Bleach: Awakened — Chapter 56 - Trinity!!

All the surrounding flames vanished in an instant, without a trace. No dramatic upheaval marked their disappearance. Ryujin Jakka, which moments ago had been engulfed in fire, now revealed its scorched black blade, wisps of white smoke curling up from the steel, making it look utterly ordinary, as if it weren't a Bankai at all.

So dry... my throat is so dry. The moisture in the air is disappearing...

It wasn't only the Captains present who felt it. Every soul throughout all of Soul Society felt the same, as if something capable of destroying the world were burning on without end.

"So that is... without a doubt, the strongest Bankai among Soul Reapers." Even shielded behind Negacion, the temperature of Zanka no Tachi still reached Sosuke Aizen. He moved his throat and murmured quietly: "Zanka no Tachi. The supreme sword of raging fire."

The scorched black blade contained every flame of Ryujin Jakka, concentrated to a single point. Because of that concentration, its temperature far surpassed even Ryujin Jakka's Shikai. Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto at this moment was like the great sun descending from the heavens, peerless, the absolute strongest.

"We cannot afford to delay." Retsu Unohana said softly. "Captain-Commander, sir. Your power is far too terrifying. If this continues, the Three Realms will be destroyed."

"This old man is aware." Captain-Commander Yamamoto said calmly. "Boy... Ichigo Kurosaki. Do you still want this old man to use his Bankai against you?"

"Ahh... what a terrifying power..."

Standing right beside him, Ichigo felt the full horror of Yamamoto's strength more keenly than anyone. The Captain-Commander wasn't even doing anything. He was simply standing there, and the boundless, scorching heat assaulted Ichigo every single moment.

Going by the Rei'i rankings his father had mentioned before, and what Sosuke Aizen had just confirmed: without spiritual pressure at First-Class Spiritual Rank, you didn't even qualify to fight Captain-Commander Yamamoto. The touch of his blade would reduce you to molten iron.

"Of course!" Ichigo held the short blade across his chest. "Sorry to ask this of you, old man—hit me with your strongest strike."

"...What exactly are you trying to do, Ichigo Kurosaki."

Before Yamamoto could move, Sosuke Aizen spoke first.

"You aren't thinking of using a brush with death to pressure yourself into breaking the restraint device, are you."

"That is impossible. The spiritual pressure restraint device only suppresses your ability to release spiritual pressure. Your fundamental nature is still the body of a Soul Reaper at the limit of First-Class Spiritual Rank. Even the strongest single strike cannot cut you to the brink of death."

"I know that, obviously."

"And if you offer no resistance and simply allow yourself to enter a death crisis, the far greater likelihood is that you will be killed outright by the Captain-Commander's strongest strike."

"I can't be bothered to talk to you." His mouth opened, then he swallowed whatever explanation had been forming. Ichigo looked at Aizen with contempt. "You're not worthy of hearing it."

"Hmph." Sosuke Aizen let out a soft laugh, perfectly composed. "Then I shall watch and see exactly what method you have."

"Move quickly, if you would. I've been doing my utmost to delay the Negacion's transfer, but there isn't much time left."

Compared to Aizen's unhurried calm, Kaname Tosen and Gin Ichimaru nearby were suffering terribly. The Negacion separated the two spaces, yes, but the dreadful pressure of Zanka no Tachi had still penetrated through and was bearing down on them. Had their strength been any weaker, they might have already spontaneously combusted and died.

Gin Ichimaru in particular had only recently recovered from serious injuries and hadn't yet restored his spiritual pressure to full capacity. Enduring that terrifying heat was already pushing him nearly to his limit. He was counting on the Negacion to carry him away, and yet this living nuisance, Sosuke Aizen, still wanted to wait a little longer.

"Relax." Ichigo wiped away the sweat that had formed from being in such close proximity to Zanka no Tachi, and smiled. "In a moment, that smile disappears from your face."

"Come on! Old man!"

"...Catch it, Ichigo Kurosaki."

Gripping the hilt of Zanka no Tachi with both hands, his terrifying spiritual pressure surging and rolling, Yamamoto's face was expressionless. Every bit of his attention settled on the short blade before him.

"Zanka no Tachi, East—"

All the invisible heat gathered entirely at the blade's tip. On the surface, nothing seemed to change, but only Ichigo, standing directly before him, understood just how terrifying the heat concentrated at that tip truly was.

"Kyokujitsujin!"

The heat was driven to its absolute limit. The space around them seemed to warp as if burning away. Yamamoto's eyes filled with cold intensity. He had no intention of killing this human, but that somewhat contemptuous attitude had ensured he would show not a single shred of mercy.

"This is it!"

Zanka no Tachi rose high. Without any flourish whatsoever, it came down toward Ichigo.

Whoosh—

It was as if the two blades had merely grazed each other. Not a single sound rang out, only a faint breeze drifting past, brushing across Ichigo's face, a face contorted nearly beyond recognition. He was bearing tremendous pressure.

It looked calm on the surface. It was anything but. That strike carried every last drop of concentrated heat: it did not burn, it did not explode. It simply erased everything it touched without leaving a trace behind.

Looking across every Soul Reaper in Soul Society right now, perhaps only one person could take this strike head-on. And that one person was presently inside the Negacion.

"He is... truly strong!"

The terrifying spiritual pressure crashed down like a collapsing mountain. Yamamoto's spiritual pressure held an overwhelming, crushing advantage. Ichigo could only fight with everything he had just to hold on; he couldn't manage even the slightest counterattack.

"A fearsome one..."

Muttering to himself, Yamamoto hadn't expected Ichigo to actually receive this strike. Extremely strained, yes, but the latter was still in a state of suppressed spiritual pressure. If he were truly at full power, perhaps he genuinely could contend even against Bankai, or possibly even...

"Here it comes!"

Before the thought could finish, Ichigo suddenly let out a thunderous roar. Something inside him jolted his spiritual pressure without warning, sending it surging violently upward. He swung the short blade in a wide arc and deflected the scorched black Zanka no Tachi away.

Whoosh,

As if space itself had been burned to nothing, the scorched black blade carved through the air and produced a strange, indistinct sound.

"That... what is that?"

Sosuke Aizen in the air and Yamamoto on the ground both noticed the anomaly at the same moment. On the originally jet-black short blade in Ichigo's hand, a streak of white had appeared.

In an instant, white spread and suffused the entire blade. Simultaneously, Ichigo's spiritual pressure seemed to break through the restraint device's supposed limits and kept surging, kept rising, without stopping.

BOOM!

White smoke billowed up from nowhere. Most of the Captains furrowed their brows, and then, without warning, they could no longer sense Ichigo's spiritual pressure at all. Only the two traitors and one certain monster stared with wide, disbelieving eyes.

"That... what is that..."

The white smoke dispersed, revealing Ichigo's current form.

"Is that... the power of a Hollow..."

One of the Captains murmured it, and it was no wonder. What met their eyes: his hair standing on end, a 7-shaped spike jutting from his left temple, black markings running from his left forehead all the way down his neck.

The markings passed through his left eye, dyeing it black, though the pupil burned yellow. That was the eye of a Hollow.

"Trinity."

The spiritual pressure within him had shattered the limits of a Soul Reaper. Naturally, it would not be contained by any so-called restraint device. Ichigo looked up at Sosuke Aizen above him, his expression perfectly flat.

"That's what I call it."

➤ Next: The Shattered Negacion