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

If a Quincy were to obtain Bankai, the difference between the two sides would become so great that it could not be bridged.

According to intelligence, four powerful individuals at the captain level will be passing through this area. One of them is named Aizen Iori, considered the heir apparent to the captain-commander, and possesses the Zanpakuto [Meijō Shisui], hailed as the strongest of the Flowing Water type.

He is a very powerful opponent. Within the Quincy, he is listed as the number one threat after Yamamoto. Yhwach even personally named him as a formidable enemy that cannot be ignored.

—This is a good thing for him.

The stronger Aizen Iori is, the better!

Because what he wanted to seize was the Zanpakuto, which was known as the strongest sword in the world!

Aizen Iori was able to sweep through the Seireitei before he was even fifty years old, and was considered the strongest of the next millennium. Just how exceptional was his talent? And how powerful was his Zanpakuto?

If one can control this power, none of the other captains will stand a chance. With this achievement, even Hasward will have to step down!

At that time, he will be able to become the "vice-ruler" of the invisible empire, standing by His Majesty Yhwach's side to assist him... It's simply a dreamlike scene!

Although he didn't know why those old folks from a thousand years ago had all avoided this mission... he just felt that the old folks had lost their courage.

Indeed, he was a terrible man, but he believed more in the grace of His Majesty Yhwach!

With this badge, no death can defeat me!

Those old fogies have all failed once, and their faith in His Majesty has wavered, so they back down when it comes down to it. They are nothing like him, who is so steadfast and fearless!

Although the Rukongai in District 2 is extremely close to the gates of the Seireitei, practically under the nose of the Gotei 13, this knight showed no sign of tension and was not worried that the Quincy squad that had infiltrated would be discovered.

Firstly, Quincy are extremely skilled at manipulating spirit particles, and their understanding of spirit particles is deeper than that of the Shinigami. With their skills and abilities, erasing traces and concealing their forms is not a big problem.

Secondly, according to the plan, there should be turmoil within the Seireitei, and the Gotei 13 are too busy to take care of themselves.

—Spiritual remains!

This Quincy had seen those strange things before, and even had the feeling that "we don't need to do anything, we can win the battle just by relying on the spirit remains."

The Gotei 13 are going to have to do everything in their power to suppress these things, so they don't have time to worry about Rukongai!

Taking advantage of this opportunity, the Wandenreich can simultaneously target both the Seireitei and the Rukongai!

Will it go smoothly?

Another member of the Knights—also a newcomer in this millennium—stood by the window gazing at the scenery ahead. Unlike his companions, he had a serious expression on his face, and his brows were always furrowed, as if he were pondering some difficult problem.

“We cannot underestimate them. Although under His Majesty’s leadership our spiritual technology has been fully revived, our sacred scripts have become more powerful, and we have been granted a perfect holy body that surpasses the final form… the fact that the Grim Reaper can make His Majesty so cautious means that he must have something extraordinary about him.”

In fact, this was the first time the new generation of Quincy had actually fought a large-scale battle with the Shinigami... They could only rely on intelligence to make calculations, but they still lacked some experience.

"No problem! It'll definitely be fine!"

The lazy man chuckled and waved his hand: "Besides, even if this operation fails, it's not a big deal. It was just to give them something to do and keep them from bothering our Emperor. Ideally, we could wipe out these four captains and their elite troops while Seireitei is preoccupied with its own problems."

In this way, the scales of victory have completely tipped... In any case, as long as our Emperor has the means to intervene, they are all lambs to the slaughter.

"That's right..."

The serious-looking man nodded slightly, took out the badge and looked at it, a sense of confidence rising in his heart—the previous battle had already proven that even a strong person like Shiba Hayato could still have their Bankai taken away.

The effectiveness of the badge is undeniable!

But for some reason, he still had some doubts.

"Even so... relying on just over a thousand people is still somewhat insufficient."

"What are you saying? If we don't use these thousand-plus men, are we going to send the royal guard?"

The lazy man turned his head and looked at him with a half-smile, while the serious man could only remain silent.

The average number of official personnel in each of the 13 Gotei 13 (excluding logistics, errand boys, apprentices, etc.) is only about two hundred. Iori and the others did not go to the human world with their entire force, but only with a portion of their elite troops. Therefore, even if all four divisions are combined, the number of troops returning to reinforce this time is only about one and a half divisions.

However, if they could annihilate them with just over a thousand men, it would definitely be a good deal, because this Grim Reaper team is the only reinforcement and hope for Seireitei!

As for sending their own people to be cannon fodder... the Quincy leadership doesn't care.

The only rare members of this "race" are purebloods, and only purebloods have human rights. There are countless mixed-blood Quincy, but they have the lowest status and are considered expendable even within the [Henpecked Empire].

The serious-looking man was one of the few who didn't discriminate against these mixed-race elite Quincy, but even from a strategic perspective, sacrificing these low-level combatants who could be used as replacements in exchange for the loss of elite members of the Shinigami side, disrupting their original plans, and paving the way for the subsequent attack by the Knights—it was all worthwhile.

Moreover, one can't even imagine how excited His Majesty Yhwach would be if he could kill or capture Aizen Iori alive!

He waited until nightfall, and after the bright moon rose into the night sky, the lazy man who had been dozing in the chair slowly opened his eyes.

"...Have they arrived?"

As his voice rang out, the Quincy who received the signal suddenly revealed themselves in various places.

They broke through the illusion, revealed themselves from their hiding place, and then quickly made their way to a main road.

It's important to understand that while Rukongai is called a "street," each area is actually an independent town. If someone escapes, capturing them is no easy task. Fortunately, their large force of a thousand people allows them to maintain absolute control over each town!

"Only two... their spiritual pressure is so-so, they seem to be scouts."

The lazy Quincy knight appeared, looking at the two who were already surrounded by his subordinates.

"Kill them!"

A stern-faced knight appeared, waved his hand, and decisively declared, "We must not let any Grim Reaper escape! We cannot let those behind us receive a warning!"

"As ordered!"

Upon receiving the instructions, the white-clad Quincy rushed forward, conjuring their own spiritual arrows and unleashing a rain of arrows that instantly filled the sky—

Zheng!

boom!

hum!

A blinding white light shone in the darkness, momentarily giving the illusion that dawn had arrived early, but it heralded the approaching destruction.

"Huh? That's it?"

Without even unleashing their Bankai, only in their Shikai state, Saito, immortal and ageless, swung his swords with both hands with great force, and a white light flashed, stretching from one end of the street to the other, the sharp energy surging upwards like a raging wave!

"Ahhh!"

"Ugh!"

"Do not--"

"Wait! Hmm!"

The Quincy's bodies were blown away like falling leaves.

With a single strike, the entire street was split in two!

At that moment, the wind blew open the hooded coats of the two, revealing a corner of their Shinigami uniforms and the captain's haori.

"Oh no, it's Aizen—ugh!"

"What are you doing?"

Saito, who was immortal, killed another person, placed his Zanpakuto on his shoulder, and looked at the Quincy who were dead and wounded. A question popped into his mind.

"They've come to ambush me and Iori?"

"...Who do you think you are?!"

"Although there is no threat, we still need to be careful, and we don't have time."

Undeterred by the danger, Iori drew his Zanpakuto in full view of everyone and uttered those words.

"Let's finish this quickly... Bankai!"

it is good!

It's now!

I didn't expect it to be this easy!

The two knights were overjoyed. They had been planning how many cannon fodder they would have to sacrifice to force out the opposing captain's Bankai, but they hadn't expected that Aizen Iori would be blocked right from the start and that he would activate his Bankai so easily!

"Since you're so enthusiastic, then I'll accept it!"

The lazy man reacted quickly, extending his Star Cross emblem and grinning to the extreme. A huge magic circle, flowing with spiritual light, unfolded behind him.

"Aizen Iori, your Bankai is mine now!"

"..."

"..."

"..."

Time seemed to stand still, but in reality, it was only a few breaths. The lazy man suddenly felt something was wrong and reached out to grab at empty air.

"Huh? What's wrong with your Bankai—"

Zheng!

Using Shunpo to appear behind the Quincy, Iori shook the blood off his sword. As the lazy man collapsed with a look of utter confusion, he merely glanced at him.

Bankai? You can't take something that doesn't exist.

Was he trying to do something just now?

Saito, who had just finished killing half of the group, returned to Iori's side and glanced down at the lazy man's corpse.

"Iori, what do you think?"

"Who knows~"

"..."

The remaining Quincy Knight was stunned. He had just condensed his spirit blade, intending to aid his comrade—he had no ambition.

But nobody would believe it if I told them... I was instantly killed!

Are badges not working?

Oh my god, fuck!

Now I know why those old fogies wouldn't take on this mission!

Chapter 491 Xianghe: No one can outdo me!

A little earlier than when Iori and the others were engaged in a “battle” in Rukongai, a fairly intense “battle” was also taking place in Seireitei.

At the heart of this magnificent and solemn architectural complex stands a towering white tower, protected and expanded by the Kido (demon path). It possesses vast spaces and a barrier that grants immunity to spiritual attacks—made of Killing Stone, a building material of far higher purity than the outer walls of Seireitei.

Sunlight streamed down from the top of the tower, falling on the center of the meeting hall, which was surrounded by a Roman-style senator council. Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni, along with Kuchiki Ginrei and Kyoraku Shunsui, arrived here to be questioned by the [46th Chamber].

Despite their superior status, they were all willing to respect the rules of Seireitei.

The sunlight fell, as if bleaching their clothes, which only made the shadows on their faces appear even heavier.

If you look closely, you'll find that what surrounds them is not just sunlight, but also the protective array patterns beneath their feet.

On the Roman-style platform were rows of high seats, upon which sat indistinct figures. Though hidden in the shadows, their combined presence was almost tangible, overwhelming to ordinary people.

Under the watchful eyes of the darkness, the three remained expressionless and silent—the atmosphere in the entire venue was quite tense.

This continued for quite some time until finally someone couldn't hold back any longer:

"Lord Yamamoto, don't you want to explain what happened the day before yesterday?"

Why is it that the Shiba family, one of the five great noble families, was attacked right under your noses, and even the head of the family is missing, yet you couldn't do anything about it? You could only guess at the enemy's identity and movements, right?

The question came from the darkness. Yamamoto's eyelids twitched slightly when he heard it, but he did not show any impatience. However, a hint of mockery flashed in the eyes of Shunsui, who had lowered his straw hat.

What does "eyelids lowered" mean?

These people were the ones who drove the Shiba family out, to keep an eye on them... Although we didn't expect this to happen, the responsibility doesn't lie with Team Thirteen.

However, at this point, arguing is pointless, and Yamamoto is not the type to take words too seriously.

As expected, Yamamoto offered no explanation, only declaring that he would take responsibility for the situation and do everything in his power to rescue the Shiba family members.

Kuchiki Ginrei stepped forward, saying that he had protected several members of the Shiba clan and that the secret technique that could not be spoken of was safe and sound.

Only then did the atmosphere in the meeting room ease.

These people don't really want to punish Yamamoto—attitude is one thing, action is another. They can be allowed to question Yamamoto harshly, but when it comes to actually doing something, no one dares to try.

The reason they adopted this attitude was twofold: firstly, to demonstrate the status of the "Forty-Sixth Chamber," and secondly, to shirk responsibility.

If it weren't for the Gotei 13's incompetence, they would have been the ones to blame for the Shiba family's misfortune...