Chapter 371: The World-Shaking Battle
BOOM!!!
Above Omotesandō, a terrifying explosive wind instantly swept across the entire sky.
Over a dozen massive pillars—crafted from high-density Reishi and symbolizing the Soul King Palace's majesty—crumbled in an instant, stirring up clouds of dust!
Kirio Hikifune raised her hand, blocking the Reiatsu blast that stung her skin.
Witnessing the collapse of Omotesandō's great pillars, she couldn't help but feel stunned.
The structures of the Soul King Palace were built with special techniques, far surpassing the Seireitei in durability.
These giant pillars, in particular, were reinforced with various Kidō to showcase the Soul King Palace's grandeur.
Yet now, they were effortlessly shattered by the mere aftermath of a single punch!
When she had lost to Satoru before, she thought she had only been defeated by Risō Jakumetsu's unique ability.
But now, it seemed that even without Risō Jakumetsu, she would be no match for Satoru.
In just a mere century, their strengths had completely reversed.
This was... truly unbelievable.
High in the sky, the Priest was forced back a great distance before finally coming to a stop.
He looked down at the arm he had crossed in front of his chest.
His originally robust, dark-haired forearm was now mangled and bloody, revealing golden-glowing bones beneath.
The Priest grinned, lifting his head to look at Satoru:
"Compared to our last meeting, your Multiple Impacts have improved tremendously!"
As he spoke, the wounds on his arm rapidly healed, restoring to their original state in an instant.
Seeing this, Satoru was shocked:
"High-Speed Regeneration? You old traitor, you're actually a spy from Hueco Mundo!"
"...This is not accelerated regeneration, but a special body reconstructed by the Soul King."
The Priest shook his arm. "Satoru, have you heard of the 'Ōken'?"
"Ōken..."
Satoru narrowed his eyes.
It sounded somewhat familiar.
After a few seconds of thought, his expression cleared with realization:
"Oh, I remember now. It's that thing you must carry when assaulting the Soul King Palace from Seireitei to break through over seventy defensive layers, right?"
Senjumaru Shutara had mentioned this to him before, but it had been so long that his memory had grown fuzzy.
The Priest fell silent for two seconds.
Was there something slightly off about that functional description?
Never mind, better pretend he didn't hear it.
He cleared his throat:
"The so-called Ōken is actually quite simple."
"When we five were selected as members of the Zero Division, the Soul King granted us power to reconstruct our flesh and bones."
"This reconstructed bone is the 'Ōken'!"
"As long as the Soul King exists, our bodies can restore themselves infinitely. Even if killed, we can resurrect endlessly when called by those with the qualification!"Hearing this, Satoru frowned slightly, showing a subtle expression."
"How can there be such a shameless ability... This means the difficulty of eliminating all five of you at once has increased again."
"?"
The Priest raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"Enough idle chatter, continue!"
Before the Priest could speak, Satoru closed the distance once more.
Instinctively, the Priest raised his brush to defend himself.
But the moment their weapons clashed, he sensed something wrong.
Heavy, impossibly heavy!
Satoru swung his two massive metal claws—first strike, second strike, third strike...
Each and every attack carried triple-layered force!
The relentless barrage of triple impacts, combined with the terrifying destructive power of his Bankai, Risō Jakumetsu, created a compounding effect. Within seconds, the Priest felt his very bones screaming in protest!
He had assumed the triple-layered force was a special technique that required building momentum through successive attacks, only usable occasionally.
Who could have imagined it could be employed like ordinary strikes?!
Suddenly, a thought flashed through the Priest's mind.
If triple-layered force could already be used as regular attacks, what would happen as it continued to accumulate power?
The instant this idea formed, he watched as Satoru's aura underwent a drastic transformation.
It was as if a hellish demon had instantly evolved into a demon king!
With a ferocious grin, Satoru pulled back his arm—
Quadruple·One Bone!!
BOOM!!!!!!!!!
A blinding flash of light erupted across the sky.
Like a miniature sun undergoing fusion right before their eyes.
The four observing Zero Division members simultaneously leaped backward.
Their instincts screamed that staying put would lead to disastrous consequences!
The long approach path shattered under tremendous Reiatsu, becoming part of the explosion.
Just as the Reiatsu sphere threatened to expand further, six massive characters suddenly materialized in the air—
Six enormous "Seal" characters enclosed the entire battlefield from all four directions, above and below!
The explosion generated by Satoru's punch was forcibly contained within the glowing characters.
Several seconds later, the light faded.
The four quickly turned their attention back to the battlefield's center.
There they saw Satoru and the Priest still locked in fierce combat.
The tip of the Priest's brush had transformed from soft bristles into a blade-like form!
"The Priest has activated his Shikai!"
Kirinji Tenjirō announced loudly.
Under everyone's gaze, the Priest's entire demeanor had clearly changed after releasing his Shikai.
His eyes widened, his entire being resembling a wrathful vajra guardian, all traces of his earlier smile gone.
Facing Satoru's relentless onslaught, the Priest advanced instead of retreating.
His face shadowed, enduring the dents forming on his body from the triple impacts, he suddenly swung his brush—
"Blacken."
"Ichimonji!!"
The blade-shaped brush swept through Satoru's metal claws.
Even having witnessed this ability once before, Satoru still couldn't evade the impossibly fast slash.
Instantly, both his metal claws were dyed pitch black.
Their power vanished like a punctured balloon, disappearing completely in an instant.
Risō Jakumetsu's defense-ignoring property, his true self's infinite destructive force—all gone without a trace.
Now, Risō Jakumetsu's metal claws were like ordinary iron, devoid of any power.
Facing the powerless Satoru, the Priest raised his palm high:
"Though your power has grown, before absolute rules, even strength cannot manifest its true potential!"
As he spoke, he brought his hand down forcefully.
With his movement, an invisible giant hand materialized above Satoru's head, descending with unstoppable might—
Kirio Hikifune's face turned pale.
The power of this palm strike was terrifying beyond anything she had ever witnessed.
If it were to land on Seireitei, it would likely obliterate over half of it in an instant!
Was this Priest trying to kill her master?!
She raised her hand, ready to summon "Umbilical Cord" to protect Satoru.
Though her Umbilical Cord would likely prove insignificant against the Priest's palm strike, it could at least buy a little time...
Huh?
Before she could act, Kirio Hikifune suddenly stared in astonishment.
Under everyone's gaze, Satoru—clearly disarmed—showed not the slightest intention of retreat.
Facing the Priest's Thousand-Mile Penetrating Palm, he grinned:
"Ichimonji's power of rules is indeed formidable."
"The me from before would have been utterly helpless against this technique."
"But... even so, my courage still burns fiercely!"
"No matter what power I face, it will never be extinguished!!"
As Satoru roared, the metal wings spread behind him snapped shut.
Then, to the Priest's surprise, the folded wings flew before Satoru like a shield, erupting in a brilliant golden flash—
"Shine, Shield of Courage!!"
Satoru bellowed, thrusting his dual metal claws forward.
The golden radiance of the Shield of Courage bathed the claws.
The claws, stained pitch-black, rapidly shed their dark ink stains within the golden light.
Tremendous power, like surging tidal waves, violently restored and surged!
"Wha..."
The Priest's eyes widened in disbelief.
Only at the moment of the golden flash did he realize for the first time that Risō Jakumetsu: True Self Enlightenment possessed such an additional capability.
How could there exist something capable of concealing the power within a true name right before his eyes?!
In his moment of distraction, Satoru—accompanied by golden light—instantly closed the distance before him!
The dual metal claws formed an X-shape across his chest.
Then, they violently slashed outward in opposite directions!
CLANG!!
Though only for an instant, the Priest hadn't forgotten Risō Jakumetsu's ability.
He chose not to defend with Ichimonji, instead swinging his Zanpakutō to meet Satoru's slash!
The moment their weapons clashed, the Priest's chest tightened and his expression drastically changed.
Satoru's strike actually contained multiple layered forces.
Unlike his previous attacks that explosively dispersed power outward, this blow concentrated at least four distinct forces without any dissipation, channeling them entirely into the Priest's body!
The Priest's skin immediately writhed and contorted violently.
The overwhelming power strained his body to its limits, forcing him to expend energy internally to neutralize it.
His internal organs were pulverized, blood gushing from his mouth in a spray!
Witnessing the Priest coughing up blood, the Zero Division members stared in shock.
"The Priest... is being suppressed?!"
"No, what's truly unbelievable isn't the suppression—it's that he actually broke through Ichimonji's name-severing power!"
"Wait, no... that's not the most important point!"
Kirinji Tenjirō gritted his teeth:
"This bastard only used a fraction of his real power when fighting us! That's what's most infuriating!"
Hearing this, Ōetsu and the others froze momentarily.
Well, he wasn't wrong...
The Priest's expression darkened considerably.
Underestimating Satoru's progress and having not fought seriously for countless millennia, he suffered greatly against this storm-like assault.
Although the Soul King Power was rapidly healing his body, it couldn't keep up with Satoru's offensive rhythm.
Still, it wasn't a major issue.
Satoru's Shield of Courage was indeed formidable, but its speed in dispelling his Name-Severing effect was far too slow.
Earlier, he had merely been too shocked to interrupt the dispelling process.
Otherwise, this brat wouldn't have had time to complete that sequence.
Moreover... if the Shield of Courage could negate his Name-Severing, then he'd simply sever the shield's name as well—problem solved.
After exchanging over a dozen blows with Satoru, he found an opening and once again wielded the power of "Ichimonji" to sever the names of Satoru's twin metal claws.
Stripped of the name "Risō Jakumetsu·True Self Illumination," the metal claws became mere ordinary claws!
The Priest then grinned widely.
With a twist of his blade, moving at speeds barely visible to the naked eye, he severed the names of Satoru's arms.
This time, Satoru's fists could only muster less than half their original power.
Having accomplished this, he flicked his fingers, preparing to finish Satoru with Kidō.
If Satoru chose to rely on the Shield of Courage, he'd learn what true speed supremacy felt like!
Amid the Priest's smirk, Satoru suddenly lifted his head.
Seeing his appearance, the Priest froze momentarily.
The metal mask covering Satoru's face had quietly transformed at some point.
A half-covering mask adorned with metallic bull horns now featured a red crystal on its forehead.
Four antenna-like spikes extended outward on both sides.
Satoru's eyes, previously ordinary black, had shifted into an eerie gold-pupiled gaze against black sclera.
After a brief moment of surprise, the Priest quickly identified this form through the changes in Satoru's Reiatsu—
Hollowfication!
But even at this stage, what could Hollowfication possibly ach...
...?!
The Priest's eyes widened as two additional arms burst forth from behind Satoru's shoulders with a sharp snap.
An arm stretched out, palm open toward him.
With that motion, the Priest felt terrifying streams of gravity forming around him.
Kidō #90, Kurohitsugi!!
Around the Priest's body, shattered black Reiatsu erupted from the ground, enveloping him completely.
Meanwhile, the arm extending from Satoru's other shoulder was even more insane.
This white Hollow arm had somehow produced Sayafushi from nowhere, swinging it down toward the Priest's head!
Above was Sayafushi, capable of cutting through anything.
Below was the rising Kurohitsugi.
And from the front...
Satoru opened his mouth, a black-green sphere of light swirling into existence.
Cero!!
The Priest couldn't help but feel like he'd been screwed over by Komamura.
With a twist of his hand, his brush-like Zanpakutō struck at Sayafushi's side.
His feet stamped hard, preparing to counter the Kurohitsugi with opposing force.
At the same time, he opened his mouth, drawing a deep breath, ready to block Satoru's Cero with Kidō—
BOOM!!!!
A massive explosion expanded through the air.
This time, all six of the Priest's "Seal" characters shattered completely.
The four Zero Division members were sent flying like rolling gourds, skipping across the sky before disappearing into the distance.
Below in the Soul King Palace town, souls looked up in astonishment at this apocalyptic scene.
People screamed in terror, raising their hands to shield their faces.
But a bluish-green barrier materialized in the air, barely managing to block the attack.
In the distance, Ōetsu watched the scene and finally breathed a sigh of relief.
It was the power left behind by the Soul King...
Thank goodness, otherwise they would have been finished.
He raised his hand, removing his shattered sunglasses and casually tossing them aside before turning his gaze back to the battlefield.
Elsewhere, Kirinji Tenjirō also climbed to his feet, not even caring that his pompadour was completely disheveled as he stared in shock.
The final outcome... what was it?!
Could that guy Satoru really kill the Priest and achieve complete domination over the Zero Division?
The moment he looked, his expression froze.
An endless expanse of darkness, like thick ink spreading through water, was expanding across the sky...