You are very strong, but my painting style is better than yours!

D chuckled: "As for how he publicized it, that's another matter."

Perhaps he believed that the Quincy King, who had been so severely injured, could never return to this world, even if he didn't die.

But that's not actually the case. That king... ah, I almost forgot, being too outspoken can get you into trouble.

Iori scrutinized the Holy Prince with utmost seriousness. His [Mirror of Still Water] could see through the enemy's movements, but it couldn't discern his inner thoughts. Otherwise, he would have really wanted to peek into this guy's head... what exactly was his intention?

"I don't understand. If this were to get out, it would only arouse greater fear and make the Soul Society accelerate its efforts to exterminate you, wouldn't it?"

"Yes, that's generally the case... but there's another possibility."

The Holy Son smiled faintly: "That is to protect the remaining Quincy."

Yoru was stunned for a moment, not quite understanding the meaning of the sentence, but after all, she had received various trainings from her family, and soon realized the reason, opening her mouth slightly as if she had just understood.

Before she could speak, Iori exclaimed in surprise, "I see!"

Then, as if struck by a sudden thought, he shut his mouth and stopped talking.

After all, he was just an ordinary Grim Reaper at this point, and knowing Yhwach's name was already considered "well-informed." As for more details... it was best not to dwell on them too much, lest it attract the attention of others.

The underlying logic of the Holy Son's words is that the Quincy are an artificial race created by Yhwach. It can be said that every Quincy has Yhwach's blood flowing through their veins, and they even have a contract at the soul level.

If the Quincy are wiped out... it would mean that the last trace of Yhwach left in this world would also be erased.

If Yhwach is dead, that's naturally a good thing. The 46 Chambers would love to eliminate anything that is detrimental to their rule. Someone like the King of the Destroyer, who uses violence to rise above the 46 Chambers and even the entire Soul Society, and who is involved with the Soul King... of course, they will do everything they can to block him.

If Yhwach were still alive, then from Yamamoto to the 46th Chamber, the goal would become to send him back to hell at all costs!

Before finding Yhwach, who was barely clinging to life, it would be foolish to rashly eliminate the Quincy clan.

If the Holy Son were to disclose this information, or rather, make the higher-ups of the Gotei 13 clearly aware of this fact, then it might indeed be possible to preserve the remaining Quincy...

"My clansmen are few and far between, and the pure-blood families are reduced to only three or four. I estimate that they will be completely wiped out in less than three hundred years."

D said desolately, "Even if they continue hunting now, the scale of their hunts cannot affect the overall balance of the three realms. They are harmless to the Soul Society for the time being... Only in this way can they survive."

At least some of them will survive—he added.

Hearing this and seeing the Holy Son's expression, Iori suddenly felt a strange sense of absurdity:

This guy is strong! Incredibly strong!

Even with his cheat-like abilities, Iori could only barely hold them off. If he had the will, he could have wiped out more than two-thirds of the Grim Reapers in the city in the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.

This is the kind of ruthless character who can change the terrain with a wave of his hand and make the punitive expedition tremble with a stomp of his foot...

They were actually "arranging the funeral" for their own clansmen!

He seems like a protagonist who defies fate, but instead of leading his people to fight against the heavens and the earth like a novel's protagonist, he has to reduce the number of his people to below the "safety line" in order to preserve a very small number of his people and continue his bloodline.

—So humble, how absurd!

What's even more absurd, to the point that Iori wanted to laugh, is that... the Holy Son's thoughts and actions were not wrong!

He couldn't save the Quincy, nor could he stop the Soul Society. The difference in strength between the two sides was far more complex than it appeared on the surface. No matter how hard he tried, it would all be in vain. At most, he could only kill a few more Shinigami to take down with him... But what was the point?

It's pointless, I'm powerless to resist, so I simply submit to my fate and pray for it...

A pang of sorrow welled up in Iori's heart... Was it sympathy?

No, he had neither the standing nor the motivation to sympathize with an opponent far more powerful than himself.

He might just feel sad:

If even D, who is far stronger than him, is so powerless in the face of fate, then what about Iori?

Admittedly, he can continue to grow, and sooner or later he will surpass Yamamoto and even the monk Yan... But fate will not conduct trials in an orderly manner, but will let despair meet you unexpectedly.

How powerful must a person be to truly transcend worldly concerns? This question was deeply imprinted in Iori's mind.

As a time traveler, he always believed he was special and never showed any respect for the protagonist's halo or the overall plot of the original work. Although he had thought about this issue before, he never delved into it:

He naturally felt that he would not be bound by so-called fate and force majeure.

But at this moment, he had never felt a fact so clearly—

No one can escape fate, because trials will always appear beyond the limits of one's own power.

To transcend, one must constantly break limits and continuously change one's own destiny!

The desire for power within me... has never been so intense!

"The Soul Society won't just give up like that. Even if a small number of Quincy are allowed to stay in the human world, they'll probably be monitored by Shinigami and live like rare and exotic animals."

Iori asked solemnly, "Is this acceptable?"

"Who can predict the future... Even the antagonistic relationship between Shinigami and Quincy won't last forever. What kind of lives they lead then... is none of my concern."

"Alright, in that case, let's continue!"

Iori's statement was unexpected; he actually ended his conversation with D and attempted to reignite the war.

Yoruichi Shihouin was still processing a huge amount of new information, while Iori was already working herself to the bone. When she came to her senses, the air in the room was as thick as gel, and invisible spiritual pressures were clashing against each other, fighting each other in places Yoruichi couldn't see.

"Should we fight? Now?" Yoruichi was a little nervous. Although the Holy Son's words had positioned her as a useless piece of trash, he was still a piece of trash who could easily kill her!

What's wrong with Iori? There were clearly better ways to stall for time...

Of course, when things really get serious, Yoruichi won't stand idly by; obeying orders is her duty.

“Thank you, D,” Iori said sincerely.

"Hmm?" The Holy Son was taken aback. "I don't remember doing anything that I need you to thank me for."

"Your words strengthened my resolve and finally made me understand what I needed to do. It was like an enlightenment... Moreover, being able to fight someone so powerful yet without much killing intent, of course I have to thank you."

The Holy Son narrowed his eyes: "Interesting... Do you enjoy fighting powerful opponents?"

"Yes, it's much better than fighting the weak."

Because if you always fight against the weak, you'll develop the illusion that 'I'm strong!'

Iori gripped the Ama no Kusanagi tightly, a slight smile playing on his lips. He had already figured out the answer to the question just now:

How powerful does one have to be to be considered transcendent?

The answer is infinite, boundless, limitless—never-ending!

Chapter 194: It's too troublesome, so let's just skip it (4K)

Instantaneous second stage, full power!

The chaotic power of the demonic path transformed into thousands of blazing white lightning bolts that shot out from behind and onto Iori's shoulders, as if giving her a pair of dazzling wings. But beneath this beautiful scene, her mobility and destructive power were amplified!

Even if it were an ordinary Shinigami, with the same level of control as Iori, it would be impossible to use "Shunko" to this extent. This is because the lightning-attribute Kido is forcibly restrained on the surface of the body, and the violent spiritual pressure fluctuations are constantly clashing within the body. Even if it can be forcibly kept stable, it will put a great burden on the meridians. If it is not careful, it will backfire. In fact, the body will face collapse without the enemy even having to make a move.

But Iori didn't care about that. He took the characteristics of the "Third Law" to the extreme, and used this forbidden technique, Shunho, recklessly between destruction and repair!

With the massive influx of spiritual pressure, the Kusanagi Sword shone with dazzling brilliance, its divine nature reaching its peak. Even the most ordinary slash could leave deep cracks in the earth, and it almost constantly emitted "magical power," combining energy with its own martial arts to reach a new level!

War! War! War!

Ghost Path, Instant Coax, Noble Phantasm Liberation!

Using everything at their disposal, they displayed astonishing resilience and explosive power against opponents far superior to themselves.

The Holy Son withstood the onslaught for over ten seconds. Even with his greater strength, he was unable to cleanly defeat the boy before him and could only temporarily evade the attack.

The black cloak was completely destroyed, and the Holy Son's body seemed to turn into a shooting star, being sent flying far away by one powerful attack after another. He actually flew through half of the city in mid-air and crashed into the outermost section of the city wall.

As Iori caught up, a white figure burst out from the ruins of the city wall, suppressing the young Shinigami. The Quincy saint, dressed in ordinary uniform, swept across the sky with Iori, returning to the original spot and slamming Iori into the scorching, blackened earth.

This was originally a rather threatening move, but then pieces of dark spiritual pressure crept up his feet. The Holy Son tried to dodge but was grabbed tightly by a wrist.

"Black coffin!"

In an instant, D's body was enveloped in a pure black cuboid with countless fine lines on its surface. The powerful spiritual pressure fluctuations followed a pattern and transformed into turbulent currents that stirred up space, slicing through the Holy Son's body like physical swords.

Bang!

The cube shattered instantly, the Holy Son's clothes were torn, but several light blue spiritual patterns appeared on his cheeks. This was the external manifestation of the full activation of the "Quiet Blood Armor". Despite taking a solid hit from a high-level ghostly attack, he was almost unharmed under the protection of this powerful blood armor.

As he looked around to check the enemy's situation, his eyes widened slightly. The next moment, without warning, nine spiritual pressure orbs, resembling small black holes, appeared above, below, left, right, and directly in front of his chest. Although they did not directly contact his body, they seemed to solidify half of the space, rendering him completely immobile.

——【Binding Technique 79: Nine Luminaries Binding】!

At the edge of a thousand hands, the unreachable dark hand of the sovereign, the unseen archer of the heavens, the path where light falls, the wind that ignites the spark...

As the [Nine Luminaries Binding] enveloped the Holy Son, the young Death God did not wait for the outcome, but instead chanted the incantation at an astonishing speed, and was now nearing completion.

...When we gather together, there is no need to be confused. Just follow my instructions: Light Bullet, Eight Bodies, Nine Strips, Heavenly Scripture, Swift Treasure, Great Wheel, the gray turret, draws its bow and points into the distance, disappearing in a radiant glow!

[Hado Chapter 91: Senju Kyoten Taiho!]

The whole world went dark!

In the sky directly above Iori, high-density spiritual pressure manifested as dazzling bands of light, which would engulf the Saint who was fixed in place!

boom! ! !

The explosion's flames expanded into a giant fireball, like a small sun rising above the ground, darkening the sky and creating a crater on the ground resembling a meteorite impact!

"Pretty!"

The black blade cleaved through the air, severing space and flames in one fell swoop. The Quincy King, his clothes torn, wore a genuine smile of pleasure. With a swift movement, he closed the distance to Iori, bringing his longsword down with a sharp, metallic clang.

Clang! ! !

The powerful slash sent Iori flying.

Next up is the young Yuha, who, with his full power and superb martial arts skills and all-consuming spiritual flames, constantly pushes Iori into dangerous situations.

Iori gripped the Ama no Kusanagi tightly, barely managing to cope. His second-stage Shunko gave him physical stats that were just enough to contend with the young Yhwach, but clearly his control over power was far less refined than his opponent's. He could only rely on his special physique to use "quantity" to offset "quality".

But he didn't just take the beating without fighting back. As he struggled to hold on, his lips kept moving slightly, as if he were chanting something.

As his Ame-no-Murakumo was no match for the black blade, and he was sent flying by the Holy Son's punch that shattered his sternum, he finally gritted his teeth and finished chanting all the incantations.

For someone who could abandon chanting, his insistence on completing all the incantations was truly rare:

Hado Chapter 99 -

[The Five Dragons Turn and Destroy!]

Roar! ! !

A colossal, azure-blue dragon of light, resembling a cloud hanging from the sky, stretched across the heavens. The moment it appeared, it unleashed a spiritual pressure wave that felt almost tangible, causing the Holy Son to squint.

No one can ignore this, which theoretically requires the entire spiritual pressure of a captain and whose power surpasses that of most Bankai's highest-level Hado!

Can't dodge!

The boy leaped into the sky, seemingly merging into the dragon-shaped spiritual pressure. The next moment, his pupils lit up with a bright red light, and his majestic figure moved with even greater majesty. With a roar that shook the heavens and earth, the dragon's head then crashed straight down to the ground.

The Holy Son's shadow stretched long on the ground. He narrowed his eyes and saw clearly that on the dragon's forehead was Aizen Iori, holding the divine sword!

"Good, that's how it should be! If this is my last battle, then it deserves the grandest fireworks display!"

D smiled sincerely and joyfully, maintaining his blood-soaked posture. Spiritual flames rose from his hands, and he swept his large hand across the black blade, coating it with a spiritual energy spell capable of burning everything.

"bring it on!"

But at that moment, the Holy Son's body suddenly stiffened for a moment.

next moment--

boom! ! !

...When the other Shinigami captains broke free from the Quincy elders' entanglement and arrived at the battlefield where the spiritual pressure fluctuations were most intense, the battle mysteriously stopped.

This land, which had just been ravaged by the highest level of demonic cultivation, was in a shocking state of destruction. The captains, with their extraordinary senses, could feel an extremely ominous aura emanating from it, as if it were cursed, and their bodies were warning them to leave this place as soon as possible.

It is "Five Dragons Turning to Extinction"!

Kuchiki Ginryo's expression was solemn. This Kido, while powerful, would bring considerable and lasting negative effects to the local area... Although it was not listed as a forbidden technique, that was largely because such a high-level Kido was not something that all the captains knew. It was generally assumed that the user had the corresponding qualifications, so there was no need to specifically ban it.

In fact, the appearance frequency of the Ninety-Nine Breakthrough is indeed not high. Yinling has been the captain for hundreds of years, and the number of times he has seen it, including this time, is no more than one palm's width.

Who used this... no, you can probably guess the answer just by thinking about it.

Among the Shinigami army that came to the human world this time, only a few captains had enough spiritual pressure to support the Ninety-Nine Hakudo, and not all of them were proficient in Kido... They would not risk using it in battle, since using it would leave them with little spiritual pressure to continue fighting.

Generally speaking, high-level breakthroughs are a substitute when there is a lack of strong offensive methods... In other words, this person possesses high-level captain-level abilities.

Taking everything into account, this must be someone with spiritual pressure several times that of an average captain, who also dislikes using Zanpakuto in battle.