Spiritual power surged out of the rift like a tide, almost forming a solid ocean of blue.
This level of density in spiritual power was something Cole had only ever seen once before: the compressed reiryoku of Hueco Mundo that had directly allowed him to obtain bankai.
Now, the spiritual power pouring out from the Soul King Palace was in no way inferior to, and perhaps even surpassed, the reiryoku he had drawn from Hueco Mundo.
Rukia couldn't help swallowing a mouthful of saliva, her voice going dry.
"Go… to the Soul King Palace!?"
Just hearing that name gave her a feeling like she was about to violate a taboo.
That was the holy ground in the heart of every shinigami.
The Soul King.
The royal family.
All of them lived there.
If she went to the Soul King Palace, she might even be able to see the king of the world himself, the Soul King.
But in the end, Rukia still didn't have the courage to set foot there. She shook her head and whispered, "No… we can't. That's the Soul King's dwelling. Ordinary shinigami like us have no right to step—"
"Why are you thinking so much? We're going!"
Cole laughed loudly. His foot lightly tapped the ground, and in the next instant he appeared behind Rukia, scooped her up, and plunged straight into the rift.
Rukia let out a startled cry, watching in a daze as she was dragged into that blue sea of spiritual power.
And the moment the others saw them rush into the Soul King Palace, Aizen couldn't hold back any longer and strode toward the spatial rift.
He was going to kill the Soul King and seize destiny with his own hands.
To change the rotten Soul Society, to end the Soul King's rule, to overthrow the nobles' privileges.
To create the ideal world in his heart.
But just as Aizen moved, Tenjiro moved too.
The Eastern Divine General, nicknamed the Hot Spring Demon, stomped once on the ground. His figure flickered like a ghost and appeared behind Aizen.
"Ha!!!"
With a furious roar, he swung the oar-like blade in his hands and hacked down toward Aizen's head.
And all of this…
Didn't even take half a second.
To the shinigami present, it was just a single moment of distraction, and Tenjiro was already at Aizen's back.
But that slash was completely useless.
Before the blade could touch Aizen's head, it was stopped cold by the invisible defensive force surrounding his body.
Tenjiro was stunned.
He was the Eastern Divine General of the Zero Division—the man who had created the present-day Kaido (Healing Arts) and hoho (flash step) of Soul Society hundreds of thousands of years ago.
And over the long years…
His spiritual power had become practically inexhaustible.
Because of the sheer strength of his abilities, even without using bankai, he could still unleash tremendous destructive power.
Yet now he couldn't even break through the defense of this half-shinigami, half-hollow monster!?
Before Tenjiro could even finish that thought, he saw Aizen's cold gaze sweep toward him. Aizen slowly raised his right hand.
"An attack like yours will be ineffective even if you repeat it a thousand times."
A pure white surge of sword pressure split heaven and earth. Before Tenjiro could react, his body was blasted away again.
This time, there was no repeat of his previous luck.
His pupils dilated as he watched the sword pressure rush toward him. Blood erupted from his chest; the gash on his body ran from his shoulder all the way down to his waist.
Blood sprayed like a waterfall, instantly soaking his white haori red.
Even the ground beneath him was dyed crimson.
Just a bit deeper, and his body would have been cleaved completely in two.
The shinigami and Arrancar present were all at a loss for words as they stared at the gravely injured Eastern Divine General with darkened expressions.
Starrk couldn't help muttering, "Hey, shinigami, this so-called Zero Division of yours is a little too anticlimactic, don't you think?"
When he appeared, he'd been all bluster and swagger, acting like heaven ranked first and he ranked second—anyone watching would've thought he was invincible.
And the result?
He got one-shotted by Aizen in minutes.
Thinking about it carefully, he hadn't even left so much as a scratch on Aizen.
Shunsui let out an awkward laugh, feeling more than a little speechless about Tenjiro's performance, unsure what he was supposed to say.
This really was… kind of hard to watch.
If you're going to show up, old man, the least you could do is use your bankai, right!?
Why are you just auto-attacking the whole time!?
At that moment, Nanao came running over, staring anxiously at Tenjiro's condition. She turned and said to Shunsui in a panic:
"Captain, please hurry and save him, he's going to die!"
Under that last attack, Tenjiro's entire chest had been split open, blood pouring everywhere. They could even see his beating heart through the wound.
At this rate, it looked like he would bleed out and die within seconds.
Yet if one looked closely, aside from Nanao, not a single captain on the scene seemed inclined to go help Tenjiro.
All of them were just… watching the show.
Shunsui scratched his head in annoyance.
"Nanao, don't cause trouble right now. You don't understand how the Zero Division works. Letting him die here would be a few hundred times more useful than keeping him alive."
Nanao stared, dumbfounded, completely unable to understand Shunsui's words.
And it wasn't just her.
Even the Arrancar present were all thoroughly confused.
Were shinigami always this heartless?
Why did they feel even less human than hollows?
They were actually watching a comrade die before their eyes—and saying that his death would be more useful than his life.
Shunsui gave a bitter smile but didn't explain. There were too many ears listening; he couldn't reveal the secrets of the Zero Division here.
Isshin, Urahara, and Byakuya all remained silent as well.
After all, two of the three of them were members of the Four Great Noble Clans. They had all at least heard some rumors regarding the Zero Division.
And as the former head of the Research and Development Institute, Urahara naturally knew a good deal about them too.
Those who qualified to join the Zero Division were people recognized by the Royal Monk himself as having "created the history of Soul Society"—people who had brought into being some epoch-making system or object for Soul Society.
After being chosen as members of the Zero Division, their bones would be reconstructed by the power of the Soul King.
The bones thus reforged became the keys to the Soul King Palace—the Oken themselves.
Because their bodies had been rebuilt into Oken, their true hearts now resided in the Zero Division Palace. Even if they were killed, as long as that palace remained undestroyed, they would be able to recover their power and resurrect simply by having their names called.
In other words, members of the Zero Division…
Were beings of eternal, undying life.
Furthermore, because their bankai were so terrifying, they had bound their lives together and used that life connection to seal away their true zanpakuto.
Its name was Ketsumei Fūin (Blood Alliance Seal).
Only when someone offered up their life as a sacrifice could the true shikai be released.
That was their real, strongest fighting power.
As for the Zero Division members who had sacrificed themselves, as long as the Soul King still existed, they would be revived by the voices calling their names.
Thus, Tenjiro's death would not have been a bad thing—it would, in fact, have made his comrades stronger.
But under everyone's gaze, the heavily bleeding Tenjiro didn't die. Instead, he glared fiercely back at them.
"You bastards… you were that eager to see me die? As if I'd die in a place like this!"
As he spoke, red "soup" rose all around his body, submerging him. His wounds began to heal at a speed visible to the naked eye.
They could even see the blood inside his body crazily regenerating through the open gash.
Nanao was startled all over again. She pointed at Tenjiro and stared blankly at Shunsui.
"H-He… this is…?"
Shunsui sighed helplessly.
"Tenjiro is the First Officer of the Zero Division, and the second strongest among them. He's the one who invented Kaido (Healing Arts). In terms of pure healing ability, he's above even Captain Unohana."
Everyone present suddenly understood, their eyes filled with fresh surprise as they looked at Tenjiro.
They hadn't expected this arrogant guy to be so skilled.
Aizen was forced to halt his advance once again. He looked at Tenjiro coldly and spoke in a low voice.
"It seems I really did underestimate your Zero Division. Compared to the captains of Seireitei, you can at least count as… slightly larger ants."
Veins bulged on Tenjiro's forehead.
Whether before or after he'd joined the Zero Division, this was the first time anyone had ever compared him to an ant.
"You'd better not look down on people too much!!!"
Tenjiro roared. With a wave of his right hand, a river-like torrent of red "soup" surged forward.
Aizen released Hadō no Yon: Byakurai (Way of Destruction No. 4: White Lightning), but the moment the white lightning touched the red liquid, it was corroded into nothing.
The eyes of the onlookers lit up, a hint of excitement appearing in their gazes as they turned toward Tenjiro.
They hadn't expected him to have this kind of technique in reserve.
Little did they know Tenjiro himself was swearing up a storm inside. How was he supposed to fight like this? This "red soup" wasn't even meant for killing.
This so-called red soup was actually the bathwater of Chiike Jigoku (Blood Pool Hell) and Hakkotsu Jigoku (White Bone Hell).
It was a bathwater he'd created based on Unohana's bankai, using his own spiritual pressure as a base. It could squeeze out the reiryoku and blood of anyone soaking in it.
If a patient were immersed in the water, their injuries and illnesses would be forced out along with their reiryoku and blood. But if they stayed in too long, they would be drained to death, leaving behind nothing but a pile of stark white bones.
While it could be used for offense…
Its killing power was still inferior to his zanpakuto.
"Damn it, damn it, damn it! I knew I should've had them kill themselves already—then I'd be able to use my bankai!"
Tenjiro roared inwardly.
Although he was a member of the Zero Division, nearly all of his combat strength lay in his bankai.
Without being able to use it, his fighting power was inferior even to Unohana's—much less enough to stand against Aizen.
Thinking that, Tenjiro released even more bathwater from Chiike Jigoku (Blood Pool Hell) and Hakkotsu Jigoku (White Bone Hell).
These waters that were originally meant for treatment…
Were now being used by him as weapons for both offense and defense.
At the same time, Tenjiro was frantically contacting the other members of the Zero Division, roaring at them in his consciousness.
"Hurry up, all of you hurry up and sacrifice yourselves! Release the Ketsumei Fūin (Blood Alliance Seal), or I won't be able to hold this intruder back!"
The Zero Division members who received the message were both speechless and shaken.
Tenjiro… couldn't hold back the intruder?
Just how strong did this enemy have to be!?
Should they really commit suicide and become sacrifices right now?
Before the Zero Division could make up their minds, Aizen launched his second assault.
"Kyukyoku Furieha (Ultimate Radiant Rupture)!"
Every skull along his spine-like wing bones opened its jaws wide and fired a barrage of deepest violet blasts.
They streaked across the sky like a rain of purple meteors.
Tenjiro's pupils shrank to pinpoints as he watched those violet beams swell larger and larger in his vision.
"Boom!!!"
In a near apocalyptic roar, a huge chunk of ground was gouged out; vast sections of walls and buildings were erased into nothing, smoke and dust billowing everywhere.
Tenjiro's figure had completely vanished.
Seeing this, Aizen flapped his white butterfly-wings and, like an oversized moth, flew straight into the Soul King Palace.
The shinigami and hollows present all looked at one another.
After hesitating for several seconds, they still stepped into the spatial rift.
Their feet landed on the floor of the Soul King Palace.
What entered their eyes—
Was a scene of beauty beyond description.
A sight magnificent enough to shake the hearts of all living things spread out before them.
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(End of Chapter)
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