BLEACH: Blade of Purification

Inside the Seireitei. The Squad 6 barracks.

In the Captain's office.

A handsome young man with gentle eyes, a kind smile on his lips, and a Kenseikan hairpin fastened to his smooth, black hair near his left ear, looked out the open window.

His eyes watched as the entire sky was covered by pitch-black clouds in a matter of moments. Then, a beam of light fell upon the location of the Squad 1 barracks. Following that, a powerful and unfamiliar Reiatsu suddenly descended.

"Cough, cough, cough—!"

Caught off guard, he bent over, unable to stop coughing.

But soon, the pressure on him quietly disappeared. He looked behind him to see a stern-faced old man wearing the Ginpakukazahana sash. The old man had placed a hand on his shoulder, shielding him from the unfamiliar and powerful Reiatsu.

"Father."

"Mm."

The stern old man nodded slightly, not correcting the young man's form of address. He looked out the window alongside the young man.

They were the current Captain of Squad 6—Kuchiki Ginrei. And his Lieutenant—Kuchiki Sōjun. At the same time, Sōjun was Ginrei's son. Kuchiki Sōjun was, by almost all accounts, a perfect man. He was not as stern as his father, and his entire demeanor was much more approachable. However, although he possessed the innate talent of the Kuchiki clan, his frail body was not suited for combat. His physical constitution had always been poor, which was why he was often a source of worry and concern for the equally frail Captain of Squad 13, Jūshirō Ukitake.

"Has the weather been altered?" Kuchiki Sōjun's gaze returned to the darkness that covered the entire sky, the masses of dark clouds gathering above. The sight was naturally concerning. Sōjun could clearly sense that these dark clouds were fundamentally different from rain clouds; they contained no impending rain, only a terrifying power that blocked out the sky.

"No, this is not a power that controls the weather," Kuchiki Ginrei's expression was incredibly serious, but he still patiently answered his son's question. "This is simply someone spreading their own power across the entire sky, even covering the entire Seireitei. They have merely distributed their power evenly."

There was another sentence that Ginrei did not say aloud. Because even he could not be certain, and he himself wondered why he had even thought of it. That sentence was—The evenly distributed power is all interconnected, forming a domain. A domain controlled by the one who spread this power.

"Has someone else achieved Bankai? To have this level of power just after achieving it."

Faced with this immense power, Kuchiki Sōjun felt neither worry nor fear, only awe and well wishes.

"However, this spiritual pressure fluctuation is unfamiliar... It seems to be someone I don't know."

Kuchiki Ginrei said no more, simply gazing towards the location of Squad 1 where the light had fallen, just as Sōjun was. He had no intention of heading there, because with the Captain-Commander present, there would be absolutely no problems.

And at that moment, in the Squad 1 training grounds.

Ling Qing, beating his single wing, had already arrived before Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni!

Facing Ling Qing, who had torn through his Shōkaku and whose power had suddenly increased by nearly tenfold—a power that, despite being only a Shikai, could be mistaken for a Bankai by even battle-hardened Gotei 13 members, Lieutenants, and Captains—Yamamoto made no careless moves this time.

He raised his hand without hesitation, and as he swung his sword, the flames exploded once more, roaring towards Ling Qing from the front!

This time, facing the golden flames unleashed by Yamamoto, Ling Qing displayed a newfound ease. He effortlessly swung the four-meter-long tachi, its length now even more exaggerated. The longsword moved so fast it seemed to vanish into the air. All that could be seen was the extreme flow and change of light and shadow. The golden flames unleashed by Yamamoto were torn apart by the freely moving flashes of light before they could even get close to Ling Qing!

A fearsome will was wrapped in the white light of the blade. Reiatsu covered the overlong sword, and even Yamamoto could sense the undisguised, sharp, cutting feeling from Ling Qing's blade.

Even Yamamoto couldn't believe that what Ling Qing had achieved was merely a Shikai! Normally, only a Bankai could push a Shinigami's power to this extent. For a Shinigami, Bankai was more like a sublimation and explosion of power.

And now, Ling Qing had achieved this with just a Shikai. Although he had only just acquired this power, in terms of raw power alone, he might have already surpassed the Bankai of most Captains.

In other words, Ling Qing's Shikai was, to some extent, on the same level as his own! Shihōin Sōichirō's request for him to help Ling Qing achieve Shikai had not been an overreaction!

Having closed the distance, Ling Qing launched a completely unadorned slash, from top to bottom, from left to right!

Yamamoto no longer used flames to attack, but met blade with blade.

However, what Yamamoto didn't expect was that the moment their swords clashed, Ling Qing's blade seemed to explode like a firework, a dazzling flash bursting before his eyes.

Even Yamamoto was dragged into Ling Qing's fighting rhythm, something that would have been absolutely impossible before.

The longsword in Ling Qing's hand moved in a continuous, flowing motion, one slash after another, all linked together, as if only a single slash had been thrown from the very beginning.

Even the Captain-Commander, once dragged into such a ferocious, rapid, and relentless combat rhythm, could only temporarily retreat from the onslaught.

The few Captains watching from the side could hardly believe what they were seeing. Right before their eyes, Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni was actually being pushed back by Ling Qing's continuous assault. Streams of light flowed around both Yamamoto and Ling Qing, the overlapping flashes weaving a net from which there was no escape.

Only the eyes of Kenpachi Kuruyashiki and Retsu Unohana grew brighter.

Perhaps some might think that Ling Qing had swung his sword dozens of times in that short period, but only those two could say with certainty that they were wrong.

So far, Ling Qing had only swung his blade seven times!

What was important was not how many slashes one could make in a short time, but the suffocating control of the battle's rhythm that left the opponent no room to escape!

After the seventh slash was thrown, Kenpachi Kuruyashiki, Retsu Unohana, and even Yamamoto, who was on the receiving end, all felt it. The rhythm had been built to its absolute peak. Seven slashes were not the limit; the eighth slash that followed was.

Everything that had been accumulated in the seven continuous slashes before would explode in that final blow.

And so it was. The continuous slashes broke after the seventh. With the seventh blow, Ling Qing created a small opening between himself and Yamamoto, and with a simple upward flick, he launched Yamamoto from the ground into the air.

Ling Qing's footwork changed. In a flash, he leaped to a higher position right in front of Yamamoto. He twisted his body in mid-air, concentrating all his power into a single point, and with a thunderous strike, sent Yamamoto flying!

A bloom of pitch-black and purplish-black light, with specks of light like brilliant fireworks, exploded! The scattered power from the continuous attacks was also detonated in an instant, the chain of explosions weaving a beautiful, flower-like bloom of light!

Yamamoto, sent flying, landed steadily back on the ground.

But, to everyone's horror, Yamamoto's yukata was torn, revealing his scarred body. And now… upon that already scarred body, countless new wounds had appeared. Gashes of all sizes covered him, and blood flowed from them, streaming down his entire body.

Before, Ling Qing had only wanted to leave a single scar of his own on Yamamoto's body.

But now, what he wanted to achieve was far, far more than that!

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