off of his clothing. "A vicious attack now should be sufficient." he spoke sarcastically.
Seeing how Seireitou seemingly only used counters against his current opponents made Alex release a low grumble, this turned out harder then he expected with so many fighters against this opponent. Looking at the damage that was dealt to his predecessor, he started to think of something that he wondered about since he saw the construct made. All of the attacks where made of reiatsu while it didn't seem like something else was used to create the monster thing, while it also seemed as if he used a variation of jujutsu with the redirection displayed until now.
"I can't really pinpoint how you do that redirection technique each time Seireitou, although it would be interesting to learn it later if we survived this battle." Wanting to test if his guesses where correct, he slowly and carefully started gathering reishi in his right hand while using kyokkö to hide himself from sight before using shunpo towards the construct. Hoping for a small opening, Alex aimed his knife-hand towards the center in an effort to pierce the construct with the gathered strength.
Annoyed, Kanjiro looked at how others were not planning their attacks perfecty. As Seireitou was easily survivng every hard hit attack everyone threw at him, he could use his Bankai. Thinking about it throughly, Kanjiro decided to use that when things got really rough. "I would attack as a team, but I'm not that good with working with others, only my twin brother." said Kanjiro. Looking at the people he's never met, he was amazed at the strength he saw. Could he catch up to them?
Looking at the redirecting Kido attack, Kanjiro had a plan. He could easily peform this attack which will hit Seireitou in the procces. "Such a cool technique, looks like it's my turn." said Kanjiro. Concentrating dense amounts of reaitsu, Kanjiro had punched the ground. "Here's my Fuhen Eikyou Sabi(普遍影響錆, Universal Impact Rust)!" shouted Kanjiro. The ground started to crack abit and then quickly started heading towards Seireitou, then the attack had made a crater. An invisible hand would start to rise and attempt to hit Seireitou.
Noticing the two attacks being thrown in his direction, Seireitou merely took a moment to analyze the properties of each technique. The first was clearly an obvious ploy. The user intended to attack under cover of invisibility, in the hopes that they could strike without being noticed. But against a martial artist of considerable skill, it was a silly ploy. Vision was hardly something to depend on in battle. Kyokko is a spell that allows only one's presence to be disclosed from visual perception. But the silver-haired man could still very easily sense the attacker's spiritual pressure. However, the other attack, employed by the Kanjiro fellow, was rather interesting. It was Hakuda, that much was clear. But an interesting take on the hand-to-hand fighting style. "It is clearly his own will being thrust forward... How interesting. I didn't think I'd see a Hakuda user of such promise here. But even so... If his will is so strong that even my impeccable skills can't truly control it... I can still change its direction just enough so that it'll be of use to me." Using his Hōkōryū once more, he had just touched upon the Fuhen Eikyō Sabi technique; altering its course to a degree just slight enough so as not to impose his will over it but to change its direction altogether. The new location? At the very point of attack that Alex was aiming for. By doing so, the invisible hand struck downwards instead of toward the construct, crashing into the attack of Alex's, causing the two to cancel one another out. This much implied that the two, Alex and Kanjiro, were of similar skill; to Seireitou, at least. Just attacking simaltaneously wouldn't be enough. They'd have to truly find a way to push Seireitou. To make him stand on the very edges of his toes. That would be the only way to survive this day.
"Let me show you my own invisible fist." Seireitou mused. Just as before, a simple glance was more than enough. The Muken materialized in both regions, in front of Alex and of Kanjiro, causing a massive upturning of rock and dust. Whether they were actually struck or not was left to debate, but surely enough, he knew that they would now know not to dare attempt the same sort of attack pattern. With that being done, he stared out at all of his opponents. Each and every one of them had managed to attack him; all of which had utterly failed. He knew now... it was the time for him to start his own offensive assault. But first... a little provocation.
"Fact!" Seireitou spoke broadly, motioning his arms outwards with his palms faced toward the skies. "You are now all my bitches."
"Fools. All of them...."
This entire time, Asumu had been watching the group from afar attack their target head on, relentlessly, without thought or without substance. He despised all of them; they had done nothing more than make this battle more difficult for him, and themselves.
"No matter. Where they fail, I will succeed." he thought to himself, exhaling in preperation. Despite the shortcomings of his "allies", and his power over them, he was nervous. Even he knew that taking down Seireitou was next to impossible, much less hurt him for that matter. But he had to give it a shot. He was several meters from the construct, about a hundred to be specific, and on it's left side. Quietly, and while Seireitou boasted, he drew his bow. The three circles of the cross shaped weapon shrunk down into it's center once again, of which briefly shined with a bright blue light. But only a second afterwords did the circles immediately withdraw into their original shapes and size. Exactly at that moment, a massive barrage of Heilig Pfeil was unleashed from the weapon. Like a gatling gun, the three circles of his bow spun around rapidly, showing an unending barrage of the bright blue projectiles.
Klavier.
In the eyes of the naive, this would seem like nothing more than a simple frontal attack, hardly any different than what these short sighted fools were resorting to during this battle. Klavier's primary purpose was to overwhelm the enemy with sheer numbers, after all. But to any experienced Quincy, like Asumu, Klavier held a much more deeper purpose. This would be apparent in his attack on Seireitou's construct. The arrows weren't aiming at Seireitou's construct entirely, but rather, they seemed to be going through the area around the contstruct instead. Here, things would be more clear for those paying attention. Asumu wasn't aiming at Seireitou, he was aiming at the Hōkōryū.
Klavier always had a tendancy to distort the flow and balance of Reishi in it's impact area due to it's sheer numbers and relentless nature. From all that Asumu had been observing, the Hōkōryū was what allowed Seireitou to make and stengthen the construct to begin with, which made Klavier a perfect attack for him to use. The sheer number of this attack alone would be more than suffice to overwhelm the initial "field" that surrounded his enemy. While the Shiroyasha might have been able to absorbe the first few arrows, the ensuing onslaught of other arrows would blow through the initially collected ones and keep going, twisting and distorting the Hōkōryū further and further with such overwhelming force. But even with that said, Asumu wasn't finished. With the Hōkōryū distorted after the attack, Asumu would resort to his next, implanted technique.
From above the construct would appear small ripples of Spiritual Energy that formed in the Klavier's final stages of attack. This was Asumu's own application of the rare Quincy technique; Ransōtengai. Within just a few seconds of forming, the ripples released several thick strands of Reishi that all quickly descended upon the massive construct, latching onto it's limbs, and it's head. Normally, a Quincy wouldn't be able to perform such a technique while also using Klavier, but this was a naive gesture. Ransoutengai wasn't operated by movement unless the commands were intriquite or desperate, it was a power that is operated on thought and thought alone. With this being said, it was generally only used to operate one's own body when paralyzed, but a master of Reijutsu could easily apply this to control his very enemies, something that Asumu had no trouble performing.
With all this said and done, Seireitou would find his own creation turning against him. It's movements would not be it's own, nothing like what he would want it to do. Asumu knew here that there wouldn't be a simple way of completely pulling Seireitou out of the construct without damaging the creation, something that would be incredibly wasteful. But then, another thought occured to him: With the Hokoryu still distorted and messed up, the others could attack him freely, destroy the construct, and maybe with a sliver of luck, damage Seireitou in the process. With his plan in mind, the construct would find itself slamming all of it's limbs into the ground, it's head pushed down to where it was facing the ground beneath him, it was now completely open, as was Seireitou.
"I regret to say this..." he said, looking over at the Takuji combatant next to him. "...but it seems that you and I are the only competant ones here. If you think that you can possibly do something useful to this thing, now would be the time." he finished, hoping that maybe this could be the first real step forward in this battle that they could have.
Shindō couldn't help but inwardly laugh. While his own hotheaded nature caused the downfall of one of the many competitors, he at least proved that he had been able to shift the tide of the battle whereas the others couldn't. Watching them all struggle and try to act clever made Shindō shake his head. The fact they didn't heed their opponent's advice made him wonder what would've happened if Seireitou was on the offensive, rather than the defensive?
However, he would not allow their time stalling the enemy's attention be for naught.
Realizing that attacking him from any side physically wouldn't work, Shindō opted for another strategy. Throwing his Zanpakutō into the air, he used Kidō to suspend it at the apex point where all of the rejuvenating negatives, electrical pulses, and rising Spiritual Pressure would collesce. The violence of the storm had only been bolstered by the attacks below, stirring the electrical flow throughout the thunderhead above.
Then, he saw the Quincy move.
With precision and tactical prestige, Shindō admired his Quincy rival move to hinder his enemy's movements while simultaneously distracting the flow of the Hōkōryū Martial Art, and then incapacitating the avatar of destructive and defensive energy, finitely woven together with precision and nigh impregnable force. But with this art distracted, and possibly nullified at the moment, Shindō had an opportunity to strike!
Landing next to the Quincy just a handful of meters to his left, Shindō already clasped his hands together as he prepared the attack's execution. Foremostly, he activated the Tamenkyōme, enhancing his visual prowess to see all the finite lines, fissures, and sections of the masterfully crafted construct of Kidō energy. The fact that it bore so much liking to the Bunkō-shin, only made it easier to pin-point its weakness.
Without speaking aloud, Shindō agreed with his unannounced Quincy partner with a resounding strike.
CRRRRRRAAAAACK-BOOOM!
Knowing Seireitou still had some control over the aggressive invisible martial art, Muken, Shindō did the next thing best and shatter another layer of initial defense with ultimate firepower. Harnessing the lightning that had been focused and harnessed by his levitating Zanpakutō high up in the storm's apex point, the electrical energy Shindō transported with Kidō was astronomical. Flowing throughout all of the finite lines and fissures the construct had been created, a powerful burst of blue-white lightning detonated with a sporadic detonation of incredible force, sending a blinding and deafening light to converge upon Seireitou's person.
While not initially aiming to harm Seireitou, the amount of electrical force Shindō used was more than enough to decimate the construct, and discharge thousands of webbed forks of energy to enrapture the entirety of the area. If it didn't physically immobilize him, the deafening shockwave would harm his hearing, the searing heat would throw off his sense of touch, and his sight would be all but nullified from the blinding light. Scent would be distorted by the crisp ozone flow of the electrical burns of the earth and cracking Kidō, and even the sixth sense would be knocked out of array from being tangled by Asumu's trap.
It was within this moment, that Shindō activated a telepathic Kidō to two nearby contenders to aid in taking the infamous man down,
"You two! His physical apparatus is shattered and his two martial art styles should be rendered useless for a moment! Attack him simultaneously with everything you got, and hold nothing back!"
The silver-haired man stared at the efforts of the Quincy. At first, he believed them to be in vain. But then he bore witness to the Ransōtengai... and the method at which it was being used.
"Well... that was new."
Seireitou, for the first time during the entire face-off, broke his crossed arms stance and took a battle ready position. The reishi strings of the Quincy technique were capable of something that the Shiroyasha believed would be impossible by the skill sets of his seemingly inferior opponents. To have actually disabled the Hōkōryū... It was a grand feat, in and of itself. Despite being effective, Seireitou knew full well that it was a temporary accomplishment. All Asumu did was prolong the inevitable. But then... came Shindō. With Hōkōryū out of commission for the time being, any and all forms of attack would be possible to actually strike the silver-haired man with. Seireitou's eyes merely stared with a mixture of slight happiness that the people he regarded as fools actually managed to pull off a cooperative assault but there was also the slight tendency of annoyance at the fact that the construct he so painstakingly took his time to build was demolished so quickly before reaching its final stage.
Fall into the Black[]
"Agrh...!" a grunt resounded.
The sound of irritation rang from Seireitou's voice, the resonating force of the destruction of the construct had taken a slight toll on him. The construct, after all, was connected to Seireitou's willpower. The destruction of the structure would mean the disruption of Seireitou's very faculties; albeit, only for a brief moment. Explosions ringing in the air, Seireitou's physical body went flying into the grounds below from the destruction, ending with a loud crash as a large crater formed at the very point of impact.
Mushoku still floating in the sky, launches himself. Using, his skillful talent with reiryoku, he made an armor of the reiryoku. This, armor would protect his body; as well as increase his attacks regardless of his basic level of martial arts or Hakuda. So, he focused the bulk of his armor's reiryoku into a single punch, to attack Seiretou. " Not my most advanced fighting practice, but watching you I learned some new things I want to try out." As right before he is about to make contact with Seiritou's person.
Off in the distance, a red haired being descended from the skies above, a trail of smoke following him. "What the hell happened? Last thing I remember was Sei redirecting my lightning back at me." Mizu's hair returned to its original black color.
"Yeah, I'm not gonna lie, I've lost all track of this battle as well," said Hikaru, who was standing behind Mizu with Kirika at his side.
Kirika scanned the battlefield, focusing on where Seireitou lay. "Oh, looks like Sei finally took a decent hit."
"So what do we do now? If I go into Bankai to launch an assault, I'll just look weak. That's been happening a lot lately," mused Hikaru.
"I think your ramblings are taking away the severity of Mushoku's ballistic missile from another dimension attack against Sei," said Mizu flatly.
Hikaru's eyes became cold, "You are right." He disappeared from sight.
Mizu chuckled. "Why did he invite us along if only to jump into the battle himself?"
Kirika shrugged. "I'm here as the undertaker."
It could not have been more than a second for Hikaru to get close enough to see Seireitou's condition. He sighed. There's no way that it's going to be over yet. It's hard to get serious when everyone has either been catapulted across the planet, declared Seireitou's bitch, or some other third thing. Not to mention some thought Mizu was dead from lightning redirection. I have to say. Hikaru drew his blade, and the sound of glass breaking echoed across the air. "Holding back has no purpose." Electricity began to dance across Hikaru's sheathed sword until the Yonkō drew it from its scabbard. The sword glowed brightly, sparks running up and down the blade. "Uchitamotsu." Hikaru leaped to the air, rocketing downward to where Seireitou lay, intent on trapping Seireitou's bio-electricity within his own body.
Gekkō took immediate advantage of the extremely rare occurrence his god-like opponent lying on his back. Lifting his blade, he began to channel an enormous amount of spiritual energy into his zanpakutō. Swinging the great conjuration of energy down with a thunderous force hardly seen in the battle so far. He fired an unspoken Getsuga Tenshō upon the unsuspecting Shiroyasha. The crushing and incinerating energy would probably not outright defeat the Silver-Haired man, but it would surely slow his pace down by a large margin.
Following up, to insure that his opponent wouldn't merely evade the attack, Gekkō performed one of the most powerful Bakudō spells in creation. "Bakudō #99, Part 1. Kin!" HE cried, immediately, spiritual fabric and iron shafts erupted from the ground and wrapped themselves around the Shiroyasha. Hopefully, this combination would at least cause some damage to the silver-haired death god. How much though, he wasn't certain.
Even after being thrust by his own technique's backlash following its defeat and on his ass, Seireitou still kept his eyes opened; ever vigilant. Within even moments from being plunged from his former construct, the silver-haired man took notice of Mushoku's advancing movements. The brilliant reiryoku armor surrounding the man as he charged for a forward punch shone bright, but all it was to Seireitou was a silly ornament. The next sight to catch his gaze was the skillful footwork of Hikaru, his Yonkō comrade and opponent in this battle royale, who was making his own move to cut down the will-hindered Seireitou. Regardless of his opponents' motions, he knew who to handle first: the naive attempt of Mushoku's to attack Seireitou with his own art form. It was a simple matter. Mushoku gravely misunderstood the nature of his opponent if he thought greater focused concussive strength would be what would award him an ippon on the martial arts grandmaster. With a simple motion of his arm, Seireitou stopped the powerful assault with two fingers held tightly together. This was a Jujutsu discipline he invoked, one that the traitor Aizen made quite well known... The Torite. But Seireitou's Torite technique far surpassed Aizen's own version, as it would work by allowing the force of any attack to circle around the obstruction, draining any assault of its power and making it no more harmful than a simple poke motivated by an infant's curiosity. The entire force behind Mushoku's bludgeoning strike was reduced to nothingness as Seireitou opened his hand and caught his entire hand.
"It was a mistake to think my entire Hakuda prowess would be crippled just because the Quincy and his bum-chum, lightning bro over there, disabled my Muken and Hōkōryū momentarily." the silver-haired man spoke, narrowing his eyes. "You're too naive, Mushoku-san." he commented in the heat of their exchange.
Seireitou also appeared to carry out several hundred strikes with his other hand in that same instance, although it is unknown what damage, if any at all, it wrought upon the body of Mushoku. The next move was a bit... childish, but quite effective. Using the momentum of Mushoku's launch, he twisted the direction of his wrist and sent Mushoku flying off to the side where he was immediately in the line of Hikaru's center of attack. If the latter didn't notice it in time, he would've bumped right into the off-track thrown Mushoku. Whether or not this meant Hikaru would end up striking Mushoku with the attack was irrelevant, since, as things stood now, the silver-haired man's actions were more than sufficient in repelling both of the two men's attempts at striking him, giving Seireitou more than enough time to use an excellent kick-off to escape the scope of both of the men. It was in this very moment that the explosion of an energy blast occurred in the very spot that the man was able to escape from. In this same frame of time, Seireitou noticed its user: Gekkō. It seemed as though the latter's strike failed outright, but it wasn't that easy. Just as he flew off from where he once lay, a black length of fabric grasped his leg as if to pull him back down. Seireitou quickly identified it as the Bakudō #99 and subsequently realized its castor, the same person who fired the Getsuga attack.
"Tch..." a ring of annoyance sounded in his throat, but it wasn't anything bad. If this was the spell of someone on the same level as his comrade, Raian Getsueikirite, or someone that held the same level of prowess in Kidō as he did in Hakuda, then he'd be in a lot of trouble. But Gekkō far overestimated his own abilities if he thought this sub par use of an advanced spell could ever hope to take him down. Channeling his neijing force from within, he exerted it from his legs, causing the fabric to tear apart, freeing him from its hold. But the other lengths of fabric continued to chase him down, prompting him to send off yet another wave of neijing from within his own body as a dominating pulse of pure force from his center with his voice uttering a loud roar, a kiai, to fuel its strength, causing the black fabric to tear apart at the seams. In the same instance, Seireitou invoked his teleporation technique, the Shukuchi, to escape the vicinity before allowing Gekkō enough time to continue his attempt at sealing the silver-haired man with Bakudō. However, in doing this, he sent off yet another powerful wave of neijing force from his departure, causing it to expand outwards with the intent of blasting away all three of the contenders, Mushoku, Hikaru, and Gekkō, that had come into close proximity with him just then. Shukuchi brought Seireitou to the top of the large rock cliff from which he had first declared the start of the battle royale.
"Very admirable. It would seem that many of you truly are quite formidable opponents. As a show of respect..." Seireitou spoke, his hand placed against the hilt of his sword, drawing the blade from its sheathed confines. "I will brandish my Zanpakutō for the rest of this battle. Now then... With that being said, let us begin the true fight!" he called out.
Having recovered after his somewhat humiliating attempt to test Kawahiru's impressive defences and witnessed the subsequent struggles of fellow combatants, Hikari could not help but become increasingly intrigued. Whereas several fighters failed to achieve anything of importance, the young Quincy's power caught Maebure's attention. That silver-haired child, with the help of another combatant, actually managed to overcome the energy construct. As such, Hikari could postpone the usage of his high-order techniques until later into the battle.
Then, Seireitou made his announcement and everything changed.
The opportunity to cross blades with the Soul Prince himself was one of the very few dreams which had remained to sustain Hikari's wretched, protracted existence. The urge to rush and attack was powerful, yet the experienced Sōzōshin did not forget about the importance of caution.
"Hidō #2, Yugande Mieru Kagami", he declared.
Immediately afterward his body, voice, spiritual pressure and a sizeable area around him began twisting and warping unpredictably in all imaginable and unimaginable ways, distorted by the secret Kidō.
"Hidō #4, Kakudai", he stated whilst holding his left hand over the gleaming blade of his Zanpakutō.
A surge of crimson energy crackling with sparks surrounded the burnt orange column of his Shikai's blade, temporarily increasing its attack power by the factor of two. Thus prepared, Hikari promptly leapt forward with the full speed of his Shunpo. With the distorting Hidō cast upon himself, he appeared as an incomprehensible, contorted mass which seemed to change directions and even dimensions as it was approaching Seireitou.
Then, as Hikari was about to strike, he vanished in an instant. Another distorted image of the black-haired Sōzōshin materialised suddenly behind Kawahiru, having dispelled the Kyokkō cloak in the last moment possible. The air hissed loudly as Maebure's empowered blade sliced it countless times within a fraction of second in the Senmaioroshi technique, each strike targeted at Seireitou.
Mukei and Kodokuna couldn't help but laugh as the opposition against the silver-haired demon dragged on. "This is getting interesting, but he has more then made his point." Approaching Hikari with the intent to assist the black-haired individual, Kodokuna sprung into action. "He has spent most of his time doing nothing but giving us hints, and this is as far as we have gotten. Intelligence no longer matters in this fight. It's all about the will to win." With his [Kodokuna] Onitaberu cocked backwards, the white-haired Shinigami began his aiding assault. "Senmaioroshi" Approaching the Shiroyasha from the opposite side, making him parallel to Hikai, Kodokuna began to deal millions of strikes in unison with his attacking comrade. The wind around their combined assault parted and created a dome of blades of wind as even the smallest blades of grass were hacked into millions of pieces.
"I don't doubt that you can crush us all in a split second if you had a reason to. Though, I do doubt that you are as great as everybody is making you out to be. You may be a god amongst us, but you are far from my level in society. Yeah, that's right. Bow before the Emperor of The Universe. Reality is dark and cold, so I'll give you a taste of our convictions you long haired weirdo!" The oppertunity to attack was quickly seized by Mukei as his two comrades hacked away at Seireitou's body, their assault proving to be an offensive means of distracting the omnipotent demon. "Nobody can out shine a star like me!" With the veins in his arm popping and cracking like flames, the young Minus began to generate a sphere of black and purple energy. It rotated in his palm like a top, and slowly began to expand until the underside of his fingers were being absorbed directly into it's epicenter. The omnious pressure it gave off shook the ground beneath Mukei's feet as it reached it's final stages. "Drown! Mayami!"
Gyrating his body so that he spun in the opposite direction of the rotating sphere that resided within his palm, Mukei expanded the energy to the point where his body was engulfed in the colors: black, pink, and purple. The illusive sounds of fireworks went off within the vortex that was his person, the sphere being shot out in the form of a tunneling blat. It's curved appearance and stature tore through the ground as it left a crevis, no bigger then a toddler, behind. It's target was none other then Seireitou, but Kodokuna and Hikari were also within it's path. ""They say you are what you eat. That's funny, because I don't remember eating a fucking Legend"
...
KA-BOOM!
A ferocious explosion ripped through the ground, sending a tremendous mushroom cloud high into the sky around the battlefield. From the cloud, the enormous swirl of energy that had just been unleashed by Mukei erupted — having been reflected by an unseen source, concealed by the layers of clouds. The shockwave only continued to affect the battlefield, as it was followed by a tremendous gale of wind, blowing the smoke in the eyes of all of the combatants present. Several nearby rock formations collapsed from the after-effects of the powerful blast. Soon after, however, stillness reigned; with only the restless smoke, carried by the remains of the gale, making any sorts of noise. This silence was only temporary however, broken by a deep voice; one laced with disappointment.
"Nobody kills Sei while I'm around. Destiny has reserved that pleasure for me!" the voice declared, the smoke now beginning to clear, revealing a dark form concealed by it. "I've been watching your battle with Sei, so I've seen many of your techniques. Too bad, if I can't just kill you all here, I'll just have to pound you into a pulp! That's all..."
With one swift movement, the figure drew one of the two katana at his hip, slashing away the remaining smoke to reveal the form of Raian Getsueikirite. The Shinigami stared up at Seireitou's opponents, several of which were airborne, a slick smirk crossing his usual calm composure.
"And you," he continued, pointing the tip of his Zanpakutō at Mukei. "Emperor of the universe you call yourself? Don't make me laugh."
Slowly, the dust beneath Raian's feet kicked up, forming a halo of ash and debris around his body as he slowly raised himself into the sky — climbing higher and higher, until he reached Mukei's level, chuckling menacingly the whole ascent.
"Children should not mock their elders with falsities. You're an embarrassment." he finished, glaring directly at the younger being.
Glancing over his shoulder, Raian looked below him until he located his rival, who was standing not too far from his original landing point. For a brief moment, the Shinigami's face became stern and more serious.
"What's the problem, Sei? Didn't your mother ever tell you not to play with your food?" Raian jested, playing one of his usual rivalry jabs at his friend. "None of them should be standing right now. You're pitiful."
Returning his attention to his rivals numerous opponents, one of which was Mizu, a Shinigami he had already beaten himself once before. Once again, Raian's smirk returned to his face as he eyed each one of them, allowing a cackle to escape his lips once he had finished surveying the group.
"I wonder if you all were beginning to hope you could beat him? Well, stifle those hopes now!" he declared, balling his free hand into a fist and raising it so that they could see it clearly.
Suddenly, Raian's power flared up tremendously, releasing an enormous burst of spiritual pressure, which erupted up, creating another breathtaking gale of wind, which cover the battlefield and stretched out beyond the wasteland's borders. The result was Raian's spiritual energy taking the form of a blazing aura around his well-toned body.
"Now I'll be your opponent as well. You're finished." he declared.
Brothers in Blood, Reunited[]
Tsugawa watched the two Yonkō from midair, silently assessing the situation.
"Well, whaddaya think?" asked Taira, standing alongside him.
"… A minute ago, this fight would have been all too easy. It appears we have a Yonkō on our side as well, although he seems reluctant to act," Tsugawa responded, shooting a glance at the Kurosaki siblings. "Now the enemy is doubled."
"True, but the others did manage to take down that construct," Taira replied. "Nearly shot us too, and ruined our little gambit, but it worked. There's no denying they've got some power. And Seireitou, arrogant old fart he is, severely underestimates everyone else here. If he really thought we went in just for one shot at the construct, he's in for a rude awakening."
"Then there is no reason to wait any longer," Tsugawa said, a smirk barely perceptible on his face. "Bankai! Tear the heavens asunder, Kaminari Tensei!"
Taira grinned devilishly. "Bankai! Let the earth bleed fire, Akataiyō Ryū'ō!"
Crimson and scarlet Reiatsu exploded outwards from them. The clouds that had gathered above drew down as the ground was rent in two and belched out thick black smoke.
The Reiatsu drew inwards upon itself as the clouds and smoke coalesced, forming a dark pillar between earth and sky. "Now, Grandmaster Kawahiru, Captain Getsueikirite," a cold voice boomed from within, "would either of you care to explain just what the hell this is all about? Or do you find it acceptable for Shinigami to kill each other on a whim now?"
"Heh, heh." Raian cackled, watching the display without once wavering. "The Shinigami have become complacent. They are too used to their posh lives and mediocre training. Sei and I come from a day and age where death waited at every corner, in every shadow. Look at you! Even your Bankai exude weakness. You all, which are gathered here, are the 'best of the best', yet so far, you haven't been able to beat a single opponent. Listen to you, mumbling on about beating Sei-san's construct, and how easy the fight would have been, had I not arrived. You're either delusional, blatant morons, or both if you believe either of those things is true."
Raian held his Zanpakutō out, still in its sealed state.
"Those things you hold in your hands. To me, they are not Zanpakutō. As you may have discovered, Sei-san is the Yonkō of Hakuda. The one behind you over there, Hikaru, would tell you he is the Yonkō of Zanjutsu, and I of Kidō, but this is not the truth. This Zanpakutō in my hand was forged from my soul, and the techniques taught to me by that man. Impressed upon it is the power I have developed for nearly 2,000 years. Come, rookies. I'll show you the true Yonkō of Zanjutsu. You are only waving around twigs, compared to my Zanpakutō!" he declared.
Another man arrived and started saying stuff about yonko?
What are yonko actually jibril? Hearing the explanation of his zanpakutoh, Alex started to piece some pieces together while his expression became serious. "If the yonko of hakuda is pitiful in the eyes of a fellow yonko, what would that make of the one who called his partner that?"
Placing his hand on his zanpakutoh for a moment, he got a small grin on his face. Taunting those two opponents might not be one his smartest ideas, he still had one trick up his sleeve before resorting to his zanpakutoh during this fight. gathering reiatsu, his body gave of a faint glow of white energy that surrounded his body. As the energy around him grew, it started cackling and shifting out around him like lightning, ripping the back and sleeves of his blouse away while revealing a pure white uniform shirt beneath it. "Like your partner said yonko of zanjutsu, lets dance." Using shunpo, he charged at raian, firing Rikujōkōrō with his left hand while aiming to strike with a right knife-fist in the stomach area of this new-comer.
Watching and staring as Raian called their Zanpakuto twigs. "I would rage right now, but that's not like me." Kanjiro said to himself. Looking to his Zanpakuto, Kanjiro though to himslef. "I could easily use the Fuhen Eikyou Sabi technique Sokotsu version, but I haven't perfected it yet." Kanjiro thought. Kanjiro then had looked at his two opponents. He'd then grip his Zanpakuto, but then is stopped by someone. Kanjiro turns around and notices who it is, moving back he'd look at him. "So, your back, Julien, hello." Kanjiro greets. Julien raises his eyebrow and moves back. "I'm not the enemy here, I'm here to help, that Spirtual Pressure drew me here." Julien stated. "I don't care, you were only escaping, so I didn't fight." Kanjiro replied smiling. Julien then smiles towards him.
Julien and Kanjiro look forward to the opening the Alex person had done. "Alright, Kanjiro, move in a totaly different direction and use your Bankai." Julien said. Nodding towards Julien, Kanjiro moves towards the right side of Raian. Kanjiro getting his Zanpakuto would hold it out facing the center. "Bankai!" shouted Kanjiro realsing his Bankai. A great amount of reaitsu would be ensaring and flowing around Kanjiro. As that clears, Kanjiro would appear in his Bankai form, wearing his hoody and trousers. "Shainigu Sorasutoraiku." Kanjiro saying the name of his Bankai. Sticking his Zanpakuto in the air, letting the solar energy transform that energy. Taking enough Solar energy as he can, he'd look to Julien. Realasing out his Spirit Weapon he'd look to the two. "This is my Sppine Längengrad Biss and this is Klebrig Sprengkapsel." said Julien firing off bolts at Raian. The bolts begin to race of after each other, trying to beat one another. As they atleast reach Raian, Julien detonates one, blowing it away. Kanjiro then raises his Zanpakuto down, slamming it. Rapidly, this fires off an Uchu Sokudo Mimashi, racing towards Raian. Then the remaning bolts go try to stick on Raian.
"More roaches out from between the crevices. How typical," Raian mused. "And, what's this? Another Bankai?"
Raian held his Zanpakutō out in front of him, assuming a stance that would allow him to intercept the offensive techniques. First, it was a clumsily fired Rikujōkōrō — but that technique immediately ran into complications. Upon nearing Raian's field of influence, the energy from the spell morphed, and was seemingly drawn into Raian's blade, creating a blazing aura around it. Waving his blazing weapon around in an arc, Raian intercepted the follow up attack from Alex, using the sudden increase in power to completely negate the blow, tossing Alex backwards with a simple shove.
Kanjiro and Julien, in the meantime, had also attacked, causing the ancient Shinigami captain to maneuver with blinding speeds to intercept their techniques. The Quincy, having unleashed his arrows, detonated one just above Raian's head, however, once more, the energy from the blast, as well as the energy of the remaining arrow were sucked into Raian's now-blazing Zanpakutō, as Alex's attack had done before them. Kanjiro wasn't much more successful, as it too was drawn into Raian's sword.
"Brilliant fireworks, gentlemen. But, I'm afraid that is all they were. Temporary shards of light. I told you, didn't I? Your Zanpakutō are like twigs. Their dismay is radiating off their very blades. You don't even know how to properly handle them." Raian lectured, holding up his own sword, alight with spiritual energy, as an example. "I am not like most Shinigami. I will not tell you what my Zanpakutō does. Figure it out for yourself."
Shindō had overestimated his fellow contenders.
Within a matter of minutes everything he, and mostly to his own chagrin the Quincy, had worked hard in disabling upon the Shirōyasha, quickly became irrelevent. The White Hairs Demon countered each and every one of their moves with precision, poise, and power. Not only that, but the legendary Raian Getsuekirite himself showed up to "swap out" with the other Soul Reaper. Having already experienced one battle at the hands of this man, Shindō knew it be wise not to act rashly.
Having retrieved his Zanpakutō readily, he sheathed it, and used Flash Step to take to a far-off crevice, so he may watch and observe the rest of the other contenders' bouts. Best chance scenario in Shindō's mind? The other contenders would forfeit or die after dealing some reasonable damage to both the Shirōyasha and Captain Getsuekirite. Worst case scenario being they all die in the next few minutes without scratching either of the legendary Yonkō.
So that is what Shindō decided to do.
Watch, and wait.
The Ultimate Duo[]
As Raian gave his speech to the contenders, Seireitou stood his ground. And as soon as he finished, the white-haired martial arts master began making his way toward the "center stage"; so to speak. The two were old friends and worked together on many an occasion. Best of friends, they are!
"Bakayarō!" Seireitou yelled with a comic expression written upon his face, delivering a swift roundhouse kick for his posterior. "Who told you to interfere?! Kinta-kun? Are you supposed to be Kinta-kun? Nobody wants to be Kinta-kun! Jerk, after turning down my invitation to come join the fight, you show up here all excited! What's with you?! Go and die, please just go and die!" he continued loudly, huffing annoyingly as he walked past him.
"Nani?!" Raian snarled, advancing a step towards his rival, who was walking the other direction. "I'm not excited! Who said I was excited?! Stop getting so excited! Baka! The only reason I came to this sham was to clean up your mess! After your display, you should be called the Shirohana, rather than Shiroyasha! Right, Shirohana?!"
Raian huffed, equally annoyed, waving his sword in the air angrily as he went about his tirade. Sighing, Raian reached into his jacket pocket, retrieving a packet of cigarettes. Retrieving one from the pack, Raian lit it with a twinge of his spiritual energy, sticking it in his mouth and inhaling a large breath, before exhaling a cloud of smoke in Seireitou's direction.
"You people make me wanna smoke until my lungs burn up." he snorted, glaring at their opponents. "What are you fools looking at?! Are you just going to stand there all day! Who did you pick for this fight, Sei?! They're boring aren't they?! They're totally boring!"
Mushoku was hidden, as despite his own strength he wasn't doing much against the Shiroyasha. And now another combatant, with strength comparable to the Shiroyasha was here. He watched the battle and talks between all these people. After Raian calling them boring Mushoku appeared. "Boring Raian-san? Isn't that a bit of a bias comment, based off your own opinions of the battle?"
Mushoku didn't wait for a reply, using Terekineshisu (テレキネシス, telekinesis) he unleashed a powerful force of kinetic force at them. As, Mushoku wasn't limited to only moving objects or persons with his mind. In truth, he could control energy and force as well, even the kinetic force of his own spell for battle.
Raian didn't react at first, a black spiritual energy erupting from his body and cloaking it, in what appeared to be a Shinigami's shihakushō, while flaring like flames black as night. With a single swipe of his free left hand, he dispersed all of the telekinetic force, protecting both himself and Seireitou from any potential harm, or otherwise, annoyance, it would have brought them.
"I'm not waiting anymore, Sei-san." Raian announced. "I'm going to crush them."
Speed. Raian had speed. In this Mode, friction held no meaning to him. There was nothing that could hold him back from moving as fast as he pleased. His movement left no sound. No effects on the environment. No trace whatsoever. He had, after all, used the perfect stance, taught to him by none other than his master, Shōyō Shakyamuni, eons prior to this very battle. His blade silently sliced through air at such speed that it too was completely invisible. His movement would be instantaneous. One blink, he would be there, and the next, the attack would've already ended. His strike was aimed for Mushoku, the man who had spoken out in protest against him. Were he successful, the strike would completely cleave through Mushoku's sword arm, abdomen, spilling his guts and entrails on the battlefield, and part of his left leg.
Inside of Mushoku's mind was a plan... no a formula for whatever Raian was about to try. (The command formula for his Kotoamatuskami, spoken within his mind.) " With this path all opposition will be blocked by my left hand's index finger without prejudice, Kotoamatsukami. " Without warning, Mushoku left hand's index finger completely stopped... no more like completely neutralized Raian's bladed attack, the moment they touched one another.
Mushoku looks at Raian before, the former can even react with shock or confusion. " Your attack would have been truly troublesome if I hadn't, created an event where it couldn't reach me. In summation, my left hand's index finger is to your attack, something it can never break through. Almost like both don't exist toward each other."
The blade of Raian's sword still rest on Mushoku's finger unable to cut through it.
"This is my power Kotoamatsukami (別天津神; Literally meaning "Distinguished Heavenly Gods"). With a thought reality... no all of creation in all time is the user's control, to do with like he/she desires. However, don't think of me as a god, I am far from one. Although, this isn't a lesson on my power. I will release this command and introduce another one. Once I have been killed and my body falls apart, I will be restored; as if nothing happened by my opposition, Kotoamatuskami. "
At that moment, Raian's attack hit Mushoku. Doing what, it's purpose was for, but as his death seemed absolute he was completely whole again. However his eyes were tearing blood. " Understand Mr. Raian-san, about why I called your earlier statement, bias based off your own opinions of the battle? " After that Mushoku sent his counter of Hokorite (ほこりて, dust hand), toward Raian. Countless completely genuine Sekkiseki dust particles, at the ready to do damage to Raian.
Following the events that transpired from the exchanged, Seireitou could only belay a childish grin. "Oi, what happened to "crushing them", Raian-kun? Weren't you going to kill them? Right, Raian-kun? Yes?" he began as he stepped forward. By nary a thought, the inclosing cloud of dust was blasted apart as its remains went scattering around the area in various clumps. "That technique of his... System Reset no Jutsu... could prove troublesome." he mentioned, throwing in a random joke in there with his signature serious expression. Seireitou continued to step forward as he held his hand up, the open palm being held in such a way as to parallel itself with Mushoku. His entire body was composed, his back straightened but his overall appearance being rather lax and unrestrained. This was truly a master of the combat arts; standing before adversity with naught but a desire to be given a worthy challenge. So far, these various opponents had not met this expectation, but perhaps that was Seireitou's own fault, for playing defensive this entire time. No matter. He would pressure them to release the fullest extent of their abilities... even if it should mean their death.
"Sajō Sabaku!" he called out, as several chains of brilliant golden light snapped forth into existence from a medley of random spots around his arm, with one specific chain being launched directly from the center of his open palm. However, there was something strange. These chains originally serve the purpose of surrounding an opponent and then ensnaring them, stripping away freedom of movement. These chains of Seireitou's, however, merely encircled Mushoku and then levitated in place around him. Additionally, these chains began to lose their golden glow slowly, being replaced by an eerily silver glow as their previously gold light was fully extinguished.
Seireitou then smiled, assured that his plan was now in place. "This... is no ordinary Sajō Sabaku spell. When you reach the pinnacle of a craft, you have obtained a level of skill and ability that is so unmatched and broad, that all other forms of combat become unnecessary. So then... why would a Hakuda master be using Kidō spells? Simple. To a master of Hakuda like me... Zanjutsu, Hōhō, and yes... even Kidō, are nothing more then additional outlets for me to unleash my fearsome Hakuda. In unique and beneficial ways, I may add. For example..." he explained, lifting his other hand to extend his index finger, pointing to the now silver Sajō Sabaku chains.
"This is Sajō Sabaku, no mistake about that. But one in which has become a medium for my Hōkōryū martial art. I'm sure you can put two and two together from there, Mushoku-kun. That fancy trick of yours... that can replace events and conjure substances out of anything... as beautiful and fearsome a technique it is, it nevertheless is a technique empowered by your will. And as long as you remain within my Hōkōryū Sajō Sabaku technique, try as you might, you will be deadlocked in a struggle between my will and your will, making it impossible for you to use that technique or any technique to oppose a fatal blow. I won't be able to hold this forever... but I don't need to. Just long... enough." he finished, turning his head to look at Raian, returning from a serious expression to his childish smirk from before.
"Here's your chance, Raian-kuuuun. Try not to slip up or else you're paying for the sake tonight." he remarked.
Raian's smirk grew wider. He hadn't been nervous about Mushoku's pitiable attack in the first place, given how he'd faced far worse against Akujin and Mūkade. Nevertheless, he had no time to bicker with his rival; now it was time to end Mushoku's life. He inhaled deeply, with the breath accumulating all of his stress and frustration, and then, upon exhaling, let it all go. The true sign of a martial arts master was the ability to be at peace, even when death could come knocking at any moment, and to synchronize with their art so perfectly that it became part of them. Keeping that in mind, Raian placed his free hand on the hilt of his blade, drawing it up into a very familiar posture, redirecting the entirety of his body's strength into the muscles in his arms. As he did, spiritual energy began to leak out of his body, forming into a wavy, blue aura around his person.
Without warning, faster than a lightning bolt would strike, Rain took a single, blindingly quick step, and slashed down on the entrapped Mushoku; releasing all of his strength and spiritual pressure into the blade at that exact moment. The result was immediately apparent. Far below the combatants, directly behind Mushoku, one of the many large cliff faces that surrounded them was completely cleaved in two by the just the sheer force of the slash, causing a deafening roar as the cliff split in two and began its descent into rubble. The sound of a thousand waterfalls all beating down on one location. No doubt, unless something else had affected Mushoku's position, he too would be cleaved in half and dead before he even hit the ground.
A glint of sadism appeared in Raian's eyes as he wordlessly raised his sword again, this time flicking it to the side, causing bright red fluid to be cleansed from his blade's edge; blood. Then, in a voice that sounded halfway sarcastic, halfway sadistic, Raian spoke, echoing the very arrogant words that Mushoku had used against him just moments prior;
"Don't think me a god, Mushoku-kun, for I am far from one. However, let this be a lesson of my power; no matter how much you clamor or scream, your pathetic voice will never reach the Heavens... nor will your lament."
And with that, Raian sheathed his blade, and strolled back to his place at Seireitou's side, his face devoid of any emotion for what he might have just done. Ending lives had, unfortunately, been part of his ever since the great wars of the past.
"Sorry, Sei-san." he continued. "Looks like the sake is on you tonight."
Gekkō couldn't believe what he was seeing; one by one, his pathetic "comrades" where getting picked off. Destroyed. Dominated. Decimated. While he never doubted himself, he knew that he alone wouldn't stand any chance against these two. He would end up just like the others.
He laid his hand upon the hilt of his zanpakutō, he felt it, or rather her, hum in response to his touch. Oh, yeah. How could I forget? I'm never alone, am I?
He was soothed by yet another hum from his zanpakutō. He closed his eyes, reveling in the fact that he and his partner where on such equal terms. She was a part of his soul; and he would not doubt himself or her ever again, no matter the circumstances.
With no movements on his part, midnight blue reiryoku began to form and condense around his handsome countenance. An elegant, yet toothless mask with thick, midnight blue stripes going down either side it appeared upon the entirety of his face. His eyes where not pitch black with yellow irises. An enormous, and thunderous roar rang out through the air; resonating and shaking the very heavens with its raw power.
With one, fluid stroke of his arm, he unsheathed his zanpakutō. The blade with runic symbols began to pulsate a highly potent midnight blue destructive aura all about its form. Then, Gekkō began to draw in the limitless ambient reishi that was scattered all about the field and began to be imbued within the blade.
He swung it down in one strike. A massive what seemed to be a Getsuga Tenshō was fired at Seireitou. The raw reiryoku and reishi that was funneled into the blade was gargantuan, easily reaching the height of a two story building as it careened down towards Silver Hairs, leaving nothing but destruction it its wake.
However, within close vicinity it would prove to be nothing of the like. The energy blast split apart into several different factions; forming multiple giant orbs that encircled both Yonkō. Currently, the orbs seemed to be hollow, but within a few seconds they began to brighten, until they appeared as miniature suns.
This was because they where siphoning the energy from both beings, each orb held the quantity of at least a captain's level of spiritual power. They detonated. Forming a humongous sphere of potent and destructive energy that reached as far as a 12 mile radius from each side. If the other beings did not get out of the way, they too would get caught up in the blast. A worthy punishment for being so weak and having the gall to try to stand among legends.
The sphere of energy obliterated its surroundings; scorching the very grass it set upon to nothing but rumble and dust. Annihilating trees that had the misfortune of being to close, and uprooting those who just weren't far enough to be unscathed. After this, the battlefield would be a desolate wasteland. And this battle would be over.
Sounds of destruction ringed in the air, completely erasing all other sounds and filling the air with what appeared to be the dust of all the earth and foliage that had originally blanketed the battlefield. It would be some time before the dust from this massive chain of explosions would dissipate and the fates of those participating would be revealed.
Silence was prominent. It almost seemed as though the alliance of fifteen-some opponents had done it. Then...
Amidst the debris... stood two figures. Seireitou and Raian. Having received naught but a bruise nor scratch. But how could this even be possible? This would soon be answered. As more smoke and dust began to ascend beyond the battlefield, a large construct of what appeared to be glass surrounded the two men and protected them within its confines, taking on a faceless visage of Seireitou's own upper torso; complete with his long hair that swayed ominously in the wind and hand-less arms that remained down by its side. It was not as massive in size as the energy construct he had formed with the help of Hōkōryū earlier in this collision of warriors but still towered over those that stood before it. Upon closer inspection, one would see clear vibrations, as if it were rippling waves in the calm ocean, surfacing along the body of the strange construct. It was undoubtedly... the Dankū spell; crafted in the image of Seireitou by his fierce and indomitable martial will, infused with the vibrational Kaerikotsu technique of his own design. With this understanding, it became clear what had happened. The combined defensive powers of Dankū, cast by a master of enormous skill and energy, along with the Kaerikotsu, designed to reverberate all forces back onto its originator by utilizing the user's own internal neijing. It is perhaps because of the latter that the surface of this Dankū construct would appear as ripples of energy. Seireitou stood tall, his arms crossed as he stared toward Gekkō and the others within his line of vision.
"I never imagined... one of them could generate a force like that. Even Hōkōryū would've had a hard time containing that destruction... Oh well. I think it all worked out." Seireitou said with a light huff. Lifting his arms, he clapped his open palms together, his eyes filled with an intensity that would send shocking levels of killer intent resonating throughout the battlefield and those that gathered there. But this was merely a warning of what was to come. At the forefront of the spell construct crafted in his image, three circles of red flames were drawn parallel to one another. The flames roared and snapped, slowly rising in height as they began to gain some form of consistency. Some shape. And as this began to happen, those witnessing the event would only stare in silence, shock, and awe. Each took on the form of Seireitou, down to every detail except possessing a face, their bodies composed solely of dancing flames held together by mere martial will. All three stood forward, facing out toward where the opponents were, their arms down by their side but it was clear that they were prepared to take action upon the call of their master.
Seireitou lowered his arms and took a deep breath. "Three Shakkahō... that serve as a medium for my Hakuda. Each possess... the Ikkotsu." he spoke. "But still... a Dankū with Kaerikotsu... and three Shakkahō with Ikkotsu... It wasn't an easy feat. I'll need a moment or two to recharge after that trick." came to his thoughts as his ragged breath slowly began to calm.
"Do not lose your composure, do not break your stances, do not avert your gaze for even an instant." Seireitou spoke as he was regaining his breath, his eyes closed, returning to his crossed-arms stance.
"And then die while standing." he finished.
The three Shakkahō clones lunged forward, each targeting a distinct group of three opponents in order to split them up from one another. "Raian, this "Gekkō"... I leave him to you." the silver-haired man added.
Gekkō looked pass the four flaming martial embodiments that stood before them towards the Yonkō of Zanjutsu. He narrowed his eyes and furrowed his brows before looking back at his stunned accomplices. Some looked back at him with nothing but resentment in their eyes. All except for a select few who just gave him a glare that said: "We're all fucked"
Oh. well. It's not like this wasn't to be expected. When you challenge "gods" this is what you get. He came into this battle knowing very well what to expect. So, he wasn't going to hold any regrets, even if he did die here.
Redonning his mask, Gekkō prepared for the worse to come. Drawing in the ambient reishi from the surrounding areas, his blade once again shown; reflecting his resolve and indomitable will. He swirved around to his "comrades".
"Well, what are we standing here for?! Are you all shocked?! What did you think would happen? You would come here, pull off some fancy moves, and defeat some of the most powerful Shinigami to ever walk the earth?! If that was your expectation, then you deserve to die by their hands. I'm not going to lie, I came here not expecting to win, hell, I'd be lucky if I survived, but wanting to prove to myself that fear would not constrain nor hold me down from doing what I knew was right. I was scared shitless when I stared into their eyes. I'm still scared now. But I'm not gonna let that stop me!" He then turned back towards the duo and charged towards the one who he would face; Raian Getsueikirite.
"I refuse to let fear bind me! I refuse to let it control me! I will fight for everything I stand for, even if my body turns to dust and is swept away with the wind!!!" He proclaimed as his eyes began to shine with a clear midnight blue and the ambient reishi particles began to draw into him at even faster rate, to the point where he was as bright as a shining star od resolve and strength; a shining beacon of hope for his comrades.
Ever since having clashed blades with the Soul Prince, Hikari Maebure had been keeping distance and recharging his energy, all the while observing the struggles of his accomplices with great attention. The appearance of the Yonkō of Zanjutsu aggravated the situation, which had been very slowly starting to look promising. The power unleashed by the challengers and the responses of the two champions were astounding, a spectacle of destruction he had not seen since millennia.
However, the momentary yet difficult to miss drop in Seireitou's energy gave him a lot to think about. After listening to the speech of the individual named Gekkō, the indifferent mask which Hikari's face had been until then at last outstretched in an ominous smirk.
"Bankai, Jeonche Taeyang", he declared in a raised tone.
His own tremendous power was at once unleashed in explosive fury. Maebure was immersed in a rapidly expanding sphere of blinding light, which formed a sizeable crater in the already devasted wasteland of the battlefield. The ancient Sōzōshin emerged from it with great speed, his tattered Shihakushō replaced by an elegant robe and his shining Zanpakutō appearing as a bedazzling ray of sun itself.
The time to test and observe was over. Since most, if not all of his temporary allies released their power, Hikari was no longer wary of crushing them with his massive Reiatsu anymore. As such, he promptly joined Gekkō and charged boldly against Raian Getsueikirite, hoping to get rid of the dangerous nuisance swiftly.
"Meiankyōkaisen", he uttered on his way toward the enemy, the blade of his glowing sword suddenly becoming a pillar of devastating light ready to vaporise its target.
"I just realized something. If I beat either of you, wouldn't that make me a Yonkō? No. Even better. I'll be stronger then a Yonkō. Wouldn't I?"
From a distance, as Hikari charged at the infamous Silver Haired Yonkō, Mukei indulged in the brilliance that was the light radiating off the pillar of energy coming from the blade of the aforementioned. Coughing and sneezing because of the dust that had filled his nose and lungs upon Gekkō's explosive technique kicking up the tension of the battle, Mukei released a mianical laugh. "Me Ni Wa Me O! Ha Ni Wa Ha O!" Quickly gatthering spiritual particles around his person and imbuing his spiritual energy into them, the young Minus fired a wave of blue tendrils at the three clones of Seireitou that were created. Not hoping to actually get rid of them, he simply took it upon himself to slow down their movements by attempting to ensnare various parts of their body. "You've gone...too far!"
The Shakkahō clones had launched from their formation points, the very heat emanating from their deep red sun-like structure was enough to cause the very air itself to emulate a heat wave, leaving behind a trail of fiery hue in their wake as they progressed toward the opponents. They moved as if they were sentient beings; in fact, they were. An individual fragment of will that was generously offered to the Shakkahō spell in exchange for its power becoming Seireitou's own in this instance, their bodies appearing as solid constructs from afar but if one were to approach them without suffering fatal burns, they would see the truth: wisps of fire, counting by the millions, dancing wildly as they were held together by a single unseen force. After hearing Mukei's words of arrogance, a small smile was etched onto the silver-haired man's face. Perhaps it was Mukei's spirit that caused this; Seireitou always had respect for a warrior of spirit, even if their ability to understand was less than admirable. Closing his eyes, Seireitou crossed his arms against his chest and spoke clearly.
"Alright everybody, time for Ginpachi-sensei to give you all a science lesson. What is temperature? It is a measurement that calculates the heat of a substance via the kinetic energy causing the particles to vibrate. In other words, when the vibrations are increased, temperature should also increase." he explained, as he opened his eyes and stared out toward where his clones were mid-flight, approaching the energy tendrils that Mukei had fired off in the attempt to hinder their movements.
Once he finished talking, each of the three clones lifted their arms and formed fists with both hands. Simultaneously, they fist-bumped themselves, pounding their left and right fists together. And as this occurred, the red fiery hue that emanated from their structure began to glow ever so brighter. Not just that but one might quickly realize that the temperature around them had seemingly increased. Using Ikkotsu, which projects the user's force outwards at the point of impact, they each punched their own fists, causing the force of Ikkotsu to resonate throughout their entire flame-composed bodies. As vibrations were rapidly increasing by the moment due to this action, so too did the heat of the flames that composed them. And due to their close proximity, the heat and brightness grew to be so great that from afar, it no longer appeared as three clones but rather one large mass of heat that could rival the sun itself. Almost as if Seireitou had pulled down the sun itself in an effort to wipe out every single opponent that stood in his way. With little effort, the combined heat managed to literally burn through the solid energy tendrils of Mukei's attack, rendering it completely ineffective. Once they did, they released the fist-bump upper body stance they took and resumed their original red-flame appearance.
"Mukei, you are a thousand years too young to call yourself a Yonkō's equal. No matter how spirited he may be, a fly can not stand up to a cannon." Seireitou concluded.
The three clones continued their advance without stop and passed Mukei as they flew forward at blinding speeds, leaving behind a combination of three intense trails of fire that seemingly engulfed Mukei in a magnificent display of crashing embers as they did so. Once passing Mukei, the three clones broke their path and separated, causing yet another explosion of flames to rocket them toward their individual respective targets. The clone that stood in the middle of the trio crashed into the ground below, landing on its feet as it cornered Asumu and Shindō. Another clone landed to the ground not too far from there, confronting Hikaru, Mizu, and Kirika. Finally, the third clone reached another nearby location and approached the trio of Taira, Tsugawa, and Kanjiro. Seireitou knew not all opponents were accounted for but it didn't matter to him. He was aware of their locations before he began this Shakkahō triple attack and merely waited until they too would be drawn out in the conflict.
"Everybody... show me your spirit!" he challenged.
"I'm a thousand years too young? You're a thousand years to old to be underestimating me."
Emerging from the reminants of the bright red flames that scorched the earth only moments ago, Mukei revealed his tattered and burnt appearance to Seireitou. Having survived the overwhelming current of flames, the Minus could do nothing but recover within the time he was given to prepare for his next attack. Though, would he actually just sit idely by? Such a rhetorical question. Of course he wouldn't, and to show it, he began his counter attack almost immediately. Gathering a large quantity of spiritual particles around his person, the defeated Minus began to generate a strong current of blue flames that smothered the reminants of the red flames left by the Shakkahō. According to what Seireitou had said to them all earlier, it was clear that Mukei was making use of this information, but to a much larger extent.
"It's my turn to give you a Science lesson. Did you know that when you smother a flame, smoke is produced? Of course youd did. Now. Did you know that the components within smoke that was created by a smothered flame are more reactant then the components within Gunpowder? I highly doubt you did. I mean. If you did, you wouldn't have made such a big mistake! Now watch! As I set this place on fire!"
Raising his hands prior to finishing his small lecture, Mukei ignited the smoke produced by the trails of flame that he smothered with his Heiliges Feuer. This caused quite an explosion as Mukei's body was encased in a large wave of blue flames, a preparation for his next technique, as well as a counter measure against the Shakkahō clones Seireitou could create. Their little brofist technique was far to dangerous for the alliance of spiritually aware individuals. A large quantity of those could cause a real problem.
"I'm not going to let Gekkō be the only one to be directly targeted by a Yonkō. That's pathetic. Ugh. Man. I'm not all to great at playing the Hero. I always end up dying on the first boss, you know? Ugh. Man. I can't believe I am the one going to be the one stuck with taking down that guy with the silver hair. Have you seen his punches? I like my spleen where it's at now. Ugh. Whatever. So. I just have to beat his face into the ground right? Man. I wish I had some cheat codes.."
Rampage! Battōsai — The Man-Slayer![]
"They say you are what you eat. That's funny, because I don't remember eating a fucking legend..."
He had heard those words, and suppressed the urges from the depths of his being. Lighting a cigarette, the raven-haired Yonkō smoked long and hard as he watched his silver-haired comrade fend off the other opponents. He had just, after all, finished off Mushoku and felt he deserved a break — let Seireitou do most of the work.
"I just realized something. If I beat either of you, wouldn't that make me a Yonkō? No. Even better. I'll be stronger then a Yonkō. Wouldn't I?"
Glancing up, Raian noticed one of the enemy had broken off from the group and were hurdling towards him, having abandoned their fear of his clearly superior spiritual pressure. He exhaled a puff from his cigarette, taking hold of his Zanpakutō in his spare hand and tearing it free of its resting spot in the nearby stone; resting it casually on his shoulder as he watched Gekkō approach in vain.
"I'm a thousand years too young? You're a thousand years to old to be underestimating me."
Drop.... The cigarette hit the ground, little warning having been given, a cinder still alight at the end. SLAM! Raian's foot connected with the ground where the cigarette lay, reinforced by overwhelming spiritual pressure. Not only was the burning stick of tobacco eradicated from existence, but the cliff from atop which he stood crumbled as but fragile glass behind the force of the blow. His speed was even more impressive than his display of strength. Sheathing his sword and then striking quickly, in a display of iaido, Raian easily sliced through the spiritual energy wave launched at him by Gekkō. Feigning right, Raian launched passed a no doubt stunned Gekkō, barreling head-first towards the area where Seireitou was fighting.
Just as he did, Mukei's explosion ripped through the sky. When the smoke from the blast wave cleared, Raian was at Mukei's throat. His speed had hidden his spiritual pressure, not giving enough time for anyone short of Seireitou himself to register its movement. The smoke, additionally, had provided the extra cover he needed to close the gap. Ironic that Mukei's arrogant, vain, movement had cost him so terribly. Now the raven-haired Yonkō blade was at young man's neck, mere centimeters away from slicing it open and spilling the esophagus of the arrogant man for all to see. A glint of sadism was present in both Raian's eyes and maniacal grin. The move was quick, so blindingly fast, that there was little to no chance the young Shinigami even knew Raian was there before it occurred. Ripping his blade back in a fashion that would either severely maim or entirely decapitate Mukei, Raian went for the kill.
Flicking his blade to the side to clear it of any potential gore in the aftermath, Raian glared down with malice, "Sorry, Sei-kun..." his voice trembled, almost with sadistic pleasure. The Battōsai long laying dormant within him surfacing after centuries. "I'll carve them up now... all of them."
Overwhelming yet simple. The prowess of the infamous man-slayer were indeed second to none. The possession of Quincy and Shinigami powers couldn't stand up to his might. The swift and uncanny death of Mukei was of course an example of this as the latter was cut down without a care in the world. The blood that dripped from Raian's blade was evidence of this, as the naive Shinigami's life was ended only seconds after the man-slayer spoke toward the Shiroyasha. Gasps of air and the sound of blood splurting filled the air, all of which came from Mukei's dying corpse as he fell to the ground. This was his end. Humiliated and almost decapitated in a single instant, the Minus parted from this world with nothing but a tear in his eye.
"Taking all the fun, Raian-kun? Shame on you. If you're going to snatch my catch, then I'll return the favor."
Seireitou lowered his crossed arms down to his side, his gaze happened upon Gekkō, who was standing a couple meters away from the Dankū construct. The silver-haired man rose his hand and snapped his fingers. Once that happened, the pearl-colored structure began to slowly expand in size, leaving Seireitou as its epicenter as its area grew larger. Making no sound in its motion, the smoke caused earlier from Mukei's counterattack would make it nearly impossible to detect it before it was too late. The trap had sprung. Soon enough, the edges of the construct had snuck up on Gekkō and quickly collided into him. However, the most strangest thing had happened. It did not actually make contact with the man - no, instead, it actually phased past the black-haired man's body, allowing him passage safety into the construct's inner domain. Now, Gekkō was trapped within this large construct, which was as indestructible from the inside as it was on the outside. Those Shakkahō clones were detachments of Seireitou's will, not connected to him like Hōkōryū behaved, meaning it did not require any further concentration on the silver-haired man's part. No, instead, Seireitou's attention was centered only on this black-haired man that was now forced to engage in a one-on-one fight with the former.
"Well well, Gekkō-san. Looks like it's just you and me for now." he remarked with a sadistic grin. There was no doubt. Traces of the Shiroyasha within were already surfacing. And Gekkō would be the welcoming committee.
The True Meaning of One-on-One[]
Gekkō didn't even notice being trapped and sealed within Seireitou's construct. No; he was far to occupied viewing the corpse of his friend and ally. Mukei Tsuki. The two had fought each other once, but they befriended one another soon after. Now he was gone. And it was his fault; no matter what he told himself, he knew the truth. He had let his friends die due to one of the very vices he had tried so hard to fight against and overcome. Now that very evil caused Mukei his life.
"What could you have done, anyway? Raian would've cut you down like he did that purple-haired brat. Now, you have bigger problems. The Silver-haired creep over there of whom killer intent is radiating off of. So get over it. Survival of the fittest."
Gekkō heard the demonic voice within his mind; The Dark One, Gekkō's representation of his Tsumikami powers. He fed off of Gekkō's negative emotions and it only made him return said feelings ten fold since they where imbued with his powers.
As a result, Gekkō's hair started to shift from their rave black to a menacing pure white, reminiscent of Seireitou's. His eyes, however, shifted to an even more menacing crimson as the tears from his friend's lost began to well within his eyes. Before long, he turned a bloodlust ridden gaze at the Silver-Haired man, revealing his own unnatural powers.
"You are going to pay for what you've done, you pathetic little fucks. I'm going to make sure of it." Gekkō growled in a dark and demonic growl as he unleashed a large quantity of his demonic powers, illuminating the construct with a crimson haze.
Seireitou stared at Gekkō with silence for a couple moments - a completely stoic yet easy-going facial expression etched upon him. However, this was soon to fade away. Replaced with a smile as devious as the grin from earlier, the silver-haired man began to press his hands together in order to crack his knuckles; a common action done as a means of preparing to get one's hands dirty. "This highlights the essence of martial arts... Simplicity! Everybody's reason for fighting is simple. Even mine has never changed in all these years. And right now, yours is transparent as well. Unbridled animosity for me... That is your reason. Right now, that is the only thing you need to move forward and fight! The strongest soul is one that is put at risk with a singular intention." he openly declared, the eyes of the white demon quickly became obvious. A killer intent quickly arose from this gaze.
Upon finishing his statement, he tapped his wrist with his right hand's finger, an action which caused a bright golden hue of reiryoku to snap into existence around the silver-haired man's wrists; linked to one another by a chain-like structure. It most likely resembled a pair of handcuffs. "Killing has never been something I've been capable of doing on a whim. In this sole regard, I am different from Raian-san. However, my pride as a martial artist prevents me from operating under such a principle when confronted by an opponent who is prepared to put their soul at risk. With such spirit opposing me, I will never regret... wearing the title of murderer." With a twist of his finger against his wrist, the chain resounded with a muffled sound of a lock coming undone. And in doing so... a massive aura of white spiritual energy began to flicker around Seireitou's entire person. He had finally undone the restraints he had always kept the major portions of his latent reiryoku under wraps, which subsequently hindered his physical abilities to some considerable degree, prepared to demonstrate the true capabilities of the Hakuda Grandmaster known as Kawahiru Seireitou.
"Nurture the malice that grows within you... and come at me! Kirameki Gekkō!" he roared, entering a martial arts stance in which his palm was held up and faced his opponent while the other arm was bent, kept at the ready parallel from Seireitou's chest.
His malevolent power still radiating violently throughout the construct, causing massive tremors throughout the object and the ground beneath it, Gekkō dropped his zanpakutō to his side; suddenly, the immense knowledge of how to use his Hakuda as an outlet for his other Zakenoski and vice versa was released and channeled through his body and mind. He had awakened his true malicious power. Gekkō had arrived.
"All, right." He said in a guttural growl, as he killing intent had finally reached its own awakening. "No Kidō. No Zanpakutō. Let nothing but our fist and our own Wills as Martial Artists be used as weapons. Let's see what you can do, Old Man. "
Raising his front leg ever so slightly, he stomped hard onto the ground beneath him. Suddenly, in this instant, several cracks of red light thundered forth in the area around Seireitou's person. These quickly took shape and formed a multitude of burning red fireballs - about twelve in all - and as instantaneous as they appeared and took substance, the ball-like form they held quickly shifted and became even more complex. Now they resembled the fists of a person. They, just as the clones from before, were Hakuda manifestations born from Shakkahō's power. With an incredible heat, the air around them began to show signs of wavering; heat ripples were visible as it almost became a temperature unbearable for any being. A human would find their death in this, and even though Gekkō was a spiritual being, it would still have quite an effect on even him. However, for Seireitou, that had been used to using the white flames of his Zanpakutō, heat was nothing difficult to overcome.
Each of them took the form of a clenched fist, all aimed toward where Gekkō stood. Seireitou stood a step forward and thrust his other arm out, his palm aimed for Gekkō as the fist-shaped fireballs erupted from their position, forming streaks of flames in their wake as they all charged from different directions to enclose Gekkō and crush him. Seireitou's purpose in doing so was obvious. By making these will-imbued fireballs approach Gekkō from every conceivable angle, he left the latter with only one escape: to run out in front and get close to Seireitou himself. Anticipating this possibility, just as the fireballs began to close in on Gekkō, Seireitou took yet another step forward and thrust his other arm out, this time a close fist. "Ikkotsu!" he stated, his fist projecting an enormous compressed force in a narrow path so as to drill outwards and destroy Gekkō directly.
There where two problems with Seireitou's purpose and strategy. The first was obvious; Gekkō was part demon. The torrents of hellish inferno that he endured from his master in order to attain the mastery he had more than prepared him for the hear emanating from Seireitou's will.
The reiryoku about Gekkō's person began to condense. Seireitou used his kidō as an outlet for his Hakuda throughout this entire battle; now, it was his turn. Allowing his immense knowledge of Reijutsu to instill itself within his martial will, Gekkō manged to parry with a technique similar to Seireitou's; his own special technique: Dark Lightning.
The Tsumikami power had flowed into his own spiritual energy, perverting and twisting what Seinaruisei meant for purity and preservation, to an instrument of chaos. As such, the destructive forces sprang from his body in an omnidirectional stream each sets of bolts, which were revealed to have been imbued with a similar Neijing technique found in Tenchi Mushin Rūyuu, headed straight for each of the Ikkotsu-imbued Shakkahō.
When the two techniques clashed, a symphony of circular explosives erupted all throughout the construct fighting arena. One would think that these explosions would begin to shatter the construct, but Gekkō quickly dismissed the matter as he realised he didn't care for anything of the like.
Now, for Seireitou. Gekkō leveled a gaze into the eyes of the silver-haired demon before the dark lightning began to from into the shape of a demonic being with increasingly pale white eyes. Suddenly, the demon launched towards Seireitou, intending on engulfing the lesser being whole within its gaping maw.
"Don't be so foolish, Gekkō-kun. As I told Mukei-kun... You are a thousand years too young to be challenging me on my battlefield." he responded. The demon that came for Seireitou was simple; it required no further attention. The straightforward Ikkotsu he fired at the end of his last assault was enough to contend with Gekkō's straightforward technique, resulting in a collision that caused enough of a distraction to allow the true strategy to set in motion.
A simple change of view was all that was needed. Gekkō may have been able to mimic the strategies Seireitou had invented himself, a feat which was remarkable in and of itself, but he was far from the level of precision and skill that came with the centuries of the Shiroyasha's experience. The path of the fist-shaped Shakkahō projectiles quickly changed; flying in all manner of random motion as they twisted and snapped, avoiding the lightning strikes as best as they can. While two or three did end up getting destroyed, neutralizing the lightning neijing attack Gekkō had utilized, there was still enough to carry out the intention. Their target was different this time. The some odd fist-shaped fireballs instead collided with the Dankū's walls from behind. Imbued with Kaerikotsu, as Seireitou had explained earlier in the fight, this crash caused the neijing redirection technique to reflect the fireballs back onto an opposite angle. The vibrations increased the heat of the fireballs with every collision, as their speed increased and the streaks of flames they emitted from before began working in a chaotic manner, surrounding Gekkō with their constant rapidly increasing movements as these streaks began to resemble an assortment of bars that would prevent Gekkō from making any movements; in sum, it formed a nigh invincible cage of flames around that was being constantly empowered by both the Kaerikotsu constantly redirecting these colliding fireballs and the neijing force within the attacking lightning bolts that was forced to follow these fireballs paths. Gekkō's attack quickly became the slave of Seireitou's own attack, if only because of using the wrong technique in the wrong place. In this construct, which was governed by the Kaerikotsu technique, Gekkō using neijing would be utterly suicidal.
"Your critical error was using a neijing technique in this space, surrounded by a construct that is imbued with a neijing force redirection technique. Neijing itself refers to the projection of one's force in an outwards manner. I must applaud your prowess in being able to manifest this force as lightning bolts. But you're still too inexperienced to use such ploys against me, kōzō. You and Mukei can learn from your failures... Together, in Hell." Seireitou concluded, the look of his eyes, the glint of murder and sadism, confirmed the awakening of the Shiroyasha. Death was imminent for this one named Gekkō. With another thrust outwards, his clenched fist released another drill-like projection of force. "Ikkotsu." he calmly stated. Upon reaching the cage of fire streaks, lightning bolts, and neijing which held it together, the neijing drill punched through and disrupted the random consistency, causing a chain reaction of chaotic ripples of vibrational force to explode wildly all around Gekkō; as if multiple warheads fueled by pure force were exploding all around the latter in constant succession.
Upon doing this, in the very same instance as he punched forward, Seireitou quickly jumped up high and back flipped out of the Dankū construct's protection, literally phasing out of the structure just as he brought the black-haired man in, leaving poor Gekkū all alone within its confines to deal with the chaotic release of neijing forces acting upon his body. But he wasn't done. As he landed to his feet outside the Dankū, he drew his hands in, gesturing for the construct to collapse onto its insides. Gekkō, even if he miraculously survived the previous incident, would now feel the might of the Kaerikotsu-imbued Dankū crashing down upon him in an implosion of utter destruction. The construct cracked and began to ripple loudly, as it finally fell apart and like that of a neutron star, imploded inwards with a magnificent display of bright pale blue lights.
Satisfied with this, Seireitou ascended high into the skies, looking over at where Raian was; awaiting to see what would happen next.
Was it over? Would this be what it came to? Crushed by Neijing and Kidō? No, it wouldn't.
When the Neijing forces collided upon his form, Gekkō summoned a spiraling vortex of extreme dark electrical force. When met with the flaming fist of force and his own lightning, an anomaly occurred. Instead of a simple clashing, the lighting and flames began to...become one.
Indeed the lightning was imbued with Gekkō's spiritual manipulation art of enslaving spiritual energy. The force vibrated throughout the walls of electricity as the clashed violently. The immediate threat had been eliminated. Now, it was time to formulate an escape from the Dankū implosion.
How simple. It would be a simple array of the very art that Seireitou thought would be the end of Gekkō. Kidō. First, it would be Jikanteishi; a specific spiritual technique that held control over time to the point of stopping it momentarily. As such, the collapsing Dankū construct halted in time.
Next, would be Kūkanten'i; a forbidden Kidō that allowed its user to teleport one section of space to another; after absorbing the vast reiryoku that made up the vortex, Gekkō transported the obvious section of space to another: directly above Seireitou.
Now it was time to show case his own Hakuda style and form: Tenchi Mushin Ryū; the martial art of Force. not simply a hard-type like many others, but the very pinnacle of all hard type martial arts. It was a force so severe, that no matter the opposition, it would destroy and overcame it. And Seireitou was foolish enough to challenge it.
Fuelled by his unwavering will, Gekkō channeled an immense Neijing force into his right leg. He then slammed said leg into a no though unexpecting Seireitou with such speed that it rivaled the level of which Raian had showcased earlier when he killed Mukei. The sheer G-force behind the Front Kick would no doubt crush the silver-haired man's skull in, destroying his spine in the process, rendering him incapable... and hopefully dead.
Off-Guard? Seireitou was never off-guard. This was a battlefield, a seasoned warrior would know that dropping one's guard for even an instant would spell defeat, and Seireitou never would make such an error; even against an opponent he deemed weaker than himself. Even without watching, he could quickly ascertain Gekkō's no doubt miraculous feat in surviving the dual destruction forces that acted upon him just moments ago. And in the seconds following, took heed of the approaching of Gekkō, his leg thrust outwards with the intent to crush the silver-haired man with one fell swoop. But it would be all for naught. All Seireitou responded with was a simple raise of his clenched fist, the incredibly powerful kick colliding with the forearm. And upon impact, why Seireitou remained so calm quickly became clear. Kaerikotsu, the defensive technique, was initiated. Once Gekkō's kick came into contact with Seireitou's body, every single ounce of the force directed by that bludgeoning attack would be bounced off of Seireitou and reflected back into Gekkō's body in full.
"A shame. If you fine-tuned that projection of force into a sharp narrow point, you might have actually been able to land that strike just now; assuming you'd be able to cut through my Iron Shirt defense, that is, so it's merely speculation on my part. But an attack aimed solely to induce a concussive force onto its target? You dug your own grave, Gekkō-kun." he explained. The force that Gekkō unleashed with that kick, all of it, would reflect back into his body, causing an enormous amount of internal damage that would undoubtedly destroy many of his vital organs and rupture several key parts of his muscles, if not outright demolishing them. And in this instant, in which Gekkō would find himself directly incapable of responding to anything his silver-haired opponent would counter with due to having been rendered shocked by the sudden return of his own attack's force crashing through his body, Seireitou unleashed his move. He rose his other arm and formed fists with both, thrusting both of them out toward Gekkō's open and vulnerable chest and stomach respectively with a speed that rivaled the assassination strike that Raian had pulled off not too long ago with Mukei, the fists crashing into Gekkō's body with a disastrous intent.
"Sōkotsu. It is different from its one-handed version, Ikkotsu, not merely in power but in nature. While Ikkotsu merely projects the force in a single direction, which can be manipulated, Sōkotsu releases two distinct neijing attacks which act upon one another in a chaotic frenzy of internal destruction. It doesn't stop decimating the opponent for even a second until that target... is no more."
The force from both contact points would be released into Gekkō, causing a chaotic collision between one another as they continuously bounced off one another, again and again, acting within the body of the target with the intent of destroying everything and anything until nothing else remained. If successful, that was the end of Gekkō.
Sadly, though, it wasn't not just yet. The moment Gekkō sensed Kaerikotsu, he immediately knew what was to come. Serious redirection. Upon making impact, the developed muscles within his entire body manged to survive the impact; however, it was not without consequence, the muscles nearly ruptured completely due to the force exerted from his own attack.
He groaned in agony as he was thrown back. His Tsumikami powers managed to save him from complete destruction as said muscles and other internal bodily segments began to regenerate ant instantaneous rates. Then, he began to develop a Millon Escudo; a Bakudō spell that naturally forced any attack towards other areas. Gekkō infused the Shakkahō and Black lightning he absorbed from the latter incident into the Escudo, granting it enough strength to force Seireitou's Sōkotsu back into his own body with even more fever and power, being capable of rupturing Sei's own bones, muscles, and vital organs. The incredible and multiple seismic waves that would return back into Seireitou would completely obliterate him.
Gekkō said nothing, however his eyes told the entire story: malevolence and malice where all that came from his soul at this point.
Fools.
They were all fools. Fools to think they could take on one Yonkō one-on-one, much less two. Raian had been quietly watching the battlefield after killing Mukei. Gekkō, the foe Seireitou had left for him, had instead engaged the silver-haired demon. The blood that had spurted from Mukei's ruptured esophagus and onto Raian's face, dripped eerily as the raven-haired man watched on, a sadistic smile on his face. Then he saw it. Gekkō's critical mistake; the same made by Mukei. Conveniently, Seireitou's Dankū spell had vanished after the implosion, and with the other fighters mourning Mukei's death, or watching Gekkō final stand, there was nothing to impede his movements yet again. And now, déjà vu was setting in.
At the moment Gekkō unleashed the seismic shockwave, Raian moved. His speed like lightning striking, masking once again, his spiritual pressure. The sound was deafening, and Gekkō, unfortunately, was too focused on surviving Seireitou's onslaught to possibly catch wind of Raian's movements. It was doubtful the man had even noticed Raian observing them after his fight with Seireitou began. After all, deviating his attention from Seireitou would've resulted in assured death. While Gekkō was yet still in mid-stride, still in the process of redirecting the force of Seireitou's formidable counter attack, and thus, helpless to defend himself, lest his risk releasing that force back on to his own body, Raian struck. In what was nothing short of the fastest Iaido technique either Seireitou or Gekkō could possibly comprehend, Raian unsheathed his blade at such speeds that it ignited the blade from the sheer friction, now being a flaming blade of death; sending the flaming, sharpened object straight through Gekkō's skull — a move that would leave the Tsumikami little more than a shish kebab on the raven-haired Yonkō's sword.
In the process, the force that Gekkō was attempting so hard to redirect at Seireitou, was re-redirected at him, as his Kidō shattered, a result that would not only leave him impaled through his skull, a kill in and of itself, but also crushed; internal organs, bones, and muscles alike. It would be a miracle if Gekkō felt anything before the cold hands of death took him.
Raian's own lifeless eyes bore into the man who would join Mukei, "Seems you fools never learn your lessons."
The blade met metal; that being Gekkō's zanpakutō Seinaruisei as she manifested within the palm of hand instantaneously. "Don't underestimate my own speed Battōsai. The element I possess has already seeped into my physical abilities... including speed."
A maniacal and sadistic grin of glee that rivaled Raian's own appeared upon Gekkō's countenance as he saw the blood of his friend splattered across his face. "Now, I'm going to finish this little scuffle. His body began radiating a murky dark blue, as poisonous reiatsu radiated throughout the atmosphere, killing off the reishi as a result.
"Meikai." Suddenly, a vortex nearly several times larger than that of the typhoon he created earlier. The dark tendrils of electricity and buffering sonic booms that erupted from the twister sent seismic waves throughout the once grassy plains, causing earthquakes and other natural disasters.
Then, within a fraction of second the vortex dispersed, and Gekkō now garbed from head to toe in silver-esque black armor with golden outlines, Gekkō's appearance was the exact visual image of the angel of death. With feathered wings protruding from his back along with a pair of light blue orbs that trap his opponents in an ocean of spiritual energy, Gekkō is now what one would call "Terror in a humanoid form".
To further proof this statement, Gekkō, using the vortex's kiai-like burst to this advantage, appeared directly before Raian with speed paralleling that of a lightning strike in all its luminant and instantaneous glory, prior to slashing him across the chest. However, this was not a shallow cut, oh no, rather this slash made usage of the Nōdachi's elongated form and cut through Raian's ribcage all the way to his heart where the slash wound made a disturbing gash.
"This is going to end here, Raian Getsueikirite." Gekkō whispered in a foul tone.
Seireitou had heard enough. Gekkō's feat of avoiding destruction was... admirable if not a bit outrageous. But then... a startling event occurred. Mukei, of all people, appeared on the battlefield. Alive and well, no less! But there was something off about him. He was staring straight at Gekkō with an almost bloodthirsty look upon his face. Without saying another word, Mukei leaped up high, right where Gekkō and the duo of opponents were all standing in mid-air, and brandished his sword. Just as Gekkō's attack was to make contact onto Raian's body, Mukei entered into the fray and took the strike himself, leaving Raian unharmed entirely. "You... bastard... Stop... fucking... around...!" Mukei's dying words were softly spoken. Making use of this situation, Seireitou and Raian quickly identified this small window of opportunity. Seireitou was the first to move, thrusting his fist outwards to deliver a powerful and intense Ikkotsu pointblank against Gekkō's unaware backside, while Raian held his blade above his head and swung down, unleashing a fierce Ryōdan that sliced straight through the bloodied Mukei and continued forward to do the same to Gekkō's own body.
But this was happening all in Gekkō's mind, who was doing all of his actions as if he was having a fight with him; talking and communicating with himself. Seireitou and Raian, had not moved a single time, since the implosion caused by the Dankū construct from earlier. They merely watched with a humorous look upon their face, as Gekkō continued making himself look like a fool, unaware that the focus of Seireitou's last attack, the one he absorbed in order to avoid being destroyed by, was not neijing but something else entirely.
The silver-haired man, who stood beside Raian, merely shook his head slowly. "Koppō. This martial arts attacks the framework of a being, such as the skeletal system, and causes destruction to it which causes the entire construct to fall apart. But this one wasn't a physical version. It was a mental version. The neijing force that was carried by the Shakkahō fireballs from before were concealing a nasty secret. Each carried the will of Koppō, which is to damage his mental framework. From the moment the Dankū collapsed and Gekkō attempted to absorb that energy, he's been in a delusional state... Suffering in silence until the Koppō has dug down deep enough to completely mind crush him. A fitting end." he explained, crossing his arms as he continued watching Gekkō squirm in his hypnotized state of mind, which would continue without him having ever realized it... until his entire brain has been thoroughly rendered onto nothing and with it, his very life would come to an end.
A Desperate Comeback?[]
Hikari was devastated.
The fact he had been completely ignored, dumbfounding for him in and of itself, was probably the reason why he was still breathing. Mukei Tsuki's untimely demise and Gekkō's valiant yet futile stand were able to finally break his until then unwavering resolve. For the first time in his life he looked upon his Bankai, honed to what he had thought was perfection millennia ago, and felt its power was nearly meaningless. For the first time in his life, rather than look down upon weaklings struggling to scratch him, he gazed upward and saw the two monsters far above him.
He was never a man of subtlety and mind-numbingly complex techniques. He always crushed his enemies with his ample power and never needed such qualities. However, this fight was unlike any other he had participated in, and all he had was a hammer. All he could do at this point was to grab it two-handed and hope it would make any difference.
"Commence, Sinsaeng Jeongsu", he stated sternly, impaling his heart with his own sword.
A brief but blinding flash of light followed. Maebure emerged rejuvenated, an ornate golden armour over his white robe and his shining Zanpakutō enlarged and fused to his right hand. A pair of ethereal, spreading wings of light grew from his back. He promptly tapped his full power, now rivaling that of the entire Gotei 13 he had once confronted. Subsequently, he aimed the tip of his blade at the Soul Prince.
Then, there was a loud, eye-searing screech. The sky darkened. Miniscule particles of spiritual energy started to accumulate quickly into a rapidly rotating sphere the size of a tennis ball. Its vibrations produced a gut-wrenching hum and surges of electricity surrounded Hikari's body. The ancient Sōzōshin struggled, veins bulging out on his temples as he was focusing more and more energy into the extremely concentrated technique.
"Seireitō Kawahiru-dono", he began in a solemn tone. "Please, accept this gift as my sign of respect to you."
"Cheonjeong: Sinseong."
The sphere burst forth with nearly the speed of light, the power of a nuclear warhead cotained within the miniature orb aimed at the back of the Silver-Hairs.
Drawing reishi towards himself, Alex pulled his zanpakutoh out before attaching it to the back of his right hand for later. Forming multiple giant orbs around himself, he shot them towards the two yonko before redirecting them in a circular motion around Seireitou and Raian. When all orbs were in place in 3 circles around Seireitou and Raian, they began to brighten until they appeared as miniature suns. Each orb held the quantity of at least a captain's level of spiritual power."Don't forget about me you big bullies, i might not be as famous or as aggressive as the others but it is still rude to forget someone. Then again, fighting like this is more jibril her style" Getting the orbs to spin, he spoke a single word before letting all orbs explode."Aisugirochin" The sphere of energy obliterated its surroundings while at the same time a ring of ice tried closing in on the throats of Seireitou and Raian to behead them. "Kokuyōseki no supiritto keimusho. Kōryō eien ni sekkan." Raising his hands towards the explosion as he spoke the words, the explosion and the ones caught in it utterly concealed and trapped by a box of pure energy, its color darker than the night itself, followed by another box of energy, although this one seemed more solid than the previous one, he started to prepare for another of these tricks while at the same time trying to catch his breath. "Even a god can be defeated after all, the trick is in finding out how to defeat that damned god."
Looking at slaughterfest that has been just caused Kanjiro looks up. "Shouldn't have gone head to head." Kanjiro stated. Kanjiro raised his Zanpakuto in the air. As the others where doing their strange attacks, Kanjiro had something else in mind, something that uses nature to the fullest amount. He knew that Raian was strong with Zanjutsu and there was no way for him to defeat him, but for everyone else working together, it might work. Knowing that the solar energy he consumed was enough, Kanjiro sheathed his Zanpakuto.
Julien was confused on why he sheathed it. "Why did you sheath it?" asked Julien. "I... have an idea, but it requires you." Kanjiro requested. Julien also realises that Raian has done something the arrows. "I wonder if I could still detonate them." Julien thought to himself. Noticing Seireitou, Julien was perplexed, why not use Zanjustu against him? Then turned to Raian, Kido against him. Instead of Kido, why not Gintou? Kanjiro came up to Julien and whispered the plan to him.
The two start to apprehend their plan and do it quietly. Julien, using Hirenyaku, appears right above Raian, sending arrows on to his head and rapidly detonating them upon impact. Quickly, Julien using Hirenyaku, goes into the forest with Kanjiro. Rising up into the air, Kanjiro looks towards his competitors. "Work together!" shouted Kanjiro. Kanjiro then sends his fist down on to the ground, utilizing his Fuhen Eikyou Sabi. This attack was not the same, it was much more more fierce than before, causing such a shockwave, that even the tree's start flying themselves in the Fuhen Eikyou Sabi direction: Raian.
Rapidly, Julien fires out arrows onto the trees. Smiling unto himself, he'd look to the tree's ensared with his arrow bolts, hidden by the leaves. Using Hirenyaku. he'd appear at battlefield. Getting out a silver tube of Gintou. Releasing out the tube of Gintou, he'd begin to transform it into Reiryoku. "I don't know what to call it, but, it'll get a name." Julien said sighing. Sending out a really high density reiryoku all the way towards the two Yonkou. Kanjiro also uses Shunpo to appear at the opposite side of Julien, raising his Zanpakuto up in the air sending a Uchū Sokudo Mimashi towards the two Yonkou, using his power to ensnare them. "That's all I have left, I don't need to strech a limb to defeat two Yonkou." Kanjiro stated. Julien, picks up a fallen Kanjiro and they both head out. As the arrow bolts reach the two of them in the blast radius, Julien detonates the arrows, attempting to at least gain a scratch. However, the two have left the others to fight alone.
"A person capable of the Sinsaeng Jeongsu? Quite a feat indeed." Seireitou stately calmly, witnessing the attempts made to deliver a strike onto the Yonkō duo. "But as I told you before. Even if you should release a greater volume of spiritual energy than me or Raian-san, it can not stand up to a greater skill." he finished. This was a failed combination. It mattered not the mighty powers of Hikari's attack, because the explosion rendered by Alex's little trick would neutralize both feats. All it was needed was to get out of the way. Grabbing Raian's shoulder, an instantaneous flicker resulted in their absence, reappearing not too far away from where the two attacks caused each other's downfalls. Shukuchi, the teleportation technique obtained by only those who reach "the territory", managed to allow them to effortlessly escape the scope of those two attacks; though, it was also thanks to the poor teamwork between the two aforementioned challengers that allowed such an easy escape.
But then came down the attacks of Kanjiro and Julien. Yet more aggressive assaults aimed at overwhelming the target. And this one would fail just like before. All it took was a simple gaze and Hōkōryū snapped into action. Kanjiro's solar attack was neutral energy, absorbed directly from the sun's radiation which meant he had less control over it than a technique using one's own latent energy supply, meaning it took very little concentration to redirect the large-scale attack and forced it to crash into Julien's own attempt at scoring a hit, yielding a massive explosion which formed a huge dust cloud, enshrouding the land and hindering sight; falling short of ever actually reaching its intended Yonkō targets. Even without sight, Seireitou was an unrivaled martial artist; to pick up on physical movement would be second-nature. And he quickly noticed Kanjiro and Julien's attempt at escaping the battlefield.
"You... aren't going anywhere."
Using the distraction of the smoke caused by their attacks, the Shakkahō clone from earlier that had cornered Kanjiro's group appeared onto the scene. Two streaks of red flames erupted from its stomach, quickly turning into fists as they were launched an incredible speed hidden by the dust and debris, making it nigh impossible to actually ascertain the technique quick enough to manage a dodge or a block. As soon as those fists would strike their target, the Ikkotsu technique imbued into their structure would allow their inner force to project itself through the body of the targets. And because the clone is composed solely of Shakkahō's flames, the inner force projected by Ikkotsu would be fire itself, being directly sent into their body and burning away their internal organs until their deaths closely followed. Most likely, this would result in two more deaths, and the others would follow quite soon.
After being send down by the Shakkaho clones with Ikkotsu, Julien starts to cough out blood, but all lot. "I don't have all lot to survive this, but it's the only way I can save myself, from these guys and Kanjiro." Julien thought to himself. "I knew they wouldn't let us leave easily, I had to activate my Blut.". Looking onto a unconscious, who'd be moments from death, if he was left like this. It was a Yonkou, there was no way for him to survive, impossible. "If he didn't have such a good defense, he'd be dead already." Julien states. The same could be said for Julien, he was also losing blood, rapidly. Reaching his hand out to grab Kanjiro, Julien uses Hirenyaku, sending himself away from the area, escaping and possibly trying to heal him.
Hikari had been observing everything from a safe distance, protected by a simple Kidō barrier. Even though his somewhat desparate attack could be argued to had failed, Maebure was metaphorically enlightened by what had transpired in its wake.
You block an attack you cannot take, and evade an attack you cannot block. Rather than muster any of his impressive defences thanks to his incredible reflex, the Soul Prince chose to hastily retreat. Even though he had revealed his trump card prematurely, it allowed him to gain invaluable knowledge.
He was capable of harming the two monsters of battle. However, he first needed to ensure such a powerful technique actually connects, and as the recent event had showed, lack of coordination between the participants of the challenge could be severely detrimental. This realisation at last made Hikari consider a true cooperation.
The form of his Sinsaeng Jeongsu dispersed in a flash of light. Whilst excessively powerful, it was strenuous to maintain for an extended period of time, and Maebure needed to spare every ounce of energy. Once again in his Bankai form, he let out a sigh. Having had mastered it literally millennia ago, it was nearly effortless for him, and its considerable power output should be sufficient to do what he had in mind.
Thus prepared, he fixed his stare at Kawahiru and Getsueikirite, and was promptly enveloped by an orange, fluctuating aura of his energy-replenishing technique, Heuleum.
"Fellow combatants!", he boomed in a spiritually enhanced voice. "They mock our pride and foil our attacks! However! They fight as a duet against several individuals! Let us join our utmost efforts and by our combined might crush them decisively!"
Merely had his short speech ended, he disactivated Heuleum and lifted his left hand.
"Remove the lynchpin which holds Creation together, unchain the shackles of reality and set us free. Hidō #1, Shōhi", he recited hastily, and a swirling orb of white energy materialised above his palm. "Hidō #4, Kakudai", he added immediately.
The sphere increased in size and potency, gaining a red hue in the process. Then, Hikari charged onward with the use of Shunpo, rapidly closing the distance between him and the Soul Prince.
"Morning breeze, become a raging tornado. Feeble spark, strike down as a lightning. Gentle stream, flood with your mighty breakers. Faint flame, incinerate in your fiery inferno", he muttered quickly on the move.
Having had reinforced the augmenting spell, he subsequently fired the sphere at the silver-haired Sōzōshin. He had reduced the distance between his target and imprinted his will firmly on the spell of his own invention, which now carried with it tremendous flow-disrupting power. Maebure retreated instantly after firing it, hoping it would create an opening for someone else to strike.
Seeing Kanjiro and Julien flee, Alex couldn't really blame them with the opponents they faced. "Bankai, Tengoku kara tsuihō jiburīru." The clouds in the sky started gathering as if a tornado was going to come until the column of wind comprising the would be tornado rose even higher, raising the air to the lower stratosphere. The air brought by the updraft cooled rapidly, and the water particles it contained become tiny drops of ice that combined to form hailstones. As they fell once again, the hailstones melted, cooling the surrounding air even further, making the air heavy, and it dropped down at a high speed. This great downward airflow appeared like a "downburst." The natural top speed of a downburst is comparable to a tornado, and the release of Alex his bankai increased the speed of it up even further. This section of air, pulled down from an extremely high altitude, easily surpasses the speed of sound. The supersonic wind blade sliced in a perfect circle with a range of 20 meter, while the accompanying shock wave completely destroyed what remained in the 20 meter around him. As the dust cleared, Alex was slowly becoming visible again, his hands covered with pure white gloves and his feet armoured boots. The display of heavenly power was dwarfed by the thrum echoing from his gloves as it shines with a bright golden light emanating from along the back of his hands before seemingly dissolving to reveal the words regnum caelorum et gehenna. His wardrobe changed to a white robe like the roman generals would wear with his shoulders protected by armor filled with silver filigree. “Hikari, can you hold them at bay while I finish with the preparations for a little trick I wanted to use?”
Seeing the attack nearing his body, Seireitou's eyes quickly began to tense up as they narrowed, revealing a rather annoyed but slightly enraged expression. The swirling ball of energy managed to collide with his upper torso, resulting in a semi-massive explosion as it smothered his body from the view of the opponents. But a truly frightening vision quickly came into sight as the aftermath of the spell began to vanish. There stood Seireitou, his arms crossed, his uniform slightly burnt and scuffed from the attack. However, for all intent and purposes, he was completely unscathed. His expression, though, became even more fierce as he stared directly at Hikari. "You dare to insult me with this mediocrity? I've put my whole body through hell to make it this strong, throwing myself into the heart of a volcano to condition it to handle immeasurable intensities... while you attempt to use such roundabout attacks? You're not a real fighter. And I sure as hell won't be wasting the techniques that I've spent a thousand years perfecting on your half-assed routine. Why, it won't take more than these two bare fists to knock that pathetic expression off your face and onto the concrete." he stated firmly, lowering his stance to enter a martial arts stance in which his legs were bent, his open palm was held at his front knee while his clenched fist was held at chest-level. "Raian, it's time to kill them. No more games."
Final Stage[]
Raian narrowed his eyes. He too had grown tired of this; but for Seireitou to suggest it first? That was unheard of. Still, it couldn't be helped. Clasping his hands together, and locking his fingers into an intertwining position, an aura of Kidō suddenly appeared around the Yonkō of Zanjutsu. Two fighters had already attempted to escape, so it was time to prevent them from being capable of escaping. Suddenly, from his aura of Kidō, four black rods launched, landing miles apart, in the shape of a square. Once in place, they too began to radiate intense Kidō power.
"Black rods, red fire." Raian began to chant. "The god of this world binds us in crimson blood..."
As Raian chanted the words to the spell, four red walls began to rise up, miles into the air, boxing the twenty-plus combatants in completely, before a roof was erected; forming a complete barrier around the entire battlefield. This time there would be no escape. These fools would die here, in vain, unable to escape either Yonkō's wrath.
"...the sun forbears to shine its light. Modified Kidō — Bakudō #99, Part 3. Shikakuchūjin!" the Yonkō declared, finishing his barrier. "The floor is all yours, Sei-san. There is no escape. This barrier can only be broken by killing me. And, after their sorry performance, I don't think we have to worry about that."
Seireitou had nodded softly in response, softening up his aggressive stance from earlier. With Raian having finally cornered these opponents into a distinct area of their control, it was time to kill every last one of them with a final move. He rose his arms, letting his clenched fist become open, as his palms clapped together in front of his torso. With this action, an enormous white cloud of smoke erupted from his body in an instantaneous manner, swirling around the two as it began to expand outwards rapidly and exponentially, clawing its way to the four corners of the massive barrier that trapped all of the challengers.
"So long as you are all within the scope of this Sekienton, which has been imbued with my martial will, you are at our mercy. Perceiving my strikes now would be pointless, as this is one that will block off all your possible paths of attack and defense. I am... all around you. And now, farewell. It's a shame... you couldn't put up a better fight." he finished, closing his eyes as he made his move. A choke hold designed to capture each and every one of them, except for his Yonkō comrade, coming from every perceivable direction with no way to escape so long as they remained within the smoke spell's confines. Once he would manage to get them in his choke hold, a master of his capabilities would be able to effortlessly snap their necks and effectively murder each and every single opponent. The barrier served the purpose of making sure they could not get away from this white smoke. Without a doubt, this combination would mean the end of them all.
"Great, just great..." Was all Alex muttered as the smoke started to surround them. Letting the two dark boxes he made crumble, wind started to gather around him before it begins to swirl like a maelstrom, with Alex at its center. "Making me fight like this, it is too flashy for my taste." Reversing the wind-flow, the wind he managed to gather turned into a tornado strong enough to blow the smoke away that he expanded big enough to remove the threat of the smoke before retracting its creation to around him. Making the wind around him sharp enough to cut through metal, he tried to find his partners before calling out to Hikaru again. "You are supposed to be a yonko right Hikaru?! Then show us that you are as powerful as them while i'll try to help you with my own tricks!"
"Fools." Raian muttered.
Still in the pose he assumed while forming the barrier, a Kidō aura flared up around his body. As it did so, the barrier changed, confining each combatant, save for himself and Seireitou into their own separate compartments, away from all of their comrades. In addition, Alex's "tornado" was rendered useless, as the smoke had nowhere to go, and therefore was now trapped in each individual compartment, unable to be blown away by normal means. Now Seireitou's will-imbued Kidō was destined to crush every last opponent in a final, brutal, slaughter. Yet, Raian decided to speak on the matter anyway;
"Now you can't move the smoke." he cackled menacingly. "Calling out to Hikaru won't save you either... Like us, he may be a Yonkō, but we have long since ascended from the pitiful realm of power he currently inhabits."
"I might not be able to remove the smoke, i can still keep it at bay so that my neck won't be snapped." Using the wind of those other compartments to protect others was something he hadn't tried before, but he was not risking it now either. His own wind barrier was already hard to maintain the way he had made it, trying to do the same for the others could backfire and actually choke them instead of protect them. "From a sword user like Raian, i didn't expect any honor in fighting his opponents. You Seireitou on the other hand, i hoped that you would fight with more honor than choking us or breaking our necks with this kind of Kidō. Where is the honor in this way of winning?!"
Seireitou stood tall, his arms crossed, as he heard Alex's incessant ranting. The silver-haired man stared at the wind-user with an annoyed expression but slowly descended into a hearty chuckle. "...Honor? Did you really think you could come here, proclaim your great victory over the Shiroyasha and the Battōsai, and expect to keep your lives while holding on to such a weak and naive principle? A warrior has only one job on the battlefield. And that... is to win. There is no such thing as a "good side" or a "bad side" during a conflict. When at war, both sides are in the wrong. You must shed the childish thoughts of respect and honor... and become a demon. That is the only way to survive on this battlefield." he explained, slowly walking toward the Kidō barrier which held Alex trapped with his white smoke spell still as active as ever. "That was one of the first things I taught Kyōraku Shunsui during my days as a Captain. What happened today was clear. Several children were trying to fend off a pair of demons. And they lost their lives while clinging to their naivety." the silver-haired man added, raising his right arm as his open palm was aimed directly as Alex.
"As I said before, the Sekienton is now a medium for my martial will. Even that tornado can't hold against it." With a snap of his fingers, several tendrils began to form out of the shapeless white smoke, striking the outside of the tornado in three distinct spots, causing the uniform wind to slowly become wavy as it no longer kept up its circular appearance. Within seconds, the tornado's speed was slowly decreasing, as did the intensity of its winds. "Koppō is best for breaking the framework of a technique. It will take care of that pesky tornado." Once it shattered the tornado, the white clouds quickly rushed in close to envelop Alex and crush his neck until dead.
"Honor is what has kept me alive up to this point, and i didn't even know who the two of you where in the first place." This would hurt like hell,after all, but better being hurt like that than to be killed. He uttered the words that activated the spell, Hadō #90. Kurohitsugi.First a Kurohitsugi he used to target himself followed by one aimed at Seireitou. Two dark boxes of pure black energy formed, one around Alex and the second one around Seireitou and surrounded them within the layer of spiritually strengthened gravity altering energy. As the box started to surround himself, Alex surrounded his body with his Kokuyōseki no supiritto keimusho beneath the Kurohitsugi on himself in a rather desperate gamble to survive.
Whilst the attention of the two Yonkō was occupied with the unfortunate Alex, Hikari closely regarded the Kidō cage and white cloud of Sekienton surrounding him. After a short while his habitually stern face expression was replaced by an uncanny smile. His dark orange Reiatsu engulfed him abruptly like a raging flame, so intense it started generating electricity.
"Remove the lynchpin which holds Creation together, unchain the shackles of reality and set us free. Hidō #1, Shōhi", he recited in a calm manner.
He then threw the white sphere at the approaching cloud and detonated it within. Seireitō's spell swirled violently as the flow of its energy was disrupted, dissolving it. Immediately afterward he tossed another orb of the custom spell, this time aiming it at the barrier cast by Raian. Ripples appeared on its surface upon impact.
"Shatter what is held together, tear to pieces and disperse in the wind. Hidō #3, Hahen."
A torpedo-like projectile of crimson colour burst forth from his palm and struck the immense Bakudō with great force. Rather than simply explode, wasting its energy by dispersing it in all directions, the spell covered the semi-translucent wall with surges of dark red lightning, which proceeded to form cracks in the weak spots of the cage created by the previous technique. Subsequently, he fired several Hahen spells in quick succession, targeting a different fracture with each one. An intricate web of fissures adorned the rapidly weakening Bakudō. Hikari lifted his Zanpakutō and pointed its tip at the cracking wall.
"Nikkō Taihō."
A powerful beam of pure energy busted through the cage and flew farther, exploding on the wall of the vast cage enclosing all of the present combatants. Hikari simply marched out of the remains of his former confines and turned toward the Yonkō. He noticed the Kurohitsugi spells cast by Alex, but did not pay much attention to them.
"Brats", he started in a conversational tone as he began walking slowly in their direction. "Did your excessive power impair your ability to evaluate the situation? I too was once confronted by a numerous yet seemingly weak foe, and I was sure of my victory. They struggled to scratch me with their simplistic techniques, and I treated them like annoying flies. Do you know how did that end? I was killed", he continued until he halted abruptly, lifting his Zanpakutō. "Release your swords or die."
Then, he stabbed his heart with the blade, unleashing a momentary tempest of Reiatsu. The flash of power was brief, however, and he promptly emerged once again in his ultimate form, Sinsaeng Jeongsu. He pointed the shining triangle of his sword, now fused with his right hand, at the cage holding Alex, and fired a single white orb. The instant it struck the spell imprisoning him, it dissipitated slowly into the air.
"Now then, what is your response?", asked Maebure as he moved the tip of his sword toward the two Yonkō. "An insult? Another cloud of smoke? Or perhaps a slap to the wrist?"
"An insult would be too good for you. You've gone and made yourself look like a fool all on your own. You don't need my help for that." Raian cackled, the smoke clearing to reveal his barrier still very much in place. "Did you not listen? You can go shouting words all you want at this construct. Wave your little hands at it all you wish."
Raian stepped forward, a very sadistic grin on his face as he twirled his unreleased Zanpakutō between his fingers. He could feel the burning anger within his foe as his tactics were revealed to have done little more than make him look like what he truly was; a fool with a mouth far too large for his own good. When Raian reached the wall that separated himself from Maebure, his grin grew wider.
"This barrier is tied to my life. So long as I live, it will never shatter. Pity for you, isn't it?" Raian lectured. "If that was the outcome of your fight, then it sounds like you were a pathetic fighter. A rodent should never bare his fangs at a lion. Sei? What's say we kill this one first?"
As the opposition against the two beasts raged on, it was quite obvious who the victor would be despite how well the alliance faired against them. Their ability to work together and hide even bigger techniques in the shadows of little ones, was completely nonexistant. Though, was anybody going to give up? No. This was also clear. The very efforts that had made them reach this far, was the very determination that set them off from the two overwhelming demons. You see. Seireitou and Raian were both veterans, and the fact they were facing children, showed they were quite interested in the powers of today. They also seem inable to forget their past involving awe-shocking wars. Though, truthfully, did any of these combatants give a fuck about their history? No, and the sooner they understood that, the quicker they would realize that their efforts to teach the alliance were doing nothing but making them even more and more oblivious to the lesson before them.
Kodokuna, one whome depicted himself as a savage individual, was one of the only Shinigami to have gone almost completely unnoticed this entire fight. Having lost his dear friend Mukei, the aforementioned saw no need to continue fighting. Lives would just be lost, and these pathetic individuals would just continue to fight a pointless fight. Though, intentionally dying is like running away. So, why were they fighting so hard when the outcome was obvious? Like the lesson Raian and Seireitou sought to touch them, this answer was oblivious to Kodokuna. "Why would you go so far to avenge those you do not know?" The very words lingered within his mind as the events involving Raian's barrier and Seireitou's smoke unveiled before him. "It's quite clear. They are ripe, unlike Raian and Seireitou. They will not be eaten by the rage of war like the two aforementioned. That is why they continue to fight. I see." Muttering the words to himself, keeping them as quite as a thought, Kodokuna stepped forward.
With but only one trick up his sleeve, the latter intended to give his life in order to aid the alliance. Indeed he would be of more use alive then dead, but the technique he wished to make evident within this battle, was one he created on his own. So, taking position behind what remained of the alliance, Kodokuna raised his three unique blades. One of them being his sheathed Zanpakutou, and the other two being specially made swords. Hearing Raian's bitching and nagging about how they should release their swords, Kodokuna began to strike the air rather calmly. Swish. Swish. Swish. As each second passed, Kodokuna's arms got faster, soon reaching the point to where his two limbs disappeared from sight whilst the rest of his body remained. An awe-shocking feat to those whom where not about to place their life on the line for a single trick.
"I have but one shot with this. My Eraser Fang is oscillated spiritual particles that deconstruct spiritrons in a fashion similar to Heilig Pfeil. However, being as the oscillation sharpens them and forced them to grind against each other, their resonating affect allows them to apply the same deconstructing power to other sources of spiritual energy. This smoke and this barrier. I can do nothing but get rid of it. " Acting as his last inner thoughts, Kodokuna brought his blades down.
In a blinding flash of light, cutting through the lingering smoke created by Seireitou, Kodokuna's swords sunk deep into the ground. Completely removing from sight, the vibrations of the blades caused a tremor to form underneath the feet Raian, Seireitou, and the alliance. Crackling and flickering like flame, the energy that coated the blades dispersed throughout the ground. Plants, tiny animals, and other forms of vegitation began to decay and fall as blue tendrils of oscillated energy spiked up into the air. Immense vibrations discharged throughout the sky, and a resonance affect was placed upon everything caught within the vicinity. Kodokuna's unique method of spiriton deconstruction began to take place at this time, as his unseen rings of sound bounced off the surrounding walls of Raian's barrier, and sliced through what smoke was left within the vicinity. Being a feat that any member of the alliance could accomplish, this ability simply aimed to do away with the two annoying conjurations created by Raian and Seireitou. It would also make Kodokuna the center of attention.
"Before I'm cut down by these bastards, I need to make this clear. We have been fighting long enough for all of you idiots to see the best of each others moves. I'm probably not going to be here to coach you assholes into doing what's right. Work together! Chain attacks! Work in each others favor!"
"They just don't listen." Raian snarled, "Look you fools!"
Raian gestured to his barrier, which was still very much intact. Being a shrewd man, Raian wasn't one for going in depth and explaining his techniques, but now that it seemed that it would be necessary to keep them from shouting "heroic" things before proving themselves fools time after time.
"This barrier is a modified version of the Bakudō #99 spell, used to connect my life force to the Kidō used to create it. Unlike most Kidō, which are bound by my spiritual particles, this is bound by my will. It won't crack, dent, hoof a paw, nothing unless you kill me and therefore, my will. Giving the predicament you're in, I'd say you're out of options. That might seem unfair, but considering you blithering idiots haven't done anything by shout obscenities and fire your swirly balls of spiritual energy, you have no one to blame but yourselves for your hopeless predicament.
"You're all talk. No action. Each of you, especially Hikari, thinks that you can lecture about your war experiences, or your failures, but you seemingly haven't learned from any of it. Do you think any of you playing the badass is going to land a hit on me? Do you think I'd allow such foolishness a day in the sun? No. I'm not like Sei. I didn't come here to teach you anything. This is a battle. The first rule of Kendō is 'Victory is survival, defeat means death'. That is what my sensei taught me thousands of years ago! I'm not here to sit in my skirt and skip around like a bunch of dandelions, showing off my 'super special awesome attacks'. I'm here to kill you. Each and everyone of you. And you have treated me and my techniques as though you actually were going to show off a Yonkō and win.
"Let me put it in more plainer terms; the moment you entered the fight with either Sei and I, you should've fought as if your lives depended on it. Instead, you treated it as an opportunity to show off, increase your own glory, make celebrities of yourselves. And you will all pay for that. Now... sit there... rot in those compartments, within my barrier, and mourn the day you decided not to take us seriously right from the start!" Raian snarled.
If Seireitou didn't finish this soon, he would do it himself.
Nodding his heads to Raian's words, Kodokuna placed his finger up in an attempt to silence the individual. It was clear that Kodokuna's ears were working fine, and this idiot was just bitching and griping like always. So, like the well mannered man he was, Kodokuna decided to describe his plan. For those as short tempered as Raian, this would be a well needed lesson. So, clearing his throat and stepping forward, the wolf began to speak.
"I am well aware what you said about this being connected to your life. This means one of two things. One, you must be killed in order for the barrier to disappear. Two, the connection between you and the barrier needs to be cut so that the alliance can further continue their assault. I attempted to test both of these with that attack. The oscillation of spiritual particles causes vibrations, any idiot knows that. So, of course resonance is possible with spirit particles that are being vibrated. We're in the spirit world fool, everything is made up of spiritrons here. Any vibration upon a solid object will create momentary vibrations on said object. The tremor, creating a vibration through you and the barrier. The tendrils of oscillated spiritual particles, creating another vibration upon the barrier that matches the one upon your person. Resonance, chained with the piercing and grinding affect of a Heilig Pfeil is like a timer on your spiritrons. I don't espect this to work, as I have never tested this on a person. I also don't know what all you're capable of. So, we'll see if you can stop the collapse of your spiritrons. I'd say in about five minutes, you'll lose half the feeling in your left half."
Shukuchi was more than enough to evade the Kurohitsugi spell. While a fully-powered one would've been far more difficult to escape from, one like this that was being poorly executed and barely focused upon would be child's play. Seireitou flickered behind Raian, grasping his shoulder in the same instant, as the raven-haired man had continued to prove how their futile attempts at shattering these Kidō barriers would be moot. As Raian finished his words regarding them, though more specifically Hikari, Seireitou continued to put together his future plans for attack. That tap upon his friend's shoulder was all it took to allow the silver-haired man access to the barrier's workings, as Raian granted him permission without the need for a verbal communication between them. War comrades like them knew that in a fight, simple talking between fellow compatriots could result in distractions and death on the battlefield, meaning that being able to convey thoughts and actions without the need for verbal discussion became a necessary trait to acquire. As Kodokuna began his own ranting, Seireitou took the opportunity to flicker once more via the Shukuchi, using that split second in which Kodokuna would be far more focused on Raian to anticipate a move by Seireitou. The latter appeared within the same barrier trapping Kodokuna; though, more specifically, he appeared right behind his white-haired opponent.
"You people, blathering on and on like morons, just shut the hell up. Are you in your mating season, bastards?" Seireitou calmly remarked, his fist planted firmly against Kodokuna's back before the latter would be capable of even perceiving the action, let alone being able to react or make a move away from him. That was all it took. Ikkotsu wasn't just a punch, it is a projection of one's force through a medium. And to a master of Seireitou's caliber, a simple touch is all it takes to do so. It'd be impossible to take on a full-powered Ikkotsu from Seireitou at so close a range, head on, and live to tell about it. This would be his pitiful end, and with it, his silly badgering about "spiritons" this and "vibrations" that would prove to be just nonsense as his life would fade away with the hopes of escaping this barrier.
Indeed Kodokuna was a fool for talking, but he was not the kind of fool to make the same mistake as Mukei. Having already realized he would die, going as far as to actually tell his comrades he would, Kodokuna did more then perceive the attack before it connected. He perceived the attack before it was even thought of. The counter measures he took against the immensely powerful Ikkotsu were as followed: The moment it connected, Kodokuna's body lurched forward as if the strength of the punch was already being projected forward. A green hexagonal shield appearing in two different places as his figure flew through the air. The first, receiving the full extent of Seireitou's fist, was the oen that sent Kodokuna flying. The second, positioned in front f Kodokuna's body, cushioned what ever physical trauma he would have received from flying through the air at a high speed. You see, having watched Mukei be cut down by Raian's blade, Kodokuna decided to protect his entire front body with a Millon Escudo, Originally planned to shield him from Raian's swing, having seen how short the blood thirty individual's temper was, Kodokuna planned to draw the aforementioned out with his annoying rant.
"I didn't think you'd be the one to fall for it, Seireitou," Kodokuna spoke as his figure smashed into the ground and skidded to a stop.
The physical trauma he received from being thrown from the force of the punch, and the excess pressure from the millon escudo stopping it, was all quickly thrown out the window as his high speed regeneration kicked it. It would seem that the latter had anticipated being attacked during either the execution or the lecture. Lucky for him, it was the lecture, which he had hoped lured Raian into his range instead of Seireitou. Though, who was he to look a horse in the mouth, or how ever that stupid saying went. "My plan is thrown off to a large extent.If it had been Raian, I would easily be able to exact my revenge for Mukei's death. Though, it's Seireitou. My best course of action would be to vibrate his spiritrons also. Though, my blades are still submerged within the ground. Only one choice."
Turning to Seireitou whom had caused him to go limp and fly, Kodokuna waved his hand in front of his face. "Time out"
Big mistake.
"You miscalculated, Kodokuna. I wasn't trying to kill you just now. Rather... I was merely using this chance to force your trump card. Now that you've revealed the gaps in your defense... I'll let him take care of the rest." Seireitou muttered.
The next second was a blur. Manipulating his own barrier at the instant of Seireitou's strike, Raian darted in at speeds that surpassed that which he used to kill Mukei only minutes prior. Then Kodokuna stuck his hands up, still under the recoil of Seireitou's attack, begging for a time out. That time out would come... in the grave. In a split instant, with all of Kodokuna's barriers now finally out of the way, and with the fool too busy trying to reason with the Shiroyasha, Raian delivered a devastating slash. Not just a slash meant to maim; but one meant to kill. Pushing all of his strength into his arms, Raian swept his blade at the very skin, muscle, and ligaments that held the man's head on his shoulder, aiming to cleave it straight off; no doubt sending a gruesome spray of blood into the air and onto the Yonkō's face.
There were no more barriers this time. No more cocky words to save him. The man was far too recoiled to react, much less notice, since, after all, his attention was on bartering with Seireitou to give him this "time out". And with the barrier in place, any of his comrades that might have been able to help him were rendered only able to watch in horror as another one of their comrades would fall to the Battōsai's blade.
"Whoops... must've slipped." Raian snarled.
Underwhelming and miscalculated. You see, as Raian attacked whilst Kodokuna was still suffering from the recoil of Seireitou's attack, the Millon Escudo that was protecting his body from the physical trauma the pressure of the Ikkotsu would cause, remained. This would of course receive the full throttle of Raian's attack, and because it was designed to recoil attacks back, it would push the force of the sword swing back at Raian. Though, would that actually be possible? No. The desire to kill far exceeded the Millon Escudo's desire to protect. The recoiling that happened, was Kodokuna's body being pushed back in stead, which in turn would cause Raian's swing to miss once it cut through the hexagonal barrier. Though, for it to just stop with cutting through that was highly improbable. You see, this man was ruthless. Cutting down a child meant nothing to him. Cutting down an adult would surely be less of a problem then beheading a child.
"I don't want to sound like I've outsmarted you, but to some extent, I have." Having anticipated the fact that Raian would be predictable enough to attack whilst Kodokuna was opened, the latter took a risk and asked a time out from Seireitou. Not entirely sure this plan would work, the wolf created many unneeded openings for Raian's sword attack to continue forward. If it was to do this, heading directly toward Kodokuna's person once again, the white fluff that made up the shoulder decoration of the aforementioned, would spring to life. At this moment, it would coil around his figure and prove as another form of protection. Though, as it did so, Kodokuna's body phased out of perspective. This would leave the wolf's fluff behind whilst the wolf himself was cloaked using the very technique Aizen used to spy on the Vizored before Shinji caught him.
Kodokuna was a fool to believe that he could ever outsmart one of these two. This entire time, the Yonkō duo had not even utilized the powers of their Zanpakutō. They were holding back a huge portion of their skills and powers; capabilities that would've obliterated every last one of them several hours ago when this collision first began. Seireitou would not allow such arrogance to go unpunished. Just as a teacher must make sure that the student does not develop a large ego and believe himself to be greater than he really is, the silver-haired man was determined to see this through. Raian's attack managed to eventually force the Milion Escudo defense that Kodokuna had been using to defend himself from two attempts on his life, and with it destroyed, Kodokuna was completely open now. No more wards were there to hinder him. Seireitou flickered forward, just as Kodokuna attempted to use his white fluff imbued with a concealing presence spell to hide himself, his fists clenched and ready as they thrust outwards at a devastating and overwhelming speed, crashing into the man's body with merciless force. "Sōkotsu!"
Alex was left standing on the ground, his clothes in tatters, bleeding from innumerable cuts all over his body, but he was alive, just barely so, but alive nonetheless. He had avoided most of the damage from the kurohitsugi with his Kokuyōseki no supiritto keimusho but his energy had not been enough to prevent all the spears from the black box and he had only just been able to avoid enough of them to prevent fatal injuries. His breath coming in in painful bursts, he involuntarily fell to a knee, his hands shaking from fatigue. He knew that he should try to flee, even though he knew that option was long since gone, or try and help the others, but he was spent, with barely enough energy left to prevent himself from loosing consciousness. Taking a deep, steadying breath, he looked towards the opponents and his allies. Gathering the last of his powers, he extended one hand towards Kodokuna while muttering the technique. "Kōryō eien ni sekkan." As he spoke the words, Kodokuna was caught in it and utterly concealed and trapped by a box of pure energy, its color darker than the night itself, while at the same time appearing more solid than a normal barrier. Seeing his barrier disintegrate upon contact with the Sōkotsu, the demons would find Kodokuna unharmed from that Sōkotsu. Smiling at his last accomplishment, his bankai already gone, let his consciousness fade away. If the demons wanted to kill him in his current state, there was nothing he could do to stop them anymore after all.
Shortly after being re-sealed within the Bakudō cage, Hikari began muttering something. Word after word, he was reciting entire litanies at a hightened speed, spell after spell, their chants intertwined with each other, pouring his energy into them. As he was finishing, a very slight green outline enveloped his form. He looked at the Yonkō and smirked.
He now knew the possibility to win this engagement had been far out of reach for the challengers since a long time. During what he expected to be the final moments of his life in this plane of existence, he decided to withhold his pride and show those youngsters why he was once considered a legendary warrior. His new singular purpose was not to defeat them, for that was impossible; all he wanted to achieve was to win the slightest sign of respect from the newer generation of godlike masters of battle, and he was more than ready to devote every ounce of his might toward that goal.
"Kūkanten'i", he at last finished his protracted chant.
Then, he immediately vanished from within his confines. During the same fraction of a second he reappeared a considerable distance away, pointing his Zanpakutō at Raian. With a single flash he unleashed a torrent of high-level Hadō spells, controlling their paths so that they surrounded the Yonkō from all sides. That was not an attempt to harm him, however, at least it was not its primary goal. Rather, it was a flashy diversionary tactic intended to further occupy the attention of the daemons. Instantly afterward he vanished from their perception, preparing for his most likely final assault.
"Tch. Fine." Seireitou briefly commented, backing away as Alex's final move managed to delay the inevitable. He looked around the area around him in the brief moment of silence, but then formed a light smirk upon his face as he looked over to Kodokuna, whom was spared judgment for a couple more minutes. He then stood up tall and faced the white-haired opponent. "What's the matter, Kodokuna? Are you still mad about that Mukei guy that Raian killed earlier? Don't worry... he's in a better place now. In fact, I just received a postcard from him." Seireitou began, lifting his open palm and looking into it as if he was reading something off of it. "It says, "Dear Kodokuna. I'm having lots of fun on my vacation. The tentacled monsters have been especially friendly. And I can practically feel myself wasting away to nothing. Hope you're doing well. Thanks for not saving my soul. Sincerely, A Whore." Well, isn't that lovely?" the silver-haired man finished.
"I would figure that you didn't have the intelligence to check your own mail. You proved me wrong, so I apologize for belittling your unnaturally small amount of intelligence. Now, I have but one question. If you received a postcard from Mukei, have you received a postcard from those other fallen faggots you call your comrades and family?" Giving a wicked smile along with a rhetorical in response to Seireitou's words, Kodokuna's figure slowly returned to an erect stance. Completely alert and aware of his surroundings, he wasn't going to let his own method of drawing in his enemy anger him. So, wiping his mouth and giving a thumbs up in the direction of Alex, Kodokuna began his counter attack.
Having witnessed and registered Raian's attack on Mukei, as well as having perfectly reacted to the latter's last attack, Kodokuna's perceptive ability was clearly much greater then those around him. So, having both speed and alertness on his side, the wolf seemingly vanished from sight. Moving at a speed much faster then what Raian had demonstrated twice, the last demonstration being faster then the first, Kodokuna appeared quite a large distance from both Raian and Seireitou. Still remaining within the vicinity of the annoying barrier that both of them now controlled, the wolf was trapped within their cage, but clearly was the only one they could not tame.
"I'm going to do what both Gekko and Mukei could not. I'll turn this alliance into a team, even if I have to die. So, all of you pay attention to your surroundings. Register the speed of both of these two demons. Don't let them catch you off guard. No matter what!"
Raian stepped forward, silent at first, until he was well enough in front of Seireitou. In an instant, his shihakushō came to life. Black energy, so dark, it matched the coloration of his own shihakushō and became difficult to distinguish, save for its flaming wisps which lashed out from the clothing, suddenly materialized. He clearly had entered his Jinki Fragment Mode, a mode he hadn't entered in sometime, demonstrating to all around, that he was tired of their large mouths and no action.
"You sure talk big for someone who hasn't managed to land a hit." he snarled. "Considering all of your attacks have been foiled, I'd say it is your intelligence which is greatly hindered. Perhaps you hit your head as a child? No, not even that could warrant such a brainless creature. But very well, if you think you can, charge me. Take me on. Show me this confidence you have. You sure speak highly of yourself, for a miserable fuck unable to protect himself, much less his comrades. And let's not forget that you still haven't even managed to make me break a sweat. This barrier? I only created it because your lot tried to run away like a bunch of sniveling cowards. So don't get a big head, thinking you can throw around insults and curse words now just because you've managed to stay alive longer than the other miserable fools who fight us. Your death will come, and I will enjoy cleaning your brain matter off of my sword."
As he finished, the dense spiritual pressure that cloaked his shihakushō enveloped his entire body, allowing him to fully enter his "Version 2" Jinki Fragment state. Raising his palm towards the sky, Raian generated a black ball of energy from his hand and made it and several others like it float around his body. Now they would see just how terrifying he was. Now they would all regret the day they dared challenge him with their haughty, arrogant, attitudes.
The time of the end was nigh.
"Stay vigilant, do not drop your guard. Use my strike as an opening", a booming voice reverberated in the minds of the challengers.
Having used a full-powered Bakudō #77, Tenteikūra to transmit that warning to his fellow combatants, Hikari Maebure remembered to word it vaguely and not to reveal his target due to the risk of being eveasedropped. Having had recited all necessary incantations whilst the Yonkō were occupied with Kodokuna, he was at last ready for his final assault.
Strike unexpectedly. Strike fast. Never hold back. Make sure you hit your target. Those were the invaluable principles of combat he remembered from the time when he himself had been just an upstart warrior, and the previous generation of legends had reigned supreme. It was ironic that in the last moments of his life, at the peak of his power, he had to adhere to them once again.
The air around Seireitō Kawahiru had undulated momentarily before numerous layers of Bakudō #81, Dankū enclosed him in a hermetic cage with several-metres thick walls. Virtually simultaneously four Maebures materialised within, their gleaming swords lifted in preparation to strike. But, that was not their purpose; the tangible Maboroshi clones were infused with something special. They burst into torrential yet contained gusts of violent wind, Tenran spells imbued with disruptive properties of Shōhi and augmented threefold by Kakudai. The miniature storm of Reishi-flow distortion enveloped his whole body.
The actual Hikari Maebure had already stood in front of the Silver-Hairs, imprisoned within the cage together with his opponent, his hands outstretched in a parallel manner in front of his chest. A dark orange orb formed at the tip of his Zanpakutō, and a light pink one in his left palm. Cheonjeong: Sinseong, once again his ultimate Sinsaeng Jeongsu technique, and Hidō #8, Myōbatsu, which dwarfed Hadō #91 with its devastating might. His wings of light vanished, his entire power sucked into the two techniques.
"Farewell", uttered Hikari, but the last sound of the word was drowned by the thunderous noise of world-shattering explosion triggered as he smashed the two spheres into each other.
Would that kill Seireitō? Would it harm him, at least? Create a several-second opening for the remaining combatants? Tousle his hair? That was merely a secondary matter for Maebure, for he had managed to gain his small victory already. In the fraction of the second before the explosion incinerated his body, he had smiled; he engaged the son of his nemesis, gave it his best and most importantly, died the way he chose to.
The Dankū was vaporised by the massive explosion, which shook the earth and towered over the battlefield in the shape of a cross. Hikari Maebure was gone.
"...I've had enough of this farce." the silver-haired man finally uttered amiss the chaos of Hikari's attack.
As the Dankū shattered and the winds of the Tenran began to make their motion toward entrapping Seireitou, whom had shut his eyes once Hikari made his move. But he showed no signs of worry. His face merely reflected the same careless attitude that had been prominent during this entire conflict.
"These winds... are a joke compared to Hiroya-san's spell."
He rose his right arm, and formed a claw-like shape with his fingers bent down just slightly, as if he was clawing at something in the air. "You think that by imbuing a distorting effect onto these winds will make a difference? It's the same as throwing a rock into a river and hoping it makes a sufficient ripple to disrupt its uniform flow. But my Hōkōryū is the discipline that draws the path of the river entirely. Your silly technique... is a far cry away from my power to alter the path of an energy flow." he stated firmly, twisting his wrist slightly, about ninety degrees, as the winds slowly shifted from their original course, twisting and snapping in circles around the silver-haired man. With that disruption technique being a spell that would most likely require immense attention, especially given its Kidō origins, meaning the windstorm would not be too closely controlled, making it easy prey for the Hōkōryū. He lifted his right arm and aimed up at where the massive energy attack was coming crashing down to wipe him out, causing the wind formed from four different sources to gather at a single point and forced it to charge into the aforementioned assault, causing the two to prompt an enormous explosion, lighting up the skies with their brilliant glow; as if it were a magnificent display of fireworks. But when this occurred, Seireitou was already long gone. He had instantaneously reappeared at Raian's side, facing the opposite direction than where the latter was facing.
"Raian..." Seireitou spoke in a significantly deeper and more gruff voice, his eyes reflecting a small glint of amber yellow in their normally silvery grey hue. "None of them are allowed to leave. No more games. No more lessons. It's time to crush their necks and end their lives... one by one." he finished.