Bleach: Awakened — Chapter 44 - The Howling Stray Dog

"...Captain, what are you talking about." Renji flashed a carefree grin. "How could I possibly go and rescue Rukia? She's a criminal! As a lieutenant, how could I knowingly break the rules!"

"Stop making excuses, Renji." Byakuya rested a hand on the Zanpakuto at his hip and said flatly, "Your lies are truly pathetic."

"And that smile of yours—far too forced."

"...Is that so, Captain." The grin died on Renji's face, leaving nothing behind. "But what about you, why can you stand it? Rukia received such an unjust verdict."

"There is no such thing as injustice." Byakuya walked toward the door. "This is the law of Soul Society. Upholding it is the duty of the head of the Kuchiki Clan."

"Let us go. Somewhere else. I will pull out every freshly sharpened fang of yours, one by one."

Without wasting a moment, the two moved out on Shunpo, and before long arrived at an open expanse, a location close to the Sokyoku, near where Rukia had been transferred after the order for her early execution came down that morning.

"I knew you and Rukia were once very close." Walking forward, Byakuya turned and met Renji's gaze. "But I never expected you would go this far for her."

"Someone as self-assured as you probably can't understand this feeling." Renji drew the Zanpakuto at his hip. "Being willing to give everything for someone!"

"...Is that so." Byakuya drew his own Zanpakuto and said flatly, "Is that truly how you feel?"

"Of course!"

Renji swung. The blade, ordinary a moment ago, suddenly extended and came howling toward Byakuya.

CLANG!

Steel met steel. Byakuya swung to block, but rather than pressing through the gap left by Renji's extended Zanpakuto, he pulled back and stared, his expression caught between suspicion and something close to surprise.

"Achieving Zanpakuto release without reciting the incantation." Byakuya said slowly. "When did you learn Bankai?"

"I told you, someone as self-assured as you would never bother paying attention to others, would you?!" Roaring, Renji's spiritual pressure surged to its absolute peak. "Bankai, "

"Hihio Zabimaru!"

An immense wave of spiritual pressure erupted skyward, kicking up a wall of white smoke. Byakuya's eyes narrowed. That level of spiritual pressure had indeed crossed the threshold into captain-class.

The white smoke cleared. Where Zabimaru had been, an enormous serpent of bone coiled around Renji. Renji gripped the tail end in hand, green baboon fur covering the body, a skull face marked on the left shoulder.

"Byakuya Kuchiki!" Renji dropped into an attack stance. "I'm going to defeat you and rescue Rukia!"

"Don't make me laugh." Byakuya's voice was ice. "With your power, don't even dream of harming a single hair on my head."

"Scatter, Senbonzakura."

The blade in his hand shattered instantly, dissolving into a thousand tiny blades that drifted through the air. With a single impulse of will, they shot toward Renji.

"You're the one who's joking!"

The great serpent broke apart segment by segment, weaving through the barrage. Renji leapt high, and the serpent reassembled in midair, the massive head came hurtling straight at Byakuya!

"This is..."

Eyes sharpening, Byakuya activated Shunpo and dodged. But the moment both feet touched down, a bone segment appeared at his feet, a piece of the serpent's skeleton.

It came howling toward him. Byakuya spun and burst backward, but Renji was already there behind him, and the massive serpent head came crashing down again!

BOOM!

The scarf around his neck fell to the ground. Byakuya's composure cracked slightly, though not a single wound marked his body. The ferocious attack had force to spare, but the speed fell just short.

"A fine Bankai." Byakuya said approvingly. "Each segment can be controlled independently using spiritual pressure, a considerable advantage in combat."

"Hmph! My Bankai is of course—"

"But Bankai is still too soon for you." Byakuya cut in. "Bankai is the ultimate secret art of a Soul Reaper. From the moment one learns it to fully mastering it, even a captain-class Soul Reaper needs more than a decade of refinement."

"...I know that perfectly well!" Renji swung the serpent tail again. "But so what?! As long as I can defeat you, that's enough!"

"You haven't forgotten, have you—I also know Bankai."

Said calmly. Byakuya reversed his grip so the tip pointed downward, and in the next instant the Zanpakuto slipped from his hand, plunging straight into the ground, sinking into the earth as though entering the surface of water, sending ripples spreading out in every direction.

"Bankai, "

Behind him, a thousand enormous blades rose from the earth in two perfect rows, tips pointing toward the sky. Wherever the eye landed, there was nothing but blades.

"Scatter, Senbonzakura Kageyoshi."

The words fell. Every last blade dissolved into countless tiny blades that scattered through the air. Compared to the thousand blades of the Shikai, the Bankai's blades numbered in the hundreds of millions.

"This... what is this?!"

Hundreds of millions of tiny blades hung suspended in the air. Under the light, they were like a waterfall of cherry blossoms, breathtaking and beautiful, with a killing intent hidden beneath that chilled the blood.

"Consider it an honor, to die beneath my Bankai."

One impulse of will. The hundreds of millions of blades flew. Renji swung the serpent tail in a desperate attempt to block, but the moment they collided, the great serpent was torn apart in an instant.

"The gap between our levels is far too wide."

Like a waterfall of cherry blossoms, hundreds of millions of blades swallowed Renji whole. Not even a scream escaped. Blood poured out in torrents.

"Still holding a human shape." Byakuya walked forward at a measured pace, as though the whole thing had been beneath his notice. "Impressive. I underestimated you, Renji."

"Damn... you..."

Collapsed on the ground, Renji forced the words out through sheer spite, tried to rise, and couldn't move at all. There was almost no uninjured flesh left anywhere on the body. The destructive power of hundreds of millions of blades was nothing short of terrifying.

"Don't move." Byakuya said flatly. "Move again, and you will die faster."

"I can still... still fight!"

Sheer will dragged the body upright. Renji struggled to stand, planting the now-reverted Zanpakuto into the ground for support. Covered in wounds from head to toe, and still refusing to stop.

"I said, do not move."

The blades transformed into white swords of normal size and planted themselves in a ring around Renji. Any further movement would mean being cut down by those razor-sharp edges.

"If you move again, I will, "

Byakuya's pupils shrank. A white blade gripped tight in hand, his expression turned grave as his gaze swept the surroundings.

"Who's there, show yourself!"

"Hahahahahaha!"

A brazen, booming laugh rang out. A towering figure came striding forward, savage expression, ferocious grin, a long scar running down the left eye, the right eye covered by an eyepatch, and over the shoulders, a white Captain's Haori.

"To think that showing up at the execution grounds a day early to wait for the Ryoka would get me a scene like this!" It was the Captain of Squad 11, Kenpachi Zaraki. That ferocious grin didn't budge. "Kuchiki! Fighting something like that couldn't have satisfied you, could it?! How about coming at me instead?!"

➤ Next: The Bloodthirsty Beast