章節 64: Fearing Death

Clang!

Hearing Ailin's words, Byakuya Kuchiki reflexively drew out his Zanpakutō from his waist, gripping the hilt tightly with both hands, the blade pointing towards Ailin.

"Very good, Byakuya. You must remember, once you've drawn your sword, you must be prepared to kill your enemy and be killed by your enemy."

"Now, are you prepared to kill me, or be killed by me?"

"What?"

Byakuya Kuchiki's pupils suddenly contracted.

Because Ailin's voice came from behind him.

"Swish swish..."

The next moment, Byakuya Kuchiki only felt a chill on his chest and abdomen. Large amounts of blood gushed out from the two wounds.

"Pfft..."

Byakuya Kuchiki spit out a mouthful of blood. Feeling that all his strength was draining away with the flow of blood, he could no longer support his body and collapsed to the ground.

"Flash Blossom— "

"This is a move where one circles behind the enemy using Shunpo, destroying the enemy's Soul Sleep and Chain of Fate. With your current strength, even if I suppress my own spiritual pressure, strength and speed to be on par with yours, you probably can't even see my movements."

Walking to the front of Byakuya Kuchiki, Ailin waved his hand, flicking the blood on the Zanpakutō to splash in an arc on the ground.

Byakuya Kuchiki's eyes were wide open as he looked at Ailin, full of incredulity. He never expected that Uncle Ailin would actually make a move to kill him.

"Un-uncle...why?"

Byakuya Kuchiki breathed heavily, forcefully suppressing the fear of death as he asked Ailin why he wanted to kill him.

"Didn't I tell you earlier? Byakuya. Once you've drawn your sword, you must be prepared to kill the enemy, or be killed by the enemy."

"This is the first lesson I'm teaching you. If you don't even have the resolve to kill the enemy, how can your sword harm the enemy?

If you don't even have the resolve to be killed by the enemy, what right do you have to take the enemy's life?"

"Battle is a means of survival where both sides stake their lives. Only by placing both sides equally on the scales can one decide their own or the enemy's fate."

Seeing that the light in Byakuya Kuchiki's eyes had become blurred, Ailin waved his hand and a new Zanpakutō flew out from the sword array into his left hand.

Then, Ailin recited the release chant for this Zanpakutō—

"Fall in love with him―Void Bandages!"

Then, the Zanpakutō in Ailin's hand emitted a dazzling white glow. This white glow spread like ribbons, eventually transforming into a long white bandage. There was a circular bulge at regular intervals on this white bandage.

This weapon was made by Ailin based on the abilities of 4th Division Captain Retsu Unohana's Zanpakutō Minazuki.

Its original form was the void weapon of Hare Menjou from "Guilty Crowns".

Looking at the white bandage floating in mid-air, Ailin couldn't help letting out a sigh. That gentle and kind girl, how many people grieved for her back then. Even in her final moments of death, she was still over ten centimeters away from touching her crush, Shu. Even the Funeral Parlor had many defectors at that moment.

As Ailin's thoughts moved, the bandage danced over to Byakuya Kuchiki's side, circling around him over and over.

Under the power of the Void Bandages, Byakuya Kuchiki's entire person floated in mid-air. The circular bulges on the Void Bandages lit up with blue glows one by one. Under the illumination from these blue lights, Byakuya Kuchiki's injuries swiftly recovered.

The ability of the Void Bandages was to restore damaged objects back to their original state. These "objects" naturally included humans. This ability was somewhat similar in effect to Orihime Inoue's "Sōten Kisshun" in Bleach.

However, Orihime Inoue's ability was "The Rejection of Things", while the Void Bandages' ability was "The Restoration of Things".

Very quickly, the heavily injured and dying Byakuya Kuchiki fully recovered under the power of the Void Bandages.

Ailin waved his hand and the Void Bandages flew into the sky, floating above the two.

Bang!

Losing the support of the Void Bandages, Byakuya Kuchiki plunged down from mid-air, falling onto the ground. Feeling his completely recovered body, Byakuya was filled with bewilderment.

If not for the large amounts of still wet bloodstains remaining on his shihakusho, he wouldn't have dared to believe that he was on the verge of death just seconds ago.

"Stand up, Byakuya."

Hearing Ailin's voice, Byakuya Kuchiki's body shuddered reflexively before he woke up from his earlier surreal feeling. He was still in battle against Uncle Ailin!

Gripping his Zanpakutō tightly, Byakuya focused his gaze on Ailin.

"Not bad. After receiving such pain just now, you still dare to point your blade at me. I must commend you for this, Byakuya."

Seeing Byakuya's performance, Ailin nodded in satisfaction and pointed to the Void Bandages floating above them, saying to Byakuya, "Don't worry, that sword from earlier has recovery abilities. As long as you are not killed by me in one blow, she can restore your condition completely."

"So in our battle later, you must pay attention at all times, to not be killed by me. Otherwise, she does not have the ability to revive the dead. But rest assured. Since this is training for you after all, I won't defeat you in one blow like before. Instead, I'll slowly apply pressure on you bit by bit to bring out your full potential."

Ailin's voice was not loud, gentle like a spring breeze. But landing in Byakuya's ears, it was like spring thunder, blasting his eardrums.

Whoosh!

With a stomp of his feet, Ailin charged towards Byakuya Kuchiki.

Clang!

Byakuya swung his sword with both hands to block Ailin's attack.

"Not bad. No panicking in battle, worthy of praise. But when I do this, how will you respond with both your hands gripping your sword like that?"

Ailin was displaying a strength similar to Byakuya's, so when their blades clashed, Byakuya occupied the advantage and pressed his sword down against Ailin's.

But despite gaining the upper hand in strength, Byakuya Kuchiki's eyes did not show any smugness, only filled with horror.

Because Ailin's free left hand slowly raised up, extending a finger to point at Byakuya Kuchiki's forehead.

Then under Byakuya's terrified gaze, Ailin's finger slowly moved down before finally pointing at Byakuya Kuchiki's right arm.

"Hadō Number Four—Byakurai!"

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle…

Boom!