As long as it's not a god, any ability has its limits.
Calming down, Ishikawa's mind raced while his eyes recovered.
Rule analysis, while terrifying, was definitely not invincible; otherwise, he would have been erased like those Hollow projectiles the moment he encountered it.
Although it saw through all his countermeasures, it never inflicted a fatal wound on him from beginning to end.
It could see fatal flaws, yet it couldn't exploit them. It could only settle for inflicting minor injuries when its physical capabilities allowed.
No matter how strong an ability, it depends on the user's fundamental strength!
Otherwise, it would be like Orihime, possessing terrifying abilities but unable to utilize them in combat.
Ishikawa was now incredibly grateful that Kokumei had ambushed him so early. If it had continued to devour, the full terror of this ability would have been unleashed!
Slowly opening his eyes, his vision shifted from blurry to clear.
Almost within seconds of landing, Ishikawa's eyes had regenerated.
He knew how to fight now!
Ishikawa didn't wipe away the bloodstains on either side of his face. Instead, he took a deep breath, adjusting his physical state to its peak, ready for the impending attack.
Puff~
A muffled sound rang out as the dark sphere on Ishikawa's left side suddenly collapsed, and a gray long blade thrust directly towards Ishikawa.
Ishikawa swung his Kido Blade.
This scene didn't cause Kokumei's emotions to fluctuate, because the moment he unleashed this strike, he had already foreseen Ishikawa's response.
However…
Just as he was about to make a move, those eyes, which had always been calm, suddenly flickered erratically as if they had 'seen' something.
Looking closely, Ishikawa's Kido Blade, which was meeting the Zanpakuto, instantly disintegrated at the very moment of contact.
His sword-holding right hand shifted from a grip to a grab, and the instant Kokumei's purple pupils wavered, he pressed his palm directly onto the blade tip.
Puff!
Blood splattered. His palm was instantly pierced, but it didn't stop. Under inertia, it instantly collided with the sword guard.
As his five fingers closed, they gripped the sword guard like an iron clamp.
At the same time, Ishikawa closed in, his indifferent face reflected in Kokumei's eyes. His left hand clenched into a fist, and his entire left arm swelled by nearly a full circle in that instant!
Kokumei's purple pupils stabilized. The next moment, the Zanpakuto in his hand disintegrated like the Kido Blade, turning into Reishi and scattering.
Boom—
A violent explosion reverberated, and gray mist churned.
The power of a single punch caused the entire gray mist area to shake.
"You shouldn't have retreated!"
Ishikawa's voice came from the center of the impact. Before Kokumei could fully grasp the meaning of Ishikawa's words, a figure burst out from the churning gray mist, appearing before Kokumei in the blink of an eye.
The height difference made Kokumei feel as if Ishikawa, who had rushed before him, was as vast as a giant!
"But it's understandable, after all, I used to be extremely cautious."
Ishikawa's voice was calm, but it subtly revealed a hint of self-mockery.
Before he could finish speaking, a blood-soaked hand had already pierced through the gray mist and gripped Kokumei's slender neck.
The terrifying force made Kokumei's face turn pale, and all the spiritual pressure around his body concentrated on the restrained area.
Boom boom boom—
The terrifying spiritual pressure caused the surrounding space to distort. After devouring so many people, Kokumei's spiritual pressure was indeed extremely powerful.
However…
No matter how strong its spiritual pressure, it couldn't compensate for its incompleteness.
Because it was already dead!
If described as a person, it was merely a remnant soul at work. All the power it used was the ability of Ishikawa's new Zanpakuto, an ability suited for Ishikawa's current use, not the ability it possessed at its birth.
No matter how strong a Zanpakuto's ability is, it needs a master who can fully unleash its power.
Just like Aizen's Kyōka Suigetsu, its ability is terrifying and unresolvable entirely because its master is Aizen, not because its own ability is so formidable.
If it had a different master, Kyōka Suigetsu would be mediocre!
"To be honest, when I saw you materialized by Muramasa, I didn't feel regret. Even now, despite the trouble you've caused me, I still don't feel regret."
Buzz buzz buzz…
Terrifying spiritual pressure surged wildly. The materialized spiritual pressure erupting from Kokumei's body was like giant hammers, impacting Ishikawa's body. His black work uniform instantly turned into shredded rags.
The heavy pressure of the gray mist, the impact of spiritual pressure.
The combination of the two made Ishikawa's face turn pale, and blood seeped from his pores, instantly turning him into a blood-soaked figure.
But even so, Ishikawa didn't let go, and the expression on his face was terrifyingly calm.
He stared directly into Kokumei's purple pupils, a complex glint in his eyes:
"The change was my own doing. Perhaps the system played some role in it, but I didn't resent it; instead, I was grateful for the choice I made back then."
"Although if I hadn't chosen the system…"
Ishikawa paused, then shook his head:
"No, there is no 'although'."
"He is not me, and I am not him."
Ishikawa's muscles writhed wildly, and his entire body swelled in that instant.
"So the moment I saw you materialize, I felt joy in my heart."
A faint smile suddenly appeared on Ishikawa's face. It was a shallow smile, neither gentle nor kind, just an ordinary smile.
But this smile was real, from the heart.
"I really like my current life, I like everyone around me, and I like the way I interact with them."
"Now, when I'm free, I want to drink with people; when I'm bored, I want to find someone to chat with; when I'm fighting, I wonder if I can gain more favorability after the battle…"
"Instead of…"
"Seeing smiling faces and wondering how long their smiles will last, wondering what they'll look like when they despair… and then striving relentlessly to achieve all of that, feeling pleasure when it succeeds."
"Therefore, your appearance, for me, is an opportunity to personally bid farewell to the past!"
"You were born because of this, but it is not I who needs you."
As he spoke, Ishikawa's face grew paler. The spiritual pressure emanating from Kokumei was terrifyingly strong, far exceeding Ishikawa's previous estimations.
The resulting impact, even on Ishikawa's nearly ultimate physique of over 800,000, was like a tattered cloth in a storm, squeezed and twisted, with blood turning into mist the moment it emerged from his pores.
"I didn't understand before why you appeared before me so quickly."
As he spoke, blood continuously flowed from Ishikawa's mouth, but he still didn't let go or avert his gaze.
The blood mist formed from his internal blood merged into the gray mist, as if consciously enveloping Ishikawa and Kokumei within it.
"Until the moment I gripped your neck, perhaps due to our one-heart-body connection, I vaguely sensed your thoughts."
"You don't want to kill me!"
Ishikawa's words caused Kokumei's purple eyes, which had remained expressionless, to suddenly flicker.
From previous experience, this was clearly a sign of significant emotional fluctuation in Kokumei's current state, further confirming Ishikawa's conjecture.
Thinking of this, Ishikawa's lips curved, forcing out a slight arc:
"That's a bit imprecise to say. You want to kill the current me, not the person Ishikawa."
"Although you resisted fiercely, you never re-formed your Zanpakuto from beginning to end. While there's another Kokumei resisting, even if it weren't resisting, you wouldn't let it appear again; instead, you'd suppress it, because once it appears…"
"It would protect everyone you've devoured, preventing them from disappearing with you if you die by my hand."
From the very beginning, Kokumei accumulating power was not to fight against himself.
Whether in the past or now, its goal had never changed. It only sought to turn Ishikawa back into the person with whom it shared a one-heart-body connection.
To return to being the master who first arrived in this world, even if the master returned and it had already disappeared.
Although he didn't know how it managed this, the moment Ishikawa grabbed its true form, he suddenly had a premonition: when he personally killed Kokumei, everyone it had devoured would never appear before him again.
Perhaps they wouldn't die, but he would never be able to find them again.
This was a warning transmitted to Ishikawa by Kokumei, who shared a one-heart-body connection with him, through his body.
It was precisely because of this that Ishikawa stopped his actions.
Because he didn't know what to do.
And he also…
Didn't want to never see those people again.
Moreover, the moment he personally killed Kokumei would also be the moment his current self disappeared.
Ishikawa still didn't understand what emotion was, but he felt that this feeling of not wanting to part with those people was emotion.
The ease he felt when he was with them was emotion.
Lowering his guard around them was emotion.
Wanting to protect them was emotion.
…
He lacked the ability to identify friends.
But the existence of the system quantified all of this, allowing him to gradually experience the emotions brought by numerical changes, allowing him to experience the care from each person as the numbers changed, and also allowing Ishikawa himself to lower his guard because of those numbers, thus interacting with them easily.
This was emotion, perhaps it was…
Friends.
Therefore, they would not die!
Unbeknownst to him, the surrounding gray mist had already turned into red mist. The blood mist formed from Ishikawa's blood filled every corner of the gray mist.
"Shing—"
In the blood mist, a strange shriek suddenly rang out. Each time the shriek sounded, the thick blood mist would become a little thinner.
"Shing!!!"
With an extremely powerful shriek, the blood mist completely disappeared.
And just as the blood mist vanished, the entire world suddenly brightened in that instant.
The sky, the blue sky, the sun, moon, and stars appeared.
The blood mist transformed into gray soil and a forest. Ishikawa, covered in blood, and Kokumei, with dim purple eyes, appeared in the center of the forest.
"Ishikawa?"
"Boss Ishikawa?"
"Captain Ishikawa!"
"…"
Figures stood in the forest. These people were precisely those devoured by Kokumei.
Utsuki, Isane, Soi Fon, Granny Kyoka, Sake Lady, the Nagano family, Ōmaeda's mother and daughter…
Familiar faces, all with expressions of confusion, as well as worry and tension upon seeing Ishikawa covered in blood.
And in front of them, a little the dog was stumbling away. Upon seeing Ishikawa, it seemed scared, and barked continuously as it ran over.
Ishikawa looked at the crowd, a smile appearing on his pale face, and he released his grip on Kokumei's neck.
Kokumei, whose pupils had returned to black, didn't continue to move. Instead, it stood in place, staring intently at the smile on Ishikawa's face.
"Woof woof woof—"
The little the dog ran to Ishikawa's side, wagging its tail, circling Ishikawa, barking non-stop as it went.
Thump!
Ishikawa plopped down onto the ground, grumbling, "Stop barking, you're giving me a headache. And how many times have I told you, I can't understand what you're barking about."
"Woof woof woof—"
The little the dog was scolded by Ishikawa, its tail immediately drooped, and its ears also flattened back.
But the next second, a hand pressed onto its head, rubbing it vigorously.
"Speaking of which…"
Ishikawa said in a strange tone, "The fact that you're in this dog… hmm, canid form, is probably also because of me."
For his newly born Zanpakuto, Ishikawa hadn't wished for it to possess terrifying abilities. Instead, he hoped it would be a simple one, without too many complications, merely providing assistance in combat.
Preferably so simple that it had no intelligence to speak of…
The born Zanpakuto perfectly met his expectations.
Even a little too much so…
"Awooo~"
The little the dog… no, Kokumei, tilted its head, as if using its limited intelligence to ponder the meaning of its master's words.
Ishikawa smiled, casually picked it up and placed it on his lap, then turned to look at the little boy in front of him.
"This farce, it's time for it to end."
The little boy didn't speak, but instead turned his head to look at the surging crowd around him, his eyes filled with gloom, wariness, and deep disgust.
But under the blue sky, it couldn't move.
The sun, the moon, and the stars, all their light shone upon him.
Ishikawa's Zanpakuto's true form was not merely the little the dog, but this entire world.
The soil and plants beneath his feet, the blue sky, clouds, sun, moon, and stars in the air… all of these could be said to be the true form of Ishikawa's Zanpakuto.
And the little the dog was the core of the Zanpakuto's true form. It was entirely composed of the materialized emotional white spots from the system, receiving the meticulous care of the entire world, allowing it to run freely and mobilize the power of the entire world.
Under the shining light, the little boy gradually became translucent.
But until he completely disappeared, the gloom and wariness in his eyes hadn't changed or weakened in the slightest.
"Let's go out."
Ishikawa put down the little the dog in his arms and said to the surrounding crowd, "I'm sorry, I've caused you so much trouble."
"You know that much."
Soi Fon came to Ishikawa's side, glanced at where the little boy had disappeared, then at the little the dog on the ground, a hint of confusion in her eyes.
Before Ishikawa arrived, they had actually been chasing a dog…
Because upon seeing the little the dog, everyone felt an inexplicable sense of closeness, even Soi Fon, who liked cats and disliked dogs… felt no repulsion towards the little the dog.
Ishikawa opened his mouth, just about to explain, when the little the dog he had placed on the ground suddenly shrieked.
"Rrr~"
It was no longer a dog's bark; the sound had changed to that whimpering sound.
Everything around them instantly became illusory. In a flash, dense crowds of people appeared out of thin air at the spot where Ishikawa had previously disappeared.
Not far away, several figures, following the sudden spiritual pressure fluctuations, flew over.
The two leading figures were Kūkaku and Yoruichi Shihouin, and behind them followed Ichigo and others.
"Lady Yoruichi!"
Seeing Yoruichi, Soi Fon's eyes instantly lit up.
Thump~
Just then, a muffled thud sounded. Ishikawa, who had been fine in that strange area, suddenly collapsed.