Fate In Bleach (485)

Chapter 485 - Bankai Cannot Be Used

Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto swung his left hand, immense spiritual pressure condensing in his palm, directly confronting Driscoll's full-power strike.

Boom!

A fiery explosion erupted within the Squad One captain's office, reaching over ten meters high. The entire office was obliterated in the blast.

"Hahahahaha…"

Driscoll clutched his forehead, laughing wildly.

However, Driscoll's laughter soon ceased.

He didn't feel his power increasing!

Possessing "The Overkill," Driscoll's strength would receive a boost whenever he killed a living being.

But now, after concluding his attack, Driscoll felt no surge in power.

This meant that his previous attack had not only failed to kill Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto but also hadn't finished off Chōjirō Sasakibe, whom he had already severely injured.

When the smoke and dust cleared, Driscoll saw that although the Squad One captain's office had suffered considerable damage from his attack, the area from one meter in front of Captain-Commander Yamamoto backward remained mostly unharmed.

Faint white mist steamed from Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto's palm, where a few scratches were visible.

Driscoll's full-power attack had been blocked by Yamamoto, merely leaving slight abrasions on his palm.

This alone demonstrated the vast difference in strength between Driscoll and Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto.

"My Vice-Captain truly received your 'care'!"

...

"So, the Wandenreich declares war on the Seireitei today?"

Within Squad Five, Ailin walked out of his captain's office.

Tucking his hands into his long sleeves, Ailin extended his spiritual senses.

Soon, the spiritual pressures of the Quincy invaders within the Seireitei were all perceived by Ailin.

Quincy from the Wandenreich had appeared throughout the Gotei Thirteen barracks.

Because these individuals emerged suddenly from the shadows, attacking the Shinigami, the casualties within the Seireitei were severe.

Even Squad Five came under attack from the Quincy.

However, these Quincy had underestimated Squad Five.

Or perhaps, Yhwach had foreseen something through his "Almighty" ability, for the Quincy attacking Squad Five this time were merely ordinary soldiers, with no members of the Sternritter among them.

Although these Quincy soldiers were either from the contingent that hid within the Seireitei's shadows a thousand years ago or their descendants, fueled by hatred, their dedication to training far exceeded that of the Shinigami.

Precisely because of this, even with comparable numbers, the Shinigami suffered far greater casualties than the Quincy in their battles.

However, while the losses among the lower-ranked squad members were significant, the Shinigami at the seated officer level and above were temporarily holding their ground.

In particular, the siblings Tengenmaru Miyano and Matsuri Miyano, although only the Third and Fourth Seats of Squad Five, possessed strength comparable to Squad Six Vice-Captain Renji Abarai.

Both of them had completed their Bankai training.

However, they were originally squad members under the captain before Shinji Hirako, and had received his teachings.

Unfortunately, after he defected from the Seireitei, while the siblings didn't develop hatred towards the Seireitei, they lost the naivety they had when they first joined Squad Five.

From what happened to their Captain, they realized the Gotei Thirteen was, in essence, a violent organization maintaining the nobility and the Seireitei, not the embodiment of "justice" they had imagined.

Precisely because of this, during the subsequent periods when Shinji Hirako and Sōsuke Aizen led Squad Five, the siblings, despite possessing near-captain-level strength, never revealed it.

It was only after Ailin became the captain of Squad Five that he directly promoted them to Third and Fourth Seats.

In this Quincy attack, although the Miyano siblings didn't use their Bankai, they displayed strength far exceeding that of ordinary seated officers.

Even the Squad Five Vice-Captain, Momo Hinamori, didn't perform as brilliantly as the two siblings.

Boom!

Roaring sounds erupted throughout the Seireitei.

Ailin looked up and saw numerous plumes of smoke rising into the sky amidst flames.

Boom!

At that moment, Captain-Commander Yamamoto's spiritual pressure surged from the direction of Squad One.

Instantly, the invading Quincy seemed to receive some kind of signal. They stopped engaging the Shinigami and rapidly disengaged from battle.

Soon, the spiritual pressures of the Quincy who had broken away from the Shinigami's sight vanished from their senses.

As for those who were slower and failed to escape the Shinigami's line of sight, they launched final, desperate attacks with terrified expressions before being cut down.

In less than ten minutes, the Seireitei, previously echoing with the sounds of battle, had concluded this defense engagement.

However, judging from the ruins across the various squad barracks and the countless Shinigami being sent to Squad Four, the Seireitei had suffered considerable losses in this Quincy assault.

Half an hour later, the summons for a captains' meeting came from Squad One.

...

Thud!

In the captains' meeting room, Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto's immense spiritual pressure caused the very air around him to ripple and fold.

It was fortunate that everyone present in the meeting room was captain-level or higher.

Otherwise, under Yamamoto's vast spiritual pressure, Shinigami below captain level would likely have been overwhelmed and lost consciousness.

"This Quincy assault has inflicted considerable casualties upon the Gotei Thirteen."

"Captain Kurotsuchi, I recall ordering you a year ago to constantly monitor the three realms and immediately report any signs of Quincy activity to me."

"Why is it that during this sudden Quincy attack, the entire Gotei Thirteen received no information from you?"

"Has Squad Twelve fallen so low that it cannot even detect an attack on the Seireitei itself?"

The meeting began with Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto questioning Squad Twelve.

Under normal circumstances, Yamamoto wouldn't hold a captain accountable for such a minor matter.

However, in this Quincy attack, his most valued Vice-Captain, Chōjirō Sasakibe, had nearly perished at the hands of the Quincy, and Yamamoto's final counterattack had failed to capture the Quincy responsible for nearly killing his Vice-Captain. How could Yamamoto not be enraged?

"Captain-Commander Yamamoto, this was indeed my oversight."

Faced with Yamamoto's accusation, Mayuri Kurotsuchi didn't try to shirk responsibility.

"Before the attack on the Seireitei, Squad Twelve detected a more critical crisis, which led to this negligence."

Mayuri then explained how Squad Twelve had detected the Quincy's mass slaughter of Hollows in the World of the Living and Hueco Mundo.

"To prevent the three realms, the Seireitei, Hueco Mundo, and the World of the Living, from tilting and collapsing due to the imbalance of souls, I dispatched Squad Twelve members to Rukongai to eliminate over thirty-four thousand souls. Only then was the balance between the three realms restored."

"If I hadn't acted preemptively, the Seireitei would have already tilted towards the World of the Living and been on the verge of collapse during this Quincy sneak attack."

Hearing Mayuri's explanation, the captains present, excluding Ailin, were momentarily stunned.

As captains of the Gotei Thirteen, they understood the severe consequences of an imbalance in the souls across the three realms.

In other words, during this attack on the Seireitei, if Mayuri hadn't noticed the problem beforehand and made preparations, even if the Quincy invasion had been repelled, the Soul Society itself would have faced destruction.

Viewed this way, Captain-Commander Yamamoto's earlier accusation against Mayuri seemed biased.

Of course, these captains also knew that Yamamoto's fury stemmed primarily from Vice-Captain Sasakibe's near-death.

It was precisely because of this that Mayuri hadn't argued against Yamamoto's accusation.

In any case, given Captain-Commander Yamamoto's personality, once Mayuri explained the situation, Yamamoto would naturally understand the priorities.

Sure enough, after Mayuri finished speaking, the spiritual pressure radiating from Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto slowly subsided.

"Lord Captain-Commander."

At this moment, Captain Retsu Unohana of Squad Four stepped out from the ranks.

"Regarding Vice-Captain Sasakibe, his injuries have stabilized for now. He should recover after a period of rest."

"Captain Unohana..."

After Retsu Unohana reported on Vice-Captain Sasakibe's condition, Soi Fon spoke up.

"May I go to Squad Four and speak with Vice-Captain Sasakibe?"

"I wish to know how Vice-Captain Sasakibe sustained such severe injuries in such a short time."

"Could it be that the Quincy who attacked earlier possessed strength capable of instantly defeating Vice-Captain Sasakibe?"

The other captains nodded in agreement at this point.

They also wanted information about the Quincy who had fought Vice-Captain Sasakibe.

Although Vice-Captain Sasakibe was only a vice-captain, the captains of the Gotei Thirteen would never truly regard Chōjirō Sasakibe as merely a vice-captain.

As Captain-Commander Yamamoto's right-hand man, Vice-Captain Sasakibe was the earliest follower of the Captain-Commander.

Simultaneously, Vice-Captain Sasakibe was also Yamamoto's first disciple, preceding even Captain Shunsui Kyoraku of Squad Eight and Captain Jūshirō Ukitake of Squad Thirteen.

Furthermore, Vice-Captain Sasakibe's Zanpakutō, Kōkō Gonryō Rikyū, belonged to the same "Strongest Series" as Captain-Commander Yamamoto's Ryūjin Jakka.

The strongest lightning-type Zanpakutō!

Among the captains present, few dared claim their strength surpassed Vice-Captain Sasakibe's.

If even a powerhouse like Vice-Captain Sasakibe nearly died in the attack that lasted less than twenty minutes, what about them?

Could the Quincy who attacked Squad One last night have been the Quincy Emperor, Yhwach, the strongest enemy the Soul Society had faced thus far?

"Captain Soi Fon, regarding this point, I already inquired with Vice-Captain Sasakibe when he regained consciousness."

"The Quincy who attacked Squad One recognized Vice-Captain Sasakibe, so we can confirm this person is a survivor from the battle between the Seireitei and the Wandenreich a thousand years ago."

"Additionally, this Quincy's spiritual pressure was not particularly strong, at most reaching the level of a newly appointed captain."

"However, according to the information provided by Vice-Captain Sasakibe, the Quincy side seems to possess means capable of sealing or stealing Bankai."

"Vice-Captain Sasakibe was defeated precisely because his Zanpakutō was sealed or stolen by the opponent when he used Bankai."

"As of now, the awakened Vice-Captain Sasakibe still cannot sense the presence of his Zanpakutō spirit."

"Therefore, Vice-Captain Sasakibe advises us to be extremely cautious when fighting Quincy. If possible, we should avoid using Bankai!"

"Avoid using Bankai?"

As soon as Retsu Unohana said this, the eyes of Byakuya Kuchiki, Toshiro Hitsugaya, and Rukia Kuchiki instinctively turned towards Ailin.

They remembered that during their training under Teacher Ailin, he had repeatedly told them they needed to achieve strength in Shikai comparable to other captains' Bankai.

Back then, Teacher Ailin had said that this world contained all sorts of strange abilities.

Perhaps one day, they would encounter situations where Bankai couldn't be used.

At such times, only their Shikai could save them.

They also recalled that within Teacher Ailin's Bankai, he had used numerous abilities similar to their own Bankai to train them.

Could such targeted training mean that Teacher Ailin had anticipated the Quincy's methods even back then?

Of course, even with these doubts, the three wouldn't voice them now.

Regardless of how Teacher Ailin knew the Quincy possessed means to counter Shinigami Bankai, as long as Teacher Ailin stood on the same side as the Shinigami, it was fine.

No one noticed the subtle reaction of Byakuya Kuchiki and the others.

The current captains were deeply shocked upon hearing they couldn't use Bankai.

Bankai was the most powerful asset for most Shinigami.

Although all four Shinigami skills—Zanjutsu, Hohō, Kidō, Hakuda—could possess power rivaling Bankai when trained to a high level...

Not everyone could master all four skills to such an extent.

Most Shinigami relied on their Zanpakutō abilities for combat.

Being unable to use Bankai meant the captains' strength was reduced by at least half.

A Shinigami's Zanpakutō was forged by the Ōetsu Nimaiya, imbued with spirit.

The Shinigami who obtained a Zanpakutō nurtured it with their own soul through "Zazen" meditation, strengthening the "spirit," gaining its recognition, and calling its name to use its power.

When a Shinigami released their Zanpakutō, it was a fusion of their souls.

In Shikai, part of the Zanpakutō's soul merged with the Shinigami, increasing their spiritual pressure by 3 to 5 times.

In Bankai, the Zanpakutō and Shinigami completely merged, increasing their spiritual pressure by 5 to 10 times.