Chapter 44

The ground was densely covered everywhere with the shredded remains of Hollows, pulverized by the rampage of the blade storm.

His pupils contracted sharply.

Unohana Retsu, standing to one side, reached out and stopped the two who were advancing.

"The space ahead is very unstable."

"The moment you step through, you'll be torn to shreds."

Yoruichi and Urahara both nodded.

Urahara especially was in a complicated state of mind, thinking of his own experiment.

Perhaps.

The power of the Hōgyoku.

None of it was as terrifying as Kuchiki Senya, who every day just drank and slept, yet still possessed such combat power.

"That is my family's shield."

Yoruichi looked at the field, at the shield riddled with holes, and cried out in shock.

"Before, it was the Tsunayashiro family that borrowed this shield from my house!"

"The Tsunayashiro family, huh…"

Everyone present nodded slightly.

Just as expected.

What had happened between Kuchiki Senya and Tsunayashiro Tokinada was no secret.

A deep grudge had already been planted between the two.

It was just that no one had expected—

That the Tsunayashiro family would pay such an enormous price, just to kill Kuchiki Senya outright!

Kuchiki Sōjun and Kuchiki Ginrei were furious, their faces flushed red. "The Kuchiki family now declares full-scale war on the Tsunayashiro family!"

The Four Great Noble Houses.

Each one was a giant of Soul Society, with deeply entrenched and immensely powerful forces.

Once the two great families went to war—

The impact it would cause would be even more severe than tonight! It would raise a tremendous storm!

Shihōin Yoruichi's expression also grew solemn. "To brazenly stir up turmoil in Soul Society—my Shihōin family will also hold the Tsunayashiro family accountable."

"The Tsunayashiro family is unfit to be counted among the Four Great Noble Houses!"

As the eldest Princess and heir of the Shihōin family, Shihōin Yoruichi's words carried great weight.

To one side.

Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni also narrowed his eyes slightly, saying nothing.

This matter.

Was a family affair among the great nobles; the Gotei 13 had no authority to intervene.

"However."

"That is my family's sacred artifact, the strongest shield."

"Can Kuchiki Senya actually cut through it?"

Yoruichi looked at the field—at the black-clad men huddled behind the shield, and at the man with an utterly calm expression standing atop the Senya Pavilion.

Her brows furrowed slightly.

Everyone.

Also turned their gazes that way.

The myth of Soul Society, the shield passed down through the generations of the Shihōin family.

Versus Soul Society's sharpest Zanpakutō, the strongest genius Kuchiki Senya's Shikai…

This battle.

Was an event worthy of being recorded in the history of Soul Society.

Every one of them was a witness!

……

At this moment.

Upon the battlefield.

Behind the enormous shield radiating a steadfast light, amid the fine dust carved by crisscrossing blade Qi, great beads of cold sweat streamed down the foreheads of the black-clad men.

That sharp, cutting aura.

Even through the shield, it pricked their skin like needles and squeezed their hearts as though gripped by a hand.

They were filled with an inexplicable dread!

"Don't be afraid—channel all your spiritual pressure into the shield!" The leader's back was drenched in cold sweat.

He commanded aloud.

And so.

As spiritual pressure poured forth unceasingly, the light on the shield grew ever more brilliant, the original membrane of light expanded further, and grew several times thicker!

Even the Twin Fangs.

Could not leave the slightest mark on the shield in its current state!

"This shield."

Above.

Kuchiki Senya nodded slightly.

It was extremely famous. In the original work, when Kuchiki Rukia was being executed, it was this shield that withstood the assault of the Twin Swords.

It could be called the strongest defense.

However…

"Focus to a single point, reach the pinnacle, Heaven-Severing Myriad Forms!"

Heaven-Severing Myriad Forms suddenly blazed bright, its edge-sharp qi piercing through heaven and earth, as an invisible, terrifying pressure spread across the entire field.

All of the blade-light was gathered onto the edge of the blade.

All of the power was compressed to its absolute limit into a single point.

If one were to say…

What came before was a wide-range AoE, then now, this was the strongest, sharpest single-target strike!

039. One Slash to Break the Enemy!

The next instant…

"Crack—"

"Crack—"

Space shattered in great chunks, revealing pitch-black holes that looked chilling to behold.

A streak of pure-white light.

Like a meteor flashing briefly at the edge of the sky, it traced an arc through the air as if it did not exist in the mortal world.

At a speed beyond the reach of the naked eye, through spatial leap, it arrived directly before the shield.

One slash came down.

It pierced clean through!

The "strongest shield," like a piece of fragile paper, was brutally torn apart.

It could not block even the slightest bit!

A terrifying blade-light pierced straight through toward the distant horizon, leaving a pitch-black, unfathomably deep fissure upon the earth!

Stretching for dozens of li.

Bottomless.

It had even pierced through the rock layer below, with no one knowing just how far it had bored through!

All was silent.

Heaven and earth alike fell mute at the slash that had just occurred.

Every gaze was fixed dead upon the battlefield, where Kuchiki Senya was seen directly sheathing his blade.

He drained the last mouthful of wine.

Striding in grandly, he walked into the Meiyouli Society, paying no heed to the crowd outside.