Bleach : Begins with a Contract with the Departed Souls of the Uchiha Chapter 298 298: The Undying Body

Shunsui stood up slowly, his twin blades held before him, his fingers slightly curved as he stared intently at the man in front of him.

Faced with Kyōraku's question, Borsalino had no desire to answer at this mont.

His figure flashed, suddenly splitting apart into countless streaks of flowing light.

However, he did not attack Kyōraku; instead, he flew upward toward the sky.

Before the battle began, he had read the intelligence regarding every Captain of the Gotei 13, which naturally included information on Shunsui Kyōraku's Bankai.

This intelligence had been personally distributed by Ren, so Borsalino naturally trusted it.

The reports indicated that Shunsui Kyōraku's Bankai was extrely troubleso and could not be dealt with by ordinary ans.

Earlier in the fight, Borsalino had tried to strike out and interrupt Kyōraku's release.

He hadn't expected Kyōraku to hide within his own shadow, eventually losing that gamble and allowing Kyōraku to find the perfect opening to successfully deploy his Bankai.

"It is useless!"

Watching Borsalino's decisive retreat, Kyōraku frowned slightly.

What was going on?

The opponent didn't launch an imdiate assault but chose to retreat decisively instead. This clearly ant he knew the abilities of his Bankai!

But he had never displayed it before others.

The only ones who knew of his Bankai were those close to him, like Old Man Yama and Jūshirō.

Those two would never reveal it casually!

Just as Borsalino moved, Kyōraku acted quietly.

The air in the imdiate vicinity vanished instantly, replaced by a boundless, surging sea.

The two were now both subrged deep within the water.

Borsalino transford into light, yet no matter how he moved, he could not reach the surface. In fact, the more effort he exerted, the further he seed to drift from it.

"What is this? I really cannot fly out!"

The flowing light converged, reforming into Borsalino's silhouette.

Looking down, he saw Kyōraku's figure nearby.

The many wrinkles on Borsalino's face deepened, and his previously relaxed expression vanished.

"Naturally. Haven't you already agreed to accompany to the underworld?"

Kyōraku didn't rush to attack, instead choosing to ask, "It seems you truly know about my Bankai. Where did you learn of it?"

A hint of wariness flashed in Borsalino's eyes. "This old man has no intention of committing a double suicide with a man. However, to be able to restrict even my speed of light... you truly have a terrifying, monster-like ability."

"I thank you for the complint," Kyōraku said, recalling the opponent's earlier power. "But compared to , you're the one who is more like a monster."

Seeing that escape was impossible, Borsalino stopped struggling, but he also didn't resu his attack.

"Mister Captain, would you be so kind as to explain your Bankai to ?"

"Don't you already know?"

Kyōraku took a dual-blade stance, his eyes shining with confidence.

"My Bankai is called Katen Kyōkotsu: Karamatsu Shinjū."

"The First Act: Tora-ōisusu. Any wounds I have sustained are shared and reflected upon your body. Unfortunately, these wounds alone are never enough to kill you."

"Oh?"

Borsalino raised an eyebrow, glancing at the wound where his laser had previously struck Kyōraku.

And yet, no such wound appeared on his own body.

"It seems wounds taken before the Bankai cannot be shared."

"Naturally. After all, it wasn't active then. Your choice not to attack just now was undoubtedly the correct one," Kyōraku said with a wry smile.

Neither physical attacks nor Kido could harm the man before him; he had been forced to resort to this thod.

"However, since you aren't attacking, I won't stand on ceremony. The idle chatter ends here."

"The Second Act: Zanshaku no Sada!"

As Kyōraku's voice fell, Borsalino's body stiffened. Countless black spots the size of fingertips instantly covered his entire fra.

"Pfft!" Borsalino spat out a mouthful of blood, his face turning incredibly pale.

His body suddenly lost all strength, as if he had been struck by a debilitating disease, leaving him exceptionally weak.

Kyōraku walked toward Borsalino, his voice low and steady.

"For wounding their beloved, the man lies in bed with regret, suffering from an incurable illness."

The filth-like black spots on Borsalino's body spread rapidly, growing to the size of palms.

His body grew even weaker. The spiritual pressure within him leaked into the surrounding water in all directions, his strength draining at a terrifying rate.

"This is..."

Blood continued to spill from his mouth, and the loss of spiritual pressure was relentless. No matter how hard he tried, he could not stop it for a second.

"The Third Act: Dangyo no Fuchi."

Kyōraku's sleeves fluttered as he arrived directly in front of Borsalino.

"The two who love each other agree to cast themselves into the water, remaining there until their strength is utterly exhausted."

"The abyss we are in now is exactly that. However, because you tried to flee, I was forced to bring out the Third Act ahead of schedule."

Enduring the weakness and discomfort, Borsalino lifted his gaze toward Kyōraku, squeezing out his last bit of strength to speak.

"The order of the play has been disrupted... it is no longer perfect..."

"It is rely a change of scenery."

With that, Kyōraku did the unexpected and sheathed his twin blades.

A female silhouette, invisible to ordinary n, erged from the air behind him.

The woman wore heavy clothing and ornate headpieces, with a black eyepatch covering one of her eyes.

She reached out her arms, wrapping them around Kyōraku's shoulders, leaning gently against him.

Kyōraku looked back with a faint smile on his face.

"Long ti no see, Katen."

"Katen? A man who hasn't visited in so long calling so affectionately the mont we et... your skin is as thick as ever, Sōzosuke."

"Don't tease . It was my fault, Katen," Kyōraku imdiately pleaded.

The woman looked at Kyōraku's body, reaching out to gently stroke the two wounds.

"Looking closely, aren't you covered in scars? It's because you're always wearing another woman's clothes that you end up so wretched," the woman's voice carried a hint of sarcasm.

Kyōraku gave a bitter laugh. "Your tongue is as sharp as ever. Have rcy on ."

"No matter how sharp it is, I am still your blade. You must accept , whether you like it or not. We did, after all, vow to wither away together."

Borsalino could not perceive the woman's figure or her voice.

He could only see Kyōraku standing there, talking to thin air.

"Who... are you talking to?"

"You don't think... this is enough to defeat , do you?"

Kyōraku extended a finger, spiritual light dancing at the tip, trailing a thin white thread like a silk ribbon that drifted in the water.

"A woman's feelings are so cruel. She ignores the distraught man, winding a white thread soaked in lingering attachnt around his throat."

"At the very least, use these hands to personally sever that discarded, tangled thread of lingering attachnt. Here, it ends."

Kyōraku raised his hand, the white thread dancing from his fingertips and winding around Borsalino's neck.

His eyes were dark now, devoid of any light.

He swung his arm with all his might, pulling the white thread taut.

"The Final Act: Itokirihasami Chi no Nodofue."

A line of blood opened across Borsalino's throat, and blood sprayed outward.

"Wha—"

But Kyōraku's attack did not end there. From the severed wound on Borsalino's neck, a massive amount of Reishi spheres erged, expanding rapidly.

Boom!

The Reishi exploded violently, the roar echoing through the depths of the water.

Borsalino's head was blown away, flesh and blood splattering everywhere as a headless and shoulderless corpse slowly sank through the water.

"Whew..."

Seeing this, Kyōraku let out a long breath.

In this battle, although he had appeared composed, he had actually been pushed to his absolute limit, exhausting all his trump cards.

Fortunately, the final asure proved effective in resolving this great enemy.

With his mind relaxed, Kyōraku could no longer support himself and began to fall backward.

At that mont, a pair of soft arms caught him from behind, gently lowering him to the ground.

Feeling a soft sensation behind his head, Kyōraku looked up. A large protrusion obscured the woman's face.

However, Kyōraku recognized her instantly.

Resting on the woman's lap, Kyōraku's surprise faded into a smile.

"I didn't expect to get a lap pillow from you. I suppose releasing my Bankai once in a while isn't so bad."

The woman's hands stroked Kyōraku's scruffy cheeks with a gentle touch, like a tender wife.

"Sōzosuke, you've defeated the enemy."

"Katen, why are you being so gentle today?" A hint of surprise appeared on Kyōraku's smiling face.

"Because you worked very hard. I thought I should give such a hardworking version of you so sweetness."

The woman comforted Kyōraku, her voice carrying a sense of warmth.

"Sōzosuke, you did very well. Just rest in my arms for a while."

"I can't do that, Katen. I can't stop yet."

Kyōraku shook his head. His expression remained the sa, but his eyes held a deep sense of gravity and resolve.

He slowly climbed up, leaving the woman's embrace.

"The war is still raging. Old Man Yama is still fighting, and Jūshirō's fate is unknown. I cannot stop."

The surrounding water vanished along with Kyōraku's suppressed spiritual pressure, and air once again filled the space.

Even the woman behind Kyōraku disappeared along with it.

Erging from his Bankai, Kyōraku stood up to take a step, but as he transitioned out of the high-pressure combat, the wounds on his chest flared with agonizing pain.

"It really does hurt. It seems I'm quite badly injured. This is going to be trouble."

Kyōraku looked at his wounds, his face turning pale again.

Shaking his head, his expression beca determined as he began to run toward the direction where Yamamoto's spiritual pressure was erupting.

"Though I'm injured, resolving one more enemy shouldn't be a problem."

"Old Man Yama, Jūshirō, wait for ."

At that mont, a laser beam shot from a distance, piercing through his chest.

Blood splattered.

Kyōraku watched the beam that had pierced him continue unabated into the distance, his eyes widening in shock.

"This is—"

Taking another through-and-through wound, Kyōraku's body stiffened, and he collapsed heavily onto the ground.

At the sa ti, that strange tone he had heard before drifted closer from the distance.

"Mister Captain, I believe I reminded you not to think this was enough to defeat . It seems you didn't listen at all."

A beam of light stopped in front of Kyōraku.

The light converged to form a yellow figure. Seeing the white shoes and yellow suit trousers that were clearly larger than a normal person's, Kyōraku's expression turned from shock to a helpless sigh.

"Still not dead... just what kind of monster are you?"

Borsalino extended a finger, pointing it at Kyōraku, light blossoming at the tip.

Hearing Kyōraku's words, he shook his head and said, "That's not it. Just now, I truly was killed by you once."

"My head was blown off by the explosion at my neck, and my body above the abdon was completely destroyed. Even I thought I would lose this ti."

"But unfortunately, once is not enough to kill completely."

Just a mont ago, the instant his head was blown off, Borsalino had indeed sensed his death approaching.

But as his head fell, he found he could still maintain a clear consciousness.

Without a body, with only a brain left, he could still think.

Though it hurt imnsely, he simply wouldn't die.

He imdiately realized it was because of the young girl nad Riko he had seen after he had died of old age, and the post-death contract he had ford with her.

The contract explicitly stated that all contractors and the highest King would share in glory and share in loss.

He hadn't expected that even sothing like death would be within the scope of the contract.

Even though he was already a soul after death.

'It seems I signed a contract with a truly incredible fellow.'

"A god, perhaps?" Borsalino recalled Ren's previous state after being decapitated and burned.

At that ti, he had clearly been a charred corpse, as dead as one could be.

But Borsalino had felt an incredibly real sensation in his heart—that his King would never truly die.

The facts were exactly as he had predicted!

Such a perverted immortality was not limited to the King who was the active party of the contract; even a contractor like himself, who was like a retainer, could share in it.

It wasn't just immortality; even most of his current power was obtained from the King.

Otherwise, with his original spiritual pressure, he would never have been a match for this Captain Kyōraku!

In fact, no battle would have even broken out between them; he would have been defeated by Kyōraku effortlessly in no ti at all.

Let alone forcing Captain Kyōraku to use his Bankai.

Just as he was wondering what to do after being decapitated, a brand new power erged from within his body out of thin air.

Not only did it repair the fatal wounds on his body, but even his spiritual pressure was restored to what it had been before the decapitation.

Is this the great power of that Solitary King?!

Borsalino leaned down slightly, looking at Kyōraku.

As Kyōraku struggled to sit up, he was pinned back by Borsalino's finger pressing against his chest.

"Mister Captain, do you understand now?"

"From the very beginning, you had no chance of winning this war!"

Shoom! Shoom! Shoom!

A series of lasers erupted, piercing through Kyōraku's chest.

"Pfft!—"

Kyōraku no longer had the strength to support himself and collapsed to the ground, blood gushing from the holes in his chest.

At this mont, he couldn't even rember how many heavy injuries he had sustained as his vision gradually faded into darkness.

In his final monts, the faces of Yamamoto Genryūsai and Jūshirō Ukitake flashed before his eyes.

I'm sorry... Old Man Yama, Jūshirō, I'm sorry.

"It seems I wasn't as useful as I thought I was..."

In his daze, he seed to hear his opponent's words.

"I'm holding back, Mister Captain."

"After all, our King..."

Kyōraku did not hear the words that followed as he fell completely into darkness.

anwhile, across the other battlefields, whether it was Yamamoto Genryūsai's group or Ren's side, they all simultaneously sensed the disturbance over here.

Ren had already finished regrowing his body. Feeling Kyōraku's rapidly weakening spiritual pressure, a faint smile appeared on his face.

"Shisui, Toji, it looks like in the duel against Kyōraku, our Borsalino won."

[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comnts are highly appreciated to keep going.....( 50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]