Yamamoto's order spread like a virus. There was no time to waste. The Gotei 13 had chosen Tsunayoshi, and now they had to take responsibility for that choice. The Monk, who had been beaten so thoroughly, would undoubtedly retaliate against the Seireitei. All Yamamoto could do was stand and fall with the Seireitei.
One squad member after another was guided by special instructions to designated locations throughout the Seireitei. Devices connecting the Technology Development Institute to Hueco Mundo had been concealed at each of these locations. Once all personnel had assembled, they could be activated.
There were always complaints in a crowd. After being repeatedly overwhelmed by powerful Reiatsu throughout the day, they had been busy trying to save the world, only to be told that they now had to begin a special evacuation plan. Aside from a few captains who were close to the center of events, even the other captains were still trying to make sense of what was happening, let alone the ordinary squad members.
Nevertheless, their instinct to obey orders drove the Shinigami toward the nearest evacuation points. All their questions would have to wait until after the evacuation.
The captains were no exception. Soi Fon, with her notoriously impatient temperament, had wanted to grab Kyōraku by the collar and demand an explanation several times. But after seeing the grave, almost dripping-with-tension expression on Kyōraku's face, she ultimately chose silence and focused on fulfilling her duties as a captain.
Evacuating every Shinigami was already the absolute limit of what the Gotei 13 could accomplish.
Watching the images on the screen, Yamamoto gently rested a hand on his Zanpakutō.
Yamamoto had already made his decision.
When the Monk arrived, he would fight him to the death.
By then, the Soul Society would inevitably be engulfed in a raging battle. That was no longer something he could concern himself with. Whether the Soul Society survived or was destroyed would have to be left to the powers that be within the Soul King Palace.
As for the lives of the other inhabitants of the Soul Society, Yamamoto had no way to guarantee their safety. All he could do was use every ounce of his power and hope to reduce their suffering as much as possible.
Senjumaru could see that Yamamoto had resolved himself to fight to the death. There was nothing she could say about it, nor did she have the right to say anything.
Come to think of it, she was actually rather fortunate. She was about to witness another great battle from close range.
And then she remembered that Kirio Hikifune and Tenjirō Kirinji were probably lying somewhere in some unknown corner.
By comparison, Senjumaru's mood improved considerably.
Soul King Palace
Tsunayoshi had been continuously dragged upward toward the Ōdai-in by the Soul King's power.
Even after reaching the highest level of the Ōdai-in, his movement did not stop.
The Soul King's power carried him directly into the palace chamber.
The curtains inside slowly parted.
Tsunayoshi saw the Soul King from his memories.
He looked exactly as he had in the manga.
His limbs had been sealed away, his body imprisoned within a massive crystal.
But seeing him in person was far more shocking than seeing him on a page.
The moment Tsunayoshi looked into those heterochromatic eyes, he felt as though he had no secrets whatsoever.
It was as if he had been seen through from head to toe.
Two flames gathered on either side of Tsunayoshi.
The figures of the Tenth and Byakuran emerged.
They felt exactly the same way Tsunayoshi did. There was even a strange force compelling the two of them to manifest themselves.
[What's going on? I feel like he can see us.]
As always, they communicated through their minds. Byakuran was the first to lose his composure.
[It's not just a feeling. He really can see us. Look at his eyes.]
The Tenth prompted him.
Byakuran stared at the Soul King as well.
He had the distinct sensation that the Soul King was looking directly at him.
He casually shifted his position.
The Soul King's pupils moved.
Those strange eyes—four pupils set within his heterochromatic gaze—shifted slightly in the direction Byakuran had moved.
"Is this the power of The Almighty? I wonder what business the Soul King has with me?"
Tsunayoshi had naturally noticed Byakuran's probe. As his host, he could only take the initiative and test the Soul King's attitude himself.
The Soul King did not answer.
He simply stood there in silence, staring at the three of them.
Aside from restraining Tsunayoshi, he made no other unnecessary movements.
[Seriously, what does he want? Don't tell me he intends to keep us here as his companions. No way! After experiencing how wonderful the outside world is, I'd rather die than spend eternity in this boring place!]
Byakuran wailed inwardly.
After experiencing the wonders of the outside world, he was already unwilling to remain inside Tsunayoshi's Inner World for long, let alone somewhere like this.
[My intuition tells me that he doesn't seem hostile. Tsunayoshi, what do you think?]
Even the Tenth was uncertain. Whenever the Soul King was involved, having another opinion was better than none.
[I sense danger, but it isn't coming from the Soul King!]
Tsunayoshi was certain.
His Super Intuition was warning him about something beneath his feet, not the person standing before him.
[Could you two Vongola stop speaking in riddles? Say something that a normal person can understand.]
Byakuran sounded thoroughly annoyed.
[Super Intuition. I've told you before—you wouldn't understand.]
The Tenth's answer only made Byakuran even more exasperated.
[Damn it! If I could use my power, I'd definitely find out whether he's actually planning to kill us!]
Byakuran snorted, making it clear that strange abilities were not something exclusive to the Vongola.
Suddenly, Tsunayoshi felt the restraints around his body disappear.
He cautiously moved his shoulders, then even shook his hips.
[I think... we're free?]
Tsunayoshi said.
[Rather than saying we're free, I'd say the Soul King has simply finished examining us...]
The Tenth had not even finished speaking when a tremendous force suddenly erupted from the Soul King.
It hurled Tsunayoshi away.
He was blasted straight out of the Ōdai-in, his body suspended in midair as he struggled to regain control.
Fortunately, the power of his Sky-type Beyond Bankai returned to his command in the next instant.
Tsunayoshi hurriedly activated his Flying Feather Battle Boots to stabilize himself.
[What does the Soul King mean by this?]
Tsunayoshi was completely baffled.
If the Soul King wanted to kill him, why release him?
And if he had no intention of attacking him, why bring him into the Ōdai-in in the first place?
Tsunayoshi's confusion reached the Seireitei as well.
Seeing that he had regained his freedom, Senjumaru smiled faintly.
"Captain-Commander Yamamoto, it seems you won't need to risk your life after all."
Senjumaru had assumed Yamamoto would order Kisuke Urahara to halt the evacuation.
To her surprise, however, Yamamoto remained unmoved.
He continued gripping his Zanpakutō while staring at the images on the screen.
"Captain-Commander Yamamoto? I can see that Sawada Tsunayoshi has regained his freedom."
Senjumaru thought Yamamoto had become distracted, so she deliberately informed him of the good news.
"I saw it."
Yamamoto narrowed his eyes.
He understood what Senjumaru meant, but he had no intention of rescinding his order.
"The problem is no longer Tsunayoshi. It is the Monk!"
Although Tsunayoshi regaining his freedom had allowed Yamamoto to breathe a sigh of relief, the Monk still had not appeared anywhere on the screens.
Yamamoto could not afford to let down his guard.
The Monk had fled toward the Soul King Palace despite being completely overwhelmed by Tsunayoshi.
That meant he must still have a trump card.
Tsunayoshi had not won yet.
[If you can't figure it out, don't waste time thinking about it. The important thing is the Monk!]
The Tenth's thoughts echoed Yamamoto's.
He reminded Tsunayoshi where the true danger on the battlefield lay.
With the Tenth's reminder, Tsunayoshi immediately understood.
The danger his Super Intuition had sensed earlier had not come from the Soul King.
He had to stop the Monk!
Flames erupted.
Tsunayoshi shot toward the lower levels of the Ōdai-in.
There was no need to search floor by floor. The Monk's Reiatsu was practically announcing his location.
He was on one of the middle levels.
Tsunayoshi immediately charged into the second level of the Ōdai-in.
There was no resistance whatsoever.
He entered smoothly.
The interior of the palace was pitch-black, however, and he could see nothing.
The only sound he could vaguely hear was the wet smack of someone chewing.
Tsunayoshi raised his fingers.
Ten flames ignited at his fingertips.
He fired them toward every corner of the chamber.
Under the illumination of the flames, the darkness finally gave way.
The enormous hall was revealed before him.
One extinguished candle after another.
One offering stand after another, each holding a box.
Every box on the offering stands had been opened.
And in the very center of the hall, a familiar figure was moving up and down.
The Monk!
Tsunayoshi recognized the back of the man he had fought for so long at a glance.
But then his pupils contracted.
The Monk had both arms.
What kind of power had allowed him to regenerate both arms in such a short amount of time?
Could there be some secret treasure of Tenjirō Kirinji hidden here that had restored his body?
The flames attracted the Monk's attention.
He turned around.
Seeing Tsunayoshi's arrival, the Monk grinned.
In his hands was a mass of what appeared to be flesh.
There were still smears of blood around his mouth.
But what shocked Tsunayoshi most was the Monk's lower body.
Beneath the torso of a fully grown adult was a pair of legs no larger than a child's!
"You've come?"
The Monk grinned as he spoke, simultaneously stuffing another piece of flesh into his mouth.
"I never expected you to deceive even the Soul King and get away so easily."
From the Monk's perspective, there was only one possible explanation for Tsunayoshi regaining his freedom.
Tsunayoshi must have deceived the Soul King.
Otherwise, what the Monk should have been looking at was Tsunayoshi as a prisoner.
As the Monk spoke, his lower limbs visibly continued to grow.
With every chew of his mouth, his legs grew a little more.
It would not be long before he recovered his complete body.
The candles.
The offering stands.
And those unidentified chunks of flesh.
Tsunayoshi suddenly understood what this place was.
The Monk wasn't eating some secret treasure belonging to Tenjirō Kirinji.
He was eating the same kind of thing as the piece of intestinal tissue that had answered his summons.
A fragment of the Soul King.
"Stop!"
Whether it would work or not, Tsunayoshi reacted immediately.
He raised his hand and fired an X Burner.
It was the fastest attack he could launch.
Anything more powerful would require time to charge.
Faced with Tsunayoshi's sudden attack, the corners of the Monk's chewing mouth drooped slightly.
He did not take the X Burner seriously at all.
He merely raised a hand and thrust it forward.
A golden palm erupted from his hand.
It forcibly suppressed the X Burner and drove it straight back toward Tsunayoshi.
The golden palm rushed toward his face.
Tsunayoshi raised both hands.
Flames roared from the armor covering his arms.
He slammed his hands together, intending to crush the Monk's attack outright.
White Palm Strike!
It was an even stronger defensive technique than the cloak behind Tsunayoshi.
It combined the immense powers of the Tenth and Byakuran with Tsunayoshi's ability to harmonize their strength with the Monk's abilities.
There should have been no technique the Monk could use that Tsunayoshi was incapable of defending against.
That golden palm was merely a casual Senri Tsūtenshō.
The Monk had used it with even less seriousness than he had back in the Seireitei.
White Palm Strike should have been more than enough to crush it.
But reality had other plans.
The instant Tsunayoshi's hands closed around the attack, an immense force exploded from between his palms.
His hands could not suppress it.
Not only that—the resulting explosion blasted Tsunayoshi straight out of the Ōdai-in.
Tsunayoshi spun several times through the air before stabilizing himself.
Then a terrifying realization dawned on him.
The Monk had literally eaten a fragment of the Soul King.
He had used the genuine power of the Soul King to regenerate his limbs.
Those restored limbs possessed the same Soul King power as the Monk's torso.
That was why Tsunayoshi could no longer even block one of the Monk's casual attacks.
Footsteps echoed through the chamber.
One step.
Then another.
The Monk walked barefoot to the edge of the Ōdai-in.
His legs had completely regenerated.
He tossed the final piece of flesh into his mouth and smacked his lips.
Then he gave Tsunayoshi a terrifying smile.
"Come, Sawada Tsunayoshi."
"This is the third round."
He grinned.
"I am the new... Ichibē Hyōsube!"
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