Bleach : The God of Flames

"Didn't you see it? The resentful look in your companion's eyes."

Tsunayoshi had noticed Senjumaru's unwillingness to accept what had happened.

"Companion?"

The Monk seemed to have heard the greatest joke in the world.

"They're nothing but tools—tools for maintaining the stability of the world!"

A slash of ink-black energy descended before Tsunayoshi. He caught the Monk's Zanpakutō between the jaws of the White Dragon Armguard, while the Flaming Lion Armguard on his right arm swung forward with a punch.

"Heavy!"

The Monk grinned and issued the command.

Tsunayoshi suddenly felt as though the weapon clamped in his left hand had transformed into a massive greatsword.

The abrupt change threw him off balance. His right fist missed as the Monk easily dodged it, then slapped Tsunayoshi away.

The wings rapidly extended, providing enough lift to stabilize Tsunayoshi in midair.

Tsunayoshi flipped through the air and immediately turned around, unleashing a Dragon Breath toward the Monk.

"I've figured it out. Your left hand always releases the same amount of power to neutralize an attack. The principle is similar to Counter-Kidō. But what happens when the sword itself keeps changing?"

The Monk's voice came from behind him.

Once again, he had used lightning-fast speed to attack Tsunayoshi from behind.

Multiple afterimages appeared along the blade of his Zanpakutō, each carrying a different quality—some light and agile, some heavy, some razor-sharp, and some extraordinarily resilient.

His purpose was to prevent Tsunayoshi from figuring out the pattern behind his attacks.

This was Ōetsu Nimaiya's power.

Nimaiya could bestow or remove properties from the swords he forged. When he fought Aizen, for instance, Nimaiya had stripped Kyōka Suigetsu of its sharpness.

This time, the Monk was doing the exact opposite.

He had placed countless different Zanpakutō properties into the blade in his hand and was effectively drawing them at random.

Even the Monk himself had no idea what kind of power the next slash would possess.

"When did I ever say that the White Dragon's power was only for defense?"

With a low dragon's roar, a long white dragon spiraled upward from beneath Tsunayoshi's feet.

As it firmly protected Tsunayoshi in the center, its claws, body, and tail all lashed out at the Monk.

Meanwhile, the white dragon head on Tsunayoshi's left hand had disappeared.

The Armguard had returned to the form it possessed during Bankai.

But that did not make it any less formidable.

It was still the weapon of Tsunayoshi's Sky-type Beyond Bankai.

Clang, clang, clang!

The Monk felt as though his blade were striking steel every time it hit the White Dragon's body.

He could not inflict any meaningful damage.

Instead, the White Dragon repeatedly lashed him with its body and tail.

Steel?

The Monk immediately understood.

That was not steel.

It was the Hollow's Hierro!

He had never seen Hierro with such terrifying hardness.

Even that ancient Menos Grande had been incapable of possessing such formidable steel-like skin.

[How dare he underestimate my power? Let him see what I can really do!]

The White Dragon raised its head and fired a beam toward the Monk.

At its core was orange Sky Flame, while two layers of Cero were wrapped around the outside.

This attack, resembling a Makankōsappō, came from Byakuran.

Like the Tenth, he resided within the Armguard's beast form and could separate from it to fight independently when necessary.

The beam was incredibly fast.

But speed wasn't its only advantage.

It was also extraordinarily agile.

The Monk had just taken several blows from the White Dragon and was preparing to use his Zanpakutō to block the incoming attack.

Then he saw the beam curve in front of him.

It traced an elegant arc before striking him directly in the shoulder.

"Hss!"

The pain made the Monk suck in a sharp breath.

The beam pierced through his Shihakushō.

Although it failed to penetrate his enhanced body, it left behind a searing wound.

[It can work, Little Tsunayoshi. Vongola, cooperate with me!]

Byakuran's eyes lit up.

From the beam's output frequency and Reiatsu intensity, he had immediately calculated the amount of power necessary to inflict a serious wound on the Monk.

There was no need for words.

Only absolute trust.

Tsunayoshi controlled his body and followed the White Dragon's movements.

The White Dragon continued to lead the way with its beams, while Tsunayoshi followed behind, constantly firing Burning Supernova as covering fire.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Violent explosions stretched from the eastern side of the Seireitei all the way to the west.

The Monk was continuously suppressed by Tsunayoshi and the White Dragon working together, and he was on the verge of falling into a critical situation.

Whoosh!

A surging torrent of scalding water rolled over the Monk.

The Monk hardened his resolve.

Using Kirinji's hot springs to recover his strength, he forcibly endured the barrage of beams and fireballs while charging toward Tsunayoshi.

The red and white hot springs did not merely wash over the Monk himself.

He generously splashed them across the surrounding environment as well, using them to restrict Tsunayoshi's movements.

Those who remained too long in the White Bone Hell would become exhausted and eventually be reduced to a pile of bones.

Those who remained too long in the Blood Pond Hell would undergo excessive regeneration, causing their bodies to rot.

The Monk had even added something to the hot springs to intensify their effects.

Meanwhile, he himself was able to move freely within them thanks to Kirinji's understanding of the springs.

And Tsunayoshi?

For someone whose body had suffered virtually no injuries, the hot springs were nothing less than a violently potent poison.

Using the hot springs to buy himself time and regroup, the Monk prepared to use the same trick again.

He would use Nimaiya's power to command every Zanpakutō in the world.

Then he would see whether Sawada Tsunayoshi was willing to shatter all those Zanpakutō—or whether he would rather take a slash from the Monk himself!

Unfortunately, there were only two spectators capable of witnessing such a fierce battle:

Yamamoto and Senjumaru.

Kirinji had no idea where he had collapsed within the Seireitei.

If he knew that the Monk had used every last one of his assets, would his heart break?

Steam filled the air.

Water vapor covered the sky.

The instant Tsunayoshi saw the hot springs, he called the White Dragon back and wrapped his entire body in the Sky Flames burning from his cloak, preventing the hot springs from coming anywhere near him.

Seeing this, the Monk nodded in satisfaction.

The fact that Tsunayoshi had to use his Reiatsu to protect himself meant that his pursuit had stopped.

That gave the Monk an opportunity to use his next move.

"By the authority of the God of Blades, every blade..."

The Monk was about to raise his Zanpakutō and summon every Zanpakutō in the world back to him.

But he suddenly discovered that his hand had stopped moving when he had barely raised it to chest level.

It was as though something had sealed it in place.

Then an icy coldness that penetrated to the bone swept over him.

Ice!

The power of freezing had encased the Monk's body in ice.

The Monk was baffled.

Hyōrinmaru?

Sode no Shirayuki?

How could their wielders possibly dare to interfere in a battle on this level?

Just before the ice reached his neck, the Monk desperately raised his head.

What he saw was Sawada Tsunayoshi with not a trace of flame on his body.

Even the flame on his forehead had disappeared.

There wasn't even a spark on either Armguard.

A tiny lion stood on Tsunayoshi's shoulder.

If the Monk still couldn't figure out that Tsunayoshi was behind this, then he truly wouldn't be the Monk.

The Monk opened his mouth.

But before he could say anything, the water vapor filling the sky froze him solid.

In the blink of an eye, the western outskirts of the Seireitei had been transformed into a massive block of ice.

This was the Dying Will Zero Point Breakthrough, driven by the terrifying Reiatsu capable of shaking the world.

The moment the Monk prepared to summon the Zanpakutō, Tsunayoshi already knew what he intended to do.

Combined with the water vapor filling the entire area, Tsunayoshi and the Tenth had immediately chosen the Dying Will Zero Point Breakthrough.

The Tenth even took the initiative to control Natsu's body and exert his power together with Tsunayoshi.

Only through their combined strength could they freeze such an enormous area in an instant.

Looking at the Monk frozen inside the ice, Tsunayoshi silently sighed.

Unfortunately, this was not the world of the Family Tutor.

In that world, the ice created by the Dying Will Zero Point Breakthrough could not be opened without the Flames of all seven attributes.

In a sense, it amounted to sealing the Monk.

But this was the world of the Shinigami.

Reiatsu was the foundation of everything.

And the Monk possessed something that stood above all else—

The true power of the Soul King.

Breaking free from the Dying Will Zero Point Breakthrough's ice was only a matter of time for the Monk.

Tsunayoshi had to make use of the brief period during which the Monk was under absolute control.

[Little Tsunayoshi, Vongola, well done!]

Within the Inner World, Byakuran immediately cheered when he saw the Monk immobilized.

[Leave the rest to me! Cooperate with me, Little Tsunayoshi!]

Natsu jumped down from Tsunayoshi's shoulder and transformed back into the Flaming Lion Armguard.

Tsunayoshi held the White Dragon Armguard level with his body, gripping his left arm with his right hand for support.

Following the trajectory directed by Byakuran, he unleashed the full power of his Sky Flames.

The flames burned violently.

The cloak behind Tsunayoshi transformed into a sea of fire, dyeing the sky orange-red.

The strongest and most powerful form of Sky Flame condensed within the White Dragon Armguard.

One ring of flame after another extended from before Tsunayoshi's palm all the way to the Monk.

The power of the Sky Flame permeated every inch of the White Dragon's body.

Faintly, mottled orange-red patterns began to glow across the White Dragon Armguard.

They were the Sky Flames hidden beneath the dragon's scales.

Every condition was ready.

A path of flame rings to guide the attack forward.

A sky of fire to serve as its support.

And the White Dragon Armguard, already prepared to burn itself away.

At Byakuran's command, Tsunayoshi curled his left hand into a claw.

A dragon-shaped mass of flame erupted from his palm.

[Go! Blazing Dragon Cannon!]

Accompanied by Byakuran's excited voice, the White Dragon passed through layer after layer of flame rings.

With every ring it crossed, the fire surrounding its body grew more intense.

Its speed increased.

Its body grew larger.

The White Dragon, trailing brilliant sparks, charged forward in its most ferocious form.

It smashed through the countless layers of solid ice blocking its path and passed through each layer of flames that elevated it further.

Finally, it grew into an enormous orange dragon capable of swallowing the heavens and earth.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Crackling and crashing sounds rang out without end.

The explosions were caused by the White Dragon's successive transformations, while the crashing sounds came from shattered ice raining down around it.

The solid ice created by the Dying Will Zero Point Breakthrough had become nothing more than specks of starlight along the White Dragon's path of growth.

When it passed through the final ring of flame, the White Dragon had finally transformed into a pure-energy dragon of blazing orange fire, its entire body bathed in an overwhelming Sky Flame.

This was Byakuran's ultimate attack, created so he could regain some of the advantage he had lost to the Monk.

He had materialized his own Jet Cannon through the White Dragon, transforming it into the Blazing Dragon Cannon.

The Monk, still trapped within the ice, stared in shock at the enormous dragon maw that suddenly opened before him, blotting out the heavens and earth.

Even through the layer of solid ice, he could feel just how terrifying the Reiatsu contained within this attack was.

Damn it!

Why couldn't he have been given just a little more time?

His eyes could already move.

With a little more time, the Monk would be able to break free of the ice.

But there was no more opportunity.

The Blazing Dragon Cannon opened its enormous jaws and swallowed the Monk whole.

Then came the explosion known as the Cannon.

Light.

A brilliant orange-red radiance was the first thing to seize everyone's attention.

Then came the deafening explosion.

The roar of the Blazing Dragon Cannon shook everyone throughout Soul Society.

The entire Soul Society heard it.

Even the Western District heard the roar of that enraged dragon...