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A flick of the fingers.
A sidestep.
Even in the abyssal darkness of the deep sea, Kyōraku Shunsui moved as lightly as a swallow, his graceful figure gliding past like a drifting shadow.
Guided by his fingertips,
threads of pale white silk that had been floating through the depths coiled around Lille Barro's angelic body, looping again and again until they tightened around his neck.
When the sequence was complete, every last bubble in the suffocating abyss burst at once. The four movements of the Black Pine's final performance were about to reach their closing act.
"Pure-blood Quincy…"
"There is no such thing as a 'god' in this world. And the Schrift power you rely on isn't invincible either. So… accept death calmly. After all, it only lasts an instant."
With his back to Lille Barro,
Kyōraku brought two fingers together and gently drew them across the air.
"Rip—!!!"
A sharp slicing sound rang out.
Coughing blood, his words already slurred, Lille Barro was on the brink of death. Before he could even utter a final sentence, the thread of his life was severed.
Blood sprayed across his throat.
And with that, the final chapter came to a flawless close.
"That was way too cool!!!"
"Captain Kyōraku really lives up to it! Longest-serving captain after the Commander-in-Chief himself! He didn't disappoint at all!!!"
Gone was the coward who'd nearly wet himself earlier.
Ōmaeda was now shouting and cheering wildly in front of the light screen, pumped up like he'd been injected with adrenaline.
Sure, it was Kyōraku Shunsui who fought.
But in Ōmaeda's mind, he'd already replaced Kyōraku with himself, imagining a flashy instant kill of a pure-blood Quincy under everyone's gaze.
It was insanely cool, okay?
"I have to say… four consecutive acts, each representing a completely different killing method. Captain Kyōraku's Bankai is honestly a bit unfairly strong…"
Even someone as prickly as Soifon had no doubts after watching the entire fight. She was utterly convinced.
From start to finish, Kyōraku Shunsui returned to his usual carefree, relaxed demeanor, looking like he'd barely broken a sweat.
But Soifon knew better.
If you stripped away the outsider's perspective and that godlike viewpoint, no one else in his position could say for sure they'd have done better.
After all, in the four-act requiem of the Black Pine, if even one act had failed to deal with the pure-blood Quincy, Kyōraku would have fallen into absolute ruin.
So, for a battle fought at the cost of his own life, Soifon had no objections. She fully acknowledged Kyōraku Shunsui's place on the list.
Thirteenth Division, Captain's Office.
"Hah… guess I got lucky. Looks like my future self didn't die after all."
Patting his chest, Kyōraku Shunsui let out a long breath of relief.
In truth, ever since this round of rankings began, his nerves had been stretched tight. Even chatting casually with Ukitake Jūshirō had only been a way to hide the pressure gnawing at him.
Because… no one wants to see their own death.
Kyōraku was no exception.
"Shunsui, you can finally relax now, right? That's definitely something to celebrate."
Ukitake laughed warmly, quickly lifting the teapot to pour his old friend a cup of hot tea.
Then he added with a grin, "Though now that this happened, all your trump cards are out in the open. If you get dragged into another fight later, you'll be at a disadvantage right from the start."
After the ranking video, both the Shikai and Bankai abilities of Katen Kyōkotsu had been completely exposed.
It was basically like Kyōraku had been stripped bare in front of everyone.
"Ah, who cares about that…"
Waving it off, Kyōraku said calmly, "I'm not the type who enjoys fighting anyway. If I've got spare time, I'd rather head to a tavern and get greedy with a couple of oiran beauties."
With that, he leaned back lazily in his chair, hands propping up his head, gazing out the window at the sky as he sighed.
"But honestly speaking," he continued,
"if there's any chance at all, I'd like to change the future. To stop that war before it even begins."
The Human World.
Urahara's Shop.
"Isshin, Tessai…"
"Did you hear that just now? Kyōraku Shunsui mentioned something called 'Schrift power,' didn't he?"
Unlike the two old companions beside him, who were still marveling at the strength of the Black Pine's final act, Urahara Kisuke had already latched onto a crucial detail.
Yes.
The Schrift power, something he had never heard of before.
"Uh… yeah, I think he did mention it," Kurosaki Isshin said, scratching his head before asking, "What, did you get another idea?"
Urahara shook his head slowly. "Honestly? Not really."
"But…"
After a brief pause, he continued thoughtfully.
"In the video, that unknown pure-blood Quincy transformed into something like an angel. I suspect that has a lot to do with this 'Schrift power.'"
"Oh?" Isshin raised an eyebrow, interest piqued. "How so?"
"Isshin, you know I'm on good terms with Ishida Ryūken," Urahara said.
"Once, with his permission, I visited the Ishida family's archive of ancient texts. I took the chance to gather a lot of information about pure-blood Quincies."
He explained everything calmly and methodically.
"So watching the fight triggered some old leads?" Isshin asked.
"Exactly."
Urahara snapped his fingers, the corners of his mouth lifting.
"If I'm right, that angelic form is probably an enhanced version of the 'Quincy Final Form.'"
"And as for the so-called Schrift, it likely grants different abilities to different pure-blood Quincies. For the one in the video, his power was most likely related to shooting."
By the end,
Urahara smacked his lips and sighed regretfully. "Too bad there's just not enough data. If we had more samples, I could probably analyze the abilities of the Sternritter pretty quickly."
The same speculation, in different places.
One in the Human World, the other in the Research and Development Institute.
With just this single video, Urahara Kisuke and Kurotsuchi Mayuri were already storming their own minds, trying to uncover the secrets of the Sternritter.
Intellect.
Technology.
And ruthless ingenuity.
All of it was quietly rewriting the future.
Silbern, the Silver Palace.
The vast hall was dead silent.
The easygoing, relaxed atmosphere from earlier rankings had vanished completely, replaced by suffocating heaviness.
Aside from Haschwalth standing on the high platform,
everyone else, the thirty Sternritter and the hundreds of guards surrounding them, stood with their heads bowed in silence.
An invisible gloom seemed to hang over them all.
"Everyone… do you acknowledge the authenticity of the video?"
Haschwalth broke the silence at last, his voice cold.
In truth, this question reflected his own doubts.
The Lille Barro whose throat was cut in that video was no ordinary man.
He was the captain of the Schutzstaffel.
The one granted the Schrift "X," the power of All-Penetrating.
Strictly speaking, once Lille Barro entered Vollständig, opened his eyes, and unleashed the full force of All-Penetrating, he should theoretically be immune to all physical damage.
And yet…
that battle shattered this assumption.
The blood spraying from his throat meant that All-Penetrating had completely failed.
That was what worried Haschwalth the most.
No one answered.
The palace remained deathly still.
Even Lille Barro himself, along with the usually loudmouthed Valkyrie, had fallen silent, their confidence shaken to the core.
Kyōraku Shunsui's performance was like a brutal slap in the face to every pure-blood Quincy there.
It even made them question the invasion plan they had prepared for a thousand years.
After all, if a random Shinigami captain could solo a Schutzstaffel captain, how were they supposed to fight this?
Invading Soul Society would just be throwing lives away.
Of course, because the video cut off abruptly, no one from the Wandenreich knew that this battle still had twists yet to come.
Elsewhere.
Fourth Division barracks.
"Thank goodness… seeing Captain Kyōraku safe really puts me at ease."
Kotetsu Isane let out a breath, genuinely relieved.
Before this,
she'd already had one appearance in the videos, and it hadn't gone well. She'd watched helplessly as Muguruma Kensei and Ōtoribashi Rōjūrō died right in front of her.
If Kyōraku Shunsui had fallen this time too, it would have been a nightmare for her.
"Yes," Unohana Retsu nodded gently. "It seems the Sternritter aren't unbeatable. At the very least, Captain Zaraki and Captain Kyōraku both proved they could win on their own."
"Oh, right!" Isane suddenly changed the topic. "Speaking of those two… Captain, who do you think will be next in the rankings?"
Zaraki Kenpachi represented raw, overwhelming force.
Kyōraku Shunsui perfectly showcased the terror of rule-based Zanpakutō.
So… who could possibly be even more shocking?
Her eyes shifted as Unohana smiled softly. "I'm not sure. This world is full of hidden talents. Anyone could appear."
"What about you, Captain?" Isane asked eagerly. "With your medical skills, that's a different kind of strength. You'd definitely make the top ten, right?"
"Isane, you're overthinking it," Unohana replied with a serene smile. "This ranking is about combat strength. I'm just a doctor. What right would I have to be on it?"
She clearly didn't take Isane's words seriously.
However—
the moment her sentence ended, the vanished screen reappeared, along with new lines of text:
[Special Ranking]
[Legendary Figure: The First Kenpachi]
…
"This is…"
When she saw the words "First Kenpachi," Unohana's expression changed drastically. The gentle elegance on her face was instantly replaced by a flash of fear.
"Why… was it exposed?"
The shock hit too hard.
For a moment, Unohana Retsu forgot that the ranking video was omniscient.
Meanwhile, Isane frowned slightly, her gaze fixed on the ancient title.
"The First Kenpachi… was that the first captain of the Eleventh Division?" she murmured.
"Oh wow! That's someone from the same era as the Commander-in-Chief! No wonder they're called a legend!"
The more she thought about it, the more excited Isane became.
"But still…"
"The Eleventh Division is a combat division. And as the First Kenpachi, this legendary figure is probably some savage monster like Captain Zaraki, right?"
Brutal.
Savage.
A terrifying beast of a person.
That was the image Isane instantly imagined.
What she didn't notice, as she kept rambling on, was that Unohana Retsu beside her had gone so dark she looked like she might start dripping blood at any moment.
"..."
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