After Starrk finished speaking, he charged forward, pointing his finger at Yamabuki's head. A Cero directly hit Yamabuki's eyeball.
No matter what creature, no matter how strong their defense, the eyeball is always the biggest weakness. One of Yamabuki's eyeballs exploded, but he remained calm and elegant. Losing just one eye was not even worth a bandage. While Yamabuki was recovering his eye, Baraggan arrived. His huge fist slammed into Yamabuki's stomach.
Instead, with both hardened skin and Blut Vene defense systems, Baraggan's punch couldn't even break through his defense.
Yamabuki glanced down, looking at Baraggan like an ant. Suddenly, Baraggan pulled out an iron chain from his waist and locked it onto Yamabuki's wrist. This was the same chain that had bound Baraggan earlier. This chain had the same effect as the chair that would bind Aizen in the future, capable of suppressing spiritual pressure.
Whether Shinigami or Quincy, their bodies are condensed from reishi, they are spiritual bodies, so this chain would be effective.
Of course, the purpose of this chain was not to eliminate spiritual pressure, but to fix the spiritual pressure around Yamabuki.
"Well done!!!"
No one expected that in the end, it would be Baraggan who saved everyone's lives.
As expected, scientific technology is the primary productive force. Even Aizen's world-destroying level of spiritual pressure was still suppressed by technology, let alone Yamabuki now.
With his spiritual pressure unable to be released, all of Yamabuki's long-range attack methods were directly crippled. Starrk took the opportunity to attack, unleashing Ceros like a storm.
They finally succeeded in suppressing Yamabuki.
"Lastly, we need him to exit his Hollowfication state, right? That's your job as Shinigami." Starrk said.
Unohana had been prepared for a long time. She used Shunpo to appear behind Yamabuki and stabbed her sword towards Yamabuki's back. However, under the defense of hardened skin and Blut Vene, the sword couldn't penetrate! Unohana suddenly thought of a method. She climbed onto Yamabuki's back and whispered softly, "Don't resist, be good. When we get home, I'll wear black stockings for you."
Yamabuki, who had been fiercely resisting, froze upon hearing these words and relaxed considerably. Unohana seized this opportunity and plunged her sword through Yamabuki's chest.
Minazuki activated! Causality accelerated.
Yamabuki's Hollowfication state suffered a devastating blow, and the mask on his face suddenly cracked.
Batsu'unsai Katori controlled Mizore to blast Yamabuki's face, completely shattering his Hollowfication mask. At the same time, the eight wings behind him and the halo above his head also shattered.
Beneath the mask was Yamabuki's original face. At this moment, he lost consciousness and softly collapsed into Unohana's arms.
A crisis was finally over.
Everyone collapsed in the desert. Starrk also learned that there are always people stronger than yourself, and the world is full of monsters.
He was never alone.
...
In a daze, Yamabuki only felt thirsty and wanted something to drink. He reached out and touched the sand.
"You're awake? How are you?" Unohana asked eagerly.
"Thirsty!" Yamabuki rasped. He felt pain everywhere in his body, as if he had been beaten up by a large group of people.
Unohana took the water bottle and slowly poured clear water into Yamabuki's mouth. After drinking two sips of water, Yamabuki's consciousness recovered considerably.
Opening his eyes with difficulty, Yamabuki found himself lying on Unohana's lap.
"Why are you all looking at me like that? What happened to me? I remember being ambushed by a Quincy and poisoned!" Yamabuki asked with difficulty.
"It's alright, it's alright, it's all over now, all over." Unohana said softly.
Baraggan, Starrk, and Batsu'unsai Katori, among others, were looking at him strangely.
"You caused quite a ruckus just now. A few of us almost died by your hand." Starrk said with a bitter smile.
"Huh?" Yamabuki was utterly bewildered. 'A few of you almost died by my hand? Do I have that kind of ability?'
Batsu'unsai Katori said, "Yamabuki, you must tell me exactly what happened to you. If you don't explain clearly, I cannot let you return to the Soul Society. If you go berserk again, the Seireitei won't be able to withstand it."
Starrk recounted everything that had just happened. Yamabuki listened, utterly confused. 'What? I Hollowfied? And went on a killing spree, directly killing five Sternritter? And two of them were pretty young ladies? And even desecrated their bodies?'
Except for that last part, he shouldn't have been capable of the others!
Everyone was looking at Yamabuki, waiting for him to give them an explanation.
Yamabuki knew he couldn't hide it anymore and said gravely, "At this point, there's only one explanation left, and that is, the Soul King."
"The Soul King?"
Everyone in the Soul Society knew that term, but very few truly understood the meaning of those two words.
Batsu'unsai Katori asked, "The Soul King is the legendary ruler of the Soul Society. How could you be involved with the Soul King?"
Yamabuki rubbed his nose, "Originally, there was no connection, but do you remember when the Zero Squad took me to the Soul King Palace? I had a conversation with the Soul King."
As a high-ranking noble, Batsu'unsai Katori naturally understood the implications.
"The Soul King possesses The Almighty. He predicted the Quincy invasion war six months from now and foretold that I would die in six months. The only turning point was to swallow a piece of the Soul King's flesh." Yamabuki said, "The Soul King is the progenitor of both Shinigami and Quincy, inherently containing both powers. As for Hollowfication, that's likely a side effect. If it weren't for this piece of the Soul King's flesh, how could my spiritual pressure have increased so rapidly?"
Batsu'unsai Katori nodded secretly. When she first met Yamabuki, he was just an ordinary Vice-Captain. Yet, in just two months, his strength had advanced by leaps and bounds. Two Vasto Lorde Menos Grande, two Captains, plus six members of the Sternritter—ten Captain-level combatants were barely enough to subdue Yamabuki.
Even if he was a genius, his progress was too fast!
Only Unohana remained silent beside him, lost in thought.
"So, should we continue our mission?" Batsu'unsai Katori asked. Their mission was to find the Quincy's stronghold, but plans couldn't keep up with changes. What if Yamabuki lost control again?
"Alright, let's go back. I'll explain to the Captain-Commander." Yamabuki said. As for Baraggan, he would naturally return to the Soul Society with them.
Baraggan put on the handcuffs with a bitter expression and returned to the Soul Society with Yamabuki.
Everyone bid farewell to Starrk. Yamabuki even gave Starrk a few bottles of sake he had brought, and both parties went their separate ways.
Starrk had originally thought he had no friends because he was too strong, but now it seemed...
"I'm still too weak. I need to find a way to become stronger."