Even though Byakuya Kuchiki's words had briefly rekindled hope—making the Captains' eyes light up again, their gazes reigniting—
…the very next clip that played immediately plunged the audience into even deeper despair and pessimism!!!
At this moment—
On-screen.
Relying on absolute power, after completely grinding the solidified Crescent Cero into dust—
Soul King Yhwach rose to his feet.
And then, right in front of the camera, he revealed the truly horrifying posture of his Almighty—one that made people feel utterly hopeless!!!
"Boom…"
His aura erupted.
The air around him let out a thunderous roar.
Under the uneasy stares of audiences across the world—
the "all-seeing" eyes that had originally only existed as multi-pupiled eyes…
this time, they didn't just appear in Soul King Yhwach's two eyes.
Instead—
along with the surging tide of darkness,
they spread across his entire body.
One after another—eyes of different shapes and sizes—densely packed, grotesque, and terrifying—
huge eyeballs emerged all over him!
It was practically…
like copying something from the Naruto world—
Danzo's act of transplanting a mass of Sharingan into his arm!
Only—
Soul King Yhwach looked even more disgusting!
Like a monster that had completely blackened, making people's scalps go numb!!!
"Huh?!"
"This… this monster form is terrifying!"
"Is that really the 'His Majesty' we know?! He feels way too unfamiliar!"
"Looks like… if you want to become the Soul King and seize the entire Bleach world, you have to pay the price for it!!!"
At that moment—
even the pureblood Quincy—
after witnessing this scene with their own eyes—
even though they were extremely loyal to Yhwach and feared him—
still felt panic and terror rise from the bottom of their hearts!
Jugram Haschwalth, Gerard Valkyrie, Lille Barro, and the others…
all wore complicated expressions.
Some of them even took a step back unconsciously, reacting on instinct.
Even these closest confidants—
their reactions were uniformly the same: retreating.
They moved away from the transparent light-screen, frightened by the way Soul King Yhwach looked!
You could only imagine…
the blackened Soul King Yhwach had completely become a monster!!!
Meanwhile—
just as the entire Bleach world was thoroughly shrouded in fear—
on-screen,
Ichigo Kurosaki and Soul King Yhwach continued their close-quarters battle.
Power on the level of a Soul King—
kept colliding violently within the footage!!!
"Rumble—!!!"
A torrent of spiritual power slammed outward.
Inside True World Castle, the surrounding region—
all the buildings were obliterated in the blink of an eye!
The battlefield became a wasteland.
Broken walls and shattered ruins everywhere; countless grains of sand and debris swept up by the shockwaves!!!
However…
after being forced back yet again—
Ichigo, in his Hollowfied form with twin blades in hand, retreated backward—
and every time he stepped on the ground,
something eerie happened.
He would sink into one trap after another—
traps that had been buried in advance beneath the dark surging flow!
"Pshk—!!!"
Black spikes pierced through him.
Ichigo was injured, and his expression twisted with pain—
yet he couldn't dodge it at all!
As if every single step he took had already been calculated—
and every step would inevitably hit a trap!!!
"Damn it…"
"Traps everywhere?! What the hell is going on!!!"
Beneath those sharp horn-like protrusions,
Ichigo gritted his teeth, feeling it was unbelievably difficult to deal with.
And the moment those words were broadcast into the real world—
they instantly caused an uproar!
The audience felt even more horrified—and even less able to understand!!!
"???"
"What is going on…"
"Even Ichigo's every step has already been calculated?"
"Soul King Yhwach is really vicious! And his Almighty has become even more impossible to deal with!!!"
In the outskirts of Karakura Town—
at the Visoreds' base—
Shinji Hirako frowned hard, his head pounding.
This was ridiculous…
Not only was Yhwach invincible right now—
with power on the level of a Soul King—
but even his opponent's actions were already within his expectations, and he could even rewrite the future, adjusting and responding dynamically in advance!
This couldn't be described as "invincible" anymore.
It was cheating. It was hacking. It was using an exploit.
This had to be investigated!
Once Soul King Yhwach's "cheat" was activated, it was even more exaggerated than the protagonist halo itself!
Even standing at a god's-eye view—
watching from outside as a mere audience member—
Shinji Hirako included,
and also the other Visored Captains beside him—
everyone racked their brains, squeezing out every last brain cell—
and still couldn't find…
any weakness in the Almighty at all!
The feeling it gave them was—
unsolvable.
Truly, in the strictest sense of the word…
flawless!!!
"It's only Ichigo…"
"Relying on Zangetsu—on that already-awakened power that's merged into one!"
"—that he can possibly keep trading blows with Soul King Yhwach. If it were anyone else, they'd have died ten thousand times already, wouldn't they?"
Lisa Yadomaru clicked her tongue.
She couldn't help worrying about Ichigo.
One was the chosen child—
the savior acknowledged by audiences across the world!
The other—
was the dark Soul King—
the strongest evil villain the Bleach world had ever seen since the beginning of history!
If this just kept going…
in the end—
if Ichigo fought alone, one-on-one—
he was bound to be in extreme danger.
Right now,
he was being completely suppressed!!!
And then—
something even more shocking happened.
"Bang!!!"
A wound opened—
blood sprayed wildly.
For no reason at all—
even though Ichigo had just dodged a trap—
his Hollowfied figure,
after landing for only a moment—
was immediately grievously injured!
With no contact at all, he was suddenly drenched in blood from head to toe!
Such an eerie scene—
didn't just bring unknown fear—
it left the audience slack-jawed, startling them yet again!
Even—
Ichigo himself—
whether "now" or "in the future" shown on screen—
was equally struck speechless!!!
"Damn it…"
"This Almighty is far too troublesome!"
"It's like everything in the future… is being controlled by Soul King Yhwach however he pleases…"
In Karakura Town proper—
on a high school campus—
Ichigo gritted his teeth, staring at the injured "future him" on-screen, feeling the same stabbing pain in his chest.
"Yeah…"
Tatsuki Arisawa said gravely, "Ichigo… from start to finish, even after Hollowfying, the future you still clearly has no power to fight back!"
"This battle—and the future of the entire Bleach world—are just too despair-inducing!!!"
After saying that,
Tatsuki's eyes couldn't help dimming.
Even as Ichigo's friend—standing near the "protagonist" in the real world—
this kind of high-level battle…
still made Tatsuki feel how tiny she was.
To put it bluntly,
she wasn't even as significant as drifting sand or dust.
If it weren't for the ranking video, she wouldn't even be qualified to watch!
She wouldn't even be qualified to be crushed by the raging spiritual pressure!
That was the reality—
and it was despairing!!!
"…Sigh."
Yasutora Sado let out a heavy sigh.
He stood there like a wooden post, dazed and fearful.
Even though it had been revealed that—
in the future he would obtain Fullbring,
and his combat power wouldn't be low—
still…
after watching this battle,
Sado's mood sank like lead.
He even started doubting—
even if it was Ichigo, whom he trusted unconditionally—
could Ichigo really…
in the future…
defeat Soul King Yhwach?
Just imagining an ending like that—
Sado didn't even have the courage to fantasize about a good outcome!!!
Meanwhile—
as the entire world's atmosphere grew oppressive—
as the viewing mood was filled with despair—
a voice came out again, icy and emotionless:
"Ichigo…"
"You should be starting to understand now, shouldn't you?"
"What you call 'changing the future' is nothing more than jumping from one grain of sand to another."
"And I can stand at the highest point… and look down upon all grains of sand."
"I can see any and every possible future!!!"
Once again—
right in front of the camera—
Soul King Yhwach, arrogant and proud, explained clearly the concrete nature of his Almighty—an ability so absolute it was practically unsolvable.
He was only one step away from calling himself God—
the one who ruled the fate of all living beings!!!
"Damn it…"
"Don't tell me… that even us—whether it's the appearance of the ranking video, or our reactions as viewers right now—"
"—all of it has already been foreseen in advance by the future Soul King Yhwach?"
"Then… wouldn't everything from start to finish just be a game he's playing?"
Thinking that far—
the audience broke out in cold sweat.
They felt chills crawl up their spines.
Too terrifying.
No one could guarantee—
whether at this very moment, Soul King Yhwach was still peering into the future.
Or even that—
even after the ranking video appeared and the timeline had "changed"—
the final ending…
was still something he had already seen.
Still unchangeable—
still the original conclusion of the Thousand-Year Blood War.
"Mmph…"
"Against a power that has no solution…"
"Whether it's me, or the Eyed Monk… we truly cannot defeat Yhwach."
Inside the First Division.
The Captain-Commander lowered his eyes, his voice unusually subdued.
Even though the old man's personality—
wasn't someone who surrendered easily—
the gap between abilities was so vast that even he,
the Captain-Commander,
suddenly felt…
like an ordinary person.
Before the Almighty—
even the Zanpakuto said to possess the greatest offensive power, Ryujin Jakka,
became worthless!!!
"Old man…"
Below him,
Shunsui Kyoraku and Jushiro Ukitake, his two beloved disciples,
rarely seeing the Captain-Commander so powerless—
couldn't help feeling heartache.
And from the bottom of their hearts, they understood what he was feeling.
To watch helplessly—
to place all hope on Ichigo Kurosaki,
while being unable to do anything to protect Soul Society—
that was indeed a kind of torment for the Captain-Commander.
And what made it even more unbearable was—
right now, all the Shinigami Captains could do was watch Ichigo desperately fight back…
yet step by step, be driven into a corner with no way out—
falling into isolation, with no one to help!
There was nothing they could do.
All they could do was pray…
that a miracle would happen!!!
Immediately after that—
Soul King Yhwach once again tried to play "father."
After approaching Ichigo, he bared his teeth in a vicious grin and roared:
"Don't despair…"
"In this world, nothing is more painful to a father…"
"…than personally killing his despairing child!!!"
Those words—
completely enraged Ichigo.
"Rumble—!!!"
Ichigo's aura exploded.
As he gripped the hilts with force, fierce fighting spirit burst from his eyes.
And then—
he shouted the line the audience had been waiting for, for so long—
"Bankai—!!!"
With a low cry—
the screen shook.
The entire transparent light-screen trembled violently, as if it might explode at any second!
It couldn't bear it at all—
Zangetsu's Bankai…
and that was only the opening, the prelude to the radiance surging forth!!!
The moment this happened—
the viewing atmosphere instantly swept away the despairing gloom from before.
The audience's eyes lit up!
Everyone, thrilled beyond belief, stared wide-eyed!
Hearts pounding.
Adrenaline surging.
Countless gazes locked onto the screen—no one even dared to breathe!
All of them were waiting—
waiting to see Zangetsu's brand-new form after the Bankai was unleashed!!!
"Tsk, tsk, tsk…"
"Captain Aizen… we've finally made it. Zangetsu's Bankai!!!"
Inside Las Noches.
Gin Ichimaru narrowed his eyes, a fox-like smile curling at the corner of his mouth.
His emotions, too, rose with excitement.
And once again, he was filled with hope—
for Ichigo Kurosaki, and for Zangetsu.
Gin's instincts told him—
once Zangetsu released Bankai—
Soul King Yhwach would no longer be able to do whatever he wanted like just now!
He might even—
out of fear of the power of that "broken-blade king" Hollow—
try every possible way in the future to break this divine weapon in advance!
If a plot like that happened,
Gin wouldn't find it strange at all!
Because…
the current Ichigo—
even just in Hollowfied state—
already possessed combat power on the level of a Soul King!
If you stacked Bankai on top of that—
a multiplicative surge in power—
becoming overwhelmingly stronger—
then perhaps…
a complete reversal of the battle—
would start showing itself immediately!
On the cross-shaped throne above—
Aizen's expression, after hearing the word "Bankai,"
finally shifted.
He snapped to attention at once.
And with keen interest—
those black eyes were filled with anticipation:
"Gin… you're not wrong."
"After Bankai—once the power matches, or even surpasses his—"
"then Soul King Yhwach will no longer be flawless."
"He'll… begin to reveal his own openings."
"And then, as long as you seize a single opportunity—"
"I believe Zangetsu's Bankai…"
"…can kill him in one strike!!!"
As a "teammate"—
as Ichigo's helper in the final battle—
Aizen, relying on instinct alone, already sensed victory drawing close.
(End of Chapter)
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