The four planets Tsunayoshi had fired out rapidly expanded, then collapsed. Four black holes appeared at the four corners of the ritual, using their gravitational pull to quickly absorb the four kinds of power Inaba had released.
A gap was torn open. Yoruichi immediately shot through it. Inaba had no time to worry about the destruction Tsunayoshi had caused. Gritting his teeth, he personally blocked Yoruichi's path.
At this moment, Inaba had no time to spin his Zanpakutō. He could only forcibly use Raikū to clash with Yoruichi. The result proved that without the power of his Zanpakutō, his strength was nothing worth looking at. He was knocked back by a single punch from Yoruichi.
While Inaba was still dispersing the force of Yoruichi's attack, Yoruichi had already arrived in front of the fake Nemu. She raised her leg and launched a whip kick toward the fake Nemu.
Who would have thought that the fake Nemu's left hand would suddenly rotate, transforming into a high-speed drill? Completely unafraid of Yoruichi's attack, she thrust the hand drill upward.
A faint explosive sound rang out. Yoruichi was forced to withdraw from the ritual's range, and the fake Nemu's utterly emotionless voice sounded at the same time.
"Mr. Inaba, please do not interfere with me if you do not wish the ritual to fail."
The left hand she had used to clash with Yoruichi could no longer move, but the fake Nemu seemed to feel nothing at all. She simply continued her preparations with her right hand.
After exchanging a blow with the fake Nemu, Yoruichi finally began to take Nemu Kurotsuchi's strength seriously. Even though Nemu had never really displayed her combat ability, she was still someone who held the rank of lieutenant. Her strength far surpassed that of a Shinigami like Inaba, who could not make it in a combat division.
Inaba's face alternated between red and blue. He had never imagined that a Modified Soul he had created would turn around and scold him. Yet he could not find any reason to refute her. Everything the fake Nemu was doing was for the sake of his ritual.
A trace of madness flashed through Inaba's eyes.
It seemed he still had to take the final step.
This body could no longer be kept.
Inaba's Reiatsu went berserk. At this moment, he was just like those Modified Souls who fought desperately at the final moment, using his body in exchange for a short-term rise in his Reiatsu's upper limit.
Raikū spun wildly in Inaba's hand like an electric fan. One sealed space after another was released by him. Kidō, Zanjutsu, Bankai—every kind of attack was unleashed by Inaba.
Inaba no longer cared what technique he was using. He simply released every technique he had ever sealed in one breath, from single-digit Hadō spells to the captains' attacks, throwing them all at Yoruichi in one chaotic flood.
Using quantity to make up for quality sounded nice, but this kind of tactic was completely useless against Yoruichi. Her terrifying Shunpo speed alone allowed her to ignore the vast majority of the attacks. The only ones that could pose a threat to her were the captains' attacks.
And Yoruichi with Shunkō activated possessed combat strength that was in no way inferior to a captain using Bankai. Not to mention that Inaba's attacks did not even have proper aim. They posed no real threat to Yoruichi at all.
Yoruichi's advance merely slowed slightly, but she still looked as though she were strolling leisurely through a garden.
"Let's go help!" Ichigo suggested.
"Ganging up on an opponent who can seal other people's power is not a good idea, Ichigo. We should stop the thing he's trying to protect."
As Uryū spoke, he had already drawn his Heilig Pfeil. A rain of light traced an extremely long arc and descended toward the ritual.
"Damn it!"
Inaba gritted his teeth and spun his Zanpakutō toward the sky. A large number of small fry they had never seen before emerged from the sealed spaces, blocking the attack for the all-important ritual.
"Damn you, Tsunayoshi Sawada! Damn you, Ichigo Kurosaki!"
Inaba had already become somewhat deranged. He cursed the two of them without restraint. Originally, he had wanted to use their Reishi to create Modified Souls, but for some reason, he had been unable to produce any finished products. Instead, two pieces of equipment had exploded.
Failing to gain anything from that was bad enough, but these two had also become key members in defeating him. Especially Tsunayoshi Sawada. Inaba dared say that without Tsunayoshi Sawada, he would have already fused with Nozomi Kujō.
While Inaba raged helplessly, Yoruichi had already arrived in front of him. Just as she was about to finish off this madman with a punch, a leg wearing clothing extremely similar to hers emerged from one of the sealed spaces.
As it turned out, Inaba had somehow happened to release the space containing the fake Yoruichi. It was also a Shunkō attack. The fake Yoruichi shattered at the slightest touch, but the real Yoruichi still inevitably paid the price and was forced back by Inaba once again.
Having gained the upper hand with a single move, Inaba spun his Zanpakutō even faster. On the surface, it seemed as though he intended to use even more power to completely defeat Yoruichi. In truth, only he himself knew that there were not many sealed spaces left. He had to take down one person as quickly as possible to intimidate the rest.
However, Inaba did not notice that a small sphere had quietly flown beneath his feet.
It was a small planet Tsunayoshi had deliberately sent after Yoruichi.
Now that Yoruichi had been knocked back, Inaba had failed to notice this little sphere. It was time for it to play its role.
The small planet suddenly shot upward. In front of Inaba, it expanded to the size of a watermelon and slammed straight into his twisted face, violently knocking him into the air.
At that moment, Tsunayoshi seized the opportunity. Using the power of Earth Flames, he threw out four black holes. These black holes had a special gravitational enhancement and were positioned around Inaba, directly fixing him in midair.
Super Gravity BH.
A technique used by Enma Kozato to control enemies.
Inaba was somewhat dazed. After taking a heavy blow to the head, he could not clear his mind immediately. He could only allow his Zanpakutō to continue unsealing the remaining spaces.
"Nozomi Kujō, raise your Zanpakutō!" Tsunayoshi suddenly said.
"Huh?"
Nozomi failed to react for a moment, but the companions who had spent a long time with Tsunayoshi immediately understood what he meant.
Tatsuki nodded to Nozomi with complete confidence, then held her hand and raised Arazome Shigure high.
"Nozomi, hold on tight. Getsuga Tenshō!"
Ichigo did not hold back at all. Wearing his horned Hollow mask, he swung a crimson Getsuga Tenshō wrapped in darkness toward Nozomi Kujō.
And it was not just Ichigo. Uryū also smiled and fired an arrow at Arazome Shigure. Because of the distance, Chad could only use his Right Arm of the Giant to launch a Reiatsu punch at Arazome Shigure.
Yoruichi and Tatsuki simultaneously mobilized the power of Shunkō and unleashed their own attacks toward Arazome Shigure as well.
Back when they were training Nozomi Kujō, everyone had already figured out Arazome Shigure's ability. It could convert all Reiatsu attacks into its user's own Reiatsu.
That was why Ichigo and the others could attack Nozomi without hesitation. These were not attacks.
They were charging it.
They were charging Arazome Shigure.
At this moment, Nozomi also understood. Tsunayoshi wanted her to be the one to end Kagerōza Inaba.
Her dark bond with the past would be severed by her own hands.
Nozomi pressed her lips together and forcibly maintained the Reiatsu within her Zanpakutō. A vast amount of Reiatsu poured into Arazome Shigure, already reaching the limit of what she could endure.
A gigantic pink ringed cross shot straight into the sky. Arazome Shigure's radiance resembled the moment a Quincy released a Schrift. The enormous cross stood like a marker, drawing the eyes of everyone nearby.
Seeing that enormous Arazome Shigure, Inaba finally came back to his senses. He hurriedly tried to use Raikū's power to seal the black holes around him, but it was already too late. Four more black holes flew over from Tsunayoshi's side, creating an all-directional seal.
As for using Raikū's power to seal Arazome Shigure?
Inaba could not do it.
Arazome Shigure and Raikū both originated from a single blade called Sōgyoku. The two shared the same root and source. On top of that, Inaba's body had been fixed in place. It seemed he could only face Arazome Shigure, which contained terrifying Reiatsu, head-on.
Seeing Inaba's face turn pale, Nozomi could not help feeling a little satisfaction.
With this strike, she would cut herself off from the past.
She would begin a life that belonged to her.
The pink radiance finally fell upon Inaba. There was no explosion. No collision.
It was just that simple.
Inaba was completely swallowed by Arazome Shigure's power.
At that moment, the fake Nemu, who had been busy all this time, stopped moving. She raised her head, and a reagent slid into her palm. This fake Nemu was even more like a machine than the real Nemu. What she had to execute was the contingency plan for Inaba's defeat.
A small portion of the Modified Soul inside the fake Nemu suddenly shattered. She erased part of her own soul and converted that portion into high-density Reiatsu, storing it in her still-intact right hand.
The instant Arazome Shigure's power came into contact with Inaba, the fake Nemu raised her hand and compressed that portion of Reiatsu together with the reagent in her palm, firing it as a high-density Reiatsu bullet.
Gikon Jūrinjū.
One of Nemu Kurotsuchi's rare powerful long-range attacks, but one that used the soul as its price.
Pink light became the dominant color of the Nest of Maggots. Only after a long while did everyone's vision finally return to normal.
Joy appeared on Nozomi Kujō's face.
Just as she had thought, Kagerōza Inaba had disappeared. He had died under her attack. From this moment onward, she no longer had to live in fear.
Tatsuki was just as delighted. She immediately hugged Nozomi and said, "That's great…"
"Something's wrong…"
Before Tatsuki could finish speaking, she heard Tsunayoshi suddenly speak.
Unlike Tatsuki and the others, Tsunayoshi's face showed no joy at all. The situation at the scene was far too strange. A Reiatsu attack as powerful as Arazome Shigure had not caused any destruction to the surrounding area. Even more importantly, in the place where Inaba had been, there was now a familiar red pill floating in the air.
A figure swept past.
The fake Nemu, who had long since prepared herself, collected the Modified Soul pill. Tsunayoshi's guess was correct. The situation here had been guided entirely by Inaba.
Kagerōza Inaba, who had originally been a researcher, had prepared two plans long ago.
The first was that he successfully defeated everyone.
The second was that he failed and was defeated by his enemies instead.
What the fake Nemu executed was the second contingency plan. The reason he chose her as the executor was because the fake Nemu had completely copied Nemu Kurotsuchi's mechanical personality, allowing her to carry out Inaba's plan in the most complete way.
The instant Inaba was defeated, the fake Nemu injected the special reagent into his body. This reagent allowed Inaba to abandon his existing flesh and condense his Reiatsu into a Modified Soul pill.
And when he received Arazome Shigure's attack, Inaba had not been completely inactive either. Although Raikū could not seal Arazome Shigure's power, it could seal other things.
Inaba sealed the space around himself, preventing Arazome Shigure's power from spreading to the ritual below him. As for Inaba himself, he calmly accepted his own "death" afterward.
With the fake Nemu's actions, everyone understood that the incident was not over yet.
Just as they prepared to move again and stop the fake Nemu, the ritual suddenly erupted with blood-red light.
The fake Nemu stuffed the Modified Soul pill she had seized into the mouth of Ōko Yushima, that living corpse.
◇ BONUS & SUPPORT ◇
◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 10 reviews — drop a comment!
◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ Read 70 chapters ahead on P@treon → patreon.com/Sagamaster789