Chapter Eighty-Six: Imitation

"You mean to kill me?"
At those words from Chojiro, Chiba Shunyo suddenly found the whole thing highly amusing and burst into laughter.

"Hahahaha! Don't be ridiculous. Your Zanpakuto means nothing to me. You cannot win."

"Shut up!"
No longer able to endure Chiba Shunyo's piercing voice, Chojiro surged forward with his sword in hand.

Crackling lightning burst forth.
Enryumaru seemed to sense its master's fury and shone with a brilliance even fiercer than before.

"Hey..."
Seeing Chojiro suddenly rush in, Enryumaru wrapped in lightning striking toward him, Chiba Shunyo did not dodge. Instead, he raised his Zanpakuto to meet the blow.

Clang!
Crash!

Their figures crossed paths, accompanied by the intertwined sounds of lightning.

"!?"
From the corner of his eye, Chojiro saw the blade in Chiba's hand still looked utterly ordinary, unchanged in the slightest.

Was that... lightning just now?

He narrowed his eyes, slightly puzzled, unable to be certain of his own judgment. After all, the exchange had been too brief. There had indeed been the sound of lightning interlacing, but there was nothing on the blade itself, no sense of lightning at all...

Then try again.

Turning, he shot once more toward Chiba Shunyo, and Enryumaru in his hand was again sheathed in lightning.

"You still haven't realized?"
With a cold laugh, Chiba Shunyo also gripped his blade and charged at Chojiro.

Crash!

Again came the sound of interweaving lightning, and this time it rang clearly and unmistakably in Chojiro's ears.

No mistake. It was lightning.

This time, Chojiro was certain: Chiba Shunyo's blade could also unleash lightning, and its quality was no less than his own.

"As expected of captain level... but..."

Chojiro gathered the lightning at the tip of his sword. This was the strongest strike he could unleash in his current Shikai state:

Enryu Burst Lightning!

"..."

Chiba Shunyo merely watched the rushing Chojiro in silence, then raised his own blade to meet him.

Boom!

The explosion was twice as powerful as Chojiro's previous Enryu Burst Lightning, or perhaps it was more like the force of two such blasts detonating at once.

"Guh..."
Lightly wounded, Chojiro sprang out from the smoke and dust of the explosion, then fixed Chiba with a fierce stare.

No mistake. That was...

"I have told you many times already: your Zanpakuto is useless against me."

Chiba Shunyo raised his...

"My power of soul-replication is the ability to perfectly imitate an opponent's technique. No matter how hard you struggle with that blade, it will be pointless."

"I can imitate it... can I..."

Chojiro's mind had never been as sharp as it was now. In an instant, he shifted to the one method that still offered a chance of victory.

"Then imitate my Bankai!"

"Boom!"

Dark clouds instantly scattered across the sky, blanketing the heavens above Chojiro.

"Oh... Bankai?"
Seeing the leaden clouds brought forth by Chojiro's Bankai, Chiba Shunyo showed no great surprise.

Indeed, in terms of raw ability alone, the power of soul-replication was limited to the Shikai level. If it were Bankai, that would already exceed the bounds of soul-replication. But that was only true before the power of soul-replication reached Bankai itself.

"Bankai—"

If I can imitate Bankai, then let me rise to the same level as well.

"Endless Soul-Mirror Gate."

Voom...

The Zanpakuto in Chiba's hand suddenly transformed into a mirror set before him.

"Come, Acting Captain-Commander of the Elephant Department. Every attack of your Bankai will be reflected once more through this mirror gate and strike back at you in the end. If you have the courage, then try it!"

"If you can imitate it, then do it! My Bankai's strongest move!!!"

"Boom!"

The world plunged into darkness.

Before losing consciousness, all Chojiro could remember was the endless silhouettes of enemies standing before him.

So... I failed to protect this place...

My apologies...

Pitch Hall...

When Chojiro's awareness returned once more, there still stood before him a figure in a white haori.

A thick reek of blood clung to that body, and even the haori was stained with spots of crimson. Blood dripped one drop at a time from the blade in that person's hand.

Long black hair hung naturally down, and with the breeze stirring, a few strands lifted gently.

"!?"
When Chojiro noticed the number on the back of that haori, he froze.

Why is she here...

That mountain of corpses piled high before him... was that her doing?

"..."

The figure cast a faint glance back, looked at the already awakened Chojiro, said nothing, and did not even sheath the blade in her hand. She simply walked straight toward the exit.

"Wait!"

Struggling to his feet, he rose from the ground. Had his Bankai failed and left him unconscious from the sudden drain of spiritual pressure?

Tap...

Hearing Chojiro's voice, the figure stopped, but did not turn around.

"..."

There was no doubt that all of this had been done by her, and Chiba Shunyo had been slain in a single blow.

"You..."

"If you feel fear, then do not force yourself."

Cutting him off, the figure said to the man just awakened behind her, "This is who I am."

"You should have heard of me..."

"The Ghost of the Wandering Souls."

"A butcher who kills without mercy, young or old, male or female, all alike."

"It would be reasonable for you to refuse me."

She spoke calmly of her past, while just as calmly refusing the distance of the one behind her who sought to come closer.

"From now on... we probably won't meet again."

Having said all she wished to say, the figure seemed to harden some resolve and took another step forward, giving the impression she would never return.

"Stop right there!"

The figure's eyes flew wide open, and even her lips parted slightly. She had not expected the man behind her to speak to her in such a way.

"What are you rambling on about by yourself, you idiot? You didn't even give me time to speak."

Chojiro strode over with clear irritation and forcibly turned the much smaller body around to face him.

He wiped away the blood splashed across her fair skin, and his tone suddenly turned harsh.

"I don't care about any 'Ghost of the Wandering Souls' or whatever. Aren't you just the same quiet Unohana from the Fourth Division? The past is only the past, isn't it? The present is the present!"

"So don't become the past again, all right?"

His hand rested against her cheek, and his voice had never been so gentle.

"Mm..."

The reply, soft as a mosquito's buzz, slipped into both their hearts.

"It's a promise..."

...

My goodness, this is so sloppy! Everyone, please don't scold me for it. I know full well how sloppy it is! The battle scenes are sloppy, the romance is sloppy, everything is sloppy! I admit it! So please don't roast me... I really can't write romance at all... sob... A life without a girlfriend for twenty years is the worst thing ever... I'll add an image later.