Spiritual pressure surged skyward. Bankai released, Kensei Muguruma gripped a toothed blade in each hand, both arms wrapped in metal treads that connected behind the back and passed under the armpits, forming a suit of armor. The display wasn't particularly dramatic, but that spiritual pressure was the genuine article. Captain-class, no question.

"Figures you're the only one who actually goes Bankai, Kensei."

Underground, Ichigo applied the slightest force with his right hand. Up in the air, Love Aikawa felt a tremendous weight arrive without warning, lost all control, and tumbled backward. The massive spiked club in Love's grip had already sprouted several cracks.

"Hmph!"

Two thick plumes of smoke blew from both nostrils. Kensei closed the distance in an instant and drove both fists straight at Ichigo's face.

"Hey!"

Ichigo said nothing. He tucked the short blade back at his hip, drew force into his left hand, and threw a punch, apparently intending to meet Kensei's toothed blades with bare fists.

"Waaah!"

The six-petal flowers danced overhead. Orihime spotted the reckless move and couldn't hold back a cry of alarm, ability already activating, a triangular shield beginning to form.

"Don't panic, Orihime." Shinji Hirako had slipped away from the battlefield at some point and appeared at their side. "That guy is a monster. Normal logic doesn't apply."

Spiritual power flooded into the blood vessels, and a pale, branching vein pattern spread across Ichigo's left hand. Without any flourish at all, the fist and the toothed blade simply collided.

BOOM!

A tremendous roar. Against all expectation, Ichigo's fist came away completely unharmed. Kensei was the one who went flying, and not just a few dozen meters. Kensei went straight into a wall several hundred meters away before finally stopping.

"Gah..."

Eyes rolled back, foam at the mouth. The armor plating had provided not a single benefit and had only worsened the damage. True to what had been said, Kensei Muguruma hadn't wasted much time.

"Now!"

And at precisely that moment, the instant Kensei went flying, the remaining seven launched their attacks all at once.

Hiyori Sarugaki had just recovered and charged forward again with the large blade. This time there was no diving from above. Hiyori came in at ground level and swung in a horizontal slash.

A red Cero had already fully charged. Not far away, Mashiro Kuna repaired the mask and concentrated all available spiritual pressure. At Mashiro's side, Hachigen Ushoda pressed both palms together as countless orange cubes materialized in front of them, ready to be launched alongside the Cero.

The whip — missing a third of its length, reappeared. Rojuro Otoribashi's suit was in tatters but otherwise unhurt. Love Aikawa had finished charging again, repositioned high above, and brought the spiked club slamming downward with full force.

SLASH!

That familiar sound of something tearing through air came again. Lisa Yadomaru pressed the attack relentlessly, thrusting the long spear in from Ichigo's flank. And at this final moment, Shinji Hirako entered the fray. The Zanpakuto in Shinji's hand had already changed form, the pommel had become a circular ring, and gripping it in this new shape, Shinji swung it down toward Ichigo.

In the instant before all seven attacks landed, a sweet fragrance spread through the air. Everyone except Shinji Hirako experienced a shift in vision, up and down, left and right, front and back, everything inverted all at once.

In the middle of a battle this fierce, a change that sudden would be lethal to almost anyone. Losing sight was one thing, but a distortion like this would overwhelm the brain, throwing off movement at the worst possible moment.

Yet every one of the Visored had already committed to their attacks, and in that same instant, every one of them closed their eyes without a word between them. Entirely unaffected. It was obvious they had coordinated this way countless times before.

But the target of all those attacks, Ichigo, simply disregarded the shift entirely. For him, it made no difference where an attack came from or what form it took. None of it meant anything.

"These kinds of attacks are useless."

The words arrived like a demon's murmur against their ears. Every one of the Visored felt an involuntary shudder move through them. The shadow of those recent years rose in their chests all over again.

"Getsuga—"

The short blade had returned to his left hand at some unknown moment. Both arms crossed over his shoulders. Spiritual pressure surged violently across his entire body. A golden radiance bloomed at the tip of the blade. Unlike every attack that had come before, this was no longer a simple sword pressure strike.

"Tensho!"

The golden crescent slash swallowed the entire world. Every attack, from every direction, front and back, left and right, from above, was consumed by two massive golden arcs. In that instant, gold became the only color that existed in this space.

All seven Visored hit the ground. Aside from Shinji Hirako and Hachigen Ushoda, the rest had rolled their eyes back and lost consciousness. Their clothing bore surprisingly little damage. The wounds on their bodies were shallow and small.

"Still not pure enough." Standing in the middle, Ichigo shook his head and sighed. "After all this time, this is still your level."

"You bastard..."

"How are you supposed to fight Sosuke Aizen like this? Hm?" Ichigo kept going. "Forget it — just sit back and wait for me to take down Seireitei. I'll split off a couple of streets for you. Call it payment for years of sparring practice."

"You..."

"If that's not enough, I'll throw in a couple more. It's not like I'm short on them."

"Ugh...!"

Nearly choking hard enough to spit blood, Shinji had no comeback. Only the heavens knew how the kid who had once asked them so politely for guidance had ended up like this. As that thought crossed Shinji's mind, the image of a dark-skinned woman surfaced in Shinji's head.

'It's absolutely that woman. Has to be.'

...

After the battle, Orihime and Hachigen Ushoda tended to the wounded Visored. Ichigo's control over exactly how hard to hit was every bit the equal of his talent for mockery, aside from Kensei Muguruma, the others had barely any injuries worth mentioning.

...As for why Kensei was a separate case, Ichigo's position was that Kensei was the only one who went Bankai every single time, the only one who could pull it off, so naturally Kensei deserved a little extra attention.

Though the nature of their abilities was quite similar, in terms of raw healing capacity, Orihime far surpassed Hachigen Ushoda. Hachigen's ability had almost no application to actual healing, it could only slow the worsening of wounds, and any genuine treatment required the Kaido of a Soul Reaper.

This was one of the reasons the Visored's progress over more than a hundred years in the World of the Living had been so limited. Without reliable healing, any mishap during training could turn serious fast.

Orihime's healing ability left all of the Visored genuinely stunned. At first, treating Kensei had been impossible, Ichigo's spiritual pressure was still residually clinging to Kensei's body, and Orihime could do nothing while it was there.

But once Ichigo voluntarily withdrew that pressure, Kensei Muguruma, severely injured, with who knew how many bones broken, was back on both feet and full of energy in no time. The spiritual pressure hadn't yet recovered to full, but a speed of recovery like that was something no one in the entire Gotei 13 could match.

➤ Next: The Night Before Departure