CH 72: SHIBA (3)
"Very well, Through heaven and earth, we alone are the honored ones, Tengoku no Kogo!"
"Hahaha! This is it.” Laughing, he shouted at the top of his lungs, “Burn! Engetsu!"
The moment the two of them uttered their activations words, the world seemed to be separated in two.
On one side, a holy light lit up the surroundings brightly. At the same time, large white wings grew and spread behind Gojo, along with a regal crown of pure holy light constructing above his head. His entire being seemed to exude a sacred aura.
Meanwhile, the sword in his hand elongated and took the form of a long katana with a black and white patterned guard before scattering in tiny specks of light that fused with his wings.
His bright blue eyes containing the depth of the ocean were bare for the world to see, the black sunglasses already discarded. Anyone that looked into his glowing eyes would feel their souls drowning in an endless abyss.
On the other side, the world seemed to be set ablaze with the continuously rising temperature. Isshin himself did not change, and neither did his sword. The only difference was the blazing flames that now surrounded it.
Oddly, it looked as though a devil from Hell was facing a messenger of Heaven.
Both Gojo and Isshin clashed through their Reiatsu. It was to such levels that even Rangiku and Nemu, who stood a few kilometers away, felt breathless under their immense pressure.
In fact, since none of them placed a barrier, the clash of their reiatsu could already be felt in the garrison next to the West gate.
“So, elemental powers run in the family, I guess?”
Gojo joked nonchalantly. He didn’t really care if people could feel him or not. All he needed to show an appropriate level of power.
Meanwhile, both Isshin and Jushiro, who stood a little farther, had their expressions harden.
They had difficulty believing it at first, but now, there was no doubt. Gojo was really in no way inferior to a captain. In fact, his presence did not seem to lose even against veteran captains like Isshin.
“So this is what he really looks like when he is a little serious.”
Jushiro muttered to himself. He had read the report of Miyako and Rukia and clearly, there was no depiction of those wings. From all the research he did, Gojo only used those wings briefly while fighting some Menos on earth. Though it seemed that back then, the wings were far dimmer.
‘So the power of his Shikai depends on the concentration of Reishi in the atmosphere?’
This was an important point to note. Clearly, this man was at his most powerful when he fought in the Soul Society or the Hueco Mundo.
“Minus the wings and crown, I really feel like I am fighting against a Quincy.”
Isshin muttered while tightening his grip on his sword. Clearly, he had come to the same conclusion as Jushiro.
It was then that he shook his head and–
<<Shunpo>>
Sidestepped at the speed of sound, thereby avoiding four chains that had appeared out of nowhere to bind him.
He did not know whether those chains could really keep him imprisoned, but in a high-speed battle, losing one's own mobility was fatal.
Smiling, he proceeded to use another Shunpo, one far faster than the previous one and reached Gojo in the blink of an eye. before swinging his sword with all his might.
Even though he did not use any technique, the air seemed to tear apart as the force of the swing and the high temperature distorted the atmosphere.
Clearly, should anyone below the level of captain take such a blow head-on, they would have a hard time waking up again.
But,
“Slow.”
Thanks to the Six Eyes, the world Gojo saw was distinctively different from what others could see.
From his perspective, even though Isshin was moving at a speed far surpassing that of the sound, it was in reality no different than simply walking towards him.
In this world where everything moved too slow for his taste, Gojo raised his hand which was covered in Blut vene and slapped away the fire-encased sword, resulting in everything in that direction being reduced to ash.
Then, using the same hand, he clenched his fist before proceeding to enter the guard of Isshin and throwing a punch.
*BOOM*
‘Tch, it got blocked.’
Gojo clicked his tongue. Even though the shock wave created by his fists had created craters behind Isshin, he saw Isshin manage to block the hit by using his free hand and disperse the force without taking the slightest damage.
From his peripheral vision, he could also see the sword of fire coming with vengeance at his midsection.
Clearly, Isshin thought that he had Gojo trapped.
Unfortunately for him,
“You should escape.”
Hearing this warning, Isshin felt all the hair on his body stand up, while a strange sense of unease filled him.
Listening to his instinct, even though it slightly hurt his arm, he immediately dispelled his attack, and hurriedly retreated hundreds of meters away with consecutive shunpos.
No sooner did he do so–
*BOOM*
The place where he previously stood was covered by a veritable rain of light. The rain of light fell with the might of meteors, giving rise to a cloud of dust.
Once the dust was swept away, Isshin murmured with surprise,
“Oh! What a scary kid.”
Everything within a few meter radius around Gojo had been razed to the ground.
Raising his head, Isshin was awestruck at the sight above Gojo,
“Starry sky. A little cheesy, I know. But that’s what I call it. Would have been even more beautiful at night.”
Isshin could only agree. After all, high above the head of Gojo, tens of glowing lances made out of light could be seen everywhere.
Isshin let out a strained laugh. He knew that Gojo's Shikai could only control Reishi in a very limited zone. Between 5 to 10 meters from what his instincts were telling him.
In a way, such a small zone seemed laughable, to the point of even being negligible.
After all, fights between powerful shinigami affected kilometers around them. What was a measly 10 meters when some captains could summon techniques that could affect hundreds of meters or the whole soul society?
But now that he saw this, he understood.
Those 10 meters were indeed negligible. But at the same time, they represented an absolute zone that could not be trespassed lightly,
“Hahahahah! Beautiful! You indeed stumped me. But if that's all, then I just have to not come close.”
He changed his one-handed grip to a two-handed one and slowly raised his sword above his head, a fierce grin splitting his face
“Your sword represents Heaven, right? Heh, Then take this gift of mine!”
*Whoosh*
The fire roared, while the Reiatsu of Isshin rose to an incredible level. Finally, after uttering two words, he swung his sword with all his might.
Those words were,
“Getsuga Tensho!”[1]
The world was instantly dyed white.
[1]: Moon fang Piercer of the Heaven.
(AN: Haha. Man, this is really a coincidence. Gojo’s sword is the empress of Heaven while Isshin’s technique has the goal to pierce heaven. Isshin looks like a devil and Gojo is like an angel of heaven. Yeah, I didn’t choose Isshin for no reason. I like the contradiction in his personality and the power in Gojo. Also, I am pretty sure the reason why Ichigo could use Getsuga Tensho was that his hollow side still had memories of when it was White and fought Isshin. Just a theory of mine. Also this is a new month. Don't hesitate to subscribe to )