I'm really not the number one slacker in Soul Society.

Perfect timing... He acquired a new ability specifically for this purpose.

I've been busy these past few days and haven't had a chance to practice, so this is a good opportunity to test its quality.

Hopefully, my attempt to show off won't backfire...

He then gestured for Aizen to step back, went up and grabbed the Hell Chains, drew his sword, and whispered a name.

"Bankai: Reverse Moon Rain".

Without any earth-shattering display, and without even a change in the exposed spiritual pressure, Ryugetsu transformed into a heavily rusted double-edged katana accompanied by a faint light.

When Yama first used Bankai while fully conscious, his initial feeling was...

No wonder Shigure Gyūsuke wouldn't let him be freed!

Before he could do anything, this blade that could separate time created more than a dozen extremely small "segmentation fields" in its owner's body, causing the timeline of a part of his body tissue to become mismatched with that of other parts, instantly causing a large number of tearing wounds—this was the problem caused by insufficient control. Fortunately, these segmentation fields only appeared in Mi Zhen's body and did not damage any important organs, otherwise, before he could even start to make a move, Nizuki Shigure would have taken half his life.

In a sense, the danger that Reverse Moon Rain poses to its master is even greater than that of White Cloud Punishment...

Before you can master it perfectly, using the Time Reversal technique is no different from playing the lottery. If the split field only cuts a few muscles, it's fine, but if it appears in the heart or brain, it's a matter of life and death.

If there wasn't time to remove the guarantor, Mima would never have used such a thing voluntarily.

It's like injuring the enemy eight hundred while losing ten thousand of your own.

Especially considering that he didn't intend to kill anyone when he used Bankai this time, it's a huge loss.

Mi Zhen's eyebrows trembled slightly from the intense pain within him, but he quickly regained his composure. The next moment, he raised the Reverse Moon Rain in his hand and let it float lightly down to the base of the Hell Chains.

Like cutting butter with a hot knife.

The seemingly powerless blade, relying solely on its own weight, easily dealt severe damage to the incredibly sturdy Hell Chains!

but……

It's not without obstacles?

In his Bankai state, Yama's perception of time became astonishingly acute—he vaguely sensed that the Hell Chains contained an extremely small amount of a strange "substance".

No, this thing cannot be called matter, because any matter will undergo changes such as decay over time, but this "thing" does not seem to have the property of "change". The passage of time has no effect on it. In other words, they are... eternal!

If the chains of hell were entirely constructed from this "eternal substance," then Mi Zhen would truly have no way to deal with it.

Fortunately, this substance is extremely rare, like a speck of dust in a room, so Mizhen can easily bypass it to break the chains of hell.

With a little more force applied to his hand, the chains of hell snapped!

In the next instant, the hellish miasma lingering on Kuchiki Hibiki dissipated rapidly.

If things go as expected, he'll wake up soon, and then it'll be time for some serious talking, with either Yama or Aizen spouting a bunch of platitudes to confuse him—after all, this guy's brain doesn't seem to work very well, so if those two big con artists go up there and give him a lecture, they'll definitely fool him.

However, Mima chose to refuse.

He had no interest in providing ideological and political education to a fanatical person.

After seeing the hellish miasma dissipate, he gestured to Shikatori Hakunsai, signaling him to maintain his power. The latter nodded in agreement. Then, he turned to Aizen, raised an eyebrow, and said, "Aizen Sousuke, you should have prepared some sealing techniques or something, right? It's time to use them."

Aizen, however, did not express any objection.

He probably wasn't interested in saying much more to Kuchiki Hibiki.

"Then let's do it."

Aizen rummaged in his pocket for a moment, then took out an exquisitely crafted straw doll and casually tossed it next to the pillar that had originally been used to bind Kuchiki Hibiki. Immediately, he saw the Kido energy, which had almost fully regenerated, extend tentacles that wrapped around the straw doll and bound it tightly.

"This is a small invention that can simulate spiritual pressure characteristics and can play the role of the sealed one in his place."

Aizen explained calmly, then pulled a long blade of grass from his grass robe and tied it to Kuchiki Hibiki's body. He then made a hand gesture and began chanting incantations.

"Binding Spell Number Ninety-Eight: Void Trap Lock".

As the chanting ended, Kuchiki Hibiki's body shrank by more than half out of thin air. A tall, thin man instantly became as miniature as a miniature model, with a light gray, semi-transparent "film" covering his body.

That's an unexpected move.

Binding Spell Number Ninety-Eight: Void Trap Lock, a highly ranked but practically useless, showy spell.

This technique works similarly to compressing space, shrinking the opponent's size and placing them in a viscous seal that is difficult to escape. It sounds like a great technique, but in practice, it has several drawbacks, such as high energy consumption, difficulty in control, and a long wind-up. Therefore, few people are willing to learn it. Even Mi Zhen only tried it a few times before putting it aside and never used it again.

But Aizen had his own plans. The Void Lock was just a prelude; the real killing move was yet to come.

The next second, he changed his hand gesture and used an extremely large spiritual pressure to cover Kuchiki Hibiki. The grass tendrils that had been tied to the latter immediately emitted a faint light and grew in the wind. In the blink of an eye, they had wrapped around Kuchiki Hibiki dozens of times. Then, these grass tendrils grew further and wove themselves together, quickly covering Kuchiki Hibiki's entire body before suddenly shrinking.

The body, already shrunk by the Void Lock, shrank even further with this contraction, soon shrinking to the size of a palm.

"Alright." Aizen took the straw doll that was floating in the air, tossed it around a couple of times, and then casually tossed it to Yama: "This seal can probably last for about three days, which is enough time for us to make further preparations."

The so-called further preparation is probably just a private seat in the laboratory.

In this respect, Aizen's methods are more environmentally friendly than Mayuri Kurotsuchi's; at least he doesn't go in as a complete person and come out as a broken piece.

—You know, things like severed limbs are not easy to deal with; if you're not careful, someone can use them against you.

Therefore, he would usually choose to destroy the evidence after completing his research, scattering the ashes along with the body.

I hope everyone is okay.jpg

"Objective achieved, let's retreat."

Mi Zhen weighed the light straw doll in her hand, hesitated for a moment, and then casually put it into her pocket.

This sealing technique is quite good. It seems to be Aizen's own creation. I'll have to find a chance to learn it sometime.

Just as the group was packing their belongings to leave, a series of urgent knocking sounds suddenly came from not far away.

The source of the sound is... the Gates of Hell!

Mima: "?!"

Aizen: "?"

Lu Qu Baiyunzhai: "?"

There was also the illusory figure squatting in front of the Gates of Hell, studying the patterns on them; she was startled—literally startled.

What kind of trouble is this thing causing now?

The knocking was as rapid and fast as a drumbeat, growing louder and louder, with the last few knocks sounding like thunder. The entire gate of hell rattled as if it were about to open.

Immediately afterwards, they vaguely heard an extremely angry roar coming from inside the door.

Chapter 171: What's wrong with visiting an old friend?!

Aizen and Yama raised an eyebrow, becoming more alert.

But Shikaku Hakunsai's expression changed drastically.

Before she could say anything, a burst of light erupted from inside the door, as if a sun had exploded there, the dazzling brilliance instantly illuminating the entire Blood Burial Seal as bright as day.

At the same time, the "isolation" function of the Gates of Hell seems to have been forcibly broken.

The two doors shook twice from the blast, and the gap, which was only a little over a centimeter wide, opened a little wider with an unpleasant creaking sound—enough for a small person to barely squeeze through.

Then, a... thorny spiritual pressure emanated from the crack in the door.

Very strong, stronger than most captains!

The next moment, a head with messy pink and purple twin tails peeked out from the crack in the door. After looking around, it quickly locked its gaze on Shikaku Hakunsai.

"Oh, you're here. Saves me the trouble of looking for you." The arrogant one-eyed man licked his lips and revealed an excited smile. "Big-breasted monster, you've come out of the Abyss?"

"It's not your place, a dead man, to tell me what to do."

Shikaku Hakunsai pushed up his glasses, his eyes turning cold: "It seems even hell can't erase your bad temper."

"Ha, if I appeared here looking completely vulnerable, would you recognize me?"

"Then I'll have no choice but to dig your brain out and find out what's going on."

"You big-breasted monster are still so heartless."

How can I compare to you?

The two of them started exchanging words (and arguing) as if no one else was around, which confused Yama and Aizen, who were already preparing to fight.

"This person should be..." Mima whispered, "...the first captain of the Sixth Division, right?"

"It shouldn't be wrong. The first captain of the Sixth Division, Saito, is immortal. I didn't expect him to appear here."

Aizen took his hand out of the inner pocket of his robes—he seemed to be about to take out something dangerous.

The older generation was chatting enthusiastically, and the younger generation couldn't get a word in edgewise.

According to historical records, the first captain of the Sixth Division, Saito Immortal, and the first captain of the Eighth Division, Shikato Hakunsai, had a very bad relationship and would always quarrel whenever they met. So, history books cannot be trusted. Judging from their behavior, they were clearly a pair of very good but bad friends.

"You're doing quite well. I thought you'd be killed by that old man as soon as you came out." Saito Immortal twisted his body in the crack of the door, sticking out half a shoulder and an arm, seemingly trying to reach out and grab a particularly prominent spot on Shikato Hakunsai's body. But the latter just looked at her coldly, keeping a very subtle distance, rendering the former's efforts futile.

“Genryusai… he’s gotten old too.” Rokuto Hakunzai lowered his eyes and said with some emotion, then immediately resumed his indifferent expression, looking at the ageless Saito who was stuck in the crack of the door, and asked directly, “How did you know I was here? What are you doing here? You didn’t come here just to catch up with me, did you?”

"So many problems..."

Saito, the immortal being, rolled his eyes. Although he looked displeased, he still answered honestly:

"Did someone receive a letter from Kuruyashiki here just now?... Oh, it was you, wasn't it?"

Mima, who was pointed at, tilted her head and slowly typed a question mark.

“You have that big-breasted monster’s scent on you. Kuruyashiki approached you through the door, so I know the recipient of the letter had been in contact with her—since I’m just idling in there anyway, I might as well come and take a look.”

A...smell?

Mima hesitated for a moment—he had only shaken hands with Shikatori Hakunsai recently, and he took a bath every day, so how could he possibly have any so-called scent left behind?

What kind of mystical ability is this...?

"Then, the purpose of our visit."

Saito, who was immortal, tried to push forward a few more times, but unfortunately, although she was also flat-chested, she was still a little short of being able to squeeze through the crack in the door. She could only continue to stand in the crack in this comical posture and say, "It's been almost nine hundred years since we last met, hasn't it?"

The two original captains stared at each other in silence for a few seconds before quickly suppressing their somewhat complicated expressions.

“Something terrible has happened in hell.”

Saito, who was neither old nor dead, continued, "Kujishiki's letter should have explained everything, but I have to add two points—the composition of that group is very complicated, including Shinigami, Hollows... and even pure-blooded Quincy, led by that idiot Zenjoji. They will probably launch an attack in the next few months!"

Shikatori Hakunsai looked at her with some confusion. Faced with such a look, Saito Immortal was also a little confused. So, Mima stood at a distance and briefly explained what had just happened, which finally made Shikatori Hakunsai, who had joined the battle halfway through, understand the situation.