Bleach: Starting with Marrying Retsu Unohana

Chapter 44: A Battle Against Yhwach!

"boom!"

With a thunderous explosion, Yhwach, now a black shadow, arrived before Araki. Before Araki could react, Yhwach's blade pierced through Araki's body, splitting him in two.

"It's done! Death must be dead!"

"No one can withstand His Majesty's strike!"

This scene made the Sternritter members standing at a distance clench their fists in excitement! Indeed, their emperor was invincible.

"Um?!"

Only Yhwach, who had made the move, frowned; the current situation was not quite what Yhwach had anticipated.

Initially, he only intended to subdue Araki; he never intended to kill him...

Secondly, the feeling when the blade touched Araki's flesh was a bit off. It didn't feel like cutting into flesh; it felt more like striking thin air.

"What are you thinking? How could I possibly die like this!"

Just as the Quincy were getting excited, Araki's body, which had been split in two by Yhwach, turned into thick mist and floated upwards, eventually coalescing into a solid form above Yhwach's head.

"What?! That Grim Reaper was clearly severed, how could he have come back to life?!"

When the Quincy watched Araki turn into mist and 'come back to life,' their eyes widened in shock.

Before anyone could figure it out, Araki had already drawn his Zanpakuto from his waist and slashed at Yhwach with the sharp blade.

"interesting!"

Upon seeing this, Yhwach's pupils flashed with a strange light, and he immediately stepped forward to block.

"Ding!!"

With a clang of steel clashing, Araki and Yhwach released endless air currents that rustled the surrounding rocks, trees, and houses, and Yhwach blocked Araki's sword.

"Bloodthirst armor? It's harder than steel!"

Araki frowned as he felt the resistance coming from his grip.

"Your knife cannot harm me in any way."

Yhwach calmly looked at Araki, whose brows were furrowed, his expression one of utmost confidence.

"is it?"

Upon hearing this, Araki coated his blade with a high-level layer of 'Armament Haki' and 'Conqueror's Haki'.

"Zizi..."

As the black lightning bolt stretched into a thin thread, blood instantly gushed from Yhwach's wrist.

"Ok?"

Yhwach's pupils dilated upon seeing this; he instantly realized something was wrong and took a step back to immediately distance himself from Araki.

“Interesting! That power doesn’t belong to ‘Death’, nor does it come from my great ‘Father’. It’s a unique power system that I don’t know about!”

"It seems there are still secrets about you that I don't know about, Araki. I'm really starting to look forward to the day you serve me..."

Yhwach instantly realized that Araki's ability to wound him did not belong to either the 'Grim Reaper' or the 'Soul King', and his curiosity about Araki increased even more.

"Yhwabach! Didn't you just confidently say that my knife couldn't even hurt you?"

"Why are you running away now? Or are you afraid of a power you don't know?"

Araki didn't immediately give chase to Yhwach as he ran away. Instead, he tried to mess with Yhwach's mentality and make him reveal a weakness.

"Om~"

Yhwach did not respond to Araki's words; with a wave of his hand, a spirit arrow materialized in his palm.

"It is the loss of His Majesty's divine dignity!"

The Quincy gasped in astonishment at the sight before them.

"boom……"

As the bowstring was drawn, accompanied by the sound of the atmosphere cracking and the roar of thunder, the spirit arrow condensed by Yhwach was fired toward Araki.

"so close!"

Araki, seeing the spiritual arrows that were aimed at him with immense power, had already dodged them with Shunpo. His skillful use of advanced Observation Haki allowed him to gain the upper hand in any battle.

"drink……"

Yhwach looked at Araki, who was dodging and weaving before his divine destruction, and a slight smile appeared on his lips.

"Why aren't you using the 'mist' you just used to dodge my slash? Is that so? Your mist can only dodge physical attacks, but it can't dodge my arrows which have powerful explosive force!"

Yhwach instantly broke through Araki's mist form. Even without activating 'Omniscience and Omnipotence', Yhwach was an extremely difficult opponent. Or rather, it was precisely because Yhwach did not activate 'Omniscience and Omnipotence' and did not rely too much on his own abilities that he would not reveal any flaws due to 'carelessness'. Therefore, he was more calm and more deadly!

If Yhwach, who was 'omniscient and omnipotent' in the original work, could have been as methodical and strategic as he was when he first invaded Soul Society when fighting against Ichigo Kurosaki and the others, then even if everyone else were to join forces against him, they would have no chance of winning.

"A troublesome opponent."

Faced with Yhwach's relentless attacks on Divine Annihilation, it seemed that Araki had no choice but to run away.

"Hahaha, it scurries around like a mouse!"

"What a fool! That Grim Reaper who refused His Majesty's invitation is just as foolish as Schubert, who planned to interfere in His Majesty's battle!"

The Quincy burst into laughter at the sight of Araki fleeing in disarray, their eyes filled with amusement. They judged his behavior as utterly ridiculous, just like Schubert…

In fact, the Quincy who faced Araki directly had many opportunities to stop him when he attacked Schubert, or at least to warn Schubert. But they didn't do so, simply because His Majesty said, "This battle is left to Schubert!"

In other words, His Majesty had already given up on him the moment that ungrateful fellow Schubert disturbed His Majesty's enjoyment...

"Araki! Just admit defeat!!"

Just as Araki used his 'clumsy' Shunpo to 'luckily' dodge Yhwach's arrows one after another, Yhwach seemed to be getting a little impatient!

In an instant, spiritual particles gathered beneath his feet, and Yhwach vanished from his spot. In the blink of an eye, Yhwach was already atop Araki's head...

An arrow, far larger than any Yhwach had ever used before, converged as Yhwach spread his arms wide! It could no longer be called an arrow; it was more like a spear!

"Araki, you have nowhere left to retreat! You should know that the 'Hiren-kick' we Quincy use to chase Hollows is far faster than the 'Shunpo' used by you Shinigami!" Yhwach said, throwing the spear in his hand at Araki beneath him. "Alright! Let this battle end here! Submit to me, Araki!"

"Oh no! I can't dodge!"

Araki's pupils contracted sharply as he faced the sudden spear; just as Yhwach had said, he now had nowhere left to retreat.

"Ah……"

Just as Yhwach stood high in the sky, quietly admiring the 'fearful' expression on Araki's face, Araki, whom Yhwach thought was 'almost dead' by his 'checkmate', suddenly revealed a smile.

The next second, Yhwach's spear pierced right through Araki's body.

"My 'arrow' should have exploded the moment it touched your 'spiritual particles,' but it actually passed right through your body?"

Yhwach's pupils contracted slightly as he looked at the scene before him.

Yhwach's spear is a special version designed to target Araki. Upon encountering a spirit particle, it activates 'Spirit Particle Subordination' to fix the surrounding spirit particles, and then immediately explodes to destroy all the surrounding spirit particles!

Therefore, even if Araki is vaporized, the spear will still explode if it comes into contact with the vaporized spiritual particles! Thus, as long as the spear doesn't touch the vaporized spiritual particles, it won't explode...

Yes, Araki cut a huge hole in his chest, just big enough for Yhwach's spear to pass through, just like Katakuri when facing Luffy's Armament Haki fist in Gear Fourth, he made holes in the parts of his body that would be attacked so that Luffy's fist could pass through! This kind of outrageous operation can only be done by a body that can 'transform into elements' combined with high-level Observation Haki, and Araki happens to have both.

"Yhwach, did I ever say that my atomization couldn't dodge your arrows?"

Araki, seeing Yhwach's surprised expression, drew his Zanpakuto and pointed it at Yhwach's chest.

"k·room·Piercing Wave!!"

Araki did not answer Yhwach's question, but instead launched his attack the instant Yhwach finished throwing his spear.

"Humph!"

This time, Yhwach raised his arm in front of him. Although Araki's ability to penetrate his Bloodstained Armor was 'unique', it wasn't enough to cause him much damage! Yhwach was absolutely confident that he could block just one attack.

"Huh? This attack bypassed my defenses completely?!"

However, Yhwach was astonished to find that Araki's sword did not touch his arm, but passed right through his arm and through his chest! In an instant, a sword tens of thousands of meters long pierced through Yhwach's chest and went straight to the sky! The sword was so large that it could be seen clearly even from tens of miles away.

"His Majesty!"

In an instant, all the Quincy panicked.

"Shock it for me!"

Araki launched his attack, unleashing his spiritual pressure, Haki, and Devil Fruit abilities to their fullest potential. He had been testing the waters multiple times in preparation for this strike.

"puff……"

Yhwach coughed up blood after being hit by Araki's full-force attack; he was seriously injured!

In fact, Araki had made thorough preparations for this attack. He tested Yhwach three times to see if Yhwach had 'opened his eyes' during their battle.

After all, Araki still had some recollection of it. He remembered that when he was reading the Bleach manga, in the memory of Bazz-Bee, whose holy letter was 'h', there was a close-up of Yhwach's eyes from a thousand years ago. In the close-up, Yhwach's eyes reflected 'three pupils'!

However, 'manga' is 'manga' and 'reality' is 'reality'. Araki, living in the real world, didn't dare to gamble with his experience, so he made three attempts!

The first time Araki slashed Yhwach's horse, Yhwach witnessed the basic ability of this move, 'lengthening the sword,' but he did not activate the piercing ability. If Yhwach had understood this move, he would not have blocked it with his hand!

The second time Araki used 'Haki' against Yhwach, similar to the previous time, if Yhwach knew about Araki's 'Haki', he wouldn't have used the Bloodlust Armor to confront Araki head-on.

The third time Araki faced Yhwach's arrows, he chose to run away. Similarly, if Yhwach could see the future, he would not continue to attack Araki with his arrows.

Three probing attacks were all for this one all-out strike!

"what!!"

Yhwach, of course, would not sit idly by and wait for his death. His body shone with a crystalline blue light, and one Quincy Cross after another rose into the sky with Yhwach's roar.

"Tsk~"

Araki clicked his tongue in amazement at the scene before him, and his body immediately vanished from the spot.

This time, Araki didn't use Shunpo but 'Room', and he swapped himself with a Quincy in the distance!

"Eh?!"

The Quincy who had been standing not far away, watching Yhwach and Araki fight with tense expressions, was surprised to find that he had somehow entered Yhwach's attack range.

"boom!!"