A Meaningless Attempt

"Venerate, Kuten Kyōkoku," Tokinada murmured, his cynical laugh echoing across the mansion.

Despite my warning, he'd gone against my wishes, effectively wasting my time. Killing him outright would be far more troublesome now.

'I should've taken the chance when I first saw him…'

I needed to change, otherwise I wasn't going to fulfil anything I'd worked towards. Wishful thinking was only going to get me so far. I needed to push myself if I wanted to go home, even if it meant pushing myself into danger.

"Fine, have it your way, Tokinada." I hissed, slamming through the wall of the mansion with Takeko and Seinosuke as I dashed away.

Glancing back, a green trail of mist was following in suit, Tokinada's cynical laugh creeping into the distance as he prowled behind.

With Sonido, I whisked myself away to an empty building, placing the two Soul-Reapers down before Tokinada could catch up. Leaving them outside my area of effect was probably for the best. I didn't want unnecessary casualties.

I reappeared in the Tsunayashiro courtyard a moment later, glancing up at Tokinada , who was leaning against the large fountain. "I hadn't taken you for a runner. Even a hollow has some honor."

"I thought I asked you to release the Zanpakutō."

"Are you not pleased," he asked, squinting at me with a sadistic smile.

His sword—the partially released state at least, had taken on another form. While it appeared like any normal Zanpakutō, the blade was now reflective, its surface that of a mirror, light bouncing off and onto Tokinada's vile expression.

"For someone of your stature to be aware of this sword's true power. Quite strange," he sighed. "The more the merrier, Arrancar. Stomping on worthless, disgusting creatures is something I take great pride in. Consider yourself fortunate."

"You're sick!" I shouted, firing a Cero at him. I'd done so out of anger, not realizing my mistake.

The cero shot forward, immediately reflected by Tokinada's Zanpakutō, now hurling back at me. Neither the speed, strength, or abundance of reiatsu had increased. This cheap trick was quite literally a complete reflection, redirecting any attack.

Moving to my left, the cero shot through and erupted along the high-wall of the Tsunayashiro Estate, splitting it in two.

"You're not afraid of destroying such a fine mansion, are you?" I asked.

Tokinada scoffed, "slaughtering the members of the Tsunayashiro Clan has been on my mind for quite some time. You've done nothing noteworthy."

"You know I have to kill you, right? You should've just answered truthfully." As much as I despised this person, I didn't want to kill them. I didn't want to kill anyone, but for the sake of moving forward, it was necessary.

"Hadō Number 58: Tenran," Tokinada chuckled, his Zanpakutō spinning around in front of him as he amassed spiritual pressure. Shortly after, he snatched the hilt from its rotation, releasing a tornado that'd formed from the spinning motion of the sword, now ravaging through the ground below as it made its way towards me.

"Cero!"

I fired another cero at him, but the whirl of raging wind tore through and absorbed it, spitting it back out towards me. The blast hit me head on, my clothes burning at their edges as the smoke settled.

Nothing I could do would work against him. Bluffing clearly hadn't been very wise earlier on, but it was all I could do to avoid unnecessary trouble.

"I really should have just taken that off you the moment I saw you," I hissed. "Give me Enrakyōten, Tokinada."

Tokinada furrowed his brow, "you're quite obnoxious, Arrancar."

"Fine. Have it your way," I sneered. "Rise, Lluvia Olvidada."

My spiritual pressure dispersed across the Seireitei, rain immediately pouring down as my Zanpakutō shattered into thousands of small pieces. Each fragment scattered across the sky as they formed into clouds. Soon, each cloud merged, now forming one enormous one covering the entirety of the Seireitei.

A storm began brewing above, the dark clouds mixing in with the lilac-atmosphere, casting down an ethereal ambience across the land.

"An impressive performance, I must say. However, your meagre powers amount to nothing."

"Amp," I said under my breath. As I lifted my hand, lightning spat out at different intervals, striking down onto my arm along with the constant rainfall.

Much like before, my body absorbed the lighting, a burning sensation pulsating through as it infused into my blood. Moments later, my veins were a glowing blue.

"Cañón de riel," I jeered, kicking up a rock from the rubble and volleying it towards Tokinada. It howled through the air, a thunderous roar following the rubble as it blasted through the air, breaking the sound barrier.

Tokinada raised his hand, "Daichi Ten'yō."

Nothing happened. There was no flash of light or large explosion. The rain continued to fall. All that remained was the roar of my lightning in the distance, striking down at random across the Seireitei.

"I commend you for trying," he sighed. "Finding meaning in life is a rather difficult task—especially for the useless ones like you. To be able to face someone in battle, even despite your glaring weaknesses. That is meaning."

The rock I'd shot at him dropped to the floor, now a charred from lightning. He'd stopped it with one finger, an incantation-less kidō had stopped my attack so easily.

Tokinada wore a devilish grin. He hadn't struggled a moment in this fight. It'd all been one-sided. I was the one making threats, and yet here I was, groveling beneath him.

Glancing around, the area was empty. There were large, powerful spiritual pressures nearing us, but they were still relatively far away. The Aristocratic District was empty, not a sound escaping its opulent atmosphere. We were alone.

This man. Of all the people to counter my resurrección, it was him. He hadn't even tried.

"Kuten Kyōkoku is the perfect counter to my resurrección. What a poorly timed joke," I laughed to myself, my eyes downcast.

'Lightning never strikes the same place twice', a rather simple concept. My resurrección was bound by such a rule, unfortunately. Using the same attack twice on a specific area was impossible. For someone who could deflect attacks—someone who had no need to move, such an ability was no threat. My resurrección was meaningless against Tsunayashiro Tokinada.

"I'll deal with the repercussions after… I need that Zanpakutō."

"If you've decided to grovel, might I ask you to do it a little closer to me? I'd rather not waste any energy walking over to crush you," he said with a contorted smile.

"Aluvión de Saturación," I said under my breath, whisking back towards Seinosuke and Takeko.

This attack was powerful before, but now that I'd trained and increased my spiritual pressure output, it was something else entirely. The reishi that'd been absorbing this entire time coalesced in one spot, forming a long chain of lightning across the Seireitei, situated just below my cloud.

"Trueno Rodante," I whispered, releasing the first attack.

A wave of lightning released somewhere above the Aristocratic District, lightning spewing out of the cloud in random patterns, each absorbed back up into the cloud and launched back out a moment later. This carried on until it met its mark: Tsunayashiro Tokinada.

Being able to deflect a bolt of lightning was natural to someone like him, but what about thousands?

With Seinosuke and Takeko slumped over my shoulders, I weaved my way through the lightning barrage with Sonido. This attack would prolong until I decided otherwise, essentially arming me with an infinite supply of lightning strikes.

No matter how powerful Kuten Kyōkoku and its reflection was, Tokinada couldn't reflect an infinite amount of lightning.

Still making my way through the lightning, a sudden flash of light obstructed my vision, its force knocking me to the ground.

"Bakudō Number 62: Hyapporankan," Tokinada's said, his voice slithering into my ears.

I couldn't see anything, but with Pesquisa, I could sense the reishi in my surroundings. Glancing up, a rod-like reishi construct was hurling towards me, with a hundred or so behind it following suit as it split.

"You didn't think a paltry attack like that could force my hand, did you?"