Both start in hell: but their talents are multiplied a hundredfold.

Seireitei: Above the Sky

Shen Jue felt the vibration from the device.

"The stripping is complete," he announced loudly.

Aizen stood beside him, his brown eyes calmly gazing at the city bathed in sunlight.

"Yhwach didn't intervene," Aizen said. "It seems he chose to confront it head-on."

He had no choice.

Shen Jue withdrew his hand.

"Next."

He turned his head and looked down at the Gotei 13, the Arrancar, the Hollowfied and the defected Shinigami.

Ichigo Kurosaki and Isshin Kurosaki were among them.

"It's up to you now."

Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni stood at the forefront, gripping his cane with both hands. In his aged eyes, a thousand years of killing intent was awakening.

"Shen Jue".

"I'm here, Captain-Commander."

"You have done something that even I, an old man, have not been able to do."

Yamamoto's voice was deep and steady.

"The Quincy have been hiding right under my nose for a thousand years, and I knew nothing about it."

"But you discovered it."

Shen Jue smiled and nodded.

Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni raised his head, looked at the silent city in the sky, and a smile slowly appeared on his lips.

That smile carried a murderous intent.

"Please give the order, Captain," Shen Jue said.

Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni raised his hand.

"Gotei 13, all personnel."

"Attack!"

The moment the words fell, spiritual pressure exploded like a tsunami.

The Gotei 13, the Arrancar, the Hollowfied Shinigami who had defected—everyone looked up at the same time, their gazes converging on the invisible empire that had been stripped from the shadows in the sky.

Kurosaki Ichigo gripped Zangetsu tightly and took a step forward.

Kurosaki Isshin pressed down on his shoulder and whispered, "Don't rush."

Kenpachi Zaraki was already smiling, and that smile made several officials around him subconsciously take a step back.

After receiving a message and explanation from the Second Division, Madarame Ikkaku appeared, clutching Hozukimaru tightly. Ayasegawa Yumichika stood at the back of the group, shaking his head as he looked at the tense Ikkaku.

Kisuke Urahara pulled down the brim of his fisherman's hat, and Yoruichi stood beside him with her arms crossed.

"It seems that Senior Shen Jue is almost ready," Urahara said.

"Fortunately, Captain Shen Jue didn't do anything reckless, otherwise the Three Realms would really be in danger."

"You think so too, don't you?" Yoruichi said in a low voice. "Hey, don't die in this war, Urahara."

"I'll do my best," Kisuke Urahara said helplessly in the face of Yoruichi's concern.

Mayuri Kurotsuchi did not join the crowd. He stood in the shadows a little further away, holding a test tube in his hand, which contained a sample of some grayish-white spiritual particles.

He stared at the invisible empire in the sky, grinned, and revealed a smile that stemmed purely from a researcher's curiosity.

At this moment, Jushiro Ukitake appeared and stood at the back of the crowd.

He coughed, then slowly raised his hand, the two knives of Pisces trembling gently in his palm.

"Captain Shen Jue, he's really terrifying..." Ukitake Jushiro muttered to himself.

"Before the full-scale attack," Shen Jue said, his voice reaching the ears of everyone present.

"There are some things I must tell you, about the Sternritter of the Quincy, about Yhwach."

All eyes turned to Shen Jue.

"Several members of the Sternritter possess the 'Star Badge'," Shen Jue said.

"Star Seal has only one ability."

"Capture the Death God's Swastika."

A low murmur arose from the crowd.

"The process of stealing Bankai is based on 'resonance'," Shen Jue continued.

"The Quincy uses their own spiritual particles as a guide to come into contact with the Bankai spiritual pressure of the Shinigami, and forcibly separates the Bankai from the Zanpakuto through the Quincy mark within the Star Seal."

"If successful, not only will Shinigami be unable to use Bankai, but Quincy can also unleash the power of Bankai in reverse under certain conditions and use it for their own purposes."

He paused for a moment.

"Therefore, try not to use Bankai in battle, at least not before confirming whether the opponent has a Star Seal."

"Not using Bankai?" Toshiro's voice was low. "Heh."

"I am no longer the same person I was before; I am no longer a Shinigami who relies solely on Bankai."

"Captain Shen Jue, please keep an eye on things!"

"Captain Shen Jue! How do we fight then?!" The straightforward Madarame Ikkaku shouted out, "Bankai is our trump card! If we don't use Bankai!"

Ayasegawa Yumichika hurriedly tried to shut Madarame Ikkaku's mouth, but he failed, and Ikkaku glared at him instead.

Speechless, Ayasegawa Yumichika rolled his eyes at Ikkaku.

"Use the initial solution," Shen Jue explained.

"Kido, Hakuda, Shunpo, Slash Technique."

"Use all means that are not swastika."

"The conditions for Seisho to steal Bankai are very strict; contact must be made at or near the moment of Bankai release."

"As long as you don't get close to them, and don't unleash your Bankai in front of a Quincy wielding the Star Mark, the Star Mark won't work."

"But if..."

"If we are forced to use Bankai, then let's finish this quickly."

"Once it's taken away, don't try to take it back. Prioritize evacuation, or," Shen Jue's gaze swept over everyone, "wait for my rescue."

Soi Fon's voice came from the side; she had already moved close to Yoruichi and said, "What about Yhwach himself? He's inside the building above us right now."

"Yes," Shen Jue nodded, "Yhwach is inside this building above us, which is called the Invisible Empire."

"My device not only separated the Unseen Empire from the Spirit Particle Dimension, but also sealed the Unseen Empire above the Seireitei."

"And Yhwach's abilities..."

"Omniscient and omnipotent".

Aizen spoke, and his cold and aloof demeanor made everyone feel unfamiliar with him.

"The holy letter 'A' of Yhwach means omniscience and omnipotence," Aizen said calmly.

Some of this intelligence was given to him by Shen Jue, while some was obtained by Aizen using a Stand to infiltrate the Wandenreich.

"He can see all the possibilities of the future, know everything that has happened, and predict everything that will happen."

"And he," Aizen slightly raised his head, looking at the city in the sky, "also knows that you already know all of this."

Gin Ichimaru, who had been listening nearby, paused for a moment.

Meanwhile, in the distance, Matsumoto Rangiku and many more Shinigami from the Gotei 13 were on their way.

"Wait a minute." Kyoraku Shunsui suddenly spoke, his gaze shifting from Aizen to Shen Jue's face from under his straw hat.

"Captain Shen Jue, since Yhwach can see through all the futures, then what about our plan?"

"He saw it," Shen Jue said.

"You saw it?"

"He saw all the futures," Shen Jue repeated, "but I cut off all of them."

"What do you mean you cut off all futures?" Kyoraku Shunsui asked, looking completely bewildered.

Shen Jue smiled slightly and said, "All the futures he sees are only one."

"Bloody death and the illusion of recreating the three realms."

Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni tapped the staff lightly with his fingertips.

"So what exactly is his purpose?" Kurosaki Ichigo suddenly asked, stepping forward and standing in front of everyone, his orange hair swaying slightly in the spiritual wind.

"What exactly does that Quincy want?"

Shen Jue looked at him.

"Yhwach's ultimate goal is not to defeat the Gotei 13, not to destroy Seireitei, and not to seek revenge."

"Instead, it is to completely end the Three Realms."

"It feels a bit cliché," Nel exclaimed loudly, leaning on Harribel's shoulder, "My King!"

"Why did that old Quincy want to end the Three Realms?"

"Even the most insane Hollow wouldn't have such thoughts, would they?"

"The end of the three realms?" Jushiro Ukitake's voice came from behind, trembling with a rare tremor.

"Death God, Hollow, and Human—this is the cycle of life and death in the three realms, built upon the body of the Spirit King," Shen Jue softly revealed the truth about the three realms.

"The deceased Spirit King was the wedge, the sacrifice. That pitiful Spirit King was a living corpse sealed in amber, maintaining the balance of the three realms."

"What Yhwach wants to do is kill the Soul King."

"Then let the three realms return to chaos."

"To create a world where there is no death, no cycle, and all spiritual particles return to their original state."

"The New World".

A deathly silence.

Then came the roar.

"What the hell?!" Kurosaki Ichigo's spiritual pressure exploded, shattering the stone slabs beneath his feet. "That kind of thing!"

"He can do it," Aizen calmly interrupted Ichigo.

"As long as he devours the Spirit King and destroys the wedge that maintains the Three Realms, he, as the son of the Spirit King, can accomplish all of this."

"So we must stop him," Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni said solemnly.

The strongest death god in a thousand years slowly raised his hand, and the staff in his hand emitted a deep spiritual resonance.

In those aged eyes, a thousand years of killing intent had solidified into a tangible form, transforming into a pure, unadorned resolve.

"Yhwabach must die."

"Before he takes any further action."