At almost the same time the final battle was about to unfold in Soul Society.
Above the Soul King Palace.
In this place that should have been vast and boundless, broad enough to make one sigh, there was now an uninvited guest.
Yhwach, wearing a dark red cloak, calmly landed upon it.
He came alone.
Observing his surroundings.
Breathing this air he had once 'dreamed of'.
Yhwach slowly closed his eyes.
How many times had he imagined the scene of himself standing here? How many times had he waited expectantly for the Soul King to summon him, to hand over this so-called world to him?
More or less, there had been such times.
However, these things were already 'clouds of the past'.
For the current Yhwach, he no longer hoped for anything.
Waiting would yield no results.
If he wanted it, if he wanted to possess it, then he could only fight for it with his own hands... steal it!
Thinking this way, silently choking with emotion, Yhwach took a step forward.
Yet at the same time, he stopped his advance.
A familiar figure directly blocked his path not far ahead.
Gurgle, gurgle...
Dual pupils sank into Yhwach's eye sockets, his pupils trembling slightly, constantly circling and spinning at this moment.
Highlighting inhuman qualities and aura.
"Just a mere remnant soul from the past... still unwilling to admit your defeat? Or is it... even so, you'll risk your life to stop me?"
How moving.
Yet how sorrowful.
Facing the visitor before him, the current Yhwach fell silent for a moment, then spoke in a nearly mocking tone.
"Yamamoto, do you care so little for your own life?"
Silently separating from the Gotei 13.
Silently hiding here.
The so-called former Captain-Commander...
Would he also have times of cowering and hiding?
Yhwach's two pairs of pupils seemed unfocused, looking ahead with hollow, vacant eyes at this moment.
"If you had ambushed a bit later, you could have coordinated with the so-called Squad Zero, right? If you could achieve that level... wouldn't the probability of killing me be much higher?"
Facing Yhwach's mocking whisper at this moment, the old man just silently drew the sword hanging at his waist.
His expression was as cold as always. Gripping the blade in his hand, the elder simply released his flames calmly.
"This old man is a sinner... being alive is already fortunate."
So he needed no support.
Being able to stand here at this moment was also to fulfill his duty.
Having lived for Soul Society this life, he absolutely would not permit outsiders to trample upon it...
"As long as this old man still draws breath, I absolutely will not allow you to violate the Soul King's domain."
"Is that so."
Yhwach looked at the flames erupting before him.
At this moment, he simply took a calm step forward.
"Stop!"
Yamamoto roared as he charged forward.
The explosive blade in his hand slashed horizontally toward Yhwach, stirring the air along with it, the high temperature scorching as if to penetrate everything!
But the other party merely raised his right hand casually.
Then...
Yamamoto's Remnant Flame Sword was completely grasped in his hand.
"...?!!!"
"Shocked, Yamamoto?"
Yhwach's pupils continued to circle and roll constantly.
The old man frowned tightly. He found that his flames had returned to the blade at this moment, yet no matter how he called, there was no response whatsoever.
Lost contact?
Perhaps it wasn't such a simple matter.
Vaguely, Yamamoto seemed somewhat unable to sense his Zanpakutō's existence.
What had Yhwach done?
"Are you wondering what exactly I did to you?"
Under his calm tone, the confidence revealed made even Yamamoto's heartbeat involuntarily quicken.
"The fact is... I did nothing at all."
Of course.
Just for the present moment.
The so-called Almighty was never such a simple ability.
At this moment, for Yhwach, standing before him was not merely a simple 'person'.
His past, present, future.
All three merged at this moment, becoming a vast and broad phantom.
Yhwach could freely traverse within it. He observed, analyzed, even completely dissected it.
Flames that had once been fearsome now held no threat in his eyes.
Because Yhwach had become completely familiar with this power.
He could erase flames accumulated over a thousand years in the past.
He could also learn the tricks and methods to restrain flames at some future moment.
Time was healing medicine; time was also the beginning of decay.
No matter how powerful an ability, it could not withstand this level of testing. In the long river of history, just the slightest flaw exposed...
Could be found by Yhwach at the most precise moment, grasped firmly in his hand.
"How laughable, Yamamoto."
"I once feared you so much in the past, even deploying personnel deliberately and choosing to act personally to ensure safety."
"Now it seems... I was as ridiculous as being afraid of an ant."
Mockery?
Perhaps... but at this moment, for Yamamoto, what he needed to handle more was the current situation.
Because under his nearly stunned gaze.
His Zanpakutō, Ryūjin Jakka.
At this moment, cracks had already appeared.
"I told you, didn't I? I can see."
Yhwach gazed ahead with hollow eyes, as if completely ignoring Yamamoto's glare, muttering to himself in a low voice at this moment.
"Your sword poses no threat in my eyes. I have tamed it and completely understood it. Now... it's merely a plaything in my hands."
Don't believe it?
This was very normal.
After all, for Soul Reapers, Zanpakutō had always been these people's reliance and trump card.
Remove this thing, and many people would be like having their hands broken, no longer able to summon any 'resistance'.
Regarding this point, even the so-called former Captain-Commander was no different.
The corners of Yhwach's mouth curved upward.
He had begun to enjoy this process of destruction—like a mischievous child seeing his masterpiece, now unable to suppress his inner excitement, eager to see the collapse.
After a moment.
His fingers clenched heavily.
Bang!!!
Ryūjin Jakka became scattered fragments.
"You..."
The words couldn't be finished.
Yhwach had already passed through the flying dust.
He charged toward Yamamoto like entering an uninhabited realm, raising his right hand and making a pushing motion.
"Fall down. This is no longer your stage."
He didn't even have the thought of taking the other party's life.
For the current Yhwach, his grudges with Yamamoto were already past matters.
Like humans looking at ants, this perspective gave the current Yhwach even a kind of pitying mentality.
Wasting a lifetime on these illusory things, repeatedly being saved, yet still foolishly coming forward without knowing death...
What could the current Yhwach say about such ignorant and foolish people?
Sparing him was already the greatest mercy.
The elder fell head-first like a broken kite.
He showed complete disbelief on his face.
At this moment, struggling to raise his right hand, as if trying to grasp a lifeline in the sky... yet unable to touch anything at all.
Constantly falling, falling.
Until someone caught his falling figure.
"Are you satisfied with this result?"
A familiar voice came from nearby. Yamamoto, struggling to stand, looked to his side... at this moment seeing Seiya standing shoulder to shoulder with Aizen.
Both their expressions were identically calm, as if they had already foreseen this result.
At this moment, it was merely for 'confirmation'.
Responding with silence.
After a moment, Yamamoto stiffly lowered his head.
He had made an attempt but still had no effect... even the most stubborn person could clearly feel the chasm-like gap between them at this moment.
Despairing.
"Genryūsai, you should return early. What follows is no longer something someone like you can interfere with."
Aizen's tone was bland. This kind of third-party narrative tone, though easily irritating.
But for the current Yamamoto, he was speechless.
Not the same level of power at all.
Some sourness appeared on his face. He stiffly raised his head and bent toward the side at this moment.
"Can you... really stop him?"
Seiya, who had already turned around, paused briefly, as if contemplating.
Then said softly.
"Can't guarantee it, but... we'll do our best."
Having said this.
The two continued forward shoulder to shoulder toward the summit.
Leaving only the elder who had lost his Zanpakutō, standing there dejectedly at this moment.
Aizen didn't look back, but through his control of spiritual pressure, he could somewhat sense others' emotional changes.
After all, spiritual pressure was a manifestation of the soul...
As a fusion with the Hōgyoku, that power constantly advancing and growing had already brought Aizen into a completely different realm.
He looked at the back continuously advancing before him, heading toward the Soul King Palace, and chuckled at this moment.
"Is this your current strength?"
The other party fell silent for a moment without stopping.
"What do you mean..."
"You could have let Genryūsai seek his own death, choosing to set up defensive lines before the Soul King Palace. But in the end, you still chose to return and wait for Genryūsai's fall in this place..."
Did this mean Seiya had already foreseen such a situation early on?
Facing Aizen's inquiry, the person involved didn't hide anything. He just pondered for a moment, then said softly.
"Actually... I'm not very clear about my own situation either."
"I can just vaguely feel that some things are slowly awakening."
"For instance, when leaving the Gotei 13, I could already hazily see some fragmented things."
Yamamoto's fall just now was the same.
For Seiya, this kind of thing was just a simple matter.
"And I also wanted to test whether what I 'saw' before was real..."
Raising his right hand to gently touch his eyelids, Seiya's originally relatively calm face finally showed some contemplative contours at this moment.
He needed to confirm too many things, and seeking verification through this method was indeed a good approach.
Moreover, he himself didn't want to cause too many casualties.
The theory was established, and the action logic had no problems.
However, when this behavior fell into Aizen's eyes, the other party seemed to have slightly different insights.
—Perhaps the current Seiya wasn't as simple as he had imagined?
Although he wanted to know more advanced content.
But obviously not now.
After all, they had left the Gotei 13 also to reinforce the Soul King Palace.
That was the final destination that would decide everything.
...
"Not planning to step aside?"
Facing Yhwach's questioning, the Squad Zero members surrounding the Soul King Palace gate looked at each other.
At this moment, all showed rather helpless expressions.
"Still saying things like you haven't woken up... why don't you clear your head first before speaking? King of the Quincy."
Kirio raised her right hand, pointing toward her temple at this moment, lightly making a poking motion.
As the Soul King's close ministers, guards, and also the last line of defense.
Squad Zero had no reason to let Yhwach pass through this 'line of defense' to reach the Soul King's location.
Ōetsu grinned as he raised his hand, lightly patting the jelly-like scabbard beside him, his tone playful.
"Rather... is it really okay for someone like you to come directly to us without bringing any subordinates?"
Although when strength advanced to a certain level, gaps in numbers would be leveled by various factors.
But this was after all no 'ordinary occasion'.
Naturally, it was a different matter.
Shutara tilted her head slightly, using her prosthetic hand to caress her face while her tone carried some sentimental contours.
"No, rather the group below did quite well... after all, according to estimates, stopping even two Schutzstaffel members would be relatively good performance."
Ōetsu looked to the side somewhat speechlessly.
His tone became somewhat helpless.
"You don't need to look down on others so much. Actually..."
Before he could finish.
Yhwach, who had remained silent until now, suddenly spoke.
"Stopped them all?"
"Perhaps... things aren't that simple."
"Do you really think these eyes of mine... cannot see such distant matters?"
As his words fell.
Two cracked spatial fissures appeared beside Yhwach.
Lille, who had already entered Vollständig state, and Haschwalth slowly emerged from them at this moment.
"Your meaningless actions..."
Yhwach said word by word.
"Cannot escape these eyes of mine."
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Powerstones?
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