Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Broken Blade

“Mmm… mmph…”
Jōshirō, who had been slammed violently to the ground by Reis, struggled to support himself with his arms. Was this the state he was reduced to by an attack that was only a little more serious?
“Can you still stand? No…”
Reis landed lightly in front of Jōshirō, his tone indifferent. “Are you still planning to get up?”
His body felt as if it had aged decades; every movement made his joints creak in protest, and he could summon no strength at all.
Is this the end?
Even with his Bankai, he couldn’t defeat this man?
Has the power of lightning also fallen?
“Oh?” There was a trace of surprise in Reis’s voice. “Do you really intend to keep blocking our way?”
“Gah… gah…”
Jōshirō panted heavily, his hand gripping the Yanlingmaru tightly.
“Your question is foolish, Reis…”
Jōshirō’s legs trembled, the strain on his body making it nearly impossible for him to stand again, but he refused to fall here. He would not allow it.
“Have the storm clouds in the sky ever parted?”
He managed a smile. Though it appeared forced to Reis, he did not underestimate Jōshirō for it.
Why does he keep rising?
He must know the gap in strength between us.
Why must he persist?
“My Bankai still remains… I haven’t lost yet…”
Jōshirō forced a smile. “You haven’t defeated me…”
Reis nodded slightly, as if acknowledging Jōshirō’s words.
“I see… You’re quite impressive, Captain Sparrow Jōshirō. What a pity…”
In a flash, Reis’s speed outclassed Jōshirō by more than a single tier. Before the wounded Jōshirō could react, Reis’s fist struck his chest, and before he could be sent flying, Reis seized his right wrist, the one gripping his blade, and tightened his hold.
“Let go of the sword.”
“Ugh…”
A searing pain shot through his wrist, nearly forcing him to drop his weapon.
Jōshirō’s brows knitted in agony.
A faint spark of electricity flashed along Yanlingmaru’s blade.
“Let go of your blade, Captain Sparrow Jōshirō.”
Reis increased the pressure, and Jōshirō could feel the bones in his wrist crying out in protest.
“Heh… heh…”
Despite the pain, Jōshirō managed a crooked smile and looked at Reis. “Let it descend.”
“!”
With a thunderous crash, Jōshirō’s wrist twisted in an unexpected movement, just enough to slip free of Reis’s grasp, sending him hurtling backward.
As Reis watched in surprise, a bolt of lightning crashed down, enveloping him, then splitting into slender branches that wove themselves into a cage, imprisoning him within.

“‘Desperate Lightning Prison.’”
Seizing this rare opportunity, Jōshirō tried to recover his strength.
“You’d best stay in this cage of several million volts for a while…”
Before he could finish, Reis simply reached out, tore the lightning cage apart, and showed not the slightest reaction to the millions of volts coursing through him, as if the current wasn’t even enough to slow him.
To dismantle Jōshirō’s Lightning Prison so effortlessly—what kind of power was this?
While Jōshirō stood stunned, Reis reached out and seized his blade, snapping it in two.
Before Jōshirō’s very eyes, Yanlingmaru cracked with a sharp snap. The sword, once as flexible as a Western rapier, broke in Reis’s grasp as easily as a twig, splitting in two with a crisp sound.
A thunderclap echoed from the clouds above, then faded away, and the dense black clouds parted, vanishing from everyone’s sight.
Sunlight pierced through the gap in the clouds, illuminating a land long shrouded in gloom.
Yet, to Jōshirō, this warm sunlight was unbearably harsh.
With a brittle sound, the broken Yanlingmaru could no longer maintain its released form, reverting to the appearance of an ordinary Zanpakutō. Even the broken blade that Reis had tossed aside returned to its usual form.
His Bankai—ended here, with the shattering of Yanlingmaru.
Stunned? Or simply at a loss for what to do?
Jōshirō stared blankly as the broken blade slid far across the ground, unable to muster any reaction at all.
“So this is all?”
Reis looked coldly at the defeated Jōshirō and walked past him without a second glance.
“You—”
Suddenly, Jōshirō’s body began to tremble. He whipped around, raising the broken blade to strike at Reis.
“Stop right there!”
With effortless ease, Reis caught Jōshirō’s wrist and pressed his other hand against Jōshirō’s abdomen.
“Behave yourself.”
A low hum—
A flash—
Golden Cero engulfed Jōshirō’s form, leaving only the hand Reis still held.
He had taken Reis’s Cero with his body, and collapsed to his knees. If Reis hadn’t been holding his wrist, Jōshirō might already have fallen completely.
“I’ve weakened the Cero significantly. It shouldn’t kill you.”
Reis let go, and Jōshirō’s arm slipped limply from his grasp, his entire body crumpling to the ground.

“I told you—you will witness the fall of the Soul Society.”
Without looking back, Reis strode into the distance.
“Stay here quietly, Captain Sparrow Jōshirō.”

…………

Ten minutes earlier.

The seventy-eighth district—the outskirts of Inudō. Here, over four hundred Soul Reapers were stationed.
Among them, two bore white haori.
“Captain! Captain Amanomiya!”
“What is it?”
“What is it?”
Both captains in haori turned their heads at once.
“What are you doing? He was clearly calling me!”
“I should be asking that! He’s my subordinate!”
The two short-haired black-haired captains butted foreheads, shouting at each other.
“Ah… n-no… Both Captain Amanomiyas…”
“What is it?!” they demanded in unison.
“Um…”
The Soul Reaper spoke awkwardly, “The Soul Reaper up ahead has already engaged the enemy!”
“Oh? That’s Captain Sparrow Jōshirō, isn’t it?” said Amanomiya Kazuki, Captain of Squad Seven.
“Hmph, that useless fellow who only got by thanks to his connection with Yamamoto Shigenaga?” said Amanomiya Jirō, Captain of Squad Ten.
Both Amanomiya captains seemed to look down on Jōshirō, scarcely giving him a second thought.
“But… are we really just going to leave him to fight alone?”
“It doesn’t matter. Head Captain Yamamoto won’t know what happened here—just say he fell to the Hollows.”
Kazuki waved his hand dismissively, then looked up. From here, he could see the edge of the storm clouds conjured by Jōshirō’s Bankai.
A thunderous boom erupted.
At that moment, a deafening roar came from the direction of the seventy-ninth district, so loud that even the Soul Reapers in the seventy-eighth could hear it clearly, along with the overwhelming spiritual pressure that followed.
A hiss—the clouds in the sky began to disperse, sunlight returning to the seventy-ninth district.
“What’s happening…?”
“What on earth is going on…”
A monstrous howl rang out. Before anyone could react, a horde of Hollows and Gillians surged from the seventy-ninth district, charging straight for the four hundred Soul Reapers before them!