The Alchemist in Bleach

One of the plans for leaving the world in Seireitei was this: if anything unexpected happened, Ichiro would notify the captains immediately, and then, that would be the end of it.

The captain will definitely come to save them. Although the world can also use resurrection magic, it's always better to stay alive if possible.

This is also an advantage for Ichiro and his team.

In fact, even now, the monks still have doubts about the fact that the world is Ichiro's Zanpakuto. It's simple: the monks don't know the name of Ichiro's Zanpakuto.

Furthermore, since the monks had never truly seen the world, they had always believed that Ichiro's Zanpakuto name was simply hidden by himself, and that the world was just a Shinigami with some special abilities.

This huge information gap led to the monk's misjudgment!

If he had known that Ichiro could transmit messages through connections with the world, he would never have done so. After all, the Spirit King Palace has a very high level of protection, and existing methods are basically unable to break through the terrifying number of sealing barriers within the Spirit King Palace.

Unfortunately, Ichiro's situation is special...

Therefore, all they need to do now is buy time. Once the Captain-Commander and the others arrive, everything will be fine. There's no need to risk a life-or-death struggle with the Zero Division; it's too early for that now.

Although Ichiro was angry, his anger was mostly directed at himself. It was necessary to maintain due respect for Kirinji. After all, he was a teacher who had taught him wholeheartedly and hadn't done anything to him. Ichiro's values ​​were still normal, and this kind of teacher should be respected.

However, Ichiro's mistake was that Kirinji Temple is Kirinji Temple, and the Zero Division is the Zero Division...

The two need to be distinguished. He doesn't need to be particularly wary of Kirinji, but the Zero Division must be treated as a real enemy!

This is also why Ichiro chose to use the Nightmare to deal with Oetsu instead of Urahara's one-time use Zanpakuto. In the spiritual space, in addition to perfecting his sword techniques, he can also obtain information about the other members of the Zero Division to the maximum extent.

With just a little psychological suggestion, the mental illusion space will appear on its own.

Unfortunately, it can no longer continue...

Wang Yue is Wang Yue after all. Putting aside everything else, just living in a lonely place like the Spirit King Palace for hundreds or thousands of years is enough to hone an extraordinary spirit and will.

Therefore, after initially realizing the illusion, Wang Yue did not remain immersed in it for long before waking up again. With a casual slash, he killed "Ichiro" who had activated the Eight Thousand Flows Sword. A trace of fear flashed in his eyes. He stopped communicating with Ichiro and instead focused his mind and energy on the sword in his hand.

He now understood that Ichiro's illusion was particularly bizarre. The medium for activating the illusion was his every move, words, actions, and even the flames surrounding him, all of which had a hypnotic effect, making it virtually impossible to defend against.

Therefore, he will not give Ichiro any chance this time. Although mental illusion is strange, it is also relatively easy to break, especially for strong people. The stronger their will, the easier it is to break.

"cut!"

With a loud shout, Wang Yue gripped the scabbard tightly with both hands and unleashed a thunderous strike from above, condensing all his energy and spirit!

As Wang Yue's knife fell, a thunderclap suddenly exploded!

The world around Wang Yue was torn open as if a curtain had been ripped open, turning into a phantom and disappearing. He reappeared in the Spirit King Palace.

Wang Yue glanced at Ichiro, who was holding a sword in one hand, not far away. At the same time, she glanced at the other battlefields out of the corner of her eye and breathed a slight sigh of relief. However, it was only a slight relief. Ichiro's method of using illusion magic was too strange, and she had to be careful!

Moreover, we must not give him a chance to react!

With this thought in mind, Wang Yue shifted his feet and instantly appeared in front of Ichiro. The scabbard in his hand swiftly swept across, cutting Ichiro in two!

The feeling from the sheath in his hand brought Wang Yue a slight joy. He had finally escaped the illusion and let out a long sigh of relief.

However, he overlooked one point: when he first killed "Ichiro" in the illusion, it felt the same way...

In illusions, all your senses can deceive you, sometimes including your intuition!

Therefore, just as he turned around to provide support, he froze instantly, because Ichiro was standing perfectly unharmed in front of him...

Wang Yue looked back with a grim expression and found that the "corpse" that had been cut in two was nowhere to be seen.

"Is this still an illusion?" Wang Yue asked with a grim face, tightening his grip on the sheath in his hand.

Ichiro smiled and said, "When did you begin to believe that you had broken the illusion?"

After saying that, Ichiro's figure suddenly disappeared and reappeared behind Wang Yue, tilting his head back slightly, looking over Wang Yue's shoulder and into Wang Yue's solemn eyes.

"Why must you be my enemy? We've never had any reason to go to war..."

"call out!"

A flash of silver light, and Ichiro was split in two!

"Clap clap~" Ichiro dispersed, then reappeared, clapping his hands with a faint smile on his face. "A brilliant strike, worthy of the name of the Sword God. Unfortunately, this is an illusion space. Here, all your senses are deceiving you. Everything you see, everything you hear, everything you touch, everything you smell, and even everything you think, is all fake!"

As he spoke, Ichiro's figure vanished like a phantom, then instantly reappeared in front of Wang Yue in the form of a monk!

"Look, what your eyes see is Ichibei-senpai, what you hear is Kirinji-sensei, but what you sense is your own aura. Here, you are omnipotent, yet you are also nothing."

However, after a brief outburst, Wang Yue had calmed down from Ichiro's provocation and looked at Ichiro calmly, her eyes like a still, deep pool.

"Give up. Once your tricks are seen through, they're nothing special. I can't be moved by you anymore."

"Tsk~ Troublesome." Ichiro curled his lip, returned to his original position, and quietly watched Wang Yue, who was gathering his energy. He smiled and said, "Senior Wang Yue, you don't still intend to break the illusion, do you? Don't blame me for not reminding you, the dream demon is a dream-type illusion. The more awake you are, the deeper you are immersed. You will slowly lose the ability to distinguish between reality and illusion."

Wang Yue closed her eyes, no longer looking at Ichiro's strange eyes. At the same time, she shut down her senses, preventing herself from being disturbed by external things, and focused her mind.

And so, with Ichiro's eyes full of smiles, he slashed down again!

The same blade fell, the same thunderbolt struck!

The difference was that when he opened his eyes again, the surroundings had changed; this time, they found themselves in the Seireitei...

Upon opening her eyes, Wang Yue's heart sank...

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Chapter 202: The Upgraded Version of the Thirty-Six Blades!

This is still an illusion...

Ichiro, hands in his pockets, looked at Wang Yue across from him with a smile.

"See, I told you, Senior Wang Yue. I advised you to think carefully before you act. If you act rashly, I'm worried you'll completely lose your ability to judge the truth over time."

As he spoke, Ichiro's figure slowly faded away and disappeared into the illusion space, thus completing the Dream Illusion.

Ichiro named himself Nightmare because of this: when you are fully aware that you have fallen into illusion, that is precisely when you are most deeply immersed in the illusion!

Generally speaking, when people are dreaming, they wake up when they realize they are dreaming. This is a very common phenomenon. Occasionally, the dream may continue, but it usually doesn't last very long.

However, in mythology there is a being called the Nightmare, who can manipulate your dreams at will, so that even if you know you are dreaming, you still cannot wake up, no matter what means you use!

The same applies to Ichiro's illusions; the more you understand them, the deeper you fall into their trap...

Given Wang Yue's current condition, without external stimulation, it would be ten days to half a month before he woke up. Therefore, Ichiro had a thought and withdrew his consciousness from the illusion, returning to the real world.

Looking at Wang Yue, who was holding a sheath and had a blank look in his eyes, not far away, Ichiro breathed a sigh of relief. He hadn't expected that they could subdue him with illusion magic. Their confidence in their own abilities far exceeded Ichiro's imagination.

However, this situation will likely only occur this time. Next time, Wang Yue and the others will definitely be fully prepared, and even with the "steel seal," it will be difficult to trap them in illusions again.

Of course, the illusion won't be needed next time...

Ichiro glanced at the battlefield and his left shoulder wound, which had begun to heal. He shifted his feet and charged towards Kuchiki Hibiki, carrying crimson-gold flames. The other two sides, whether it was the monk or the Kirinji master, were tough nuts to crack and not so easy to deal with.

When it comes to persimmons, you have to pick the soft ones!

Before long, Ichiro arrived near Soi Fon's battlefield. From a distance, Ichiro could see the three of them fighting against Kuchiki Hibiki and Muramasa. Although it was three against two, Soi Fon and the others were at a disadvantage.

While Muramasa's abilities are ineffective against them when they are fully prepared, Kuchiki Hibiki, who has undergone a transformative change, still has a significant gap to close.

A three-on-one situation could end in a draw, but a three-on-two situation is less certain.

Seeing this, Ichiro's mind stirred, and crimson-gold flames wrapped around the blade as he swung his right hand out fiercely!

"Fire Flower!"

A giant flower of fire appeared in the sky, turning the entire Spirit King Palace into a dazzling red!

However, Kuchiki Hibiki and Muramasa, who were standing beneath the Flame Flower, had no time to appreciate the beautiful scenery. Their expressions were extremely solemn as they faced the enormous Flame Flower.

Hibiki and Muramasa exchanged a glance, then simultaneously swung their swords, unleashing their full spiritual pressure!

"Drink it!!! Break it!"

"boom!!!"

After a brief stalemate between their attacks and the fire, lacking follow-up power, the fire was shattered with a "whoosh" by the combined efforts of the two, scattering into countless sparks that looked exceptionally beautiful.

If the streets hadn't been destroyed by the shockwave, and if Kuchiki Hibiki and Muramasa hadn't been panting for breath.

Looking at the dense sword marks along the edge of the crater, Soi Fon and the others swallowed hard. Nozomi asked, her voice trembling slightly, "Isn't it rumored that Captain Tenshin isn't good at swordsmanship? If this counts as not being good at it... then what about us...?"

Soi Fon didn't reply because she really didn't know how to explain the problem. She was also confused. Back in Hueco Mundo, Ichiro's swordsmanship was terrible; it was said that he had always barely passed his swordsmanship classes...

It's only been a little over ten years, how come things have changed so much...?

They didn't hesitate for long before turning around behind Ichiro to recover. The difference in strength was too great. Kuchiki Hibiki, who had undergone a transformative upgrade, had experienced a qualitative leap in strength. Even among the captains, he was now considered one of the stronger ones. The three of them had done their best to hold out until now.

"Ichiro, your hand..." Soi Fon looked at the wound on Ichiro's shoulder with a puzzled expression. Although it was a severed arm, based on her understanding of Ichiro, this kind of injury, if not healed easily, wouldn't take much effort.

But quite some time has passed since it was severed, so why hasn't it healed yet? Especially now that we're about to face a battle.

Ichiro smiled, said only "It will be useful later" and then stopped talking, gesturing for them to retreat. He would handle the fighting here.

Although Soi Fon's doubts remained unanswered, she knew the situation and simply nodded, saying, "Be careful."

Then, he and hope Zhijin turned and left to meet the beautiful girl Zanpakuto who were arriving late from Wang Yue's Phoenix Palace.

Ichiro was left to deal with Kuchiki Kyoga and Muramasa alone. If they had previously worried that Ichiro, who had lost an arm, might not be a match for Kuchiki Kyoga, they no longer had any such concerns.

Would someone who can casually unleash such an attack be weak?

They'd better not bother this important person...

.......

"..." Kuchiki Kyoga looked at Ichiro in silence for a moment, then said softly, "I haven't had a chance to thank you for saving my life before, I'm sorry~"

Ichiro smiled and said, "Even if you try to curry favor, I won't go easy on you. You have to fall here today, otherwise I won't be able to calm down. So bring it on and let me see what made you so determined to betray the Thirteenth Division and join the Zero Division!"

"Isn't calling it betrayal a bit much? Going from the Thirteenth Division to the Zero Division is a promotion."

"And what about your application?"

"..."

Seeing that Kuchiki Kyoga was silent, Ichiro shook his head and said with a smile, "So, stop deceiving yourself. Go for it and let me see what you've gained from joining the Zero Division. Oh, by the way, don't worry about the time I saved you. Just fight however you want. I would have saved you even if you were a dog back then."

Faced with Ichiro's disdainful tone, Kuchiki Kyoga frowned, and anger welled up inside him!

However, just as he was about to rush forward to fight Ichiro, he was suddenly grabbed by the shoulder by Muramasa. He looked at Muramasa behind him with a hint of anger and reproach in his eyes, as if he suspected that Muramasa was going to betray him.

As a Zanpakuto of the illusion type, Muramasa was a master at manipulating emotions. Even though the emotion in Kuchiki Kyoga's eyes was faint, he still caught it, and Muramasa felt a pang of pain in his heart.

He didn't understand why, even though they had fought together for so long, Kuchiki Hibiki would still doubt him from time to time.