"Power that shakes… all three worlds, huh…?"
Senjumaru looked up at the sky with some hesitation. Those thick, jagged black cracks looked like wounds carved into the world itself.
At a glance, it was as if a gigantic spider web had appeared across the heavens of the Spirit King's Palace.
And they—and the Spirit King—were the prey caught inside.
In the end…
Even Head Captain Yamamoto had been unable to stop this enemy.
Could Tenjiro alone really keep things under control?
Just thinking about it left her uneasy.
Boom… boom… boom…
The sound of barriers shattering was deafening.
Layers of spatial shields formed from kido, barriers, and countless other techniques had been smashed apart, leaving only the last few thin veils.
The Soul Reapers in Seireitei could already see the scenery of the Spirit King's Palace through the remaining barriers.
The uproar pierced the sky.
Countless Soul Reapers stared up at the Spirit King's Palace in awestruck wonder.
"So that's the Spirit King's Palace? It's beautiful… green grass, white clouds—it really looks like some kind of paradise."
Nanao spoke from the heart.
She had heard the name of the Spirit King's Palace before, but this was her first time actually seeing it.
Now that she had…
It truly lived up to its status as the dwelling of the Spirit King and the royal families. The scenery was even more exquisite than Seireitei itself, like something straight out of a fairyland.
If she had to describe it…
It was like a refugee from Rukongai finally seeing Seireitei with their own eyes.
"That's not all, look! The buildings and mountains in that space are all floating in midair…"
One Soul Reaper pointed in disbelief.
The Spirit King's inner sanctum and the Zero Division palaces hovered in the air like stars, an overwhelmingly majestic sight.
Just looking at it made a person feel small.
Cole, however, was completely unmoved. Instead, he couldn't help complaining.
"How much reiryoku does the Spirit King's Palace burn through every year just to keep all that floating?"
There was no way those islands and structures could just hover there for free.
Even with technological and mechanical support…
The true foundation of that power had to be spiritual energy.
As he thought about it, Cole did a rough calculation.
If the Spirit King's Palace used kido and barriers to suspend all those buildings, then the reiryoku it consumed every day would be equivalent to half of Seireitei's.
"What a filthy rich dog…"
Cole licked his lips despite himself, eyes blazing as he watched the descending Spirit King's Palace.
If he could absorb that place's reiryoku for a few months, then Aizen, Yhwach—everyone—would have to step aside.
While he was lost in thought, the Spirit King's Palace finally made contact with the ground.
The last few layers of barriers erupted like a spiritual atomic bomb, blasting the ground with a tidal wave of dust that swallowed huge swaths of buildings.
The sheer weight of it…
Literally crushed the entire Fifth Division into a basin.
The Soul Reapers present stared nervously at the center of the dust cloud. The Spirit King's Palace, which had once sat so far above them all, ruling over the masses, had been dragged down into the dirt.
This had never happened before in the entire history of Soul Society.
No matter who they were, every person present was on edge.
Was Aizen about to invade the Spirit King's Palace?
Could the members of the Zero Division stop Aizen?
Would the legendary Spirit King appear?
It wasn't just ordinary Soul Reapers who were nervous. Captains like Kisuke were even more tense, not daring to blink as they stared into the dust.
Those two monsters…
Had really knocked the Spirit King's Palace down.
"Just a few thin layers left. Human, get out of my way!"
Aizen looked at the Spirit King's Palace with feverish eyes. As long as he shattered those last layers, the two spaces would fully merge.
And that would mean…
The Spirit King's Palace had fallen to earth.
Cole arched a brow and didn't argue. He stepped aside and opened a path, saying,
"Go on. Honestly, I'm curious too—which side is stronger, you or the Zero Division?"
Aizen couldn't be bothered with any of that. The white skulls along his spine-wings opened their jaws wide, violet light flaring from within as he shouted,
"Furiretsuha (Radiation Break)!!!"
A violet beam tore through the sky.
With a thunderous boom, the remaining barriers did not shatter. Instead, an amused voice drifted out from within.
"Not bad power."
"So you're the intruders?"
Everyone's eyes narrowed as they watched a cocky man with a pompadour, carrying a giant naginata, stride out of the dust.
Behind him, a passage had opened in the barrier of the Spirit King's Palace.
"A member of the Zero Division?"
Aizen was not surprised. He stopped walking and looked down at Tenjiro from on high, saying calmly,
"And you are? State your name."
Information about the Zero Division was far too secret. Two or three of them were monsters who had lived for millions, even tens of millions of years.
Even Aizen had been unable to gather complete data on them.
Tenjiro was thrilled to be out in the outside world. He couldn't help bursting into loud laughter.
"You wanna know this great one's name? Then I'll be generous and tell ya."
"Listen up! I'm one of the 'Royal Special Operations,' a member of the Zero Division, the Eastern Divine General, title Sentoki (Hot Spring Demon), steward of the Zero Division palace 'Kirin Den'—Tenjiro Kirinji!"
"You little brats see me show up and wet your pants yet? Hahaha! I'm not that useless Yamamoto—I'm seriously strong, you know…"
Watching this guy strut around, Cole looked over at Shunsui, exasperated.
"Captain Shunsui, don't tell me this is the same Zero Division member who stomped the Head Captain a thousand years ago."
Shunsui gave a bitter smile.
"Yeah. But don't be fooled just because he's a goofball. His strength really is incredible."
Cole could believe that much.
After all, even a pig that lived for several million years could probably reach the level of destroying worlds, let alone a Soul Reaper.
What really made Cole speechless wasn't just Tenjiro's personality, though.
It was that arrogant attitude.
So what if you're in the Zero Division?
So what if you've lived for millions of years?
Was a powerhouse something you built just by stacking up time?
Yamamoto had only needed a thousand years to surpass Senjumaru.
Aizen had needed only a few centuries to break through to a godlike realm.
Ichigo was even more ridiculous—he had become the strongest in the world in just a few years.
In short…
Time could be a reflection of strength.
But it was definitely not the only standard.
As Cole mused, Tenjiro's gaze shifted and locked onto Aizen, whose appearance was now completely inhuman.
"With this many Hollows around… I'll start by killing you."
Among all the powerhouses present, there were only a handful who made him feel pressure.
And the ugliest of them by far was Aizen. He looked like a cocoon that had turned into a butterfly—a giant, pure white moth.
Faced with Tenjiro's provocation, Aizen said nothing.
He wanted to see for himself what the Zero Division was really capable of.
Under everyone's watchful eyes, Tenjiro burst into wild laughter and swung his zanpakuto, declaring proudly,
"Amaterasu Issen, Kinpika (Heaven-Shining One Flash, Golden Splendor)!!!"
The blade in his hand erupted with blinding golden light, transforming into a long, paddle-shaped weapon that was almost too bright to look at.
The moment his zanpakuto was released, Tenjiro's reiryoku shot upward.
In an instant, it had climbed to a staggering level.
The ground around him couldn't withstand the pressure. It shattered and buckled, crackling as fragments exploded in all directions.
But the Soul Reapers and Arrancar present, upon sensing this spiritual pressure, didn't look shocked.
Their expressions just turned… odd.
Leaning against a wall, Starrk finally couldn't hold it in. He turned his head toward the equally lazy Shunsui beside him.
"Hey, Shunsui… this is the Zero Division?"
Shunsui's face was a picture of awkwardness. He scratched his head helplessly.
"That guy's brain is broken. Ignore him."
The other captains looked just as helpless and speechless. They really didn't know what to say.
Was Tenjiro's reiryoku strong?
It was.
Of course it was.
Among all the Soul Reapers and Arrancar present, only people like Shunsui, Gin, Starrk, Ulquiorra… could match it.
He was definitely one of the top-tier powerhouses in Soul Society.
The problem was…
Everyone here was a monster.
With this level of spiritual pressure, he couldn't even make the rankings.
Shunsui coughed lightly and offered a reminder.
"Kirinji Tenjiro, you'd better be careful. Aizen isn't as easy to handle as you think."
Tenjiro didn't care in the slightest. He burst out laughing.
"You're Yamamoto's little disciple, right? You're still too young. You don't understand the kind of 'gold content' the Zero Division has."
Soul Society had a history so long it couldn't be traced to the beginning.
And the Zero Division, thanks to the immortality of its members, had spanned that entire river of time.
In all that endless history…
Only five people had ever been born into the Zero Division.
That alone spoke volumes about how fearsome they were.
As he spoke, Tenjiro dragged the oar-shaped blade through the air, sweeping it past the faces of Aizen, Cole, Ulquiorra, Shinji, and the others in turn as he sneered,
"In front of us, there are no opponents. Anyone who dares stand against the Zero Division won't even have the chance to cry."
Seeing him act so outrageously…
Even the Soul Reapers who had little faith in him couldn't help feeling a flicker of hope.
If you were going to be that arrogant, you needed the strength to back it up.
Could it be that he really was that strong?
Aizen frowned, growing impatient.
This guy had rambled on forever and still hadn't shown a single actual technique.
Unwilling to waste any more time, he beat his enormous white wings once. His figure vanished from where he'd stood.
Cole raised his brows.
"This is gonna hurt."
Before anyone could figure out what he meant, their pupils constricted.
They watched as Tenjiro, who had just been standing there, suddenly slammed into the white wall of the Repentance Palace eight hundred meters away with a deafening crash.
The white stone was blasted open in a massive crater.
Thin streams of blood flowed from the shattered wall.
Tenjiro was embedded in the stone, coughing up mouthful after mouthful of blood. It was clear his injuries were anything but light.
Aizen appeared where Tenjiro had just been, staring coldly at him.
"So this is the level of the Zero Division?"
Tenjiro slid down from the Repentance Palace and crashed into the rubble below. He opened his mouth to speak, only to spit out more blood.
Cole shook his head helplessly.
"And you thought you could fight old man Yamamoto. If you really went at it, he'd burn you into a dried-out corpse."
At this point, Aizen had evolved to a terrifying degree—enough to clash head-on with Yamamoto in his released state.
Yet this idiot had gone into battle using nothing but shikai.
Had his brain gotten stuck in a door somewhere?
Hearing that, Tenjiro lifted his head and forced his gaze toward Cole.
The moment he saw him, his pupils constricted again.
"How… how can that be…?"
Cole was calmly swinging his golden staff, tapping on the final barrier of the Spirit King's Palace.
This was the single strongest layer of the barrier.
And yet, under the staff's casual taps, it shattered like glass, fragments falling away to reveal an opening wide enough for people to pass through.
In an instant…
A surging tide of blue reiryoku poured out from the gap like a tsunami.
Cole's eyes lit up. He waved at Rukia excitedly.
"Rukia, come on—let's go take a walk around the Spirit King's Palace."
(End of Chapter)
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