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

Chapter 454 Yhwach is lacking in sentiment.

Cangdu suddenly opened his eyes wide and snatched the steel claw from his hand.

However, in the inverted world of Nifu, Cangdu's attack direction was completely wrong. He wanted to get close to Hirako Shinji for a close fight, but instead he was pushed further and further away.

After all, not everyone can be like Aizen, who can accurately grasp each of his abilities and restore them through meticulous calculations.

Cang Du's mind was naturally slow, and he was completely unable to cope with a Zanpakuto like Nifu, which was a rule-based weapon, when he first encountered it.

The Sternritter's rule of "the loser dies" forced Cang to stay put. He had no choice but to use the Quincy's perfect body and activate his berserk attack mode, but he still couldn't touch the enemy.

Hirako Shinji gained an absolute advantage by taking advantage of the reverse brush technique, but he could not hurt Sou's steel body no matter what he tried. The two were caught in a dilemma where neither could do anything to the other.

We can only wait and see.

But while the two were locked in a fierce battle, the surging ordinary Quincy and holy soldiers were in deep trouble. Like rabbits watching a lion and tiger fight, they died in droves.

That's how wars in Soul Society work. No matter how things start, in the end, top captains and strong fighters of the corresponding level take over the battlefield and decide the outcome.

The battle between Hirako Shinji and Steel Soudou was only one aspect of the war.

In another hall, the battle between ice and fire reached its most intense and heated stage.

boom!

Hitsugaya Toshiro crashed heavily to the ground. In the deep pit filled with frost and steam, he struggled to his feet, leaning on his Zanpakuto. The ice dragon wings on his back showed signs of melting under the intense heat.

The youngest captain's face was incredibly grim: "Damn it, I can't use Bankai, and my Shikai isn't enough to freeze the opponent's flames—"

Toshiro wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, raised his Zanpakuto, and prepared for battle.

Not far away, a Quincy with a spiky purple punk hairstyle was rolling around on the ground, clutching his completely frozen left arm.

"Aaaaaah, damn it! My arm's frozen! You're such a jerk!"

Toshiro's enemy is named Bazzby, a member of the Wandenreich Sternritter, who was given the holy letter "H", symbolizing his ability - scorching heat!

Toshiro rekindled his spiritual pressure, causing the dragon wings on his back to condense again and grow even larger.

Having prepared for battle, he saw the enemy still throwing a tantrum on the ground and said impatiently, "What are you pretending for? What are you yelling about?"

I only froze the surface of your skin; I didn't damage your core!

Bazzby stopped his performance, the flames surging from his body melting the frost on his arms, and gave a wicked smile: "Hey, hey, hey, although there's no huge frostbite, it still hurts a lot."

"And I'm giving you a chance, letting you breathe some fresh air, but you don't appreciate it."

"Oh dear, you little Grim Reaper Captain, if you're tired of living, I'm about to attack!"

Bazzby raised his right arm, intense heat accumulating in his index and middle fingers: "I'll let you try this move. Be grateful for my mercy; this is a flame comparable to Ryujin Jakka, the Captain-Commander of the Shinigami!"

Hitsugaya Toshiro roared in fury: "You dare compare yourself to the Captain-Commander?!"

"Don't be so proud of yourself just because you can suppress me, Quincy. The Captain-Commander has defeated your leader before, and he will surely be defeated again this time."

"Vacuum Ice Blade!!"

Countless vacuum ice blades were born from the Zanpakuto Hyōrinmaru and then shot towards the enemy in a dense barrage.

Bazzby was also furious: "Don't joke around. It's not just you Shinigami who are full of confidence in your leader. We Quincy are the same. The Captain-Commander you mentioned is no match for His Majesty at all."

"Burning Finger!!"

With a roar, Bazzby thrust his outstretched arm forward, unleashing a powerful pillar of fire aimed directly at Toshiro.

The pillar of fire, as thick as a wrist, collided with the endless ice blades halfway through their flight. The sudden burst of terrifying steam engulfed Toshiro and Bazzby.

Immediately afterwards, a fierce explosion erupted in the thick white fog, and the powerful shockwave destroyed all the architectural decorations in the hall.

Inside the Ice Palace, captain-level Shinigami and Quincy fought fiercely, their blood flowing on the ground and converging into a rushing river.

The sounds of fighting, screams, and roars filled the air, and the fierce battle began to intensify.

Of course, the Quincy suffered the most casualties in this battle.

But the Grim Reapers weren't without their losses either, as they were under siege and had no chance to pause the battle and catch their breath.

This is especially unfriendly to the old and frail Grim Reaper.

The first Shinigami to die in the siege was the first division vice-captain, Sasakibe Jiro.

Due to exhaustion, he was forced to use his Bankai in battle, but was ambushed by Doliske Belch of the Sternritter, who stole his Bankai power.

After his powers were taken away, Chojiro Sasakichi was no longer able to resist the Quincy's attack. After being injured repeatedly, he was ambushed by Belch again and suffered a fatal blow when a huge Holy Arrow pierced his body.

This loyal vice-captain, before he could even say goodbye to Captain-Commander Yamamoto, was overwhelmed by countless holy soldiers and low-level Quincy, and died a heroic death.

The second Shinigami to die in battle was a member of the Visored Corps, a beautiful young Shinigami named Yadomaru Lisa who liked to wear sailor uniforms.

Her death wasn't due to a sneak attack; it was purely a matter of insufficient strength and bad luck, as she unfortunately encountered Gerald Valkyrie, the miracle of the Sternritter.

Valkyrie is one of the four members of Yhwach's personal guard. He was given the holy letter "M", which symbolizes his ability to "miracle".

His strength far surpassed that of Yadomaru Lisa; he completely overwhelmed her simply by using the "Divine Scale" to enlarge his size.

This Quincy, with his distinctly Nordic features, was an extremely cruel bastard. He also held women in exceptional contempt, personally murdering the defenseless Yadomaru Lisa.

However, even the Quincy could not escape their fate of death. Perida Pakaja encountered Yoruichi Shihouin, and the two engaged in a fierce battle.

In the end, Yoruichi Shihouin, at the cost of an arm, swiftly and decisively killed Penida Pakaja with her [Shunko Raiju Sengoku Sentai: Shunryu Kuroneko Senki].

The disappearance of the spiritual pressure from captain-level Shinigami and Quincy Sternritter greatly stimulated the powerful warriors on the battlefield, causing the intensity of the battle to suddenly rise to a new level.

"Yadomaru Lisa's spiritual pressure is gone." Captain-Commander Yamamoto casually wiped out the Quincy in front of him with a single slash, muttering to himself, "Kenpachi Zaraki's spiritual pressure has also stopped increasing. Has he reached his limit?"

Suddenly, Yamamoto Shigekuni stood frozen in place, a look of utter bewilderment on his face—a look he'd never seen before: "Sagibuchi Chojiro—he—"

"Dead?"

Chojiro Sasaki is also an ancient Grim Reaper. He has followed Captain-Commander Yamamoto for the second longest time, after Retsu Mikado. Although they may not have fought side by side many times, he has always diligently helped Yamamoto with team affairs and always stood behind him.

Yamamoto Shigekuni had always thought he was hard-hearted and wouldn't be saddened by the sacrifice of any Grim Reaper, but when he sensed the disappearance of the Sasakibe's spiritual pressure, he suddenly realized that a large piece of his heart was missing.

He smiled bitterly and said, "It really hurts. I didn't realize I wasn't as strong as I thought."

Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni took a deep breath, took off his shirt, revealing his obviously aged but still strong upper body. At the same time, wisps of flame emerged from his Zanpakuto.

These flames were terrifyingly red, and small sparks kept exploding in the middle. Just one look was enough to tell that their owner was extremely angry.

boom-!

A pillar of fire blasted through the ice palace, tearing a huge hole in the layers of spatial barriers, causing the entire ice palace to tremble.

Surrounded by flames, Yamamoto Shigekuni's aura was like the sun, its accumulated energy finally bursting forth. His condensed spiritual pressure surged like a volcano erupting in full force, distorting and blurring the light around him under its impact.

The captain strode into the depths of the palace. The rooms and corridors he passed were all burned to the ground, and the hard floors and walls were cracked and even melted.

Those who unfortunately encountered him, including Quincy, were all burned to ashes by the flames, leaving piles of ash on the floor.

The change in the battlefield atmosphere was naturally noticed by the three people inside the royal palace.

At this moment, Xia Zuo was intently observing Yhwach, and without realizing it, he began to compare him with Aizen, who was also a boss, and Roger, the Pirate King next door.

These three are all all-around powerful and charismatic bosses, especially Aizen and Yhwach, who live in the same world—

Judging from the order of appearance, Yhwach should be stronger and more terrifying.

However, in Xia Zuo's perception, apart from being slightly stronger in raw power, Yhwach was completely outmatched by Aizen in every other aspect.

Both are cunning, but Aizen gives the impression of being wise and decisive, while Yhwach makes one feel that he is insidious, despicable, and uses underhanded methods.

Both of them were equally indifferent to the lives of their subordinates, and Aizen was even more outrageous, stabbing Halibel in the kidneys when he felt she was useless.

However, Aizen gives off a cool vibe, while Yhwach gives off a feeling of a ruthless tyrant.

In fact, Yhwach's character is not problematic. He has an illustrious background, a powerful aura, and his followers are extremely loyal and willing to sacrifice for him.

The problem is that he is too slovenly and looks gloomy. He is only pursuing personal interests and has no sentiment or ideals at all.

The Pirate King next door actually has a worse image than Yhwach, but he has a generous personality, never bullies the weak, and is wholeheartedly pursuing freedom.

When Roger sacrificed himself as a tribute for the greater freedom of the pirate world, his title of Pirate King was truly solidified, and no one questioned it anymore.

Then look at the bosses in the Marvel universe. They are clearly committing genocide, but they pursue environmental protection and sustainable development, rather than pursuing their own desires and interests. Their level of sophistication is instantly elevated.

Of course, neither Gol D. Roger nor Thanos were particularly bright, and what they did was hardly right.

Take One Piece for example. He sacrificed himself for the greater freedom of pirates, ushering in an unprecedented era of great piracy. But what was the result? The result was the collapse of order, and the world sank into a deeper abyss.

Thanos did an even worse job.

Taking Earth as an example, the result of him slaughtering half of the intelligent life was that it triggered a baby boom in human society, and in less than five years, the population has recovered to 10%.

In at most twenty years, the Earth's total population will be fully recovered, and due to the inertia-induced baby boom, the population will surge to an even higher peak at an even faster rate.

However, the foolish outcome did not diminish Roger and Thanos's coolness.

Roger is the white moonlight of the One Piece world, while Thanos is the undisputed number one boss in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

This is the value of ideals and sentiments.

Pure egoists aren't necessarily a problem, and pure villains can be quite charming, but first you have to do well in other areas.

Take Aizen for example. He is very handsome and always pays attention to his image. He uses hair gel to keep his hair under control and his clothes are always clean and tidy, making him a pleasant sight to behold.

Yhwach had a head of messy, unruly hair, a tangled beard, and an unkempt black robe, coupled with a pair of fierce yet shallow and blunt eyes—

Haha, a villain who has no highlights on the surface and no depth in his thinking is destined to be a loser!

The thought that this slovenly middle-aged man had stolen the Spirit King's power and become the true strongest in the world made Xia Zuo want to laugh.

This is a case of someone whose virtue doesn't match their position!

Moreover, Xia Zuo is very busy. He still needs to deal with the Soul King and the Zero Division, remove the wedge that is blocking the world's operation, and restore the world to normal!

So he decided to kill Yhwach right there and save everyone time.

Without uttering a single unnecessary word, Xia Zuo directly swung his sword at Yhwach, his spiritual pressure gathering into sword energy, which then transformed into a white egret. Its enormous white wings spread open, and its slender beak, like a longsword, lunged straight at the enemy.

【Soaring Wings and Devastating Strike】

When Yhwach saw the egret, he laughed dismissively: "A mere trifle!"

The smile remained on his face, but his gaze was unusually cold. He raised the black spiritual greatsword in his hand high and slashed down fiercely, unleashing a terrifying sword aura.

This crescent-shaped sword aura, resembling "Crescent Moon Sky Slash," is absolutely powerful enough to crush any Captain-level Shinigami's Bankai technique.

The sword qi white rump and the crescent-shaped sword qi appeared to collide head-on, but in reality, the sword qi egret destroyed the structure of the crescent-shaped sword qi with three consecutive attacks using its beak, wings, and claws, causing this terrifying attack to shatter.

Under Yhwach's astonished gaze, the collapsing sword energy engulfed him, smashing half of the royal palace beyond recognition.

Amidst billowing dust, Shazor stood smiling in the flattened half of the royal palace, while Yhwach stood covered in dust in the crater.

His facial expressions were incredibly complex, first surprise, then confusion, then anger, mixed with shame, frustration, and embarrassment.