Chapter 411

2-in-1 chapter:

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“Old Man, you are doing too much!!!”

A new era had begun...

—which made it all the more unfortunate when Kaelith, the very soul it was named after, was promptly launched into the air with a startled yelp and crashed unceremoniously to the ground.

Seeing Kaelith sprawled out on the floor, Yamamoto panted heavily, wearing a proud grin.

“Ha! Brat! You’re still a long way from defeating me!”

Kaelith climbed back up and looked at the sweating old man in front of him, then grinned.

“Not bad—I think I’m pretty close though.”

His body showed no injuries; he hadn’t even broken a sweat.

Hearing Kaelith’s words, Yamamoto also smiled.

This insolent brat.

He set aside his wooden sword and looked over at the wooden cane leaning against the wall.

“Brat.”

“Hmm?”

Kaelith cheerfully ran over.

Looking at the one standing beside him—who had once only reached his chin but was now much taller than him—Yamamoto spoke slowly:

“Go all out and fight me.”

“This time, I won’t hold back.”

“You aren’t allowed to either.”

“Let me see just how far you, my student, have come.”

Kaelith showed a slightly surprised expression at Yamamoto’s words.

He opened his mouth, wanting to say something.

But looking into Yamamoto’s eyes, after a few seconds of silence, he simply nodded.

“I understand, sensei.”

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The night sky was as dark as ink, a crescent moon hanging high above.

On the boundless silver desert, Kaelith and Yamamoto Shigekuni faced each other from afar.

In the distance, Kyōraku Shunsui, Ukitake Jūshirō, Sōsuke Aizen, Unohana Retsu, and Kurosaki Ichigo stood there watching.

The first two, as Yamamoto’s disciples, had come to witness this fight.

The other three simply had the power and status to be present.

Under their watchful gaze, Yamamoto placed his large hand on the wooden cane—instantly turning it to dust and revealing the Zanpakutō within.

Swish!

Yamamoto drew his Zanpakutō.

Even in the dim light of Hueco Mundo, his blade emitted a terrifying gleam.

The old man bared his teeth in a grim smile:

“Come, brat.”

“I’ve waited a long time for this day.”

Kaelith nodded.

He took a deep breath, his expression serious.

Yamamoto had said to fight with everything he had.

Then he would hold nothing back.

Under Yamamoto’s gaze, Kaelith’s expression became utterly resolute.

“Bankai.”

“Rixiang Jimie – True Self's Radiance!”

The moment his voice rang out, the wings of the Shield of Courage spread behind him, his entire being accelerating to the extreme, instantly tearing through space to arrive right before Yamamoto—

“Bankai!!”

“Zanka no Tachi!!”

Facing Kaelith, Yamamoto skipped Shikai entirely and unleashed his strongest state.

As his Bankai activated, his entire body was engulfed in blazing flames!

Zanka no Tachi, West: Zanjitsu Gokui!

At this moment, the cloak of flames that burned on him reached a temperature of fifteen million degrees!

Tungsten, the metal with the highest melting point, melts at 3380°C and boils at 5927°C.

The sun’s surface temperature is around 5600°C.

The temperature at the epicenter of a nuclear explosion is about 6000°C.

Fifteen million degrees—this was the temperature of the sun’s core!

Clad in Zanjitsu Gokui, Yamamoto Shigekuni was the sun itself!!

Kaelith’s metal claws had already turned incandescent white before even touching Yamamoto, on the verge of melting and disintegrating.

But Kaelith didn’t care at all.

As his spiritual pressure flared, the durability of his Sword claws was reinforced to an incredible level!

He coated their surface with a layer that fused his spiritual pressure, Quincy Blut Vene, and the artificial soul!

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Sparks flew as his shining claws and Yamamoto’s faintly smoking Zanka no Tachi crossed blades over a dozen times in an instant.

At close range, Kaelith felt the searing heat of Zanjitsu Gokui on his face.

Even though he had surpassed the limits of Shinigami and Hollow, becoming something beyond—a transcendent—facing Zanjitsu Gokui, he felt as if his life could be snatched away at any moment.

Suddenly, sensing something, he leaned to the right.

Swish!!!

Yamamoto’s sword abruptly accelerated, slashing through where Kaelith had just stood and striking the sand below.

In an instant, starting from Yamamoto’s position, a section of desert over ten kilometers long and several meters wide, its depth unfathomable, was completely erased!

The desert, made from the ashes of dead Hollows—grains of sand that not even a Vasto Lorde’s Cero could melt—was vaporized in an instant by that single strike, leaving not even a trace that it had ever existed!

Looking at the vast trench where the desert had disappeared, Kaelith nodded slightly.

To counter his precognition ability, Yamamoto had brought out the best method.

Zanjitsu Gokui. Zanka no Tachi.

To pierce the stronger shield ( His prediction ability) required the strongest spear!

Even if Kaelith knew exactly what Yamamoto would do, he couldn’t break through that terrifying fifteen million-degree defense or block that world-erasing slash.

If it were an ordinary enemy facing Yamamoto in this state, there would be no way to fight back.

But now, Kaelith was no longer an “ordinary enemy.”

Under Yamamoto’s gaze, Kaelith rushed forward again.

This time, the aura surrounding him was completely different.

He was drawing power from parallel worlds—stacking the strength of countless versions of himself onto this one!

Twice the natural physique, twice the great power, twice the pawa!

The intense sense of exhilaration made Kaelith involuntarily smile.

Facing Yamamoto, clad in the mantle of the blazing sun, he struck out with a punch—

Quadruple Ikkotsu!!

Confronting Kaelith’s strike, Yamamoto’s eyes widened with fury, both hands gripping his blade as he unleashed a “plain and simple” slash.

BOOM!!!!!!!

A terrifying explosion instantly consumed everything within a radius of over ten kilometers.

Before their clash, Kyōraku had already led the onlookers far away.

Even so, those caught in the aftershock were sent tumbling, covered in dust and dirt.

Kyōraku rolled and quickly looked toward the battlefield.

As he got up, from the corner of his eye he saw that the boy named Kurosaki Ichigo had risen even faster than him.

Or rather… this boy simply hadn’t tried to resist.

If he wanted to, he might not even have needed to retreat at all—he could have watched from up close…

With a slightly sentimental mood, he turned back to the battlefield.

Within the smoke, Kaelith’s face was now covered by a pale white mask.

He grinned at Yamamoto with an innocent smile.

A hand burned into charcoal crumbled to dust and scattered into the air.

But a new hand instantly regenerated.

By contrast, Yamamoto was already breathing heavily.

His arms holding the sword were split open from bearing such immense power, bleeding freely.

His clothes had long since been reduced to nothing.

Kaelith did not continue attacking, only standing quietly as he watched Yamamoto.

“Come again!” Yamamoto taunted.

Kaelith nodded.

As long as he maintained this state, a few minutes more would exhaust Yamamoto and secure victory.

But he chose not to win that way.

Facing Yamamoto’s fierce grin, burning as if a demon from hell, Kaelith grinned in return.

Once again, he drew strength from a parallel world, merging it!

Triple Body—Fist of Kaelith!!

Kaelith’s aura surged once more, and he instantly closed the distance, carrying a momentum that felt as though it could annihilate everything.

This punch would obliterate the very sun itself!

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If one had to name the person who best understood Yamamoto’s power, it was undoubtedly Kaelith.

Whether it was the two hundred years he trained under Yamamoto, or the more than five thousand battles simulated in his mind, or the real battles he had fought against enemies on Yamamoto’s level as references…

Kaelith had an extraordinarily clear grasp of Yamamoto’s strength.

When Ichibe wielded his rule-based abilities, his power truly surpassed Yamamoto’s.

But without rule-based powers, relying only on his own strength, Ichibe could never be Yamamoto’s match!

To prove himself to Yamamoto, to show this teacher who had taught him everything over two centuries how strong he had now become, he could not hold back at all.

He would bring out his strongest strike—and claim this victory!

Triple Body—Fist of Kaelith!

Plus—

Quintuple Sōkotsu (Double Bone)!!

At the moment he threw his punch, the metal claws of his Bankai could not withstand the terrifying force and melted into molten iron, streaming backward along his arm.

In that instant, the entire world seemed to stand still—only these two arms, these two fists, moved forward!

Within Yamamoto’s vision, Kaelith’s form disappeared completely.

All he could see was that fist.

Everything else turned into a field of pure white light!

As he gazed at the fist before him, Yamamoto curled the corner of his mouth.

He understood—he no longer had anything left to worry about.

The ultimate technique he was about to unleash, and its potentially unbearable consequences… no longer mattered.

He grinned, almost manically, and swung his strongest blade.

The blade that had never known defeat, that erased everything it touched!

Zanka no Tachi—Kita.

The World in Ashes!!

The strongest blade and the strongest fist collided.

A terrifying storm erupted at that moment!

Even at a distance, Ukitake and Unohana were slashed by dozens of shallow and deep wounds.

Ichigo’s spiritual pressure flared, blocking in front of the group with his Bankai form, raising a shield of reiryoku.

But even standing at the very threshold of transcendence, he still felt the crushing weight.

At that moment, Aizen stepped beside him, releasing his spiritual pressure.

Instantly, Ichigo felt the pressure lighten significantly.

He looked toward the bespectacled, gentle-looking man next to him with disbelief.

But Aizen simply stared quietly ahead, without a ripple of emotion.

The devastating explosion swallowed hundreds of kilometers of desert.

The shockwave was even more terrifying.

Like a meteor crashing into Earth, a massive shockwave expanded across the surface, sweeping thousands of kilometers.

The spectators began to panic.

Though Yamamoto was the strongest Shinigami of the last thousand years and Kaelith had already surpassed the limits of Shinigami and Hollow, the two were still living beings—not true deities.

A clash of this magnitude would have been enough to annihilate all of Seireitei and devastate a significant portion of Rukongai.

Could the two at the epicenter really survive?

Kyōraku dashed out from behind Ichigo, dual swords in hand, sweeping them in wide arcs that blew away the swirling dust and sand.

In the center of the desert lay a massive crater.

At the bottom of the crater was a molten pool, glowing blood-red.

The desert, formed from the corpses of Hollows, had a melting point far beyond that of ordinary sand.

Yet now, it had been vaporized dozens of meters deep in an instant.

Even deeper—it had been completely liquefied!

At the center of this sea of molten fire, a single figure stood silently.

Kaelith’s body was nearly bare, with nothing left but a small scrap of his shihakushō at the waist.

A deep wound, down to the bone, ran from his left shoulder across to his right waist.

But despite such grievous injuries, he stood motionless.

Not far before him stood Yamamoto.

The old man still held his Zanpakutō, quietly watching his disciple.

Under everyone’s gaze, Yamamoto snorted softly and smiled.

Then, as if a mountain had collapsed, he fell heavily forward.

Pa!

Before he could fall completely, Kaelith appeared in a flash step, catching him.

Seeing Kaelith still able to summon such speed, Yamamoto felt a twinge of emotion.

And as he noticed Kaelith’s chest wound already healing rapidly—almost vanishing—his feelings became even more complicated.

From now on, the road ahead of this brat would no longer have Yamamoto’s figure walking before him.

In the days to come, Kaelith would walk alone.

There would be no one left to patiently teach him how to wield his sword or use his spiritual pressure.

He would walk at the very front, becoming the new light.

This troublesome brat… had graduated.

At that thought, Yamamoto slowly closed his eyes with a satisfied smile.

He had not failed in the resolve he had made long ago.

Soul Society now had a being who could surpass him.

His legacy had moved perfectly into a new era.

As a teacher, his task was complete.

Just as he let go of his final burden and prepared to rest…

Kaelith’s voice suddenly sounded above him:

“Wait, sensei—don’t die just yet. Before you go, could you tell me where you keep all your valuables? Other than those calligraphy scrolls in your study—anything else?”

“?”

The eyes that were about to close snapped open again.

Looking at the anxiously expectant face of this rascal, Yamamoto’s blood pressure surged.

“You little bastard… I’ll show you what’s valuable!”

The old man swung a hand chop toward Kaelith.

Kaelith quickly released him and leapt backward.

“I’m just being careful! Leaving those things to me is better than burying them and losing them forever!”

“I’ll bury your ashes first!!”

As the two disappeared into the distance—one chasing, one fleeing—the approaching Unohana stopped in her tracks.

Beside her, Kyōraku raised a hand to adjust his hat.

“Kaelith… really is strong.”

“Just holding up old man Yamamoto for a moment, he almost healed all of his wounds.”

Ukitake stepped forward as well.

“I never imagined anyone in this world could directly defeat sensei’s ‘Kita.’”

“So this… is the power of a transcendent being…”

Behind them, Aizen pushed up his glasses.

He had noticed earlier—the look of sadness Yamamoto had shown.

Don’t worry, Captain-Commander Yamamoto.

That Kaelith won’t walk forward alone.

I will follow right behind him and walk side by side.

In both the present—and the future.

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