"Impossible!"
"You expect me to believe that nonsense, Ran Yan?! Save it for the kids!"
"Collapse, Sakanade!"
Hirako Shinji, in disbelief, called out the name of his Zanpakutō again.
Nothing happened.
Just as Ran Yan said—Sakanade was as if it had returned to a sealed state from a hundred years ago. No matter how he chanted the release phrase, no matter how fervently he called its name, it was completely unresponsive.
"Are you done shouting?"
Ran Yan stood calmly, watching Shinji's panic unfold.
Puff.
Without waiting for an answer, he calmly pushed his Zanpakutō forward, stabbing Shinji again.
A new surge of pain wracked the already wounded captain's body.
"Ah—my apologies."
"I forgot. Since your Sakanade is sealed, the reversed perception is gone. When I move forward, it's… well, forward."
His voice was polite. The tone? Icy cold.
Shinji coughed blood, aiming it at Ran Yan's face, but the black mist spiraling from Ran Yan's form devoured it before it got close.
"Tsk, don't spit blood everywhere."
"You're still a former captain, Hirako Shinji."
Ran Yan pulled his blade free again.
Blood splashed.
Thud.
Shinji stumbled and dropped to one knee, clutching his wound, his Zanpakutō now a crutch to keep from collapsing entirely.
"I'll say this once."
"Put your sword away and walk away quietly."
"This is over. Just like your captaincy."
Ran Yan flicked the blood from his blade and calmly slid it back into its sheath.
"What did you say?!"
"I'm still the captain of the Fifth Division!"
"You think you can take my spot?! You're a hundred years too early!"
Fury. Denial. Desperation.
Shinji surged up, pain forgotten for a moment.
He raised his Zanpakutō high, preparing to Bankai—
Only for his sword to be yanked from his hands by an invisible gravitational force.
Snap.
Ran Yan had caught Sakanade.
Instantly, Shinji knew.
Sakanade fell silent.
Again.
Just as before, no response came. No sense of spiritual connection.
His Zanpakutō was dead in his hands—or rather, in Ran Yan's hands.
The hope for Bankai? Gone.
"Indulging in hope?"
"In front of my Shokuyami (Candle Shadow), it's just pebbles beneath my feet."
"You too, Hirako Shinji."
Ran Yan examined Sakanade briefly, then shook his head.
"The Evil Eight Treasure Plug!" Shinji roared desperately—trying to summon his Bankai name.
No use.
The blade in Ran Yan's hand didn't even stir.
"Be quiet."
"Stop embarrassing yourself, Shinji."
"You already know the truth."
Ran Yan gently tossed Sakanade.
Thud.
It landed—embedded in Shinji's chest, piercing straight through his body and out his back.
It was the final blow.
The Reiatsu that surrounded Hirako Shinji crumbled.
His strength was gone.
"Click."
A sound like a snapped branch echoed as he fell back, crumpling to the ground in a slouch.
It wasn't just his body.
His will had been shattered.
No fight left. No struggle. No resistance.
Just blood pooling beneath him, soaking his once-pristine haori—the white coat of a Gotei captain—turning crimson with defeat.
In that moment, Hirako Shinji accepted it.
Everything Ran Yan had said.
His dreams, his pride, his captaincy—shattered under the weight of a single Zanpakutō.
The gap between them was no longer a difference in power.
It was a canyon, an impassable abyss.
"How can this be...?"
Gasps erupted from the 600 onlookers beyond the barrier.
"Captain Hirako... He's second only to Captain Yamamoto, Captain Unohana, Captain Kyouraku, Ukitake, Kuchiki, and Shutara!"
"He's a veteran, not some fresh appointment!"
"And yet… he couldn't even activate his Bankai?"
"He was destroyed—like a seated officer fighting a captain!"
Ran Yan's strength—
It was no longer something that could be compared to captains.
He had exceeded that realm.
Even Shiba Isshin, who was maintaining the barrier, felt shaken.
He already knew Ran Yan was strong.
But this…
"This wasn't a battle between captains. It was an execution."
It was over with two strikes and a conversation.
Shiba exhaled, voice low.
"Is this the power of the one who stands… beyond even captains?"