A month had passed since the wedding of Kuchiki Byakuya and Hisana.

As always, Byakuya had once again invited Tachibana Kyūjō to the Kuchiki Clan’s private training grounds.

— — —

“There’s something I want to show you, Tachibana.”

Byakuya’s tone was calm, his hand resting lightly on the hilt of his Zanpakutō.

Kyūjō tilted his head slightly, his expression unreadable. “Bankai, huh? So, you’ve finally reached it.”

“…How did you know?” Byakuya’s eyes widened in shock.

He had awakened his Bankai just the night before. It was impossible for anyone to know—he hadn’t told a single soul. The moment he called out his Zanpakutō’s true name, the power had surged through him like a tide.

And yet, Kyūjō had sensed it effortlessly.

— — —

Bankai—the pinnacle of every Shinigami’s power. To reach it required more than strength; it demanded absolute unity with one’s sword.

There were two stages in mastering Bankai.

The first: attaining the Zanpakutō’s recognition. Only when the spirit of the sword acknowledged its wielder would it reveal its true name. With that name, a Shinigami could call upon the Bankai’s full form.

Yet, as Kyūjō often said, there existed an in-between stage—what he called a Half-Bankai.

Abarai Renji’s Hihiō Zabimaru was one such example. Zabimaru had only half-accepted him, revealing but a fragment of its true form. A Bankai incomplete.

The second stage began after the first—years, even decades, of refinement and evolution, shaping the Bankai into its perfected state.

Even a power as overwhelming as Zanka no Tachi, the Bankai of Captain-Commander Yamamoto, had undergone drastic evolution over the millennia.

As for Kyūjō himself…

He had already driven his Mugen to its second-stage Bankai, his spiritual pressure breaching the barrier of Captain-Class Tier 2.

Every Bankai had its weakness. Power always came at a cost.

The first flaw—its immense drain on Reiatsu. No Shinigami could maintain Bankai indefinitely, not even Yamamoto. It was a weapon of victory, not endurance.

The second—its complexity. The overwhelming form and size of most Bankai required long years of training just to control. Even Byakuya himself had once admitted that mastery would take no less than ten years.

— — —

Kyūjō smirked faintly and pointed his sword toward the ground.

“Byakuya, you remember my Zanpakutō’s name, don’t you? Once you stand before me… all your secrets are laid bare.”

Byakuya froze, pupils dilating in shock.

“Your mastery over Mugen… has already reached that level?!” He clenched his teeth, his composure slipping. “Then show me, Kyūjō! Show me the Bankai of the so-called genius of Soul Society!”

Kyūjō chuckled softly. “Very well. But let’s see if your Senbonzakura Kageyoshi can withstand it.”

Byakuya raised his sword and thrust it into the ground.

“Bankai — Senbonzakura Kageyoshi!”

The world darkened instantly.

The long blade slipped from his hand, sinking into the rippling ground of spiritual energy.

Then—thousands of giant blades erupted from the earth, rising skyward like pillars of light.

Moments later, they shattered—each blade bursting into a storm of gleaming petals.

A sea of pink filled the space, billions of razor-sharp sakura petals swirling and dancing in the air.

Byakuya lifted his hands. With a silent command, the petals surged forward, converging upon Kyūjō with four times the speed of his Shikai.

— — —

“Domain Infinity — activate.”

Kyūjō whispered the words as he drew Mugen.

A pulse of power rippled outward.

Time seemed to slow.

The blazing storm of petals that had been rushing toward him suddenly appeared sluggish—drifting like falling snow in his vision.

Kyūjō’s Shikai wasn’t an offensive type. It had only one ability: within a certain radius, it vastly amplified perception—Infinity Awareness.

With it, he could analyze and replicate the spiritual structures of other Zanpakutō—understand their nature, even predict their next movement.

And when combined with swordsmanship honed across countless worlds, it made him nearly untouchable.

But Senbonzakura Kageyoshi was troublesome. Its range was massive, its density overwhelming.

Even with infinite prediction, slicing through that endless storm and reaching Byakuya’s core was a near-impossible task—

unless he unleashed his full Captain-Class pressure and broke through by force.

But that would also mean exposing his Bankai.

Kyūjō sighed quietly. Technically speaking, Byakuya’s Bankai was the perfect counter to his Shikai—

a bombardment of infinite edges against infinite perception.

Truth be told, many other Captains’ Bankai—like Muguruma Kensei’s Tekken Tachikaze or Hirako Shinji’s Sakanade—wouldn’t even trouble him this much.

And yet this Byakuya, with his newly awakened Bankai, had managed to push him back.

No sword was invincible. Only the Shinigami who wielded it could be.

Fortunately, Tachibana Kyūjō still held plenty of secrets.

— — —

“Bankai — World of Infinity.”

The words were quiet—almost a whisper.

And then—

the entire dark void around them shattered like glass.

The sea of petals vanished, replaced by an endless expanse of stars.

The two Shinigami now stood upon nothing but light—a cosmic horizon where galaxies hung like lanterns.

An uncharted realm no Shinigami had ever seen.

Byakuya’s breath caught. “W–Where… is this?”

Kyūjō smiled faintly. “Beautiful, isn’t it? A sight you’ve never witnessed before. This… is the stage I chose for our battle today. If you get bored, I can change it next time.”

Byakuya, for once, was speechless. His eyes darted around in quiet awe, the reflection of starlight glimmering in his gaze.

But when his focus returned to Kyūjō, he froze.

“…Why does your sword look like mine?”

Kyūjō’s blade—Mugen—was no longer there. In his hand was Senbonzakura Kageyoshi.

His Senbonzakura Kageyoshi.

Byakuya immediately looked down at the sword in his own hand—still there.

Two identical swords.

Kyūjō only smiled, saying nothing.

Then, with deliberate grace, he mimicked Byakuya’s exact stance—raising his twin blade toward the ground.

And in a calm, almost mocking tone, he whispered:

“Bankai — Senbonzakura Kageyoshi.”

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

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