Chapter 126: Thunderclouds

"Heh... the Skull Emperor, is it?"

Looking at the previous 'god' before him—a figure of nothing but bone, devoid of even a scrap of flesh, wearing a crown—Chojiro felt a sudden surge of complex emotions.

Once the supreme existence in Hueco Mundo, Barragan had countless submissives groveling at his feet. To reach that height, he had trampled an untold number of dissenters into the dust. Yet now, though the golden crown still rested upon his brow, it had long since lost its former nobility. Even this super-powerful being, who once dominated a corner of Hueco Mundo, was now reduced to meekly following another's orders just to survive.

"Aizen, you really are something..."

From the bottom of his heart, Chojiro admired the Shinigami, Sosuke Aizen. Possessing peerless talent and formidable strength, he was a man who stood above all in intellect. He held the entire Soul Society in the palm of his hand, held the rules of the world in total contempt, and even harbored the delusion of creating a brand-new world with his own two hands.

Whether he was righteous or an arch-villain, Sosuke Aizen's very existence was a height that others could only look up to—and Chojiro was no exception.

"Die."

However, Barragan would not grant Chojiro the time for such reflections. The white skull opened its jaw, spewing forth a torrent of black substance.

"Respira!"

The black matter spread rapidly through the air, corroding everything it touched. Neither living creature nor structure was spared; nothing remained.

"Waaaah!"

Seeing the black substance spreading in all directions, Starrk hurriedly dragged Lilynette backward. Though his footwork appeared chaotic, each step was perfectly timed to evade Barragan's deathly breath.

Harribel and her three Fracciones had made the wise decision to retreat the moment Barragan released his power; as the No. 3, she lacked the strength to confront Barragan's ability head-on.

"Your... Majesty!!"

Gio Vega, caught off guard with his back to Barragan, was engulfed by the black substance before he could react. On the other side, Soi Fon had reacted quickly, using Shunpo to escape the deathly breath, though the look of horror on her face remained undiminished—it was, after all, the first time she had witnessed such an ability.

Barragan showed no reaction to the annihilation of his last remaining Fraccion. Such low-level existences could simply be replaced from Hueco Mundo; his only desire now was to utterly destroy the Vice-Captain before him.

"Well done!"

Facing the overwhelming wave of death, Chojiro shouted with excitement. He raised his rapier high, a thin bolt of lightning coiling around the tip of the blade before arcing toward the sky.

"Bankai!"

"BOOM!"

A deafening thunderclap erupted from the point in the sky struck by the lightning. From that epicenter, black clouds began to spread, covering the entire visible horizon in the blink of an eye.

Barragan froze. He had never seen such massive storm clouds—or rather, clouds that could shroud such a vast area in a single instant.

"What... is this?"

"Unbelievable..."

Starrk and Harribel were not merely stunned by the weather; standing on the sidelines, they could clearly sense a massive Reiatsu emanating from the sky, a pressure so great it made even them tremble involuntarily.

"Koko Gonryo Rikyu!"

The black breath of death began to dissipate as it lost Barragan's control. In contrast, the storm clouds in the sky roared like an enraged deity, unleashing a thunderous sound that forced everyone to cover their ears.

"BOOM!!!"

"Wow, wow... it's been a long time since I've seen this display."

Standing behind Chojiro, Kyoraku slightly lifted his straw hat, revealing one eye. How long had it been? Since the last time he had seen him use such a magnificent Bankai...

"Sasakibe-sensei..."

Ukitake was more concerned for Chojiro, as his Bankai had been strictly forbidden by both Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto and Retsu Unohana. Seeing such a large-scale Bankai, Ukitake worried whether Chojiro’s body, out of practice for so long, could withstand the strain.

"This is..."

"To think it's this powerful..."

Soi Fon, Hitsugaya, and the others wore expressions of pure astonishment. It was their first time witnessing Chojiro’s Bankai at this magnitude. Compared to the time he had used it in the Soul Society, this was more than ten times larger. For the first time, everyone realized that the strength of this man, who had served as a Vice-Captain for a millennium, was truly bottomless.

Yamamoto, leaning on his cane, opened his tightly shut eyes, gazing at the back that had walked beside him for so long.

*So, you have finally decided to use it.*

*The Bankai that once made even Yamamoto himself sigh in awe.*

"Very well, let us begin. Your opponent..."

"...is this entire sky."

Lifting his gaze to the endless black clouds overhead, he saw further than usual from this altitude, and the perspective brought a different understanding.

Barragan was silent. It was the first time he had been in such a state before an enemy.

"Hmph, tedious..."

After a brief silence, Barragan finally spoke his mind.

"What of it? What does it matter if you have a Bankai? What does it matter if you have lightning? Before my power, all things are as insignificant as ants, and you are no exception."

Extending a white finger, Barragan glared at Chojiro with utter disdain. So what if your Reiatsu is strong? As long as it is not eternal, it is nothing to fear before his power.

"Die."

He spat out another massive wave of black death, intending to destroy Chojiro along with his Bankai.

"BOOM!"

Just as the breath of death began to spread, a massive bolt of lightning slammed down from the sky, forcibly altering its trajectory and halting the black decay a dozen meters away from Chojiro.

"You blocked it..."

His own power had been intercepted—a sight Barragan had never witnessed. In his hundreds of years of memory, no one who had touched that substance had ever survived.

"Lightning is a discharge phenomenon caused by the collision of ice particles within cumulonimbus clouds."

Unknown to many, Chojiro stood on high like a god of thunder, looking down at Barragan’s diminutive form, the corner of his mouth curling upward.

"Pardon me, but your ability is now useless."