Bleach: Reborn — Chapter 173 - Synchronization

"Synchronization?" The captains studied the phantom figure standing beside Wayne. They looked at the illusory shadow, which was exactly the same height as Wayne, and could not tell what its purpose was.

"Levi's ability is to synchronize attacks with its master." With those words, Wayne raised his hand and made a chopping motion, and the phantom beside him matched it with the exact same speed and the exact same movement.

"Hey now, that ability is a lot like mine." At some point, a small pink head suddenly appeared from behind Kenpachi Zaraki. She was draped over Kenpachi's shoulder, peering curiously at Wayne standing not far away.

"A-Tsuki's Zanpakuto is pretty similar to my Sanpo Kenjū, you know. They both summon a creature that synchronizes attacks with the owner."

"Hey, we're in a meeting. How did you suddenly end up out here." Kenpachi turned his head to look at Yachiru Kusajishi, who had without warning draped herself over his shoulder.

"What's the big deal?" Yachiru stuck her tongue out and made a face at Kenpachi. "It's rare to see a Zanpakuto with an ability close to Sanpo Kenjū's, so I got excited. Ken-chan, let's recruit him into the 11th Division, okay?"

"Ah, but the meeting comes first." Kenpachi had no intention of turning down Yachiru's suggestion. The one before him called Tsukishiro Hinamori, he had heard his subordinates Ikkaku and Iba talk about him, and had personally witnessed every moment of his run through the Ranking Tournament, so naturally the young man was very much to his taste. It just was not the right time yet. They could sort it out once the current business was handled.

"Could it be in a superior-inferior relationship with Sanpo Kenjū?" The captains who had witnessed Yachiru Kusajishi release her Zanpakuto began to analyze the situation. Based on the ability Wayne had described, his Shikai appeared no different from Sanpo Kenjū, or perhaps even a step below it. After all, Sanpo Kenjū's ability was to deliver two additional cuts before and after the main strike, a three-in-one attack. The first cut anticipated the move of 8600's attack, the second was swung by 8600 itself, and the third mimicked the way 8600 executed its swing. If Wayne's Zanpakuto, Levi, did nothing more than synchronize and stack damage, then calling it a lower-tier blade compared to Sanpo Kenjū was not unreasonable.

"If that is all it does, driving back an Adjuchas does not seem easy." Aizen gave Wayne no chance to keep holding back. "And since Lieutenant Kusajishi happens to be here — why not use your Zanpakuto and test the measure of Mr. Hinamori's skill?"

"Sure, sure!" Yachiru nodded eagerly.

Wayne found this annoying, but showed no hint of displeasure on the surface, because in the eyes of everyone present, Aizen was simply giving Wayne an opportunity to show what he was made of. It would help him smoothly become a Soul Reaper and enter the Gotei 13, Aizen was doing him a favor. No one would suspect that Aizen had only made this suggestion to probe the depths of Wayne's abilities.

"In that case, I look forward to your guidance, Lieutenant Kusajishi."

"Sure, sure — guidance it is!" Yachiru pressed both hands onto Kenpachi's shoulders and vaulted off in a single leap, her small body clearing a flip before landing right in front of Wayne.

Every captain present, except for Commander-in-Chief Old Man Yamamoto and Kenpachi Zaraki, took three simultaneous steps back in unison, opening up a wider space. That single gesture was proof enough that every captain had instinctively decided they wanted to see exactly what ability this blind yet extraordinarily gifted student possessed.

"Hehe, then I'll attack first." Yachiru drew her pink Zanpakuto from its sheath. She grinned at Wayne and spoke the spirit words. "Come out — Sanpo Kenjū!"

Awooo!

A low cry rang out. Wayne sensed two clusters of Reiatsu suddenly surge from behind Yachiru. Her Zanpakuto had summoned two creatures that were completely invisible, their existence could only be felt through the faint, fleeting pressure of their Reiatsu.

"Yachiru, let Sanpo Kenjū become visible. Otherwise no one can see them." Kenpachi, who knew his lieutenant's Zanpakuto ability well, spoke up.

"Fine, fine." Yachiru was not particularly happy about pulling her punches, but under the circumstances she had no choice. Soon, from behind Yachiru, a round, fluffy creature appeared at her side, a kitchen knife clutched in its hand. And behind it stood another creature several times taller than Yachiru, resembling a Hollow beast, holding a long-bladed cleaver in two skeletal arms. It bared its teeth as if waiting for its master's command.

"Hehe, this is my Sanpo Kenjū!" Yachiru raised both hands high, and the two Hollow beasts behind her mirrored the motion in sync, a scene remarkably similar to what was happening on Wayne's side. "A-Tsuki, you can attack now."

"Then, allow me." Wayne wasted no time. He leveled the one-handed greatsword in his hand at Yachiru, and the phantom beside him instantly shot forward, launching an attack straight at her.

"One of Levi's abilities: Distant Synchronization." The phantom Levi flew up to Yachiru and brought its blade down in a slash. And in the same moment, Wayne swung his own blade down as well.

Yachiru raised her sword to parry, and the two Sanpo Kenjū behind her mirrored the blocking stance.

Blade met blade, Levi's sword clashed with Yachiru's Zanpakuto, while Wayne's greatsword on his side was stopped dead in midair. That was the effect of both sides' synchronization meeting each other.

"This Levi also shares something in common with this old man's Tenken." Komamura spoke from the side. "Though the difference in scale is enormous. It could be considered about half a tier below Tenken."

On the other side, Yachiru had just taken Wayne's blow and quickly launched a counter. She rotated her blade, using the motion to deflect and redirect Wayne's force, then thrust straight forward in a single stroke. The phantom Levi raised its sword to block, but it was run through by the other two blades of Sanpo Kenjū.

Yet to everyone's surprise, Wayne on his side had not taken a single point of damage.

"Oh my. The damage doesn't actually feed back onto the master." 8th Division Captain Shunsui Kyōraku began to make Komamura look bad. "If I recall correctly, Tenken does feed its wounds back to its master, doesn't it? From that point of view, it seems Levi might actually be considered superior to Tenken?"

"A phantom that doesn't feed back damage cannot truly synchronize with its master." Sajin Komamura wore his massive helmet, and no one could see his expression. But it was safe to assume that behind that helmet, the look on Komamura's dog face was quite something.

"Oh? It really doesn't take any damage?"

"Levi is a condensed form of my Reiatsu. As long as my Reiatsu is not exhausted, he will continue to exist and use Reiatsu to repair his body." Wayne gave a simple explanation. "Now then, Lieutenant Kusajishi — I'll continue my attack."

With the explanation finished, Wayne swept a horizontal slash at Yachiru, passing close enough to her forehead to clip a few strands of pink hair.

"Even though he's made of Reishi, his attack speed isn't bad at all." Yachiru bent over backward, barely dodging the slash. Then she charged back in head-on.

She backhanded her blade to knock Wayne's sword aside, then brought her own blade swinging down at him again, while the other two Hollow beasts pressed in from front and back with their own attacks. But this time, the phantom Levi parried all three strikes with ease.

"I knew it... once Sanpo Kenjū is visible, it loses its attacking advantage." Seeing her slashes blocked, Yachiru puffed her cheeks in frustration.

"It's fine, Lieutenant Kusajishi — you can hide them again. Let's start over." Wayne flicked his blade, and Levi stepped back a few paces and waited in place.

"Hehe, I knew A-Tsuki was the best!" Yachiru laughed at Wayne with the familiarity of an old friend. She shifted her blade, and the two Kenjū vanished in an instant. Wayne closed his eyes and began focusing all his senses outward.

"Watch yourself." Yachiru curled the corner of her mouth upward and came at Wayne. Wayne swung his arm and slashed out a blade wave, directly forcing Yachiru's advance back, and simultaneously the phantom unleashed a blade wave of identical force. Two blade waves flew one after the other toward Yachiru. Charging forward, Yachiru dodged one, then raised her sword and cut the other apart.

The blade wave that had been dodged was inevitably cleaved apart by the Kenjū mirroring the same motion.

"It's still effective." Wayne nodded, then recalled Levi to his side and began sending out one blade wave after another.

The doubled assault left Yachiru scrambling to hold the line for a moment. After all, the Kenjū behind her were considerably larger than she was, and in the moment could not respond and keep up very well.

"Hmph, A-Tsuki really is a piece of work." A woman's words are unreliable, one second she had said Wayne was the best, the next second the tune had changed entirely. "Just blade pressure? I can do that too." With that, Yachiru's Reiatsu surged, and a crescent blade wave sharper than any of Wayne's came slashing out. Alongside it, two more blade waves of the same color but different sizes materialized abruptly. Three blade waves of varying sizes formed a triangular formation and flew toward Wayne. Their power was, if anything, greater than Wayne's.

Whoosh.

Wayne used Shunpo to leap skyward and dodge, but the moment he gave ground, his offensive momentum was lost and he was put on the defensive.

"Ikku zo!" Yachiru shouted and used Shunpo to chase Wayne into the air, blade in hand. By the time she appeared at his side, Yachiru was only beginning to raise her hand, yet Wayne had already moved into a parrying stance. A clang rang out as an invisible blade crashed against Wayne's Zanpakuto, knocking his sword back.

"Hey — you've already adapted to my speed?" Yachiru was genuinely surprised by Wayne's combat instincts. Among those below captain level, there were absolutely no more than three people who could adapt to her attack rhythm this quickly. "Then I'll keep going!"

With those words, the combat instincts in Yachiru's blood were fully ignited. She came at Wayne in a succession of slashes, each step faster than the last, while Wayne raised his sword to meet her, blocking every attack from Yachiru and the Kenjū in full. For a moment the two were locked together in a contest neither could decisively win.

"To be able to hold his own against Yachiru in swordsmanship on even terms. In terms of pure swordsmanship, there shouldn't be anyone below vice-captain level who is his match." Watching the battle before him, Kenpachi Zaraki's expression was one of barely restrained excitement. He was itching to charge in and have a go at Wayne himself.

"A phantom synchronized with its master, going up against three bodies attacking at different frequencies simultaneously. His adaptability in combat is very high." 2nd Division Captain Soifon offered her assessment. "But if Levi's abilities are nothing more than this, then this is where his ceiling is."

"Let's keep watching. If he was able to drive back an Adjuchas, that Zanpakuto definitely has more to it than what we're seeing."

Up in the air, Wayne and Yachiru Kusajishi had exchanged dozens of rounds of slashing, more than satisfying Yachiru's battle-hungry instincts. When both of them put all their strength into a final heavy slash at the same moment, Wayne and Yachiru simultaneously fell back. The Reiatsu gathered beneath their feet dissipated, and they both landed on the ground.

"Amazing, A-Tsuki, your fighting technique is incredible!" Yachiru hopped in place with her sword in hand, showering Wayne with praise.

"I barely managed to keep pace with Lieutenant Kusajishi's rhythm. If that anticipating Kenjū's predictions had been just a bit faster, or if it could make different moves from Lieutenant Kusajishi, I might have been in real trouble." Wayne turned his wrist and entered a brief rest.

"Hehe, can't help it, my Sanpo Kenjū is three-in-one. Apart from acting in concert with me, it's very hard for them to do anything else." Yachiru scratched her head a little sheepishly. "But, A-Tsuki, what you said about being faster, I can actually do that, you know." With those words, Yachiru's Reiatsu began rising rapidly, and the Reiatsu of the two Kenjū behind her was climbing steadily as well.

Finally, Yachiru moved again. Her speed was far greater than before. And this time, Yachiru's blade had not even been raised yet when Wayne already felt a surge of danger, and by instinct jumped back out of the way. The very spot Wayne had been standing on instantly dropped into a sword crater. Only at that moment did the blade in Yachiru's hand begin to lift.

Seeing Wayne leap away, Yachiru put force into her swing, and a pale-blue blade wave flew toward Wayne. The mimicking Kenjū behind her chopped out a second blade wave in turn.

"So it can't change the trajectory of the swing, but it can decide whether or not to send out a second blade wave based on the force applied?" Wayne raised his arm and barely managed to parry the incoming blade wave, while Levi at his side just barely cleaved apart the second one.

"Hehe, A-Tsuki better watch out." Yachiru moved again, and this time her speed increased by yet another degree. That also meant the anticipating Kenjū's predictions would come even faster. Left with no choice, Wayne directed Levi to stand in front and hold the line while he charged up his own strike from behind.

The instant the invisible blade split Levi apart, Wayne finished charging his blade wave and sent it slashing out at Yachiru. Clang!

Sanpo Kenjū moved in sudden synchronization, three blades stopping Wayne's blade wave all at once and cutting it apart by brute force. But riding that exchange of offense and defense, Wayne seized a moment to breathe, pulling back sharply to open up distance.

"Remarkable, to have anticipated to that degree." Wayne could not help but give his praise. Sure enough, every Zanpakuto had its own distinct ability, what mattered was only whether the wielder was skilled or not. "Now then, Lieutenant Kusajishi, prepare to receive Levi's second ability."

With those words, Wayne slashed out a cross-shaped blade wave at speed. Yachiru was just moving to block it when she suddenly felt a chill at her back. She looked around, and there was an identical cross-shaped blade wave already flying toward her from behind, growing closer by the second.

At the sight of it, she jumped immediately to dodge. But her movement was not fast enough to bring the massive mimic Kenjū leaping along with her at the same moment. Put another way, it was not that the mimic Kenjū did not jump, but that its body was so large that jumping made little practical difference. And so the cross slashes from both front and behind landed squarely on the mimic Kenjū. A pained howl rang out, and deep gash marks appeared both on the front and back of the mimic Kenjū. Blood sprayed out in an instant. Soon, the gravely wounded mimic Kenjū's form became visible, and then vanished into the air.

"Behind me?" Yachiru turned to look, and only then did she notice that not far behind her, the phantom Levi was standing there in place.

"Levi's second ability: Mirror Synchronization."

➤ Next: Joining the Squad