On the surface, the amount of flame Tsunayoshi released was no less than what he had unleashed in his Sky-type Beyond Bankai.
Yet there was not the slightest trace of concern on the Monk's face.
"Do you think burning your own life can hurt me?"
The Monk sneered.
"How foolish."
"You couldn't do it before. And now that you can't even use Bankai, you certainly can't do it."
The moment everyone heard that Tsunayoshi was burning his life force, they panicked.
Tatsuki especially shouted Tsunayoshi's name in alarm.
But Tsunayoshi could no longer respond.
At this moment, there was only one person within his field of vision.
The Monk.
This final attack had to land on him.
Seeing that calling out to him was useless, Tatsuki and Ichigo reached out to grab Tsunayoshi.
They were not afraid of being burned by the Sky Flames.
Normally, these flames felt warm and comforting to them.
They could not hurt them at all.
But this time was different.
The sensation was like flesh being scorched by raging fire.
The Sky Flames now contained the very temperature of Tsunayoshi's life.
Ichigo and Tatsuki ignored the pain and continued reaching forward.
Just as their hands were about to touch Tsunayoshi—
Tsunayoshi disappeared.
Or rather, he sank into the ground.
In that instant, the image of the Monk's location appeared beneath Tsunayoshi's feet.
Then Tsunayoshi sank into it and vanished.
The entire process was identical to the way he had locked onto his target before firing the Earth Crossbow.
Enma Kozato was manipulating the power of the desert.
Watching Tsunayoshi and the Tenth burn themselves without restraint, Enma could only sigh helplessly.
He had no way to join them.
The only thing he could do was continue opening the Mirage Portal for Tsunayoshi.
Without making the slightest sound, Tsunayoshi appeared directly before the Monk.
It was exactly like the previous arrow.
But this time, the Monk was not caught off guard.
He had already anticipated it.
His palm immediately descended toward Tsunayoshi.
Smack.
The Monk caught Tsunayoshi's burning fist in his palm.
A scorching pain spread through his hand.
The Monk had to admit that Tsunayoshi's punch possessed considerable power.
If it had been his former self, perhaps Tsunayoshi really could have knocked him down with that single punch.
Unfortunately, the Monk's body had been reconstructed from the fragments of the great Soul King.
The power of the Soul King was sufficient to surpass everything.
Everything Sawada Tsunayoshi could muster amounted to nothing more than this.
Even now, he could not inflict the slightest injury upon the Monk.
The Monk raised his other hand and seized Tsunayoshi by the neck.
The flame on Tsunayoshi's forehead gradually weakened.
Only two tiny fingers' worth of Dying Will Flame remained.
That was all the life energy Tsunayoshi had left.
"Looking for death?"
"Did I give you permission to die?"
The Monk smiled.
The reason he had not panicked when Tsunayoshi began burning his life was because he was completely confident that he could preserve Tsunayoshi's life before it was exhausted.
To create a candidate for the position of Soul King, the Monk only needed Tsunayoshi's four powers.
The strength of Tsunayoshi's physical life was largely irrelevant.
As long as he did not die, that was enough.
After all, even if Tsunayoshi were sealed inside crystal, he would not die.
The weaker his life force became, the weaker Tsunayoshi's resistance became as well.
The Monk was more than happy to let Tsunayoshi exhaust himself.
Now...
Everything should finally come to an end.
The Monk began chanting an esoteric incantation.
A brush resembling Ichimonji condensed at his fingertips.
As the brush swept through the air, mysterious symbols emerged from its ink-black body.
Once each symbol was completed, it flew toward Tsunayoshi and formed a layer of transparent material over his body.
Before everyone's eyes, the Monk began turning Tsunayoshi into a spare Linchpin.
"Tsunayoshi!!!"
Ichigo charged forward.
He condensed Getsuga Tenshō along Tensa Zangetsu and brought it crashing down upon the Monk.
The gap in their strength was an impassable chasm.
No amount of effort from Ichigo could bridge it.
His blade struck the Monk's head.
Yet not only did the attack fail to injure him, the black power contained within it was instead absorbed by the Monk.
Never forget—
Black and White were only ineffective against Tsunayoshi.
Otherwise, those two powers alone would have been enough for the Monk to toy with every Shinigami present.
"Don't cause a disturbance."
"You aren't up yet."
During a pause in his chanting, the Monk casually glanced at Ichigo.
Black light erupted from his body.
It blasted Ichigo and everyone who had charged forward back toward the ground.
It was Ichigo's own Getsuga Tenshō.
The Monk had absorbed the black Getsuga Tenshō and then turned it against the people coming to rescue Tsunayoshi.
It had been Ichigo's furious strike in the first place.
Amplified further by the Monk's Soul King power, it instantly knocked everyone to the ground, leaving them unable to rise.
The Monk gave Ichigo special treatment.
To prevent this troublesome "protagonist" from interfering again, he transformed the Getsuga Tenshō striking Ichigo into black bands that wrapped tightly around his body.
Ichigo struggled desperately.
The power was clearly familiar.
Yet he could not break free.
All he could do was watch helplessly as layer after layer of symbols covered Tsunayoshi.
Before long, Tsunayoshi's body had been completely encased in crystal.
Inside the Inner World, Enma Kozato looked at the Tenth lying on the ground, barely breathing.
His eyes remained fixed on the outside world.
Only his Quincy power remained.
He decided to make one final attempt.
Whether it succeeded or failed...
They could only leave it to fate.
Ding.
The light of the Quincy Cross burst through Tsunayoshi's body.
But how could the Monk, who already knew that Tsunayoshi still possessed Quincy power, possibly have been unprepared?
The Monk understood Quincy power extremely well.
After all, the power used to seal the left arm of Yhwach—the Soul King's left arm—was Quincy power.
And when it came to manipulating Quincy power through a Shinigami's body, the Monk was an absolute expert.
The Quincy power that had just begun to shine was forcibly suppressed by the Monk.
Enma's vision was immediately obscured.
He could no longer sense what was happening outside.
Enma helplessly sat cross-legged.
Then he began using the seven Earth-attribute flames to burn away whatever was obstructing his sight.
He had no idea how long it would take before he could see the outside world again.
All he could do was repeatedly urge himself to move faster.
"You certainly have many people helping you, Sawada Tsunayoshi."
"Don't worry."
"I'll make sure the entire Soul Society knows what your final expression looked like."
One crystal layer after another covered Tsunayoshi's face.
Because Tsunayoshi was a candidate for the position of Soul King, the Monk could not kill him completely.
So he had chosen another method.
He wanted to destroy Tsunayoshi's heart.
"Then I... should... smile..."
Before the crystal completely covered his face, Tsunayoshi forced the corners of his mouth upward.
A smile.
This would be the final image he left behind for the world.
It was better for that image to be a gentle one.
The crystal completely enveloped Tsunayoshi.
The initial sealing was complete.
The remaining process would have to be completed after they returned to the Soul King Palace, where Tsunayoshi could be connected to the world.
The Monk supported the crystal as he slowly descended before everyone.
Seeing Tsunayoshi smiling inside the crystal, everyone was deeply shaken.
Ichigo and Tatsuki unconsciously began shedding tears.
"Do you like him that much?"
The Monk crouched before Ichigo and spoke in a gentle tone, like a kindly elder comforting a child.
"Don't worry."
"Your turn will come soon."
This naturally enraged Ichigo.
Even with his body restrained, he continued struggling desperately, wishing he could tear a piece of flesh from the Monk with his teeth.
"I can do it..."
"I can."
"The power of walking side by side..."
"I haven't reached its limit yet..."
Tatsuki muttered to herself.
The limit of her Fullbring ability was linked to Tsunayoshi.
It could never surpass Tsunayoshi's own limit.
In a certain sense, that meant she could also reach the same level of combat power as Tsunayoshi at his absolute peak.
BOOM!!!
A vast torrent of water erupted into the heavens.
It was the power unleashed by Shunkō.
Tatsuki vanished from her original position.
Her long leg rose high as she appeared behind the Monk.
"Shunkō: Water God Battle Form — Raging Dolphin Form!"
Tatsuki had originally been nowhere near strong enough to reach this level.
But the power erupted from her despair in that instant allowed her to temporarily attain the strength of this form.
"Take your filthy hand off him!"
Tatsuki kicked the Monk's hand away from Tsunayoshi's crystal.
She followed with two more powerful kicks, each carrying tremendous impact.
The Monk was genuinely surprised by the power Tatsuki had suddenly displayed.
Although she had caused him no actual harm, the surging, water-like force of her attacks was certainly not insignificant.
But that was all.
After three kicks, Tatsuki had exhausted the Reiatsu within her body.
She was forcibly knocked out of her Shunkō state.
Her Fullbring reverted into nothing more than training clothes for the time being.
Even so, Tatsuki did not retreat a single step.
She stared at the Monk without blinking.
"Enough."
The Monk sighed.
"Let's start with you."
There were always people shouting about friendship and bonds before charging at him.
He was already tired of it.
Fine.
He would simply kill them one by one.
All he needed here was Sawada Tsunayoshi and Ichigo Kurosaki.
High above the Seireitei, before the Soul King's curtains, a man was kneeling on one knee.
A long, narrow seam extended behind him.
"Soul King..."
"Have you made your decision?"
"I never imagined you would truly place your bet on him."
"Just as you once chose me?"
"Not him?"
"But us?"
"I understand."
"Soul King, we will not betray your trust."
"Our world..."
"We will protect it ourselves!"
The man raised his head.
Beneath his green-and-white bucket hat was the face of Kisuke Urahara.
There was nothing particularly surprising about this.
Urahara had encountered the Soul King a long time ago.
That experience had been precisely what allowed him to learn facts that were not recorded in the Great Soul King Archive.
The Soul King was the Linchpin that maintained the stability of the worlds.
It had happened during a dream.
The Soul King had come to warn Urahara.
The world was extremely fragile.
It could not withstand a genius like him recklessly tinkering with it.
It was also after that encounter that Urahara began researching artificial Soul Kings in order to stabilize the worlds.
Ururu and Jinta were born during that period.
When Tsunayoshi had been knocked down into the Seireitei, Urahara had been preparing to rush over and provide support.
In his estimation, his own Beyond Bankai might not necessarily be enough to defeat the Monk.
But taking Tsunayoshi and escaping with him should not have been a problem.
It was at that moment that he received the Soul King's summons.
Using a coordinate he had left behind and his virtually omnipotent modification abilities, Urahara moved against the flow of the Monk's passage and met the Soul King alone.
After listening to the Soul King's warning, Urahara no longer worried about Tsunayoshi's safety.
It was obvious.
The Soul King had already made his choice.
He had not chosen Sawada Tsunayoshi.
He had chosen the people who walked alongside Sawada Tsunayoshi.
The Monk had completely lost his chance.
With that thought in mind, Kisuke Urahara slipped into the narrow rift and disappeared from the Soul King Palace.
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