The Kegare now all stood.

  Bloodied. Beaten. But still standing.

  The explosion should’ve erased half the Chūkan. It would’ve—if not for the Jumōnban’s finest.

  But now, the price was clear.

  Koharu and Ayase y broken. Motionless. Tamashkii spent. Even their breathing was shallow, bored.

  YuYu spat out blood. Wiped his mouth. Then grinned.

  “I don’t know what that was… but you gave us a chance. So thanks, I guess.”

  He nodded toward the crumpled pair.

  “We may be a little bruised—but no time like now to finish the job.”

  Daisuke stepped beside him, limping but steady.

  “You’re right.” He turned to the Shingan. “My lord. If we dispose of them now… we’ll hold the upper hand for the foreseeable future.”

  The Shingan rose, eyes igniting with Tamashkii.

  “Yes. It seems they’ve exhausted everything. Subaru… what you did—” He paused. “It wasn’t the wisest choice. But I commend you for putting the Kegare’s future above all.”

  He raised his Reibaku.

  “Let us end this.”

  It shimmered green.

  “Tenkai no Shingi No.235—Full Healing.”

  The light pulsed across his body, wounds knitting closed with unnatural ease.

  YuYu scratched the back of his head.

  “That’s not fair, boss. You know you’re the only one who can go that high. We haven’t even finished the first two hundred, let alone the forbidden set.”

  The Shingan chuckled.

  “It’s no matter. We have time. I can heal you all individually. And do not be ashamed that you haven’t reached the Forbidden Realm. Not counting myself, only two others have.”

  Uta tilted her head.

  “Two?”

  The Shingan moved to heal her.

  “Well… not two exactly. I count the entire Hayashi household as one. The other is—”

  The air shifted.

  Suddenly.

  Dangerously.

  He turned, eyes widening.

  “No.235—Full—”

  FWOOSH.

  A Reibaku smmed into the ground between him and Uta. No wielder.

  Until—

  “Return.”

  The bde reversed course, flying into a waiting hand.

  The figure stood tall, Shinsei-Gai fluttering behind him.

  Kanji for one etched across the back.

  Masaki Hiroto.

  Captain of the Ichimōnban.

  From above—

  A second voice.

  “Hey now. That was a number over two hundred, wasn’t it?”

  Another figure nded beside Masaki, facing the Kegare.

  Blonde hair. Laid-back grin.

  But his Reibaku was drawn.

  “Did no one tell you? Anything over two hundred’s forbidden. Trust me, I would know.”

  The Shingan’s hand clenched tight.

  “…Haruka Kobayashi.”

  The man who got rid of the st Shingan.

  The Shingan held back his rage. “Brave of you to appear before me. You’ve lost all resonation have you not?”

  “What can a man of your power possibly hope to do to me?”

  Haruka smirked. “Wow. I didn’t expect to be famous enough for the Shingan to know me. I’m fttered.”

  The smirk shifted—calm to cold.

  “Yes. You’re right. I’ve lost all resonance.”

  “But who ever said resonance was everything?”

  Masaki raised an eyebrow. The unspoken “every captain ever” hung between them—but he said nothing.

  The Shingan stepped forward.

  Closer.

  “Crushing you… has always been a personal goal.”

  “You could say it’s revenge. Or to further my cause. Or to punish the Chūkan.”

  He inhaled. Eyes dark.

  “But the truth is simpler.”

  “I just want you gone.”

  Haruka paused.

  Then smiled again.

  “You’re dramatic as hell.”

  And then—

  He vanished.

  To any outsider, it would’ve looked like he never moved at all.

  But to the Shingan—

  The world became motion.

  YuYu hit the ground.

  Daisuke hit the wall.

  Toshiro colpsed.

  Subaru staggered, clutching his ribs.

  Haruka reappeared where he’d started, looking over his shoulder.

  “You were saying…?”

  The Shingan didn’t hesitate.

  They vanished.

  Tamashkii fred.

  Their csh rattled the very fabric of the Chūkan.

  Masaki took that moment—rushing to Koharu and Ayase, lifting both carefully, sprinting through ruined corridors to a nearby chamber.

  He id them down gently.

  But Koharu’s hand shot up—grabbing his sleeve.

  “…Don’t let Haruka die out there.”

  Her voice was faint. But her eyes were fierce.

  Masaki nodded.

  “I won’t.”

  He turned back toward the csh.

  The Shingan and Haruka were mid-air now. Bde against bde. One fring with crimson rage, the other glowing with practiced grace.

  The Shingan shouted mid-swing:

  “A man with no resonance shouldn’t even be able to withstand my pressure!”

  “You’ve lied to the Elders, haven’t you!?”

  Haruka blocked the next strike with one hand—and ughed.

  “You think too highly of yourself.”

  He twisted.

  Dodged.

  “I really do have zero resonance right now.”

  Then he leaned forward.

  “You’re just that much weaker than the st Shingan ever was.”

  That did it.

  The Shingan’s aura exploded.

  A red storm of rage.

  The ground beneath him cracked, reality bending around Tsuyome as it fred like it had a will of its own.

  “ENOUGH!”

  He roared.

  And then—

  He lunged.

  And Haruka…

  Lost ground.

  For the first time.

  The strikes rained down fast, brutal, relentless.

  Haruka deflected most—but not all.

  His knee dipped.

  His breathing sharpened.

  The Shingan raised his bde high.

  “It ends here.”

  But before he could swing—

  Haruka spoke.

  His voice low.

  Sharp.

  “…Do you truly believe your predecessor is dead?”

  The Shingan froze.

  Eyes wide.

  Haruka’s gaze didn’t falter.

  “I spoke to him just the other day.”

  “And he told me…”

  He stepped forward.

  “To put an end to you.”

  That pause—

  That sliver of silence—

  Was all Masaki needed.

  “Resonance Pulse.”

  His hand smmed into the Shingan’s ribs.

  BOOM.

  Tamashkii bst fred point-bnk.

  The Shingan flew backward, tumbling across broken stone.

  He dug Tsuyome into the ground to stop himself.

  His cloak tattered. His gre burning.

  But he didn’t rise.

  Because now—

  They were all here.

  The Third Gate’s Captain stood atop the southern ridge.

  The Fifth Gate’s Captain—Kusanagi—approached from the east, elites at his side.

  The Seventh Gate. The Eighth Gate.

  All assembled.

  All armed.

  The Shingan looked around.

  The Death Phantoms were downed. Wounded. Weak.

  Even he knew—

  This wasn’t a fight he could win.

  He gritted his teeth.

  “Tch…”

  He pulled Tsuyome from the dirt then smmed it back down with a yell.

  “Void Colpse!”

  A dark vortex formed.

  Tamashkii fred.

  All the captains stepped back—but it was too te.

  “IMPLODE.”

  BOOM.

  The entire battlefield split.

  The ground exploded.

  Walls shattered.

  Dust swallowed the Chūkan.

  And when the smoke cleared—

  The Chūkan Captains were gone.

  The Kegare were gone.

  Vanished into the mist.

  Only the scars remained.

  CUT TO BLACK.