Bleach: Reborn — Chapter 315 - Saving Lives (Patreon)

"Where's Akon?" Wayne looked around but saw no sign of him.

"He went to the Dangai, to help Ichigo Kurosaki open the sealed Garganta." Not far from Wayne, Timd, who had stayed by the old woman's side all along, answered.

"Quilge is already dead. It won't be long before Ichigo can get out. No need to worry about their side. Let's go." As he spoke, Wayne extended his hand toward Timd's clone. The previous clone had already been given to Kisuke Urahara. This was a good time to get a new one.

"My king, where are we going?" Timd nimbly climbed onto Wayne's shoulder.

"Let's head over to Byakuya's position. Let's check on his condition — judging from his Reiatsu, he's nearly at his limit." The words had barely left his mouth before Wayne teleported away. When his vision cleared again, before him was Byakuya Kuchiki, beaten to the brink of death, his entire body embedded in a wall.

"Who... are you." Byakuya's eyes slowly came back into focus. He seemed to sense that someone was standing before him.

"You're in pretty bad shape, aren't you, Byakuya." Wayne flipped his wrist and a vial of healing medicine dropped into his hand. He then twisted off the cap and poured it directly over Byakuya Kuchiki's head. However, this kind of healing medicine was far from enough to fully treat all of Byakuya Kuchiki's wounds. It could only serve to keep him alive temporarily.

"Hina... mori." The brief relief granted by the healing medicine brought a faint glimmer of light back to Byakuya's eyes. "You... came... Can you... help me..."

"Rukia and Renji are both alive. They took heavy damage, but their Reiatsu is still there." Wayne already knew exactly what Byakuya Kuchiki was worried about.

"Two choices: come back with me for treatment, or I send you to the 4th Division first." The two options were different, going to Wayne's side meant Inoue would heal Byakuya completely, but it would take a very long time. The 4th Division, on the other hand, could keep him alive, or even return him to the battlefield immediately, but at the cost of permanent damage.

"I... probably can't... hold on much longer..." Byakuya Kuchiki said weakly. "Can you... help me... save..."

"You and your nonsense." The corner of Wayne's mouth twitched slightly, and then he grabbed Byakuya by the collar and teleported directly to the 4th Division barracks.

"Whoa!" The moment he landed, Wayne heard a woman's startled cry.

"Don't be alarmed, Mizusue. It's me." Wayne set down the gravely injured Byakuya and dusted off his hands. The only people Wayne could pinpoint in the 4th Division barracks right now were Yui Mizusue and Retsu Unohana. Appearing directly in front of Unohana might trigger a reflexive response from her, drawing her blade, so he had chosen to land in Yui Mizusue's quarters instead.

"Do me a favor and keep this guy alive. I'll be right back."

"Wh-wh-what? Isn't this the captain of the 6th Division..." Before Mizusue could even process what was happening, Wayne had already vanished again. She had just barely drawn her Zanpakutō, Kinsenka, when Wayne reappeared. This time, he had two unconscious Shinigami in his grip, Renji and Rukia respectively.

"Done. Mizusue, I'm leaving all of them in your hands. I'll go explain the situation to the captain. We'll catch up later."

"W-wait a moment!" Before Yui Mizusue could even grasp what was going on, Wayne had vanished again.

"That guy... when did he get to Soul Society?" Mizusue furrowed her brow, but turned her attention to the treatment regardless. All three patients were severely injured, she would have to do everything in her power just to barely keep them alive.

"What a... remarkable... ability." Lowering his gaze, Byakuya Kuchiki used the last of his strength to turn his head and look toward Rukia, lying beside him. Sensing that faint, still-present flicker of her Reiatsu, Byakuya Kuchiki let out a long, slow breath and quietly closed his eyes.

"Captain! Don't draw! It's me!" The moment Wayne stepped into the captain's office, he felt a flash of cold steel swinging toward him.

He understood completely. After becoming a king-class Hollow, his Reiatsu level and presence had changed dramatically. He fully understood why Unohana would react this way the instant she sensed him, so the moment he landed, he had drawn his blade and parried the sudden strike she launched at him.

"Tsuki-chan?" Unohana's eyes lit up. "I was just thinking about it — Akon had gone ahead on his own and told us he'd sent a request for aid to you and Ichigo, asking us to hold on until you arrived. I didn't expect you to come so quickly."

"Ah, I actually had a small detour. I pulled Byakuya off the battlefield. He's in Mizusue's quarters now. Please arrange some people to treat him."

Wayne took a moment to pick up a cup of tea from Unohana's desk and drank it down in one go.

"I did a rough scan — there are over a hundred critically wounded on the battlefield right now. If I carry them back one by one, it'll take about ten minutes. Captain, could you arrange some people to help me transport the cargo?"

"Of course. I'll arrange it immediately." Upon learning that Wayne could help rapidly evacuate the wounded, Retsu Unohana agreed at once. Though, by rights, with Wayne's combat strength, the correct choice would have been to enter the battlefield and cut down the enemy to reduce casualties. But on reflection, Retsu Unohana also understood Wayne's reluctance to join the fighting.

Akon had indeed acknowledged the request for aid, but Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto had not yet spoken. With that as a buffer, if Wayne moved too soon, he might come away with nothing from this whole affair.

It had to be understood that Wayne's identity now was as a representative of Hueco Mundo, he was no longer the captain of the 10th Division of the Gotei 13's Thirteen Court Guard Squads. His coming to help at all was already a favor born of old ties.

"Isane, have the squad members prepare immediately. We..."

BOOM!

Before Retsu Unohana could finish, a searing wave of Reiatsu suddenly surged. A blazing pillar of fire erupted from Sokyoku Hill, dyeing the entire sky a deep shade of orange-red.

"The old man has entered the fight." Wayne looked toward that distant crimson glow, his brow furrowing slightly.

"Tsuki-chan." Unohana spoke. "Go take a look. Confirm what you want to confirm, then do what comes next."

"Heh, as expected, the captain knows me best." Wayne let out a small laugh, waved his hand to tear open a rift in space, and pulled one of Timd's clones from inside it. He handed it to Unohana. "If anything urgent comes up, use my messenger to contact me."

With that, Wayne was gone, leaving Unohana holding Timd's clone in her hands, gazing out toward that expanse of crimson in the distance.

A single teleport brought him to Sokyoku Hill. The moment he landed, a scorching wave of heat hit him head-on. The old man was already exchanging blows with Yhwach. Ryujinjakka had already reached Shikai, its blazing flames engulfing Yhwach from all sides.

"So you've come, Tsukishiro Hinamori." Sensing Wayne's Reiatsu, Genryusai Yamamoto did not turn around, he simply spoke with an expression of absolute gravity.

"Old man, how's it going on your end?" Wayne spoke frankly. "You've heard about Akon sending the request for aid to Hueco Mundo, right?"

"Ah, I am grateful that you came to help. However..." Ryujinjakka swung, and Genryusai Yamamoto's Reiatsu surged even higher. "This one — I must settle with my own hands. And furthermore, so long as the Gotei 13 still stands, we will fight with every last drop of strength to protect Soul Society."

"You really don't care about your subordinates' lives, do you. But I get it — until the fight between you two is decided, you don't need me to step in. That's what you mean, right." Wayne smiled with disdain. It was clear enough, the old man, for the sake of his dignity, was unwilling to let Hueco Mundo put a foot in, or rather, he didn't want to owe Hueco Mundo any debt of gratitude.

"Then I'll go save some lives first. Take it easy, old man. If you can't manage, just call for me." Wayne stepped forward and gave the old man a light pat on the shoulder.

"I have not yet reached the point where I need another person's help in battle." Genryusai Yamamoto turned his head and glanced at Wayne, then swung Ryujinjakka and prepared to resume his fight with Yhwach. Hmm... if the old man knew that the person before him was not the real Yhwach, one could only wonder what he would think.

Throughout the exchange between the two of them, Yhwach had not said a single word. The reason was simple, the Yhwach standing there was a complete fake. It was a temporary transformation achieved by one of Yhwach's subordinates using their own ability. Although they had momentarily obtained Yhwach's power, they could not use his omniscience to perceive Wayne and the causality behind him. Otherwise, this fake Yhwach would likely have already learned that his palace had been destroyed.

But that was fine, too. Watching the tigers fight from atop the mountain, Wayne would still reap the fisherman's reward in the end. This was a good deal.

Temporarily leaving Sokyoku Hill, Wayne locked directly onto Shiro-chan's Reiatsu.

Space rippled, and Wayne appeared directly before Shiro-chan. By this point, Shiro-chan's Bankai had already been stolen by the enemy before him, Cang Du.

"B-big brother?" Wayne's sudden appearance gave Shiro-chan a tremendous shock, and Rangiku Matsumoto behind him was similarly caught off guard for a moment.

"Captain? You came to back us up?" Excitement surfaced in Rangiku Matsumoto's eyes. Just moments ago, after Shiro-chan's Bankai was stolen, the two of them had been plunged into a desperate battle. No matter how they attacked, they could not break through the enemy's defense.

"Did you practice fighting without your Bankai like I told you to?" Wayne glanced at Cang Du across the way, there were very few wounds on him, while Shiro-chan on this side had clearly taken quite a beating.

"I..." Shiro-chan lowered his head slightly. He had of course done the swordsmanship training, but the gains from swordsmanship were nowhere near as high as the gains from training Hyorinmaru's power. So after practicing swordsmanship for a period of time, Shiro-chan had once again shifted his focus back to Hyorinmaru.

The truth was that over the past year, Shiro-chan had trained incredibly hard. He had even drilled Hyorinmaru's Bankai to a level of complete mastery, achieving its ultimate form. Yet the enemy's Heilig Stern had directly stripped away the Bankai, instantly robbing Shiro-chan of nearly seventy percent of his combat power.

"Big brother, did you know all along that this day would come." Realizing it belatedly, Shiro-chan suddenly furrowed his brow. If he hadn't known in advance, why had his big brother initially urged him to train hard with Hyorinmaru, only to suddenly propose that he shift his training toward swordsmanship? This abrupt change of training direction, which made no obvious sense in terms of returns, what exactly did it mean?

"I only asked you to be prepared for contingencies." Wayne did not admit it. "The enemy's appearance was simply a coincidence." Wayne glanced at Cang Du not far away, then drew the Zanpakutō at his hip. "Luckily, an enemy has shown up who can actually take a hit. Perfect — let me show you the essentials of swordsmanship."

Cang Du's ability was iron, he could coat his entire body in steel, making it impossible for enemies to wound him. That was Cang Du's Schrift.

"Are you done talking?" Cang Du had short black hair and narrow eyes. Normally cold and taciturn, he was even more expressionless when facing enemies, his demeanor three degrees colder. He held the Heilig Stern that had stolen Shiro-chan's Bankai in his hand, and in the next instant, the twin ice dragon wings of Dai Guren Hyorinmaru attached themselves to his back. "That little captain calls you big brother, so I take it you two are brothers. I wonder, how does it feel to be beaten by your own little brother's power?"

"I thought you were a man of few words." Wayne taunted with contempt. "If it were Shiro-chan using the Bankai, I'd at least step back a little. But someone who's never even wielded it himself, daring to use an unfamiliar power in front of me, that's genuinely funny."

Whoosh!

Without giving Cang Du another chance to speak, Wayne vanished into thin air.

"He disappeared?!" Cang Du's eyes went wide. In just an instant, he had completely lost sight of his opponent. As he instinctively looked behind him and turned around, he saw a flash of cold steel sweep past, and the left wing of Dai Guren Hyorinmaru was severed from his back in one stroke.

"What?!" Cang Du hurriedly retreated with Hirenkyaku, his iron ability spreading across his entire body in an instant. It had been just one moment, if Wayne hadn't cut slightly off-mark, that single strike would have taken his life outright.

"You see that? The Hyorinmaru you're using is completely useless." Wayne waved the Zanpakutō in his hand. "Good timing, too, you've already activated your ability. From here on, consider it an enjoyable lesson."

Clang!

The words had barely left Wayne's mouth before his figure flashed forward in an instant. His Zanpakutō swept horizontally and landed across Cang Du's neck, producing a sharp metallic ring on impact. Blue veins spread across the surface of Cang Du's neck, his Blut Vene.

Iron layered over Blut Vene, his defense was virtually off the charts. And yet, even so, Wayne still left a clean bloody groove across Cang Du's neck.

"Impossible." Cang Du pressed one hand to his neck. Feeling the warmth spreading under his palm, Cang Du wore an expression of pure disbelief.

"Iron is not the hardest substance in the world, and Blut Vene has its limits as well. Strip away the special properties of these abilities and reduce them to their raw state, what remains is nothing but a contest of Reiatsu strength." Wayne twirled the blade and continued. "Swordsmanship is a technique that inflicts concentrated damage on specific parts of an enemy's body, using different moves to strike different areas. Reiatsu is the means by which you destroy the enemy. You cannot have one without the other. Shiro-chan, when you attack an enemy, you rely predominantly on Hyorinmaru's special properties, trying to freeze and shatter the opponent. That's why you've been focused all this time on boosting Hyorinmaru's power and strengthening the intensity of the freeze, while neglecting the technique of actual combat."

"Big brother..." Faced with Wayne still lecturing him in the middle of a battle against a powerful enemy, Shiro-chan was at a loss for words. Was there something wrong with finishing off the enemy quickly and then going to support the others?

But thinking it over, Shiro-chan also understood, his big brother was no longer a Shinigami. People who had nothing to do with him no longer mattered to him. After all, protecting Soul Society was not his responsibility. He was only there to protect the people by his side.

"When your Reiatsu level hasn't yet reached the point where you can simply crush the enemy outright, there's no need to go for an ability that slaps them dead in one shot. Isn't it better to pierce through a wide defense with a single focused point?" With that, the blade in Wayne's hand flashed, and he transformed once more into a bolt of lightning, charging straight at Cang Du.

Thud!

The strike that had only been able to leave a bloody groove just moments ago, now, with Wayne's deliberate reinforcement, carved a deep wound into Cang Du's body. If that blow had landed on Cang Du's neck again, it would in all likelihood have taken off half of it by now.

➤ Next: Zanjutsu of the Dying Flame