Chaos and Order - A Multiverse Fanfic

Shinobu appeared near Kai, her breath misting in the rain.

Kai sighed. He pushed himself to his feet, eyed the transformed Insect Hashira, and couldn't help but shake his head.

The Book had been shuddering in these Characters' presence all this while.

If it weren't for his plans and the already decided Characters, whose tales he must devour, he would've considered devouring these Hashiras' tales. But the spots in the books were limited, and he must use it to its fullest extent.

It wasn't like there weren't other ways to bring them to his side, Kai knew.

The prospects of obtaining the Multiverse Id of this Random World did cheer him up, giving him hope to have access to these abnormal Characters in the future.

Nonetheless, these thoughts and reasonings couldn't prevent him from feeling useless.

"Don't feel down," Shinobu said, smiling at Kai. "One day you too can reach this level. I know you can, and I have all the faith in you. Even among Hashiras, your potential is top-notch."

Kai smiled ruefully at her, knowing well that she was indirectly pointing at his stubbornness to create his own Breathing Style.

"My plan did work, though," he told her meekly. "We killed an Upper Rank Demon before he could..."

Kai and Shinobu had already discussed the possibility of facing an Upper Rank Demon.

Going against the Insect Hashira's thoughts, Kai had planned to let the supposed Upper Rank Demon think it had a full grasp of the situation by beating the shit out of himself.

These demons were overconfident to the core, anyway.

So, Kai knew that the moment an Upper Rank Demon was to see that both he and Shinobu were losing, it would implore the Insect Hashira to use her Bankai, without knowing her abilities.

The chances of this course of events happening were low, but not low enough for Kai to discard them.

And Shinobu was too smart and decisive to let go of such a chance.

The results were obvious.

Shinobu shook her head. "You are too much," she reprimanded, but her tone lacked sharpness. "How are your…"

…

Boom!

It was at this moment something happened that shocked the living breath out of the two.

A dense, heart-palpating burst of Reiatsu covered them, rooting them to their places.

The surrounding rain flailed like a banner, and even the thunder lost its voice.

Kai and Shinobu, gritting their teeth, turned their heads towards the headless corpse of the demon.

With a backflip, Akaza's corpse stood up and crouched, taking a martial pose with one hand at his waist and the other facing Insect Hashira with an open palm.

How could this be?! How was this possible?!!

What willpower was this, keeping the demon alive even after losing his head?!!

And then something happened that both Kai and Shinobu had been dreading since the beginning.

Something that ruined their already successful plan.

Akaza's open palm became a fist, and he punched.

Not at Shinobu, but at himself!

No! They must not let him continue. They would definitely die.

"Shinobu!" Kai shouted. But the Insect Hashira had already vanished.

Akaza's fist entered his stomach, penetrating it through and through. Shinobu appeared in front of him, her stinger almost touching the butterfly tattoo on his chest.

Another, louder boom!

A tremendous burst of Reiatsu, accompanying an ethereal blue-colored shockwave, threw her back and pinned her down to the ground.

Akaza pulled back his fist.

And Kai's heart sank, for that hole wasn't regenerating.

A blue pillar of Reiatsu shot up towards the sky with the demon at the center, and from that pillar came a roar, shaking the living and dead alike.

The blue pillar of suffocating Reiatsu vanished, and the creature walked out of it with a majesty about its gait.

Akaza's head had grown back and now thin bone armor covered his head with two eye holes, behind which his eyes glowed blue and dark.

The same bone armor had also covered his chest, his shoulders, and his knees.

On his hands, there were gauntlets made of bones, too, and the part of the gauntlet over his knuckles had thorny protrusions.

Yet, it was the hole in his stomach that stood out the most.

Shinobu had told nothing more about this power to Kai, anyway.

According to her, it was the demons' way of copying the effects of Bankai, as they didn't have Sword Spirit.

The only thing she had told him with certainty was that only the Upper Rank Demons could use it. And unlike the Hashiras, the mastery and power of this process increased exponentially with every rise of rank in the demon.

"You are strong, Hashira!" Akaza's voice thundered around them. "Join me. Become a demon and live for eternity. Fight for eternity. Go beyond your limits. Everything else is nothing but waste."

Shinobu pushed herself to her feet. "Never."

One word was enough to show her resolve. And the demon seemed to have sensed it as well.

Akaza said nothing and took a martial pose. His knees bent as he put one hand on his waist and outstretched the other, his palm open.

With his bone-armored figure as the center, a grand blue-colored Reiatsu burst outwards, engulfing both Kai and Shinobu instantly.

On the weather-beaten ground underneath, covered with snow and broken twigs and sodden leaves, a gigantic image of a blue snowflake appeared.

This snowflake image was rippling rhythmically, and it had already covered hundreds of meters of area, with Akaza as the center.

Suddenly, ethereal blue vapors started to rise from the blue snowflake, ignoring the might of the rain, hail, and the tempest that was wreaking havoc around them.

Looking at the doom in the eyes, Kai remembered his conversation with Shinobu days ago.

Did you say Bankai's strength is over 5 times greater than Shikai's?! Kai had asked. Then why are the demons still alive?!! They don't have the Nichirin Swords necessary to awaken their Spiritual Bodies, right?

It was then Kai had noticed a trace of fear in her eyes; fear that he had become too sensitive to given his mastery over emotions, especially with his Fear Absorption Ability.

Even the very nature of this fear had failed to escape Kai's scrutiny.

Helplessness. Yes. The fear Kai had perceived within Shinobu had been oozing helplessness.

It was then Shinobu's next words had made Kai almost spit out the tea in his mouth.

You are right, Shinobu had nodded after letting out a sigh. Her smooth fingers had clenched the cup tight, recalling something unpleasant. They neither have the Shikai nor Bankai. But… but… they have…

"Marvel at my power, Hashira!" Akaza roared, laughing. "Technique Development —

Kai's grip over his blades tightened as the screeching sound bombarded his ears.

"… Resurrección Dimension!!!"

Sensing a chill running down her spine, Shinobu popped out of existence.

The entire area around Kai and Akaza, and even the space above them, got covered in purple zig-zag blurs.

The sheer speed of this move was so grand that it could shatter well-built structures.

Insect Breathing - Dance of the Centipede…

Air howled and cicadas cried, as the fastest Hashira showcased her fastest move.

… Hundred-Legged Zigzag!

Even Akaza looked confusedly at the scene, his head bobbing here and there, trying to follow Shinobu's movement.

She appeared just above his head, her legs towards the sky, and the tip of her stinger almost kissing the bone helmet on Akaza's head.

It didn't seem like the demon could evade this sting.

It was then that Akaza vanished and reappeared in the air with the same pose as before, but now his palm was almost touching Shinobu's waist.

Oh, no! Kai's heart sank. He didn't know how, but he could tell that this wasn't speed.

Only a Contestant like him could tell the difference.

They could almost feel it.

It was —

Teleportation!

**************

— Resurrección - Yes, the one from Bleach

— How Akaza survived even after losing his head? — Willpower. [The same had happened in Manga, so I am using the said plot]

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