"Wiped out..." Shunsui Kyoraku crouched beside a corpse, examining the state of the bodies.
Some were slumped over their desks, others lay flat on their backs, and a few still maintained the terrified, struggling postures they held right before death.
The dried blood had long since turned black, smearing what was once a sacred and solemn judgment stand.
"They've been dead for at least three days... No, maybe even longer."
"If they've been dead this whole time..." Jushiro Ukitake felt a chill shoot straight up his spine. "Then who has been issuing the orders for Rukia's execution all this time... or even commanding us just yesterday..."
"Who exactly is it?!"
The two exchanged a glance, both seeing the sheer shock in each other's eyes.
Just as they were reeling from this horrifying truth and preparing to leave immediately to notify Head Captain Yamamoto, a deafening sound interrupted them.
*Rumble—!!!*
A violent tremor suddenly erupted from outside Central 46.
This was no earthquake; it was a spatial shudder caused by an explosive surge of Spiritual Pressure.
Immediately after, an incredibly scorching heatwave—one so terrifying it felt as if it could ignite the entire sky—pressed directly against their Spiritual Pressure perception.
"This Spiritual Pressure..." Shunsui Kyoraku whipped his head toward the door, his expression changing drastically.
"It's Ryujin Jakka!" Ukitake also exclaimed. "Master Genryusai is releasing his Zanpakuto!"
The blazing aura, as furious as the sun and capable of incinerating everything, left both of them feeling parched even from such a great distance.
"That location... Could it be Sokyoku Hill?! But it's not time for the execution yet!" Ukitake immediately realized.
"Let's go, Jushiro!" Shunsui Kyoraku could no longer bother investigating the scene. He grabbed Ukitake. "The situation has completely spiraled out of control!"
The two of them sprinted out of the underground assembly hall.
The moment they stepped out the door, they saw the sky in the distance toward Sokyoku Hill dyed a deep crimson.
A massive firestorm was raging there, with billowing thick smoke soaring straight into the clouds.
'The old man is getting serious... What in the world happened? To actually force him to release this level of power inside the Seireitei?'
However, before Shunsui Kyoraku's internal question could be answered, a figure blocked their path.
The flow of Reishi in the surroundings halted in an instant, freezing even the scorching wind.
"This path is closed."
A cold, clear voice rang in their ears.
The voice did not come from a specific direction, but rather echoed from all around them.
The surrounding air, the stone slabs beneath their feet, and the walls behind them all seemed to be the source of the sound.
"Who is it?!"
Shunsui Kyoraku and Jushiro Ukitake instantly assumed defensive stances, standing back-to-back as they vigilantly scanned their surroundings.
From the street corner directly in front of them, Soya Azashiro walked out at a leisurely pace.
The moment they saw his face, even these two veteran Captains couldn't help but be startled.
Jushiro Ukitake stared warily at the newcomer. "You are... the Eighth Kenpachi, Soya Azashiro!"
Shunsui Kyoraku lowered his bamboo hat, concealing the cold glint in his eyes, while one hand already rested on the hilt of Katen Kyokotsu.
"My, my, this is quite... a headache-inducing surprise." His tone remained somewhat lazy, but the Spiritual Pressure around him had sharpened. "Long time no see. Are you here to grab a cup of tea with me?"
"Could it be that the massacre in Central 46 was your doing?"
This speculation was not unfounded. Back when Soya Azashiro developed the [Vanguard Project], Central 46 had feared him and subsequently ordered his arrest.
But didn't he just break out of prison yesterday...
"I am merely a spectator," Azashiro replied faintly. "To ensure this play opens smoothly, I have been entrusted by someone to stop you from passing."
"Entrusted by someone?" Kyoraku looked at the Zanpakuto in Azashiro's hand and chuckled. "Former Captain Azashiro, aren't you underestimating us a bit too much?"
"Even though you're a monster who inherited the title of Kenpachi, can you really stop Jushiro and me all by yourself?"
This was no empty bluff.
Shunsui Kyoraku and Jushiro Ukitake were Head Captain Yamamoto's prized pupils, top-tier Captains with centuries of experience.
The two of them joining forces was already a pinnacle of combat power.
Facing Kyoraku's questioning, Soya Azashiro's expression did not change in the slightest.
He merely raised his hand slightly, and the surrounding air instantly solidified.
Countless invisible Reishi blades quietly formed in the space around them, pointing directly at the two Captains.
"If we are to decide life and death right here..."
Soya Azashiro's tone sounded as if he were stating an objective fact, devoid of any arrogance or false modesty.
"It would indeed be very troublesome, and might even result in mutual destruction."
His tone shifted, his eyes revealing absolute confidence.
"But if it is merely to keep you here for a while, preventing you from interfering with the execution on Sokyoku Hill..."
"That is not a difficult task for me."
The moment his voice fell, Shunsui Kyoraku felt the surrounding Reishi environment turn perilous, as if Azashiro were standing right next to him.
Not only that, but even the ground, the walls, and the surrounding vegetation and gravel were all radiating Azashiro's Spiritual Pressure.
His Zanpakuto, Uro Zakuro, could manipulate the Reishi in the atmosphere and inorganic matter as easily as his own limbs, conjuring threatening blades out of thin air.
It could even invade an opponent's body to control them—an extremely dangerous ability.
Realizing the other party was serious, Shunsui Kyoraku could no longer maintain his composure. He asked in a deep voice, "What exactly are you trying to do?"
Azashiro did not answer.
He simply tilted his head up slightly, looking toward the distant horizon as if waiting for a signal.
"It has begun," he said softly.
"What?" Kyoraku and Ukitake were taken aback.
*Boom—*
*Boom—!!!*
An earth-shattering explosion suddenly detonated above the Seireitei!
The sound was so massive it felt as if the sky itself had been forcibly blasted open.
Shunsui Kyoraku and Jushiro Ukitake snapped their heads up to look.
They saw that the supposedly indestructible Shakonmaku, which protected the Seireitei, had actually been violently shattered from the outside!
A sky full of Reishi fragments rained down like a meteor shower.
And amidst that fractured firmament, a retrograde comet was roaring as it plummeted straight toward Sokyoku Hill!
"This commotion... Is that the Shiba Family's Flower Crane Cannon?!" Jushiro Ukitake exclaimed in shock.
Soya Azashiro watched the pillar of light tear across the sky, an inexplicable gleam flashing in his eyes.
'Aizen... let me see if this is also part of your supposedly perfect plan,' he thought to himself.
Deep underground beneath Sokyoku Hill.
A blue storm of Spiritual Pressure was currently raging, sweeping through the entire subterranean space.
The intensity of that Spiritual Pressure was so great that even Toshiro, a Captain, felt a palpitation in his chest.
"This is..." Toshiro's eyes widened.
Within the blue Spiritual Pressure storm, the broken blade in Ichigo's hand began to transform.
Infused with Spiritual Pressure, the shattered blade rapidly repaired itself, ultimately transforming into a slender, pitch-black tachi with a manji-shaped handguard.
"Tensa... Zangetsu."
Ichigo slowly uttered these words.
"This is my... Bankai."