Chapter 433

2-in-1 chapter:

-------------------

The Soul King’s left hand, which had been standing at Yhwach’s side, trembled slightly.

A burst of light flew from its body and merged into Yhwach.

Unlike the other Quincy, however, it didn’t die or lose the ability to fight.

With the will of the Soul King still sustaining it, it remained battle-capable.

In fact, its threat level had risen further compared to when it had simply been a Quincy.

After absorbing the vast majority of Quincy power, the force radiating from Yhwach surged, growing violently, aggressively, unstoppably.

At that moment, his four pupils finally stabilized, no longer twisting within their sockets.

Kaelith and Aizen exchanged a glance—and in each other’s eyes, confirmed one thing.

Yhwach had completed his transcendence.

He had become a true Transcendent, now standing in the same realm as Kaelith.

Aizen raised his hand and removed the black monocle over his eye.

As the power of the Hōgyoku fully activated, a white shell spread across his body, replacing his black shihakushō.

Ichigo’s eyes narrowed with wariness, and he leapt backward.

At the same time, he raised a hand to his face and activated his Hollowfication.

As the others responded in turn, Yhwach slowly shook his head.

Then, without a word, he raised his hand and pointed at Yamamoto.

A massive blue spirit bow materialized instantly—drawn and fired in one seamless motion.

A massive blue spirit arrow shot toward Yamamoto with a sharp whoosh.

This arrow, in both speed and destructive power, far exceeded all the previous ones.

But what made it truly terrifying was that it now carried an unavoidable hit property—an absolute strike that could not be dodged before impact.

Yamamoto let out a cold snort.

So they had chosen him as the breakthrough point?

Very well. Underestimating the old man comes at a price. Let him taste it.

He raised Ryūjin Jakka, ready to meet the arrow head-on.

However, just as the spirit arrow reached the halfway point, it suddenly became blurred, as if disrupted by some unknown force.

The next instant, under Yhwach's furious gaze, the spirit arrow vanished into thin air.

Seeing this, even Ichibē's expression shifted in surprise.

His eyes stared at the spot where the arrow had disappeared, then shifted toward Kaelith.

Suddenly, the vanished arrow reappeared in midair.

Yhwach extended his hand toward it and shouted,

“I do not know what power you used to erase my spirit arrow, but... I am now an omniscient and omnipotent being!”

“I have rewritten the future in which the arrow is erased, and overwritten it with a future in which the arrow continues its path!”

Just as the words left his mouth, he saw Kaelith raise his hand as well, directing it toward the spirit arrow.

The arrow, which had just reappeared and had not yet resumed flight, vanished once more.

“The future where your arrow continues to fly exists, but so do parallel worlds in which the rewriting fails.”

“I have taken the worldline where ‘future rewriting fails’ and superimposed it over the one where ‘the future is successfully altered.’”

Yhwach’s expression turned colder than ever.

Both arms outstretched, he repeatedly activated his ability to alter the future, attempting to overwrite the current moment.

At the same time, Kaelith repeatedly invoked his power to adjust the worldline, overlaying reality with alternate outcomes.

The destructive spirit arrow—powerful enough to obliterate any captain-level Shinigami in a single strike—continued to appear and vanish between the two of them, over and over again.

Yamamoto, who remained the target throughout, prepared for a counterattack multiple times, only for it to end in vain each time. Eventually, he was so exasperated, he began to laugh in anger.

These two damn bastards—are they using him as entertainment?

Meanwhile, Aizen, seeing that Kaelith and Yhwach were locked in a fierce clash, casually turned and began walking toward Ichibē.

Ichibē's expression grew serious as Aizen approached.

At first, he hadn’t thought much of the young man.

The only notable label worth observing had been “Kaelith’s close companion.”

However, the more he learned about Seireitei, the more he began to realize that this man—Aizen Sōsuke—was indeed someone quite extraordinary.

If Kaelith was the light marching forward along the main road, then Aizen was likely the shadow following closely behind.

Toward Aizen, Ichibē displayed the same formal attitude reserved for the Captain-Commander of Seireitei.

Aizen spoke as he approached,

“This is our first meeting, Leader of the Shinigami, Ichibē Hyōsube-dono.”

“My name is Aizen Sōsuke. I serve as advisor to the Captain-Commander.”

“Hm... your situation, the old man more or less understands. No need for self-introductions.”

Ichibē grinned, lips stretching into a sly curve.

“Also, feel free to call me Monk, Bald Monk, or whatever nickname you prefer. Just don’t go calling out my full name carelessly.”

“I am the one who governs ‘names’—being addressed by my full name unsettles me.”

Aizen gave a slight nod in acknowledgment.

“Then, Monk-dono, may I ask—regarding what Yhwach just said about the state of the world before the Three Realms were separated—is it true?”

Ichibē tilted his head slightly.

Monk-dono...

What kind of ridiculous form of address was that?

A nickname combined with an honorific—impossible to hold in.

Still, compared to Kaelith’s “Master Rochi,” this one was at least easier to tolerate.

He chuckled and bared his teeth.

“For the most part, it is indeed as he described.”

“However, there is one part he got wrong.”

Under Aizen’s focused gaze, Ichibē turned to look at Yhwach, who was locked in intense battle with Kaelith, and his eyes revealed a look of disdain.

“I already existed in this world before the separation of the Three Realms.”

“And back then, the world was nothing like the ‘utopia’ Yhwach imagines.”

“It’s true that in the ancient age, in a world of chaos, the concept of death did not exist.”

“But within that chaos, there was a being composed of all negative emotions and all filthy souls—the Primordial Menos Grande.”

As he spoke this name, Ichibē’s expression turned uncharacteristically solemn.

“In that chaotic world, the growth of Hollows was completely unrestrained… able to absorb souls from all beings in close proximity, it grew at an unbelievable speed.”

“No one could oppose it. No matter how powerful an individual was, they were no match for the collective existence of all living souls.”

“If things had continued unchecked, the entire world would have been devoured by the Primordial Menos Grande. Every soul would have become its nourishment. The world would have ended.”

“But… just when everything seemed most hopeless, the Soul King appeared.”

At this name, Ichibē’s eyes showed a rare glint of nostalgia and emotion.

Under Aizen’s gaze, Ichibē began to recount the entire process of the Soul King's creation of the world.

To prevent the original primal Menos from consuming all living beings and bringing about the total destruction of the world, the Soul King used his immense power to divide the world into three parts. He established the boundaries of life and death, separating humans, souls, and Hollows into three distinct realms.

From that moment on, the cycle of reincarnation was born. The primal Menos, having lost its endless source of nourishment, gradually collapsed and split apart, becoming the countless ordinary Menos that now make up Hueco Mundo.

Aizen gave a small nod.

“So that’s how it was. Next comes the story of the Five Great Noble Clans betraying the Soul King, binding him and dismantling him.”

The monk smiled helplessly.

“What you know is indeed the real history.”

“But you should take a look.”

He turned his head and looked into the distance, where the Soul King’s left arm was currently engaging in battle alongside Yhwach.

“The Soul King’s power is far beyond imagination.”

“Even after being severed from his limbs, losing his organs, and being suspended between the boundary of life and death, his strength still remains sufficient to easily affect all three realms.”

“If I’m not mistaken, he could break free from his seal at any time—if he wished to.”

As he spoke, the monk's expression turned complicated.

As someone from the same era as the Soul King, he was perhaps the one person in the world who understood the Soul King's existence best.

Aizen looked at the Soul King’s left arm for a moment in contemplation.

Then, with Zanpakutō in hand, he suddenly flashed between Ichigo and the Soul King's left hand, who were locked in combat.

“Kurosaki, let me handle this arm for now.”

“…Alright.”

Ichigo nodded.

He had no objection. He didn’t bear any particular grudge against the Soul King’s left arm anyway.

Compared to that, he was far more interested in teaching Yhwach a personal lesson.

Seeing Aizen suddenly appear before it, the Soul King’s left arm seemed somewhat intrigued.

It gazed at Aizen in silence through the two eyes embedded in its palm.

Aizen raised his blade.

After the Hōgyoku fused to its fifth stage, Kyōka Suigetsu had vanished, completely merged into his body.

What he held now was no more than a symbolic image—an idea of a sword formed from his own understanding of blade technique.

“Someone whose body moves faster than his brain once said that people can reach mutual understanding through the clash of combat.”

“I’m quite curious to see what kind of clash might occur between us and the creator of the three realms.”

“Come, Soul King. Let me see… what the real you looks like.”

The moment he finished speaking, Aizen’s figure vanished and reappeared in front of the Soul King’s left hand, slashing down in a single strike.

.........................

.......

.

Kaelith wore a look of irritation.

“Yhwach, your combat style disgusts me.”

Nearby, Yamamoto looked over, somewhat surprised.

He had thought this troublemaker was enjoying the fight more than anyone.

Why was he the first to complain?

Yhwach also turned toward him, puzzled.

Under their gazes, Kaelith said with clear displeasure:

“I’ve already figured out how your ability works.”

“You keep jumping forward to the next moment in the future, releasing a new spiritual arrow there. Then, when we catch up to the future moment you visited, the new arrow suddenly materializes.”

“On the surface, it looks like ‘my attacks are invalid against you’ and ‘you negate my negation.’”

“But in reality, you’re just constantly launching attacks while I’m unilaterally nullifying them. There’s no further nesting loop beyond that.”

“This kind of fake recursive trickery—I refuse to acknowledge it.”

“?”

Yhwach took a deep breath.

What recursion? What the hell is this guy even talking about?

Is he deranged?

He already knew Kaelith wasn’t normal, but this level of absurdity was pushing it.

Just as he was about to respond, Kaelith suddenly broke into a twisted grin—one that looked like a villainous final boss—and charged straight at him.

Yhwach spread his hands and condensed a spiritual blade, swinging it down to intercept.

His ability, “The Almighty,” in essence, projected his existence into the future and rewrote it.

Once the real-world timeline caught up to the altered future, the changes would manifest in reality.

For example, if Yhwach and Kaelith were sitting together eating, and Yhwach used his power to jump one minute into the future and eat all of Kaelith’s food—

Then when one minute passed in real time, the food on Kaelith’s plate would simply vanish.

It seemed unbeatable, a power without weakness.

But the flaw was obvious.

He could only go to the future and eat Kaelith’s food. He couldn’t eat Kaelith himself.

If he could, there would be no need for battle. He could just kill directly and be done with it.

The same applied to Kaelith.

He could overlay a parallel world where “my food wasn’t eaten.”

But he couldn’t overlay a world where “Yhwach exploded on the spot.”

Transcendents could not use their powers to directly interfere with another Transcendent’s core body.

Thus, after escalating from low-tier skirmishes to high-level warfare, their battle ironically returned to basic hand-to-hand brawling.

Kaelith’s mouth stretched into a frenzied grin.

Right now, all he saw was Yhwach.

Time seemed to slow, as if he had taken a performance enhancer.

His will to fight surged endlessly, boosting his strength and reaction speed to unimaginable levels.

Fifth Stage – Single Bone!

In Yhwach’s stunned gaze, Kaelith’s punch looked powerful enough to annihilate the world.

Yhwach roared and channeled his Blut Vene to fully cover his blade while also borrowing power from his future self.

Kaelith, as if expecting it, summoned strength from a parallel version of himself, pushing his power even higher.

Boom!

At the moment their powers collided, a blinding white sphere of light burst outward, instantly engulfing everything within a radius of several kilometers.

Ichigo slammed into Yamamoto’s chest, grabbing the old man’s waist and using every ounce of strength to escape the blast in the final instant.

The members of the Zero Division also tore through space at the last second, escaping beyond the blast radius.

When the light sphere dissipated, Kaelith was missing one arm, but his remaining fist was clenched tightly, already poised for the next attack.