Chapter 69: Yamabuki Haruto VS Baraggan

Baraggan watched Yamabuki Haruto twist through bizarre warm-up exercises, his skeletal face twitching—if he had muscles to twitch.

“Brat, mocking me?” Baraggan raised his massive axe, swinging it down with wind-shearing force.

Haruto dodged with Shunpo, trash-talking as he moved. “Baraggan, you garbage! Won’t even let me warm up? You’re a joke—no flesh, no fun, can’t even enjoy a woman on each arm! Dye that crown green!”

Baraggan’s eye sockets flared red. Once I catch him, I’ll rip that mouth off. How could anyone be so infuriating?

Sasakibe Chōjirō whispered to Kazenami Haru, “I never knew Brother Yamabuki was this annoying. Makes me want to smack him.”

Haru nodded. “Same.”

Haruto’s blade flashed behind Baraggan, slashing at his neck. The Skeleton Emperor didn’t turn, backswinging his axe. The clash felt like hitting a mountain—Haruto flew back, tumbling mid-air before stabilizing. He looked up; Baraggan had vanished.

“Brat, where are you looking?” Baraggan’s voice echoed from behind. Haruto spun, but the axe was already descending. Too late for Shunpo. Space rippled around him as he flashed away—Sonido.

Baraggan startled. “You’re no Shinigami! How do you use a Hollow’s Sonido?”

Haruto, heart pounding from the near-miss, grinned. He’d mimicked Sonido after seeing Hollows use it—and succeeded. Not just Sonido… He condensed Hueco Mundo’s reishi into a massive Reiryoku Arrow. “Heilig Pfeil (knock-off version).”

The arrow fired like a laser cannon. Baraggan sensed the threat, gripping his axe with both hands and shattering it in one swing. “Hmph. All show, no power.” But he looked up—five identical arrows hovered above.

Damn! The arrows bombarded him. Baraggan swung wildly, blocked but unable to advance. Hueco Mundo’s dense reishi favored Haruto’s control; consumption was minimal, his reserves endless.

“These your tricks?” Baraggan roared, frustrated. Wasting time on this brat eroded his authority. “Cero!”

Black reiatsu, laced with decay, gathered in his palm. Haruto tensed—Gran Rey Cero, Baraggan’s black variant. The beam tore the sky, shattering the arrows. Haruto dodged with Shunpo, disheveled but alive.

“Don’t think you’re the only one with Cero!” Haruto condensed a silver-white orb and fired. The blasts collided before Las Noches, their explosion shaking the Hollow horde.

Cero was pure reiatsu; Haruto’s paled against Baraggan’s. His silver beam crumbled under the black. “You’re done, brat,” Baraggan sneered, vanishing and reappearing behind Haruto. The axe crashed down.

Haruto’s shoulder buckled—Baraggan’s Sonido outpaced his senses. Bony fingers crushed his bone. Haruto swung his Zanpakutō, forcing Baraggan back, and channeled Kaido to mend the damage.

Kaido had limits: recovery couldn’t outpace life-force loss. Even Retsu Unohana’s mastery failed against grievously wounded like Byakuya Kuchiki, Rukia Kuchiki, and Renji Abarai in the Thousand-Year Blood War. But Haruto’s shoulder healed fine.

“Still fighting?” Baraggan mocked. “Realize the gap? Despairing?”

Haruto glared, silent. His reiatsu had peaked, teetering on captain-level. One push, and he’d break through. Will he give me the chance?

Baraggan laughed. “I’m no monster. Kneel, call me king, and I might spare you—if I’m amused.”

Haruto’s eyes burned. The next axe swing came—Baraggan vanished, reappearing behind. Haruto’s reiatsu erupted, shattering its limit. “To hell with you! Captain-level at last! Die!”