Marrying Unohana Retsu from Bleach

"Boom!"

With a thunderous explosion, Yhwach, now a blur of darkness, appeared before Araki. Before Araki could fully react, Yhwach's sword pierced through him, seemingly cleaving him in two.

"It's done! The Shinigami is finished."

"No one can withstand His Majesty's attack."

The Sternritter watching from a distance clenched their fists in excitement. Their emperor was indeed invincible.

"Hmm?!"

Yhwach, however, frowned. The sensation of his blade passing through Araki's body was… off. It didn't feel like cutting flesh, but rather like slicing through air.

And it was not his intention to kill him; after all, he wanted Araki to join his cause. His intention was to subdue him through his strength.

"What are you looking so surprised about? Did you think I'd die that easily?"

Just as the Quincy were celebrating, Araki's bisected form dissolved into a thick mist, rising into the air before reforming above Yhwach's head.

"What?! He was clearly cut in half! How is he alive?!" The Quincy exclaimed in disbelief.

Before they could process what they had witnessed, Araki drew his sword and swung it down at Yhwach's head.

"Interesting." Yhwach's eyes flashed with a strange light as he raised his own sword to block.

Clang!

The clash of steel unleashed a shockwave, rattling the surrounding area. Rocks, trees, and damaged buildings trembled. Araki's blade was met with an unyielding resistance.

"The Blut Vene Anhaben? It's harder than steel," Araki noted, feeling the resistance in his hand.

Blut Vene Anhaben was a defensive technique where a Quincy reinforced their skin by circulating reishi through their blood vessels, making them incredibly durable.

"Your blade cannot harm me," Yhwach stated calmly, his expression confident.

"Is that so?" Araki replied. A layer of advanced Busoshoku and Haoshoku Haki coated Ruriko's blade. With black lightning unique to conqueror's Haki crackling around it.

A thin line of blood appeared on Yhwach's wrist.

"Hmm?!" Yhwach's eyes widened slightly. He immediately realized something was amiss and leaped back, creating distance between himself and Araki.

"Interesting. That power… it's neither Shinigami nor Quincy in origin. It's a unique system I do not recognize." Yhwach mused. "It seems you still hold secrets, Araki. I find myself increasingly intrigued. I eagerly await the day you join my cause." He recognized the Haki as a power completely separate from Reishi or spiritual pressure.

"Yhwach." Araki called out. "Didn't you just confidently proclaim my blade couldn't touch you?"

"Why are you running now? Are you afraid of a power you don't understand?" Araki taunted, trying to goad Yhwach into making a mistake.

Buzz…

Yhwach ignored Araki's words. He extended his hand, and several Quincy arrows materialized between his fingers.

"It is His Majesty's Heilig Pfeil!" the Quincy cried out in awe. Heilig Pfeil, or Holy Arrow, was a powerful Quincy technique.

Twang!

With a resounding twang, Yhwach released the arrows. They shot towards Araki, leaving trails of distorted air in their wake.

"That was close." Araki muttered, narrowly dodging the arrows using Shunpo enhanced with Kenbunshoku Haki. His mastery of Observation Haki gave him a crucial edge in predicting his opponent's attacks.

"Hmph," Yhwach's lips curled into a slight smile as he watched Araki evade his Heilig Pfeil.

"Why don't you use that 'mist' of yours to evade my attacks? Is that it? Your mist can only evade physical strikes, but it cannot evade my arrows, with their explosive force." Yhwach deduced.

He had quickly seen through Araki's ability to turn into mist. Even without using The Almighty, Yhwach was a formidable opponent. His caution and lack of reliance on his precognitive abilities made him all the more dangerous.

If the Yhwach from the final arc had displayed this level of caution from the start, the combined forces of the Shinigami, Quincy, and Fullbringers would have stood little chance.

"A troublesome opponent," Araki thought, constantly forced to evade Yhwach's relentless barrage of holy arrows.

"Hahaha! Running around like a rat."

"What a fool. The Shinigami who rejected His Majesty's invitation is just as foolish as Hubert, who dared to interfere with His Majesty's battle." The Quincy mocked Araki's evasive maneuvers, seeing him as pathetic and desperate.

They had ample opportunity to assist Hubert, but they had stood by, following Yhwach's command to leave the fight to him. In their eyes, Hubert had become expendable the moment he displeased Yhwach.

"Araki! Surrender." Yhwach called out, his patience wearing thin as Araki continued to evade his attacks.

Reishi gathered beneath Yhwach's feet, and he vanished. In an instant, he reappeared above Araki; a massive arrow, more like a spear, materialized in his hand.

"Araki, there is nowhere left to run! You should know that Hirenkyaku, the foot technique we Quincies use to pursue Hollows, is far superior to your Shinigami's Shunpo." Yhwach declared, hurling the spear down at Araki. "Let us end this here. Surrender!"

"Oh no! I can't dodge this!" Araki's eyes widened as the massive spear hurtled towards him. He was trapped.

"Oh…" Yhwach, hovering above, watched Araki's apparent fear with satisfaction. He believed he had finally cornered his opponent.

But then, Araki smiled.

The next second, Yhwach's spear passed straight through Araki's body.

"My 'arrow' should have detonated upon contact with your Reishi," Yhwach said, his eyes narrowing in confusion. "Yet it passed right through you?" He had crafted this particular attack specifically to counter Araki's mist form.

It was designed to trigger an explosion upon contact with Reishi, even if it was dispersed.

Araki had created a perfectly sized hole in his chest, allowing the spear to pass through without triggering the Reishi reaction, much like Katakuri using his Mochi Mochi no Mi to evade Luffy's Kong Gun.

This feat required precise control over his elementalization and advanced Observation Haki.

"Yhwach," Araki said, his Zanpakuto now pointed at Yhwach's chest. "Did I ever say my mist couldn't dodge your arrows?"

"ROOM·Piercing Wave!" Araki didn't answer Yhwach's question. He used the brief window of opportunity after Yhwach had launched his attack to strike.

"Hmph!" Yhwach crossed his arms in front of his chest. While Araki's ability to bypass his Blut Vene was unique, Yhwach believed it wouldn't inflict significant damage with a single strike.

"What? This attack... it bypassed my defense?!" Yhwach exclaimed in surprise. 

Araki's blade hadn't even touched his arms; it had passed directly through them and into his chest. A massive blade, seemingly tens of thousands of meters long, erupted from Yhwach's back, reaching into the sky. It was so large it could be seen from miles away.

"His Majesty!" The Quincy panicked.

"Take this!" Araki roared, unleashing the full force of his spiritual pressure, Haki, and Devil Fruit power into a single devastating attack. He had carefully set up this moment with his previous feints.

Puff…

Yhwach coughed up blood, seriously injured by the unexpected attack.

Araki had tested Yhwach's ability to "see" his attacks three times: when he cut down the horse, when he used Haki, and when he evaded the arrows. Each time, Yhwach had reacted in a way that suggested he was not using The Almighty to its full extent, confirming Araki's suspicions and allowing him to execute his plan.

Of course, Yhwach would not sit there and wait for death.

"Ha!" Yhwach roared, a blue light erupting from his body as several Quincy Zeichen materialized around him.

"Tch," Araki clicked his tongue, instantly vanishing using ROOM, swapping places with a distant Quincy soldier.

"Huh?!" The Quincy, who had been nervously watching the battle, suddenly found himself within Yhwach's attack range.

Boom!

The Quincy was instantly vaporized by a point-blank Heilig Pfeil.

"Araki... you have succeeded in irritating me," Yhwach said, wiping blood from his mouth. His eyes burned with fury.

Boom!

An immense wave of spiritual pressure erupted from Yhwach, causing the entire Soul Society to tremble.

"It seems Yhwach is truly serious now," Araki muttered, gripping Ruriko tightly.

"Bankai..." Araki whispered, preparing to unleash his full power.

"Hmph…" Yhwach sneered, as if anticipating this.

"Sacred Surgeon's Sanctuary?" There was a hint of disdain in his voice.

"-Bring forth the light of Celestial Mercy, Yakushi Ruriko!"

===============

Surprised about the different Bankai release command? Stay tuned; it will be explained in the next chapter.

Check out my other fanfic translations: A spy in Konoha, part-time Hokage

: Yoriichi Tsugikuni reborn in the soul society.

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