Starting with Naruto, I'll become stronger through my own efforts.

Chapter 453 Hirako Shinji's Triumphant Arrogance

After Hasswald left, Yhwach did not sit down.

He stood in the crater he had dug, staring at it for a while, then looked up, his gaze passing through the layers of walls and pillars, and saw the Grim Reaper darting about inside the Ice Palace.

There aren't many Shinigami, but each one is a powerful captain or vice-captain with astonishing spiritual pressure.

Among them are familiar faces like Yamamoto Shigekuni and Kyoraku Shunsui, as well as the obviously young Hitsugaya Toshiro and Hinamori Momo, and the strangely charismatic Visored—

And Xia Zuo and Aizen, whom he couldn't find no matter how hard he looked.

"Aizen is indeed extraordinary; I couldn't even find him—"

"So, Xia Zuo is also inside the Ice Palace, but I can't see him because he's too powerful."

"There is another Grim Reaper, the captain of the Fourth Division, Retsu Unohana, the ruthless and bloodthirsty Yachiru Murderer back then, an immortal monster only slightly inferior to Shigekuni Yamamoto."

Suddenly, Xia Zuo's teasing voice rang out: "Hehe, Sister Hua, you have more than one nickname in Yhwach's mouth, and they all sound pretty fierce."

Unohana Retsu's voice rang out, tinged with embarrassment and annoyance: "Shut up!"

Yhwach was completely stunned. He never expected that after being invaded by Aizen once, his royal palace would be invaded by the Grim Reaper again.

Last time, Aizen was discovered and exposed by him outside the door, but this time he didn't notice at all; it was the other party who took the initiative to expose him.

Yhwach's head was buzzing, and he turned his neck inch by inch toward the source of the sound.

There stood a strange, tall and thin Grim Reaper with a rather ordinary appearance, and the impressive Retsu Unohana.

Yhwach said in a deep voice, "The captain of the Fourth Division, Retsu Unohana, and the captain of the Eleventh Division, Shazo."

Xia Zuo and Unohana Retsu exchanged a glance and casually said, "It seems you are Yhwach."

"I've been thinking about something: if I kill you, will I be able to eliminate all the Quincy?"

Yhwach's anger surged: "You think you can treat me like nothing and manipulate me at will just because you sneaked into my palace like a rat?"

Xia Zuo nodded: "That's right, that's exactly what I think."

Shazor's attitude completely enraged Yhwach.

Aizen developed unparalleled pride because he was too powerful and too intelligent, and he couldn't communicate with the useless idiots around him.

But Yhwach was extremely proud of his background.

He is the son of the Spirit King, and considers himself a natural god. He is determined to become the second Spirit King, and a Spirit King who truly holds real power and does not play the role of a wedge.

Within the invisible empire, he was the supreme emperor, and no one dared to disobey his will.

Now, however, he has been treated like fish on a chopping block by a mere Grim Reaper, who freely discusses how to kill him.

Yhwach's rage soared to the heavens, and he drew the Quincy sword.

At the same time, Natsume and Retsu Unohana also drew their respective Zanpakuto.

Before countless Quincy, Yugran Haschward commanded in a deep voice, "His Majesty's order: swiftly annihilate all invading Death Gods!"

"yes!"

The first to respond were 12 members of the Sternritter. They stood together, varying in height and build, but all wore white cloaks, highlighting their unique identities.

Then, thousands of Quincy responded in unison, "Yes!"

Haschwalth was not only Yhwach's bodyguard and strategist, but also the highest-ranking Quincy of the Sternritter, second only to Yhwach in strength. He was bestowed with the holy letter "B", symbolizing his ability to harmonize the world!

Haschward holds command of the Sternritter and can command all other Sternritter.

Ze was not only empowered by Yhwach, but also possessed the greatest personal strength. In the Sternritter, a group of monsters, he was the monster among monsters.

The moment they received the order, all the Quincy unleashed their [Hiren-kick] and rushed toward the place where the Shinigami's spiritual pressure was strongest.

Even the holy soldiers of the invisible empire charged forward bravely. Although they were no match for the approaching Grim Reaper, their deaths marked the location of the Grim Reaper and slowed down its movement.

As long as the Grim Reapers are held back by the members of the Sternritter, they can kill these powerful captain-level Grim Reapers at the fastest speed.

The Quincy had no doubt about this; their abilities were a natural counter to the Shinigami, and killing someone of a higher level was not impossible.

The Quincy's large-scale deployment naturally put the Shinigami on the defensive.

But the first one to suffer was not the active Shinigami captain, but the fastest-running Visored commander, Hirako Shinji.

Hirako Shinji sliced ​​two Quincy henchmen in half with a single strike, his face grave as he swallowed hard. "What happened? Where did I even begin? How did I get ambushed?"

"Wait, this isn't an ambush, this is—the Quincy have launched a massive offensive!"

"Oh dear, oh dear, one after another, the Quincy aren't that strong after all."

Hirako Shinji raised his sword and struck again, killing his way from one archway to another, leaving the Quincy in a bloodbath.

This fighting style made Hirako Shinji feel completely comfortable.

Since being framed by Aizen and forced to flee Soul Society, the Visoreds have been forced to live a miserable existence hiding in the barrier for so many years.

Moreover, after finally being born, it was once again met with a crushing blow from Aizen, and was beaten like a child who had made a mistake.

The entire masked army was utterly destroyed, shattered into pieces.

The frustration is doubled.

Now he finally felt good. One slash was enough to make three Quincy split up, and another slash would leave four or five Quincy completely bewildered.

Hirako Shinji's killing was satisfying, but the Quincy naturally couldn't tolerate it.

A cold, sharp voice echoed from deep within the palace: "Stop!!"

Along with the sound came a steel claw, which, accompanied by the sound of wind and thunder, viciously clawed at Hirako Shinji's head.

Hirako sensed the threat and raised his hand to block the steel claw with his Zanpakuto. A tremendous force came, and his feet instantly sank into the hard floor tiles.

Taking a deep breath, Hirako Shinji unleashed a powerful spiritual pressure, pushing the enemy far away before finally looking up.

He saw a cold-faced man with short black hair, his face devoid of any emotion, observing him with a pair of narrow, elongated eyes.

The newly arrived Quincy remained expressionless in the face of Hirako's displeased, deadpan gaze, merely raising the steel claws on his arm in a show of defiance.

But what made Hirako Shinji frown was that this person was using his other hand to intercept his spiritual pressure and immediately convert it into steel on his arm.

Hirako Shinji was shocked, but he didn't hold back at all: "To actually manage to knock my feet into the ground, you're quite strong. Who are you?"

"My name is Cang Du, a loyal subordinate of the great Emperor Yhwach," the short-haired youth Cang Du said coldly. "By order of His Majesty, let the killing of all the Grim Reapers begin with you."

Cangdu! A member of the Sternritter of the Invisible Empire, his holy letter is "I", symbolizing his ability to be made of steel!

Hirako Shinji originally wanted to provoke his enemy with words, which was his favorite way of dealing with enemies, but he didn't expect to run into a cold steel plate today.

Hirako inexplicably felt a stinging sensation in her nose, as if she had bumped into something.

"Kill all the Grim Reapers, heh heh!" He grinned, rubbed his nose, and then said without any politeness, "Such a pungent breath, it's making it hard for me to breathe. Didn't you brush your teeth before you left?"

The steel-clad Cang Du ignored Hirako Shinji's words, coldly watching him act silly, as if he were watching a monkey perform.

Clearly, Cangdu, like his abilities, possesses a heart as calm as steel.

Just as Hirako Shinji was feeling slightly disappointed, he suddenly discovered that Sou had disappeared from the spot.

Hirako's pupils contracted, and he instinctively raised his Zanpakuto, holding it in front of his chest as a shield.

clang!!

Hirako Shinji was struck by the steel claw and sent flying by the immense force.

Boom!

Inside the Ice Palace, the snow-white walls were knocked down, and the collapsing stones buried Hirako Shinji with a thunderous roar.

Hirako Shinji pushed aside the rubble and emerged, covered in dust. Before he could speak, Cangdu launched another series of attacks.

This time, he transformed into a blur, appearing directly in front of the pile of rubble, his steel claws lashing out at Hirako's neck.

The three sharp claws were once again blocked by the Zanpakuto. Hirako Shinji skillfully spun the blade, tightly intertwining the weapons of both sides, making them impossible to pull out.

Hirako Shinji let out a strange laugh: "You steel-willed bastard, did you think I would be careless time and time again? This time, I'm the one who outsmarted you!"

"Hado: White Lightning!!"

Hirako Shinji swiftly unleashed a devastating attack with his left hand, slamming it into Soto's head, blinding the enemy.

When Cang Du unleashed tremendous power, even breaking off a claw blade to shake off Pingzi's entanglement, he once again fell into a trap.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Hirako Shinji unleashed his swift sword technique, his Zanpakuto dancing like the wind, with a continuous stream of sword shadows striking Soudu.

His rapid slashes not only struck vital points with every blow, but also overlapped perfectly with the location of each previous strike.

But Hirako Shinji felt no pride; on the contrary, his expression grew increasingly serious.

Because when the sharp blade touched Cang Du's body, it was like hitting an iron wall, unable to cause the slightest damage.

Moreover, the rebound was far stronger than expected, causing Hirako Shinji's hand to go numb and greatly reducing the strength of his grip on the sword.

After getting used to Hirako's rapid slashes, Cangdu simply abandoned all defensive actions, letting the Zanpakuto strike his body while he put his hands back on steel claws and launched a frenzied counterattack.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

Amidst the dense clanging of metal, sparks flashed from Cangdu's body, but Hirako Shinji was splattered with blood.

Finally, the two retreated, pausing the most dangerous battle.

Cangdu's retreating steps were extremely heavy, leaving a series of footprints. He clutched several painful groin areas and stared coldly at Pingzi.

Hirako Shinji landed lightly in the distance and stood there loosely, looking lazy as if he were full of flaws. But both he and Cang Du knew that this was just a trap.

His verbal attacks, which he was most adept at, didn't stop: "Hey, even with the Bloodlust set, the defense is ridiculously high!"

"Even if my knife is dull, it shouldn't be so dull that it can't even make a cut!"

"I've heard of the Quincy's Bloodstained Armor, but there's a limit to its defense. It's impossible for it to withstand 100 consecutive strikes!"

"What kind of ability do you have?"

However, no matter how much Hirako babbled on, Sou remained silent, coldly watching Hirako Shinji as he quickly recovered his strength and his slightly swollen vitals.

"What a boring guy! How can there be someone in the world who doesn't communicate at all!"

"This makes me feel embarrassed because I'm hungry."

Hirako sighed and said seriously, "I remember you've only said one or two sentences so far? Never mind, I think your name is Cangdu. Now I'm going to show you something very interesting!"

"Fall down, Reverse Fist!"

Hirako held the strangely shaped Shikai in his hand, twirling it around, and asked the teasingly shrewd Soudou, "How is it? Do you feel anything different?"

"reverse!"

As soon as Hirako Shinji finished speaking, Cangdu felt everything in front of him turn upside down.

The sky and the earth switched places, as did the front and back, left and right sides. Even the position and appearance of Hirako Shinji were reversed.

In Cangdu's eyes, Hirako Shinji had become someone who held a knife in his left hand.

He heard Hirako's explanation: "After my Zanpakuto, Gakufu, is released into Shikai form, the blade emits a fragrance. After smelling it, everything I see will be reversed. Up and down, left and right, front and back—the direction I see is opposite to the direction of the slash."

"I've said so much, in exchange, shouldn't you tell me about your abilities?"

Sensing the changes and listening to Hirako Shinji's explanation, Soudou's noodles remained motionless and silent.

After a long silence, he suddenly spoke up: "Shinigami, aren't you going to use your Bankai?"

Hirako Shinji was taken aback: "What did you say?"

Cang Du explained, "Without Bankai, you can't possibly defeat me!"

Hirako tilted her head: "Why do I feel like you're deliberately provoking me, trying to make me use my Bankai?"

Cangdu: "————"

Seeing that Sou had fallen silent again, Hirako Shinji continued, "Why are you silent again? Is it because my scheme was exposed, and you're too clumsy with words to know how to refute it?"

He didn't know if Hirako had really figured something out or was just talking nonsense, so he could only remain silent.

Hirako Shinji was utterly defeated by Aizen, especially in terms of intelligence, and he was completely powerless to resist.

But that's because the opponent was too strong. Shinji Hirako was able to become the captain of the Grim Reaper and the leader of the Visoreds, of course because he was strong enough, but the most important reason was that he was smart enough.

Pingzi immediately saw the panic hidden in Cangdu's silence, and his confidence grew stronger.

He grinned maliciously and asked, "Queen Elimination Master, are you trying to lure me into using my Bankai because you can do something to it?"