Before the Seiryū Gate, two figures clashed at blistering speed.
Boom!
The surrounding buildings had long since been reduced to rubble under the force of their battle, and the destruction was still spreading.
Even Gin Ichimaru was breathing hard after the fierce exchange.
What surprised him was that Itachi Uchiha showed no sign of fatigue at all—as if exhaustion simply didn't exist for him.
"Interesting. I thought this was just another Ryōka incursion. Didn't expect you to be this strong." Gin exhaled slowly.
The sly smile on his face never wavered, but his half-lidded eyes fixed on Itachi with growing gravity.
This guy was a real headache.
In truth, Gin found the whole situation deeply troubling.
This Ryōka was bizarre—not only could he use all sorts of strange techniques, but the most aggravating part was that eerie ability to affect the mind.
One moment of carelessness and Gin would fall into an illusion. He couldn't land a clean hit, and even when he tried to defend in time, his guard was always a step too late.
The fight had him fighting with one hand tied behind his back the entire time.
Gin gripped his Zanpakutō and sighed with mock resignation. "What a pain. Fine then—guess I'll have to go all out."
As the words left his mouth, his spiritual pressure surged again. His Zanpakutō blazed with blinding white light.
"Bankai. Kamishini no Yari."
In an instant, Gin appeared before Itachi. His blade split into countless white streaks, stabbing toward Itachi from every direction.
Itachi's Sharingan spun rapidly, transforming into the Mangekyō Sharingan in the blink of an eye. At the same time, a layer of Armament Haki coated his body.
Boom—!
Countless blades struck Itachi. The force of the impact sent him stumbling backward—and the attacks actually pierced through his Armament Haki.
In moments, the blades shredded Itachi's body to pieces. The poison on the blades began rapidly breaking down his cells.
In no time, the potent toxin had completely dissolved Itachi's body.
Gin grinned and recalled his Zanpakutō, the blade returning to its original form.
But a second later, he froze.
Without warning, he found himself in an unfamiliar place. A blood-red moon hung in the sky, staining the heavens crimson. The scorched ground looked as though it had been drenched in blood.
Everything around him made Gin deeply uneasy.
"What's going on?" His face went pale.
Before he could react, he was bound to a cross. Itachi appeared before him, blade in hand, and drove it straight into his heart.
Gin tried to fight back—but he couldn't move at all. He couldn't even break the ropes holding him to the cross.
Thud.
The blade sank into his heart. Agony exploded through him, magnified dozens of times over, until his whole body trembled uncontrollably.
Gradually his consciousness faded. He could feel his life draining away.
Then, the instant he lost consciousness completely, everything reset.
Same place. Same situation. Same person standing before him.
Same blade plunging into his heart.
It was an endless loop—death after death, each one delivering pain beyond endurance.
Gin quickly realized he'd fallen prey to that strange technique again. But no matter how hard he struggled, he couldn't break free this time.
"Damn it—what the hell is this?" he snarled through clenched teeth.
The next second, another blade pierced his heart, and he "died" again.
In the real world, the light left Gin's eyes. His body slumped to his knees, powerless.
The Mangekyō Sharingan in Itachi's eyes faded. He exhaled in relief.
Gin Ichimaru's willpower was formidable. Even mid-battle, he'd stayed vigilant—every time he fell into a genjutsu, he broke free almost immediately.
That was why Itachi had never found an opening to use Tsukuyomi.
In the end, Itachi had to make Gin believe he'd been killed—only then did Gin let his guard slip for just an instant, and Tsukuyomi finally took hold.
"Defeated? Captain Gin actually lost?"
"Damn it—how is this possible? Even a captain lost to them? These Ryōka are that strong?"
"What do we do? Where are the other captains? Why hasn't anyone else arrived yet?"
Gin's defeat threw the nearby Shinigami into chaos.
They looked at Itachi again, fear creeping into their eyes. Many stood frozen in place.
Itachi didn't press the attack. Instead he turned to Lin Xuan. "Guild Master, what do you want to do next?"
Lin Xuan walked slowly up to Gin and murmured a few words in his ear.
Then he glanced at the prestige points climbing on his system interface and frowned slightly.
This battle had earned him a decent amount of prestige—but opening the gate to the Soul Society in the first place had cost him plenty too.
He wasn't entirely satisfied with how things had played out.
It seemed the people in the Seireitei still weren't taking this seriously enough. He'd have to make the situation even bigger.
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T/N:
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