Chapter 365: My Wisdom Surpasses Your Rules!
The moment he was dyed black, Naraku Sora's arms suddenly dropped to his sides, looking incredibly bizarre.
He tried to lift his hands, slowly clenching his fingers together. Black and red arcs of electricity sparked between his fingers, tearing open faint, barely perceptible pitch-black rifts.
"What a rule-breaking ability."
Even as a Transcendent, he still couldn't resist Ichimonji's "blackening."
Hyōsube Ichibē leaned on his gigantic brush with both hands, his deep voice echoing in the air. "It's already over."
"Although your power has grown significantly since we last met, in the face of absolute rules, pure strength is completely useless."
"The names of your arms have been entirely severed by me. From now on, you are a man without hands."
"How is it? Without power, do your hands feel heavy?"
"Devoid of muscle strength, devoid of abilities. Your arms are now useless; you are powerless to even throw a punch."
"Do you still have even the slightest chance of winning now?"
As he spoke, Hyōsube Ichibē raised his palm and swung it fiercely forward.
Following his motion, a massive palm radiating brilliant light appeared once more, crashing down with overwhelming, world-crushing momentum.
Senjumaru's expression shifted slightly, and she instinctively took a step forward.
Before she could make a move, a figure blocked her path.
"Yo, Shutara-dono, you definitely shouldn't intrude on their battle."
Nimaiya Ōetsu's tone was flat, but his expression was unexpectedly serious and earnest. He even forgot to use his usual rap cadence.
"Sealed by the Blood Oath, we have no right to intervene in a battle of this caliber."
"Once Hyōsube Ichibē gets caught up in the thrill of the kill, he might just take you out along with him."
"If your name gets erased then, you'll truly vanish from this world completely."
Senjumaru's gaze was icy. She was just about to retort when she suddenly noticed an anomaly in the sky ahead.
A profound, pitch-black pillar of Reiatsu erupted upward. An aura of ultimate brutality burst forth across the firmament, accompanied by a deafening roar that made the sky groan as if unable to bear the weight.
*What is that?!*
Kirio Hikifune's pupils shrank, instinctively recalling the massive commotion the Soul Society had been causing lately—Hollowfication!
Almost all the Soul Reaper Captains had accepted this power, achieving a qualitative leap in their strength.
There were even rumors that Head Captain Yamamoto himself had completed Hollowfication.
Naturally, Kirio Hikifune scoffed at this and remained highly skeptical.
Given how incredibly stubborn Head Captain Yamamoto was, allowing the other Captains to undergo Hollowfication was already the absolute limit of what he could psychologically tolerate.
If the dignified Head Captain underwent Hollowfication, the Soul Society might as well rename itself Hueco Mundo.
However, the boost Hollowfication provided to a Soul Reaper seemed to far exceed her expectations.
Naraku Sora's eyes abruptly transformed into eerie golden irises with black sclerae. His entire aura underwent an earth-shattering change as a ferocious presence permeated the air.
Ring-like, pitch-black markings extended from his torso, clinging to his limbs.
Then, as if they were living creatures, they instantly began to bite into and devour the ink stains on his arms bit by bit!
Under the monk's incredulous gaze, Naraku Sora raised his right hand and extended a finger. Black and red arcs of electricity instantly exploded outward.
Countless Reishi swarmed in, converging into a massive black and red sphere of light that devoured everything around it like a black hole.
Jagged, distorted patterns scattered across its surface. The surrounding space let out an uneasy hum as tiny rifts lingered in the air.
"Gran Rey Cero!"
The vast torrent swept across the firmament, charging straight toward the brilliantly glowing Thousand-Ri Heaven-Piercing Palm.
The moment the two collided, a massive mushroom cloud bloomed in the sky. Countless motes of light rained down like a torrential downpour, instantly dyeing everything in sight a radiant gold.
The black and red torrent continued with undiminished might, crashing down toward Hyōsube Ichibē with an unstoppable, world-crushing momentum.
The monk's expression shifted slightly. He backhanded his brush, Ichimonji, scattering countless drops of ink through the air.
In the next instant, a massive character for "Seal" shot out from the tip of the brush, completely sealing the torrent of the Gran Rey Cero and dyeing it a pure, absolute black.
It stripped away the immense destructive power contained within.
"Ever since I was slashed by that brush of yours last time, I've been replaying that battle in my head, searching for a way to break your technique."
"Sōsuke told me that the only thing capable of countering a rule is another rule."
"Unfortunately, even after breaking through to the Transcendent level, I haven't comprehended any rules."
"But, how could world-shaking wisdom be so inconvenient?"
"Actually, the method to break your rule is quite simple. I just need to overlay the original 'black' with a completely opposing layer of power."
Naraku Sora slowly drew Vajrayati from his waist. His aura climbed steadily, as if it had no upper limit.
"Besides, I'm curious about one thing."
Seeing that pitch-black Zanpakutō, Hyōsube Ichibē immediately furrowed his brows.
"Can your Ichimonji sever a name from another world?"
As soon as his voice fell, a ferocious, demon-like smile had already broken through to stand right in front of him.
Naraku Sora raised his arm and smashed it forward viciously, as if swinging a heavy hammer!
The monk's expression was stern. He swung Ichimonji to meet the attack, scattering countless ink drops like rain in an attempt to dye the pitch-black blade.
Metal clashed against metal, sparking countless embers.
The two engaged in a blindingly fast melee, with countless afterimages appearing and shattering.
The shockwaves of their collisions continuously rippled across the sky, forming rings of white shockwaves that looked like grand fireworks blooming.
Then, something happened that shocked Hyōsube Ichibē.
His proudest ability, the power of Ichimonji, was completely ineffective against Naraku Sora's Zanpakutō.
What was even more horrifying was that—after releasing Ichimonji, every black thing in the world was supposed to become his property.
The monk tried to use this ability to influence the Zanpakutō named "Vajrayati," but it yielded absolutely no response.
No matter how hard he tried to manipulate it, it wouldn't budge an inch.
It was like one was on FM and the other on AM—they simply weren't on the same frequency.
Seeing the monk's helplessness, Naraku Sora grinned.
"Just as I said when I first met you, old man, you have absolutely no idea what my Zanpakutō's name is."
Which meant his rules couldn't take effect.
Exactly as he had guessed before, what Vajrayati contained was an entirely different world!
Realizing this, the righteous smile on Naraku Sora's face grew even more savage, and the speed of his sword swings increased a few notches.
The pitch-black sword pressure instantly swallowed all light. Wherever it passed, space creaked, and the thick, viscous Reiatsu was immediately cleaved in two.
At this level, executing Zanjutsu infused with level 90 Hadō was something he could do casually.
He was using it like a basic attack!
Hyōsube Ichibē's face looked as ugly as it could get.
His strongest ability was the rule-bending power of Ichimonji, but now, the concept of "black" was completely useless against Naraku Sora.
Every time he finally managed to dye his body or limbs black, a different power would burst forth, eating away at the rules imposed upon him.
*What bullshit overlay!*
*I've lived for a million years, and this is the first time I've ever heard of Hollowfication being able to overwrite Ichimonji's 'severing the name, not the flesh'.*
*Aside from Hollowfication, there's even the Quincy-exclusive Blut Vene.*
*Lord knows where this brat learned that.*
*Even if Yhwach himself were here, he couldn't possibly negate my ability with Blut Vene!*
*No, this can't go on.*
*Since Ichimonji's Shikai is useless, I'll have to use a deeper level of power.*
"Shin'uchi—"
"Shirafude Ichimonji."
As his voice rang out, the ink stains swirling around Hyōsube Ichibē vanished instantly, replaced by a streak of pure white.
Even the pitch-black tip of the brush turned white.
Unlike the massive commotion caused by other Soul Reapers' Bankai, Hyōsube Ichibē's Shin'uchi seemed to merely change its form.
Nothing more.
*I'll take advantage of the gaps when he's dyed black to quickly write a new name, and then crush him in one fell swoop.*
The moment the monk finalized his tactics in his mind, he thrust his thick left hand forward.
Reiatsu condensed, forming a massive dragon head in the sky. Its cheeks bulged high before it violently blew a gale toward Naraku Sora.
"Secret Spell: Third Path—"
"Teppūsatsu!"
The violent hurricane howled outward, instantly blowing away the Reiatsu swirling around Naraku Sora, and even scattering the burning power of his Shunkō.
Immediately after, Ichimonji, now transformed into a white brush, swung forward.
Deep ink stains splashed out, soaking the figure that was sent flying backward.
In the next instant, the Hollowfication markings and Blut Vene surged out simultaneously, frantically devouring the black covering Naraku Sora's body.
The monk focused entirely, swinging Shirafude Ichimonji once more. White characters landed on the "black" like a seal.
"Black Ant!"
Looking at the characters covering Naraku Sora's body, Hyōsube Ichibē let out a long breath.
His Shirafude Ichimonji could grant a new name to anything painted black. "Black Ant" meant that, at this moment, Naraku Sora was as fragile as an ant.
*It's finally over.*
*Now, all I have to do is—*
*Crack!!*
A spine-chilling shattering sound suddenly rang out. Under the monk's incredulous gaze, that ferocious smile reappeared, the stark white teeth looking exceptionally striking.
"You didn't think—"
"That you were the only one with a Bankai, did you?"
Before his voice even faded, golden-red fissures resembling magma surfaced in the center of the blade, and pitch-black branches spread across Vajrayati.
They climbed all the way up, violently crushing the "characters" to pieces!
With golden slit pupils staring straight ahead, the smile on Naraku Sora's face grew increasingly manic. "Bankai!"
"Vajrayati, Gōshiki Kushō!"
In the next second, a twisted shadow covered Hyōsube Ichibē's figure. All of Sora's power erupted, the sound of grinding bones pouring into the monk's ears like a death warrant.
A downward slash!
There was no massive fanfare, nor any dazzling visual effects—only an explosion of absolute, pure power.
It slammed into that burly body like a planetary collision.
Under the watch of countless horrified gazes, the leader of the Zero Division, the man hailed as the strongest beneath the Spirit King—Manako Oshō-dono—plummeted instantly.
Accompanied by a series of explosive booms, the seventy-two barrier layers protecting the Soul King Palace shattered one after another!
A meteor trailing a long tail of flames plummeted toward the Soul Society!