Starting as a pirate, he rose to become the strongest Shinigami in Soul Society.

Chapter 454 Kenpachi Kuchiyashiki's Bankai!

"Hulaha!" Kenpachi Kuruyashiki shouted something that was unclear in meaning but sounded very powerful.

He continuously slashed out with the Hungry Paradise Corridor in his hand, the violent spiritual pressure and power stirring up fierce air currents.

The ping-pong balls clashed repeatedly, sparks flashing between the two blades.

After seven consecutive strikes, Saito's immortal sword was still faster, seizing the opening of the eighth strike and delivering a powerful blow to Kuruyashiki Kenpachi's shoulder.

Blood gushed out, and a deep cut appeared on his shoulder, revealing the bone.

But Kenpachi Kuruyashiki only paused for a moment before launching a counterattack.

As Saito, who was immortal, blocked the attack with a backhand slash, a red light flickered at the location of the void in his left eye.

Cero!

The extremely fast Cero, and the distance was so close, that Kenpachi Kuruyashiki had no way to dodge it.

With a deafening boom, a violent explosion of spiritual pressure completely engulfed the two figures.

A moment later, the smoke cleared, and Kenpachi Kuruyashiki's haori and shihaka outfit were tattered, his wild hairstyle was in disarray, and his exposed skin was charred and emitting smoke.

In contrast, Saito, who was also caught in the explosion, was immortal and her figure was very blurry, as if space was in chaos. Until the power of the explosion dissipated, her figure immediately became clear, and she was completely unharmed!

The moment her figure became clear, Kenpachi Kuruyashiki, who appeared to be severely injured, suddenly moved with incredible speed and slashed down with his sword!

The blade slammed into Saito's immortal mask, shattering it into fragments. In the next instant, Saito's immortal figure flickered, creating distance between himself and Kuruyashiki Kenpachi.

She raised her hand and touched the notch in her mask, unable to help but exclaim, "I take back what I said before. Even among the first generation, there were few warriors who could rival you!"

On the other side, Kenpachi Kuruyashiki grinned, revealing a grim smile, and said, "I almost managed to cleave your mask open. What a pity."

"Although your spiritual pressure has been increasing, why haven't you used your Bankai yet? You don't mean you think I haven't used my Bankai, so you want to have a 'fair fight' with me, do you?" Saito Immortal asked.

Kenpachi Kuruyashiki tossed the Gurakuro in his hand, his tone tinged with helplessness, and said, "If I could use it, I would have used it long ago. Unfortunately, my Bankai is too terrifying in power and doesn't distinguish between friend and foe."

He stopped there and didn't continue.

Saito, who was immortal, paused for a moment, then looked toward the edge of the battlefield, at the enormous blue dragon and spiritual pressure barrier that protected the numerous Shinigami within its coiled body.

"I see." Saito, seemingly understanding something, pondered for a moment before saying, "I originally didn't want to leave any room for those bastards from the Kuchiki family, but out of respect for you, a valiant general, I'll let them go this time."

As soon as he finished speaking, Saito, the immortal and immortal, once again lightly swept the Sky Flash in the air, and the rippling spatial waves slowly dispersed, instantly dissipating the confinement that had sealed off this space.

Hidden beneath the Heart Crossing, Kuchiki Sojun was stunned for a moment upon seeing this. Due to the distance, he hadn't clearly heard the conversation between the two, so he was quite puzzled as to how Saito, who was immortal, had suddenly broken free of the spatial confinement.

"You damned bastards from the Kuchiki family, what are you standing there for? Get the hell out of here, the farther the better, and don't disturb this memorable battle!" Saito Immortal saw Kuchiki Soujun's wary and suspicious look and his molars itched with hatred, so he immediately started cursing.

Kenpachi Kuruyashiki was also surprised that Saito, who was immortal, would make such a choice.

After realizing what was happening, he immediately said, "Vice Captain Cang Chun, please lead the men and evacuate!"

Pulling the heart-shaped pole out of the ground, Kuchiki Sojun nodded and said, "Captain Kuruyashiki, I wish you good fortune in your military endeavors."

Without hesitation or agonizing, Kuchiki Sojun knew that guys of their caliber would only hold Kuruyashiki Kenpachi back here. It would be foolish for them to be sentimental and shout things like "live and die together." They should leave immediately to give Kuruyashiki Kenpachi the space and room to unleash his full power!

Saito, being immortal, did not obstruct anything, allowing Kuchiki Sojun and the others to quickly leave the area using Shunpo.

She didn't rush to fight Kenpachi Kuruyashiki, and remained in the air, holding the Sky Flash, waiting.

"Speaking of which, since the Eleventh Division was first established, Unohana's rules have been different from the other divisions. She said that before she took a leave of absence, the only way to become the captain was to defeat her. Does your Eleventh Division still have this rule now?" Saito Immortal asked as if he had thought of something.

Kenpachi Kuruyashiki didn't rush to make a move. He was still waiting. The Bankai range of the Gurakuro Corridor was extremely large, and he needed to give Kuchiki Sōjun and the others enough time to evacuate.

Upon hearing this question, he raised the corner of his bloodied mouth and said, "It's the same as before. I only took the name of Kenpachi and the position of captain after defeating the previous generation's Kenpachi."

"That's how it should be. The Gotei 13 should all follow this rule. The strong rise and the weak fall. That's the essential rule of this world. If that bastard Yamamoto Shigekuni had accepted my challenge earlier, things wouldn't have gotten to this point," Saito Immortal sneered.

Saito is immortal and unconventional, completely unlike someone of noble birth. He frequently utters profanities, is eccentric and rude, and acts recklessly.

However, she still adheres to her own principles, namely, respecting the strong and stubbornly believing that the Soul Society should not be maintained by those corrupt and disgusting rules, such as aristocratic rule and the Central 46 Chambers being the highest decision-makers.

These are all wrong. The real essential rule is that the strong dominate the weak and set the rules!

Initially, when Yamamoto Genryusai disagreed with some of the captains who had committed too many killings, Saito Immortal wanted to challenge Yamamoto Genryusai for the position of Captain-Commander, defeat him by force, and thus change these decisions to cooperate with the nobles and the Seireitei.

However, Yamamoto Genryusai did not accept Saito's challenge of immortality.

After several failed attempts to challenge him, Saito, who was immortal, finally decided to conspire with several captains to launch a rebellion!

Unlike a challenge, Yamamoto Genryusai could not possibly 'refuse' a rebellion. He then engaged in a fierce battle with Saito Immortal, ultimately defeating Saito Immortal by relying on the even more terrifying power of Ryujin Jakka.

At this point, Saito, being immortal, actually had countless opportunities to escape, but she didn't; she chose to die a glorious death in battle!

The strong live, the weak die; this is the rule she accepts.

Surprisingly, Yamamoto Genryusai did not kill her; instead, he imprisoned her in the Abyss after she had fought to the point of exhaustion.

In fact, she truly began to hate Yamamoto Genryusai from this point on; before that, it was merely a clash of ideologies.

Seeking glory only leads to humiliation. That bastard Yamamoto Genryusai destroyed her hope of dying in glory and imprisoned her in this utterly humiliating abyss!

If he had accepted her challenge and defeated her completely, then even though she, Saito, was unwilling, she could still follow the rules set by this powerful figure!

Thinking about it carefully, it's all that old guy's fault for being too stubborn!

Recalling such things, Saito's immortal eyes flashed with anger and hatred. She looked at Kuruyashiki Kenpachi and said, "After I grant you a glorious death here, the next thing I'll do is kill that bastard Yamamoto Shigekuni—no, and that Spirit Lord too!"

To be honest, she didn't actually harbor any resentment towards Bane. On the contrary, she was really looking forward to meeting Bane again, since the two of them had no grudges against each other.

The reason she chose to escape instead of dying a glorious death was because she hadn't had enough fun. She had been imprisoned in the Abyss for nearly five hundred years, and her body was too weak. Her spiritual pressure hadn't recovered, and she couldn't fight at her peak. So, she finally chose to escape and lie low.

All I want is to return to my peak, or even surpass the limits of death to become stronger, and then seek to have my fill!

This time, if she encounters them again, even if she still can't beat them, she won't run away!

"That's enough." Kenpachi Kuruyashiki didn't reply, but instead said softly.

"Ready?" Saito, the immortal being, pulled himself together from his chaotic thoughts and looked at Kuruyashiki Kenpachi with interest. "Let me see just how majestic you are in your prime, this mighty warrior who can take on a thousand men!"

"To my shame, my Bankai only has one strike, yet it is extremely dangerous. I have been ordered by the Central 46 Chambers that no matter what disaster occurs in Seireitei, I must never use it near Seireitei. You probably understand what I mean, right?" Kenpachi Kurosashiki said with great magnanimity.

Saito's immortality gave him the opportunity to use Bankai, and he didn't mind giving him a few pointers.

"Enough talk, come on!" Saito Immortal roared.

Seeing Saito's unwavering confidence in his immortality, Kenpachi Kuruyashiki said nothing more. He raised the Hungry Harmony in his hand and softly chanted: "Calamity, good fortune, eternity, decline, endless in all directions, devour, tear, chew, annihilate everything, devour, hunger!"

The moment the Bankai chant ended, a rumbling sound of hunger came from the abdomen of Kenpachi Kuruyashiki's tall body.

His Bankai, which was strictly forbidden by the Central 46 from being used near Seireitei, has a rather simple name: "Hunger"!

A surge of spiritual pressure swept over, and the Guraku Corridor, which was being held horizontally by Kenpachi Kuchiyashiki, vanished on the spot, leaving not even the hilt of his sword behind.

But nothing seemed to have changed around him. Saito, the immortal, clearly felt a sense of crisis and something was wrong, but despite looking around cautiously, he couldn't find anything unusual.

"Is this just a charade?" Saito Immortal wondered.

Just as she was filled with doubt, she suddenly saw in the far distance, at the very edge of her vision, at the 'edge of the world,' a black line that seemed to be rising into the sky.

It wasn't just in that one direction; if you looked closely, you could see a black line rising into the sky from all directions, at the very edge of every line of sight!

"What is this?" Saito Immortal wondered in surprise, but still couldn't understand it.

As this doubt arose, she suddenly noticed that the black line was growing faster. No, it should be said that it was moving closer to her.

No sooner said than done, the moment the thought crossed his mind, the black line seemed to move much closer in an instant. It was then that Saito, who was immortal, realized that it was not a black line, but an unknown and strange barrier that rose up, blotting out the sky.

All of this together makes it seem as if something is swallowing her up, and her mouth is closing rapidly!?

It was visible to the naked eye that nearly a third of the enormous Hollow Forest had been swallowed up in one gulp. It was only thanks to Kenpachi Kuruyashiki using his Bankai at the edge of the Hollow Forest that it was able to completely wipe out the Hollow Forest in one go!

"So that's how it is. It's a Bankai that devours everything. The area it covers is truly terrifying. It's located high in the sky, and you can't see the end of it at a glance. With such a huge area of ​​devouring, by the time you realize it, the enemy will already be in its mouth." Saito Immortal sighed.

It can be said that this Bankai, judging from the area it covers, leaves no room for dodging. Once it is used, it is almost guaranteed to hit!

Unless you can run several times the distance of Seireitei in the blink of an eye, it's impossible.

Otherwise, just wait to be swallowed whole by that abyss's gaping maw!

(End of this chapter)