NOVEL WEB Chapter 16: CHAPTER 16
"Can't hide!"
That thought flashed through my mind—then came a sudden, searing pain!
Boom!
The ground erupted, sending a cloud of dust tens of meters high, and the nearby terrain sank by nearly half a foot.
A shockwave followed, sweeping outward with force.
"That power… damn brat!"
Amid the ruins…
Kurotsuchi Mayuri's skull had become grotesquely deformed. He panted heavily, his eyes locked on Kanbaru—serious, wary… and afraid.
Unnatural strength.
Unpredictable speed.
It was incomprehensible.
Even without any flashy technique, this Quincy's raw slashes and blows had pushed him this far.
Kanbaru was terrifying!
Mayuri's form distorted and reformed as he activated his Flesh Regeneration Formula again.
Moments later, his crushed skull restored itself, and his body's pain quickly vanished.
But… his Reiatsu had dropped.
That was the side effect of the regeneration drug.
Though Mayuri had extensively modified his body to increase survivability, the Flesh Regeneration Formula consumed Reiatsu as fuel to trigger rapid healing.
Every use reduced his combat strength.
Worse still, because he had used the drug several times in a short span, his body was building a resistance to it.
The Reiatsu consumption remained the same—yet the healing effect weakened.
This couldn't continue.
Mayuri's pupils contracted. He was calculating.
"Now, can you still say there's a 'dimensional gap' between us?"
Kanbaru's voice came cold and calm.
Mayuri's face twisted.
Those were the very words he had thrown at Kanbaru earlier—now fired back at him.
This brat held a grudge!
Kanbaru dashed forward without giving him a moment's reprieve.
Faster. More merciless.
In seconds, countless fresh wounds were carved into Mayuri's body.
Mayuri could no longer fight back—he could only endure the storm, overwhelmed, cut down again and again.
Escape?
Impossible. The Quincy's speed surpassed his.
Counterattack?
Even more laughable. The power gap was absolute.
The final blow fell.
Mayuri crashed to the ground in disarray.
"The fusion rate is increasing."
"As I thought…"
"Combat stimulates further synchronization with the Hōgyoku."
Kanbaru pressed a hand to his chest.
The Hōgyoku embedded within pulsed—its vast spiritual energy slowly but steadily merging with his body.
At this rate…
It wouldn't be long before he entered the Hōgyoku Symbiosis Phase—the prelude to true evolution.
"You've pushed me this far."
"But… this ends now."
Mayuri slowly drew his Zanpakutō, a cold gleam in his golden eyes and a twisted smile on his face.
"Arrogant little Quincy…"
"The one who triumphs in the end—will be me."
"You will die here. This is your finale."
He admitted it—Kanbaru was fast. Too fast.
And powerful.
Strong enough to trouble even him, the master of battlefield control.
But no one was without weakness.
Mayuri, for instance, had high Reiatsu and Kidō skill, but his physical durability and mobility ranked among the lowest of the Gotei 13 captains.
As for Kanbaru…
From their exchanges, Mayuri had already identified the chink in his armor.
Yes, he was strong and fast.
But his Reiatsu level—while considerable—hovered only just around captain-class.
And in Shinigami combat, Reiatsu ruled above all.
Reiatsu clashed against Reiatsu—the weaker was obliterated.
The same applied to Quincy.
Which meant…
"Bankai—Konjiki Ashisogi Jizō!"
A monstrous Reiatsu erupted, shooting into the sky like a golden pillar of death.
Mayuri's spiritual pressure expanded violently.
This was the true might of a Bankai.
A Shikai already boosted Reiatsu severalfold.
A Bankai—tenfold or more.
His Bankai, unlike most, was a bio-engineered creature—one he had twisted into a living biological weapon.
Konjiki Ashisogi Jizō—a grotesque golden infant Buddha—materialized behind him, its swollen body pulsing with poison sacs.
Inside it were thousands of custom-engineered toxins, each one capable of wiping out a city with a fraction of a gram.
From its gaping mouth, it could unleash a cloud of fused neurotoxins, each tailored to attack every vital function at once.
It was a grotesque apex predator.
The moment had come. This Quincy brat was finished.
"This… this is captain-level Reiatsu?"
Crushing.
Suffocating.
Hopeless.
The very air trembled with Mayuri's pressure. Souls in the vicinity shuddered instinctively.
From afar, Ishida Ryūken's brow furrowed as sweat ran down his temple.
His gaze was fixed on the beam of Reiatsu piercing the sky.
His power still hadn't peaked—but now, for the first time, he felt just how deeply Mayuri had hidden his true strength.
> [He's panicking. He's desperate.]
[That's the only reason he used Bankai!]
[Go! Draw a card—my turn!]
What is this? Yu-Gi-Oh?
Kanbaru snorted internally—then vanished from his position with a thunderous step.
Boom!
The ground exploded beneath him, long fractures splitting outward like spiderwebs.
And then—
In a flash, he appeared right before Mayuri's eyes.
The captain's pupils contracted—
Then came the pain.
Kanbaru's foot sank into his chest like a battering ram, launching Mayuri through the air, curled like a shrimp.
But it wasn't over.
Kanbaru vanished again.
A Reishi longsword materialized above Mayuri and dropped like divine judgment—piercing through his body, pinning him to the earth.
"AAAAAAGH!"
Mayuri screamed, impaled and paralyzed.
RUMBLE—!!
Reiatsu detonated around them, forming concussive shockwaves in the sky—rippled rings visible to the naked eye smashing against the protective barrier.
"Wait… is that…?"
Ishida Ryūken shielded himself as the waves struck, peering through the smoke.
There—
Kanbaru emerged from the sea of spiritual pressure, the glow around his body still crackling and gradually fading.
He walked forward slowly, completely unharmed.
Not a scratch.
"He took that Bankai-scale blast point-blank… and didn't even flinch?"
Ryūken could barely comprehend it.
Kanbaru's Reiatsu wasn't diminishing at all—it was perfectly stable.
That could only mean one thing:
He wasn't damaged in the slightest!
"Kurosaki Kanbaru… just how much are you hiding?"
Ryūken's throat tightened.
Even now, his best attack wouldn't break Kanbaru's defenses.
This was beyond reason.
"What kind of monster is this guy!?"
And at the center of it all—
Kurotsuchi Mayuri lay skewered and broken, blood pooling beneath him.
His trembling golden eyes stared up at Kanbaru.
His Bankai had been interrupted.
Crushed… by sheer force.