Chapter 220: Bankai
Although the previous draw wasn't a universe-shattering surprise on the level of a Dragon God, Ren was undeniably satisfied.
The sheer utility and lethal precision of the first character were tools that could turn the tide of any battle. He exhaled slowly, letting the excitement settle in his chest as he prepared for the next reveal.
Ren's gaze shifted to the second Gold character card hovering in his mental interface. The card shimmered with a luxurious, golden luster, but unlike the others, it seemed to pulse with a dark, melancholic energy—a somber rhythm that hinted at blood and tears.
With a mental command, the card slowly flipped open, revealing the portrait within.
"It's him!!"
Ren's eyes widened, his breath hitching in his throat. He was genuinely surprised this time. The weight of the character on the card was palpable.
The figure depicted was iconic. He had raven-black hair that framed his face in long bangs, wearing the forehead protector of Konohagakure (Hidden Leaf Village) with a distinct, horizontal slash carved violently through the Leaf symbol—the mark of a traitor. He was draped in a black cloak adorned with ominous red clouds, the high collar obscuring the lower half of his face, adding to his mystique. His fingernails and toenails were painted a dark, glossy purple.
But the most striking feature, the one that drew the soul in, were his eyes. Blood-red irises containing three mysterious tomoe swirling lazily around his pupils.
"Uchiha Itachi!"
Ren recognized his identity at a single glance. In his previous life, anyone who had even a passing knowledge of anime knew this man. He was a legend among legends.
Public opinion on Uchiha Itachi was a polarized spectrum of extremes, a testament to the complexity of his writing.
Some revered him as the ultimate martyr—a gentle, brilliant, and loving elder brother who bore the weight of the world in silence. He was a shadow who walked in darkness so the village could bask in the light. A pacifist forced to wield a sword.
Others condemned him as a cold-blooded monster, a kin-slayer poisoned by the 'Will of Fire' to the point of fanaticism. They saw him as a man who butchered his own parents, exterminated his bloodline, and tortured his beloved brother, acting worse than a beast.
He was an incredibly contradictory existence. A villain who was the greatest hero. A traitor who was the most loyal soldier. But ultimately, his entire life's philosophy, his every breath and every sin, boiled down to one singular tether: everything was for Sasuke.
Itachi chose to exterminate his clan to prevent a civil war that would have destroyed the Village. He stained his hands with the blood of his kin, even standing over the corpses of his own mother and father, accepting their forgiveness with trembling hands. But the one person, the only person he could not bring himself to harm, was his younger brother, Sasuke.
In the end, as his life faded, his final truth was revealed, echoing through the hearts of fans worldwide: "No matter what path you choose in the future, I will always love you."
To Itachi, Sasuke weighed more than the world. His brother surpassed his parents, his clan, the honor of the Uchiha, and even the village he swore to protect.
Ren stared at the image, remembering the lore. Itachi possessed the wisdom of a Hokage at the age of seven. He could see the long-term vision and future that his short-sighted clan members could not. He knew that a coup d'état born of anger and arrogance would only lead to the Uchiha's annihilation and leave Konoha vulnerable to foreign invasion, sparking a catastrophic World War.
He chose the path of the demon so his brother could live as a human.
Regardless of the morality of his actions, Uchiha Itachi's popularity was absolutely sky-high in the world of Naruto.
He was a true prodigy, a genius born once in a generation. In combat, Itachi was an artist of death. He didn't rely on massive, flashy destruction like Madara Uchiha; instead, he turned the mundane into the lethal. A simple shuriken throw from Itachi was a geometric masterpiece that could trap an opponent with no escape. His Genjutsu could end a fight before it even began, trapping enemies in a world of torture where seconds felt like days.
In the original story, Uchiha Itachi was never truly defeated by anyone other than his own terminal illness and his own design. He was often jokingly referred to as "Kishimoto's Favorite Son" or the "Solo King" because of his invincible aura and narrative importance.
In the Naruto universe, excluding the god-tier stat monsters like Kaguya or the Sage of Six Paths that appeared in the endgame, arguably only the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, could rival Uchiha Itachi in terms of pure combat talent and tactical intellect.
Ren felt a surge of genuine excitement coursing through his veins, his heart pounding against his ribs.
Of course, it wasn't just because Uchiha Itachi was powerful. In the System's ranking, Uchiha Itachi's overall strength was likely classified as Intermediate Gold Legendary, similar to the previous draw.
The true reason for his trembling hands was the eyes.
"Sharingan! The Sharingan!"
These were the eyes he had dreamed of since childhood. The ability to see chakra, to copy movement, to cast unbreakable illusions, to predict the future.
It was the coolest ocular power in anime history, bar none.
Regardless of whether Uchiha Itachi's raw power output was the highest, just obtaining these eyes made the draw worth it a thousand times over. It was a dream fulfilled.
"Overall, this time my luck was pretty good."
Ren rubbed his chin, analyzing his haul. Two Intermediate Gold Legendaries. Interestingly, both men were characters defined by their extreme devotion, their lies, and their hidden agendas.
Ichimaru Gin. A man who lived as a snake, betraying everyone and shedding his skin, all to retrieve what was stolen from Matsumoto Rangiku. He didn't care about the world; he only cared about her.
Uchiha Itachi. A man who lived as a hawk pretending to be a crow, destroying his family to save his brother.
"Let's try it first!"
Ren couldn't wait any longer. The urge to test these powers was overwhelming. He needed a place where he could unleash devastation without worrying about collateral damage.
"Full Body Take Over: Minato Namikaze!"
Golden light flashed as Ren assumed the form of the Yellow Flash. The familiar white coat with flames licking the hem materialized. He immediately pulled out a three-pronged kunai, felt the spatial marker, and activated the Flying Thunder God Technique.
Zip!
The world twisted.
In the blink of an eye, the noisy, vibrant atmosphere of the Fairy Tail guild vanished. The sound of laughter and clinking mugs was replaced by the howling wind of a desolate wasteland.
Ren's figure reappeared deep in a remote mountain range, hundreds of kilometers away from Magnolia. This was a location Ren specifically chose for testing high-yield abilities; it was a graveyard of rock and canyons, with no human habitation for miles, allowing him to unleash hell without holding back.
Ren stood atop a jagged peak, looking down at the valley of boulders.
"I'll take over Ichimaru Gin first."
Ren deactivated the Minato form, letting the golden aura fade. He focused his mind on the first card, tapping into the essence of the silver-haired assassin.
"Full Body Take Over: Ichimaru Gin!"
A chilling, serpentine pressure descended upon the canyon. The air temperature seemed to drop several degrees, becoming heavy and damp, like the inside of a reptile's den.
Ren's appearance shifted rapidly. His stature became lean and lanky. His hair bleached out, turning a sleek, silvery-purple that fell over his forehead. His eyes narrowed into perpetual slits, hiding his intentions behind a mask of mocking amusement. His clothes transformed into the standard black Shihakushō (Soul Reaper uniform), draped over with the white, sleeveless haori of a Gotei 13 Captain, the symbol for the Third Division emblazoned on the back.
A relatively short Zanpakutō, resembling a wakizashi, hung loosely at his waist.
Along with the physical power, Ichimaru Gin's memories began to surface in Ren's mind like a venomous tide, cold and melancholic.
It was raining.
Ren felt the phantom sensation of cold rain on his skin. He saw a desolate alley in the slums of Rukongai. He saw a young, starving boy with silver hair. And he saw her. A young girl with strawberry-blonde hair, collapsed on the ground, weeping.
Rangiku.
He saw the shadow of a man—Aizen Sōsuke—taking something from her, ripping a piece of her soul away to feed the Hōgyoku.
A seed of hatred, cold and calculating, was planted in his heart that day. It wasn't a hot, fiery rage. It was ice.
I will become a snake, the memory whispered. I will act like a snake, crawl like a snake, and wait for the chance to strike the dragon.
He vowed to become a Shinigami (Soul Reaper). He vowed to change the world, not for justice, not for the Soul Society, but solely to kill Aizen and return what was taken from Rangiku.
For over a hundred years, he played the role of the loyal dog. He executed innocents with a smile. He betrayed his comrades. He became the villain everyone hated. He wore the mask so perfectly that it fused with his face, all to get close enough to strike.
He learned Aizen's weakness: to escape the absolute hypnosis of Kyōka Suigetsu, one must touch the blade before the hypnosis is released.
He waited a century for one strike. One singular moment. And he failed. Aizen had evolved beyond reason, fusing with the Hōgyoku to become a being that transcended Shinigami and Hollows. The result of a failed surprise attack on a god was only one thing: death.
Ren shook his head, clearing the heavy melancholy from his mind. He touched his chest, feeling the residual ache of Gin's heart.
"What a tragic man. A man who would sacrifice his soul for the woman he loved."
Ren slowly drew the Zanpakutō, Shinsō (Divine Spear). It felt light in his hand, deceptively simple. It looked like nothing more than a short sword, a wakizashi used for close quarters.
"But appearances are the greatest lie."
Ren's eyes—Gin's eyes—opened a fraction, revealing a piercing icy blue.
"Shoot to kill, Shinsō!"
Ren recited the Shikai command with a fox-like grin.
Whoosh—!
The blade of Shinsō glowed white and shot forward. It didn't just extend; it surged. It pierced through a massive boulder a hundred meters away as if it were tofu, burying itself deep into the cliff face behind it.
With a thought, the blade retracted instantly, returning to its short form with a sharp clack.
This was Shinsō's Shikai. It could extend and retract at high speeds with immense force, reaching a maximum length of 100 times its original size, roughly five or six hundred meters. While useful, it was considered average among Captain-class weapons, lacking the flashy elemental powers of fire or ice.
However, Ren knew the truth. The Shikai was just a toy. The true terror, the true nature of the snake, lay in the release.
Ren adopted a casual stance, holding the wakizashi horizontally, pointing it at a range of mountains in the distance. He took a deep breath, channeling his Reiatsu (Spirit Pressure) into the hilt.
"Bankai."
The air grew heavy, screaming with tension. The world seemed to darken for a split second.
"Kamishini no Yari (God-Killing Spear)!!"
Ren's wrist flicked.
SWISH—!
There was no sound of extension. There was no blur of motion.
There was only the aftermath.
BOOM—!!
In a fraction of a microsecond, a line of destruction appeared, stretching to the horizon. The mountains in front of Ren—three distinct peaks—were not just cut; they were bisected cleanly.
For a moment, nothing happened. The mountains stood still, unaware they had been killed.
Then, gravity took hold.
RUMBLE... CRASH!!!
The upper halves of the three mountains slowly began to slide off their bases. Megatons of rock crashed down into the valley below, sending up a mushroom cloud of dust and debris that reached the clouds. The sound of the collapse hit Ren seconds later, a deafening roar that shook the earth beneath his feet.
Clack.
The blade was already back in his hand, dagger-length, as if it had never moved.
"So fast!!"
Ren's eyes widened, even with his enhanced perception. He hadn't even seen the blade move. He only felt the recoil and saw the result.
"13 kilometers," Ren muttered, recalling the data. "That is the maximum range."
"500 times the speed of sound. That is the speed of the extension."
"This isn't just a sword. It's a sniper rifle that shoots a blade."
Ren marveled at the terrifying kinetics. But he knew Gin's greatest lie. During his fight with Ichigo Kurosaki, Gin had bragged about the length and the speed to distract him.
But the true ability of Kamishini no Yari was not just physical destruction. It was molecular disintegration.
"For a split second during the extension and retraction, the blade turns into dust," Ren whispered, running his finger along the flat of the blade.
"It leaves a microscopic chip of the blade inside the opponent. A fragment of the sword itself."
When the command "Kill, Kamishini no Yari" is given, that chip activates a deadly cell-dissolving poison. It breaks down the target from the inside out at a cellular level, dissolving flesh, bone, and organs into nothingness.
It was the ultimate assassin's weapon. Aizen, an immortal being who had surpassed the boundaries of life and death, was nearly killed by this technique. Against any mortal mage in the Fairy Tail world, a single scratch would mean certain, unavoidable death.
"Ichimaru Gin might only be an Intermediate Gold Legendary, but his lethality is definitely High Tier. He is a boss killer."
Ren tested a few more moves, dancing through the canyon with Shunpo (Flash Step). He sliced rocks into dust, testing the retraction speed, creating a net of silver light that nothing could escape. He only stopped when the landscape looked like it had been ravaged by a natural disaster, the canyons widened and the peaks shaved flat.
"Alright, that's enough of the snake."
Ren canceled the transformation. The white captain's haori faded into particles of light, and his hair returned to its normal color. The crushing, cold pressure of Gin's Reiatsu lifted, bringing the warmth back to the air.
Ren stood amidst the rubble, dusting off his clothes. He looked at the devastation he had caused and nodded in satisfaction.
Then, his gaze fell on the other Gold character card, the one he was truly waiting for. The anticipation returned, sharper than before.
"Now for the main event."
"Full Body Take Over: Uchiha Itachi!"
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