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

They are all extremely bloodthirsty (actually, belligerent) and cannot understand human speech!

The reason this operation was specifically marked as capturing the Transcendental Gate was actually to prevent Esdeath from returning, since she commands a powerful army that ranks among the top in the Gotei 13.

However, what's surprising is that... she's actually been inside Seireitei all along!

—This was naturally Iori's arrangement.

She returned from Hueco Mundo early on, after Iori deduced that Yhwach had been resurrected, in order to increase her fighting strength in Seireitei... The expeditionary force and Las Noches were at peace, and her whereabouts were unknown to anyone due to deliberate intelligence manipulation.

At this moment, having received a message from Iori through telepathy from afar, and given permission to go on a killing spree, she walked to the front of the stage with great interest.

Immediately afterwards, the space where the portal was located was forcibly enveloped by distorted power fluctuations, as if an invisible behemoth was devouring everything... One after another, humanoid Hollows emerged from the black cavity and entered the Seireitei.

"Huh? Is this the Soul Society?"

—The “reinforcements” from Hueco Mundo began killing Quincy in all directions, and the Wandenreich, which had initially held a significant advantage, soon discovered that its advance was not as rapid as it had imagined.

After investigating and discovering that it was Ice Beauty (Esdeath) who was behind it all, they were quite surprised, but without time to think it over, they mobilized the strongest forces in the vicinity to subdue her.

The spiritual version of Yamamoto Shigekuni!

……

Bang-!

The fist, powerful enough to shatter steel, did not strike the body directly, but was blocked by a pale blue ice crystal barrier just before contact.

Although the ice wall was shattered instantly, Esdeath also gained the opportunity to retreat. With a muffled groan, she leaped away from her opponent with her high legs bent at the knees.

Linghaishan did not pursue, but instead turned his gaze to the Zanpakuto in his hand. The muscles in his arm suddenly tensed, and a scorching stream of air burst from the sword, instantly melting the ice and snow.

Esdeath roused herself, using Instant Step to close the distance, swinging her sword at high speed with cold and sharp slashes, transforming into the most ferocious executioner, splitting the world of fire and ice, and countless cold lights rushed towards Yamamoto.

"Fantastic! I don't know what's behind this... how could they make such realistic dolls! Can they even replicate Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni?!"

Then came a series of short, sharp sounds of impact, so numerous that one might mistakenly think there was only one.

Despite his aged appearance, Yamamoto displayed an agility that belied his physical condition, unleashing powerful sword trajectories with a speed no less than that of the Queen, completely blocking, parrying, and even suppressing the enemy's attacks.

This is certainly due to Yamamoto's superhuman strength, but his exceptional skills are also a very important factor.

Each move has no fixed form; what matters is the "reasonableness" that thoroughly embodies the fighting spirit, without wasting a single ounce of strength, and defeating the enemy in the most direct and efficient way.

Even Esdeath was at a disadvantage in this flawless offensive!

However, Esdeath herself seemed unaware that she was already at a disadvantage. Instead, her attacks became even more ferocious. Her aggressive Zanpakuto swung wildly in her hands, recklessly crashing into the black Shinigami uniform, as if she were the one who had the victory in the bag.

While exchanging blows with the spirit mutilator Yamamoto, one ice blade after another appeared out of thin air, serving as an auxiliary means in addition to the Zanpakuto.

But gradually, Esdeath frowned:

Having fought Iori so many times, she was quite familiar with the Genryu style, so she concluded that Yamamoto's spirit body was also proficient in this technique, but...

"Oh?"

The woman noticed something was wrong: "Her movements are a bit stiff..."

Most of these spirit remains look exactly like real people, but Yamamoto is the only one who is somewhat... However, fortunately, his power is not fake, so he is not considered an inferior product.

After a moment of surprise came the joy of encountering a rare prey. After all, although it was not agile enough, the moment the spirit body Yamamoto drew its sword, it turned the surrounding area into a sea of ​​fire, and even its own solid ice was melted without any doubt.

This means he is qualified to be Esdeath's opponent!

"If I'm not mistaken, in order to reproduce Yamamoto's power as much as possible, they sacrificed other abilities and only enhanced destructive power to approach the original... a monster that only knows how to kill?"

This is incredibly exciting!

Yamamoto tilted his head, seemingly unconcerned by Esdeath's words, and simply gripped his Zanpakuto with both hands, raising it upwards to assume a standard defensive stance.

Seeing this, Esdeath frowned, her words carrying a hint of dissatisfaction: "Why don't you attack? Have you even erased the volatile side of your personality?"

"Pathetic wretch... I'll end your life!"

Charge! Charge!

Like a snow wolf in the Arctic, it is straightforward and without any hesitation, as if its sharp claws and teeth are tearing everything in its path to shreds.

The Zanpakuto pierced through the atmosphere, leaving a chilling trail in space, its target being the head of the spirit corpse Yamamoto!

Clang——!

The two Zanpakuto clashed again. Even though Esdeath had the advantage of charging forward, she still couldn't suppress the spirit body Yamamoto. The doll, with a blank expression, couldn't help but take a half step back under the impact—but that was all. Soon, a powerful heat surged from the blade, forcing Esdeath to dodge.

"What powerful firepower!"

Unfortunately, Iori forbade me from challenging the real person... Haha!

She uttered a word of praise, but her hands did not falter for a moment. Dazzling slashes bloomed in the field of vision, blocking all evasive routes and constantly squeezing out the living space of the spirit skeleton Yamamoto.

In close-quarters, high-speed combat, Esdeath's swift slashes should have a greater advantage in reaction time than the cumbersome puppet dolls—that's how it should be.

Clang, clang, clang, clang—!

The sounds of intense impact, almost continuous, echoed across the sky as Linghai Mountain, with an incredibly simple movement, parried all of the sadistic queen's combo attacks.

His speed is definitely not as fast as Esdeath's, but every move he makes seems to have been honed through countless trials, possessing a charm similar to that of Yamamoto himself, which is the most essential and profound secret of the Genryu style.

"Okay! That's how it should be!"

Blinding sparks flew continuously, and the clashing forces and relentless attacks made Esdeath's expression increasingly delighted.

"Even though it's just a doll, it's pretty amazing!"

With a fatal thrust, Esdeath's expression suddenly turned serious.

She suddenly remembered that she was still on the battlefield and couldn't get too caught up in one-on-one combat... There should be a limit to the desire to hunt!

Zheng——!

The Ryujin Jakka lay across the path of the Frost Blade, and sparks flew the moment the blades made contact.

Then came the downward slash of Ryujin Jakka, as if responding to Esdeath's invasion. Its invincible momentum was awe-inspiring. Even a solid steel statue would be cleanly and neatly split in two and then melt instantly in the raging flames.

"Ha, it's time to end this!"

Faced with this attack, Esdeath did not retreat, but instead took a half step forward.

The moment her military boots—the only shoes worn by her in the entire Seireitei—touched the ground, pure white enveloped the Seireitei, the temperature instantly dropped below zero and continued to slide toward absolute zero, and even Yamamoto's flames were forcibly suppressed.

hum!hum!hum!

Countless weapons rose from the snow. They were humanoid, beast-like, and varied in size, but without exception, they were all enemies that Esdeath had slain, including Imperial Arms users from other worlds, as well as lowly minions and Hollows from Hueco Mundo.

"The Divine Eight Million Eight Cold Hell Bliss Array!"

Esdeath pushed her ice power to its limit, managing to shrink the range of the flames to only a few meters around Yamamoto!

The next moment, with an invisible roar, the beasts of winter pounced on the spirit corpse mountain!

Ryujin Jakka returned to defense, his Zanpakuto in its Shikai state standing tall before him, calmly welcoming the baptism of this great formation. Countless pure white blades engulfed the figure clad in Shinigami robes.

Amidst the crisp cracking sounds, the beasts and the dead fell one after another, but the relentless onslaught still firmly suppressed the spirit Yamamoto. The flames on his body were almost tangible, protecting him from the crushing force of this sheer numbers.

"Is this the end? How boring. Looks like you're not very bright and don't even have a solution."

Esdeath smiled maliciously as she speculated about Yamamoto's passive defensive behavior, but then immediately denied her previous statement.

The next moment, towering flames shot into the sky like long swords, breaking through the cover of ice!

Reikai Yamamoto swung his sword, severing the solid ice blocking his body. The swift sword pressure broke through all the way, and tiny ice particles reflecting sunlight filled the atmosphere.

Esdeath narrowed her eyes, knowing that the beast before her had entered a berserk phase.

This is a hunting game. For her, the best prey is naturally Yamamoto himself, but it's highly unlikely she can catch him. She'll just have to satisfy herself with Yamamoto's spirit remains for now.

"Even if I kill you, Iori won't be able to say anything... Ha, that's a good thing for me!"

"Pierce you!"

A chilling aura condensed in the air into more than a dozen spears, each several meters long, which shot mercilessly toward Linghai Yamamoto with a whooshing sound.

The surrounding space was now covered by her domain, so both the speed of freezing and the strength of the ice itself were superior to before!

Yamamoto's protective flames could not easily melt it!

call--!

Deep breathing sounds seemed to be heard in the ear. Linghai Yamamoto moved his feet and his slightly stiff body burst out with astonishing speed. Ryujin Jakka swung in the air and cut down several ice pillars.

With a sharp, piercing wind, the blade sliced ​​through Esdeath's ice pillars in just two or three strikes, while the dark figure smashed through the falling ice and charged unstoppably towards the queen.

"What I do best is deal with prey that's starting to go crazy, because that means you're cornered!"

Esdeath laughed excitedly, slapping the ground with one hand. A massive iceberg, resembling a fortress, appeared out of thin air and blocked her way.

Every inch of this solid ice has a strength far exceeding that of steel; it is a substance that could never exist in nature!

Faced with this iceberg, Linghai Mountain neither stopped nor took a detour; instead of hesitating, he accelerated his charge.

At the moment of impact with the iceberg, he raised the Ryujin Jakka in his hand—

Zheng! ! !

The overflowing flames shone with a dazzling brilliance like the sun, as if reflecting all the light from the sky back, and the entire space darkened in an instant.

Bah——!

With almost no obstruction, the massive iceberg was easily severed, and the sharp sword wind advanced along the crack, even severing a strand of Esdeath's blue hair before she could dodge.

boom!

With a burst of power, the scorching flames engulfed the entire field of vision, and Esdeath's icy domain began to tremble precariously.

hum-

The crimson flames engulfed everything, but Esdeath, amidst them, remained unmoved. The extremely thin ice covering her body slowly melted, and her pupils transformed into dazzling crystal gems.

"The demon within Mocha is unleashed!"

The mighty flames were suddenly hindered as they passed a certain point. The misty cold air condensed into a solid mass and collided with them, causing the raging flames to be lifted upwards. The torrents of cold and heat formed an indescribably powerful whirlwind, which finally burst into scorching steam.

In the hazy white world, Esdeath's eyes gleamed with a ghostly blue light. With a thought, the entire space froze for a moment—

Steam, flames, ice shards—everything stopped moving!

This is no longer "absolute zero," but a manifestation of the pure concept of stillness—but Esdeath doesn't care about that, nor does she know the principle, she simply feels that she can do it (in her mind, since both are about time and space stillness, they should be about the same), so she spent a lot of effort developing this technique.

But miraculously, she actually succeeded...

Clang!

A narrow passage was carved out of the world, which was like a glass ball, and in its center, a katana covered in ice pierced out, aiming straight for the heart of the spirit body Yamamoto!

Chapter 493 The Return of the King.

The entire Soul Society is in turmoil...

It has been a thousand years since the last Quincy invasion, and although the Seireitei lost most of its forces in that battle, it has long since recovered its strength and even reached a higher level.

Even after suffering numerous calamities such as the "Battle of the Holy Sons," the "annihilation of the Tenth Division," and the "Tsuna Yayoi Rebellion," the current Seireitei still possesses power far surpassing that of the original Thirteen Divisions.

Putting aside other factors, the number and quality of team captains are significantly higher, and the Technology Development Bureau is also clearly more "scientific" than the previous research institute, providing the Thirteenth Team with stronger technological reserves.

This is quite normal, since Soul Society is not short of people (souls), and powerful souls have no lifespan limit. Theoretically speaking, even if all the captains die, the number of lost strongmen can be made up sooner or later.

The reason why the Kui clan could produce such a surge of top-tier combat power in just a thousand years is ultimately due to the efforts of Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni.

【Shinigami Academy】—A complete educational system that greatly expanded the talent pool in Rukongai, discovering numerous masters. At least two-thirds of the captains came from here.

However, when the Quincy invaded Soul Society once again, Seireitei appeared unusually weak!

There's no excuse; the difference in strength is obvious.

The Thirteen Divisions, which once defeated the "Empire of Light" at its peak, are no match for the Quincy and the Reaper Alliance!

This naturally greatly shocked the Seireitei.

At this critical juncture, it was natural to call upon Captain-Commander Yamamoto to turn the tide, and in fact, that was exactly what he intended to do. However, as an "Admiral," his only true enemy was Yhwach, while the Quincy King had not yet made his appearance.

So he mobilized thirteen squads to launch counterattacks against the enemy in various parts of Seireitei—it's laughable that the Shinigami realized at this point that the Quincy possessed the "Shadow Domain".

For the past thousand years, the enemy has been hiding inside the Seireitei, right under our noses!

This humiliating fact broke many people's defenses...

Surprisingly, unlike the previous invading and fiercely aggressive Quincy army, this time the "Hanger Empire" was relatively calm. After the initial surprise attack, they did not attempt to completely destroy Seireitei. Instead, after capturing some noble residences, they divided Seireitei into different areas, much like dividing up war zones, and began a fierce battle with the Grim Reaper.