"Damn it…"
"So it's the four of us who ended up being Kurosaki Ichigo's opponents this time?"
"Isn't that obviously just the author setting us up as disposable cannon fodder… specifically to show off Dual-Blade Zangetsu?!"
At that moment—
In Silbern, inside the Ice Crystal Palace.
As one of the people involved, the Sternritter whose Schrift was "P," and whose power manifested as thunder—Candice Catnipp—
Under her emerald-green long hair,
Her brows were tightly furrowed, her face full of fear.
Even though—
Relying on her Schrift,
She had called down an enormous bolt of lightning from the sky, blasted Kenpachi Zaraki straight into the ground, and defeated that savage man!
One of the "Five Special War Powers" was left grievously injured, completely unable to fight, barely clinging to life!
For a while, it had made Candice feel incredible—an overflowing sense of accomplishment!
But…
She didn't even get to enjoy it for long.
The moment Ichigo's figure appeared—now wearing an entirely new outfit—descending from the sky and arriving in time—
Candice's blood ran cold.
New gear. New look… just seeing Ichigo's brand-new "build" made one thing obvious about the battle to come—
He absolutely wasn't going to lose.
If you want to exaggerate it a bit, even if the opponent were swapped out for Yhwach right now—
Dual-Blade Zangetsu would still win!
That kind of plot formula…
All you can say is: if you know, you know.
And as one of the viewers, Candice naturally knew it too!!!
"Hmph…"
"Knowing the opponent was Kurosaki Ichigo—and his Dual-Blade Zangetsu…"
"When I knocked Kenpachi Zaraki down with one punch just now, I should've immediately used that chance to sell out my teammates and run…"
On the other side, another "involved party"—
A Sternritter with Schrift "P," symbolizing pure physical strength, with fiery, sexy long wavy hair—
And a bust so huge even the uniform couldn't hide it—Meninas McAllon—
Kept groaning with regret.
Facing Dual-Blade Zangetsu, she didn't think selling out teammates was shameful at all.
If anything, she thought—
Whoever runs slow is the idiot.
As for "besties linking arms and dying together"?
Sorry!
That kind of stupid thing!
It would only interfere with her throwing hands!!!
"Heh…"
"Shut up, you four punching bags."
When it comes to dealing with women,
You still need the arrogant Valkyrie.
As the Soul King's heart, and someone who had always looked down on everyone, he naturally didn't put Candice and the others in his eyes at all.
He only gave a cold reminder:
"In a four-on-one…"
"Even if you can't beat Kurosaki Ichigo, at least cause him enough trouble."
"Otherwise, if it ends too quickly, it'll be far too embarrassing… and the Sternritter won't tolerate any trash!!!"
The threat was blatant—98% obvious.
Valkyrie's gaze turned nasty as he deliberately intimidated them.
In any case—
Because what came next
Was the first battle after Dual-Blade Zangetsu's birth,
It was inevitably going to be watched by countless people—every viewer on the planet focused on it.
Even if they lost to the protagonist,
Valkyrie still wanted the women to lose with at least a shred of dignity.
Otherwise…
The "gold content" of the Sternritter's reputation as elites
Would just keep dropping and dropping—until they were basically a roadside mutt!!!
———
Back to the video.
"Ow… headache. I overshot a bit, didn't I…"
Just as Candice and the others
Were still standing in place, talking strategy and preparing to defend and engage—
They didn't expect that—
Even though Ichigo had only just landed right in front of them,
His figure had, in an instant, already slipped past all four.
He went straight to the cracked ruins ahead,
Looking down from above, staring at Kenpachi Zaraki—
His whole body nearly charred black, still barely breathing.
And that sudden flash-step—
Especially the pressure of Ichigo's aura, naturally leaking out from within him—
Not only made the viewers' eyes light up,
It also forced the four female pure-blood Quincy to retreat at once, suppressing them with sheer presence.
"So strong…"
"Even at captain-class strength, at this close range, you still can't track Kurosaki Ichigo's movement anymore?"
"The fight hasn't even started and the aura is already maxed out! Dual-Blade Zangetsu really has status!!!"
The viewers erupted in amazement again.
Their anticipation shot up immediately from that single moment.
They grew even more excited—
Waiting for Dual-Blade Zangetsu to be drawn… for that grand scene of overwhelming power to explode onto the screen!!!
"Kenpachi…"
"I'm here to save you… can you still stand?"
Facing the camera,
Ichigo showed white teeth in a grin. The Ōken cloak on his back snapped loudly in the wind.
His bearing was pleasing to the eye—once again showing the presence of a king.
But…
Next,
Kenpachi Zaraki's response
Officially pulled back the curtain on the battle—
"Tch…"
"What kind of stupid thing are you saying…"
"Ichigo… instead of me, worry about yourself first!"
Kenpachi's eyes were half-closed.
Lying in the cracked ruins, he said it with a feral grin.
Then—
In the next second,
The camera spun violently, snapping to Ichigo's back.
"Bzzzt—bzzzt—bzzzt!"
Blinding electricity crackled.
Green hair whipped through the air as Candice unleashed her Schrift again, launching a sneak attack!
"Huh?"
"I'm the one leading the charge?"
"Seriously?! That kind of obvious sneak attack—only an idiot would fall for that!"
In the real world,
Under her military cap, Candice's expression froze—staring in shock.
She hadn't expected her future self to be this aggressive!
Not running was bad enough—she actually tried to sneak attack?!
Backstabbing—
That's something only Aizen would be truly good at!
Her future self—
Wasn't that basically walking up and handing over her head?
Sure enough.
Candice's bad feeling was spot on.
Just as that massive blue lightning was about to hit—
Ichigo calmly turned around.
Then, with a sidestep—his cloak whipping along with the motion—his body twisted with effortless grace, flipping up into position above her.
After that—
He slammed a hand down on Candice's arm.
In her utterly stunned gaze, he flung her—along with all that lightning—
Like he was tossing garbage.
He smashed her hard into the pile of buildings behind them—
BOOM!!!
A massive explosion erupted at once.
The entire screen—the whole video—was instantly swallowed by shockwaves and smoke.
Candice's figure vanished into it!!!
The moment this scene was revealed
And transmitted into the real world through the ranking video—
It caused an immediate uproar!
Every viewer was dazzled by the overwhelming combat power Ichigo displayed bare-handed!!!
"So strong…"
"Captain Soi Fon, Kurosaki Ichigo's Hakuda (hand-to-hand) looks even stronger than yours!"
"As expected—after the Squad Zero special training in the Royal Palace, even empty-handed he's practically invincible!!!"
Inside the First Division,
Marechiyo Ōmaeda's eyes bulged behind his glasses as he praised with envy.
And—
As a rich second-generation brat,
He even felt jealous, wishing he could be like Ichigo one day!
Someday,
On the world stage,
Throw himself into battle, showing off his strength and charm to the fullest.
Of course—
Ōmaeda definitely couldn't do it.
So for now, all he could do was fantasize and self-insert.
But what he'd just said
Made Soi Fon's expression sour:
"Tch… Ōmaeda, you idiot. If you can't talk, then shut your damn mouth!"
"Something that obvious doesn't need you to 'remind' anyone!"
Even though Soi Fon snapped at him
And frowned in annoyance,
She still had to admit Ōmaeda wasn't wrong.
From what had just happened—
If it were her in that situation,
At best she could've dodged cleanly in that instant.
But there was no way she could do what Ichigo did—
A sharp, bare-handed counterattack!
Empty-handed.
Crushing a captain-class opponent.
That kind of result was truly brutal.
You couldn't help but respect it!!!
———
After that,
The same kind of scene happened again and again.
Whether it was Liltotto, Meninas, or Giselle…
All three ended up the same as Candice.
One after another, they were all sent flying by Ichigo's fists!
Their Wandenreich-uniformed figures
Crashed through building after building mid-flight, and finally vanished into dust and shockwaves!
And the first clash—
Ended just like that, with absolutely no suspense.
It was so fast
It was like a fifty-year-old man finishing the job in a blink—
Before the viewers even had time to start feeling the "high,"
It was already over!!!
———
"Tch…"
"That's it? They got flattened already?"
"The Sternritter are getting more and more watered down…"
"With trash women like that, honestly—I could do it too!!!"
In Las Noches,
Nnoitra bared his teeth,
Sneering layer after layer of contempt.
After all—
Back at the very beginning, when the ranking video first appeared—
Because of the mystery,
Because their abilities and true nature had never been exposed before—
The Wandenreich's elites,
Especially the Sternritter,
Had once brought massive pressure—so much that viewers across the world felt fear the moment they saw them.
Even the Arrancar were no exception.
So at this moment, Nnoitra couldn't wait to be the first to jump out and mock them.
At the very least—
No matter what else you said,
Those few punches just now completely shattered the "filter" everyone had put on pure-blood Quincy elites.
From this moment on—
Not just Nnoitra.
The Hollows and Arrancar around him also stopped fearing the Sternritter even a little.
Their mindset reversed completely!!!
"Heh…"
"It was only four. That's still nowhere near enough."
Grimmjow shoved his hands in his pockets and continued the mockery:
"At least double the number before you can force Kurosaki Ichigo to draw his blade, right?"
And then—
Just as Grimmjow finished speaking,
The ranking video fast-forwarded again.
In a "multiplied" fashion,
It continued revealing the battle!!!
After that—
When the smoke and shockwaves finally dispersed…
"…"
Candice and the other four were clearly unwilling to accept it. After each releasing their full power, they tried to start another round of rotating assaults!
However—
What nobody expected was—
All of a sudden, four pillars of flame shot from the ground straight into the sky!
Caught completely off guard,
They pierced through Liltotto, Giselle, and the others—blasting them down from the air!
And—
Several more figures of pure-blood Quincy appeared as well, joining the battlefield!
In terms of numbers,
It instantly became eight versus one!
Surrounding Kurosaki Ichigo from every angle—an all-direction, no-blind-spot encirclement!!!
"Holy—what?!"
"Eight captain-class fighters appearing at once? That lineup is basically half the Gotei 13!"
Inside Urahara's shop,
Kurosaki Isshin's jaw dropped. He couldn't help sweating nervously.
He never would've guessed it…
To hype Dual-Blade Zangetsu's dominance in one go,
The video's author actually arranged the plot like this!
It was absurd.
It even had that flavor—like back in Fake Karakura Town, when the Visored and the captains surrounded Aizen.
"Heh…"
Urahara Kisuke froze for a moment.
Then he wore his frivolous smile again:
"Isshin-san… isn't that even better?"
"If he cuts all of them down at once…"
"Then Ichigo's 'save the world' quest bar is basically halfway cleared on the spot!"
"Eight versus Ichigo… for him, that should be no pressure at all, right?"
Urahara narrowed his eyes, carefully studying Ichigo's face on the screen.
And he found that—
From start to finish, Ichigo's expression didn't change. Even while surrounded,
Under his orange bangs, he remained calm and unhurried.
It was like he was taking a stroll on the battlefield, only coincidentally running into a few passersby.
That kind of top-tier mentality—
Even Urahara had to give a thumbs-up in admiration.
At the very least—
If it were him,
Unless he used his big trump card on the spot to dissolve the situation,
He'd still find it tricky, and his expression would change.
Compared like that,
It only made Ichigo's near-perfect aura as a powerhouse—upgraded by his new strength—
Stand out even more!!!
But—
Right at that moment,
Another unexpected twist happened again!!!
This time,
The camera suddenly pulled far back.
It shifted the view to the distance, where an enormous blue pillar of reishi erupted from the ground!
While radiating blinding light,
It took up nearly a third of the screen.
And—
Through a close-up,
The viewers could clearly see it:
Yhwach, Jugram Haschwalth, and Uryu Ishida were all standing inside that massive pillar—
Obviously preparing to use it
To ascend from the outside into the Soul King's space!!!
"Hm?"
"So that's it…"
The Captain-Commander frowned, eyes flashing as realization hit.
"It's because of the 'Ōken' clothing on Kurosaki Ichigo."
"When he came down to the lower level, it opened a breach…"
"So Yhwach seized that chance, and used the power of the pure-blood Quincy to invade and ascend into the Royal Palace!"
Originally—
Even earlier,
The Captain-Commander had wondered:
Exactly when, and by what method…
Did Yhwach and his guards manage to reach the Royal Palace?
Now the truth was finally clear—
Though it was a bit awkward.
Because it turned out…
It was because of Kurosaki Ichigo.
Sure, he'd just fought like crazy—first beating down those "female-fist" women, then immediately preparing to go one against eight!
Holding Dual-Blade Zangetsu, answering the rotating assaults!
But no matter how you cut it—
It was because of his "assist"
That Yhwach was able to reach the Royal Palace, and all the later events unfolded.
So next—
To make up for it,
Ichigo—and his Dual-Blade Zangetsu—
Would have to defeat Yhwach head-on
Inside the Soul King's bedchamber!!!
(End of Chapter)
[200 Power Stones = 1 Extra Chapter]
[Check out my Patreon to read 20+ chapters ahead]
[[email protected]/Zukooo]
[Thanks for your support!]