Not long after the dragon's roar faded away, another roar capable of tearing the heart from one's chest rang out.
Compared to the dragon's prolonged cry, this roar was shorter and more abrupt, yet far more explosive.
The flames condensed in Tsunayoshi's hands erupted simultaneously.
From the lion-shaped armored gauntlet on his right arm, Natsu naturally transformed into a gigantic flaming lion and charged toward the sky.
The White Dragon Armored Gauntlet on his left hand, however, fired a pair of flaming wings.
This was what Byakuran had meant by providing support.
They said that adding wings to a tiger only made it more formidable.
Byakuran was doing precisely that—giving the lion known as Natsu a pair of fiery wings!
The lion and the wings shot upward in an X-shaped formation.
As they converged in the sky, Natsu, now equipped with the additional wings, became impossible to see clearly as it charged forward.
With a whoosh, it slammed directly into the barrier.
BOOM!
The sound of the sky itself splitting apart rang out.
There was a slight resistance upon the first collision.
After all, the power of True X-Burner was not the Soul King's power. Natsu's breakthrough speed was therefore slightly slower than the Monk's.
The Monk keenly noticed this.
A trace of delight appeared in his heart.
That's right.
This attack was indeed tremendously powerful, but as long as he reached the Soul King Palace, there was still a chance to turn the situation around!
Because the Monk's body was far smaller than Natsu's enormous form, even though Natsu was following directly behind him, it could not simply pass through the same opening.
It had to smash through each successive barrier itself.
That tiny obstruction was enough.
The Monk passed through yet another barrier.
Sawada Tsunayoshi was no longer anything to fear.
If he was one step slower, he would be slower at every step.
He would undoubtedly reach the Soul King Palace first!
"What an astonishing sight. He can actually unleash a second attack of such terrifying power."
Senjumaru watched Natsu disappear into the sky and couldn't help sighing in amazement.
"What exactly is the Monk planning? Does he still have a trump card waiting in the Soul King Palace?"
Yamamoto directly questioned Senjumaru.
The old veteran had naturally noticed Senjumaru's dissatisfaction, and at a moment like this, he knew she would not stubbornly conceal the truth.
"I don't know either."
Senjumaru could only shake her head helplessly.
"Over all these years, I could count on one hand the number of times I have left my own palace."
Looking back on the days since she had joined Squad Zero, the joy she had initially felt had long since faded away.
Although she nominally possessed her own Squad Zero Palace, the rule that she could not leave her post without permission—what was that if not another form of imprisonment?
"If that's all this attack amounts to, it may not be enough."
Having failed to obtain any useful information, Yamamoto grew worried again.
Tsunayoshi couldn't possibly confidently turn around and wait for the explosion.
The correct choice at this moment was obviously to pursue the Monk and finish him off.
There was no need for Yamamoto to remind him.
Tsunayoshi withdrew the Gentle Flame and immediately followed the route Natsu had taken.
Even if True X-Burner succeeded, he still needed to retrieve the Monk's body and seal him.
He couldn't simply stand around and wait.
Watching Tsunayoshi's departing figure, Yamamoto took one step forward before calmly sitting back down.
"What? You're not going after them?"
Senjumaru asked with a smile.
She had noticed that, for a brief moment, Yamamoto had wanted to follow Tsunayoshi's footsteps and catch up.
"This old man... cannot become his burden."
Although Yamamoto had previously been confident that he could attack the Monk, he had never possessed absolute certainty that he could kill him.
After all, the Monk was an existence that even the Burning Dragon Cannon had failed to completely destroy.
"If possible, I would also like to meet that Sawada Tsunayoshi..."
Senjumaru lowered her head and spoke softly.
She wanted to see what kind of person could make the entire Gotei 13 trust him without requiring any reason.
"When the time comes, rest in the Seireitei for a while first."
Yamamoto spoke as though the matter had already been decided.
Although Senjumaru was a member of Squad Zero and was supposed to have the duty of protecting the Soul King Palace, Yamamoto had already made the decision on her behalf.
It seemed that he had already concluded that Tsunayoshi would be the final victor of this battle.
Flash.
A figure appeared beside Yamamoto.
It was Kisuke Urahara.
"Captain-Commander, has Tsunayoshi gone after the Monk to the Soul King Palace?"
"Yes."
Yamamoto continued staring at the sky.
"Should we go after them?"
In Urahara's view, he and Yamamoto were the only two people capable of intervening in Tsunayoshi's battle.
Three against one gave them a chance of taking down the Monk.
"Our strength... isn't enough."
No further explanation was necessary.
Urahara immediately understood what Yamamoto meant.
While lamenting that Tsunayoshi's strength had already surpassed even his imagination, he summoned Yukio.
"Yukio, help me send this little thing up there."
Urahara tossed Yukio a small box.
Yukio immediately understood.
He opened a black space and tossed the box inside.
"What are you two doing?"
The weakness in Senjumaru's body did nothing to diminish her curiosity.
"I left an anchor point in the Soul King Palace. Originally, I intended to go there with the Captain-Commander and provide assistance. Since he doesn't want to become a burden, we'll just watch the battle remotely."
Urahara summoned Benihime and transformed the materials beside him into a portable monitor.
The screen connected to the transmission signal.
An endless staircase appeared on the display.
"You!"
Senjumaru was about to reprimand Kisuke Urahara for his actions.
But when she remembered that she had already been defeated, and that the Monk was about to be defeated as well, the words died in her throat.
As she watched Urahara fiddle with his equipment, that familiar itch of curiosity toward the unknown—which she had not felt in a very long time—began to stir within her once again.
"Lord Yamamoto... I... I would like to recuperate in the Shinigami Research and Development Institute for a while."
Senjumaru made the request politely.
"This old man will submit the request to the Captain-Commander on your behalf."
Yamamoto narrowed his eyes.
Senjumaru's request eased some of his anxiety over Tsunayoshi.
Returning to Tsunayoshi's side.
Watching Natsu's back as it charged ahead, Tsunayoshi felt not the slightest bit anxious about failing to catch up with the Monk.
When Natsu broke through the first barrier, Byakuran had already completed an analysis of the barrier's composition.
The data had been synchronized with the Tenth, who was controlling Natsu's movements.
The delighted Monk failed to notice what was happening behind him.
As they approached the second barrier, Natsu's breakthrough speed had already caught up with his own.
The third barrier.
The instant Natsu collided with it, the flames surrounding its body had already harmonized the barrier into ordinary stone.
A barrier reduced to this state was no different from paper to Natsu.
The fourth barrier.
The invisible fluctuations radiating from Natsu's body alone were enough to harmonize it.
The fifth barrier.
The Monk had just passed through it when he suddenly sensed a scorching presence behind him.
He didn't even dare to look up as he continued racing forward.
Then he glanced back.
What he saw was a gigantic burning maw radiating endless heat.
Only one barrier remained between them.
The Monk was terrified.
He scrambled upward with both hands and feet.
But Kirinji's power had only reinforced his legs.
This sudden panic disrupted the rhythm of his Shunpo.
He had become even slower.
Crack!
Natsu came crashing toward him with a mouthful of burning stone.
There was no time.
The Monk had absolutely no time to escape.
He could only curl himself up and use all four limbs to protect his body as best he could.
Natsu's momentum did not diminish in the slightest.
It opened its jaws and bit down on the Monk.
With the Monk clamped between its jaws, Natsu's fiery wings beat once more.
Whoosh!
Its speed increased again as it charged toward the layers of barriers overhead.
Calling them "barriers" was becoming somewhat inaccurate.
Under the harmonizing fluctuations of the Sky Flame radiating from Natsu, each barrier was transformed into layer after layer of ordinary stone.
They could no longer impede its advance.
Natsu surged forward in one unstoppable rush, flying straight toward the Soul King Palace.
[Wait. What is Vongola trying to do?]
Byakuran was puzzled.
Now that they had already hit the Monk, why not simply detonate the power of True X-Burner?
[Is the Tenth trying to target his Squad Zero Palace?]
Tsunayoshi guessed.
[Yes. Based on the previous footage, the members of Squad Zero seem to have some inexplicable connection with their respective Squad Zero Palaces. To weaken the Monk as much as possible, I believe we should destroy his Squad Zero Palace along with him.]
The Tenth spoke calmly.
[I have no objection. But take it easy. Don't accidentally blow up the entire Soul King Palace. If that happens, everyone will die.]
Byakuran sounded indifferent.
After all, he wasn't the one controlling the attack's power.
[I'm not that stupid. Don't worry.]
The Tenth was still as reliable as ever.
[Good thing this is the adult Vongola. If it were that little Vongola who invaded my base, I wouldn't be so sure.]
Byakuran mercilessly mocked him.
Back when Tsunayoshi, still serving as a young home tutor, had invaded the Melone Base, he had accomplished the remarkable feat of blasting through several rooms with a single X-Burner.
The Tenth ignored the idle Byakuran and concentrated on controlling Natsu's trajectory.
Once the barriers could no longer impede it, the distance from the Seireitei to the Soul King Palace was no longer significant.
After sixty-seven consecutive crashes of stone breaking apart, Natsu arrived at the Soul King Palace ahead of everyone else.
The instant it appeared, the Soul King Palace's guards reacted as though some underlying program had been activated and charged toward Natsu.
If even the Monk was no match for True X-Burner, how could these Soul King Blades and Soul King Shields possibly approach Natsu?
They were like moths flying into a flame.
The instant they drew close to Natsu, they were completely petrified by the surrounding fluctuations of Sky Flame.
Having already seen the basic layout of the Soul King Palace, Natsu wasted no time after arriving.
It plunged directly toward the center of the Monk's Squad Zero Palace.
At that moment, Tsunayoshi also caught up and entered the Soul King Palace area.
Seeing Natsu begin its operation, Tsunayoshi looked toward the Ōmaeda Palace in the center and activated Shunpo, arriving beneath it.
Tsunayoshi had no intention of committing any act of sacrilege against the Soul King.
He had only one objective:
To prevent Natsu's explosion from affecting the Ōmaeda Palace—or rather, the Soul King within it.
Before Yhwach appeared, the Soul King could not afford to fall.
What Tsunayoshi didn't know was that, inside the Ōmaeda Palace above his head, the Soul King's pupils shifted slightly downward.
The scene that followed was considerably more peaceful.
Natsu plunged straight into the center of the Monk's Squad Zero Palace.
Without the slightest hesitation, it detonated.
Flames soared into the heavens.
The explosion swept through everything.
The enormous Squad Zero Palace was as fragile as a potato chip, disintegrating in an instant.
The fragments were then rapidly devoured by the Sky Flame.
Just as the Tenth had planned, they intended to destroy both the Monk and his Squad Zero Palace at the same time.
However, the Tenth had clearly underestimated the power of True X-Burner.
After all, this was his first time using the technique.
The explosion's power ultimately could not be completely contained within the Monk's Squad Zero Palace.
The resulting shockwaves inevitably damaged the surrounding area.
Pfft! Pfft!
The two nearest Squad Zero Palaces were caught in the blast.
Their originally complete, circular structures were left damaged and incomplete.
At the same time, Kirio Hikifune and Tenjirō Kirinji simultaneously spat out mouthfuls of blood.
Fortunately, Tsunayoshi had prepared for this in advance.
He spread both hands and formed a Sky Flame barrier, blocking the shockwaves of True X-Burner before they could reach the Ōmaeda Palace.
What made Tsunayoshi feel somewhat amused was the completely undisguised laughter coming from Byakuran within his Inner World...
And the Tenth's silence.
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