In the sea of blood, a streak of white moved freely, weaving through it at will.
"Just as I thought—this blood sea can't restrict sonido (Resounding Step) at all."
With the advantage of speed, the situation flipped in an instant. Higashino Shuuichi could now freely clash swords with Unohana Retsu, keeping up a flowing exchange of blade and blade.
Although Unohana's Bankai (Final Release) could forcibly convert all non-physical spiritual-pressure attacks into nourishment for the blood sea, Hollow sonido (Resounding Step) did not fall under that category.
This step technique, which used spatial displacement to instantaneously move, clearly fell outside the conceptual rules of the blood sea.
However, sonido only gave Higashino Shuuichi a one-sided advantage in terms of speed.
When it came to pure swordsmanship, he still gained no real edge over Unohana Retsu.
Over the years, it wasn't just Higashino Shuuichi who had been absorbing and learning from Unohana's swordsmanship. Unohana Retsu had also maintained a student's mindset, ever eager to learn, and had taken in many of Higashino's excellent combat tricks.
So if he relied on swordsmanship alone, trying to defeat Unohana Retsu—who was supported by what was essentially an infinite blood sea—was nothing but a pipe dream.
Unless Higashino Shuuichi had the same "grow stronger the more he gets beaten down" talent as Zaraki Kenpachi—accompanied by Zaraki's ridiculous protagonist treatment, getting selflessly healed by Unohana every time he was on the brink of death.
That way, he could improve with every near-death experience while simultaneously exhausting the blood sea's potential. Given enough time, he might eventually defeat Unohana Retsu, who, within this blood sea, was practically invincible.
But Higashino knew he was never going to get that kind of treatment. In this all-out fight—one he had initiated himself—Unohana Retsu had almost certainly resolved, deep down, that one of them was not walking away alive.
For someone like Unohana Retsu, death was nothing to be feared. As long as she could die in a battle she truly enjoyed, she would consider that happiness.
But Higashino Shuuichi was different.
He had to win.
And he had to put a full stop at the end of this battle between him and Unohana—a battle that had dragged on for who knew how many years.
A blood blade fell from above. Higashino's body shifted sideways, narrowly evading Unohana's strike, but the droplets of blood that splashed up turned into blades of their own, slamming into his skeletal outer armor and etching mark after mark into its surface.
Accumulating, wearing it down—until water could pierce stone.
Glancing down at the bloody hole that had punched clean through his arm, Higashino chuckled softly.
"We specifically locked away all the fancy abilities, and yet the way you're fighting right now, Captain, is pretty much cheating, don't you think?"
In the distance, Unohana Retsu held a blood blade in one hand. From within the spreading tide of blood, her eyes—the only parts of her face still visible—rested sharply yet gently on Higashino as she said:
"Not at all, Shuuichi. This technique is called Geiraku (Whale Fall). It's just one branch of the countless sword styles out there~"
Sure, sure. And those "countless sword styles"—you're the only one who's actually seen them, aren't you?
In the end, isn't it all just whatever you say it is?
Higashino Shuuichi looked at her helplessly, feeling more than a little resigned.
Why did he feel like Unohana Retsu had "gone bad" compared to how she'd been in the original story?
Back then, when she fought Zaraki Kenpachi, she'd used only the purest swordsmanship. The two of them had just traded strike after strike, nothing but straight-up close combat. So why was he getting all these shameless tricks thrown at him?
(Unohana Retsu: "Have you seen what kind of idiot Zaraki Kenpachi is? Besides swinging a sword by instinct, what else can he do? And then look at you, Higashino Shuuichi—just how many dirty little tricks do you have? Do you really think I can treat you two the same?")
Still, facing this Unohana Retsu who was so willing to "keep up with the times" wasn't necessarily a bad thing. At the very least, it meant that what he was about to do next—cheating by refusing to stick to pure swordsmanship—came with no psychological burden.
Because if it was a contest of dirty tricks, Higashino Shuuichi could only snort at her and say: "Captain, you've got a long way to go."
"Well then, Captain… have you ever seen a Hollow's Resurrección (Return Blade)?"
Higashino called out to her as he brought his Zanpakutō (Soul-Cutter Sword) up across his chest. Under her utterly unconcerned gaze, he murmured:
"No escape… Criminal Verdict!"
Even as he spoke, Unohana's next attack had already reached him. That vivid red blood blade was on its way to slicing his throat open—but just before it could pierce his flesh, a new rule asserted itself.
"How is this possible?!"
For the first time since activating her Bankai, Unohana Retsu was genuinely shocked.
No one knew Minazuki's Bankai better than she did. Aside from herself, no one could use any power other than pure physical attacks within the blood sea—not even if that power was a "rule" itself.
She had tested that very point in the past on one of Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni's proudest disciples—the current Eighth Division captain, Kyōraku Shunsui.
Even a Zanpakutō ability as powerful as Kyōraku Shunsui's couldn't properly manifest within her Bankai, Minazuki (All Things' End).
The only one who had ever broken the blood sea's rules before today was Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni—and he had done it by brute force, using spiritual pressure that far surpassed her own to smash Minazuki's domain apart.
But Higashino Shuuichi clearly didn't possess spiritual pressure on that level. As far as Unohana could tell, he was at best roughly equal to her.
By rights, the fact that he had used Hollowfication and sonido (Resounding Step) to brute-force a speed advantage was already impressive enough to make her marvel. She hadn't expected Higashino to have yet another surprise in store.
"There's nothing impossible about it, Captain. Shinigami powers are rules to begin with.
You know, I once read a literary work in the Human World, and there was a little scenario in it that really inspired me. It went something like this—what happens when two conflicting rules collide?"
Higashino spoke patiently, looking at Unohana Retsu, whose blood sea had been driven away from her body so thoroughly that even the shape of her Zanpakutō refused to re-form.
"What happens?"
The answer was obvious, but Unohana still found herself asking the question by reflex.
"They crash.
Both rules freeze—neither can properly function."
Higashino Shuuichi smiled.
That was the first "gift" he'd prepared for Unohana Retsu.
And this idea had taken shape in his mind the moment he fully mastered his Resurrección, Hanzaisha no Hōsoku (Criminal Law).
Because his Resurrección ability, Criminal Law, didn't actually require that the "crime tool" be something he owned.
The reason he tended to use objects belonging to himself in the past was simple: if the tool in question had been created by the enemy, and if that enemy destroyed or dismissed the tool at the last second, just as the conditions for Hanzaisha no Hōsoku were fulfilled, then his Resurrección would fail to activate.
But now, when he looked around this place…
What "crime tool" could possibly be more suitable than this endless sea of blood?
At the instant the conditions for Hanzaisha no Hōsoku were met and the ability activated, the blood sea's mechanism would also automatically trigger. According to the blood sea's rules, any special power unleashed by an "outsider" like Higashino would be swallowed by the sea.
But that directly conflicted with Hanzaisha no Hōsoku.
Once his Resurrección was activated, ownership of the blood sea would temporarily transfer to Higashino Shuuichi, and it would become the medium through which he launched his pre-set lethal attack on Unohana Retsu.
The contradiction between those two powers was fundamentally irreconcilable.
Normally, Shinigami had a simple way to resolve this kind of situation: compare spiritual pressure—whoever's was stronger would override the other.
The problem was that, right now, Higashino Shuuichi and Unohana Retsu's spiritual pressure was about the same.
So with the two rule sets locked in stalemate, the only possible outcome was a crash—both rules being forced into a state where neither could operate.
"Hehe… As expected of you, Shuuichi.
You always manage to surprise me~"
Unohana Retsu smiled where she stood after listening to his explanation.
If it weren't for the wild, disheveled hair making her look a bit terrifying, she might not look any different from the usual kind Fourth Division captain.
"You flatter me, Captain. Now that the restrictions of the blood sea are down, our fight's going to get a lot more colorful~"
Higashino Shuuichi leapt high from the blood sea, suspending himself in midair with spiritual pressure, and then canceled his Hollowfication.
With Hanzaisha no Hōsoku crashing together with the blood sea's restriction rules, there was no point in maintaining Hollowfication any longer.
Of course, ending his Resurrección would allow the crashed blood sea rules to slowly recover.
But buying himself a window of time was all he needed. Once the blood sea's restrictions returned in full, he could simply reactivate Hanzaisha no Hōsoku and crash the system all over again.
And so, in the very next moment, Unohana Retsu saw countless white Reishi constructs appear above her blood sea.
"Captain, why don't you experience a little Kidō (Demon Arts) baptism?"
Higashino's voice came from above.
At that instant, Unohana smiled again. She understood why he had gone out of his way to take to the skies.
For the first time in its long existence, the gloom of the blood sea welcomed "light."
A daylight forged from countless explosions.
That light outshone the sun.
Even Tier and her Fracción watching from outside the blood sea were stunned by the spectacle.
"Tier-sama… is that a sun?"
Tier's Fracción, Sung-Sun, squinted up at the blinding radiance until she could barely keep her eyes open, and asked, pained, from where she clung to Tier's side.
"No, Sung-Sun, that is…"
Tier paused for a moment. Something Higashino Shuuichi had once said to her surfaced in her mind, and she changed the two words that had almost left her mouth.
"…art."
Up above the blood sea, even Higashino Shuuichi felt a pang of financial pain. Some things looked impressive, yes—but until you ran the household, you never truly understood the cost.
That one attack had nearly burned through every bit of accumulation he'd built up over the last ten-plus years.
In other words, once this battle was over, Higashino would have to start building up his stock of Reishi constructs from scratch.
Still, the results were undeniable.
The massive blood sea beneath his feet, after that bout of Kidō carpet bombing, was visibly brighter in color to the naked eye.
The oppressive gloom had lifted.
But the fact that the blood sea still remained meant only one thing—
"Hahahaha, Shuuichi!
How much more do you have? Show me all of it!
You don't need to hold back at all with me!"
As the light faded, Unohana Retsu appeared again, charging straight toward him with her blood blade in hand.
To Unohana Retsu, the blood sea was like a miniature hell.
As long as the blood sea wasn't purified, Unohana Retsu would not die.
Higashino Shuuichi met her blade with one of his own.
The two of them launched into a fresh exchange midair.
Nadegiri (Stroke Cut), Engetsu (Full Moon Slash), Geiraku (Whale Fall), Bungetsu-giri (Crescent Sever Slash), Ketsuzan (Blood Slash), Chōzuki (Moon Scoop), Jūjigiri (Cross Cut)—
Sword techniques that would've been enough for an ordinary Shinigami to brag about for decades if they'd mastered even one of them were being tossed around like beans in a rattle.
Knowing each other as deeply as they did, neither could easily break the other's techniques.
But Higashino Shuuichi had no intention of letting things stay in stalemate for long.
After finding another opening to trigger his Resurrección and crash the blood sea again, he raised his Zanpakutō high above his head.
"Can you really pull off that kind of Kidō carpet bombing a second time?"
Unohana's words sounded skeptical, but her feet didn't slow in the slightest. She leapt off the blood sea and launched herself straight at him.
Having suffered from that once already, there was no way she was going to let herself be caught the same way twice.
Even if she couldn't stop another attack on that scale, she at least wasn't going to let him get away unscathed.
But at that moment, the corner of Higashino's mouth curled upward. He couldn't repeat that level of Kidō bombardment—but he could prepare a second gift.
Just as Unohana's fist was about to collide with Higashino Shuuichi's descending blade, a Reishi arrow—one she had absolutely not expected—whistled past, grazing her neck.
"Why is there a Quincy here?!"
Unohana's eyes flew wide open.
Following the path of the arrow, she saw several Quincies standing on the surface of her own blood sea.
The sacred arrow just now—the Heilig Pfeil (Holy Arrow)—had come from one of them.
Now the others were all drawing their bows and nocking more arrows.
Even from such a great distance, Unohana could feel the killing intent coiled around those shafts.
"Do you like it, Captain?
This is the second gift I prepared for you~"
Higashino Shuuichi stood proudly in midair, looking down at Unohana Retsu with a smile.
And Unohana did not waste that "thoughtfulness."
With the help of the blood sea's restraining power, which had begun to recover, she re-formed her blood blade—not even sparing the Quincies below a glance. Instead, she lifted her head to look at Higashino Shuuichi, licking her slightly dry lips.
"I do.
I really like it, Shuuichi~"
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