Kazuma had never imagined the spiritual barriers protecting the Soul King Palace would hold such terrifying power.
After forcing his way through the seventy-first layer, the Hokushin Ryōiki around his body flickered like a candle flame in a storm, threatening to collapse at any moment.
The final barrier was no ordinary wall.
Its power was equal to the combined force of all seventy-one barriers before it.
'Damn it! The defenses around the Soul King Palace are completely insane!'
Kazuma gritted his teeth and kept charging forward without slowing.
'This can't go on. My reiatsu is draining faster and faster. I'm almost at my limit!'
No matter how hard he pushed, the final barrier refused to yield.
"Sun, moon, and stars — Raidō Kyūten!"
Brilliant light erupted from Kazuma's Zanpakutō as an enormous wave of reiatsu surged from his body.
The previously invisible spiritual barrier began trembling, and countless hairline fractures gradually appeared across its surface.
"BREAK!"
Kazuma swung his blade.
His violent reiatsu slammed into the barrier and exploded.
BOOM!
Thunder in the middle of a clear day was rarely a good sign.
...
"Enemy attack?!"
The members of Squad Zero were jolted out of their training and rest by the deafening explosion.
They exchanged stunned looks.
Who could possibly be bold enough to launch a direct assault on the Soul King Palace?
This was the holiest and most heavily guarded place in all of Soul Society.
"Has Yhwach returned already?"
Ichibē Hyōsube frowned deeply.
"The time should not have come yet…"
According to the expected sequence of events, Yhwach still needed more time before his full revival.
Had some unexpected development caused him to awaken early?
Ichibē's expression grew steadily graver.
If Yhwach truly attacked now, Kurosaki Ichigo hadn't yet grown powerful enough to oppose him.
Should Yhwach succeed in replacing the Soul King as the new ruler of the worlds, the consequences would be unimaginable.
As far as Ichibē was concerned, Yhwach was certainly not a suitable candidate to become the next Soul King.
Then he noticed something unusual.
Although the invading reiatsu was vast and violent, it was completely different from Yhwach's familiar presence.
Ichibē relaxed slightly.
It seemed he'd worried for nothing.
But that raised another question.
Who did this unfamiliar reiatsu belong to?
"Captain Kazuma?"
After the explosion, Hikifune Kirio recognized its owner.
It belonged to Kazuma, captain of the Gotei 13's Seventh Division.
She had no idea why he'd recklessly forced his way into the Soul King Palace, but at least he wasn't an enemy.
The tension in her heart gradually eased.
...
"Damn it. I'm injured again."
Although Kazuma had activated the Hokushin Ryōiki in time, the explosion had still wounded him.
The blast had come from the collision between his own power and the spiritual barrier, and the resulting shock wave was anything but weak.
His wounds from fighting the will of Hell had yet to fully heal, and now he'd hurt himself again.
His luck was truly awful.
For a veteran schemer who preferred staying hidden until conditions were perfect, being unable to keep himself at full strength was deeply worrying.
What if some terrifying enemy suddenly appeared now?
In his current condition, fighting them would be no different from volunteering to die.
The five members of Squad Zero were hardly known for their gentle tempers.
After the enormous disturbance he'd just caused, they'd unquestionably noticed his arrival.
Aside from Hikifune Kirio, with whom he had some history, the others might attack him without hesitation.
Kazuma quickly looked around, trying to work out which of Squad Zero's separate palaces he'd landed on.
Unfortunately, the explosion had left him dizzy and disoriented. He hadn't seen where he fell.
'Hopefully this is Kirio's Gatonden. At least then I could rest and recover for a while.'
Kazuma raised his head and stared at the vast, majestic palace floating high above.
That enormous structure was presumably the legendary palace where the Soul King was sealed away like a corpse in a coffin.
Was such strict security truly necessary?
The coffin was enormous. It wasn't as though it could grow legs and run away.
Were they afraid the Soul King might suddenly change his mind about staying dead and climb out one day?
The Soul King had once possessed power at the very peak of the Three Worlds.
Did someone like that genuinely need others to protect him?
Kazuma doubted it.
He suspected Squad Zero's true mission wasn't simply to guard the Soul King, but to watch him.
Whatever secrets lay behind that arrangement were probably known only to the monk who'd always stayed closest to the Soul King.
When the five great noble clans had united against the Soul King long ago, they had somehow left Ichibē untouched.
That alone was deeply suspicious.
There had to be some hidden truth behind it.
Still, none of that was Kazuma's immediate concern.
His first priority was finding Nimaiya Ōetsu and having Zabimaru repaired.
"Someone's coming."
Kazuma sensed a powerful reiatsu approaching at tremendous speed.
It wasn't Hikifune Kirio's familiar presence.
Who could it be?
"Hmm? That ridiculous pompadour…"
Kazuma narrowed his eyes at the rapidly approaching figure.
The newcomer had an outrageously tall hairstyle and a wooden stick clenched between his teeth.
Those distinctive features made his identity obvious.
Kirinji Tenjirō.
In that case, this had to be Kirinden.
"Who are you? How dare you trespass upon the Soul King Palace?!"
Tenjirō's furious roar carried from far away.
Squad Zero's duty was to eliminate anyone who intruded into the palace and remove every possible source of instability.
"Who the hell are you?"
Tenjirō arrived and examined the intruder more carefully.
The man wore a shihakushō and a captain's haori.
He was evidently a captain of the Gotei 13.
"Are you fucking blind?"
Kazuma's temper immediately exploded.
"Can't you see the captain's haori I'm wearing? If you're not going to use those eyes, feed them to a dog! Who the hell are you trying to intimidate with that act?"
He unleashed a stream of profanity without the slightest restraint.
Tenjirō had shouted at him as though Kazuma were some harmless pushover.
How many years had it been since anyone dared speak to him like that?
Who did Tenjirō think he was dealing with — Hello Kitty?
'Is he a captain from a younger generation?'
Tenjirō froze.
'Why is his temper so terrible? I only shouted one question. Did he really need to react this violently?'
It was the first time anyone had cursed him out so thoroughly.
How was he supposed to respond to that?
Tenjirō had also risen from the Gotei 13 into Squad Zero, but he couldn't remember ever hearing of a captain as arrogant and foul-mouthed as this man.
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