"...I'm going to surpass you now, Captain Kuchiki." Renji calls out to his sword, "BAN KAI"

The surrounding area explodes in a outpouring of spiritual energy. Byakuya stands motionless as the air swirls around him, violently kicking up debris and howling through the surrounding towers.

The dust clears to reveal Renji. A fur pelt is draped over his back in a regal manner with a baboon skull hanging off one shoulder while fur covers his other arm entirely. A gigantic skeleton is curled around him. It resembles the bones of a huge serpent with white fur is ruffled around its neck. The bone-serpent bares its fangs.

Renji has the courtesy to introduce the Bankai form of his Zanpaku blade, "The Baboon King, Zabimaru."

"...You achieved Bankai... without my notice..." Byakuya says.

"You wouldn't know," Renji stands with his bone-serpent spread out around him, "You're the type who won't look at those beneath you." He grips the bone-hilt and leans forward in synch with his bankai serpent, "...I'll say it one last time. I am going to save Rukia."

Byakuya pauses, "I thought I told you I don't repeat myself."

"If there's no chance that you could let me pass," Renji's gaze narrows, "then I'll kill you as I go."

"That's impossible," Byakuya says coolly. "You cannot even make me to kneel to you."

Renji steps forward and attacks. The serpent dives at Byakuya, but that proves to be futile. Byakuya uses his instant-step to reach the top of a nearby tower unharmed. Renji is quick to catch sight of him and swings Zabimaru out in a wide arc, knocking the row of towers down all at once. Zabimaru knocks Byakuya off the crumbling towers and drives him toward the ground, while Byakuya holds off the creature's fangs with the edge of his blade.

"...I see. This pressure is merely being called Bankai," Byakuya says thoughtfully. "So... it's time to close the curtain." He calls to his Zanpaku sword, "Scatter, 'Senbonzakura.'"

The serpent falls apart in a flash of blinding light. Byakuya lands lightly on his feet and glances back at the crumpled remains of Zabimaru. His eyes widen when he sees the bones rattling. The bones rise, fly across the battlefield and reconnect with Renji's sword, undamaged.

Byakuya stares at Renji in shock as the former Vice-Captain explains, "Senbonzakura. A sword of a thousand blades that split things apart so fast that they cannot be seen. Those blades take in light as they dance. They resemble countless flower petals dancing in the breeze. I know that."

A section of the serpent's spine lifts and separates several inches to show the crackling energy humming between the bone joints. Renji places a hand over it, "I'm sorry to say, but this guy's blade joints are tied together by my spiritual energy. A sword can't cut it. Just now, all I did was deliberately unfasten the joints and dodge all one thousand of those blades of yours." Byakuya looks utterly surprised by this, which bolsters Renji's confidence. "What are you so surprised about? I'm just telling you. I can see your sword."

With those words, the ground erupts beneath Byakuya's feet as bone sections that had been dormant and unseen suddenly explode out of the ground and return to Zabimaru. Knocked off balance, Byakuya leaps away and skids across the ground on his knees. Renji looks down at him, "See? You're kneeling."

Byakuya turns and gives him a cold look.

"I will defeat you," Renji says. "I'm closing the curtain, Kuchiki Byakuya, in the fight between you and I."

Note:
-Personally, I love this chapter. ♥

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