Before Tōshirō could react, Silas had pivoted, using a gentle flick of his wrist to destroy the wings off the young captain's back. With a widened look, his spiritual pressure then shot Tōshirō several yards away from him, shattering what was left of his Bankai.
"Tell me that's not the best you two can do," Silas spoke, his gaze seeming to pierce them both.
Retsu and Tōshirō, their initial arrogance as captains chipped away, now understood. There was no fighting Silas—there was only surviving his lesson.
The battle raged across the grasslands, a relentless brawl of ice and steel. After only a couple more rounds, Tōshirō had been defeated. Silas hadn't even needed to lift his Zangetsu yet!
Retsu felt the shift within her. Her eyes, usually tranquil pools, hardened. A predatory grin—something Silas knew all too well—spread across her lips. It was a transformation that only a select few had ever witnessed.
This was no longer Retsu the motherly healer, or even Retsu the feared captain. This was the first Kenpachi, Yachiru Unohana. The thrill of the battle awakened her blood-soaked instincts. She had returned to who she truly was after centuries of restraint and self-imposed duty.
"It's been a long time," she purred, the gentleness entirely gone from her voice. "Since I've felt this again." The anticipation sang in her voice, the thrill of combat overriding even her usual calculated approach. "Bankai… Minazuki!"
After cutting her palm with her blade, a thick, viscous, blood-like substance washed over the battlefield.
Silas, still unnaturally composed, sidestepped a vicious long-range slash of the substance. Following his evasion, five more slashes were hurled in his direction. For the first time, he was forced to use Zangetsu.
The attacks all collided against his blade, splattering into red goo. Yachiru, knowing he would do this, slid right behind him, her eyes wishing to devour him.
'She's gotten faster,' he thought, watching her slow movements.
The two clashed for several rounds, with Silas purposefully letting himself be pushed back. Every collision, every breath she heaved—he understood what made her Bankai tick.
No longer impressed, he caught her weapon by its blade and stabbed her in the chest. In and out, so quick that she couldn't even see the attack.
Yachiru's eyes widened as she stumbled back, barely able to compose herself. Blood dripped from her wound. The place she had been struck was the same scar Zaraki had given her over one thousand years ago.
The thought she let something like that happen pained her. But what was shocking was that she couldn't heal the wound! Stunned, she darted toward Silas, only to see him kneeling on one knee to touch the substance.
The moment he made contact, spirit particles formed everywhere in the blood-like liquid. They blinked on and off until Yachiru finally understood what he was doing. "Stop!" she screamed.
In the blink of an eye, both her sword and the liquid all shattered into glass. Her Bankai had been broken!
A strong silence filled the battlefield. Silas slowly stood, knowing exactly what he had done.
When a person's Bankai was broken, the owner could never use it again. And there were only a select few methods to fix the issue. None of which involved repairing the weapon.
"I wonder what you'll do now, Yachiru Unohana…"
Yachiru paused, her sword reverting back into a mere katana. The last bit of her blood on the blade dripped to the grass. It was over. There was nothing she could do.
Then it hit her. A question screamed in her mind—how did he know her real name?!
It wasn't just that. He even knew the complicated nature of her Zanpakutō. Both its Shikai and Bankai. The former was understandable, but to have understood how to counter its Bankai was unprecedented.
Hardly anyone knew of its abilities, let alone ever seen it live to tell the tale.
"So," Yachiru murmured, intrigued despite the circumstances, "Is your plan to kill me without revealing who you are?"
Silas retracted Zangetsu, the tense silence stretching for a few long moments. Yachiru could feel the tension rising, so she tried not to let her instincts get the better of her.
"My name is unimportant to the likes of you," he answered. "Rather, I'd like you to do something for me."
"Ha!" she laughed aloud. "What makes you think I'll listen after you attacked my comrade and our squadron?"
"Don't you want your Zanpakutō restored?"
Yachiru took a quick glance at her weapon. There was no method she knew of that could restore it. From the moment it broke, she believed she would have to get a new one—assuming Silas wouldn't kill her.
"Give me one month, and it'll be as good as new," he said.
Of course, she didn't believe him. But there was something else on her mind, and that was how Silas managed to break her Bankai in the first place.
Knowing she would ask, he explained.
While impressive as both her Bankai and its abilities were, its powers lied within the blood-like liquid. This liquid not only looked like blood; it had all the four components blood was made out of: plasma, red and white blood cells, and platelets.
When Silas understood that, he used his own toxic spiritual pressure to poison the liquid and attack the Bankai at its core. The concept was no different than sending a powerful enough virus into the bloodstream that antibodies couldn't defend against.
Yachiru's eyes narrowed. Of course. Her Bankai, a reflection of her own being, held both destructive and regenerative potential. While in its transformed state, it was left vulnerable to attack. Few could have seen that weakness, and none but Silas would have the speed, power, and audacity to exploit it.
From the beginning, she had no chance of winning.
Silas casually walked up to her, stopping by her side. She hadn't moved or said a word.
What could she do against someone who had the power to destroy Bankais?
"When we should meet again, you'll find me in the laboratory," he calmly said. "There, you can try to ask how I have the power to restore broken Zanpakutō."
Before she turned around, Silas swiftly chopped her neck, knocking her unconscious.