Seeing the tragic state of the heavy-sword-wielding man, everyone couldn't help but gasp.
They had originally thought that after being empowered, even if they couldn't fight that monster head-on, they could at least hold out for a few rounds. But the opponent didn't even spare a glance, turning him into a firework of blood mist with a single backhanded punch.
It was a bloody start right out of the gate.
Bloody, indeed. But the Ryūdōji clan was about to host yet another funeral.
Then, the most important question arose—who was up next?
Out of respect for Naraku Sora, the remaining few didn't dare to rush forward. Instead, they all shrank back a bit, instinctively casting their gazes toward the gloomy-faced white-haired man.
A trace of shock flashed through Ryūdōji Ganryū's eyes. Looking at the tragic state of his subordinate, he could hardly believe his eyes.
Tempered by over a thousand years of living in the Dangai, the remaining members of the Ryūdōji clan were the cream of the crop.
Even if placed in the Soul Society, they would be at least Lieutenant-level Soul Reapers.
But even so, half of the man's body was blown apart by a single punch from that young-looking Soul Reaper, and even the heavy sword empowered by the Blanks was completely shattered.
The opponent hadn't even put down the Shinenju carried on his shoulder.
This level of strength was simply too exaggerated.
Were the Soul Reapers of the Gotei 13 already this terrifying now?
Ryūdōji Ganryū suppressed the fear rising in his heart. His eyes, full of bloodshot veins, stared fixedly at the figure standing on the rock wall.
The more this was the case, the less he could easily give up.
The hope of the entire Ryūdōji clan now rested on the few of them. If they gave up just like this, the hatred they had held onto for a thousand years would become a joke.
Thinking of this, the sinister-faced Ryūdōji Ganryū took a deep breath and immediately erupted with blazing Reiatsu. A hurricane rose from the ground, and a pillar of light shot straight into the sky.
He opened his right hand, and several Blanks flew out from the cracks in the ground, instantly condensing into a double-edged longsword.
"Attack together."
As his words fell, Ryūdōji Ganryū, as the clan head, took the lead. Erupting with an astonishing aura, he used Flash Step to rush toward Naraku Sora, holding the sword with both hands and slashing fiercely forward.
The light of the sword pressure was dim, but its destructive power was extremely shocking.
It directly cleaved open the dim sky of the Valley of Screams. The dark red ground crumbled layer by layer, and countless pieces of rubble and dust swept wildly in the howling gale.
At the same time, the remaining Ryūdōji retainers also followed suit, simultaneously erupting with intense Reiatsu.
For a time, a massive gale swept through the huge Valley of Screams, the howling sounds endless.
"Good timing."
Naraku Sora's eyes lit up, expressing approval of Ryūdōji Ganryū and the others' actions.
Although their strength was lacking, this courage was still worth praising.
Daring to challenge the impossible was the mark of a true man.
Just like him.
Even knowing he couldn't beat Yamamoto, he still persevered and charged relentlessly.
Naraku Sora firmly believed that as long as he kept working hard, sooner or later, he would be able to overcome his superior and defy the natural order.
"Watch your back!"
Senna shouted a warning as she looked at the sneak attacker who was close at hand.
The man dual-wielding katar blades grinned. Surprisingly, he didn't attack Naraku Sora right away, but instead switched his target to the girl imprisoned by the Bakudō.
He had figured it out.
The tragic deaths of his two colleagues earlier were entirely because they challenged an unbeatable target.
Therefore, he only needed to switch targets to avoid defeat...
Squelch—
The sound of tearing flesh rang out in front of him, and a cold sensation swept over his entire body.
The katar-wielding man's movements stalled, and he subconsciously looked at his chest.
A gleaming blade had pierced through his chest cavity at some unknown point.
Looking closely, an extra Zanpakutō had appeared under the armpit of that hateful Soul Reaper, the tip of the blade pointing backward.
"Did your brain get squeezed out when your muscles swelled up?"
Naraku Sora said without looking back, "Was the lesson just now not enough? You actually tried to sneak attack from behind."
"Don't you know that true powerhouses have eyes on the backs of their heads?"
"You don't even understand this basic common sense. You deserve to be exiled to the Dangai."
Intense pain caused the katar-wielding man to let out an unbearable wail. The veins all over his body bulged, and his strength surged, trying to use this method to break free from the blade piercing his chest.
Lord Prison Warden was kind-hearted and couldn't bear to see others suffer.
And so—
Blazing flames of Reiatsu flared up from the blade. The terrifying high temperature instantly turned him into ashes, drifting into the Valley of Screams.
Right at this moment, Ryūdōji Ganryū's sword pressure landed right in front of Naraku Sora.
Facing the menacing, blazing sword pressure, Naraku Sora grinned, backhanded a horizontal slash, and cleaved upward.
The blazing blade swept across the sky, slicing the sword pressure in two like a hot knife through butter.
And with unabated momentum, an unadorned crescent-shaped sword pressure burst from the blade, severing the winds raging in the sky.
Ryūdōji Ganryū's pupils shrank drastically. He hurriedly met the attack, holding the hilt with one hand and pressing against the blade with the other.
Crack—
Accompanied by a sound like shattering ice, the double-edged longsword condensed from Blanks instantly cracked. Countless fine fragments shot out wildly in all directions, piercing the rock walls and the sky.
Only at this moment did Ryūdōji Ganryū personally feel Naraku Sora's terror.
He clearly looked like he hadn't used much effort—just a casual slash—yet it had nearly cost Ganryū his life.
He was well aware of those Captains of the Gotei 13.
Although they were very strong, it was absolutely impossible for them to be this strong.
It had only been a few decades since they last spied on the Soul Society's intelligence. Where on earth did such a terrifying guy come from?
While he was thinking, Naraku Sora, still carrying Senna, made quick work of the remaining Ryūdōji retainers.
Not too bad.
Even the weakest had Lieutenant-level strength.
Unfortunately, the gap between the two sides was too great, resulting in these people becoming souls under the blade without any decent counterattack.
What was somewhat regrettable was...
Because these people had stayed in the Dangai all year round with nowhere to commit evil, their sin values were low, and they couldn't provide any decent rewards.
These days, it was hard to even find a proper villain.
This couldn't help but make Naraku Sora feel a bit lost.
*Did he really have to make a move on Old Man Yama?*
*Although he was somewhat looking forward to it, this obviously went against his morals and violated his persona of respecting his teachers and elders!*
Not far away, a trace of madness flashed across Ryūdōji Ganryū's weathered face.
At this point, taking back the Shinenju from the opponent was already an impossible task.
The gap in strength between the two sides was right there; it couldn't be bridged just by an explosive power-up.
This wasn't some hot-blooded manga where shouting a few lines about bonds and friendship could defeat the villain.
At the critical moment, he could only rely on himself.
Thinking of this, a trace of resolve flashed in Ryūdōji Ganryū's eyes. He spread his arms, and a massive pillar of Reiatsu light shot straight into the sky, violently blowing away the clouds piled up above the Valley of Screams.
Under the effect of his Reiatsu, the ground and rock walls continuously decomposed. Countless white Blanks rushed out from them, shuttling madly within the huge valley.
It was as if the apocalypse was about to descend.
Under Naraku Sora's somewhat surprised gaze, the Blanks within the range of the materialized light were restrained by a powerful force, and then all submerged into Ryūdōji Ganryū's body.
His skin, already pale from years of not seeing sunlight, grew even paler, turning the color of white paper, and even becoming somewhat transparent in the end.
A highly exaggerated double-edged longsword was drawn from his palm, both sides of the blade covered with irregular serrations.
Ryūdōji Ganryū seemed to be enduring immense pain, his facial features abnormally twisted.
Immediately, with a trace of resolve, he unleashed the strongest attack of his life toward Naraku Sora.
A slash fused with the power of countless Blanks!
Seeing this, Naraku Sora grinned and, not to be outdone, erupted with the majestic Reiatsu belonging to a top-tier Captain. The terrifying pillar of light instantly crushed the rock layer beneath his feet.
Arcs of electricity surged on his Zanpakutō, Reiatsu burning recklessly, dancing madly, emitting an aura of extreme tyranny.
The terrifying high temperature turned it into a blazing sun in the sky, crashing downward with destructive force.
BOOM—!!
The moment the two collided, the entire Valley of Screams fell silent, but it lasted for less than a second before a deafening roar followed.
The serrated longsword disintegrated in an instant, directly detonating the entire battlefield.
The ground as far as the eye could see shattered and collapsed, as if a high-yield explosive had been detonated.
The world lost its color.
Only pure black and white remained.
The terrifying impact fell, and Ryūdōji Ganryū plummeted from the sky like a meteorite, blasting the devastated earth into the air. Waves of dust soared into the sky, staining it.
He vomited mouthfuls of blood, his body limp, as if all the bones in his body had been shattered.
However, even so, no expression of despair could be seen on Ryūdōji Ganryū's face. Instead, those bloodshot eyes became even brighter.
"Unknown Soul Reaper, it's over."
"Perhaps I should thank you. Originally, I didn't have this resolve, but your appearance made me completely give up on using the power of the Shinenju."
"Next, let the life of the last person of the Ryūdōji clan bear witness to the destruction of the Soul Society!"
As his words fell, his body melted like snow. Both his Reiatsu and his soul completely merged into the dark red earth.
In an instant, the entire Valley of Screams became turbulent. Under Senna's shocked gaze, it actually began to continuously expand outward.
Meanwhile, in the Seireitei.
The azure sky completely changed its appearance. Like ink dripping into clear water, profound darkness suddenly spread and diffused, instantly covering the entire Seireitei, and it was still continuously expanding outward.
Thick dark clouds piled up layer by layer like ocean waves, slowly rotating to form a massive vortex with no end in sight!
Such a terrifying commotion attracted almost everyone's attention.
Without any hesitation, Kyōraku Shunsui immediately put down the work at hand, erupted with his fastest Flash Step, and rushed into the Squad 1 barracks.
The other Captains also followed suit.
Soon, multiple Captains gathered in the courtyard.
"A certain Valley of Screams in the Dangai is continuously expanding. It seems to have a tendency to connect the Soul Society and the World of the Living."
"The situation is urgent. My suggestion is to send a few Captains to investigate."
"It's already too late. The top priority now is to destroy the expanding Valley of Screams."
After a brief discussion, everyone collectively turned their gazes to Yamamoto at the head seat.
The old man leaned on his cane with both hands, raised his head, and looked at the darkness covering the entire sky. After thinking for a few seconds, he decided to go to the Shino Prison to take a look first.
Although that bastard brat wasn't very reliable on normal days, he was still extremely useful at critical moments.
Maybe he had already prepared a solution.
Not long after, at the Department of Research and Development, a figure enveloped in high temperature ignored the security gates and crashed in.
"You bastard, didn't I say..."
The figure Yamamoto wanted to see wasn't in the laboratory. There were only two researchers who looked extremely exhausted.
Yamamoto forcefully suppressed the anger in his heart and asked in a deep voice:
"Where is that brat?"
Feeling the scorching heat permeating the air, Urahara Kisuke managed to squeeze out a smile:
"Lord Sora went to the World of the Living to investigate."
"Before he left, I already went to notify the Kidō Corps to prepare the Kidō Cannon."
"Although the situation is a bit serious now, it should still be within a controllable range."
Hearing this, Yamamoto nearly lost his composure.
The Dangai is about to completely merge with the Soul Society, and this bastard is actually still investigating?
Seeming to see what Yamamoto was thinking, Urahara Kisuke hurriedly opened the laboratory roof, revealing the pitch-black sky and the massive vortex hovering above the Seireitei.
"Head Captain, please look closely."
Yamamoto narrowed his eyes and looked in the direction of the vortex.
Amidst the howling hurricane, a familiar figure stood tall above the continuously expanding Valley of Screams, his back to them. No matter how terrifying the impact, it couldn't shake him in the slightest.
What was even more eye-catching was that even in such a dangerous situation, that person was still carrying a Soul Reaper girl on his shoulder.
Seeing this scene, Yamamoto suddenly felt as if his heart would stop and his blood pressure would soar.
*Rebellious disciple!*