Looking at Kenpachi Zaraki, who had charged straight into the range of his Sankt Zwinger without the slightest hesitation, Yhwach's expression remained indifferent.
Even in the face of the countless Heilig Pfeil raining down upon him, Zaraki did not retreat.
Instead, he continued rushing forward.
Yhwach raised his hand, and reishi gathered above him.
In an instant, a massive spiritual bow materialized in the sky, several enormous arrows resembling giant spears already resting upon its string.
The spiritual bow slowly turned.
Its countless arrows aimed directly at Zaraki, who was charging forward with Nozarashi in hand.
Then—
Boom!!
The arrows were released.
Compared to the passive attacks generated by Sankt Zwinger, the Heilig Pfeil personally released by Yhwach through his enormous spiritual bow possessed terrifying destructive power.
The gigantic arrows descended toward Zaraki.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Violent explosions erupted one after another.
The earth cracked apart.
Dust and rubble were thrown high into the air as the terrifying impact swept across the battlefield.
Zaraki swung Nozarashi, and a powerful golden slash erupted from the massive blade.
The slash collided directly with the incoming Heilig Pfeil.
BOOM!!
The resulting impact was devastating.
Even Zaraki's body was continuously pushed backward by the force of the explosions.
Wounds appeared across his body.
Blood splattered through the air.
Yet despite the injuries accumulating on his body, Zaraki's expression did not change in the slightest.
Pain?
Fear?
Neither existed on his face.
He merely continued advancing.
In response, Yhwach remained completely unmoved.
Although Zaraki had been listed as one of the six Special War Potentials, Yhwach had never truly regarded the title as something particularly threatening.
The so-called Special War Potentials merely represented individuals who possessed abilities capable of becoming variables in the war against the Wandenreich.
They possessed potential.
They possessed unusual abilities.
They could become troublesome.
But troublesome did not mean unbeatable.
At least, not in Yhwach's eyes.
He was the ancestor of the quincies.
The Emperor of the Wandenreich.
A being who stood above all quincy.
A god!
No one could stop what he intended to accomplish this time.
Not Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni.
Not the Gotei 13.
Not even the six Special War Potentials!
Reishi gathered in Yhwach's hand once again.
The long sword that had previously severely injured Yamamoto condensed within his grasp.
He casually swung it.
As the blade traced an arc through the air, an enormous spiritual bow appeared.
A gigantic arrow rested upon the bowstring.
Yhwach's gaze fell upon Zaraki.
Then, the bowstring was released.
Heilig Pfeil!
The massive arrow descended.
The previous attack had already broken through Yamamoto's defenses.
Now, under Yhwach's control, another terrifying Heilig Pfeil descended directly toward Zaraki.
BOOM!!
The gigantic spiritual arrow struck Zaraki's body.
The reiatsu surrounding him shattered instantly.
His defensive pressure was completely torn apart.
Then—
Puchi!
The massive arrow pierced through his body.
Blood erupted, and Zaraki's body was sent flying backward.
In Yhwach's eyes, Zaraki should have undoubtedly died from that attack.
After all, Zaraki was not Yamamoto.
Yamamoto possessed an extraordinarily powerful body and reiatsu accumulated over thousands of years.
Zaraki, despite being one of the Special War Potentials, was still fundamentally different.
However—
Yhwach's expression changed slightly.
A terrifying reiatsu suddenly erupted from Zaraki's body.
BOOM!!!
Golden reiatsu shot into the sky like a pillar of light.
The beam of spiritual pressure directly pierced through the domain created by Sankt Zwinger, causing the surrounding spiritual structure to collapse.
The countless defensive lights condensed around the area shattered one after another.
Yhwach narrowed his eyes.
"Hm?"
He immediately understood what had happened.
"Bankai?"
It was not particularly difficult to understand.
A man like Zaraki had already created a miracle once.
For countless years, Zaraki had fought without knowing the name of his Zanpakutō.
Yet he had eventually managed to communicate with it.
He had learned its name.
Nozarashi.
Since he had already crossed such an impossible threshold, achieving Bankai was not something entirely unimaginable.
Unfortunately, Yhwach had no intention of continuing the battle with Zaraki.
Although he was confident that he could defeat Zaraki even after the latter activated Bankai—
Now was not the time.
Yhwach's plan had never been limited to simply destroying Soul Society.
According to the prophecy surrounding his resurrection—
Nine hundred years to regain his heartbeat.
Ninety years to regain his consciousness.
Nine years to regain his strength.
And then—
Nine days to conquer the world.
Today was merely the first day.
Although the quincies had launched a full-scale invasion against Soul Society and had gained an advantage during the initial stages of the battle, Yhwach had no intention of completely destroying Soul Society today.
If the Wandenreich displayed too much power at once, it would inevitably attract the attention of those people.
The Zero Division.
If the members of the Royal Guard became wary and completely sealed themselves within the Royal Palace, even Yhwach would find it troublesome to reach the Soul King Palace.
It was not impossible.
But it would take time.
And Yhwach did not intend to waste unnecessary time.
Therefore, he had decided to leave some hope behind for Soul Society.
In the depths of despair, hope was the most dangerous thing.
As long as even a small amount of hope remained, the people of Soul Society would continue resisting.
They would believe that there was still a possibility of victory.
The people of the Royal Palace would also believe that Soul Society still had the ability to resist the Wandenreich.
Then—
The two sides would inevitably begin cooperating.
And what Yhwach needed to wait for was precisely that moment.
The moment when the members of the Zero Division descended from the Royal Palace.
The moment when they opened the path connecting Soul Society and the Soul King Palace.
That would be his opportunity.
"Consider yourselves fortunate."
Yhwach looked toward Zaraki and spoke calmly.
"I'll leave you alive for the time being."
As his voice fell—
His figure suddenly began to disappear.
The surrounding reishi scattered.
In an instant, Yhwach had vanished from the battlefield.
Kurosaki Ichigo and Urahara Kisuke, who had both been seriously injured during the battle, stared in the direction where Yhwach had disappeared.
Neither of them understood why Yhwach had suddenly chosen to retreat.
However, regardless of the reason—
Neither believed it was a good sign.
The only fortunate thing was that they no longer needed to continue fighting such a terrifying opponent.
Another terrifying reiatsu suddenly erupted from the side.
It belonged to Zaraki.
After activating Bankai, Zaraki had entered a completely berserk state.
His reiatsu continued surging uncontrollably.
His body had become increasingly monstrous.
"Captain Zaraki, calm down!"
Kisuke spoke urgently.
At the same time, he immediately raised Benihime and gathered reishi.
Kisuke attempted to restrain Zaraki's movements.
Fortunately, although Zaraki had lost his rationality after activating Bankai, some instinct still remained.
He could still distinguish between enemies and allies.
After struggling for some time, the terrifying reiatsu surrounding Zaraki gradually weakened.
His Bankai was deactivated, and the monstrous transformation disappeared.
Zaraki collapsed onto the ground.
His body was covered in injuries.
Blood continued flowing from countless wounds.
...
The battle continued for most of the day.
In the end, it was the Wandenreich that withdrew first.
However, Soul Society did not feel the slightest sense of relief because of the enemy's retreat.
The pain brought to Soul Society during that half-day battle was indescribable.
The Gotei 13 had suffered devastating casualties.
Every division had lost countless members.
Those people had still been alive yesterday.
They had stood beside their comrades.
They had spoken and laughed together.
Yet today—
They had become cold corpses.
Such a heavy loss was difficult to accept.
Not only for the young shinigami who had never experienced a true large-scale war.
Even those veteran shinigami who had survived countless battles found it difficult to accept reality.
The atmosphere throughout Seireitei became incomparably heavy.
Kisuke brought the seriously injured Zaraki and Ichigo to the Fourth Division.
Unohana Retsu had not participated in the battle.
Instead, she had remained within the Fourth Division, continuously treating the countless injured shinigami being brought back from across Seireitei.
After seeing Kisuke, Ichigo, and Zaraki, Unohana sighed softly.
Then, without wasting another moment, she stepped forward.
She began treating Zaraki and Ichigo's injuries.
While treating them, Unohana casually asked Kisuke,
"How is the Head-captain?"
Kisuke's expression became slightly solemn.
"I temporarily transferred him to another location using spatial transference."
"He was fortunate enough to survive."
Yamamoto's injuries were extremely serious.
One arm had been severed.
Half of his body had also been destroyed.
Had Kisuke arrived even a moment later, Yamamoto would likely have died beneath Yhwach's attack.
Fortunately, Orihime's abilities were capable of rejecting any and all phenomena.
As long as Yamamoto still retained a trace of life, there was still a possibility of saving him.
Spatial transference was technically a forbidden technique.
Because its use could interfere with the spatial stability of Soul Society, it had long been prohibited by Central 46.
However, under the current circumstances, no one was going to pursue Kisuke for using a forbidden technique.
And even if someone intended to investigate the matter—
It would have to wait until after the war.
But everyone understood one thing.
This war would not end so easily.
"Is that so..."
Unohana nodded slightly.
After learning that Yamamoto was still alive, she remained silent for a moment before asking another question.
"What are your plans now?"
In the battle against Aizen Sosuke, Soul Society had ultimately achieved victory largely because of Kisuke's preparations and calculations.
Kisuke had always been someone who considered every possible outcome before entering battle.
He would formulate plans in advance.
Prepare countless contingencies.
Then, according to the changes occurring on the battlefield, continuously adjust his strategy.
Now, facing an enemy even more terrifying than Aizen—
Unohana naturally wanted to know what Kisuke intended to do.
Kisuke fell silent briefly.
Then, he smiled faintly beneath his striped hat.
"Probably..."
"Finding allies."
...
Hueco Mundo.
Beneath the boundless night sky, endless sand stretched toward the horizon.
Las Noches stood silently within the vast desert.
Like an ancient fortress isolated from the rest of the world.
A dark-skinned woman, whose appearance seemed strangely out of place against the endless sands and scorching atmosphere of Hueco Mundo, slowly approached Las Noches.
She had come to Hueco Mundo.
For one purpose.
*****
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✓ Killed For 100 Years in Hueco Mundo, Aizen Invited Me To Soul Society!
✓ Naruto: Senmei Asahi
✓ Naruto: Uchiha's Intelligence Dealer
✓ Naruto: The Fifth Hokage Is Naruto's Uncle
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✓ Naruto: The Accidental Incubus [R-18]