CH 73: EXPLOSION!!!
"Getsuga Tensho!"
A curtain of light and fire was drawn as what looked like fangs of destruction destroyed everything in their wake.
Observing the fight from far away, Rangiku once again ascertained why captains were forbidden from fighting against each other.
Thankfully, shinigami were different from hollows in that most of their attacks were extremely concentrated in order to deal the maximum damage possible.
Because of this, even when an attack that should have been enough to destroy an entire city was launched, it would only destroy a smaller zone.
After all, while destroying your surroundings sounded and looked quite cool, it was a waste of power that could have been used to target your enemy.
Even so, the fight she was witnessing was a sight to behold.
She could clearly feel that the two were holding back. Talking leisurely and exchanging blows.
But even that was enough to kill someone at her level ten times over.
'So he has already reached such a level.'
Rangiku clenched her fists unconsciously, first Gin and now Gojo.
It seemed that she was destined to be surpassed by the men she cared for, and this frustrated her so much.
Even though she felt that she had room to grow, she also felt like she had hit a wall.
It was a very contradictory feeling. It was as if she should have been something much more, but was missing a piece of the whole that formed her.
'Perhaps I should ask Gojo later?'
She knew that his eyes allowed him to see things differently from other people. Perhaps he could give her the solution? It was worth trying at least, she had nothing to lose after all.
---
While Rangiku was introspecting, Isshin was looking at the results of his attack with shock in his eyes.
He wasn't surprised at the destruction. The Getsuga Tensho was a technique he had created while taking inspiration from the Cero of the Menos.
As such, the technique really wasted power uselessly and even though it was flashy, the amount of damage it could bring to an enemy was limited.
Even so,
"To think he took this head-on."
Even though he was quite far, he could clearly see Gojo after all the dust dispersed.
Currently, Gojo's shinigami uniform was nearly completely scrapped and was reduced to rags.
But even though he was showing such a sorry sight, there was one thing to note.
"Not even a wound?"
This was unbelievable. From what he could see, Gojo's entire body seemed to be covered in blue lines.
Clearly, he had covered his body in Blut venes and tanked the attack.
Even though he did not go all out, and Getsuga Tensho was still not complete as a technique, this was still incredible.
Gojo meanwhile, wasn't feeling great. Moving his stiff shoulder, he grumbled like an old grandpa,
"Man, my joints are killing me."
He should not have been so reckless as to take on such an attack with his body.
But it was a necessary experiment. An occasion he could not miss.
After all, he would soon face Unohana in a death match. Her Bankai, Minazuki, was no joke.
If his body wasn't strong enough, he would melt like goo before even being able to inflict the slightest wound on her.
That's why he took the risk and he did not regret it, since he had indeed found his limits.
'I lost my arms and a few organs.'
Even though he looked unscathed right now, it hadn't really been the case.
Despite using Blut venes at maximum output, his body was still shredded.
But thanks to his Reishi manipulation, he could heal himself as much as he wished.
'You really are a cheat.'
[My, your words are music to my ears. You finally recognized that I am better than that Limitless of yours.]
Gojo laughed lightly, he knew that Kogo was still quite sour since he had ignored her in search of recreating Limitless back then.
Even now, she would sometimes pout because he still wished to create it.
The only reason she didn't stop him was that, like him, she wished to be the strongest and understood that Limitless stacked with her skills would really bring them near the top of power, and even surpass it potentially.
'Anyway Kogo, I think this should be enough, but I wouldn't stop here. What about one last attack?'
[Heh, I thought you would never say that. Let's go!]
---
Standing far away, Isshin was prepared to send a second and far stronger Getsuga when he suddenly felt a chill.
Focusing on Gojo, he saw him crouch down before jumping high in the sky, easily reaching more than a hundred meters.
Once there, the wings behind him unruffled widely, allowing him to float in the sky, something that should be impossible in the soul society without special equipment, such as those belonging to the Shihoin.
'What is he doing?"
This question was quickly answered as the wings behind Gojo's back began to slowly expand. Then, when he raised his hand, light began to gather into it before slowly transforming into a five meters long lance of light.
Even from here, Isshin could already feel that this lance was no joke. But if this was all then he wouldn't have been worried.
The lance began to shrink, once it lost about half of its initial length, even the color of the lance began to change as it went from pure white to a mix of light and darkness.
"Isshin! Trust me...You better dodge this one!"
Once those words sounded in Isshin's ears, Gojo… simply threw the lance in his direction.
---
Isshin did not need Gojo's warning. The moment Gojo formed that weapon, not only Isshin, but all the others present immediately began to retreat.
Even Rangiku and Nemu, who stood nearly ten kilometers away, retreated without the slightest hesitation — and their judgment was proven right.
The lance that appeared to be an amalgamation of light and darkness flew through the air, creating an illusion of distorting the space around it and hit the place where Isshin stood formerly, but against the expectations of the spectators, the lance capable of tearing space apart merely disappeared.
There was a short instant of complete silence, a silence so deadly that it felt as though the world had come to a standstill. It even started to make Isshin and the others doubt whether everything was an illusion or not.
It was at this moment that—,
BOOOOOOM!!
—With the thunderous sound of an explosion, a blinding light occupied everyone's vision before a mushroom of dust rose so high in the sky that it could be seen from several kilometers away.
The very atmosphere seemed to be repulsed as a shockwave spread apart from the point of impact, covering several kilometers and absolutely destroying everything in its wake.
The air burned, the wind stirred and all sounds in the space of the explosion vanished, replaced by a silence full of devastation and destruction. It was like the aftermath of a nuclear explosion.
When the explosion finally stopped, all that could be seen was a deep crater spanning more than a kilometer. At the same time, the aftereffect of the explosion affected a radius of more than 15 kilometers.
Wearing his black glasses while being surrounded by a shield constructed of light, Gojo admired his handcraft with awe but at the same time a little dissatisfaction.
This was a skill he had created while inspiring himself from the principle of a nuclear fission.
It was without a doubt a very powerful skill. But Gojo was in no way happy.
After all — it was too slow.
Fights between high-level people went so fast that even simple sonic speed was too slow.
Just to release this technique, he had to stand and compress Reishi to the utmost for several seconds. Even more so, the quantity was so high that even he had to be careful with his control. As such, not only could he not fight while creating it, the Lance could blow up in his face if he made even a small mistake.
The question was, would someone be dumb enough to stand and watch without doing anything as the enemy prepared his ultimate attack in a life or death match?
Obviously not.
The ideal form for this attack would be a combination of bindings, to stop the enemy from moving, and then finishing things off with the explosion.
"Well, this is a good start for this experiment.'
He talked to himself but could hear nothing. When he used his finger to touch his ears he could feel blood leaking from it.
Looking at the blood in his finger, he frowned,
"I need to work more on it.'
Too much time. Too slow. Wasting too much energy. Easy to avoid and so on.
But, it would become better with time.
A smile formed on his face as he thought about it before abruptly turning serious when he saw the full extent of the damages he had caused.
One worry immediately appeared in his mind,
"They won't make me pay a fine because of the destruction…right?"
(AN: So generally, the problem with the bleach is that despite having enough power to destroy the world toward the end, they cannot even destroy a city. I personally think it's because most shinigami are a single target type and focus all their power on destroying that target. Opposed to people like Ichigo who simply throw as much power as possible in all his attacks. Anyway, this arc is over. I am sure that next one will interest many people. Since the first true smut scene of this story will appear soon.)