The Path of the Three Non-Entries.
This is the road to transcending the Shinigami.
Walking upon this path, Keiko felt a weight of ten thousand tons pressing down on her. Although her current combat effectiveness wasn't at its peak, it was primarily because most of the power within her body remained in an unactivated state. Under this extreme pressure, and with the influx of eternal memories and interpretations of all things, the power within her was rapidly awakening!
With every step forward, she felt her current strength grow by another margin. However, she was drenched in sweat and gasping for breath throughout the process. Her kimono was nearly soaked through by the time she finally halted before the exit.
Four pupils appeared in her eyes, and everything within the world of Bleach seemed to surface in her mind. A million years had passed since the Soul King, Adnyeus, first split the three realms, and the weight of those million years now rested upon Keiko.
So, this is what the "Almighty" feels like.
The Oken and the Soul King fragments within Keiko were now fully activated. This power was so immense she felt as if she had ascended. She had once borrowed future abilities via the Age-Age Fruit to experience such strength, but even then, she wasn't as powerful as she was now. Back then, while she possessed the strength to overwhelm a demonized Whitebeard, she lacked this current sense of transcendence.
Now, she felt an abundant power—as if she could shake the heavens and earth of the three realms with a mere flick of her finger. This wasn't an illusion born of power; she truly could use her Reiatsu to impact and vibrate the three realms. In other words, she had reached the realm of a Zero Division member with their power seals released.
The corners of her mouth curled upward as she savored this strength and closed her eyes. Among the three bodies, Beltz had previously been the strongest. Now, without a doubt, she had become the strongest—and by a massive margin. Beltz was still evolving toward the limits of a Shinigami, only touching that domain during full-power bursts. Keiko, however, had surpassed those limits entirely. Like Senjumaru, she possessed the power to effortlessly wipe out Yhwach's Schutzstaffel.
After a moment, she opened her eyes and stepped out of the Path of the Three Non-Entries.
"..."
Upon leaving, she found herself in a palace. Shutara Senjumaru, the Great Weaver of the Zero Division, stood sideways before Keiko. She remarked indifferently, "This is the first time I have seen someone walk out from there."
"The days ahead are long; perhaps there will be more people like me in the future," Keiko said with a light smile. "Let's not waste time. I'm in a hurry to get back."
"Those who are too impatient cannot wear the Oken woven from our flesh and bone," Senjumaru replied. The mechanical arms behind her moved, and in the next instant, Keiko's clothes were stripped away, replaced by new garments woven exactly to her measurements.
Clothing made from the flesh, hair, and bone of the Zero Division can also be called Oken. Since the Zero Division members fused with the Oken, their bodies were rebuilt into "sacred objects" distinct from ordinary Shinigami, which is why they possess power beyond them.
This Oken garment and the passage through the Path of the Three Non-Entries were small gifts from the Soul King. The next item, however, was a true heavyweight. Senjumaru wove a new Shihakusho for Keiko. While it looked no different from a standard one, it possessed extraordinary defensive properties. It was as if her clothes had eaten the Barrier-Barrier Fruit; general attacks could be ignored, and even Captain-level Bankai attacks would have most of their damage mitigated.
Speaking of the Barrier-Barrier Fruit, that was an excellent fruit. Vegapunk possessed the technology to let objects "eat" Devil Fruits. If these clothes were fed a Barrier-Barrier Fruit, wouldn't they be invincible? Of course, objects seem limited to Zoan types, but there was no harm in fantasizing.
Once Senjumaru finished the garment, she inspected it, confirmed it was perfect, and opened a portal. Keiko raised an eyebrow; it was a portal to the World of the Living. The Soul King truly had everything arranged.
Keiko didn't hesitate. Through the portal, she arrived in the living world. Following the coordinates provided by the Soul King, she discovered the Soul King's Right Leg in an ancient shrine. After securing it, she went to find the other Soul King fragments. With her current speed, she secured all the indicated fragments in less than a day.
One fragment in particular delighted her. Its original owner bore the surname Tsukishima! From this name, Keiko knew exactly who it was: the father of Shukurō Tsukishima. Since Shukurō hadn't been born yet, this fragment would have been inherited from his father. However, a raw Soul King fragment is of little use. To activate it into a Fullbring ability, it requires stimulation from Hollow Reishi and the inner obsession of the individual.
Shukurō Tsukishima had an obsession with books, so his soul essence was poured into a book, becoming "Book of the End." Its ability was monstrous because it didn't just insert memories—it inserted genuine "history." Later, Tsukishima wasn't even satisfied with inserting history and began changing it.
Changing history sounds somewhat similar to Yhwach's power to change the future. Of course, they only look similar; in reality, they aren't on the same level. Book of the End requires cutting the opponent to trigger the ability, which is a massive limitation. If you can cut them, why not just kill them? The Almighty's future alteration is much simpler: raise a hand or glare, and the future is rewritten from a distance.
Still, it was an incredibly broken ability. And with Keiko's powers, it wasn't impossible to magically modify a "Book of the End" of her own. After all, she had the Age-Age Fruit. The events that occurred in the original story could be considered a "future" in a real sense, so she could activate this fragment into a "Predetermined Future: Book of the End" mode.
A plan was slowly forming in her mind, though it required further refinement and alignment with the Soul King.
...
While Keiko was at the Royal Palace and searching for fragments in the living world, multiple conflicts had already broken out in Hueco Mundo.
"Why do we have to be the ones doing this!"
In Hueco Mundo, atop endless sands of white Reishi, numerous explosions erupted in every direction. Within the circle of blasts were the "Bambies" of the Sternritter, minus Liltotto. Candice (T), Bambietta (E), Meninas (P), and Giselle (Z) had been searching for traces of the demon for some time. In this vast desert, they hadn't found the demon, but they had seen plenty of Hollows.
Especially in the last two days, it was as if they were being tracked by the Hollows. No matter where they went, they were discovered and forced into battle! They hadn't had a moment's peace. The hot-tempered Candice snapped, "How many of these guys do we have to kill before they're gone?"
"The worst part is, we aren't even supposed to kill them," Meninas complained. "Bambi, you just took out a few more."
"Shut up, idiot!" Bambietta snarled. "If I don't kill them, they'll just keep chasing!"
Indeed, facing the Hollows, they had to restrain their power. If a Quincy kills a Hollow, the soul is completely erased. Normally, this wouldn't matter—they were mortal enemies. But right now, the Wandenreich was still in a "hidden" state. If they killed too many Hollows, the Shinigami would detect an imbalance in the worlds and realize Quincies still existed.
Before they left for Hueco Mundo, Haschwalth had strictly instructed them to avoid killing Hollows if possible. This left them angry and helpless. Killing one or two was fine, but they were currently surrounded by far too many! If they didn't kill them, they wouldn't stop chasing. They couldn't even flee properly because in a world of Hollows, they were spotted everywhere they went.
"This is still too strange," Gigi (Giselle) said. "I've never heard of Hollows chasing us in groups like this." Hollows have no sense of camaraderie; even against a different race, they rarely team up. But now, they acted as if they were being commanded. Is that even possible? Shouldn't they be killing each other?
"Lili has it easy, resting in the Empire while we're out in this desolate place being hunted," Bambietta grumbled as she released countless Reishi bombs, clearing the area again.
"Be grateful. We've only been out for a few days. Lili was out in the sun and rain for years with Beltz," Gigi said, tilting her head. "Though I guess Hueco Mundo doesn't have a sun."
"Enough, let's just get out of here," Bambietta said. Most of the Hollows were incapacitated by her blasts, though some weaker ones had been killed outright. They had to move before more arrived.
They weren't the only Sternritters sent to Hueco Mundo, but these four were used to acting together. They didn't know if everyone was having this problem or if it was just them. Shortly after flying away from the explosion site, they saw more Hollows. They were used to it by now—the Hollows were locked onto their positions as if there were a traitor among them.
"Here we go again," Bambietta sighed. These Hollows were small fry, but controlling her power to avoid crushing them was exhausting.
"Wait, Bambi!" Candice shouted as Bambietta prepared another blast. "This one is different from the trash!"
Appearing at the edge of their vision was a terrifying, pitch-black figure. The monster was entirely black with demon-like horns on its head, radiating a monstrous Reiatsu!
"This Reiatsu feels wrong," Bambietta noted, her expression darkening. It was undoubtedly Hollow Reiatsu, but it felt different—chaotic, as if two different monsters had been forcibly mashed together.
"So you're the ones who broke into Hueco Mundo," the black humanoid Hollow said, wearing a distorted, excited expression. "Perfect. I was looking for a chance to test my new power. Now that you've delivered yourselves to me, don't dream of leaving!"
Boom!
As he spoke, he lunged forward. So fast! Bambietta was shocked. In the next instant, the monster was right in front of her.
Blut Vene!
Bambietta maximized her defensive Blut, but the force was too great. She was sent hurtling through the air, smashing into the distant desert with a loud crash.
"You bastard!" Candice roared, immediately summoning lightning. A powerful bolt descended from the sky, but the black demon-hollow dodged it effortlessly.
Boom!
Meninas charged in. Her Schrift is "P" for Power, giving her Herculean strength. But the black Hollow reached out and met her strike, matching her strength equally.
"Hmm?" Even the black demon-hollow seemed surprised. He hadn't expected her to be so strong. He increased his strength, and Meninas pushed back with hers.
Boom!
Another bolt of lightning struck the black Hollow, forcing the two to separate.
"Ha!" The black Hollow laughed as he was pushed back. "You're tough! No wonder he wanted me to become like this to kill you."
"Fine, let me show you. This is the power I just received!"
His body radiated a terrifying Reiatsu. Sharp fangs emerged, and animalistic markings appeared on his skin.
Zoan Cat-Cat Fruit-Ancient Model-Saber-toothed Tiger!
The one who had eaten this fruit was none other than Grimmjow, one of the Espada created by Aizen. Aizen had judged this fruit to be the perfect fit for Grimmjow, who was one of the Espada most hungry for power.
And that wasn't all. The black demonic appearance he wore was a piece of "equipment"—or rather, another Hollow—given to him by Aizen. This Hollow, named White, also seemed to have eaten a strange Devil Fruit, allowing Grimmjow to wear him like a jacket to gain even greater power!