Death God: Sunny and Cheerful Boy

In the empty room, Kenpachi Zaraki was sitting on the ground in a very awkward manner.

Of course, Zaraki didn’t understand “meaningless” things like “illusions”, and what he had just done wasn’t any special ability, but rather… a pure and powerful will to fight, which was fully materialized when Yilong pushed the door open!

Apparently, Gengmu has been here, planning for a long time.

Generally, when Shinigami practice "Sword Zen", most of them sit cross-legged, holding their own [Zanpakutō]. Some stand solemnly, holding the sword in one hand or with both hands.

This is the process of understanding the [Zanpakuto], and "shallow hitting" absorbs the user's spiritual pressure to form a unique [Zanpakuto]. The nature of its power is closely related to the god of death itself. Naturally, it is a process of self-cultivation. The [Zanpakuto] is equivalent to "its own instruction manual".

But Kenpachi Zaraki's "Sword Zen"...

I don't know if it can be considered "Sword Zen", anyway, it is just so casual, it is better to say that he is comprehending the will to fight rather than comprehending the sword...

No, in his mind, there shouldn’t be such a troublesome word as “comprehension”. He has just been brewing his fighting spirit and waiting for Yilong to come to him!

"Shifengyuan, you're here." Zaraki's voice was a little hoarse at this time.

It's not because of weakness, but because he has been in a state of excited expectation, so it is reflected in his spirit.

When Yilong heard the voice, his heart skipped a beat and he felt the situation was tricky.

"I'm here, Captain Zaraki..."

As soon as Ichiryu opened his mouth, Zaraki interrupted him and said, "Since you are here, let's fight! Let me see what the guy who defeated the eighth generation Kenpachi is capable of!"

In the previous incident with Zaraki Souya, Zaraki had suspected Ichiryu, but at that time Ichiryu used the excuse that he had played all kinds of tricks, so Zaraki had no interest in him...

However, as Ichiryu's strength was gradually exposed, Kenpachi Zaraki, who was the only one who was not stupid in this regard, guessed that it was Ichiryu who sealed Zaraki Souya.

"Wait...if you want an opponent..." Ichiryuu wanted to say something, but at this time Kenpachi's nameless [Zanpakuto] had already slashed towards him.

Huang Juan, who was outside at the beginning and didn't dare to get close, was shocked when he saw Captain Shifengyuan at the door "being attacked", especially when he saw... Captain Shifengyuan seemed to have no reaction and was stabbed without dodging!

Huang Juan was already shocked. His captain had gotten into trouble, but...

The next moment, he discovered that Captain Shifengyuan had retreated, and the captain's sword attack had missed!

Araki heaved a sigh of relief at this time, thinking that Captain Shifengyuan dodged the attack at the last moment.

but……

At this moment, Zaraki was stunned for a moment, and then he showed an even more excited and bloodthirsty look - it was normal that Aramaki couldn't see how Shifengin moved, but... Zaraki didn't see how Shifengin moved just now!

"Is this the strongest instant step of the Shihouin family?" Zaraki said as he took off his blindfold and let his spiritual pressure burst out unrestrainedly.

Yilong did not respond, but... this was certainly not [Instant Step]. If this was [Instant Step], then Yilong would probably have the strength of a "boundary-breaking level" - because this was true "instant teleportation", a "instant teleportation" without any trace of spiritual activity!

After his Bankai in [Throne of the Sky], Hitsugaya saw Ichiryu's weakness of "inconvenient movement", and then Hitsugaya used a small-scale boundary-breaking method to attack him by destroying space...

Hitsugaya was indeed not wrong, but... if Ichiryu wanted to, he could directly "teleport" in front of Hitsugaya. If he did so, the outcome would naturally be in suspense!

However, Ichiryu was unwilling to expose this fact at the time, and just stood there motionless - Hitsugaya was not wrong in his guess, it was indeed "inconvenient to move", but it did not affect the "teleportation".

Zaraki's spiritual pressure exploded at this moment, and many people in Soul Society felt it. At least in the "Technical Development Bureau" not far from the "Combat Team", Kurotsuchi Mayuri felt it first, and the equipment in the Technical Development Bureau also immediately locked onto the spiritual pressure fluctuations.

However, at this distance, Kurotsuchi Mayuri could only sense the burst of Zaraki's spiritual pressure...

"Captain, the spiritual pressure reaction has been locked. It's Eleven... No, Captain Zaraki of the combat team. The spiritual pressure of Commander Shifengyuan was detected next to him!" Akon said after looking at various instruments.

The monitoring equipment of the "Technology Development Bureau" can lock onto the "inconspicuous Shifengyuan" nearby!

"Pay special attention!" Kurotsuchi Mayuri said immediately.

In Kurotsuchi Mayuri's heart, he was only gloating and hoped that Kenpachi Zaraki and Shihouin would die together!

If that doesn't work, then let Zaraki kill Shihouin.

pity……

"Hmm? Chief, Captain Zaraki's spiritual pressure is erupting, and judging by the reaction of the spiritual pressure, he is indeed attacking Commander Shifengin. However... Captain Shifengin's spiritual pressure has been very stable, still maintaining the level of third-class spiritual power, and there is no sign of him being injured." Akon was also very puzzled at this time.

Judging from the spiritual pressure reaction, this should be Captain Zaraki attacking Shihouin, but... why is there no result?

"What happened at the scene... Forget it! Arrange more surveillance equipment in Seireitei as soon as possible!" Kurotsuchi Mayuri said unhappily - he also knew that he couldn't see the scene from here, and even he didn't understand what happened, so Akon certainly wouldn't know.

"Ah? Yes..." Although Ajin was puzzled as to why the director had become much more radical recently, he still accepted the order unconditionally.

"If we're monitoring him, then where is that guy Inaba? Forget it!" Akon muttered at this time.

Speaking of spiritual pressure monitoring, Akon remembered that Inaba was also good at this, but... the previous suspension of his experiment seemed to have dealt a heavy blow to him. Inaba applied to be responsible for monitoring the "Dangai" - in the eyes of other researchers, this was undoubtedly a hard job that was both difficult and of little scientific value.

……

On the other side, in the combat team's barracks, Zaraki was seen constantly attacking Shihouin, but Shihouin did not burst out any spiritual pressure to resist. He just relied on some kind of "teleportation" method to constantly dodge Zaraki's attacks in a small area.

This caused Geng Mu's momentum to begin to decline...

(End of this chapter)

174. Chapter 173 Literary Battle

174.

2023-09-26

Soul Society, Seireitei, the battle team barracks...

Before Yilong could assign Gengmu to his eldest son, he pounced on him like a mad dog!

However, because Ichilong did not fight back at all, nor did he defend himself head-on, he just kept dodging, which made Gengki's catharsis feel unreal and instead dampened his will to fight!

If he really wanted to deal with Zaraki, Ichiryuu might not have a way out - as long as he took advantage of the moment when his self-seal hadn't reacted and attacked him, he would most likely succeed, but...

Ichiryu had no intention of killing, but he also didn't want to accidentally "enhance" or "liberate" Zaraki's power, which would cause trouble later.

In this situation, the best way is to avoid a head-on confrontation with Zaraki - so Ichiryu only used "teleportation" to dodge, and did not take the initiative to attack. Otherwise, once a certain amount of pressure was put on Zaraki, his spiritual pressure that was usually suppressed by instinct would gradually be released!

"You want to command me like this?" Zeraki shouted impatiently.

"Captain Zaraki, you misunderstood. I'm the captain of the rescue team and I have to put out fires everywhere, so my strengths are naturally all-round. Captain Zaraki is the captain of the combat team, so of course you are stronger in terms of combat power." Yilong said as a matter of course, and after a pause, he added: "As for command and so on... it's because of this." He pointed to his head.

Although it was meant to mock Zaraki for being brainless, but... Zaraki didn't care about the brain anyway, so naturally he didn't react.

"Boy, do you know why I accept old man Yamamoto as the captain?" Zaraki raised his Zanpakuto at this time, and then calmly asked Ichiryuu.

"General Yamamoto is the god of death that I respect the most. It is natural for Captain Zaraki to be impressed by him." Yilong pretended to be stupid.

"Because that old man once beat me." Geng Mu ignored Yilong's pretending to be stupid.

Obviously, it was also a reminder to him that if he wanted Zaraki to recognize him as the "Captain-General", he should show his true ability - Zaraki did not discriminate against "teleportation", but valued it very much. What he despised was that Yilong did not use this ability to attack at all... What kind of ability was it to just hide and dodge?

When Zaraki had just successfully challenged Kenpachi of Oniwa Castle and became the new captain of the 11th Division, old man Yamamoto "taught" him a lesson, and... he taught him a lesson severely under the name of "instructing in slashing techniques" and simply used slashing techniques!

This made Zaraki convinced old man Yamamoto, and at the same time, it also made Zaraki give up practicing the art of slashing - Zaraki had never systematically practiced the art of slashing, and just simply chopped based on instinct...

In fact, this is also old man Yamamoto's cowardice...

He was worried that if Zaraki continued like this, he would sooner or later lose control, so he deliberately guided Zaraki to lose interest in killing techniques in order to prevent Zaraki from becoming stronger.

"Well... I've never been good at direct combat. Even if Captain Zaraki wins, it won't be fair. How about this, if we fight with fists, I'll admit defeat now. How about we fight with words?"

When Shifengyuan just "admitted defeat", Zaraki wanted to refute something, but when Shifengyuan mentioned the literary battle, Zaraki became slightly interested: "What is a literary battle? It's not just a verbal battle, right?"

"No, a literary fight means that I will use a move on you, and if you can break it, you win. Then you can chop me with a knife, and I won't dodge...how about it?" Yilong said calmly.

"interesting……"

As Kenpachi Zaraki spoke, his spiritual pressure began to boil—basically reaching the limit of his spiritual pressure that had not been sealed, and this part of spiritual pressure was clinging to Kenpachi Zaraki's skin...

Although it is impossible to integrate external spirit particles into the skin like the "Hollow" to form a [Steel Skin] that can truly serve as a defense, and it does not have the [Still Blood Suit] of the Quincy, but the Grim Reaper can also use the method of "compressing the spirit particles on the surface of the body" to defend itself.

But generally speaking, this is not very efficient!

But it's more different...

If old man Yamamoto's special ability is "ultimate fire" and Hitsugaya's is "ultimate ice", then Kenpachi Zaraki is "ultimate destruction".

At this time, this layer of spirit particles, driven by Zaraki's spiritual pressure, became completely activated, and externally appeared to be flashing with golden light - the manifestation of these spirit particles had undergone fundamental changes, just like old man Yamamoto could burn spirit particles and Hitsugaya could freeze spirit particles.

Upon seeing this, Ichiryu understood that Zaraki was already prepared for a "literary fight" - in this state, whether Ichiryu used [Kidō] or drew his sword to chop, he would be blocked by Zaraki's spiritual pressure.

But in the next moment...

Zaraki fell into a "dreamland"!

In an instant, Zaraki felt that his height had shrunk greatly, as if he had returned to his youth. The surrounding environment was no longer the combat team's barracks, but a place that Zaraki was more familiar with - [Zaraki].

Block 80 of Kitaruhun Street is the lowest ranked block in the North District and naturally the most chaotic block. The name of this block is [Zangmu]!

Zaraki didn't know where he came from. From the moment he could remember, he had been fighting with others as [Zaraki] - so later, for convenience, he called himself "Zaraki"...

At first he only used an ordinary knife, and he was often injured in the beginning, but he never lost a second time - even if he lost once, after he recovered from his injury, he would definitely take revenge next time!

Later, after a Shinigami who went to the Zaraki District to purify the Hollows who had sneaked in died in the line of duty, Zaraki took away his "Shāra-dachi".

Because that god of death was not strong, his spiritual pressure aura on "Asado" was soon completely replaced by Zaraki, and it became Zaraki's [Zanpakuto]!

After possessing Zanpakutō, Zaraki gradually became "invincible to Zaraki".

When the first captain of the 11th Division and the first Kenpachi, Unohana Kenpachi, came to Zaraki to recruit some "talents", he discovered this young man full of beastly aura in the sea of ​​blood and corpses, and even...

As soon as Unohana came up, the boy suddenly jumped out and stabbed her in the center of her collarbone. For this reason, Unohana has been using two braids of her hair to cover her collar to prevent any skin from being exposed.

In one battle, Unohana Kenpachi actually fought a "child" to a "tie" - and this "tie" directly made the first generation Kenpachi unwilling to touch the sword again!

At that time, Unohana seemed to have chopped the opponent's left cheek, leaving a scar on Zaraki, but in fact...

Unohana knew very well that when the young boy Zaraki fought with her, he was extremely excited at first, which made her realize that Zaraki was of the same kind as herself, but then...

However, Zaraki keeps getting weaker during the battle - Unohana understands that this is because she is "too weak", and in order to keep the joy of fighting from disappearing, the opponent begins to seal himself instinctively!

In terms of absolute combat power, Kenpachi Unohana is no match for old man Yamamoto, but in terms of killing skills and physical combat, Kenpachi Unohana is the strongest.

however……

Although he was just a teenager, Zaraki was already Unohana Kenpachi at that time, and he couldn't be satisfied.

This not only made Unohana give up using a knife to kill people due to a strong sense of frustration and a deeper sense of guilt, and directly turned from a butcher into a Yamato Nadeshiko, and from the captain of the 11th Division to the captain of the 4th Division, but also made Zaraki start the road of "self-sealing".

Since this fight with Unohana, Zaraki has never exerted his full strength again, otherwise... the "happiness" will disappear.

Even when he was sparring with Yamamoto, due to the old man Yamamoto's deliberate control, Zaraki always "lost uncomfortably", and he couldn't break the seal at all...

In his dream, Zaraki reminisced about this battle - the happiest battle he had ever fought.

In the dream, he exploded with his strongest spiritual pressure ever, fighting against Unohana...

And gradually, Zaraki "grew up", his clothes changed into Captain Yuri, and his opponent gradually became Kurosaki Ichigo!

Obviously in Zaraki's heart, these were the two happiest battles.

Although his spiritual pressure was suppressed beyond belief during the second battle, Ichigo was able to unexpectedly increase his spiritual pressure and knock him to the ground with one blow, which made Zaraki extremely happy...

In the dream, Ichiryu was standing outside of Zaraki's battlefield, without hiding himself, and outside the dream...

From the perspective of Aramaki and Ichinose, even the captain and the captain-general Shifengyuan suddenly stood there in a daze, not moving at all!

(End of this chapter)

175. Chapter 174 New Mission

175.

2023-09-26

Ichiryu's ability of [Throne of the Sky] was stimulated by the "experience of Emperor Xingtian". It was a special ability that emerged after he became a hollow. Later, Ichiryu "packaged" it into the Bankai of [Zanpakutō].

But in the final analysis, this is "the power stimulated by an experience" rather than Yilong's true "innate power"!

Hitsugaya didn't suffer from the cold, and old man Yamamoto didn't play with fire when he was a child, so he has the current ability of [Zanpakutō], but it is a natural power...

And whether it was the previous "teleportation" or the "dream entering" used on Zaraki Souya, they were all manifestations of Ilyuu's innate power - Zaraki Souya had questioned it before, the "dream entering" ability was too different from the ability displayed by Ilyuu's [Hokten Hexagonal Column], and he suspected that he still had something to hold back.

Normally, the Shinigami's [Zanpakutō] abilities always have a core - even if the Shinigami's abilities are more mixed, when forming the [Zanpakutō], these will merge or overlap with each other...

[Throne of the Sky] and [Hexagonal Column of Dharma] are essentially the control of spirit particles, which can be considered a unity. As for "entering a dream", in a narrow sense, it seems to be an ability that is more inclined towards illusion?

However, Ichiryu is not a normal Shinigami after all. He did not use his Zanpakuto to practice. He just "packaged" one of his powers into a Zanpakuto. Naturally, his other abilities can still exist independently.

Just like when Yilong appears as a "virtual" spirit, his [Return to the Blade] has another effect... derived from the effect of "Burning Punishment"!

If we must trace the origin, in fact, [Throne of the Sky] and [Burning Stake] both originate from Ichiryu's innate ability to "enter dreams", but the degree of specialization is very high - just like old man Yamamoto's ability, which is pure fire, but it has evolved into the ability of "controlling the ashes of the dead who have been killed to form an army of the undead", which has very little to do with "fire".

As for the nature of "entering a dream", it is far from being as simple as an illusion...