Chapter 1197

Following the large group, they vanished together.

On top of piles of broken stones and rubble.

Seeing everyone leave, Kurosaki Isshin finally relaxed.

If he truly faced Yamamoto Genryūsai, even with Urahara Kisuke's help, Kurosaki Isshin had less than a thirty percent chance of escaping unscathed, for their opponent was the strongest Shinigami in Shinigami history—no amount of overestimation was excessive.

But... as he let out his breath, Kurosaki Isshin felt something strange.

"I thought I'd have to fight Yamamoto and the others!"

"I never expected Yamamoto to act as if he didn't see us... No! He seemed not to recognize us at all."

Kurosaki Isshin frowned, feeling utterly unbelievable.

Has my change over these years become this extreme? That makes no sense! Even if my appearance changed, Yamamoto surely wouldn't fail to recognize Zangetsu in my hand... "Yamamoto truly didn't recognize us!"

Urahara Kisuke paused, turned his head, and glanced at Kurosaki Ichigo, "Because! Aizen used Sense Domination to mask us! Honestly, if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I'd never believe such a thing."

"... Aizen actually helped us?"

Kurosaki Isshin fell silent, sheathing Zangetsu.

After a brief silence.

Urahara Kisuke and Kurosaki Isshin both turned their gazes toward Kurosaki Ichigo.

They could all sense that Aizen's behavior toward Kurosaki Ichigo had been...

Strange.

Kurosaki Ichigo irritably scratched his head, explaining that in the Society, his relationship with Aizen wasn't good.

They were completely innocent! He wanted to complain, but clearly couldn't say it aloud, so he finally said, "Fine, I get what you mean! I'll give you a reasonable explanation... but not now!"

"The most important issue now... is to eliminate all the rampaging undead skeletons."

If too much time passes! The more these... undead skeletons flee,

The more effort we'll need later to truly resolve them!"

In the blink of an eye, Su Han returned to the real world.

He stretched slightly, then checked his mission evaluation.

"... Besides the mission reward points, there's a special reward: +1 to Life Essence."

Su Han clicked his tongue; the Life Essence boost appeared at the end of the mission evaluation.

You had to click it manually to activate it.

If you didn't click, it would just sit there silently, without reminding you.

After thinking it over, Su Han directly clicked to upgrade.

The next instant, Su Han's entire body crackled with sharp, snapping sounds.

Su Han felt his body undergoing transformation, inch by inch.

"... It doesn't hurt! It even feels warm all over.

But... it's hard to describe exactly what changed!"

Su Han exhaled; that warm sensation quickly faded.

He stretched his body, then suddenly noticed something—his face twisted in shock, "My strength has increased... and..."

After a brief silence, Su Han reached up and touched his eyes; his pupils instantly transformed into the Six-Tomoe Rinnegan. He carefully sensed—then nodded, "Yes! My intuition was correct... the power of the Six-Tomoe Rinnegan has also improved dramatically."

The so-called Life Essence upgrade had been described so vaguely by the system before that Su Han only understood it generally, with little concrete knowledge.

But now, Su Han understood.

Because the changes in his body were now clearly perceptible.

His strength had further increased.

Strength, stamina, ocular power... these fundamental physical attributes.

All had improved significantly.

Su Han took the Soul Stone from the Society warehouse and, as usual, tested whether he could fuse the fourth Infinity Stone.

When he found he couldn't, he wasn't disappointed; he yawned and placed the Soul Stone into the system warehouse.

Then, Su Han lay on his bed, closed his eyes, and entered the Society chat room.

Su Xiao Xiao: "Aizen Sōsuke.

Kurosaki Ichigo.

One for All.

Luo Hao Sect Leader.

Bai Hu Zi.

I'm not bald."

Su Xiao Xiao: "Guys, have you... used the Life Essence boost?"

Bai Hu Zi: "Gurara! I used it."

Bai Hu Zi: "After the Essence upgrade, my strength, stamina, and speed all improved dramatically! And I feel my body's compatibility with the Gura Gura no Mi has...

Improved even further..."

Bai Hu Zi: "Even now, I still find it unbelievable!"