Chapter 191: Keep Up With Me
The truth was, Matsushita Yusuke absolutely could not do it.
Even the Yhwach stored in his memory was a being capable of matching Bankai-state Yamamoto. At his current level, squeezing himself completely dry wouldn't come close to reproducing that.
So when you got to the bottom of it.
"It's just a crude imitation."
Exactly as Yamamoto had predicted: Matsushita Yusuke's ability was a special domain constructed from the contents of memory.
A defined range set the boundary. Specific individuals served as the medium. Using those as a foundation, extracted images became something like fixed fragments, preserved within the domain and turned against the opponent.
And that.
Was one ability of the Zanpakuto currently in Matsushita Yusuke's possession: the Rule-type Bankai, Jūni Innen Metsu.
"Since it's fundamentally an imitation of others, the reiatsu cost isn't that extreme."
The figures currently appearing were ultimately just an incidental effect produced by the domain's formation. For Matsushita Yusuke, the main draw on his resources wasn't coming from that side.
Beyond that.
"It sounds inconvenient, but I wasn't counting on this to finish off Yamamoto anyway."
Watching the Yhwach construct nearby get caught mid-charge by Yamamoto, sliced at the waist, and divided into two halves, Matsushita Yusuke, hovering in his reishi-dispersed observation state, let out a quiet sigh he couldn't quite hold back.
He had been expecting this kind of result. But he hadn't expected it to get resolved quite this easily.
"He didn't even need Bankai. Has the old man gotten stronger since before?"
That theory was almost certainly correct.
A Shinigami's power grew from reiatsu, and total volume accumulated with time. Combat experience stacked. Unless something like Ginrei's situation applied, where age itself was becoming a limit, Shinigami in general only grew more dangerous the older they got.
Though something at the scale of Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni, who was already capable of burning everything in existence... that was a separate category entirely.
His thoughts drifting, Matsushita Yusuke watched the bisected Yhwach construct. Its gaze went unfocused, hollow, and finally its eyes went dark entirely, all life extinguished.
Completely, thoroughly finished.
But watching the whole sequence, Matsushita Yusuke quickly noticed the problem.
Something was wrong.
This particular Yhwach had been in the wrong condition from the start.
The body dropped and crumpled, going slack.
And alongside the fresh wound from Yamamoto's cut, Matsushita Yusuke could also see another injury. One that had been there already.
A diamond-shaped penetrating wound through the chest, front to back, large enough to have punched through the heart. The blood around it was still fresh-looking, almost shockingly vivid.
The instant he saw it, he understood.
"Oh no... I pulled out a damaged version."
No wonder the old man had cut through it so easily.
The Yhwach construct, though technically sourced from memory, had been frozen at the specific moment when Sasakibe's blade had already driven through his chest and Yamamoto was about to close in for the finishing blow.
"You can't control the time and condition of what you're imitating."
Yamamoto kept swinging, cold and methodical, cutting down every familiar shape around him.
The blade in his hand truly earned its standing as one of the foremost weapons in Soul Society. With even the Yhwach construct already dealt with, what remained offered absolutely no resistance.
Pure, effortless demolition.
"You can only imitate specific abilities and images, but those are still based on what this old man remembers. If you had any control over timing, you would not have chosen that man at his most compromised moment."
Therefore.
"You cannot choose what part of my memory you draw from. You can only reproduce whatever impression I already carry. Hmph. What a crude and underhanded ability. Even this old man finds it worth remarking on."
BOOM!!!
The blade came down again. This time the light spilling from it didn't cling to the blade. It erupted outward like a beam, pouring forward.
Five approaching figures were vaporized at once. Yamamoto's intensity continued climbing with each exchange.
"Are you not going to bring in reinforcements? This old man still has considerable reserves. At this level of opposition, you cannot do anything to me!"
That appeared to be simply true.
The old man was visibly getting more engaged with each exchange. He was warming up, finding his rhythm. Fighting harder the more he fought.
So what was the right move here?
Follow his suggestion and keep feeding in more constructs, try to exhaust him through attrition?
That was rejected almost immediately. History across any number of conflicts had made one fact consistently clear: feeding an opponent one piece at a time didn't work.
But if he just let things continue on their current course, the entire purpose of the outing would go unfulfilled.
"If I can't even get him to Bankai, I'm nowhere near achieving what this was supposed to be..."
The assignment had come from the Boss. A subordinate had to see it through even if it meant gritting his teeth. But at this point, Matsushita Yusuke had gone from focused to genuinely irritated.
I refuse to believe you're truly untouchable, old man.
Looks like I actually need to bring out something real.
With that thought settled, Matsushita Yusuke let out a breath and made his decision in an instant.
Snap.
Something like a faint sound, barely there.
Every spirit body that had been closing in on Yamamoto stopped simultaneously, as if someone had pressed pause on a silent film. The reaction was so total, so coordinated, it produced an odd moment of something almost like humor.
Yamamoto had still been moving to counter by reflex.
But seeing what had happened, the blade he had begun to swing came to rest in midair.
Composure in action was its own mark of the strong. And more than that: for Yamamoto right now, this entire exchange had perhaps never been more than a probe on his side either.
His read on the current situation gave him more than enough in reserve. He could still afford to look for more, feel out the next layer of the opponent's ability.
And whether there was a chance the other side would give something away.
Whoever possessed this kind of strength was not someone who had emerged from nowhere, from no background and no possible history of being noticed. And from where Yamamoto stood right now...
His suspicions had moved naturally toward a familiar group.
There might be someone on the inside of the Gotei 13.
"..."
He sheathed his movement in silence, stepped back, and returned to within the ring of frozen constructs. His tone carried something faintly light in it.
"Well then. Out of ideas?"
"I'll admit, you're stronger right now. No question."
Matsushita Yusuke's voice layered in from every direction at once.
But.
"This is where it actually starts. Get ready, Yamamoto. I hope you can keep up with me."