The 'Gate of Hell' vanished, but something had taken advantage of its opening to leave Hell and arrive in the Soul Society.
A figure now stood on the altar—it was the long-missing first-generation captain of the 7th Division, Takezuna Jigyō!
Katori Sora quickly noticed that something was wrong with him.
A massive ring of bone had appeared behind his back, and his body was covered in tattoos shaped like chains.
His eyes were as black as the abyss—cold, empty, and devoid of any emotion.
"Captain Jigyō's condition... it doesn't look right at all!" Kyōraku Shunsui's expression was grave.
Takezuna Jigyō turned his head and looked at Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni:
"A—pity—"
"Such a—rare—opportunity—"
"Was still—discovered—"
He spoke in a halting manner, his voice strange and highly unusual.
"Could it be... he's no longer Captain Jigyō?" Jūshirō Ukitake frowned deeply. He was well-liked in the Gotei 13 and had good relationships with all the captains, Takezuna Jigyō being no exception. But this version of him felt completely alien.
"Are you still Takezuna Jigyō?" Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni asked calmly.
Takezuna did not answer the question. "Since—I've come—"
"Then—let's—test—"
"Your—strength—"
"Yamamoto—Genryūsai—Shigekuni!"
With a wave of his left hand, he tossed a black mass into the air.
The black mass expanded rapidly, turning into a pool of black water.
From it, more than a dozen bizarre-looking Hollows, each with a giant bone ring, crawled out.
Everyone understood that this 'Takezuna Jigyō' was an enemy, not a friend, and they all drew their Zanpakutō.
"These things are Hollows, right? Their spiritual pressure fluctuation is very strange..." Sora frowned. Hollows were the main research material for his lab, and he was extremely familiar with their spiritual pressure. Yet the fluctuations from these bone-ringed Hollows were entirely different.
"Indeed... it's the first time I've felt such a discomforting sensation from a spiritual pressure fluctuation," Ukitake said seriously.
Sora glanced at Takezuna Jigyō's panel and made a startling discovery:
[Takezuna Jigyō]
[Talent: S+]
[Spiritual Pressure: lv98]
[Affinity Level: Hostile]
[Status: Advent of the Will of Hell]
"'Will of Hell'?! Is the consciousness of Hell controlling Takezuna Jigyō right now?" Sora thought to himself.
Before he could think further, Takezuna raised his Zanpakutō. "Bankai—Kansō Gōgoku (Frost Calamity Prison)!"
Everyone noticed that the surroundings seemed to have been coated with a hazy white filter.
The temperature plummeted, the frost biting to the bone. Ice began to form on the ground and the altar.
The unconscious souls on the ground were also covered in white frost, instantly freezing into blocks of ice.
"He can use Captain Jigyō's Zanpakutō ability!" Ukitake exclaimed.
Takezuna Jigyō's Zanpakutō was an ice-type!
"You have returned to your prime, Takezuna Jigyō," Yamamoto's eyes narrowed as he sensed that the surrounding reishi had stopped flowing.
Even the flow of reishi was frozen solid!
Takezuna Jigyō was much older than even Yamamoto. Before his disappearance, his strength had already entered a period of decline, no longer possessing the valor of his youth.
After returning from Hell, his strength had been restored to its peak state.
"Is this the true power of a first-generation captain... I can't even control the reishi in the atmosphere... What an absurd ability..." Kyōraku Shunsui's expression also grew serious.
Being unable to control the reishi in the air meant he couldn't create footholds to move through the sky!
"If Captain Jigyō could have displayed this level of power a few years ago... he wouldn't have been injured by the Quincy in the World of the Living," Sora couldn't help but sigh.
An ice power capable of freezing the reishi in the air was an extreme counter to Quincy, whose abilities heavily relied on external reishi.
Unfortunately, during the Quincy extermination war in the World of the Living, Jigyō's ice power could no longer achieve such a feat, which led to his defeat at the hands of a Quincy using Sanrei Gloves.
Takezuna Jigyō suddenly vanished.
The next moment, he appeared in front of Yamamoto.
CLANG—
The two Zanpakutō clashed, producing a piercing sound.
Yamamoto's Ryūjin Jakka erupted with terrifying flames, rapidly dispelling the surrounding cold air.
The reishi around Yamamoto became active once again.
Sora and the others felt as if they were being tormented by both bone-chilling cold and scorching flames at the same time.
Sora turned to look at Sajin Komamura behind him. His spiritual pressure was too weak; within this domain of ice, even the reishi inside his body was about to solidify, rendering him completely immobile.
Sora grabbed Komamura by the scruff of his neck and quickly retreated, creating distance between them and the two combatants.
Kyōraku and Ukitake also fell back.
At the same time, the dozen bone-ringed Hollows rapidly closed in on them.
Spiritual pressure surged within Sora's body, tearing his upper garment to shreds as he instantly activated his Shunkō. He also transferred a burst of the wild Shunkō spiritual pressure to Komamura to prevent him from being frozen by Jigyō's frost domain.
The bone-ringed Hollows were fast and had already caught up to Shunsui and Ukitake, engaging them in battle.
"These Hollows with bone rings aren't small fry," Shunsui remarked as he kicked away an approaching Hollow, only to find that the kick didn't kill it.
"Hadō #63: Raikōhō!" Ukitake raised his palm and unleashed a beam of lightning.
The lightning bolt instantly struck the Hollow that Shunsui had kicked away.
BOOM—
The Hollow's head was blown off. It fell to the ground, motionless.
"Their weak point seems to be the same as an ordinary Gillian," Ukitake said.
After one bone-ringed Hollow was killed by the Kidō blast, more of them swarmed forward.
Sora observed for a moment and found that each of these bone-ringed Hollows possessed strength no less than that of an Adjuchas.
"Sajin, watch closely. This will be your first lesson. I'll demonstrate the Katori style of combat!" Sora flipped his blade.
"Bankai, Shosō Kaijin!"
The Zanpakutō melted into an ink-like shadow, spreading outward at a speed imperceptible to the naked eye.
It sealed off Takezuna Jigyō's frost domain.
The spiritual pressure radiating from Sora surged, his captain-level power fully released.
This time, Sora did not expand the domain of his shadow very far.
Jigyō and Yamamoto were both outside the black shadow domain.
He only pulled Komamura, Kyōraku, Ukitake, and the bone-ringed Hollows into it.
The next moment, within the shadow domain, sand and stones swirled into the sky, along with a violent current of frost.
The tumbling sand and stones quickly merged with the frost wind.
A giant, formed from the raging frost wind, took shape within the spiritual pressure storm.
Armor of Dust-Bound Frost Wind!
Sora had combined "Dance of the Frosty Sky," "Tsuifū," and "Jintō."
Simultaneously combining three Kidō sword techniques required a powerful physique and immense spiritual pressure as support, which was why Sora had to enter Bankai first to accomplish it.
After the frost wind giant appeared, a fierce gale raged throughout the entire shadow domain.
The surrounding rocks, plants, houses, and everything in sight seemed to lose the constraints of gravity, swept into the air by the violent frost wind.
Komamura was also lifted into the air by the gale; he was completely unable to resist such terrifying wind power.
He clung to a massive boulder flying through the air, lying flat on its surface.
He looked up at the frost wind giant at the center of the storm and was utterly shaken.
"This is the Professor's power?! I can't even stand by his side!!!" Komamura's heart was in turmoil.
Kyōraku and Ukitake had already released their Zanpakutō. Unaffected by the storm, they could stand firmly on the ground.
"This power is terrifying. Katori's strength is probably already above mine, isn't it?" Shunsui marveled.
Although he was one of the younger captains, he was still a pillar of the Gotei 13. Yet Katori Sora, who wasn't even a captain, was already displaying power no weaker than his own, which left him astounded.
"Is this Katori's Zanpakutō ability?" Ukitake hadn't seen Sora release his Zanpakutō much and was not very familiar with it.
"I don't think so. Katori's ability is to control shadows. This should be a Kidō sword technique he created," Shunsui said, recalling the techniques Sora had used when sparring with Old Man Yama.
"A Kidō sword technique... a move like this... is already enough to establish a new school of its own..." Ukitake sighed in admiration.
"Let's run! It's about to crash down! We need to get away from these Hollows!" Shunsui shouted.
Ukitake looked up and saw the frost wind giant raise its hands. The violent airflow intensified, and a longsword condensed from a tornado formed in its hands.
Shunsui and Ukitake quickly used Shunpo to get away from the group of bone-ringed Hollows.
After the frost wind longsword took form, it crashed down upon the group of Hollows.
They, along with the ground beneath them, were instantly swept up by the terrifying storm.
When the frost wind giant lifted its longsword again, the group of bone-ringed Hollows on the ground had vanished.
They were trapped within the tornado that formed the longsword.
Their bodies were torn apart by the violent hurricane, gradually disintegrating into ice shards and becoming part of the frost wind longsword itself.
When all the bone-ringed Hollows had been torn into ice shards, the violent frost storm gradually subsided.
The flying rocks, sand, and wood fragments in the air were all covered in a layer of ice.
After the storm died down, the objects in the sky began to fall, as if it were hailing.
"Getting hit by this would really hurt!" Shunsui hurriedly dodged the 'hailstones' falling from the sky.
Komamura also fell along with the 'hail'.
"It's clearly a hot summer, yet I'm experiencing a severe cold..." Komamura felt his horizons had been greatly expanded today.
Within Takezuna Jigyō's frost domain, it was as if everything was stationary; even the reishi was frozen.
The feeling was terrifying. Before he could even react, the reishi in his body had begun to cease moving. If his professor hadn't taken him away, his brain might have frozen solid.
In contrast, the technique his professor unleashed was a blizzard, so violent that it was difficult to find a foothold.
If it weren't for the wild spiritual pressure his professor provided, he wouldn't have been able to survive in that raging frost wind.
Komamura shuddered, shaking off the ice shards that had formed on his fur.
"Professor! What was that technique you just used?" Komamura asked excitedly. He hadn't forgotten that his professor had instructed him to watch carefully before making his move.
"This move is a combination of three Kidō sword techniques: 'Dance of the Frosty Sky,' 'Tsuifū,' and 'Jintō'. Let's call it 'Armor of Dust-Bound Frost Wind'."
"I have mastered several Kidō sword techniques. I will teach you some that are suited for you in the future," Sora said, thinking of Komamura's Bankai.
"Kidō sword techniques... I will definitely train diligently!" Komamura also loved such powerful and imposing moves.
"You rascal, you're already this strong and you still won't become a captain!" Shunsui said as he walked over.
"Indeed. With Katori's strength, he's more than qualified to be a captain," Ukitake said with a smile.
"I'd like to teach one more class of students. I plan to have Sajin enroll in the academy as well. I have many disciples in this upcoming class, and I wouldn't feel at ease leaving them to someone else," Sora said gently.
Although the list of new students was already finalized, it wouldn't be difficult for him to add a new student by just having a word with Ayane Kotetsu.
As a member of the Warewolf Clan, Komamura's knowledge of the Soul Society wasn't much better than that of a Rukongai resident. He would gain a lot from receiving a systematic education at the academy.
"Katori, you're quite responsible towards your students. He is truly fortunate to have a Professor like you!" Shunsui said with a smile, glancing at Komamura.
"It is my utmost honor to be Professor Katori's disciple!" Komamura nodded.
"Let's check on the battle outside," Sora said as he released his Bankai. The shadow space rapidly dissipated, and Kagehime returned to his hand.
Although Takezuna Jigyō was strong, they had absolute confidence in Yamamoto's power, which was why they had the leisure to chat just now.
Outside the shadow space, the battle between Yamamoto and Jigyō had also concluded.
As soon as they emerged, they were hit by a wave of heat.
The frost domain was gone, replaced by raging flames that incinerated everything.
Yamamoto Genryūsai stood tall amidst the burning ruins, holding Ryūjin Jakka.
Takezuna Jigyō lay on the ground, his entire body charred black, his skin split open, resembling a piece of charcoal.
"Whoa! Old Man Yama—are you trying to burn us to death?!" Although Shunsui was wearing shoes, the soles of his feet felt as if they were stepping directly on molten lava, causing him to hop around.
Their return caught Yamamoto's attention.
He turned his head slightly, and it was as if molten lava was churning in the depths of his pupils, exuding a terrifying might.
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