Chapter 407

2-in-1 chapter:  

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In the first clash, Gin Ichimaru didn’t hesitate to switch tactics.

Since he couldn’t win head-on, he would exploit Shinso’s special properties combined with his speed to suppress Ichigo Kurosaki!

Even if Ichigo’s attack power was overwhelming, as long as Gin avoided direct confrontation, he still had a chance to win!

With that thought, he flickered, disappearing from where he stood.

In an instant, he flashed around Ichigo over a dozen times.

Seeing no reaction from Ichigo, he extended his short blade forward, pointing it at the figure standing on the field.

Shoot to kill, Shinso!!

A silver flash pierced the hundred-meter distance instantly, striking toward Ichigo’s back.

This thrust was impossibly fast.

Even Byakuya Kuchiki could only judge the direction of Shinso’s strike by observing Gin’s movements—his eyes alone couldn’t track it.

As expected, the outcome would soon be decided!

But just as Byakuya thought this, he was stunned to see Ichigo shift his oversized cleaver behind his back.

Clang!

Shinso’s blade struck the side of the cleaver, scattering sparks.

Gin didn’t react outwardly.

Instead, he accelerated again.

His speed was so extreme that the afterimages surrounding Ichigo seemed almost solid.

These afterimages all pointed their Zanpakutō at Ichigo simultaneously.

Slash!

Silver light slashed at Ichigo from five directions at once!

But just as the strikes were about to land, Ichigo suddenly vanished.

“Huh?”

Rangiku Matsumoto, serving as referee, looked surprised.

While moving at high speed through the air, Gin suddenly sensed something and turned his head.

His pupils contracted instantly.

At some point, Ichigo’s figure had appeared right next to him!

Moreover, he was next to every one of Gin’s afterimages!

While Gin’s afterimages were still slightly blurred, each of Ichigo’s “afterimages” looked solid and present.

Looking at Gin, all the Ichigos spoke at once:

“From your tactics just now, you must think I’m better at frontal combat.”

“In fact… it’s the opposite. Compared to power, I excel more at speed.”

“And, seeing that last move of yours reminded me of something.”

Ichigo’s gaze turned cold.

“One of the people who ‘abducted’ Kaelith before… that was you, wasn’t it?”

At those words, Gin’s face shifted subtly as he remembered something.

Seeing his reaction, Ichigo grinned—a slightly terrifying smile.

“Even if you were just cooperating with Kaelith’s little play, those two stabs you gave me back then were quite real.”

“Come on, Gin, let’s settle that score now!”

Under the watchful gaze of Byakuya and Rangiku, Ichigo erupted with terrifying power and, in less than ten seconds, had completely suppressed Gin Ichimaru.

With a figure falling from the sky and crashing into the ground with a boom, the match was decided.

Watching Gin struggle to get up, Byakuya fell into deep thought.

Gin’s strength was not something that could be compared to captains like Muguruma Kensei or Love Aikawa.

This man was a true powerhouse—tested personally by Byakuya himself.

In spiritual pressure, Zanjutsu, Hakuda, Hohō, and Kidō, as well as the ability of his Zanpakutō, Gin ranked solidly in the upper echelon among captains.

And yet… such a strong opponent had been utterly dominated and defeated by Ichigo Kurosaki with ease…

As a fellow descendant of the Five Great Noble Families, Byakuya couldn’t accept that he was inferior!

Taking a deep breath, he stepped onto the field.

A few minutes later, Ichigo sheathed his oversized cleaver.

Looking at the beaten and bruised Byakuya lying on the ground, Ichigo grinned:

“Not bad. Your ability is lacking, but your resolve is acceptable.”

“When you get stronger, come challenge me again.”

With that, and amid the cheers of the Sixth Division members, Ichigo headed toward the captain’s office.

After a fight, it was time to handle the Sixth Division’s paperwork.

Just thinking about it made his head ache.

Why… why did a school freshman like him have to suffer through handling official duties?

No, he had to find someone to help!

After a few seconds of thought, his gaze slowly turned toward Byakuya, who was still lying on the ground, not fully recovered.

While mentally reviewing the battle just now for future use, Byakuya suddenly sensed a gaze filled with malicious intent.

He followed that feeling and saw Ichigo looking at him with a wicked smile…

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“Yo! Ichigo!”

Upon hearing that his dear younger brother had come to Soul Society, Kaien Shiba was in high spirits.

Upon getting the news, he immediately rushed to the Sixth Division.

But upon pushing open the door to the captain’s office and seeing the scene inside, he fell silent......Poor Bastrad it seemed like Kaelith's antics had also rubbed off on Ichigo.

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For a long time, Seireitei had been a symbol of calm and severity.

Here, rules were paramount, and people’s movements resembled machines, running along the same track day after day.

Because of this, Shinigami often had little sense of time.

A day passed this way; so did a year.

Ten years, a hundred years—it was all much the same.

Even though Kaelith had seized power… ahem, temporarily taken the reins, Seireitei had gained a number of new protocols, but those mostly concerned politics.

Aside from the nobles who were jumping up and down in anxiety, most Shinigami didn’t care much.

But recently, something had caught their attention.

Captain Shiba’s son, at just twelve years old, had successively defeated two captains: Gin Ichimaru and Byakuya Kuchiki!

And not only that—after the fights, it was said that Lord Ichigo Kurosaki had dragged Byakuya back to his office and done something unknown.

In any case, according to rumors, when Captain Kuchiki left the Sixth Division, he looked utterly exhausted and staggered with every step.

It was frightening.

Whatever happened, Ichigo Kurosaki’s name had become thoroughly established.

At first, many had doubts about how such a young Shinigami could be so powerful.

Until someone provided an explanation—

Ichigo Kurosaki was a disciple of Captain Kaelith.

Upon hearing this, the doubters all understood.

Ah… that explained everything!

The son of Captain Shiba, a disciple of Captain Kaelith, and able to easily crush two captains.

With this triple buff, Ichigo wasn’t met with prejudice for being from the living world—instead, he gained quite a few fans.

That year, many new recruits chose to join the Eleventh Division because of Ichigo Kurosaki.

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Hitsugaya Tōshirō: “?”

Reading the report, he couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow.

Never mind that Ichigo Kurosaki didn’t even hold a formal position in the Gotei 13—but even if they forcefully gave him one, shouldn’t it have been with our Sixth Division?

What were these foolish students thinking, joining the Eleventh Division?!

Perplexed, he went to investigate at the Shino Academy recruitment office.

After his investigation, he felt like he’d been hit with a wave of despair as he saw Rangiku Matsumoto sitting at the registration desk, wearing sunglasses and sitting under a giant parasol.

Beside her were several signs introducing various senior figures of the Eleventh Division.

At the top were portraits of Kaelith and Ichigo Kurosaki.

“Matsumoto Third Seat!!!”

Tōshirō was furious.

Rangiku jumped slightly, then quickly composed herself.

She stood up:

“Hmph, what brings the noble Fourth Seat of the aristocratic Sixth Division here?”

Tōshirō angrily pointed at the nearby signs:

“How is it that the son of my Sixth Division captain has become recruitment material for your Eleventh Division?!”

Rangiku crossed her arms proudly:

“And how is it wrong for the disciple of our Eleventh Division captain to serve as recruitment material?”

She raised an eyebrow:

“If you’re not satisfied, why not have your captain come settle it?”

Tōshirō’s vision darkened.

If that idiot captain weren’t off enjoying himself in the living world, would he have to worry about this at all?

In his frustration, a thought suddenly struck him.

Why not… overthrow his superior and take command himself?

If he took down the captain, he would become the new leader.

At that point, the Sixth Division would surely see a complete revival!

The more he thought about it, the more feasible it seemed.

As Rangiku watched curiously, Tōshirō’s expression grew grave as he turned and walked away.

He needed to carefully plan how to topple his captain.

The captain’s element was fire, while his was ice—they didn’t strictly counter each other.

The outcome would depend entirely on individual skill!

“Captain… just you wait. Once I take your position, I will issue an order to severely punish all lazy dogs!”

Inwardly, Tōshirō began formulating his dark and evil plan…

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In the midst of darkness, in a silent space, Yhwach lay quietly on a stone bed.

Around him, numerous spheres of light revolved in orbit.

From time to time, a batch of light spheres would suddenly fly forward, as if summoned, and merge into Yhwach’s body.

Sometimes ten or so at once.

Sometimes dozens at once.

These light spheres were all powers he had stripped from the Quincy in the World of the Living three years ago.

These powers served as nourishment for his recovery.

Each sphere represented the death of a mixed-blood Quincy from the World of the Living.

Over these three years, the spheres he had absorbed already numbered in the thousands.

With each breath, several dozen more spheres flew into his body.

These light spheres were from the Quincy population in Japan’s World of the Living, concentrated around Karakura Town and Tokyo.

The Quincy of those areas were stronger than most elsewhere, so Yhwach had saved their powers for last.

As these spheres entered his body, he could feel his strength suddenly surge upwards!

This unexpected bonus surprised Yhwach.

He hadn’t expected that among the Quincy of the World of the Living, there would be such powerful individuals.

Such strong descendants, lost to his Auswählen, was a bit of a waste.

Had he brought them to the Wandenreich and given them proper cultivation, they surely could have become worthy members of the Sternritter.

But… it didn’t matter now. They were already dead. No point thinking about it.

Suddenly, Yhwach’s eyes snapped open.

His once calm, indifferent expression twisted into something ferocious!

“Urgh… hungry! So hungry ahhhhhhh!!!!”

Yhwach let out a terrifying roar.

The veins on his skin bulged violently, forming twisted and horrifying patterns.

Blood spurted from the engorged vessels, pouring out from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth!

Yhwach raised a hand, clutching at the air in agony.

At that moment, every cell in his body was screaming out in pain.

Hearing the commotion, Haschwalth’s figure appeared instantly in the room.

“Your Majesty?!”

Upon seeing Yhwach’s condition, the blond man let out a cry of alarm.

“Poison… this spiritual pressure, it’s poisonous!”

Even Yhwach’s mind began to cloud under the intense pain.

Poisonous spiritual pressure?

Haschwalth was puzzled.

But after sensing the reishi leaking into the air, he immediately understood.

Hollow!

The reishi spheres Yhwach absorbed were contaminated with Hollow spiritual pressure!

How could this be possible… who could do such a thing?

For Shinigami, if some Hollow reiryoku entered their body, it would cause discomfort but could eventually be expelled.

But for Quincy, Hollow reiryoku was an incredibly lethal poison.

Even a tiny trace could disrupt the flow of reishi throughout their body, causing unbearable pain.

Let alone Yhwach—he had absorbed so many of these spheres. Haschwalth couldn’t even fathom the consequences.

If it had been an ordinary Sternritter, absorbing that much Hollow reiryoku would have killed them instantly!

Under Haschwalth’s worried gaze, Yhwach roared as he sat up.

“Kaelith… it’s Kaelith!”

“In this entire Three Realms, only he and I can wield Transcendent powers!”

“He used a special method to hide Hollow elements inside those reishi… damn it!”

With that, Yhwach closed his eyes.

His veins twisted and surged under his skin, but he paid no mind, focusing intently on expelling the Hollow reiryoku from his body.

Standing to the side, Haschwalth couldn’t help but show a shocked expression.

The name Kaelith was now deeply engraved in his memory…

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