Although he wasn't quite sure what percentage of the Yamamoto from a thousand years ago the bad woman's illusion could imitate, the killing intent right now was absolutely real.
It had almost condensed into something physical.
Going all out from the very first second was the only reason Naraku Sora managed to survive the initial wave of impact.
The moment their blades clashed, explosive flames swept out.
The Yamamoto before him seemed to treat him as an enemy invading the Soul Society, holding absolutely nothing back. With a raise of his hand, he delivered a vicious slash.
A fierce gleam of the blade flashed across the sky.
The next moment, scorching heat surged upward, transforming into a massive pillar of fire that connected heaven and earth, directly swallowing the figure ahead.
Taimatsu!
Starting from the fall of the blade, the swing of Ryūjin Jakka unleashed a violently tyrannical wave of heat. It morphed into a ferocious, swirling wall of flames, erupting with a deafening roar.
The ground instantly fractured with continuous rumbling. The apocalyptic scenery swallowed Naraku Sora in a flash.
The extreme heat, which rapidly evaporated the moisture in the air, recklessly eroded his Reiatsu, causing shattered Reishi to constantly sublimate and dissipate.
With just a single strike, the Reiatsu defense Naraku Sora had meticulously constructed completely disintegrated.
The gap in Reiatsu between them was simply too vast; there was no possibility of defending against it.
Rather than wasting his Reiatsu on such a useless stance, it would be better to abandon defense entirely and convert it all into an attack.
Even if he died, he was going to leave behind a profound lesson.
He would just treat this as an early rehearsal for when things went south.
He allowed the scorching heat to land on his body. His skin cracked and his blood evaporated, only to instantly heal the moment the intense heat receded.
Normally, in a Hollowfied state, the efficiency of High-Speed Regeneration was several times higher than before.
Although it still couldn't compare to Arturo's exaggerated display of growing back a severed head, mere superficial wounds wouldn't affect his combat power in the slightest.
His feet stomped onto the dark red mud on the ground, triggering a booming explosion. The earth suddenly trembled, and the soft mud instantly became as hard as steel.
Only after his figure tore through the air did the mud let out a weak whine, splashing haphazardly in all directions.
Twisted black torrents continuously emerged, instantly weaving into mottled patterns. The air suddenly grew heavy, like surging mercury.
He swung his arm and slashed.
Pitch-black sword pressure erupted from the blade. In an instant, only deathly stillness remained above the ruins.
Demon Sword Art・Black Coffin!
Facing such a strike, Yamamoto did not retreat in the slightest. With a resolute gaze fixed forward, the blade in his hand whipped up a sky full of explosive flames and slashed down fiercely.
The moment they collided, the battlefield directly detonated.
The earth within a thousand-meter radius shattered and collapsed, instantly weathering away as if countless years had passed.
Sensing the trickiness of the enemy before him, Yamamoto gathered and brewed his power, a fierce fire seemingly flashing through his eyes.
By the time Naraku Sora realized something was wrong, it was already too late.
Boom!!
A scorching golden-red pillar of light shot into the sky, like a blazing sun rising, illuminating the entire battlefield.
A suffocating pressure instantly acted upon Naraku Sora's body, immediately causing him to sink down, making every step incredibly difficult.
The terrifying wave of Reiatsu recklessly washed over the battlefield, casually altering the terrain like an iron plow.
A sea of fire filled the sky, brutal and tyrannical.
The scar-covered body transformed into a blazing sun, gripping Ryūjin Jakka, glaring at the enemy who was close at hand.
Along with the scorching flames came a killing intent that had almost condensed into physical form. It seeped through his pores and deep into his internal organs, causing a faint, stinging pain.
However, under such immense pressure, it was as if something had been ignited at the bottom of Naraku Sora's heart. The flames of Reiatsu surrounding his body burned even more fiercely.
A radiant sun rose, standing as an equal against the golden-red light, dividing the battlefield.
When, no matter how hard he tried, the only thing laid out before him was the dead end of death—
For the first time in a long while, he felt the throbbing of his instincts, along with a trembling and excitement from the depths of his soul.
Black and red arcs of lightning emerged, instantly distorting the space.
Naraku Sora grinned, revealing his stark white teeth. He glared ferociously at the middle-aged Yamamoto and swung his blade with all his might.
The impact of his Reiatsu flames erupted recklessly, closely followed by a slash meant to sever all things!
Black Flash!
In an instant, the explosive roar was deafening.
An incalculable might erupted, twisting space to its absolute limit as terrifying, intense light burst forth from within.
The surging pillar of fire was annihilated, and even the towering pillar of Reiatsu shattered along with it, revealing the recklessly burning figure.
When that slash struck, Yamamoto's expression changed slightly. The raging flames surrounding him instantly retracted, completely merging into the blade.
Without hesitation, he swung forward.
The sword of magnificent fire erased the outlines of all creation. With just one strike, it annihilated the space-distorting slash, burning the figure ahead into absolute nothingness along with it.
When he regained consciousness, the first thing that caught his eye was a delicate face with a half-smile.
As if she had taken in everything from the illusion, Senjumaru's lips curled up slightly as she teased,
"How was the experience?"
Naraku Sora subconsciously recalled that final slash and instinctively shivered.
Absurd.
It was as if the entire world had been occupied by that single blade. A blazing sun that incinerated heaven and earth had fallen, spreading destruction to every corner.
Truly worthy of the title of the strongest Soul Reaper!
"And what about your Shikai?"
Senjumaru reached out and patted the young man's cheek, dragging him back from his memories.
"At the moment you were on the verge of death, you must have gained a different kind of enlightenment, right?"
Naraku Sora raised an eyebrow, feeling the lingering throb deep within his soul.
When his Reiatsu had burned to its absolute limit, there was an indescribable feeling. The most impressive part was that his hands felt exceptionally hot, and his condition was at its absolute peak.
He had perfectly unleashed a technique that was normally difficult to execute.
A Black Flash released in the form of a slash.
Relying on the inherent toughness and sharpness of his Zanpakutō, he had concentrated the original impact onto a single point, erupting with a slash capable of severing all things.
Most importantly, he noticed that the degree of amplification to his body after burning his Reiatsu seemed to be a bit higher.
This was perhaps what the bad woman meant by reaching the limit of his Shikai.
Naraku Sora fell into deep thought.
"It seems you understand my earnest intentions."
Senjumaru wore a smile on her lips as she pulled out another identical cup of milky-white liquid from who knows where.
Looking at the slightly trembling surface of the liquid, Naraku Sora's expression showed some resistance.
But at the thought that this was a necessary process for his Bankai training, he could only grit his teeth, tilt his head back, and down it in one gulp.
The next moment, the young man's vision went black, and he fell straight backward. Senjumaru reached out her hands at just the right time, catching him in her arms.
At the same time, golden arms extended from her back, bringing up the laboratory's equipment once again. A massive screen of light unfolded on the wall.
Countless complex data flowed past like water, ultimately weaving into the corresponding footage.
Senjumaru leaned back as colorful fabrics surged forth like a tide, instantly constructing a sofa and chair. She settled into a comfortable posture, happily watching the light screen in front of her.
On the screen, Naraku Sora's facial features were twisted, looking as if he had just eaten a ton of raw bitter melons.
He had already prepared himself to replicate the previous battle and tank Ryūjin Jakka head-on.
But why was it a voluptuous older woman with unbraided hair, radiating materialized killing intent?
When Naraku Sora walked out of the exclusive laboratory, his face was pale and lifeless, and his legs were weak and limp. He looked as if he had been completely drained dry.
No one knew exactly what he had just been through.
Rather than calling it discovering the absolute limit of his Shikai, it was more like experiencing a hundred different ways to die.
From being burned to ashes, to being minced into meat paste...
It was sheer torture.
Although his strength had improved somewhat, compared to the agony he had endured, it wasn't even worth mentioning.
Even though he was determined to be the kind of try-hard that everyone despised, this method of grinding was still a bit too terrifying.
Rather than destroying himself, it would be better to torture others.
He should go find Kisuke.
Inside another laboratory.
When he saw the miserable, barely human-looking Naraku Sora, Urahara Kisuke almost burst out laughing.
Fortunately, his danger instincts warned him just in time, allowing him to forcefully suppress his wildly twitching lips.
"Lord Naraku, what happened to you...?"
Kurotsuchi Mayuri frowned as he observed him, feeling that something was very wrong.
Naraku Sora waved his hand weakly and sighed.
"I was harmed by wine and women."
Urahara Kisuke paused slightly. "Don't you rarely drink?"
Before he even finished speaking, as if he had suddenly understood something, he gasped sharply.
Mayuri's expression turned bizarre. He took a deep look at him, saying nothing, yet seemingly saying everything.
"By the way, how is the research on the project we discussed earlier going?"
Naraku Sora had stayed at Senjumaru's place for two days. It wasn't until his mind was on the verge of breaking that the bad woman finally kicked him out.
Now that two days had passed, given the caliber of these two masterminds, they should have at least created the project folder.
"It's preliminarily completed."
A hint of pride appeared on Urahara Kisuke's face.
"The data from the Zanpakutō Mr. Kurotsuchi modified previously came in handy. Coupled with Kōga's full cooperation and Mr. Aizen's assistance, the research went surprisingly smoothly."
"It's just that we haven't conducted any tests yet, so we aren't sure of the exact situation for the time being."
As he spoke, Mayuri brought out a humanoid device.
It was already ninety percent identical to the Tenshintai in Naraku Sora's memories.
"After a discussion among the three of us, we decided to name this the Tenshintai. Its effect is quite simple: by stabbing a Zanpakutō into it, it forcefully materializes the spirit from the inner world into the real world."
"Then, the Soul Reaper must defeat it themselves, completing the process of making the Zanpakutō submit, which will allow them to successfully master Bankai."
Urahara Kisuke explained in a serious tone.
"Of course, this is just the calculated result."
"As for the actual effect, we won't know until after the test."
Naraku Sora grinned. "Then what are we waiting for? Hurry up and test it."
Mayuri suddenly spoke up from the side. "I've already notified Third Seat Aizen. He'll be here shortly."
This Tenshintai was the result of their joint research, so all three of them needed to be present to prevent any unnecessary complications.
Soon, Aizen pushed the door open and entered.
Looking at the three people eagerly waiting in the room, he paused slightly.
When his gaze landed on Naraku Sora, Aizen couldn't help but frown.
"How did you end up looking like this?"
Naraku Sora waved his hand dismissively. "The training intensity was just a bit high. It's no big deal."
Seeing that he spoke no differently than usual, Aizen put his mind at ease.
Inside the exclusive dojo.
The Tenshintai stood in the center, quietly waiting for its destined user.
"The test requires a Soul Reaper who hasn't mastered Bankai, meets the Reiatsu standards, and is in perfect condition."
"Well then..."
Aizen pushed up his glasses, the lenses reflecting an ambiguous light that concealed the shift in his eyes.
"Mr. Urahara, I'll leave it to you."
Urahara Kisuke: "?"
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