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Chapter 293 B
🕑 Added 2025-03-20 16:00:09 +0000 UTCChapter 293
2-in-1 chapter:
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Amid swirling dust, Ichibē flew out, glancing at his arm in surprise. Kaelith’s punch had actually hurt him. And that was no small feat—his flesh and bones were all reinforced by the Soul King’s power, effectively making his entire body a “Royal Key.” Being nearly forced into a broken arm was astonishing.
“What sort of monstrous student has Genryūsai Yamamoto raised?” he wondered, eyeing Kaelith emerging from the haze.
Kaelith leapt into the air, body taut as though channeling power into his limbs. In that moment of peaked tension, he unleashed another punch.
“Evening Elephant!”
A column of wind burst forth, engulfing Ichibē. Within it, he found his movements slowed, the skin all over his body battered by violent currents.
“Hngh!”
He twisted around, clapping his palms together. An intense surge of reiatsu shattered the vortex in an instant. But as it broke, two blades wreathed in blue flames—connected by long chains—came whipping in from behind.
“Oh…so he used that wind column to obscure my vision and bring Rixiang Jimie close. Unfortunately for you…this won’t work.”
“I already know its name,” Ichibē declared. Fingers tight together, he slammed out a palm. A giant reiatsu-formed hand materialized in midair, violently slapping the twin blades away.
“Anything whose name I know is powerless before me!”
Having destroyed three consecutive attacks, he steadied himself in midair, eyes on Kaelith, who was reeling his Zanpakutō back in. Ichibē’s lips curled into a dark grin.
“Kaelith—if that’s all you’ve got, you can leave your life here.”
Retracting Rixiang Jimie, Kaelith gripped the hilt in both hands, a manic glint in his eyes. “Sorry, but I’m not planning on dying today.”
“Oh? Think you still have enough strength to fight back?”
Ichibē tucked his hands into his sleeves. “I’ve already seen the true nature of your Zanpakutō’s power. No matter what techniques you produce, if they’re based on your Zanpakutō, I can see through them. And once they’re within my understanding, I can nullify them.
“As for that hand-to-hand technique…yes, you’re pretty good. But it’s foolish to think you can win using only that. Among Shinigami, true power has always been drawn out through Zanpakutō. Fists and kicks are a side path. You might defeat a weaker foe that way, but relying on it to overcome someone vastly beyond you? Pure stupidity.”
With that, he stomped once and appeared right in front of Kaelith, raising his palm to strike Kaelith’s chest.
Kaelith, who’d prepared to launch a punch, suddenly shifted and blocked with his elbow instead.
Boom!!!
The terrifying energy of Ichibē’s palm channeled into Kaelith’s arm. The impact dislocated his entire shoulder, blood spraying from it.
“Huh?”
Seeing Kaelith willingly take damage to protect his torso, Ichibē raised a brow. Did he have some wound on his chest?
Squinting, he spotted the flame-shaped tattoo. He recalled that Kaelith had exposed it before the fight, apparently sealing it in some way.
What was the purpose of that?
Driven by curiosity, Ichibē pressed forward again. Kaelith, rather than dodging, simply jammed his dislocated arm back into place, igniting a burst of blue flame from his shoulders.
“Shunhong—Hell Chariot!!”
Twin jets of fire erupted, sending Kaelith hurtling toward Ichibē at an even faster speed. In an exchange of blows, each blocked or attacked in a flurry of fists and palms. Kirio Hikifune and Senjumaru Shutara arrived just in time to witness this fierce clash.
Even as they traded strikes, Ichibē reached out with his reiatsu, studying the tattoo on Kaelith’s chest. After a few seconds, realization dawned—an alarm spell set by Genryūsai Yamamoto.
Kaelith had intentionally locked it, preventing Yamamoto from sensing what was happening.
Ichibē couldn’t help but feel both amused and exasperated: Yamamoto cherishing his disciple enough to prepare for possible conflict with the Royal Palace, and Kaelith, even with that precious lifeline, chose to throw it away to fight alone.
He asked, “Brat, why not call on Yamamoto for help?”
Kaelith smirked. “Because the Royal Palace isn’t worth troubling my teacher.”
“Heh…Yamamoto wasn’t wrong to treasure you,” Ichibē said with a small laugh, ramping up his reiatsu as he reached for the flame imprint. Bright spiritual light sparked around his fingertips, so sharp that Kaelith’s defenses would be like tofu before them.
At the final moment, Kaelith tapped his Zanpakutō’s hilt.
“Shatter defenses—Rixiang Jimie!
Boom!!!!
A fierce windstorm erupted around him. Ichibē jumped back a few dozen meters, eyes wide as the storm dissipated to reveal Kaelith in a helmet of silver, half-covering golden armor, metallic claws, and shield-like wings.
Though his figure was the same, his aura was drastically different. Kaelith exhaled, a plume of white steam rolling from between his teeth. Crossing his arms, he slashed them outward.
“Bankai—Rixiang Jimie! True Self’s Radiance!”
Sensing Kaelith’s reiatsu spike through multiple layers, Ichibē nodded in approval. “A powerful Bankai indeed. But I’m afraid I know about this ability as well—knew of it even before you did. Any power whose name I know is within my grasp.”
He spread his hands and drew a long brush seemingly from thin air, gripping it firmly at chest level.
Beneath his visor, Kaelith grinned. “If you’re so confident, why’d you pull out your weapon?”
“Hmm…just for style,” Ichibē replied with a chuckle.
“That so.”
Kaelith launched himself forward, transformed into a mechanical war-beast, slashing ferociously with both claws. Ichibē’s eyes went round, and he parried with the brush. Their figures blurred against the sky above the Royal Palace, colliding again and again in bursts of sparkling reiatsu.
Down below at the entrance to Phoenix Hall, Nimaiya Ōetsu shaded his eyes with a hand, watching intently. “Wow. Is that kid a monster? With that kind of insane combat power, anyone else would’ve lost by now if they weren’t Ichibē. But alas…nobody in this world can beat Ichibē.”
Overhead, Kaelith’s armor gleamed brilliantly. His right arm’s metal claw slashed down with each strike. In Bankai, his normal attacks carried the force of his Double-Bone technique, making even Ichibē get serious.
“Well done!” Ichibē roared, twisting his brush at the last moment to meet Kaelith’s claw.
Sparks flew, and the brush scraped along Kaelith’s arm. Suddenly, Kaelith felt his right arm weaken, as though all strength had vanished.
Noticing his reaction, Ichibē grinned. “It doesn’t cut flesh…it cuts names. That’s the power of this brush. Anything it touches loses half its name—and half its power. Feel your arm going limp? Hurts, doesn’t it?”
Kaelith quickly retreated to put some space between them. “So that’s…its Shikai?”
“Shikai? No, not quite. My brush isn’t the same as a conventional Zanpakutō. It possessed a unique ability from the moment it came into being. Only much later did I discover a second-stage power you people call a ‘Shikai.’ If you’re curious, force me to use it!”
Roaring, Ichibē charged again, swinging his brush in a wide arc.
Kaelith didn’t back away this time. From Ichibē’s explanation, “slashing names” would only get worse the longer he stalled. The quicker he ended things, the better his chance of survival.
Right as Ichibē’s brush was about to land, Kaelith thrust out his right arm, deliberately allowing contact. The moment the brush touched him, the limb felt even more drained—this time leaving him with only a quarter of its normal control.
But Kaelith ignored that. The split second of direct contact brought him close enough. Clutching his metal claw, his eyes narrowed with focus.
The first layer: a normal Double-Bone punch from his body.
The second layer: Yingda’s third impact.
The third layer: Bankai-empowered Rixiang Jimie.
And the final blow—
“Fourfold—First Bone!!”
“Kaelith’s Hundred Rending Fists!!!”
Boom!!!
Before his claws even physically struck, the unleashed force raked across half of Ichibē’s body.
“Uwoooohhhh!!!”
For the first time in hundreds of thousands of years, Ichibē let out a genuine scream of agony.
Kirio Hikifune and Senjumaru Shutara arrived just in time to see Kaelith’s claw pressed against Ichibē’s stomach, leaving a massive bloody hole. Intestines squirmed behind a gaping tear, and some internal organs had burst, blood gushing out.
“You’ve got to be kidding…”
Far off at Phoenix Hall, Nimaiya Ōetsu stared slack-jawed.
On the roof of Kirinji’s palace, Kirinji Tenjirō was equally stunned, boat-paddle Zanpakutō in hand.
Ichibē was injured…he’d only ever seen that once before, during a spar with Ōetsu, and even then, Ōetsu ended up nearly skinned alive, needing an entire day in Kirinji’s healing springs to recover.
Kaelith had surpassed that.
Ichibē lowered his gaze to the gaping wound. “What terrifying power… It didn’t even make direct contact, yet it tore through my flesh. If that blast had landed flush, it might’ve punched straight through me.”
He passed his hand over the injury, producing a green glow that closed it off. It didn’t fully heal, but at least it wouldn’t impede him anymore.
Ichibē faced Kaelith, who was panting heavily, evidently drained by his all-out attack.
“That last move of yours, I acknowledge. In return…allow me to show you something.”
He lifted the brush.
“My Zanpakutō’s release.”
Raising the brush toward the sky, Ichibē’s spiritual energy soared.
“Blacken—Ichimonji!”
A pillar of reiatsu blasted upward!
…
Meanwhile, in the First Division of the Seireitei, Genryūsai Yamamoto stood beneath the eaves, gazing silently at a koi pond in the courtyard. Behind him, Chōjirō Sasakibe hovered, looking worried.
Three days had passed since Kaelith headed to the Royal Palace. Aside from official duties, Yamamoto spent all his time here, watching the fish. Sasakibe knew him well enough to sense the underlying tension: the old man was waiting for news of his disciple.
Suddenly, Yamamoto’s brow furrowed, and he looked up at the sky.
Concerned, Sasakibe ventured, “Captain-Commander, there’s no need to worry, right? You gave Kaelith that distress mark. Since we haven’t received a signal, he must still be safe.”
But Yamamoto’s tone was grave. “The mark I left on him…has been interfered with. Something is blocking my connection to it!”
Sasakibe stiffened. “Could…could it be the Royal Guard’s doing?”
Yamamoto narrowed his eyes, saying nothing. Based on the sudden disruption and the way it felt, he suspected a certain rebellious disciple had sealed the mark himself.
He could feel his blood pressure rising.
“Instruct the Kidō Corps to start the ceremony to contact the Royal Palace—immediately!”
As Sasakibe rushed to obey, Yamamoto’s silent anger mounted. If Kaelith truly chose to fight head-on, then even heading there right now might be too late.
That damn brat…
…
Back in the Eleventh Division barracks, Sōsuke Aizen stood quietly, as though waiting for something, several Captain-level combatants gathered behind him.
Suddenly, Mayuri Kurotsuchi spoke up: “I intercepted a coded message from the Kidō Corps. They’re urgently establishing contact with the Royal Palace—by order of the Captain-Commander!”
Aizen’s expression barely shifted, though his eyes grew cold. The Captain-Commander wasn’t personally moving; instead, he was contacting the palace in a hurry. That meant Kaelith had gone off on his own and started fighting.
What a fool.
Aizen was incandescent with rage. At the same time, his mind whirred. The Soul Society and the Royal Palace were separated by more than seventy barriers, reinforced over hundreds of thousands of years. Even if he hijacked the Shiba Clan’s cannon, he still couldn’t breach them. He’d need a Royal Key.
If Yamamoto wasn’t moving personally, he must believe it was already too late. Then what was Aizen supposed to do—just wait here?
For a moment, despair flickered in his chest. Then another thought struck him: for reasons he couldn’t fully explain, Kaelith seemed tied to him.
From countless subtle clues to Kaelith’s half-joking admissions, Aizen was nearly certain Kaelith’s power rose when Aizen’s own power did.
If Kaelith was indeed battling up there, then Aizen boosting his own reiatsu might give Kaelith a better chance. Yes… If he took the ninth serum now, forcibly raising his spiritual pressure, it could help. Though it would permanently reduce his potential, right now, there was no alternative.
Aizen exhaled and took out a small box, opening it to reveal a red pill. He was about to swallow it when—
A beam of light plummeted from the heavens like a satellite cannon, smashing into the Soul Society with a blinding explosion. Shockwaves and raw reiatsu tore through the area, ravaging buildings for kilometers around. Everyone in the First Division and Eleventh Division felt the impact.
Aizen froze, then flickered outside to see what had happened. The moment he perceived the swirling reiatsu at ground zero, surprise flickered in his eyes.
Meanwhile, in the First Division courtyard, Yamamoto’s gaze snapped into focus.
“Sasakibe, dispatch a team to the impact site! Bring Fourth Division—Captain Unohana as well!”
At the Eleventh Division, Aizen wasted no time. “We’re going to help—Mayuri, bring your healing compounds!”
As the shockwave reverberated, he sensed Kaelith’s reiatsu at the heart of the blast.
So the idiot had returned on his own.
Even as he raced toward the site, Aizen gave a wry shake of his head.
Truly, scourges never die easily.
He felt his chest lighten finally.
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