Bleach - I Can't Get an Amen
Episode 16 - The Slaughter Bureau
I believed perfection was only found in things that stopped.
Replacing the heart with gears,
Binding the flowing soul with a mainspring.
I stand in the butcher shop named Eternity,
Slaughtering your pathetic times.
Upon my stainless steel,
The moment nameless mist seeps in,
My precise second hand
Finally loses its way and begins to scream.
Behold,
Crossing the cracks of the unshakeable fortress,
That pitiful yet sharp
Afterimage of a heartbeat.
"Gah... Gwaaargh!!"
Soya's eyes dropped to the blade piercing his stomach.
Blood soon smeared across his lips.
His pupils began to tremble in disbelief.
"Impossible... To react this quickly within my space...? Azuma Shohei, the position of your Zanpakuto should have been in front of the glass tube from a minute ago...!"
Soya gasped for air, his gaze fixed on the sword.
Kisuke adjusted his hat and pointed to the ring on Azuma's finger, then to the one on his own.
"Azuma-san's ring has several functions. Thinking it might come in handy, I added a feature that links my reiatsu with yours. That's how I communicated with Azuma-san just before your ability activated. I told him to remember exactly where he was a minute ago."
"I... I never informed you of such an ability..."
"Haha, didn't I tell you earlier? I'm the type who tries to get to know his subordinates quite well."
As soon as Kisuke finished speaking, Azuma thrust the blade deeper.
"...You've failed. Admit it, Soya-san."
However, Soya responded to Azuma's words with a mocking, twisted grin.
He wiped the blood from his mouth and burst into a fit of manic laughter.
A surge of energy began to leak from the wound in his stomach.
That energy rapidly diffused throughout the entire factory.
It looked similar to what Azuma had seen in the fragments before.
"Failed...? Hahaha, HAHAHA! To think a Soul Reaper of the Stealth Force could be so naive! This is evolution! If the flesh fails, one simply needs to fully assimilate the soul with the machine! Captain... Captain Kisuke... I will show you the final stage of eternity I sought to complete and earn your recognition!"
Signs of transformation began to manifest across Soya's body.
Startled, Azuma pulled his Zanpakuto out of Soya's gut.
The iron lifeforms Yoruichi's companions were fighting suddenly ceased their movements. As if pulled by a massive magnet, they were sucked toward Soya in the center.
The gears on the factory floor began to grind in reverse with a deafening roar, and a strange aura erupted from the collapsed gaps in the ceiling.
Soya's body merged with the mechanical debris, transforming into the shape of a colossal clock tower.
Azuma and Kisuke looked up, watching the spectacle unfold.
Yoruichi looked down at it from her high vantage point.
"Bankai... Togyeguk!"
A massive bell toll echoed throughout the entire space.
A crushing pressure, on a completely different level than his Shikai, slammed into Azuma.
"...!"
He could barely stay on his feet.
But his legs wouldn't move.
He had to raise his sword.
Yet, something was wrong.
When he tried to lift his Zanpakuto to attack, his muscles wouldn't respond.
It felt as if his entire body was seizing up.
It was as if a giant mainspring was winding up and draining his very energy.
"Damn it...!"
He thought about attacking, screamed at himself to move, but his body wouldn't follow orders.
It was at that exact moment.
"Shunko!"
BOOM!
A flash of purple lightning struck down from the air.
True to its name, the light hit the center of Soya's clock tower with blinding speed.
A distorted sound of agony erupted from Soya.
"...Lady Yoruichi!"
Azuma shouted toward her.
"Don't just stand there, Azuma!"
Yoruichi landed in front of Azuma and yelled.
The hole Yoruichi had blasted open was already beginning to fill with other iron fragments.
"That fellow's Bankai steals the flow of the entire space. In that case, you simply need to move faster than that flow, or move erratically enough that the flow cannot read you! A man who assists Soi Fon should be able to do at least that much!"
"...!"
At Yoruichi's words, Azuma's expression shifted.
He nodded firmly.
"...Understood! Then please, draw his attention! I'll slip my Deep Rain into the gaps you create, Lady Yoruichi!"
Yoruichi nodded and immediately blurred into motion, wielding lightning to distract Soya.
The lightning seemed to cause Soya immense pain. His focus shifted entirely to Yoruichi, and every mechanical arm of the clock tower reached out toward her.
Yoruichi severed the mechanical arms with her lightning, but they regenerated almost instantly.
Azuma didn't miss the opening. He spread his Shikai ability, Deep Rain, into every nook and cranny of Soya's clock tower.
He began to counteract the pressure of the mainspring from the inside.
By running at the peak speed he had honed in the 2nd Division, he found he could overcome the Bankai's paralyzing weight to some extent.
Thanks to the coordination between Azuma and Yoruichi, Soya's movements gradually began to slow.
While the two fought, Kisuke closed his eyes, analyzing the flow of reishi emanating from the heart of Soya's Bankai.
Suddenly, as if he had realized something, he opened his eyes and shouted to Azuma.
"Azuma-san! His movements have weakened significantly! Now, you must obscure his vision! Change the state from droplets to mist! The moment that clock tower's central gear stops, I will open the way!"
Azuma couldn't quite fathom what Kisuke was planning.
But remembering everything the man had done so far, Azuma nodded and chose to trust him.
He gripped his Zanpakuto tightly once more and leaped toward Soya.
He felt Soya's gaze shift from Yoruichi to him, and a massive mechanical arm from the clock tower lunged in his direction.
Just as it was about to crush him—
The giant second hand on the factory floor and Azuma's figure were swallowed by a thick mist.
The mechanical arm swung through empty air.
"Wh-what...? My time is becoming blurred...? By the mere mist of a 9th seat nobody...!"
High above Soya's clock tower, a single blade flashed with light.
It was Azuma's.
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