Chapter 406: No One Leaves!
"Wh-what?!"
Upon hearing Satoru's words, Ichigo wore a stunned expression.
He whipped his head around:
"Mr. Mikami, the Soul King... I've heard of it, that's the legendary god who created the world, right?!"
"Speaking of a creator god, that's like the existence of God, isn't it?"
"If such a being chooses to help Yhwach, how are we supposed to fight?"
Hearing this, Satoru snorted with a laugh:
"No worries, I'll handle both of them the same way..."
"?"
Ichigo froze in place, stunned by this outrageous statement.
Aizen showed a thoughtful expression, pondering something unknown.
Yamamoto was largely unaffected.
Although he was the weakest among the four and also the most loyal to the Soul King, at this moment, all his attention was focused entirely on Yhwach.
Before killing Yhwach, his mind could not accommodate any other thoughts.
"Kuh-ah!!"
Yamamoto roared angrily, charging ahead at the forefront, wielding his blazing longsword straight toward Yhwach!
Though not a Transcendent, in terms of pure attack power, his Zanka no Tachi was undoubtedly capable of cutting down a Transcendent!
Yhwach did not dare underestimate it, summoning his spirit sword to clash fiercely with Yamamoto.
As for Satoru, seeing his teacher charge forward, he naturally followed suit.
Unlike Yamamoto, upon seeing him take action, Pernida immediately intervened without hesitation.
The grayish-white giant hand used Hirenkyaku to position itself between him and Yhwach, extending a finger toward him.
"Hmm?"
Satoru seemed to sense something, instinctively dodging to the side.
Something seemed to have rushed past the spot where he had just been standing.
The next moment, the ground between him and Pernida suddenly came to life.
The earth roared upward, as if gaining life, surging toward him, intent on swallowing him whole!
This ground was not ordinary soil or stone but material condensed by a special force, countless times more solid than steel.
Faced with this nearly all-encompassing attack, Satoru's response was straightforward and decisive.
He simply threw a punch.
Boom!!
The ground, which was about to fully converge, exploded from the inside out with tremendous force, turning into countless fragments.
From the center of the explosion, Satoru charged out.
"This move of yours, I've already experienced it when I fought Sōya Azashiro back in the day. It really lacks novelty."
"Evening Elephant!!"
He roared, throwing a punch through the air toward the grayish-white giant hand.
A transparent pillar of air blasted forth!
But just as the pillar was about to strike Pernida, it suddenly stopped.
The pillar seemed to be covered and entangled with something like capillaries.
After a brief stalemate, the Evening Elephant he had unleashed with triple force dissipated into thin air!
"This move, however, surpasses Azashiro's level."
Satoru nodded.
For Sōya Azashiro to manipulate surrounding objects, he needed to disperse the Reishi from his body in advance and integrate it into the environment.
A technique like Evening Elephant, created on the spot, was something he could not interfere with or control.
Truly worthy of the Left Arm of the Soul King. That move just now had combat power of at least six hundred carts!
"Excellent, excellent!"
"I, Satoru Mikami, love fighting mechanic-based monsters the most!"
With a hearty laugh, Satoru charged straight toward Pernida.
The renowned philosopher Sōsuke Aizen once said—a Shinigami's battle is a battle of Reiatsu.
Although this statement has become less applicable since the Arrancar arc, with the nature of Shinigami battles shifting directly from Reiatsu suppression to mutual mechanism counters, what does that have to do with Satoru?
Bound to the original version's ultimate answer, he has no need to adapt to the new version!
Infinite Reiatsu power, surge forth!!
Seeing that Satoru actually dared to charge forward and engage in close combat, Pernida was somewhat surprised.
Its ability was to release the nerves within its body, fuse with everything around it, and thereby gain control.
Its favorite method of killing enemies was to instantly fuse its nerves throughout the opponent's entire body, then control them to "collapse" inward, compressing them into a fleshy sphere of fused bone and flesh.
The speed of its nerve fusion was astonishingly fast.
Even the air pillars of Evening Elephant could be instantly fused and controlled.
Now, facing Satoru who had closed in, it naturally chose the same approach.
But, the moment the nerve patterns extended forward, Pernida widened the large eye in its palm.
...Ineffective?
How is that possible?
Before it could even think of an answer, Pernida saw a fist continuously enlarging within its field of vision.
Boom!!
The pale gray hand was struck by Satoru's fist right in the palm, at the position of the eye with two pupils.
A terrifying explosive force passed through its body, directly bursting open a large, bloody, and mangled wound on the back of its hand!
"Guh... gah..."
Pernida let out a strange cry of pain.
The pain was so intense that its will struggled fiercely, nearly breaking free from the Soul King's will overlaid upon it.
"It's not over, it's not over yet!!"
Satoru laughed maniacally, charging forward in large strides, throwing a second punch, then a third!
Seeing that Satoru had no intention of holding back at all, the Soul King's will felt somewhat helpless.
It wanted to communicate with Satoru but couldn't say too much.
Involving the foundation of the world, it trusted no one—not even itself.
Fortunately, before taking action to assist Yhwach, it had already anticipated this outcome.
And the contingency plan to resolve this issue was already on its way...
...
...
Yamamoto and Ichigo ganged up on Yhwach.
Satoru pursued the Soul King's left hand.
Aizen stood not far away, quietly watching this scene.
He had no intention of intervening whatsoever.
As a renowned Satoru research expert in the Seireitei, he knew very well that when someone was caught up in the heat of battle, they wouldn't even notice what they were doing.
Even if he spectated in various ways or pretended to disconnect, Satoru wouldn't realize it for a while.
As for Yamamoto... that old man, when caught up in the heat of battle, was even worse than Satoru.
The only relatively rational one, Ichigo, also harbored a bellyful of anger toward Yhwach due to his mother being taken by Auswählen nine years ago.
Now that he finally had the chance to give a good beating to this guy who treated others' lives as nothing, how could he miss it?
He swung his butcher knife, unleashing slashing attacks, occasionally combining them with Blut abilities and Hollowfication abilities, making Yhwach utterly overwhelmed and even more troubled than when facing Yamamoto.
Two hundred years ago, Aizen might have thought that leading these three fools was a hopeless endeavor.
But now, he had completely changed his mindset.
Most of the time, pure idiots were far superior to those half-baked individuals who thought themselves clever.
Upon sensing the ambiguous stance of the Soul King, he was in no hurry to act at all.
Before proceeding with the next phase of his plan, he had to confirm exactly what the Soul King's attitude was in this battle.
If it was merely a matter of opposing Satoru, then of course he would not hesitate to bring forth all his power to help Satoru crush the Soul King Palace.
But… if things unfolded as he suspected, then what was about to happen would be quite intriguing.
Suddenly, Aizen seemed to sense something and looked up at the sky.
There, several figures descended headfirst like meteors, plummeting from above.
The Priest, Kirinji, Ōetsu, Senjumaru, Kirio Hikifune…
All members of the Zero Division had left the Soul King Palace and descended to the world below!
Even before landing, the Priest had already opened his mouth wide and shouted loudly:
"Satoru!! We've come to help you!!"
As his voice echoed, he crashed headlong into the center of the battlefield.
Having rushed all the way down from the Soul King Palace, continuously accelerating along the way, he carried unimaginable kinetic energy.
The moment he struck the ground, it was like watching a meteor impact Earth from a cosmic perspective.
The ground was instantly blasted outward in all directions, and terrifying heat exploded forth, distorting even the air!
Everyone engaged in the battle leaped high into the air to avoid the Priest's impact.
The other four members of the Zero Division, however, were not as reckless as the Priest.
They adjusted their postures mid-air and landed steadily.
Everyone looked somewhat astonished toward the center of the "crater."
On the ground, now melted into lava, the Priest rubbed his head and stood up with a cheerful grin.
"Haha, sorry about that, didn't quite control my speed… hope I didn't disturb you all…"
Satoru's side and Yhwach's side were now neatly separated by him on either side.
Yamamoto frowned slightly, as if about to say something.
But before he could speak, the Priest suddenly continued:
"Rest assured! This old man and the others have come to help!"
"The Seireitei and the Soul King Palace are both close neighbors and distant relatives—truly one heart and one body!"
"As guardians of the Soul King Palace, how could we not come to aid when the Seireitei is in peril?"
Hearing this, Yamamoto nearly burst out laughing.
If it were Kirio Hikifune saying this, he might have believed it a little.
But the Priest... he wouldn't believe a single word.
Holding Zanka no Tachi, he said calmly:
"No need for help. Step aside first. This time, I will completely eliminate Yhwach."
"What happened a thousand years ago will not repeat itself."
He actually had another thought, but considering the potential negative impact, he kept it to himself.
A thousand years ago, he had clearly destroyed Yhwach with Ryūjin Jakka, so how could this guy have revived?
He suspected it had something to do with the Priest.
When he fought Yhwach a thousand years ago, the latter carried the scent of the Priest's seal.
In other words, before battling him, Yhwach had met with the Priest.
What deal those two had made, Yamamoto had no way of knowing.
But from then on, he became even more wary of the Priest.
Sensing Yamamoto's hostility toward him, the Priest sighed.
"Don't look at me like that... This time, I really am here to help you."
Ichigo didn't know who this large, rotund priest was, but his intuition told him that the guy in front of him was absurdly powerful.
Judging by their attire, these people should also be Shinigami.
If that's the case, then they're on the same side!
Thinking this, Ichigo revealed a smile.
He gripped his large cleaver-like sword, used Flash Step, and charged toward Yhwach.
But just halfway there, a Zanpakutō suddenly swung at him from the side.
"Huh?"
Ichigo hurriedly adjusted his large sword, switching from an offensive stance to a defensive one, raising it horizontally to block the strike.
He looked in surprise at Ōetsu, who had launched the sneak attack, unable to understand what was happening.
Under his gaze, Ōetsu laughed heartily:
"Ah, sorry, sorry! It's been so long since I've been to the Seireitei... The Reishi concentration here is different from the Soul King Palace. I'm feeling a bit dizzy and swung at the wrong person!"
...?
Ichigo frowned.
Even he could sense that the atmosphere was a bit strange.
As for Yhwach, his expression was initially puzzled as well.
But soon, he curled the corner of his mouth.
So that's how it is...
For the Zero Division, the Soul King's will is absolute.
To allow him to legitimately ascend to the Soul King Palace, inherit the Soul King's power, and reunite the Three Realms, the Soul King had probably used some method to forcibly deceive these subordinates into clearing the path for him.
As the leader of the Shinigami, Hyōsube Ichibe'e certainly couldn't openly act as a traitor.
Therefore, these guys must be openly opposing him while secretly assisting him!
To test his conjecture, he simply abandoned his defenses, exposing his openings to the surrounding Zero Division members.
Now, if any of these Zero Division members had the intention, they could rush over and severely injure him at any moment.
But, just as he suspected, none of the Zero Division members moved.
Even though they noticed the openings on him, the four of them merely showed somewhat subtle expressions, remaining as immovable as mountains.
Now, Yhwach was completely certain.
Even the Soul King is on my side... Satoru, Yamamoto Shigekuni, your efforts truly seem pathetic.
He raised the corner of his mouth and looked up at the sky.
Just moments ago, with the arrival of the five Zero Division members, the path from the Soul Society to the Soul King Palace had become unobstructed.
It was time to head to the Soul King Palace.
As for Satoru and the others... let the Zero Division handle them.
Once he merged the Three Realms and restored everything to its original state, they would naturally come to understand his vision.
With this thought, Yhwach lifted his foot, preparing to ascend.
Noticing this from the corner of his eye, the Priest gave an almost imperceptible nod.
Excellent. Although his appearance had grown middle-aged and greasy, his mind remained as unreliable as it was a thousand years ago.
This was the Yhwach he loved most.
He chuckled softly, shifting his gaze to see what Satoru intended to do.
Though it felt a bit awkward, this time he was determined to be a formidable obstacle...
Boom!!
A terrifying Reiatsu suddenly surged like an inverted ocean, crashing down with immense force!
At the center of the Reiatsu, Satoru grinned, revealing a demonic smile.
"Did I say you could leave?"
Yhwach stared at Satoru in shock.
This Reiatsu... What kind of joke was this?!
How could anyone in this world possess such an overwhelmingly terrifying amount of Reiatsu?
Even for a Transcendent, this was utterly absurd!
The air trembled and distorted.
The Reiatsu emanating from Satoru twisted the surrounding scenery.
The world around them was no longer visible to the naked eye.
With a grave expression, the Priest unleashed his own Reiatsu, hoping to buy time for Yhwach.
But just as he did, Satoru's Reiatsu suddenly doubled!
Boom!!
This time, Satoru's Reiatsu instantly crushed the entire First Division headquarters into dust!
Yhwach's foot, which had just been lifted, was forced back to the ground!