Chapter 65 - Shikai

A/N: Sorry about lack of chaps. Work's been kicking my ass this week.

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Inside the barrier, Tsunade struggled against her instinctive desire to run away from the pool of blood soaking her knees and feet. Her chest heaved with labored breathing. Every fiber of her being screamed at her to close her eyes and run away.

'Run away. Run away. You'll never need to see it if you just avoid it.'

She could imagine her own fears whispering to her to do so, yet she ground her teeth together and continued using medical ninjutsu to heal one of the only people still close to her.

Outside the barrier, she tried not to pay attention to the bombardment of elemental Jutsus being cast at the purple-haired young man. It reminded her of war, and she didn't want to see it.

"Then again, how many people in those wars could use so many elemental Jutsus back-to-back for so long like this?" She mumbled aloud, briefly glancing at the battle that was steadily drifting away from them.

The further away the battle went, the less she could see in the rain-soaked darkness. Still, as powerful a Shinobi as she was, she could still perceive a lot of it. As wounds accumulated on the young man, her face blanched even more than before. Her medical ninjutsu briefly stopped working. The only thought in her mind at this moment was that the young man would also die because he helped her by dragging the enemies away.

Trying to ignore the intrusive thoughts that made her want to throw up, she did her best to focus on healing Shizune. Intermittently, her medical ninjutsu stopped working because of her hemophobia, but she persevered in the end. Even if it was hopeless, she had to try.

Eventually, she could not stop herself from looking at the battle again, but she immediately regretted it. The sight of the young man suffering multiple stab wounds all at once entered her eyes. Her medical ninjutsu stopped working briefly as flashbacks of her fallen loved ones flickered in her mind. As soon as she saw the young man fall unmoving in the mud, she grit her teeth and closed her eyes. She held no hope for him to survive.

Below her, she heard Shizune cough. Clotted blood sputtered from between the girl's lips.

Blinking slowly, Shizune's unfocused eyes looked up at Tsunade, and she weakly said, "Lady Tsunade…"

"Shh. Don't talk now," Tsunade replied while resuming her treatment.

"...Am I dying?" Shizune whispered.

"No. You will be fine," Tsunade anxiously denied.

Shizune closed her eyes. Tears formed in the corners of her eyes as she mustered her strength to say, "I'm going to die, right? I… I don't want to leave you alone…"

Unfortunately, the girl lost consciousness again. Almost as though she had stopped clinging to life, her heartbeat and breathing slowed, nearly halting entirely.

Unable to hold back tears, Tsunade broke. Her breaths heaved. She cried, but still tried to treat the girl in pure desperation. Amidst her desperation, he breath caught in her throat upon feeling a heavy pressure wave over her entire body.

Through teary eyes, Tsunade whipped her head upward and looked at the battle where the pressure came from. She saw glowing silver-white energy that looked completely different from chakra exploding outward from the purple-haired young man who somehow stood up despite his wounds.

"What? What is this?" Tsunade mumbled.

…

...

...…

The five attacking figures stopped in their tracks. They all slouched over as though they had suddenly entered a heavier field of gravity. Silver-white Reiatsu exploded outwards, forcing them to backpedal several steps.

Over the next few seconds, the vortex of energy settled, revealing Jin in the center. In his newly released state, his ethereal white haori covered the entirety of his body like a proper Shihakusho, though the right arm remained cut off. In the place of a sleeve, silver strings like that of a stringed instrument wrapped around the entirety of his arm like the wrappings on a sword handle. Twelve strings floated upward off the back of his shoulder and danced in the air like spider silk swaying in the wind. Near his wrist, the strings extended from his hand and around a bladeless Zanpakuto handle.

The five attackers narrowed their eyes at the bladeless handle. Despite their continuous emotionlessness, the lack of a blade puzzled them. Exchanging nods, they dashed forward to attack Jin again now that the pressure on them had lessened somewhat.

Lowering his gaze, Jin stared at the bladeless handle. Although it lacked flair or intimidation, he instinctively knew how to use Kokūnokoe's basic Shikai abilities at first glance.

Raising his eyes, Jin swung the sword handle diagonally just as he normally would. Above his shoulder, one of the strings vibrated soundlessly.

The next moment, blood spurted from all five armored figures in a diagonal line. Each of the figures widened their eyes slightly. The chest of the one furthest to Jin's left split open, spewing blood outward directly from his heart. Tendrils snaked out and attempted to stitch the wound. The invisible line sliced over, cutting through the right arm, abdomen, and left hand of the next person. The final three all fell to the ground, their legs completely sliced through along a descending line.

"...So, this is your first song," Jin mumbled to his sword.

The strings wrapped around his arm vibrated silently in response.

Black tendrils snaked out from the enemies' wounds to patch them back together like that of a Frankenstein monster. Aside from the one with long brown hair, the faces of the others warped as tendrils snaked under their skin like wriggling worms. The tendrils broke outward, quickly breaking, morphing, and reshaping their bodies. Within a second or two, they completely changed into monsters similar to what Jin encountered during the first mission with Jellal, albeit on a smaller scale.

All four black monsters charged at Jin without caring for their lives. In contrast, the brown-haired man fled into the distance.

Jin glanced at the fleeing man, but quickly focused on the four monsters. Without moving from his stance, he swung his Zanpakuto again, but in a downward arc this time.

"If you are going to sing, then how about a four-part harmony?" Jin muttered, his words echoing outward. Four of the strings covering his arm trembled in response.

This time, the four monsters split evenly down the middle. The cuts shot outward, tearing through the mud and trees behind them into the distance.

After splitting apart, the bodies of the monsters gurgled. The tendrils shot between the wounds to splice the monsters together again. At the same time, more tendrils shot toward Jin.

Channeling more energy into Kokūnokoe, Jin pointed the end of the handle directly at the enemies and mumbled, "Hmm… a more destructive one, then…".

Responding to Jin's words, the thickest of the strings vibrated wildly. Along with it, a resonating wave glowing with white Reiatsu exploded outwards, yet it made no sound until slamming into the enemies. The rumbling waves hammered against the bodies of the humanoid monsters over and over. Wave after wave pummeled the monsters to the point of turning them into paste.

At that point, Jin tiredly lowered his Zanpakuto. He watched the black paste wriggle in a last-ditch effort before slowly melting away under the rain.

Exhausted by the battle, Jin sighed and sealed his Shikai back into its unreleased state. His semi-translucent white Shihakusho faded back into a haori, and the strings reformed into a normal blade. Finally, he released his Shinigami powers altogether. His wounds started bleeding again, and he willingly fell backward into the mud.

"...Guess that's over for now, then," Jin grumbled.