"What an arrogant fool. He actually dared to call Ichibē 'the monk' to his face. Hmph! He's about to learn a very painful lesson."
Ōetsu watched Kazuma's figure recede into the distance until it disappeared completely.
Their brief clash had earned Kazuma a measure of his respect, but that didn't mean he could tolerate such blatant disrespect.
Ichibē Hyōsube was no ordinary member of Squad Zero.
He was an existence from the same ancient era as the Soul King himself.
No one knew the true extent of Ichibē's strength, and almost no one had ever witnessed him fight seriously.
Ichibē's palace was also different from the other four palaces of Squad Zero.
Rather than surrounding the Soul King's Grand Palace, Shinmeiden stood directly beneath it, perpetually wrapped in a mysterious presence that made its secrets impossible to read from the outside.
Inside Shinmeiden, Ichibē sat motionless upon his throne with his eyes closed, resembling an ancient statue.
Even without opening them, the natural authority radiating from his body was enough to inspire fear and reverence in anyone who approached.
"Brazen intruder, have you come here to confess your crimes?"
Ichibē's voice wasn't loud, yet it carried an invisible weight that seemed to press down on the entire palace.
"Even if you are a captain of the Gotei 13, trespassing into the Soul King Palace is an unforgivable offense, regardless of your reasons."
Through his own methods, Ichibē had already learned everything that had happened.
He naturally assumed Kazuma had come to submit himself for judgment.
"Since you already know what happened, stop putting on that self-important act, Monk."
Kazuma was utterly unmoved.
He'd already come this far. Why would he suddenly be frightened of Ichibē now?
"Impudent!"
Ichibē hated being addressed so casually.
The last person who'd dared speak to him that way was still trapped in a long slumber.
His eyes snapped open, and his enormous hand shot toward Kazuma.
"You really don't know when someone is trying to be civil!"
Kazuma watched the huge palm rush toward him, sprang into the air, and answered with a flying kick straight out of an old hero show.
The two figures crossed past each other and landed with their positions reversed.
'He has some skill.'
'He truly has the strength to justify his arrogance.'
After that brief exchange, both silently gave the other a reasonably fair assessment.
As for why neither had drawn a blade yet, Kazuma still possessed some sense of martial courtesy.
Ichibē had attacked barehanded.
Drawing a Zanpakutō in response would have felt excessive — and, more importantly, rather embarrassing.
"Kazuma, was it?"
Ichibē turned toward him.
"If you willingly admit your wrongdoing and return to Soul Society to accept punishment, I will overlook your trespass into the Soul King Palace."
Despite Kazuma's attitude, Ichibē had developed an appreciation for his talent.
Very few Shinigami of this caliber had appeared in Soul Society over the past thousand years.
Ichibē had no desire to erase such a powerful fighter and needlessly weaken the Three Worlds.
In his mind, the offer was extraordinarily generous.
"Hahaha!"
Kazuma burst into laughter.
Had the monk truly just told him to return to Soul Society and turn himself in?
That was the funniest thing he'd heard all day.
"Hmph. A foolish youngster who doesn't know his place."
Seeing that Kazuma remained entirely unrepentant, Ichibē swung his enormous brush, deciding to teach him a lesson.
A huge character meaning Slash appeared in midair.
The written word turned into a cutting wave and shot straight toward Kazuma.
This was one of Ichimonji's abilities, letting Ichibē use written characters to produce effects resembling Kidō.
Kazuma calmly raised his Zanpakutō and deflected the attack.
The slash veered away from Shinmeiden and exploded in the air outside.
"Blacken, Ichimonji."
Ichibē swept his brush through the air.
Countless droplets of black ink sprayed from its tip and instantly covered Kazuma from head to toe.
It wasn't that Kazuma had been unable to dodge.
He'd simply had a sudden and foolish urge to test whether being struck by this technique would truly strip away his power.
Ichimonji cut names rather than flesh.
Anything touched by its black ink lost its name — and with it, its power.
The instant the ink covered him, Kazuma felt his reiatsu rapidly fading.
Even his connection to Hokushin Raitei weakened until it became little more than a distant thread.
The immortal power residing within his body, however, remained completely unaffected.
Kazuma immediately changed the way his internal energy circulated.
A vast, ancient presence erupted from his body like a volcano, powerful enough to shake all Three Worlds.
Just as he'd suspected, Ichimonji's influence was limited to people and objects operating through spiritual power within the Three Worlds.
The immortal power surging from Kazuma belonged to an entirely different order.
It resembled the boundless stars beyond the highest heavens — brilliant, immeasurable, and far above ordinary reiatsu.
The difference between the two was simply too great for Ichibē to erase so easily.
"H-How is that possible?"
Ichibē's eyes widened, and his mouth fell open in genuine disbelief.
He'd expected Ichimonji to strip Kazuma of his strength without difficulty.
Instead, not only had his technique failed to leave the man powerless, but Kazuma's presence had become even more terrifying than before.
For one brief moment, Ichibē felt as though he'd returned to the primordial age and was once again standing before the Soul King himself.
'Could this be the Soul King's power?'
Ichibē frowned deeply.
He knew exactly where the Soul King's scattered body parts had ended up and which individuals carried them.
Kazuma wasn't among them.
Yet the force erupting from him undeniably resembled the power of the Soul King, even though subtle differences remained between the two.
"Ptooey! Ptooey!"
Kazuma spat several mouthfuls of pitch-black ink onto the floor.
Ichibē's ink bath had failed to trap or weaken him.
All it had accomplished was leaving him drenched in black liquid.
...
"What's happening?"
The separate palaces beneath Hikifune Kirio, Nimaiya Ōetsu, and Shutara Senjumaru began trembling.
All three immediately turned toward Shinmeiden, recognizing it as the source of the disturbance.
At the same moment, vibrations spread through Hueco Mundo, Soul Society, and the World of the Living, though their intensity varied between realms.
"An earthquake?"
In the World of the Living, Kurosaki Isshin looked thoughtfully toward the sky, sensing that something about the disturbance was unusual.
"That brat has already reached this level?"
In Soul Society, Yamamoto opened his eyes inside the First Division captain's office, a sharp light flashing within them as he felt the tremors.
"Tsk. So this is your true power, Captain Kazuma?"
In Hueco Mundo, Aizen's anticipation grew even stronger.
The Hōgyoku embedded within his chest seemed to sense his desire.
A tremendous surge of energy poured from it and flooded his body, forcing his reiatsu past the boundary of the first tier in a single instant.
Kazuma, the culprit responsible for shaking all Three Worlds, remained completely unaware of the effect his burst of immortal power had caused.
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