Bleach: From the moment I was invited by Squad Zero

Three days later, at dawn. The outermost edge of Rukongai, a desolate place.

This place is far from Seireitei and beyond the usual area where spirits gather.

Yanagawa and Shiba Isshin quietly appeared in the center of this desolate landscape.

They deliberately avoided all possible eyes and ears, choosing this secluded place that even the Void rarely visited.

In Liuchuan's hand, there was a rectangular device about the size of an ordinary book box.

It contains the Transcendental Body made by Mayuri Kurotsuchi.

Shiba rubbed his hands together, a mixture of excitement and wariness as he examined the device in Yanagawa's hand.

"Using this thing on a Zanpakuto will summon that guy's 'true form'? But Yanagawa, isn't choosing this location a bit too cautious?"

Liu Chuan carefully placed the transformed body on a relatively flat boulder, his gaze sweeping over the desolate surroundings, his voice calm:

"Forcibly materializing the Zanpakuto's physical form is itself a form of forced interference with the rules."

"The process, the result, and even the manifestation of the Zanpakuto itself are all subject to great uncontrollability."

"What's more, the one we're summoning this time is Hyōrinmaru, who is known as the strongest ice-type demon."

He paused, then looked at Shiba Isshin: "No one can predict what state Hyōrinmaru will be in after being forcibly pulled out of reality."

"Within the Seireitei, any accident could cause incalculable damage and uncontrollable spread."

"Here, at least the impact can be minimized, and there is enough room to cope."

Shiba understood the weight of the meaning, and he dropped his joking expression, nodding in agreement.

"That makes sense. If Hyōrinmaru goes berserk and freezes half of Seireitei into a block of ice, that would be a real mess."

Liu Chuan said no more, then took off a long, thin cloth bag that he had been carrying across his back and placed it flat on the rock next to the body of the god.

The cloth bag was dark gray, looked somewhat old, and even had some dust on it, indicating that it had not been used for a long time.

Liu Chuan slowly untied the old cloth bag, his movements very gentle, as if touching a long-forgotten memory.

He slowly untied the ropes and drew a Zanpakuto from the cloth bag.

Shiba Isshin's gaze was immediately drawn to it, and his eyes widened with curiosity:

"Is this your Zanpakuto?"

The scabbard is a simple silver-white color, without any fancy decorations. Only near the guard are a few very fine, seemingly naturally formed flowing lines engraved on it.

The handle is equally simple, wrapped with dark-colored non-slip fabric.

However, the instant Yanagawa's fingers gripped the hilt of the sword, Shiba Isshin keenly sensed that the thin, chaotic spiritual particles in the surrounding air seemed to tremble extremely slightly.

It wasn't a burst of spiritual pressure; it was more like a resonance between spiritual particles and the blade.

Yanagawa picked up the Zanpakuto, still sheathed, but did not draw it; he simply held it quietly in his hand.

He noticed Shiba's curious gaze and explained, "The name of the sword is Tianzhen."

"Tenjhin?" Shiba Isshin repeated, savoring the name. "Sounds really cool! What about its abilities? Tell me!"

Liu Chuan's gaze fell on the silver-white scabbard.

Its power is "vibration".

"Vibration?" Shiba Isshin was taken aback, then suddenly realized, "Oh! I get it! Like an earthquake? Or a sonic attack?"

Liu Chuan shook his head: "It's hard to describe exactly what it's like, but you'll see for yourself when you have the chance."

He paused, then added, "But I can't perfectly control the power of this knife myself. The slightest deviation could trigger an unpredictable chain reaction or backfire on myself."

"After awakening my Zanpakuto, I realized that it was too risky to use it in the Seireitei, an environment with a stable spiritual structure, dense buildings, and a large number of people, before I could fully control the power."

"If we're not careful, it could be more than just damaging a building."

He glanced at the Heavenly Tremor in his hand: "Therefore, I rarely use it normally, and I usually keep it sealed away. In Seireitei, I naturally never carry it with me."

Shiba Isshin was speechless. No wonder Yanagawa dared not use it lightly. It was practically a walking, unstable bomb, and one with unknown power at that.

Shiba finally understood. "So, what's the point of taking it out now...?"

Liu Chuan gently tucked Tianzhen into his waistband, his gaze returning to the Twisted Spirit Body on the rock:

"This time we're facing Hyōrinmaru. Regardless of his condition, the strongest ice-type Zanpakutō is incredibly powerful. We're bringing Tenshū as a precaution."

He glanced at the desolate landscape and said, "Here, even if the power of the earthquake gets slightly out of control, the damage it causes will be relatively limited, so there's no need to worry too much."

"Understood." Shiba Isshin also became serious, his hand resting on the Zanpakuto at his waist.

"Then I'm ready too. Although my Zanpakuto isn't as special as yours, it's still fine for ordinary battles!"

Everything was ready. And the efficient rhythm began to flow. He extended his right hand, his fingertips glowing faintly, and hovered above the Transcendental Body, aligning it with a recessed spiritual sensor array in the center of the device, resembling a fingerprint recognition area.

"Alright, let's begin."

Yanagawa first took out two Zanpakuto.

The scabbards are slightly different, but the length and curvature of the blades, especially the restrained yet undeniably chilling spiritual pressure, are almost identical.

It is the "Hyōrinmaru" of Hitsugaya Tōshirō and Kusakabe Sōjirō.

"What is this...?" Shiba asked, puzzled.

Without explaining, Yanagawa first placed the Hyōrinmaru, the sword of Kusakabe Sōjirō, hilt down, into the special groove in the center of the Tōjin body used to "receive" the spiritual pressure imprint of the Zanpakutō.

The spiritual energy circuits on the surface of the divine body still shimmered with a deep blue light, the device emitted a low hum, and the spiritual energy vortex slowly rotated.

However, nothing else happened.

"Huh? No response?" Shiba Isshin leaned closer to take a look, then looked at Yanagawa. "What's going on? Is there a problem with the Transcendental Body? Or did Mayuri Kurotsuchi give us a defective product?"

Liu Chuan showed no surprise, but a knowing look of "I knew it" flashed in his eyes.

He slowly and steadily pulled Kusakabe Sojiro's Hyorinmaru out of the Tenshintai.

"Transformation into a divine body is no problem," Yanagawa explained calmly, his gaze fixed on the Zanpakuto he had just drawn.

"This was just to verify a previous guess I made. Now it seems that the guess was correct."

"What guess?" Shiba pressed for an answer.

"The principle of the Transcendental Body is to forcibly amplify and materialize the sword spirit hidden deep within the Zanpakuto through high-concentration spiritual particle resonance and rule interference. Its target is the 'core essence' of the Zanpakuto."

As Yanagawa spoke, he picked up Hitsugaya Toshiro's Hyōrinmaru sword.

"If the core of a Zanpakuto is not inside the blade, or is in a special state that cannot be directly touched by the Transcendental Body... then the Transcendental Body naturally cannot materialize it."

He looked at Shiba Isshin and said:

"It is very likely that the true core of Hyōrinmaru is not inside the Hyōrinmaru weapon of Kusaka Sojirō."

"It's more like an empty shell, a copy that has been given some of Hyōrinmaru's power."

Shiba Isshin gasped, "This... how is this possible?!"

"So, this is the key."

Without saying another word, Yanagawa solemnly inserted Hitsugaya Toshiro's Hyōrinmaru into the core groove of the Transcendent Body in the same manner.

Just now.

boom!!!

In stark contrast to the previous calm, the Transformation Body suddenly trembled, and all the dark blue spiritual particle circuits on its surface suddenly burst forth with an incomparably dazzling blazing white light!

At the same time, an immense spiritual pressure, like an iceberg that had been dormant for millennia suddenly collapsing, erupted from the Transcendent Body and swept across all directions!

Click, click...

Centered on the spot where Yanagawa and Shiba Isshin stood, the ground, rocks, and even the air within a radius of several hundred meters were instantly covered with a thick, crystal-clear layer of solid ice!

The frigid air currents swirled wildly, and the leaden clouds in the sky seemed to be stirred by an invisible giant hand, rapidly gathering together. Fine ice crystals began to fall, and in the blink of an eye, they turned into a howling blizzard!

A celestial phenomenon has occurred! The power of Hyōrinmaru to alter the climate!

"It's so cold!" Shiba Isshin was caught off guard and shivered from the cold. He quickly circulated his spiritual pressure to resist the chill, but his eyebrows and hair were still quickly covered with frost.

He looked in horror toward the direction of the transformed body.

Within the blazing white light, a colossal dragon-shaped phantom, entirely composed of ice, roared silently as it soared into the sky!

The dragon's shadow is lifelike, with scales and claws flying, exuding an ancient and majestic aura of ice, which is the symbol of Hyōrinmaru's true form!

It swirled and stretched in the blizzard, each movement bringing with it even fiercer winds and hail.

However, this stunning sight did not last long.

After circling several times, the enormous ice dragon phantom seemed to be drawn by some force, and began to rapidly shrink and condense.

The ice crystals and snow seemed to have found their home, converging towards the center.

The light gradually dimmed, and the illusory image of the ice dragon dissipated.

Not far in front of the Transcendent Body, at the core of the blizzard, a tall figure slowly appeared and solidified.

It was a man dressed in a light purple, antique kimono. He was tall and had a stern face. What was most striking were the two diagonally crossed marks on his face, like deep scars.

His hands and feet were not human-shaped, but covered with icy dragon claws that looked like they were carved from diamonds, radiating a chilling aura.

He stood there quietly, his body naturally enveloped in a frigid atmosphere that seemed to freeze everything. His violet eyes slowly opened, reflecting endless glaciers and blizzards.

Hyōrinmaru! The manifested form of the Zanpakutō!

"We...we succeeded?!" Shiba Isshin was both surprised and delighted. Although his teeth were chattering from the cold, he still managed a smile, raised his hand, and waved as if to say hello.

"Hey! Hyōrinmaru! We are...!"

He hadn't finished speaking.

Hyōrinmaru's violet eyes suddenly turned towards Shiba Isshin.

There was no rational communication in their eyes, only a cold, chaotic rage!

In the very center of his forehead, a dazzling golden light, completely unlike any other icy attribute, began to flash intensely, as if it were alive!

Swish!

Without any warning, Hyōrinmaru casually swung his right hand, which was covered by an icy dragon claw.

The ground in front of him suddenly exploded, and a huge ice pillar as thick as a water bucket, like a battering ram fired from a giant crossbow, tore through the air and shot towards Shiba Isshin!

"Watch out!" Liu Chuan's warning rang out almost simultaneously with the sound of the icicles piercing the air.

He had been observing Hyōrinmaru's condition intently, and the moment the golden light flashed and Hyōrinmaru's eyes changed, he sensed something was wrong!

Shiba Isshin, being a captain-level powerhouse, used Shunpo to dodge the attack.

"What's going on?! Why did Hyōrinmaru attack as soon as he appeared?!" He was both shocked and furious.

Liu Chuan fixed his gaze on the ice figure in the distance that exuded a chaotic and violent aura, especially the dazzling golden light that kept flashing on his forehead, which was completely out of place with Hyōrinmaru's own icy spiritual pressure.

He fully activated his senses, analyzing the essence of that golden light.

Yanagawa's voice was low and rapid, carrying an unprecedented gravity, "Hyorinmaru's mind has been disturbed. Look at his forehead!"

Shiba Isshin also noticed the ominous golden light: "What the hell is that?!"

"I don't know, but it's definitely not Hyōrinmaru's own power!" Yanagawa spoke very quickly.

"That power is very peculiar in nature; it's interfering with Hyōrinmaru's will, and we must deplete it first."

"Or we can temporarily suppress that additional golden power; otherwise, Hyōrinmaru will remain in this berserk state, unable to distinguish friend from foe, and will be completely unable to communicate!"

As if to confirm Yanagawa's words, Hyōrinmaru, whose forehead was flashing with golden light once again, let out a low roar mixed with pain and rage.