Ichigo leaves and takes up residence in Soul Society!

Gin Ichimaru muttered something that seemed troubled, then smiled.

“…It couldn’t be better.”

Chapter Sixty-Six: Enlightenment, No Need for Further Explanation

Seireitei is vast, but its population is not very large. The twelve divisions are located in the city center and are distributed around the First Division. The remaining fifty percent of the area is not often used.

Abandoned old streets and markets have never even had a plan for maintenance and reconstruction.

Shinomiya-sensei and Ichigo, using their superior Shunpo (flash step) skills, left the jurisdictions of their respective squads and arrived at this deserted old town ruin.

As far as the eye can see, there are dilapidated houses and withered, dead trees.

Neither of them had the heart to chat amidst the desolate scene. Instead, they both turned their gaze to the captain, who sat not far away like an ordinary old man leaning on a cane.

"At such an advanced age, he's still so agile. No wonder he's the captain."

Shinomiya-no-Tsuru thought about what had just happened.

They were the ones who used Instant Step to escape first.

However, in the latter half of the journey, the old man overtook them in a straight line and arrived at the spot, blocking them... from entering.

In other words.

This is not the battlefield they chose.

Rather... it was the battlefield chosen by the Commander-in-Chief.

"Shinomiya, do you know what I'm thinking right now?"

"Ichigo said in a low voice from the side."

"Could it be that he's scared?"

The Four Palace Master stared intently at the old man and casually remarked.

"You were right..."

Ichigo took a deep breath, his expression tense.

"I feel like I've been caught skipping school... Logically speaking, this kind of thing shouldn't be a big deal for me."

"That's because to you, those people are just faculty and staff, school employees, and they can't compare to the leader of the Shinigami who has popularized education in Soul Society."

The four palaces were not in high spirits.

Just then, Yamamoto Genryusai slowly stood up, his powerful voice like a blade sweeping across the room.

"Let me give you a compliment."

"At the same age, even my Instant Step is no match for yours."

"This earth-shattering talent has been unmatched for millions of years."

"However, the more this is the case... the less I can tolerate my most outstanding disciple since the founding of the Spiritual Arts Academy, and perhaps one that will never be seen again, going astray."

"That's why I'm here."

"You two will be arrested before you commit any further, more heinous crimes."

There was no overwhelming spiritual pressure, and no amplified volume.

Just standing here.

That's just what I said.

The Four Palaces Lord could feel an unprecedented pressure coming at him.

The old man's presence seemed to reach the horizon, truly embodying the spirit of standing on his own two feet.

"Shinomiya-no-Kami, Kurosaki Ichigo, do you still remember my teachings?"

Yamamoto Genryusai suddenly asked a question.

It strikes right at the heart of both of them.

"of course I remember……"

The four palaces remained expressionless.

"Because my biggest flaw is that I can't play dumb, so I'll just say it straight... The power of death has transformed me and restarted my life. I am very grateful for this power, and I also have a good impression of death."

"That's why I can't stand those powerless guys who aren't even Shinigami wielding the power of life and death over Shinigami. It makes me feel like... all the emotions I've experienced, the efforts I've made, the respect I have for the Shinigami profession, the affection I have for the Gotei 13... are all worthless and despicable things!"

“I’m going to drag them off their chairs and throw them to the front lines. Only the survivors will have the right to point fingers at death. But they can forget about ever going back to that position, because that position… should never have existed in the first place.”

"..."

Yamamoto Genryusai's eyes were fully open.

His eyes, weathered by time and filled with wisdom, remained clear and bright, reflecting the young man before him, whose heart burned with a great fire.

That burning passion seemed capable of consuming any enemy who dared to provoke one's own side.

It can be transformed into necessary evil, without caring about the criticism of others, always holding its head high with pride, making the enemy fear it like a tiger.

“I remember it too, and I remember it very clearly.”

After the Four Palace Master finished speaking, Ichigo then revealed his true feelings.

"Rukia is a Grim Reaper, and protecting Karakura Town is her mission. It's not exactly a merit, but it is, after all, the place where I was born, and where my family and friends live."

"Rukia saved Inoue and then pulled Inoue to continue protecting Karakura Town. In a way, she also protected my family on my behalf. I am very grateful to them."

"So even a hundred years of imprisonment is hard for me to accept, let alone being sentenced to death for that kind of reason."

"I want to save Rukia, and I want to help Orihime repay the debt of saving my life."

"Besides feeling that I received their care, there was something even more important, which was that what they wanted to do... was exactly what I wanted to do."

"If I were to watch them suffer, I would be filled with extreme remorse, and I would completely deny my own thoughts, becoming... no longer the person I used to be."

“You said it yourself, old man… that this kind of growth would cause trouble for others and even the Seireitei, so you didn’t want that to happen, which is why you advised me to work hard to become stronger.”

"I did do as instructed."

"During this time, I worked very hard to become stronger, in order to rescue Rukia, to overturn this verdict, and to... not to grow out of regret and cause great trouble for everyone."

"Grandpa, in your opinion... was what I did wrong?"

"..."

Yamamoto Genryusai fell silent again, not because he was rendered speechless, but because he had discovered something.

They discovered that the aura of these two outstanding geniuses before them was completely different from what it had been at the beginning.

Timid, nervous.

The moment you come to know your own heart through words, it all vanishes.

The calm that has replaced it is a turbulent undercurrent beneath the surface.

Its name is "enlightenment".

For men who are aware of their situation.

At this moment, nothing I say will make a difference.

Even the most outstanding old people throughout history would disdain doing such superfluous things.

His insights constitute the history of the Gotei 13.

History will tell him what to do in this situation.

Whoops!

Spread your arms.

The white feathered kimono bearing the character "一" (one) fluttered in the wind, hanging high on the flagpole, seemingly foreshadowing its supreme symbolism.

"—!"

Yamamoto Genryusai removed his shirt, revealing a seemingly frail but actually muscular and scarred body of steel.

The cane inserted into the ground also shed its outer shell disguise, revealing an ancient, even slightly worn, axe before Shinomiya-no-Mikoto and Ichigo.

The moment the old man gripped the hilt of the knife, a towering pillar of fire erupted behind him with a deafening roar.

That's spiritual pressure.

Pure to the extreme, scalding hot to the extreme, terrifying spiritual pressure to the extreme!

It shot straight up into the sky, clearing away the dark clouds and turning the sky red, as if it had transformed into a sea of ​​fire hanging overhead.

"Come on, you little devils."

"Let me see... your courage in daring to express your dissatisfaction with the ancient order of Soul Society."

"I hope it's not just empty talk, otherwise I'll have to retract my previous assessment of you."

The two remained silent, each assuming a fighting stance.

The Fourth Palace Master slowly lowered his body, his center of gravity much lower than before, making him more aggressive, and his undisguised sharpness was hard to look directly at.

The moment Ichigo gripped the hilt of his sword, the air around him seemed to explode with a deafening roar.

Chapter Sixty-Seven: A Moment That Will Go Down in History

The first to make a move was neither the Captain-Commander, nor Shinomiya, nor Ichigo.

Instead, it was a flagpole that couldn't withstand the hot wind and was blown down.

A sound that was neither too loud nor too soft.

Like a battle horn being sounded.

The three of them sprang up almost simultaneously, their figures moving with the speed of merging into the void, making their subsequent sword clash seem as if it were taking place in a higher dimension with a different flow of time.

It was impossible to see clearly or count how many collisions occurred.

First, countless sparks burst forth, then a terrifying power erupted from the center and spread outwards, creating a crater a hundred meters in diameter. Although it was not deep, its surface was charred and cracked, clearly indicating that it had only withstood the aftershocks of a high concentration of spiritual pressure!

The Fourth Palace Master was sent flying backward. While he was still in mid-air, the gleaming blade rapidly enlarged on his retina. He forcibly controlled his body to avoid this deadly strike.

At the same time, he swung his leg with incredible agility and delivered a whip kick, managing to generate power smoothly even in this posture. The powerful strength bestowed upon him by the dragon blood made this kick explode with air.

However, what was supposed to be a fatal strike was just a casual wave of the hand for the old man.

There is no such thing as the old forces having passed and the new forces not yet emerging.

...Nevertheless, Yamamoto Genryusai still used his left arm as a shield to block the kick aimed at his head.

Shigoku-zun felt as if he had kicked a wall of bronze and iron.

What's worse is that he could have used a knife to attack instead of defend, but instead he used his arm to block... What about the knife?

call out!

A streak of crimson light rushed over and took the blow from the old man's merciless blade in place of the Four Palace Masters.

A violent explosion occurred.

Taking advantage of the shockwave, Shigu-zun created distance, his narrowed eyes seemingly catching the enemy's movements through the flash, and without hesitation unleashed a "Seven Flashes".

The seven invisible threads of ghostly energy converged in mid-air, piercing through the tide of light like a sharp spear.

While Ichigo was improving his Bankai proficiency, the Four Palace Masters were also honing the many skills they had already mastered, striving to develop more uses for them.

The previous continuous "seven flashes" that severed the dual poles, and the current "seven kills in one instant" are both part of the results.

By sacrificing the area of ​​trauma, the destructive power is completely concentrated on one point.

The goal is to launch a surprise attack when the opponent is not paying attention and severely damage them.

"A decent move, but the precision is a bit lacking. If we can work together as one, it might be able to force me to take a step back even after several decades or hundreds of years."

Yamamoto Genryusai's spiritual pressure surged, and the raging sea of ​​fire overwhelmed the flash of light. He held his sword horizontally in front of him, unmoving. The seven strands of demonic energy collided with the blade and shattered into pieces, their trajectories forcibly altered. The subsequent friction caused a series of sparks to erupt.

"Really? I think it's not bad."

Shigu-zun abruptly slammed his sword shut, severing the demonic threads, and then chanted in a low voice: "Binding Technique Sixty-Three - Chain Binding!"

As mentioned before, Kido Silk is Kido Spiritual Pressure compressed into thread-like form, serving as readily available "spellcasting material," and to a certain extent, it can even curb the performance decline caused by abandoning incantation.

In order to master "Only Flash" and enhance its power, Kido has devoted a great deal of effort.

Now is the time for them to blossom and bear fruit.