Chapter 334: Golden Holy Dragon Mode
The moment Golden Holy Dragon Mode was activated, Tsunayoshi’s tiny figure shone even more brilliantly than the Monk’s colossal form.
“How terrifying, Tsunayoshi.”
Feeling the scorching heat washing over his face, Kyōraku couldn’t help but sigh.
At the same time, he moved swiftly. After releasing Katen Kyōkotsu, he concealed all the surrounding Zanpakutō within the shadows, preventing them from suffering further damage.
“Has he really grown this strong?”
Hirako recalled the days when he had trained with Tsunayoshi and couldn’t help feeling a headache coming on.
Tsunayoshi had long since stopped seriously training with him.
The reason was simple.
Hirako could no longer keep up with Tsunayoshi.
“Golden Holy Dragon Mode… So it’s not that he never trained in Shunkō…”
Soi Fon stared at Tsunayoshi, his body wrapped in golden light and flames surging from his back, and muttered to herself.
From Kurosaki Rukia, Soi Fon had learned that Tsunayoshi had actually had opportunities to train in Shunkō, but he had never developed it extensively.
Now it seemed that Rukia’s understanding wasn’t complete either.
The form Tsunayoshi had assumed now looked remarkably similar to Yoruichi’s appearance when she went all out.
This once again sparked Soi Fon’s interest in developing Shunkō.
There wasn’t much room for her Bankai to develop. Its power would increase primarily through increasing her Reiatsu.
Perhaps she should devote more effort to Shunkō.
Unohana Retsu narrowed her eyes as she watched Tsunayoshi.
Her point of interest differed from everyone else’s.
She knew exactly how powerful the Sun attribute’s regenerative abilities were.
So…
Was Tsunayoshi truly impossible to kill in this form?
Unohana’s eyes lit up.
The Sun attribute was even more interesting than the Rain attribute.
That troublesome Rain attribute did little more than improve swordsmanship while its calming properties actually made combat rather cumbersome.
The Sun attribute, on the other hand…
It looked like something she could really enjoy cutting apart.
Zaraki Kenpachi’s attention was focused on the gigantic Monk.
He was measuring whether he could cut the giant cleanly in half with a single slash.
The blinding light radiating from Tsunayoshi’s body pierced into the Monk’s eyes like a thorn.
If only I had known.
I never should have allowed him to activate this troublesome Sun attribute.
I should have simply obliterated him immediately!
Who could have expected this so-called Sun-type Beyond Bankai to be so troublesome?
He couldn’t attack him.
But he couldn’t leave him alone either.
There was no regret medicine for the Monk to swallow.
He raised his enormous foot, intending to stomp out that dazzling speck of golden light.
The instant the Monk moved his foot, the wings of flame behind Tsunayoshi changed shape.
The flames erupting from his shoulder blades were the perfect acceleration mechanism.
The Monk didn’t even have time to react.
Tsunayoshi instantly appeared beneath his chin.
Extreme Uppercut!
A textbook uppercut struck the Monk’s chin.
Combined with the Monk’s own upward stepping motion, the impact completely disrupted his balance and sent him staggering backward.
The Monk’s reactions were equally fast.
As he fell, he pressed his palms together, treating Tsunayoshi like a mosquito.
PAK!
A loud clap echoed from between his palms.
But he had only struck an afterimage.
In the next instant, dozens of Sawada Tsunayoshis appeared around the Monk.
Tsunayoshi was simply too fast.
Every figure was an afterimage.
And every figure was also the real Tsunayoshi.
Extreme Gatling!
An evolved version of Extreme Machine Gun.
The original Extreme Machine Gun divided Tsunayoshi into three figures that punched simultaneously.
Extreme Gatling, however, continuously bombarded the enemy with rapid attacks, leaving blow after blow upon their body without pause—just like a Gatling gun.
A wave of pain spread throughout the Monk’s body.
Every one of Tsunayoshi’s punches broke through the Monk’s golden outer layer and struck his actual body.
And because Tsunayoshi himself was so small, every punch felt like the sharp sting of a needle piercing the Monk’s flesh.
Tsunayoshi’s attacks left the Monk in a difficult position.
His enormous body granted him tremendous strength, but catching Sawada Tsunayoshi was anything but easy.
Should he shrink his body?
The Monk didn’t know whether the sealed power of the Ōken could withstand a punch from this so-called Golden Holy Dragon Mode.
He needed to think of a solution.
The Monk’s gaze eventually fell upon Ichimonji.
Because of his enormous size, he had hung Ichimonji around his neck like a pendant.
But that didn’t mean he couldn’t use its abilities.
He needed an ability capable of tracking and capturing Sawada Tsunayoshi.
Having made his decision, the Monk controlled Ichimonji and wrote a single character.
— Fix.
The conceptual nature of Ichimonji’s power was truly absurd.
The instant the character “Fix” appeared, the Monk’s hands could automatically track Tsunayoshi’s position.
Perfect.
Now he didn’t have to keep getting beaten like a punching bag.
When it came to physical strength, the Monk didn’t believe that Tsunayoshi could surpass the foundation he had accumulated over thousands of years.
Tsunayoshi quickly noticed something was wrong.
No matter how much he accelerated or changed direction, the Monk’s palms could always find him.
This forced Tsunayoshi to abandon his evasive tactics and clash directly with the Monk.
From an outsider’s perspective, the Monk’s arms had likewise become streaks of afterimages, vanishing from sight.
Each lingering image marked the point where his fists had collided with Tsunayoshi.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The impacts continued without pause.
Each sound was heavier and louder than thunder, like an enormous hammer repeatedly pounding against the hearts of everyone watching.
At this point, everyone could see what this battle had become.
It was a contest of endurance.
Would Tsunayoshi exhaust his strength first?
Or would the Monk’s body reach its limit first?
“Hey, Thunderclap Senior, are you confident you could take on Tsunayoshi like this?”
Yoruichi glanced sideways at Kirinji with a playful smile.
Kirinji didn’t answer.
He understood far too well how terrifying Tsunayoshi’s current speed was.
Unless the Monk used the power of names to forcibly track him, he simply couldn’t hope to compete with Tsunayoshi.
But what about Kirinji himself?
Could Tenjirō Kirinji defeat Sawada Tsunayoshi in this form?
It was difficult to say.
His palm around Kinpika had unconsciously grown damp.
Kirinji knew that even if he activated his Bankai, there was a very high probability that he still wouldn’t be Tsunayoshi’s match.
But the pride of being a senior still forced him to stubbornly maintain his confidence.
“Give me an opening, and I’ll smash him into paste with a single strike!”
Yoruichi laughed.
She laughed so happily that Kirinji became extremely irritated.
And Yoruichi refused to explain why.
That only made Kirinji even more frustrated.
“What are you laughing at? It’s not like you could beat that absurd brat!”
Kirinji snorted.
“As for me…”
“If I go all out, I could probably keep up with him for a few dozen seconds.”
Only keep up.
Not defeat him.
Yoruichi understood that the most ridiculous aspect of the Sun attribute wasn’t its visible offensive power.
It was its near-immortal regenerative ability, driven by activation.
That power was countless times stronger than Kirinji’s healing hot springs.
The clash between Tsunayoshi and the Monk continued.
But as the exchange dragged on, Tsunayoshi gradually lost interest in playing this game.
Behind him, another blazing sun reached completion.
That meant Tsunayoshi could unleash an even more powerful attack.
The flames of the solar wheel suddenly extinguished.
The light surrounding Tsunayoshi transformed into a red hue approaching the color of the sun itself.
The Monk had been watching the energy gauge behind Tsunayoshi from the very beginning.
He had also been waiting for this attack.
As long as he could withstand one strike, he would be able to exploit the brief interval afterward and launch a counterattack.
Tsunayoshi raised his hand.
The gauntlet radiated brilliant light, instantly becoming the focal point of the entire battlefield.
The Monk immediately crossed both arms in front of himself.
This is it.
I have to block this attack!
Tsunayoshi twisted his body.
Then he punched.
The radiance of the True Solar Flame shot straight from his gauntlet.
Extreme Solar Impact!
The beam of light erupting from the gauntlet slammed violently into the Monk’s crossed arms.
With a single strike, the Monk’s arms were blasted apart.
Only blasted his arms apart?
Even the Monk found this strange.
He had been prepared to lose both arms.
Why was Tsunayoshi’s attack weaker than expected?
The Monk would soon discover the answer.
Solar Radiance.
Still—
It was the light of the sun.
That punch had been a feint.
Tsunayoshi had never said that the flames accumulated within the solar wheel could only be used in a single attack.
He had consumed one flame to open the Monk’s defenses.
Then he concentrated all the remaining flames into a single strike.
Within the Monk’s field of vision, Tsunayoshi’s eyes suddenly erupted with the radiance of the sun.
The Golden Holy Dragon on Tsunayoshi’s chest likewise emerged from his body.
It manifested behind him as a massive dragon-shaped crest.
The Golden Holy Dragon, its eyes glowing with golden light, opened its jaws.
An overwhelming pressure that could not even be described as ordinary Reiatsu crashed into the Monk.
It was the intimidation of a mythical beast.
At that instant, the Monk’s mind went completely blank.
He couldn’t think.
He couldn’t react.
He couldn’t even process what was happening.
And while the Monk was stunned, Tsunayoshi himself imitated the Golden Holy Dragon and opened his mouth.
The purest True Solar Flame poured from Tsunayoshi’s mouth.
Faintly, the echo of a dragon could be heard within it.
This was genuine dragon breath—
A flame capable of incinerating everything.
Golden Holy Dragon’s Roar!
Golden flames wrapped around crimson-red Solar Sacred Fire and instantly swallowed the Monk.
Pain brought the Monk back to his senses.
The dragon breath released by Sawada Tsunayoshi had already burned through the outer shell constructed from his Reiatsu.
The flames were now reaching his true body.
The Soul King’s power was rapidly being consumed.
This was no longer something the Monk could simply endure by tensing his body and forcing himself through the pain.
If he allowed the True Solar Flame to continue burning him, even this Ōken-forged body constructed from the Soul King’s power would collapse.
The flames that had reached his true body were still limited.
He had to make a decision immediately.
Or rather—
He had no choice.
Ichimonji swung through the air.
Another character appeared.
— Seal.
The character was imprinted upon the Monk’s body.
His physical form rapidly shrank.
Only the enormous outer shell of Reiatsu remained, continuing to support him.
The Monk first regressed from his armored form into his giant Reiatsu construct—the “mecha” form he had used before.
Then, using the Reiatsu shell as cover, he found a gap in the flames and escaped through it.
The moment the Monk had escaped from the inferno and barely had time to catch his breath—
A fist filled with killing intent slammed into his face.
BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!
BOOM!
After crashing through an unknown number of tree trunks and buildings, the Monk finally came to a stop.
He climbed out of the dust.
His face was swollen beyond recognition.
Yet despite his battered appearance, a smile appeared on his face.
The Monk had noticed something.
The fist Tsunayoshi had used to strike him was silver.
That meant Tsunayoshi’s so-called Golden Holy Dragon Mode had already been exhausted.
The two of them had returned to the same starting line.
The Monk forced his swollen eyes open and looked at the green lizard on Tsunayoshi’s chest.
He smiled.
A triumphant smile.
Sawada Tsunayoshi had only had one opportunity to kill him.
And Tsunayoshi had clearly missed it.
A moment earlier.
Tsunayoshi had watched helplessly as the Monk escaped from the Golden Solar Sacred Fire.
Just as he was preparing to throw a punch and finish him off, Kyōraku reminded him.
Kyōraku’s voice came through in a focused, tightly controlled tone.
“Tsunayoshi, have you thought of a way to kill him?”
Kyōraku’s words immediately brought Tsunayoshi back to his senses.
He couldn’t kill the Monk.
The man controlled the power of names.
As long as someone called his name, he could revive again.
And whether he would revive at the exact location where he died was another matter entirely.
At that very moment, Tsunayoshi voluntarily deactivated Golden Holy Dragon Mode.
Without the support of the Golden Solar Sacred Fire, his full-power punch could no longer kill the Monk.
But it had still inflicted considerable damage.