"Close the curtain... huh," Byakuya stands up slowly with his back facing Renji. "So be it," He turns with his hand on the hilt of his Zanpaku blade. "If that is the case, then the curtain shall be drawn shut by my sword."

"...I thought I told you. Have you forgotten already?" Renji says, unimpressed. "I'm already able to see your sword... The one to close that curtain... will be my sword!!!"

Watching the bone serpent come at him in another attack, Byakuya raises a graceful hand, "Destructive Art Thirty-three... Soukatsui" (1) Bright trails of energy spread out from his hand and cause an explosion that raises debris more than a hundred meters in the air. Renji retracts Zabimaru and uses its bone body as a shield by curling it around himself. He grunts as the impact hits, "Kugh!!!"

Verse repeal!! Renji realizes how adept his opponent is when it comes to spells. This is the ability to ignore the verse of invocation when performing intermediary demon arts!! Between the folds of the serpent curled around him protectively, he sees the blur of Kuchiki Byakuya in motion.

"You're getting soft!!" Renji uncurls Zabimaru with a wide sweep of his arm and snaps the creature in Byakuya's direction, "Did you think I'd lose sight of you... at a speed like that!?"

Byakuya turns around calmly and crushes a portion of Zabimaru's head and body.

"DAMN!!" Renji pulls back, I didn't control it well enough!!

"...You're the one going soft," Byakuya warns him. "I didn't release the demon arts to distract you. I did it to throw the movements of your Bankai into disorder. The trouble with Bankai is that the spiritual pressure is proportionate to its size. As a sword, it has a shape and immensity that exceeds common sense, therefore in order for all of your movements to control it completely, you would still need more than ten years of training to master it." Indeed, Zabimaru is a giant serpent controlled like a whip, so it would be too hopeful to think anyone could master it so soon after reaching Bankai."Renji, it is still too early for you to fight with the Bankai," Byakuya finishes.

"...So what? I knew that before I came here," Renji retorts. "Luckily, my Zanpaku sword is dull... but nothing changes even if a part of it gets crushed!!" He swings down for another attack.

Raising his hand again, Byakuya extends an index finger and the tip starts to glow brightly, "Restraining Art Sixty-one... Rukujyoukourou" (2)

Six wide streamers of light combine at Renji's waist, holding him in place like an insect on display. "Oh, hell...!"

"You should be good and sheathe your sword..." Byakuya advises him. He holds out his own sword with the hilt pointing up, "Don't tell me you still intend to defeat me. It can't be that you've forgotten... that I also have the Bankai." He releases the sword and it stays still in mid-air with its tip pointed toward the ground, "Bankai." The sword sinks into the ground, causing it to ripple like the surface of a pond. A countless number of blades lined up on either side of Byakuya rise from the earth. The blades are three times his height and stand there like silent sentinels. He calls to them, "Scatter, Senbonzakura Kageyoshi." (3)

The huge blades dissolve into flickers of light that resemble cherry blossom petals in the wind. The building behind Renji explodes outward, the light prison around him shatters, and Zabimaru falls apart... but for a brief moment, he stands unharmed.

Blood trickles down the side of Renji's face. That trickle soon turns into a rain of blood as wounds tear open and his body falls forward.

"Shall I tell you the difference between you and I?" Byakuya looks down at the fallen man, "It is rank." (4)

"'Moon-catching Monkey,'" the 6th Captain turns and strides away from the remains of the battle. "Reflected in the monkey's eyes is merely the image of the moon on the water. Even if he agonizingly tries to seize it, he'll only end up sinking to the bottom of the lake. Your fangs will not reach me. They never will."(5)


(1) "Blue Fire Fall"
(2) "E.T. phone home..." (I'm too easily amused XP) Anyway, the translation for the verse is: "Light Prison of Six Truncheons"
(3) Kageyoshi = "Brutal Shade"
(4) He not only means this as a matter of rank in the 13 Divisions, he's also implying 'social status'.
(5) The moon-catching monkey is an old fable used to illustrate the foolishness in trying to get something one cannot possibly have (i.e. if you reach for goals that are too high, you're setting yourself up to fail).

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