Pain continued drilling into his mind.
The Monk felt dazed and groggy. He wanted to move, but his body refused to obey him.
Everything before his eyes was white.
Using his Ichimonji-derived naming ability to forcibly restore his consciousness, the Monk opened his eyes and found himself surrounded by a chaotic cloud of smoke and dust.
He vaguely remembered being caught by that lion.
After that, there must have been an explosion.
Where is this place?
A vibration resonating at the same frequency as his Reiatsu felt strangely familiar.
The Monk hurriedly spread his Reiatsu outward.
There was nothing.
Or rather, there was everything.
The area around him was filled with chaotic rubble.
From the familiar Reiatsu lingering above the ruins, the Monk could tell that this was his Squad Zero Palace.
What audacity!
It was bad enough that Sawada Tsunayoshi had captured him.
But he had even destroyed his Squad Zero Palace!
Was this bastard trying to ruin his entire home and livelihood?!
The Monk struggled to sit up.
The surrounding fragments proved that he had not died.
As long as he remained alive, his Squad Zero Palace would not truly disappear. It had merely been reduced to rubble, and a small amount of the Soul King's power would be enough to restore it.
That was what the Monk thought.
Then he realized that he could not move at all.
His eyes trembled violently as he suddenly thought of something.
He looked down at his own body.
He couldn't feel them.
He couldn't feel his hands.
He couldn't feel his feet.
The Monk was now nothing more than a torso with a head attached to it.
A man who loved turning others into limbless cripples had finally become one himself.
Humiliation surged from the depths of the Monk's heart.
In his eyes, Sawada Tsunayoshi had done this deliberately.
He had deliberately humiliated him in this manner to take revenge for the Monk's earlier intention to turn Sawada Tsunayoshi into a candidate for the Soul King's power.
Having guarded the Soul King for countless years, the Monk understood all too well how agonizing life as a limbless torso could be.
If someone wanted to turn him into such a state, they might as well kill him outright!
For the first time, a third color appeared within the Monk's eyes.
Blood-red threads gradually spread across his pupils.
It was the manifestation of extreme fury.
The Monk had made his decision.
Since Sawada Tsunayoshi had gone this far, he would drag Tsunayoshi down into Hell with him.
An explosion unleashing the true power of the Soul King...
Sawada Tsunayoshi, have you ever experienced it before?!
His thoughts raced.
The Monk had indeed begun contemplating taking Tsunayoshi down with him.
But the words Soul King suddenly reminded him of something.
Combining that realization with his surroundings, he abruptly understood.
This was the Soul King Palace.
Sawada Tsunayoshi had actually been bold enough to bring him into the Soul King Palace's territory?
The anger within the Monk rapidly subsided.
First came confusion.
Then delight.
It seemed he didn't need to risk his life after all.
His original purpose in coming to the Soul King Palace had been to find a chance to turn the situation around.
Hadn't he now arrived directly at his destination?
Once one realization fell into place, everything else became clear.
The Monk quickly understood that Tsunayoshi wasn't trying to humiliate him.
He simply couldn't kill him.
He couldn't kill this body fused with fragments of the Soul King.
There is still a chance!
Even amid the chaos, the Monk immediately identified the location of the Ōmaeda Palace without needing to search.
He had lived in the Soul King Palace for far too long.
So long that he could determine the surrounding locations from even the slightest fluctuation in Reiatsu.
He locked onto his target.
Black ink suddenly sprayed from the wounds where his limbs had been severed.
Without his legs, he could no longer use Shunpo or other advanced movement techniques.
But he still possessed his black-and-white powers.
Using black as propulsion, the Monk launched himself toward the Ōmaeda Palace.
[Tenth, I have a bad feeling about this.]
Looking at the Squad Zero Palace that had been blasted into rubble, Tsunayoshi's tightly held anxiety did not disappear.
Some inexplicable instinct was telling him that something was about to happen.
[I feel the same way.]
The Tenth agreed.
[Why are you two overthinking it? Just pick up the Monk's remains, apply a Sky Flame seal, and we're done for today.]
Byakuran sounded like an office worker desperately trying to clock out.
He was already impatient to brag about his glorious performance to the girls.
[No! Tsunayoshi, defend yourself!]
The Tenth's more mature senses detected the danger a fraction of a second before Tsunayoshi did.
Tsunayoshi had barely erected a wall of flame in front of himself when he saw a mass of black ink spray toward him.
The Nameless effect no longer worked on Tsunayoshi.
Tsunayoshi activated the power of the Sky Flame and harmonized the ink's properties.
Yet he discovered that the black ink contained no special ability whatsoever.
It was simply black.
Its purpose was to obstruct his vision.
The Monk could still move!
That mass of black ink proved that the Monk still possessed the ability to resist.
The three immediately became vigilant.
This was precisely what the Monk had intended.
The moment he emerged from the smoke and dust, he had discovered Sawada Tsunayoshi standing between himself and the Ōmaeda Palace.
The Monk knew that black ink carrying special properties was useless against Tsunayoshi.
It was better to concentrate on blocking his vision.
Sure enough, Tsunayoshi hesitated for a moment.
That bought the Monk another precious instant.
Unfortunately, the Monk could not use Shunpo.
There was no way he could cross the distance between himself and Tsunayoshi and reach the Ōmaeda Palace in that brief moment.
The Sky Flame burned away the ink along with everything else.
Tsunayoshi used Shunpo and intercepted the Monk directly in front of him.
Looking at the Monk, who had lost all four limbs, Tsunayoshi knew that True X-Burner's objective had been accomplished.
It was time for the next step.
Invisible Gentle Flame radiated from Tsunayoshi's hands.
The flames spread outward like a pair of enormous hands, enveloping the Monk.
Once the Monk was completely surrounded, he would be at Tsunayoshi's mercy.
The Monk panicked.
He couldn't see the flames Tsunayoshi was releasing, but he could feel that the density of the Reiatsu surrounding him was completely abnormal.
Sawada Tsunayoshi must be plotting something!
"Sawada Tsunayoshi, move!"
Having exhausted virtually every means at his disposal, the Monk was left with nothing but verbal threats.
Without hands or feet, he couldn't even use Senri Tsūtenshō to interfere with Tsunayoshi's movements.
Was he supposed to use his head?
Fine.
Then he'd use his head!
The situation had already left the Monk with no other choice.
A layer of golden light emerged from the Monk's body.
He focused on his enormous forehead and charged straight toward Tsunayoshi.
Was this some kind of Senri Headbutt?
Whatever!
The Monk had no other option.
A miracle occurred.
The Monk's head struck Tsunayoshi without encountering the slightest resistance.
And the impact was surprisingly powerful.
It knocked Tsunayoshi aside.
Tsunayoshi clutched his chest, his body curling slightly as he was forced to give way.
The Monk seized the opportunity.
He rapidly propelled his body forward, rushing toward the Ōmaeda Palace.
Tsunayoshi was somewhat bewildered.
In theory, he had no reason to defend against such an attack.
Leaving aside whether the Monk's headbutt could actually injure him, even if the Monk reached him at close range, the cloak around Tsunayoshi's body should have been more than enough to block the attack.
Yet the instant the Monk charged toward him, Tsunayoshi felt as though every ounce of power inside his body had suddenly been disconnected.
He had been reduced to his ordinary state.
In that condition, naturally, he couldn't withstand the Monk's headbutt.
That was why the Monk had managed to knock him aside.
But it didn't matter.
The disconnection had lasted only an instant.
The Monk had not yet reached the Ōmaeda Palace.
Tsunayoshi still had time to catch him.
Flames erupted from his Propulsion Boots.
Tsunayoshi accelerated after the Monk at a speed clearly greater than his.
The Monk also sensed the enormous pressure approaching from behind.
All he could do was continuously throw ink backward to obstruct Tsunayoshi's movements.
But this amount of ink wasn't even enough to slow Tsunayoshi down.
Whoosh!
Tsunayoshi was about to grab the Monk by the collar.
Then that strange sensation returned.
All the power in his body suddenly disconnected again.
It was like a rocket engine suddenly running out of fuel.
The distance between Tsunayoshi and the Monk rapidly widened.
They had been only inches apart.
Yet Tsunayoshi could no longer catch him.
And that wasn't all.
Tsunayoshi even felt as though an invisible giant hand had seized him.
It wasn't painful.
But he couldn't escape.
The invisible hand then altered Tsunayoshi's position, carrying him higher and higher into the sky.
Seeing this scene, the Monk burst into wild laughter.
In the Soul King Palace, there was only one being capable of possessing such power.
The Soul King!
His thousand-plus years of service to the Soul King had not been in vain.
The Soul King's favor still belonged to him, Ichibē Hyōsube!
"Soul King, I shall find another companion for you!"
Laughing maniacally, the Monk crashed into the Ōmaeda Palace.
The Soul King?
After a brief moment of confusion, a bitter smile appeared on Tsunayoshi's face.
There was truly nothing he could do.
He could only accept his fate.
The Soul King's power stood at the pinnacle of the Bleach world's power system.
No one else possessed the ability to resist it.
From the day he obtained his powers, Tsunayoshi had constantly prepared for the possibility of becoming the Monk's enemy.
That was why, even with the Monk repeatedly unleashing new powers, Tsunayoshi had still managed to suppress him in today's battle.
But against the Soul King...
He truly had no answer.
Unless there was the System.
Unfortunately, that damned System had run away on the very first day they met.
How could he possibly rely on it?
Tsunayoshi simply stopped struggling.
He allowed the Soul King to carry him upward.
As for whether the Soul King intended to roll him into a ball or flatten him like dough, it didn't matter anymore.
He could only accept whatever came next.
Back in the Soul Society, footage from the Soul King Palace was transmitted downward.
The sight of the Monk and his Squad Zero Palace being blasted into ruins had left everyone present deeply shaken.
It was only after the Monk broke through Tsunayoshi's blockade that someone finally spoke.
"Was that... the Soul King?"
Senjumaru stared at Tsunayoshi's bizarre condition, her voice uncertain.
"Even you don't know what exists within the Soul King Palace?"
Yamamoto had already taken hold of Ryūjin Jakka.
Tsunayoshi's setback had cast a shadow over what had previously been a favorable situation.
"I have only experienced the Soul King's teachings from within the Ōmaeda Palace. As for the Soul King's true appearance, I have never seen it either."
Senjumaru shook her head.
Indeed, being tasked with protecting a Soul King whose true appearance she had never even seen made it difficult to summon much enthusiasm.
"Was it the Soul King who stopped Tsunayoshi?"
Urahara spoke uncertainly.
But what else within the Soul King Palace could possibly be stronger than the Monk?
The answer could only be the Soul King.
"Or perhaps the Soul King chose the Monk."
Senjumaru's expression became complicated.
"Sawada Tsunayoshi... is he truly an outsider?"
From her perspective, this explanation perfectly accounted for why the Soul King had intervened.
How could the Soul King, whose existence maintained the stability of the worlds, possibly choose an outsider?
"Kisuke Urahara, notify Shunsui Kyōraku. Stop the Soul Society stabilization operations. Preserve our remaining forces. Have every Shinigami withdraw to Hueco Mundo. We will rebuild the Seireitei and the Gotei 13 in Hueco Mundo!"
Yamamoto suddenly issued a string of orders that seemed to come from nowhere.
Senjumaru's eyes widened in shock.
Urahara did not answer.
He simply put Yamamoto's order into action.
"Lord Yamamoto, what exactly are you planning?"
Senjumaru was horrified.
The order alone was enough to send a chill down her spine.
"The Soul King has chosen Squad Zero."
Yamamoto's back remained resolute.
"The fury of Ichibē Hyōsube... this old man will bear it alone!"
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