Though spitting blood, Unohana Yachiru's voice remained bold and fearless, unconcerned with the imminent death.
"You can't erase what you don't have!"
With this roar, the Inch Steel gripping Unohana Yachiru's limb approached Louise.
The mech's blade, over three meters long, slammed down.
However, a faint smile appeared on Louise's calm face.
"I can."
Unohana Yachiru's expression seemed to freeze.
Louise raised her left hand, blocking the blade's path.
"Ding."
Though they didn't touch,
Unohana Yachiru heard a crisp metallic clang in his ear.
His vision was gone, so he couldn't see what was happening before him.
The blade, aimed at Louise's head, swung through the air with a fierce wind.
The part of the blade that Louise's hand blocked vanished as if it had never existed, easily slicing through the air.
After the swing, the blade in the Inch Steel's hand was reduced to half its length.
Unohana Yachiru was stunned for a moment but quickly reacted, roaring as he raised his arm. The mech behind him followed his movement.
The sturdy arm extended the remaining half of the blade, continuing to swing towards Louise without hesitation.
Each swing, though the slightest ripple, carved giant grooves dozens to hundreds of meters long into the ground behind Louise. The heavy blade, accompanied by flames, unleashed a power that shook the heavens and earth.
However, Ayasegawa Hachiman, witnessing everything behind Unohana Yachiru, felt increasingly desperate.
Every strike from Captain Unohana landed in empty air.
Not that he missed.
Louise had stood in the same spot from the beginning, not moving an inch, merely extending her left hand.
Yet, the blade Unohana Yachiru swung wildly shortened with each strike, dissipating entirely during the swings.
Until the end, only the hilt remained in his hand.
"Still struggling?"
Louise's voice was soft, like a dandelion floating in the wind.
In the end, the Inch Steel's fist slammed into the empty air near Louise.
A heavy thud echoed.
Louise's right hand gently pressed against his fist, effortlessly blocking it, calm and composed.
"Your spirit and stamina are at their limits."
"Until now, you still refuse to accept your fate?"
The woman asked gently, then retracted her hand, placing her fingertips on her chest and pressing lightly.
"Ugh—"
Her heart was erased.
Unohana Yachiru's face turned pale.
His body, lacking pumping blood, stiffened at an incredible speed.
Yet, this wild bear-like man still smiled.
He struggled to extend his limp arm, grabbing Louise's slender arm, his breath ragged like a broken bellows, uttering his final words:
"A hero must be bold!"
"How can I admit defeat?"
"Do you even understand?"
"Moreover..."
As Unohana Yachiru grabbed her arm, a difficult smile appeared on his face.
—Any power beyond your ability's limit, even your 'rules,' cannot erase it!
Unohana Yachiru wasn't foolish enough to forget his own words.
"Hmm?"
Seemingly noticing his expression,
Louise frowned slightly, looking at her grabbed arm.
Unohana Yachiru could no longer see, and he turned his head with effort, his empty gaze directed towards Ayasegawa's Reishi.
"Hey!"
A bright smile appeared on his furry face.
A hero must be bold, legs must not tremble!
Ayasegawa Hachiman, seeing Unohana's smile, was stunned.
The next moment,
The surface of the Inch Steel mech suddenly erupted with crimson and dark red cracks, glowing with strange light, like streams flowing through mountains, continuously extending, surging, and leaping.
Like a beating heart.
Unohana Yachiru's forehead bulged with veins, his grip on Louise's arm tightening, his smile widening into a grimace.
"Be buried with me."
"Remember!"
"My name is Unohana Yachiru!"
Louise merely watched him silently.
"Ding."
In the end, the Inch Steel suddenly shrank into an infinitesimal point.
All the Reishi composing the Bankai was compressed to the extreme, beyond what even the Soul Society could contain.
It all turned into molten black.
Then,
It exploded!
In the distant glow, Ayasegawa Hachiman lost all his senses in an instant.
In that moment,
Brilliant lights filled the sky, as if a thousand suns had risen.
The violently expanding surge spread in all directions, tearing through the atmosphere, piercing the thick clouds, the swelling light covering a hundred meters, the ground trembling incessantly.
The intense heat and energy concentrated at a single point, completely engulfing everything before them.
The surging crimson Reishi spread over dozens of kilometers.
It was the light born from the hardest substance and the greatest courage in the world.
A battle song praised by heaven and earth, until death!
Ayasegawa Hachiman stood in place, stunned by the scene before him, his gaze fixed.
In the end, he knelt to the ground.
"Unohana..."
"Captain."
However, before he could grieve,
The smoke-covered ground was suddenly erased, leaving a clear void.
The pure white woman stood silently, her expression unchanged.
Louise's moon-like porcelain eyes seemed to ripple slightly at Unohana Yachiru's death, a hint of confusion appearing as she looked at the endless blackened pit before her.
"I said it was useless..."
"Such a stubborn person."
As her voice faded, she stepped out of the blackened pit, her feet treading on the still-hot soil, as if untouched.
Ignoring Ayasegawa kneeling on the ground, she walked past him.