Bleach : The God of Flames

The battle between Tsunayoshi and the Monk continued. Gradually, the two sides were no longer satisfied with exchanging blows with their bare hands and feet, and began using attacks imbued with Reiatsu.

After dodging one of the Monk’s attacks, Tsunayoshi found his opening. He condensed a giant hand of Reiatsu with his left hand and seized the Monk, while the mouth of the Flaming Lion Armguard on his right arm opened wide and spun as it fired a gigantic fireball.

White Palm and Burning Supernova.

The Monk had been caught off guard and turned into a sitting duck. When it came to hitting a stationary target, there was no way Tsunayoshi could miss.

The enormous fireball slammed directly into the Monk’s face. It exploded, and its overwhelming Reiatsu swallowed everything in the surrounding area.

Strangely, there was not the slightest hint of delight on Tsunayoshi’s face. There was no doubt that Burning Supernova had hit its target, but Tsunayoshi had a feeling that the Monk had not actually been injured.

Tsunayoshi swung his arm, scattering the shockwaves of the explosion with a burst of Reiatsu. Just as he had expected, there was no one inside.

Tsunayoshi immediately spread out his Reiatsu. On a distant hill, he found the Monk. Without another thought, Tsunayoshi used Shunpo and rushed over.

From a distance, Tsunayoshi could already see the Monk kneading some black, inky substance into shape. When the Monk noticed Tsunayoshi approaching, he even gave him a provocative grin.

X Burner!

A beam of energy shot toward the Monk from afar. This time, Tsunayoshi discovered the problem.

The instant X Burner struck the Monk, the Monk turned into a puddle of ink and disappeared.

A substitution technique?

Tsunayoshi thought of the signature ninjutsu from another world. The method was somewhat different, but the Monk was indeed using ink to take the attack in place of his real body. In principle, there was little difference from a substitution technique.

After destroying this decoy, Tsunayoshi’s senses immediately warned him that the Monk had appeared elsewhere.

One, two, three…

Nearly ten Monks appeared simultaneously around Tsunayoshi.

It seemed that the Monk was no longer satisfied with simply using ink to negate the effects of his naming power. He had started getting creative with the ink.

Tsunayoshi smiled.

From his perspective, the Monk’s actions were rather laughable. This kind of deception might work against other people, but it was completely useless against Tsunayoshi. As long as he wanted to, he would inevitably find the Monk’s true body.

Hyper Intuition!

With a flash, Tsunayoshi appeared beside the Monk’s true body and brought his fist crashing down toward the Monk’s head.

The Monk raised both palms and met the blow head-on. Somewhat surprised, he said, “Looks like you still have powers I don’t know about. Unfortunately, you’re still too slow!”

Four black figures appeared beside the Monk.

They were clearly figures he had molded from ink, except they did not look like the Monk at all.

Other members of Squad Zero?

Even though they were nothing more than featureless black silhouettes, Tsunayoshi still recognized the four people.

What was the Monk planning to do by creating these four?

“Thanks to you, I’ve developed a new ability,” the Monk said through gritted teeth. “Now, let me show you exactly what it can do!”

Since the Soul King Palace had been established, when had he ever been reduced to such a sorry state?

Normally, once he summoned the Soul King’s fragments, victory was practically assured. Yet that method had failed completely against Tsunayoshi.

After discovering that his ability was ineffective against Tsunayoshi, the Monk had begun considering new ways to use it.

If it didn’t work on Tsunayoshi, then why not use it on someone else?

Because he had absorbed the Soul King’s fragments, the Monk was now the Soul King’s representative walking the mortal world. Using a portion of the Soul King’s power as a framework, he used the black ink under his control to construct bodies.

Four members of Squad Zero appeared before him.

But that alone would not make these four much stronger than the black shadows he had previously used as disguises.

There was one final and crucial step.

Naming them.

The Monk raised two fingers together and used them as a brush, rapidly writing four names in the air:

Ōetsu Nimaiya, Tenjirō Kirinji, Kirio Hikifune, and Senjumaru Shutara!

The four names were driven into the bodies of the four black figures.

The moment they were given their names, all four opened their eyes simultaneously.

“Hm?”

Tenjirō Kirinji, who had been helping protect Soul Society, suddenly stopped in his tracks.

Retsu Unohana stopped as well and looked at him strangely.

“What is it? Is something wrong with your body?”

Although she asked the question, Unohana clearly did not believe the latter possibility.

If any other Shinigami said that something was wrong with their body, Unohana might have believed them.

But Kirinji?

Never.

This was the Shinigami who had taught her Kaidō.

Kirinji’s smile became somewhat awkward as he forced out an answer.

“I feel a little weak. You should hurry and carry out your mission. There’s nothing wrong with me, so don’t worry about it.”

Unohana stared deeply at Kirinji.

The safety of Soul Society was indeed more important right now. She could only leave Kirinji to rest where he stood and continue directing the members of Squad Four.

A similar scene was unfolding with Kirio Hikifune, except it was even more severe.

While running, she suddenly collapsed face-first onto the ground.

“Hikifune, what’s wrong?”

Hiyori hurriedly caught Hikifune and asked anxiously.

The two had reunited after Hikifune entered the Seireitei, and Hiyori had remained by her side ever since.

“Little Hiyori… don’t worry. I’m fine.”

But after hearing Hikifune’s explanation, Hiyori could not put her mind at ease.

That pale face looked nothing like someone who was fine.

“Go and do what you’re supposed to do, Vice-Captain Hiyori!”

Under Hikifune’s stern tone, Hiyori reluctantly gritted her teeth and ran off with the other members of the team.

This was the power of a name.

The Monk had forcibly bestowed the names of the Royal Guard members upon the bodies he had molded. In doing so, he directly stripped the original owners of most of their power, transferring that power to the black-shadow versions of Squad Zero.

From the moment they opened their eyes, the black-shadow Royal Guard were the genuine Squad Zero.

Tsunayoshi watched the Monk’s performance in confusion.

If he wanted to call upon Squad Zero members to fight alongside him, wouldn’t it have been better to simply use the real ones?

Even if Ōetsu died, the Monk could resurrect him simply by calling his name.

Could these imitations really be more useful than the originals?

They were.

The real members had minds of their own.

The black shadows created by the Monk, however, were entirely his creations. These black-shadow Royal Guard members obeyed his every command without any unnecessary thoughts of their own.

“Do you know why advancement into Squad Zero isn’t based on strength?”

The Monk seemed completely confident in his victory, and his mood had improved considerably.

“That’s because I possess the power of invention and creation!”

The Monk opened his enormous mouth.

The black shadow named Kirio Hikifune transformed into a mass of energy and was swallowed into his abdomen.

The Soul Modification Technique that symbolized Hikifune’s aspect of food caused the Monk’s already formidable body to undergo another round of explosive muscular growth.

Senjumaru Shutara transformed into a pitch-black monk’s robe that draped over the Monk’s body. The new Shihakushō granted him even greater defensive power.

Kirinji transformed into a pair of wooden sandals beneath the Monk’s feet.

The straps of the sandals were formed from flowing springs, while lightning itself served as the soles.

Finally, there was the God of Blades, Ōetsu Nimaiya.

His role was the simplest of all.

A black-jade Zanpakutō appeared in the Monk’s hand, its form resembling the most basic Asauchi.

Tsunayoshi could feel it.

The Monk’s combat power had been completely transformed.

It was even stronger than before.

In the next instant, the Monk’s body moved faster than Tsunayoshi’s thoughts.

Tsunayoshi twisted around and drove his elbow backward, catching the Monk’s hand as he attempted a sneak attack.

“Oh?”

The Monk smiled playfully.

“In this form, you can still keep up with the power of lightning?”

Several afterimages of the Monk appeared around Tsunayoshi, all attacking him simultaneously.

The sounds of weapons clashing rang out one after another.

Tsunayoshi relied solely on his body’s reactions to keep up with the Monk’s speed. He completely entrusted his body to instinct.

This was Tsunayoshi’s battle instinct.

Lion King’s Roar!

A gigantic Natsu, condensed from Sky Flames, enveloped Tsunayoshi. Like a cat batting around a toy, it swatted the Monk’s afterimages apart in just a few blows.

“What a fine pet.”

The Monk dusted off his robes.

Natsu’s attacks had inevitably struck his body, but with Hikifune’s enhanced physical strength and the robes formed from Senjumaru Shutara, the Monk had not suffered the slightest injury.

Just as the Monk was preparing to launch another offensive, the space suddenly rippled.

A cold and beautiful woman, blood pouring from her mouth, was hurled out of thin air.

Her body was covered in densely packed wounds that looked as though they had been stitched together. She rolled across the ground several times before collapsing weakly onto her stomach.

She looked toward the Monk with a pale face and an expression full of resentment.

“Monk…”

The person lying on the ground was none other than Senjumaru Shutara.

She had originally been fighting perfectly well within the space created by her Bankai, but then she suddenly felt all the strength leave her body.

What happened afterward was only to be expected.

How could Senjumaru, deprived of her power, possibly be a match for her opponent?

After putting up only a token resistance, she was gravely wounded by Kisuke Urahara. She could not even maintain her Bankai and was sent flying back to her original location.

With Senjumaru’s Bankai released, Kisuke Urahara and Yamamoto returned to Soul Society.

Crack!

The rate at which the cracks split across the sky accelerated once again.

“Seriously, what’s happening? Another Reiatsu powerful enough to shake the world…”

Ichigo fired his arrows even faster.

Yamamoto frowned as he glanced at the sky.

“Kisuke Urahara. Withdraw your power and go help the others.”

“Understood, Captain-Commander.”

Urahara pressed down on his hat, returned to his original appearance, and vanished from the spot in a flash.

Yamamoto glanced toward Tsunayoshi and the Monk.

He did not interfere.

Instead, he slowly walked over to Senjumaru and lifted her up by one arm.

“We’d better not interfere with their battle.”

Yamamoto carried Senjumaru toward the outskirts of the battlefield.

That single glance had been enough for Yamamoto to recognize that the battle between Tsunayoshi and the Monk was now beyond anything he could afford to involve himself in.

Senjumaru did not resist.

She knew this was the best choice.

Although she could be resurrected later, she had no desire to be crushed to death by the aftershocks of their battle.

At some point, Senjumaru’s ornamental hairpiece had fallen loose.

Beneath her disheveled hair was a deep hatred toward the Monk.

With her intelligence, how could she possibly fail to realize that the Monk had stolen her power?

What advancement into Squad Zero?

What protection of the Soul King?

What eternal, endless life?

They were all nothing more than the Monk’s excuses!

Everything had been done so that the members of Squad Zero could become reserves of power for the Monk himself!

That was why the Monk had needed substitutes.

If the members of Squad Zero knew his true purpose, there was no way they would willingly cooperate with him…