Yamada Seinosuke dropped from the sky, a blazing Bakudō no 61, Rikujōkōrō (Six Rods Prison of Light), snapping shut around Higashino Shuuichi. Six beams pinned him in place, immobilized.
"Higashino Shuuichi! What are you doing?! You dare cast Hadō in the nineties against your captain?!"
His face was grim, zanpakutō at Shuuichi's throat.
"This was only a tactical choice. Kurohitsugi can't harm Captain Unohana."
Shuuichi frowned. With his reiryoku drained dry from the fight, there was no breaking Rikujōkōrō.
"That's no excuse! And did you forget? Without Head Captain's permission, you're forbidden from releasing your zanpakutō in Soul Society!"
Seinosuke's glare slid to the blade—Shōheisha—still stuck in the ground nearby, not yet resealed. He knew better than anyone the restrictions laid upon Shuuichi.
Silence.
On this point, Shuuichi had no rebuttal. The rule was real. Normally, the word of any captain was enough to overlook it. Yamamoto would look away after the fact. But if Seinosuke insisted on the letter of the law, Shuuichi was guilty.
Seinosuke sneered, sensing his advantage. "Whatever your reason—release the Kurohitsugi now!"
Shuuichi rolled his eyes inwardly. So that was it. All his bluster only to free Unohana.
Was this worry clouding his mind? Did he truly think a Black Coffin could bind her? Shuuichi would sooner believe pigs could climb trees.
"I've never heard of canceling Kurohitsugi. But maybe it won't even be necessary."
"What do you mean?"
Shuuichi gave no answer. His eyes only flicked past Seinosuke, urging him to turn.
He did.
The coffin Shuuichi had cast with every last drop of strength cracked with lines of light. A thunderous reiatsu burst skyward.
The casket shattered. Out stepped Unohana Retsu, long hair spilling loose, aura utterly transformed.
"This is—"
Across Seireitei, nearly every Shinigami felt the pressure.
"It's coming from the 4th… Don't tell me—that Vasto Lorde, Baraggan, has come here?!"
Officers with sharp senses leapt to conclusions, preparing to rush.
But their captains stopped them—some already knowing the truth, others having received Yamamoto's order: *do not interfere with the 4th Division.*
Amid the crowd, one bespectacled Shinigami adjusted his glasses, smiling faintly.
"So… is this your true power, Unohana Retsu?"
Whether it was or not, the answer hardly mattered to him.
Back at the epicenter, Yamada Seinosuke trembled with awe.
As expected of his captain. Even a Black Coffin was nothing.
"Captain!" he called, bowing low.
She gave no reply. Her eyes were only for Shuuichi, bound and drained.
"This is your full strength?"
Breaking Kurohitsugi meant nothing to her now that her reiatsu was unsealed. What annoyed her was the anticlimax of seeing him powerless before her.
"This… is all I have."
Shuuichi forced a bitter smile. He tried to shrug, but his body wouldn't obey.
"Too weak."
She stepped. In an instant she was before him. Three swift cuts shredded Rikujōkōrō like paper.
So, it was over.
Shuuichi thought so, at least. The mission was complete—he'd forced her to release her reiatsu. That was all Aizen had asked.
But then she stooped, flicked her blade, and sent Shōheisha flying back into his hands.
"Even if your reiatsu is spent, your body still moves. Show me your swordsmanship."
Shuuichi: ?? *This woman is insane.*
Seinosuke: *Captain! I can fight too!*
The thought struck both at once.
But Shuuichi had almost never studied zanjutsu seriously. He had honed hakuda, shunpō, and kidō. Now she demanded he face her in swordplay?
It was like asking a schoolboy to spar a champion boxer.
Could he just surrender?
He looked into her eyes, saw the battle-hunger there.
…Fine. If it was just a beating, so be it.
"Then, Captain—once again, I'll make the first move!"
He roared, charging.
And then… there was nothing.
He lunged, was cut down, scrambled away, was struck again, fled, fell, and finally yielded.
It was no contest. No drama. Only slaughter.
Even Seinosuke, who had lingered to watch, left early in disgust, unable to stomach the sight.
Heal him? Not a chance.
The farce dragged on until Yamamoto himself arrived. Only then did it end—with Higashino Shuuichi lying battered and bloodied, the duel finished.
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