White Emperor Slash  

Boom! Boom!

Byakuya's battle with Senbonzakura continued underground in Kisuke Urahara's secret base. The surging waves of cherry blossom blades were shattered again and again.

Every time Byakuya swung his "White Emperor Sword," the whirlwind around the sword would turn into a powerful slash, breaking through Senbonzakura's tidal waves. However, even more waves would follow to overwhelm Byakuya's attacks.

The surrounding hills in the underground base had been damaged by their fierce fight, reduced to countless rubble. The ground was also littered with hundreds of slash marks of varying sizes.

This battle had been going on for two days. After using the "White Emperor Sword," Byakuya had reversed his disadvantage and could now compete with Senbonzakura's Bankai. However, his attacks were still not strong enough to cleave through the billions of blade petals in one strike. Neither could Senbonzakura's waves instantly deflect Byakuya's slashes.

Their battle had reached a stalemate. If not for Kisuke Urahara's considerable Binding spell prowess that contained the spiritual pressure waves of their fight within the underground base, things could have gotten out of hand.

At this point, Byakuya and Senbonzakura's battle resembled Ichigo Kurosaki's later fight with Byakuya two hundred years later.

Byakuya was using extremely fast Shunpo to circle Senbonzakura, occasionally swinging the White Emperor Sword to disperse the incoming waves of cherry blossoms, before launching powerful slashes at Senbonzakura.

Senbonzakura, fighting with full power, waved his hands to double the speed of his blade petals. He split them into two groups - one swirling around himself as a defense barrier, the other coiling after Byakuya like a massive python to attack.

If they continued this deadlock, unless one side's spiritual pressure gave out first, the fight could drag on for another two to three days.

After all, neither Byakuya nor Senbonzakura currently possessed any ultimate moves that could instantly take out the other.

Byakuya's strongest "White Emperor Sword" could not break through Senbonzakura's billions of blade defense. And Senbonzakura's attacks would be blown away by Byakuya's "White Emperor Sword," unable to harm Byakuya effectively.

While the two sides battled intensely, Ailin and the other two spectators were nearly falling asleep after watching for two days straight. No matter how fierce a fight, watching the same thing repetitively for two days would cause visual fatigue for anyone.

Ailin yawned and shook his head. "Byakuya, I really don't want to interrupt your fighting passion, but I have to remind you - your grandfather doesn't have much time left... If you want to make him happy earlier, hurry up and settle this. Or do you plan to only show him your completed Bankai training after he's gone?"

Hearing Ailin's words, Byakuya's fiery fighting spirit was doused. That's right, his main purpose for coming here was to complete his Bankai training so his grandfather could entrust the Kuchiki family to him with peace of mind.

Yet what was he doing now? After Senbonzakura had conceded on the first day, he had actually looked down on Senbonzakura as too weak and demanded its full power to gain his approval.

And now? Even after Senbonzakura had gone all out, he still couldn't defeat it after two days.

"Byakuya, you know I promised the old master that if you didn't complete your Bankai training this time, I would give you another lesson on Bankai training."

When Ailin's words sounded in Byakuya's ears, he shuddered involuntarily, nearly getting hit by Senbonzakura's wave. He frantically flickered several times with Shunpo at full strength before breaking free of Senbonzakura's entanglement.

Byakuya Kuchiki now looked at Senbonzakura not with eagerness, but complete indifference, as if nothing in this world deserved to enter his eyes.

After witnessing Ailin's vast strength, the insignificant Senbonzakura was merely a puddle.

"You've done well, Senbonzakura. I acknowledge you are qualified to be my Zanpakuto. Next, I will go all out. I hope you can survive my attacks. Otherwise, I'll have to spend more time restoring you before completing my Bankai training."

After speaking, Byakuya Kuchiki raised his cherry-colored Zanpakuto high up and chanted a Kidō incantation.

"Way of Destruction Number 58 - Orchid Sky!"

An enormous Kidō tornado fused with the whirlwind created by the high-speed spinning blades around Byakuya Kuchiki's Zanpakuto. Cherry blossom petals fell from his sword and mixed into the giant dragon twister, dyeing the entire tornado cherry pink.

"White Emperor - Slash!"

Boom!

Following Byakuya's roar, the massive cherry-colored dragon twister on Senbonzakura's hilt was turned into a heaven-reaching pink slash by his powerful sword technique, cleaving Senbonzakura's billions of cherry blossoms into two with irresistible might...

"Not good!"

Kisuke Urahara never expected Byakuya to possess a move similar to Yoruichi. However, Yoruichi combined Kidō and Hakuda to create "Shunkō."

Byakuya had fused Kidō, swordsmanship, and his Zanpakuto's abilities to develop this powerful slashing technique.

After breaking through Senbonzakura, although weakened, this slash still flew towards the edge of the underground base.

Urahara's barrier could conceal the spiritual pressure of the battle, but it couldn't block Byakuya's attack.

If this slash broke through the barrier and blasted apart the underground base, Kisuke Urahara's secret base that he had built up over a long time would be exposed and abandoned, possibly even drawing the Captain-Commander's wrath.

After all, any secret research was a potential threat to Soul Society's stability in the Captain-Commander's eyes. As long as it stayed hidden, everything was fine. But once exposed, it would definitely face eradication.

When it came to protecting Soul Society, Captain-Commander Yamamoto's stance was uncompromising.

Whoosh!

Kisuke Urahara's figure turned into afterimages as he raced past Byakuya's cherry-colored slash, appearing in front of the wall.

"Bakudō Number 81 - Dankū!"

Boom!

***

In the Kuchiki residence, Ginrei Kuchiki's breathing grew urgent. He then knocked on the wall by his bed.

"Ginrei-sama."

"Oh, Ryoma. What time is it now?"

"Ginrei-sama, it's the third day since Morikawa-sama went to the human world."

"Three days already? No wonder I feel like I can't hold on much longer." Ginrei Kuchiki sighed softly. "What about Ailin and Byakuya? Have they returned?"

"They haven't returned yet, Ginrei-sama. Young Master and Master have not returned."

"I see..." Ginrei Kuchiki struggled to sit up, leaning against the head of the bed. "Never mind, achieving Bankai in three days is impossible anyway. Now that Ailin and Byakuya haven't returned, it seems Byakuya's training this time has not been successful. I may not hold on much longer. If Master and Byakuya come later, I won't have time to give you orders.

Ryoma, go and inform Morikawa now, let him tell Haruko that I have decided to appoint Ailin as the 28th head of the Kuchiki family. Lastly, ask Morikawa to tell Haruko on my behalf, that in this lifetime, I regret everything I've done to her..."

"Hurry."

"Yes, Ginrei-sama."

***

"Hahaha, sorry, sorry Urahara. I didn't expect Byakuya's final explosive power to reach that level. Also, your Tenkai is too fragile, isn't it?"

In the underground base, Ailin apologized with a smile to Kisuke Urahara, though his words seemed to mock Urahara while praising Byakuya Kuchiki.

After all, Ailin remembered that Sōsuke Aizen's Tenkai in Hueco Mundo only restricted the release of the top four Espada.

Based on Ailin's estimate, the top four Espada had the strength of captain-class Shinigami.

Byakuya's final slash had at most the power of a captain's Bankai. It failed to break through Urahara's Bakudō #81, yet the resulting huge boom directly blew away the tens of thousands of Senbonzakura blades in the slash, causing more damage to the underground base.

Hmm, more importantly, the most important facility in this underground base, Kisuke Urahara's prized masterpiece Tenkai, was smashed by those scattered Senbonzakura blades. This showed that Aizen's Tenkai was stronger than Urahara's Tenkai.

"Hadō #20 – Hakuteiken!"

Ailin's voice sounded in the darkness. Instantly, nine light orbs the size of washbasins appeared around Ailin. Under his control, the nine orbs slowly rose up and shone brightly, dispelling the darkness in the underground base.

Seeing the dejected Kisuke Urahara who seemed to have lost his dreams, Ailin gave him some perfunctory consoling words.

"Alright Urahara, the quality of the Tenkai you created this time was too poor. It couldn't even withstand the scattered blades of the insignificant Senbonzakura. Next time, remember to add a defensive barrier. That way, even captain-level attacks will have a hard time damaging the Tenkai."

Before Ailin had even finished speaking, his hand was grabbed by Kisuke Urahara.

"Oh? Since Captain Ailin is also knowledgeable about the Tenkai, then I'll have to trouble Captain Ailin to help me repair this Tenkai that was destroyed by your nephew.

After all, Captain Ailin wouldn't want me to keep Lord Byakuya here to help me repair the Tenkai instead, disappointing Ginrei-sama, right?"

"Urahara, you..." Under pressure, Ailin could only stay behind to help Kisuke Urahara repair the underground base's Tenkai.

Fortunately, the two most skilled in creating Tenkai in Soul Society, Kisuke Urahara and Sōsuke Aizen's Zanpakuto, were part of Ailin's collection. He had completely absorbed their battle memories.

Although not combat related, Ailin could still gain some insights into the Tenkai's manufacturing process from the two's Kidō mastery and reverse engineer its creation techniques.

With Ailin's current Kidō mastery, no one in Soul Society could compare to him.