Bleach: Awakened — Chapter 37 - Clash of Strength (Part Two)

The words landed. The massive blade came crashing down right after, a strike so overwhelming it looked simply unstoppable.

Sword met shield again. Setting the two fighters aside, the surrounding buildings took another punishing blow. The only saving grace was that Sado was still at Seireitei's outer edge. Any deeper in, and Komamura would have had a ruinous repair bill waiting after the battle.

The power's grown again...

Sado's body fell back two steps without meaning to. Not from any surge in spiritual pressure, more like something long dormant finally waking up.

"It has been quite some time since I last used Bankai." Komamura's timing was almost conversational. "I hadn't yet found my footing with the force earlier. Now—come again, Ryoka!"

The blade pressed relentlessly. The black-armored warrior at Komamura's back bore down without pause. Sado was pushed back again. In a pure contest of strength, it was Sado who had fallen to the losing side.

"Have to use it now, do I..." Feet carved two deep grooves into the ground. "Thought what I had would be enough to handle a captain. Turns out I was just a little short."

"What are you muttering about over there, Ryoka!"

Step by step, Komamura pressed forward. Sado's back hit a wall already on the verge of collapse.

Feet braced against it for leverage. The wall gave way with a crash. Sado was driven back yet again.

"No choice but to use it. Was hoping to take down a few more captains before pulling this out."

Something settled behind the brown hair. A decision made. Sado's left fist clenched tight, drew back to the hip, gathered, then hurled at the great blade!

CLANG!

The massive sword took the hit like it had been struck by something else entirely. It flew sideways. A wave of force traveled back through the Zanpakuto and Komamura nearly lost grip, the blade almost flew completely free.

"What... is happening?!"

The arm wouldn't stop trembling. The Zanpakuto shuddered violently, as if it had taken a shattering blow, cracks had even appeared along the blade. Komamura stared at the human Ryoka in open disbelief. Only after a long moment did the sword finally stop shaking.

"Thought I could shatter it outright." Sado said, a note of disappointment in the voice. "Didn't expect I could only manage this much."

"That left arm of yours... what exactly is it?" The voice from beneath the bucket had a torn, ragged edge to it. "The feeling it gives me... is exactly like a Hollow!"

"Yes. My left arm draws closer to the power of a Hollow."

The altered right arm—Brazo Derecha del Gigante, had looked normal enough at the start. Through training, it had revealed deeper layers of power, taking on its current shield shape. It carried tremendous explosive force, but more than that, as the whole battle had shown, its true strength was defense.

The left arm was something else. Red all over, traced with faint black patterns, a single spike jutting from the shoulder. Unlike the right arm's shield form, the left arm looked almost natural in shape, and yet that seemingly ordinary limb gave off a strangely oppressive, unsettling presence.

"The power of a Hollow... how can this be..." Eyes behind the bucket full of disbelief, Komamura couldn't hold back. "How can a human wield the power of a Hollow?"

"It isn't quite that. Its nature is simply closer to a Hollow's."

The mind drifted back to training with the Visored. Partway through those sessions, Sado had faintly sensed something inside, a power straining to break free. The feeling came and went.

Later, after careful thought and deeper focus, Sado realized the feeling only surfaced when the Visored put on their masks. And after that, through an unbroken gauntlet of consecutive battles against them, the power of the left arm finally awakened.

"Brazo Izquierda del Diablo." Sado said flatly. "That's what I call it."

"The devil, is it..." Komamura turned the word over, then roared. "Then my Tenken is made precisely for slaying devils!"

The Zanpakuto swept in a wide horizontal slash. Spiritual pressure surged to its absolute limit. Komamura was seized by a fierce, long-forgotten excitement. The fight against a worthy enemy had stirred the beast's blood.

"HAH!"

Sado didn't flinch. Spiritual pressure gathered into the left hand without pause. Red light flared at the left shoulder, and Sado drove a full swing straight into the enormous blade!

"La Muerte!"

CLANG!

The impact was so piercing that Soul Reapers in the vicinity all clapped hands over their ears. The great blade was sent flying again, completely free this time, ripped from that grip entirely. Those with sharp enough eyes could make out cracks across the massive blade, etched in the shape of a skeletal demon.

"Urgh!"

A cry tore free. The blow left Komamura unable to hold the sword. Even the web of the hand had split open, bleeding.

"Not done yet!"

Right hand balling into a fist. Blue spiritual pressure surged at the shoulder. El Directo launched again, but this time Sado didn't strike directly. Instead, a massive blue shockwave tore loose and came howling forward, driving straight at the black-armored warrior's face!

BOOM!

No time to dodge. The shockwave hit the red-masked face dead on. The warrior staggered back, step after step. Komamura was thrown back the same, hard enough that the bucket on that head split clean apart.

"Urgh!"

The bucket shattered. Komamura's face was revealed.

It was not a normal face. Not even a human face. It was a wolf's head, covered in yellow fur.

"Hm... a wolf, of all things. First time seeing that." Sado took in the face and couldn't help it. "Looks a lot better than the bucket..."

"You—!"

Komamura shook off the daze. Blood trickled from the corner of the mouth. Several teeth had gone flying. One roll, and the Zanpakuto was recovered, raised high once more.

BOOM!

Another tremendous crash. Sado raised the shield to block and still got sent tumbling backward through the air. The battle hadn't lasted long, but every consecutive attack had been launched at full spiritual pressure. Both spiritual pressure and stamina had taken heavy losses.

Komamura had noticed. As a werewolf, physical endurance ran far beyond even a Soul Reaper's, and despite taking continuous damage, there was still something left in reserve.

Left hand balling into a fist again, Komamura drove it hard into the flat of the blade. The stalemate between sword and shield shattered in an instant. A massive gash opened in the shield.

"Even that is possible!"

The blow broke through Sado's defense entirely. Without Orihime Inoue nearby, a wound like that was nothing short of fatal. No time to think of anything else, Sado pulled back slightly. The gash in the shield split wider. Blood flowed without stopping. But the reach of the blade had been escaped.

"Urgh!"

The great blade slammed into the ground and threw up a wall of dust. The black-armored warrior's strike hit nothing. Komamura's main body stumbled, nearly pitching face-first to the ground.

"Farewell, Captain."

➤ Next: Victory of the Karakura Enforcer