"Just as expected!"
"My guess just now was right!"
"East, West, South, North… the ultimate moves of Zanka no Tachi have been unleashed in that order, and now it's finally the last form's turn…"
"To send the King of Quincy off on the final stretch of his life!!!"
Inside the candy shop,
Urahara Kisuke's expression was filled with excitement.
While feeling shock and awe,
His eyes also shone with delight. He was incredibly eager to see what came next!!!
Heaven and Earth Ashes…
Just from the name alone…
This ultimate move
Clearly contained the power to end the world!
In Urahara Kisuke's understanding,
the result would probably be something like this:
Once that blade swings down,
all things under heaven would be reduced to ash and vanish!
And the only remaining suspense
Was this—
Would it once again repeat what had happened before—
Where not only the video image,
but even the transparent light screen,
and perhaps even the real world…
Would all be swept away and purified together—
Destroyed by the next swing of Zanka no Tachi,
wiping out the entire world?
Thinking of this,
Urahara Kisuke immediately drew back his expression.
He forcibly suppressed his ominous premonition,
Then turned his head to look at his close friend, Tessai Tsukabishi, by his side, urging him nervously:
"Tessai… I don't think we should wait any longer!
How about we put up a high-level kidō barrier right now!"
"For all we know, the instant the old man swings his sword, the countdown video might get blown to pieces!"
"And if the blast spills over into the World of the Living and we, the viewers, get caught up in it by mistake, it'll be too late for regrets…"
"No problem!"
"Even if you didn't say anything, that was exactly what I was about to do!!!"
Tessai Tsukabishi nodded.
On his dark-skinned face was an expression of utmost solemnity.
With that said,
His eyes sharpened, and his features grew stern.
He pressed his hands together, and the powerful spiritual pressure of a former high-ranking captain-class shinigami erupted outward!
Relying on his almost maxed-out mastery of kidō,
Even without deliberately chanting any incantations,
Tessai still managed, in just a few short minutes,
To lay down multiple layers of stable and sturdy spatial kidō barriers
throughout the interior of the shop.
"Rumble—!!!"
Once everything was in place,
The atmosphere inside the shop clearly changed.
Even the reishi flowing through the air
Was gradually being placed under absolute protection.
"Phew…"
"With this, unless the old man's ultimate move is so strong that it can pierce through time and space itself and break the limits of space…"
"Otherwise, ten layers of barriers should be enough to ensure that the three of us can keep watching safely…"
Compared to just now,
Tessai's face had turned pale.
It was obvious he had spent a tremendous amount of strength; it was anything but easy!
And similar scenes
Were actually taking place one after another across all parts of the shinigami world.
In other places, the powerful figures either joined forces
To release their spiritual power outward together, constructing layer upon layer of defensive wards,
While in Hueco Mundo, the Hollows and Arrancar
Gathered under Aizen's command, forming combined Ceros,
ready at the moment of the explosion to collide head-on
with the destructive force spilling out from the screen!
They sought to lessen, as much as possible,
The impact that Zanka no Tachi's ultimate move might bring to the world,
as it was transmitted through the countdown video!!!
Under these circumstances,
The viewing atmosphere
Reached the most intense, white-hot point it had ever seen!
And finally…
The big one arrived!!!
————————
"Boom!!!"
The roar of an explosion of flames
Erupted in a series, shaking the air and creating an absolute vacuum.
Raising his hand, swinging the blade—
The Head Captain's movements were fluid and continuous from start to finish!
A crimson sword-wave of flame,
Captured in dynamic detail by the video's camera,
Swept out horizontally in a brutally overwhelming arc!
"BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM——!!!"
Everything along its path
Was forcibly erased.
Whether it was the black undead,
the blue-glowing holy crosses,
or the very earth of the Seireitei itself—
Even the video image itself…
Was sliced into tiny fragments by a single stroke!
Blown apart into countless shards!!!
"Crack—!!!"
In the final instant,
As cracks spread across the screen,
The faces of viewers all over the world twisted wildly again and again,
and in the midst of their overwhelming terror,
they could not help but cry out:
"Holy—!!"
"He actually blew up the countdown video too!"
"One strike pierces through the screen!
Even the image can't withstand this world-ending blow!"
"Zanka no Tachi's final ultimate move really does possess the power to destroy heaven and earth!!!"
Shock!
Stunned silence!
The entire Bleach world was in an uproar!
The sheer visual impact once again left everyone's minds blank!
Too outrageous…
Too terrifying…
In the future, the Head Captain,
In a state of full release, using the strongest attack of his Bankai—
Had actually…
Blasted the video itself apart through sheer force!!!
This was equivalent to saying that the Bankai of Ryūjin Jakka,
Zanka no Tachi,
Was so powerful it could break through the limits of space-time,
its offensive power rivaling the very rules of space itself!
The shock and impact it brought
Could no longer be described with mere words!!!
"Mmph…"
"Yhwach… truly got what he deserved."
In the present—
The Head Captain himself,
Though his body was old and worn, now stood tall as a mountain.
Alone, leaning on his wooden staff with both hands,
He stood in front of the transparent light screen, taking on all of the overflowing shockwaves.
He raised his aged eyes to gaze at the screen,
and there was not the slightest trace of mercy within them:
"The facts prove that whether it's a thousand years ago,
or hundreds of years in the future…"
"The result will not change!!!"
"Yhwach and his Wandenreich
are destined to be personally eradicated by this old man,
driven out of the Seireitei!!!"
The wrinkles covering his face
Were lit by the remaining firelight reflecting off the shattered screen,
Displaying an aura of boundless majesty,
appearing utterly sacred and untouchable!
In this moment,
The Head Captain's figure
Seemed to overlap with his future self—
A single man shouldering the mission of "protecting the Court Guard"!!!
"Luckily, this time we made preparations in advance,
and set up a large-scale kidō barrier within the 3rd Division!"
"And with the old man personally stepping in to stop the shockwaves from spreading further…"
"Otherwise… the consequences would have been unimaginable!!!"
Kyōraku Shunsui drew in a sharp breath.
Looking at the transparent light screen that had just been blown apart,
he felt nothing but shock.
He realized he had still underestimated Zanka no Tachi's ultimate move!
That kind of overwhelming battle power—
Without question, it was the most powerful force in this world!
Even someone as evil as Yhwach…
Had still been one-shot cut down by a single swing!
Body and head separated!!!
Yes—
At this moment,
Through those shattered fragments of image,
The shinigami captains could clearly see
That Yhwach's corpse was already no longer whole!
His arm severed, his limbs missing,
Most of his body had been absolutely erased—
to the point that not even the faintest black ash had been left behind!
If not for
Those very last fragments of footage
that happened to show Yhwach's final death pose,
It would almost make one think
That in this world, the King of the pure-blood Quincy
had never left behind the slightest trace of his existence at all!
Death—
Heaven and earth reduced to ashes—
Such was the ending this wicked man
had been destined for from the very beginning!!!
————————
"Tch…"
"I have to admit, once Ryūjin Jakka is released into Bankai,
the Head Captain's flames and sword-strikes truly are the strongest in this era!"
"Compared to that, my so-called 'normal swings' look a bit clumsy…"
Zaraki Kenpachi frowned,
Although, because of his personality,
he would never lose his composure like the other captains
and show excessive shock,
Even so…
This time,
Zaraki Kenpachi was completely convinced!
From the bottom of his heart, he acknowledged that—
The title of 'King of Normal Swings'
should be given to the old man; that honor belonged to him alone!!!
Moreover,
Zaraki Kenpachi also decided
That from now on, he would adjust his attitude,
stop brushing off the Head Captain's advice,
and properly train under him in swordsmanship and tactics!
That sword strike just now, which encompassed all of creation—
The way the flames and the slashing force
were perfectly united into a dual-aspect ultimate attack—
Had allowed Zaraki Kenpachi to gain a great deal from it.
In terms of sword-strikes, he had gained new insight,
and in that moment, he experienced enlightenment on the spot!!!
On the other side,
The other "Kenpachi," Unohana Retsu,
At this time, her dignified and beautiful face
was also wearing a particularly complex expression.
"Isane… you're all right, aren't you?"
Unohana first turned to look at her lieutenant beside her, asking with concern.
"Phew…"
Kotetsu Isane patted her own chest,
letting out a breath of relief as she nodded timidly:
"Captain, I'm fine. Thanks to your protection…"
"That's good…"
Unohana smiled softly, consoling her:
"As long as you're not hurt,
then any amount of shock or fear
is the most normal reaction you could have!"
"Because…"
She paused for a brief moment.
Unohana's gaze flickered as she looked at the shattered screen,
and she could not help but sigh:
"As everyone has just witnessed with their own eyes…"
"This is the full-power combat strength
of the strongest shinigami in a thousand years!"
"And the Zanpakutō Ryūjin Jakka
still hides flames and secrets far beyond what ordinary people can imagine!!!"
Among everyone present,
She alone had, a thousand years ago,
Personally stood on the battlefield and watched with her own eyes
as Ryūjin Jakka's Bankai was unleashed.
In Unohana Retsu's mind,
Compared to that thousand-year-old Bankai of Ryūjin Jakka,
whose backlash had already been terrifying,
Even though she had already seen it once—
Watching it again now, as an ordinary viewer,
She still found it utterly overwhelming!!!
————————
However—
Compared to the Seireitei's side,
Where the shinigami captains
and all the members of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads
were overflowing with admiration, sighing in awe,
and practically worshipping the Head Captain—
In the shadow realm,
Which served as the headquarters of the Wandenreich,
Inside the crystal palace of Silbern,
A veil of absolute despair hung over everything!!!
"…"
Silence.
It was as if the sound had been muted.
Even the sound of breathing
was nearly impossible to hear.
In this moment,
The entire ice-crystal hall was deathly still.
All the pure-blood Quincy stood frozen in place,
their souls seemingly gone.
They stared off into the distance,
At the transparent light screen
that had already fractured into near block-like chunks.
Most of them were deathly pale.
They had been utterly terrified
by the way Yhwach had died in those final frames!!!
"His Majesty… in the future…"
Lille Barro's throat was parched,
As if all the moisture had been sucked out of it,
leaving him in unbearable discomfort.
He didn't even have the courage
to put into words the fact everyone had already witnessed!
"Sigh…"
Gerard Valkyrie's shoulders slumped,
And behind the helm of his soldier-like mask,
his eyes were filled with a terror that refused to believe what they'd seen.
Deep in his heart,
His emotions
Had undergone a massive shift.
From his initial arrogance and contempt toward the shinigami,
To later, when he was full of unwillingness to accept defeat,
convinced they could not possibly lose to the Gotei captains—
And now,
After witnessing the process
of Yhwach being brutally slaughtered in the future,
Gerard Valkyrie had become completely disheartened!
The last ounce of stubborn pride in his chest
had finally been worn away!
When it came to shinigami—
Especially the Head Captain,
and his Zanpakutō, Ryūjin Jakka—
There was now only fear left in Valkyrie's mind!
He was even excessively worried
that in the war of the future,
if even Yhwach were to fall—
Then wouldn't that mean…
Relying on that invincible Ryūjin Jakka,
The Head Captain alone could sweep through the entire Wandenreich,
slaughtering every last pure-blood Quincy?
The moment this possibility occurred to him,
He could not help but picture
every one of his comrades turning to ash,
forcibly erased from the very fabric of the world!
Valkyrie was on the verge of madness!
His mental state collapsed yet again!!!
"Haschwalth…"
"Is there any way to awaken His Majesty ahead of time?"
One of the Sternritter suddenly spoke up.
He looked up toward the highest point of the hall,
Casting a pleading gaze toward the stern figure of Jugram Haschwalth.
Forcing himself to suppress his panic and fear, he continued:
"Right now…"
"The Bankai of Ryūjin Jakka
has had all its abilities laid bare before us!"
"In that case,
doesn't the plan we previously formulated—
using the Quincy medallions to steal and seal away Bankai—
become the best possible countermeasure?"
"It's just a pity that the Head Captain's power is too great,
and his Bankai can likely only be controlled by His Majesty himself…"
The implication behind these words
Was clearly a hope that Haschwalth
could awaken Yhwach ahead of schedule.
They wanted the King of Quincy to personally take charge—
To conduct research aimed at the now-exposed Bankai of Ryūjin Jakka,
So that they could develop an entirely new and far more perfect
Bankai-stealing plan!!!
However,
Even though this suggestion
Caused quite a few pure-blood Quincy
to brighten up and look hopeful,
In the end,
It was still coldly rejected by Haschwalth:
"Unfortunately, there is no way…"
"Have you forgotten?
The imperial hymn clearly predicts:
'The King of Quincy, with a heartbeat spanning five hundred dimensions,
a consciousness spanning fifty dimensions,
and a power spanning nine hundred dimensions—'"
"'In the end… will take only nine days to seize the entire shinigami world!!!'"
Upon hearing this ambiguous prophecy
from the imperial hymn,
The atmosphere on site cooled down once more.
All hope crumbled!
Since there was no way to change the prophecy,
It meant that from now,
Yhwach would still need nearly three years
Before he could completely awaken
and restore his full power!!!
Yet because of the appearance of the countdown video,
The Wandenreich and the pure-blood Quincy as a whole
had been forced into the open ahead of time!
What was worse,
With every single round of the countdown—
The Schutzstaffel and the other powerful members
of the Sternritter
Were having their Schrifts and powers
exposed and dissected one by one!
And
This process was still ongoing!!!
That was the most despair-inducing part!!!
"Could it be…"
"Before the three years are up…"
"All of us will be flushed out of hiding here in the shadow realm
because our whereabouts have been exposed…"
"And then, cut down to the very last one
by the Head Captain alone,
wielding his Zanpakutō, Ryūjin Jakka?"
For a time,
The atmosphere of terror intensified.
When despair reaches a certain point,
it truly becomes suffocating!
This was why
Within the ice-crystal palace,
It was almost impossible to hear
even the sound of someone breathing!!!
But—
Just then,
The previously shattered transparent light screen
miraculously began to repair itself.
This sudden turn of events
Startled the viewers,
Drawing all eyes back toward it.
When all the powerful beings across the world
Turned their still-unsettled hearts—
which had been shaken by Ryūjin Jakka's Bankai—
toward the transparent light screen once more,
Very quickly—
After only a few seconds,
The image returned, no longer pitch-black,
and a new line of subtitles slowly appeared:
[Third Place]
[Zanpakutō – Ichimonji]
(End of Chapter)
[100 Power Stones = 1 Extra Chapter]
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