Bleach: Love and Bonds Make Me Stronger!

The instant her voice fell, Unohana's form vanished.

Makoto didn't dare slacken for a moment, his senses honed to the surrounding Reishi. His Asauchi slashed to the side with a sharp swish.

Clang!

Metal clashed, sparks bursting from the grinding blades.

The force from her strike was still heavy, but no longer the despairing chasm it had been in their first encounter.

Makoto gripped the hilt with his right hand, twisting his wrist to glide past her blade's momentum, sidestepping fluidly.

His Asauchi spun around his palm, tracing a half-circle in the air. When he grasped it again, he held it reversed, carving a silver crescent arc toward Unohana's neck with a piercing screech.

But before the strike could land, a small dagger abruptly flicked out from Unohana's left sleeve.

The dagger parried, her long blade slicing.

The rapidly shifting tide forced Makoto to pull his blade back in defense, his feet retreating with a Shunpo that slid him backward as if gliding. He immediately stepped forward, swinging again.

[Still dodging?]

[Show Sensei what you're hiding in those bulging pants!]

[Shunpo +5]

The bastard Zanpakuto spirit was, as ever, in fine form.

But before Makoto's blade could descend, Unohana closed the distance at an even greater speed, her long and short blades raining down like a relentless storm.

Her movements weren't blindingly fast but carried a rhythmic cadence, like leaping notes, subtly luring her opponent into her tempo until they faltered and fell.

Yet, after all his time on the battlefield, how could Makoto's efforts yield nothing?

[Wall of Sighs]

[Flawless Circle]

[Teetering on the Edge]

The moment Unohana's blades fell, Makoto's will and focus surged to their peak.

His muscles and nerves tensed to their limit, black pupils contracting sharply, whites threaded with bloodshot veins. His Reishi flared, his mind overloading.

In this state, every second of combat stretched endlessly in his perception.

Each of Unohana's swings broke down into countless micro-movements in his eyes, deconstructed at a thousand frames per second.

Every action of his own achieved "perfect output".

In that moment, every Reishi in Makoto's body burned like a raging flame, climbing ever higher.

Though his Reiatsu was only Tier-3 Lower, a captain's baseline, his instantaneous combat prowess rivaled even powerhouses like Saito.

To any Shinigami below Tier-3 watching, their lightning-fast slashes would be invisible, only bursts of sparks scattering through the air, accompanied by shrill, piercing clangs.

Sensing Makoto's soul practically boiling, Unohana's delicate features bloomed with an irrepressible, crimson smile.

At the same time, she ceased restraining her power, cautiously probing as she unleashed the strength she'd long held back.

Clang!

The first strike.

Deafening.

Makoto's eyes widened, instinctively gripping his blade with both hands. The immense force sent him flying, feet skidding meters across the ground, hands trembling, barely holding the hilt.

Before he could recover, Unohana closed in faster still, raising her blade high. With a shrill wail, it crashed down.

CLANG!!

The second strike.

Makoto pressed both hands against the back of his blade, raising it overhead to block. The brutal impact shattered the ground beneath him, his feet sinking into the crater, trapped.

Unohana's smile grew more exhilarated.

It had been ages since she'd unleashed her power so freely.

Her form darted closer, face nearly brushing Makoto's nose. Her blade whipped out from below his ribs.

CLANG!!!

The third strike.

Even at the last second, within his [Flawless Circle], Makoto managed to pull his blade back to block her path.

But the gap in Reiatsu was absolute.

Power was power.

Merely blocking the strike sent Makoto's wrists slamming into his chest like a hammer. He shot backward like a cannonball, crashing into a cloud of dust with a thunderous boom.

Unohana was fully in her element, her loose bathrobe fluttering, black hair spilling freely, her gentle face alight with a bloodthirsty grin.

Combat was everything.

Unconsciously, perhaps from the thrill, her voice grew low, tinged with a smoky rasp, "No Shikai yet?"

"This won't satisfy me, Makoto-kun."

In the dust, Makoto rose slowly, brushing off the dirt, catching his breath slightly.

"Honestly…"

"Unohana-sensei, talking to me in that tone is going to get me worked up."

"But…"

A faint smile crept onto his face. "If it's Sensei…"

"It should be fine, right?"

Muttering softly, he stood tall.

Unohana watched, her eyes narrowing as she sensed a subtle shift in his Reiatsu.

"Hm?"

Faint Reishi, like willow fluff stirred by a breeze, swirled around Makoto, surging with his rising, boiling Reiatsu.

The relentless flood of Reishi spread outward in all directions.

Unohana could clearly sense a unique Reiatsu field forming around Makoto, enveloping the vast wasteland.

Buzz! Buzz!

The rampant Reiatsu vibrated fiercely in the air. To Unohana's eyes, the world seemed veiled in frosted glass, trembling with the expansion of Makoto's Reiatsu.

His Reiatsu climbed without limit.

Behind him, as if born from this extreme Reiatsu, a towering double gate materialized, one half joyous, one half tragic, standing between the world.

It resembled a gateway to hell.

From the dark crevice of the gate, a faint nursery rhyme began to echo, growing clearer.

[When, oh when, will we meet again?]

[At the dusk of Obon!]

[Pinky swear, pinky swear, never break your word!]

[Liars will be crushed to dust!]

[Pass through, pass through, to the path of the gods.]

[Offer up the resting place of karma!]

The haunting rhyme seemed to pull at the soul, as if the voice alone could draw one into the gate.

But to Unohana, it was nothing.

Still, such a striking Shikai raised her estimation of Makoto yet again.

She could feel it, a primal warning of danger stirring deep within her instincts.

Accompanied by the captivating rhyme.

Makoto's Reiatsu hit an invisible ceiling, locking into place.

He held his Asauchi horizontally, his voice calm and distant, as if echoing from the far horizon, intoning a solemn chant.

"Living idly and dying as if dreaming; binding the truth and fixing the falsehood; pursue the cause and invert the consequence..."

As Makoto's voice rang out, the half-closed gate behind him swung wide open.

In that moment.

The world in Unohana's eyes flickered briefly into black and white, her vision flashing like a train speeding through a tunnel, dark, then bright.

It was almost enough to make one doubt their senses.

But as the monochrome world faded.

Makoto's Asauchi had transformed into a sleek, curved ōdachi, its hilt extended to nearly four feet.

The black-and-red handle trailed a flowing ribbon from its gilded end, adorned with three delicate blade-like pendants that clinked softly.

Unconsciously, it exuded a bewitching, piercing edge.

"Oharai Gougi!"

The moment the name was spoken.

In the eyes of Makoto, Unohana, and anyone who heard it, a faint pink heart-shape flickered briefly and vanished.

His Reiatsu calmed, stabilizing at its peak.

Makoto spoke softly, "This is… a cruel game that toys with the bonds of calamity and karma."

Yet, as she felt his Reiatsu surge dramatically, the gleam in Unohana's eyes only burned brighter.

The instant his Shikai was complete, her blade, tinged with a blood-red Reiatsu, sliced through the air like a soaring bird, aimed at Makoto's neck.

The force and Reiatsu behind this strike surpassed every attack Makoto had faced before.

But Makoto showed no intent to dodge.

[I can block this strike]

A single thought flashed through his mind, and the voice of his bastard Zanpakuto spirit echoed in near-perfect sync.

Makoto raised his blade.

Thud!

A heavy, drum-like boom reverberated outward.

Unohana could clearly feel her blade meeting resistance, as if slicing into deep currents, stalled by relentless, surging force, unable to descend.

Yet the more it resisted, the more her excitement flared, her Reiatsu pouring out unrestrained.

Boom!

Both recoiled in sync, dust swirling around them, only to clash again in a Shunpo-driven sprint.

[I can match Sensei's movements for five seconds]

Makoto's sword swings accelerated sharply. His muscles and nerves, already stretched to their limit in the [Flawless Circle], pushed even further, his Reiatsu depleting at an alarming rate.

Their battle grew terrifying. Their forms blurred into indistinguishable streaks, their clashing blades' shockwaves tearing the earth apart. The wasteland fractured, massive chunks of ground upheaved by the aftershocks of their duel, their Reiatsu's vibrations rippling dozens of kilometers away.

Unohana's focus deepened, the restraints she placed on her body and instincts unraveling bit by bit, her power growing ever more staggering.

But it still wasn't enough!

Makoto could feel his body, driven by the relentless commands, accelerating like an unstoppable puppet, stretched taut like a rubber band at its breaking point.

If that's how it is…

Makoto's lips curled slightly as he whispered, "What are you swinging your sword for, Sensei?"

"Unohana-sensei."

The moment his words landed, Unohana's brow seemed to furrow for a fleeting instant.

[Sakuingyakuka!][1]

In the next moment, Makoto's blade turned ethereal, passing through Unohana's weapon without resistance.

It struck.

As the blade pierced Unohana's body, her pupils briefly went blank.

As if something vital had been stripped from her life.

At point-blank range, Makoto spun, guided by Sakuingyakuka's momentum, tracing a half-moon arc as his blade slashed toward Unohana.

A ripping sound tore through the air.

Swish!

Unohana's eyes widened, her feet sliding back several meters, her left sleeve's dagger raised in defense.

Yet, a shallow tear now marred her bathrobe, stretching from her left shoulder to the center of her chest.

A faint trace of blood.

Was this the so-called "first-strike kill"?

In that split second, she'd only snapped out of it at the last possible moment.

If not for the qualitative gap in their Reiatsu levels…

Unohana savored the fleeting brush with death, a flush rising uncontrollably to her cheeks.

Yes.

This was it!

How long had it been since she'd felt this razor-edge thrill of life and death in direct combat?

In that moment, her gaze on Makoto grew hungrier.

"Makoto-kun."

"I knew I wasn't wrong about you."

Makoto, however, gave a wry smile. "I'm nearing my limit here, Unohana-sensei."

Both Sokushinteigi and Sakuingyakuka relied on burning through massive amounts of Reiatsu to manipulate phenomena.

And since these abilities were used against a powerhouse like Unohana, his Reiatsu was draining like a gushing fountain, nearly depleted in mere moments.

Still, there were results.

Makoto glanced at the panel before him.

[Unohana-mama! I'll tear your clothes to shreds and suck your boobs-chan, prprpr!!!]

[Zanjutsu +10]

[Zanjutsu Bottleneck: Stage 4]

[Training Battle in Progress: Zanjutsu Bottleneck Breakthrough ↑]

[Zanjutsu: Tier 13 ↑]

***

[1] "Living idly and dying as if dreaming; binding the truth and fixing the falsehood; pursuing the cause and inverting the consequence..." (Each phrase in his shikai release chant is an indication of the power possessed by his shikai.)

- Living idly and dying as if dreaming [Yuseiboushi] gives him two domain-type abilities that contain scripts and rules (Playlife Word from Living idly & ??? from Dying As If Dreaming).

- Binding the truth and fixing the falsehood [Sokushinteigi] gives him the ability to make falsehood into truth and truth into falsehood.

- Pursuing the cause and invert the consequence [Sakuingyakuka] is one of the powers in his shikai just like Yuseiboushi and Sokushinteigi.

[2] Oharai Gougi: Imperial Purification Drama.

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Bonus Chapter:

100 Power Stones = 1 BC

300 Power Stones = 2 BC

500 Power Stones = 3 BC

700 Power Stones = 4 BC

1000 Power Stones = 5 BC

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