Bleach: Awakened — Chapter 52 - Two at Their Limits
"Setting aside everything else—when you're about to die anyway, how much does dignity really matter?" Ichigo said with a grin. "I don't know exactly how many crimes I've supposedly committed, but I know that everything I've done was to help you. Soul Reapers."
"Arrogance." The cane in Yamamoto's hand struck the ground with a sharp crack, transforming into a Zanpakuto of ancient, austere design. "Does the Gotei 13 need the help of a greenhorn like you?!"
"Don't get too full of yourself, brat!"
Terrifying spiritual pressure surged from that seemingly aged body. The surrounding captains all went pale, cold sweat sliding down their faces before they could stop it.
"Been a while since I've seen the old man lose his temper." Shunsui Kyoraku pressed down the brim of a hat. "Truly frightening—this level of spiritual pressure."
"Everyone from the World of the Living—do you think your champion, Ichigo Kurosaki, can surpass ours?"
"Hmm..." Carefully peeking out from behind a nearby tree, Orihime Inoue said in a small voice: "I think Ichigo is still a little stronger."
"It can't be denied that this Captain-Commander, the one who stands at the very pinnacle of the Soul Reapers, is terrifying." Uryu Ishida stepped forward without hesitation, pushing up glasses. "But ever since I've known Ichigo, I have never once believed he would lose to anyone. Especially since he started high school."
"Ichigo is far, far stronger than me." Yasutora Sado nodded from nearby. "I can't even picture what it would look like for him to lose."
"Is that so..." Something unspoken moved through Shunsui Kyoraku's voice. Watching the two figures squared off against each other, a quiet sigh escaped. "The younger generation really is something to be feared..."
And while every eye was fixed on this imminent clash between Soul Reapers pushed to their limits, one captain quietly slipped half a step back.
Spiritual pressure as vast and crushing as a deep abyss came rolling forward. Under a force heavy enough to leave lieutenant-level Soul Reapers unable to move, Ichigo's expression didn't shift at all. He smiled, and then the spiritual pressure inside him erupted outward to meet it.
BOOM!
The invisible collision blasted dust from the ground. Every captain present stumbled back half a step. That level of spiritual pressure had genuinely reached the pinnacle of Soul Reaper existence. For the two standing opposite each other, releasing a Zanpakuto into its initial Shikai barely registered as a difference anymore.
"Whoa!" Ichigo let out an involuntary sound of admiration. "This spiritual pressure, it's really something else, old man!"
"Old man..." A vein surfaced on Yamamoto's forehead. Nothing more was said.
"Ryujin Jakka!"
Flames wrapped around the blade the moment it was released, consuming what had been an austere, ancient steel. In that same instant, Yamamoto closed the distance and was already in front of Ichigo.
"Nadegiri!"
A tornado of fire erupted from the blade and swallowed Ichigo whole. The flames were ferocious enough to feel like they were burning the air itself. The nearby captains felt their breath lock in their chests.
"Hey, hey, is it really okay for an elder to just go straight to attacking?"
The black long-sword came up in a block. Flame-wrapped steel met it head-on. No matter how the fire serpents churned and writhed around him, Ichigo didn't move an inch.
"Not bad, brat."
Expression unreadable, Yamamoto withdrew one step. That first probe had given neither side a clear advantage. Yamamoto had been the aggressor, and he couldn't remember the last time a first exchange had ended without decisive results. Not since that battle a thousand years ago, it seemed.
"You sure it's not just that you've lost your edge?" Ichigo drew the short blade at his waist and grinned. "Looking at your age, have you ever considered stepping down and letting someone younger take over?"
"Hmph! It's not that this old man doesn't want to retire, it's that there is not yet a single Soul Reaper who can surpass me!"
The flames on the blade kept climbing. After an absence that stretched beyond memory, Yamamoto had finally found a real opponent.
"Then I'll go first this time."
Shunpo fired under his feet. The long-sword came down hard, crashing into the flames. Yamamoto's reaction was extraordinary, both hands locked on the blade, and in an instant fire flooded every corner of the battlefield.
"Flames at this level are still too weak! Getsuga Tensho!"
Golden light flared. The crescent slash released from the short blade was in no way inferior to the long-sword, the devastating strike tore through the fire and flew straight at Yamamoto!
"Yours is nothing special either!"
Every last flame converged onto that small blade. Yamamoto neither retreated nor evaded. He took the strike dead-on, the same strike capable of destroying the Sokyoku.
BOOM!
Flames scattered. The crescent dissipated. Under the massive impact, Yamamoto couldn't stop himself from stumbling back several steps. Even at his level of power, taking that blow straight had cost him enormously.
"You really are strong, old man!" Ichigo couldn't help himself. "That's the first time I've ever met someone who could tank my Getsuga Tensho head-on and come out completely unscathed."
"This is also the first time in a thousand years I've been put at a disadvantage in a direct clash." Yamamoto steadied his breathing, voice even. "Ichigo Kurosaki. I acknowledge it, you are indeed very strong."
"But it is not enough. Come then. Try to force out my Bankai."
"Heh! I'll gladly take you up on that!"
A grin of pure excitement pulled at the corner of Ichigo's mouth. Since childhood, this was the first time he had ever faced a rival that could be called a genuine equal. Branch-like patterns surged up through his veins. Blut Arterie pushed to its absolute limit, his physical capabilities driven to the extreme.
"This is... the Quincy's Blut?!"
Yamamoto's pupils snapped tight. That power, recognized in an instant. The same power that had once dragged him into a brutal struggle. Without Blut, the founding ancestor of the Quincy a thousand years ago could never have withstood his Bankai.
"You know it!"
The long-sword went up high. The power of Blut Arterie surged through Ichigo's veins.
This strike was going to hit hard.
BOOM!
Flames roared skyward. Sokyoku Hill began to buckle. Rocks broke free and tumbled without stop. The ground itself seemed on the verge of giving out entirely. Two Soul Reapers at the absolute limit of their existence, the terror of it defied description.
"Just what are you..."
Sword held crosswise above his head, a deep trench gouged into the earth beneath his feet, to absorb that blow, Yamamoto had been driven back more than ten meters.
"Clearly human, yet carrying the power of a Soul Reaper, you even give me the sense of a Hollow from you..." Disheveled, but eyes cold and hard as iron. "And now you're wielding the power of the Quincy as well... Just what are you?! Ichigo Kurosaki!"
"Didn't you answer that yourself?" The long-sword continued to press forward with sustained force. Ichigo smiled. "A human who possesses the powers of a Soul Reaper, a Quincy, and a Hollow."
Golden light reappeared, blooming along the blade first, then rushing rapidly toward the tip. The next instant, the Getsuga Tensho was unleashed again.
BOOM!
A near point-blank Getsuga Tensho sent Yamamoto flying, leaving a long gash across his body in the same motion. It was shallow, but Yamamoto could not recall the last time he had taken a wound at all.
"Nonsense!"
Dozens of towering pillars of fire erupted skyward all around, reaching toward the heavens. Nearly driven to the edge of Sokyoku Hill, Yamamoto swung Ryujin Jakka, and every single pillar converged at once. The focal point of them all: exactly where Ichigo stood.
"How could a single human being possibly possess power like this?" The blade tip leveled directly at Ichigo, Yamamoto's voice flat and even. "If you manage to survive this, I would very much like a proper explanation."
"Blazing Hell!"
➤ Next: The Shattered Mirror