Chapter 158: It's here...

"Boom!"

The barrier was trembling incessantly. Shaz Domino, who should have gone to attack the Research and Development Department after Mayuri Kurotsuchi's departure, had been instantly killed by Chojiro in a single strike, leading everyone to temporarily assume the Research and Development Department was safe.

Yet, despite careful calculation, one crucial detail had been overlooked.

The members of the Wandenreich's Sternritter who had arrived in the Soul Society operated under a single, absolute order: to utterly devastate the Soul Society.

Therefore, even if Shaz Domino was eliminated, as long as the Research and Development Department still stood, it was bound to be targeted by the Quincy.

Moreover, the Quincy attacking the department this time was, to a certain extent, even more formidable than Shaz Domino.

"Boom!"

The barrier shook violently once more, on the verge of shattering into fragments at any moment.

"Caw... Caw..."

Badly wounded after being hunted and chased all the way here, Akon breathed heavily, frantically performing some operation in mid-air while glancing back from time to time at the spot where the barrier was under attack, terrified that the brute might suddenly force his way through.

"Snap-crack—"

A crisp sound echoed through the air. The previously empty space suddenly split open with a fracture. Even though Akon did nothing further, the crack continued to expand, finally peeling away like old wallpaper to slowly reveal a pitch-black alternate world hidden within.

"Finally..."

Akon's exhausted face finally broke into a trace of a smile. As he watched the figure step out from the darkness, even the lingering anxiety in the depths of his heart vanished entirely.

"I wanted to open this path for you sooner..."

Overwhelmed by severe injuries and the fatigue of being pursued the entire way, Akon finally relaxed his nerves and could no longer maintain consciousness, collapsing straight down within the boundaries of the barrier.

"BOOM!"

At that exact moment, the barrier was finally breached from the outside by the Quincy, who smoothly stepped into the interior.

"Huh? What is going on?"

A burly man in bizarre attire, wearing a mask reminiscent of Captain America, had followed Akon all the way here, only to discover that his target had somehow changed into someone else.

Sternritter — 'S', Mask de Masculine.

Although he had no idea why this strange fellow was dressed like Captain America, the person who had just emerged from that spatial rift clearly had no mind to ponder such trivialities.

"I remember you—!"

"BOOM!"

Without giving Mask the slightest chance to finish speaking, the figure stepping out from the darkness charged toward him like a gust of wind, cutting off his unfinished words midway and ruthlessly shattering the barrier into smithereens along the way.

Racing across the firmament—he was precisely that kind of man.

Let us rewind the time slightly.

Just a few minutes before that man's appearance...

"..."

The man wielding Zanka no Tachi was walking steadily toward him.

Though he had taken the full brunt of the "Rolling Thunder Five-Element Infinite Heavenly Sacrifice," his opponent was likewise defended by "Tachi Juji" and "Blut Vene," making it impossible for him to sustain fatal wounds—yet it was equally impossible to emerge completely unscathed.

"Heh, it's coming..."

With a grim, ferocious smile, Yhwach's blade suddenly became coated in a dense layer of spiritual pressure, leaving a bow-like trail in the air as he swung it.

"!"

Witnessing the attack, Chojiro could not remain indifferent. He raised Gonryomaru high, crackling with lightning, as massive amounts of atmospheric electrical currents gathered rapidly toward the slender blade, creating the illusion that the weapon might snap under the sheer burden.

"Hum... Whoosh!"

The Reishi bow deployed itself autonomously, and a massive Reishi arrow shot forth at blinding speed. At that very moment, Chojiro's preparation reached completion. With a downward sweep of his blade, a crescent-shaped wave of lightning rushed forward to meet Yhwach's arrow head-on.

"Raiten Kantsu!"

"BOOM!"

Two attacks of utterly comparable might collided violently, devastating the already ruined streets of the Seireitei once more. The shockwave rippled outward across vast distances, even spilling into the neighboring captain's quarters.

"Clang!"

"!"

Before the opposing forces had even fully cancelled each other out, Chojiro suddenly closed the distance to Yhwach. Gonryomaru flashed brightly as he slashed directly at Yhwach's head.

"Clang!"

Blocking Chojiro's strike with his sword, Yhwach took half a step back while raising the medallion in his other hand, preparing to retaliate with the stolen power of "Zanka no Tachi."

"Heh..."

With a sudden, eerie smile, Chojiro's entire body began to wrap itself in a thick shroud of lightning.

"Boom! Ruumble—!"

Blade and man alike erupted into a massive explosion. Immediately following, a colossal bolt of lightning crashed down from the sky, enveloping them both once again.

"Huff..."

Supporting his entire body with the strain of a Bankai encompassing the entire Soul Society, Chojiro could not possibly be anything less than exhausted. Furthermore, having consecutively unleashed "Raiten Kantsu," "Raijin Honzon," and "Gonryomaru Bakurai"—and leveraging his Bankai's ability to infinitely amplify even the faintest sparks of static friction—the destructive might of his "Gonryomaru Bakurai" and "Raijin Honzon" had been elevated to unfathomable heights.

"Well fought..."

Exhaling deeply, he had intended to take a brief moment to rest, but Yhwach's voice once again drifted out from amidst the billowing cloud of dust.

"You are the first person who has ever forced me to sacrifice my entire left arm just to survive such an attack."

With his entire left arm and nearly half his torso charred to a crisp, Yhwach wore a grave expression. He had not anticipated that the defense of Blut Vene would prove so mediocre in the face of this man's Bankai; it seemed imperative to recalibrate the intensity of his Blut defensive armor upon returning.

Yet, before that, he had to eliminate this man.

"Huff..."

A gust of wind blew in from an unknown direction. Riding the current of that breeze, Yhwach raised his blade once more.

"Allow me to show you... my ability, once fully released—"

"Thud—Crash!"

Just as Yhwach prepared to unleash his power, a slender, dark Zanpakuto violently plunged into the ground between Chojiro and Yhwach, driven with such immense force that the blade buried itself a third deep into the earth.

"So you've finally arrived..."

He had not expected someone to emerge and disrupt his plans at this exact juncture; clearly, he had miscalculated certain variables after all.

He had originally intended to use Quilge Opie's power to seal this fellow within the Garganta, allowing him to take this golden opportunity to lead the Sternritter and wipe the Soul Society off the map.

Yet, throughout the process, he had committed miscalculations.

First, Chojiro Sasakibe's power; he had never imagined that apart from Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto, the Soul Society harbored someone possessing such terrifying strength, capable of pushing even him onto the defensive.

And second—the awakening of this young man.

Originally, he had planned to drag him back to the Wandenreich later for proper conditioning, but having awakened his true power far ahead of schedule, not only had he shattered Quilge's prison, but he had also charged straight for him without hesitation.

"An unexpected reunion..."

Gazing at the orange-haired Shinigami standing before him, whose eyes burned with an overwhelming intent to kill, Yhwach's expression darkened as well.

"Kurosaki Ichigo."