BLEACH: SURVIVAL SYSTEM

On his invisible system panel, Akira clicked "Draw."

After the roulette stopped spinning, he stared at the system prompt.

[Congratulations, Host! You have drawn "Goro Goro no Mi" (Thunder Fruit)!]

Akira was no stranger to this immensely powerful Logia-type Devil Fruit. In the world of One Piece, if not for the natural counter of the Gomu Gomu no Mi (Rubber Fruit), the Thunder Fruit would be regarded as one of the strongest Devil Fruits.

The good news? There's no Rubber Fruit in the Bleach universe.

The even better news? In an instant, Akira realized that the power of lightning might be the perfect counter to Baraggan Louisenbairn's aging ability!

"Baraggan is incredibly fast, even surpassing Soi Fon. Charging my Excalibur without avoiding him is almost impossible."

"If he gets too close, his Respira will slow down my movements and even my attack buildup, rendering my strongest technique useless."

"Worse still, if his black miasma touches me, my body will age into dust. I can't even afford to take a single hit to trade blows."

Akira quickly analyzed the situation.

However, after consuming the Thunder Fruit, he could now elementalize into pure electricity!

Lightning moves at the speed of light.

Lightning doesn't age.

Elementalization grants near-invulnerability to physical attacks.

This was the perfect counter!

Without hesitation, Akira took out the Devil Fruit and devoured it.

"Ugh! Disgusting!"

Baraggan, who had been watching the scene unfold, was utterly enraged.

"How dare this brat eat during battle!? Does he think he can ignore me?!"

His fury reached its peak, and without hesitation, he lunged forward with incredible speed, aiming to end Akira in one strike.

His clawed hand struck cleanly.

But something was wrong.

"What?! No blood?!"

Instead of flesh, his attack passed through Akira's body, leaving behind nothing but crackling lightning!

Akira smirked.

"Let's see how you like a fair trade—injury for injury."

Before Baraggan could react, a blazing holy sword was already swinging at him at extreme speed!

SLASH!

Baraggan barely managed to retreat, but a deep gash appeared on his neck, forcing him back dozens of meters!

Shock and shame filled his mind.

"This is impossible! My Respira ensures instant death upon contact! No one dares to trade blows with me!"

But looking at Akira, who remained completely unharmed, it was clear—he was the only one taking damage!

"Why…?!" Baraggan growled, confusion gripping him.

Was this some kind of Zanpakutō ability?

But then why was this Shinigami using lightning elementalization?

Why could his sword release such intense holy light?

How did he seem to predict everything?

"Which ability even belongs to his Zanpakutō?!"

For the first time in his existence, Baraggan felt genuine fear.

"Are you scared?" Akira taunted with a cold smile.

"Nonsense! I—"

"You've been using your speed to harass me all this time." Akira cut him off. "Now it's my turn."

Baraggan's expression darkened.

"What do you mean—"

He blinked.

Akira was gone.

"Wha—?!"

Baraggan frantically looked around, but before he could react—

ZAP!

Akira had already appeared beside him, his blade piercing straight through the Espada's body!

"AAAAARGHHH!"

Baraggan howled in agony, retreating desperately. But before he could escape too far—

ZAP!

Akira appeared again, slashing down with relentless force—

Slicing off one of Baraggan's hands.

The decayed king roared in fury and terror.

"DIE! DIE, DAMN YOU! DIEEEE!"

Baraggan gathered his spiritual power frantically, unleashing multiple Ceros in every direction like a desperate beast.

"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Explosions erupted all around, sending shockwaves through the battlefield. But this time, the enemy—Akira—had not pursued him relentlessly.

Baraggan took a moment to recover, his breath heavy. His centuries of experience had trained him to remain composed, but for the first time in ages, a sliver of fear crept into his heart. He activated his High-Speed Regeneration, mending his wounds rapidly.

Had he been anything less than a Hollow, he might have perished in just those few exchanges.

"Damn it! Why did he get so much faster?!"

In the distance, Akira had withdrawn from his lightning-wreathed form.

The ability he had just displayed was a unique application of his Goro Goro no Mi—a devil fruit power that allowed him to control and become lightning itself. By using the electric field he generated, he could travel as pure electricity, bypassing obstacles and terrain.

While lightning itself was fast, it was nowhere near the speed of light. However, movement through an electric field followed different principles—the field itself propagated at the speed of light. That meant Akira was effectively moving at light speed, far surpassing anything Baraggan had encountered before.

Yet, even this ability had its flaws.

If the electric field became chaotic due to massive spiritual energy interference, the technique would fail. Baraggan's previous barrage of Ceros had created enough disruptions to prevent Akira from using his lightning-based movement freely.

"Tch. Elementalization allows me to ignore physical attacks, but energy-based attacks like Cero can still damage me."

Akira reflected on this limitation. No power in existence was truly invincible.

Still, given the current situation, he held the overwhelming advantage. Against Baraggan, he was as close to invincible as one could be.

Baraggan narrowed his eyes. "He stopped attacking… is there a restriction?"

His mind worked quickly. As a Hollow King who had ruled for countless years, his battle instincts were second to none. Even if he didn't fully understand the mechanism behind the ability, he had determined one thing—as long as he flooded the area with Ceros, that Shinigami couldn't approach.

"Fine. Then I'll maintain this strategy and crush him!"

Seeing Baraggan regaining his composure, Akira smirked.

"Oh? So you think you've found a way to counter me?"

Baraggan remained silent, his skeletal visage unreadable. He would not be baited by mere words.

Akira raised his hand, a surge of lightning crackling at his fingertips.

"Unfortunately for you… that was only the basic use of my abilities."

"What!?"

Baraggan's eyes widened as Akira unleashed his next move.

"God's Punishment!"