At the entrance to the Second Division barracks, Tsunayoshi's group happened to meet up with Yoruichi.
"You brought this many people?" Yoruichi frowned slightly. The Nest of Maggots was not a pleasant place. The scene they were about to witness might not be pretty.
"I've already given them a warning. Seeing the horrors of a battlefield isn't necessarily a bad thing," Tsunayoshi said.
"Oh? Even Ichigo can accept that?" Yoruichi looked at Ichigo with a playful expression. She knew very well that among this group, the gentlest one toward others was actually Ichigo—and he was also the one least willing to strike hard against an enemy.
"What are you talking about? If they're criminals, I'm not going to hold back!" Ichigo's emotions were instantly provoked, and he loudly declared his resolve.
"Then that's fine. Follow me, little ones."
As the former captain of the Second Division, Yoruichi naturally knew the way to the Nest of Maggots. The reason she, despite setting out first, had only now met up with Tsunayoshi and the others was because she had made a special trip to Suì-Fēng's location.
After obtaining an authorization token from Suì-Fēng, Yoruichi used it to open the way and led everyone straight toward the Nest of Maggots.
Along the way, aside from a few guards still openly carrying out their duties, the vast majority of the defenses had already been taken down by Inaba. On top of that, the Onmitsukidō had all been scattered to monitor the nobles.
It could be said that the Nest of Maggots' security was currently weaker than it had ever been. Sure enough, as they neared their destination, they could see several brutal-looking men dressed in worn-out white kimono kicking the corpses on the ground.
They were venting their anger. These people were criminals imprisoned in the Nest of Maggots, and the targets of their rage were undoubtedly the murdered guards.
Yoruichi's expression darkened. The Nest of Maggots had truly descended into chaos. Seeing the uniforms of her former subordinates being humiliated by these men, Yoruichi quickened her pace.
However, something moved even faster than Yoruichi.
Two streaks of light, one red and one blue, shot past Yoruichi's side. In the blink of an eye, they pinned two criminals to the wall and killed them.
It was Uryū and Ichigo.
Gentleness did not mean they were fools. Before they could even think, their bodies had reacted first. Two Heilig Pfeil sent those men on their way.
The attacks from Uryū and Ichigo immediately frightened the remaining two men so badly that they did not dare move. Being criminals did not mean they lacked judgment. The fact that the newcomers could kill the two beside them in an instant proved that these people from Soul Society were far stronger than they were.
The two immediately dropped to their knees and begged for mercy. Having survived in the Nest of Maggots for so long, they had long since stopped caring about dignity.
"What happened inside?" The moment Yoruichi opened her mouth, the aura of someone who stood above others pressed down on the two men. They did not even think of hiding anything, and spilled everything that had happened in the Nest of Maggots like beans from a bamboo tube.
Today, a man with strangely colored hair had broken into the Nest of Maggots. He had also brought a large coffin with him, seemingly as though he had come to collect someone's body.
The moment that man entered the Nest of Maggots, he began a massacre. Terrifying flames burned away the few thatched huts inside, and a large number of criminals were killed by him.
As for these few, because they were weak and had a bit of sense, they had managed to survive by chance. They had just escaped from the Nest of Maggots and kicked those unfortunate guards a few times to vent their anger when they ran into Yoruichi's group.
"Looks like it's not too bad yet."
Ignoring the two criminals' expressions of joy, Yoruichi waved her hand casually and sent them on their way.
Yoruichi led the way into the Nest of Maggots. The two criminals had not lied. At this moment, the Nest of Maggots no longer had its former appearance. There was no sign of the crowds of criminals who used to gather there. Instead, a faint aura of death now permeated the entire area.
The footsteps of Tsunayoshi and the others were extremely clear in the silent Nest of Maggots. Standing in the center of the grounds, with Modified Souls scattered all over the ground beneath his feet, Inaba immediately noticed their arrival.
"Well now, who might this be? Nozomi, have you changed your mind? You've come to merge with me, haven't you?"
Inaba's gaze ignored every irrelevant person present. In his eyes, there was only Nozomi Kujō. If Nozomi had changed her mind, then it was not impossible for him to leave Soul Society intact.
After all, a king still needed a throne from which to carry out his ideals.
Nozomi did not answer. She merely drew her Zanpakutō, released Arazome Shigure, and pointed the blade at Inaba. That action was her best response.
"So you still choose destruction? How foolish."
Tsunayoshi and the others had no interest in listening to Inaba lament about life. As long as they captured him, this incident would be resolved.
Yoruichi appeared in front of Inaba with Shunpo. Activating Shunkō, she threw a powerful punch infused with Reiatsu straight toward him.
However, the expression on Inaba's face remained completely calm. He leisurely spun his Zanpakutō, and a black space appeared before him. Emerging from within was Suì-Fēng, also with Shunkō activated.
The two Shunkō attacks clashed head-on. Amid the sound of an explosion, Yoruichi returned to Tsunayoshi's side, while the Suì-Fēng who had suddenly appeared vanished.
"There's still some time before the research is complete. We can have a nice little game."
Inaba advanced with his Zanpakutō, Raikū, in hand. Only now did everyone see that behind Inaba sat a man in a wheelchair, his eyes vacant and lifeless.
With dark-green hair and a face that bore a seventy-percent resemblance to Nozomi and Inaba, this person was most likely Ōko Yushima, who had been locked away in the Nest of Maggots by Central 46.
Because he had divided himself into two parts, the current Ōko Yushima had only his body remaining, with no consciousness whatsoever. He looked entirely like a living corpse.
Strange patterns had been drawn all over Ōko Yushima's body. The patterns extended to the ground, forming what looked like a gigantic array. At the center of the array was a coffin, making the whole scene appear as if some mysterious ritual were being performed.
"Move faster," Inaba said, not forgetting to give an order as he stepped forward.
Behind the coffin, a woman walked out. She was holding all kinds of bottles and jars in her hands while drawing on the ground. Hearing Inaba's instruction, she hurriedly bowed and said,
"Yes, Lord Inaba!"
Her appearance was identical to Nemu Kurotsuchi's. Unless something unexpected had happened, she was Nemu's Reigai. She was nothing more than Inaba's tool, completing the final ritual for him.
"Tatsuki, protect Nozomi Kujō. Everyone else, move to stop Inaba," Tsunayoshi arranged.
Although they still did not fully understand what Inaba wanted to do, based on the principle that anything the enemy wanted to accomplish had to be stopped, interrupting the ritual would be enough.
Tsunayoshi and the others immediately spread out. There was only one Inaba. There was no way he could stop all of them at once.
However, Inaba had already anticipated this scenario. In fact, the number of people who had come was even fewer than he had expected. He had originally prepared to fight the entire Gotei Thirteen by himself.
Raikū turned. A vast wave of pink petals surged out from the space created by Inaba, engulfing Tsunayoshi and the others in an instant. The figure that walked out from within was someone they could not have been more familiar with.
Byakuya Kuchiki.
This was the power of Senbonzakura Kageyoshi.
The wave of cherry blossoms forcibly drove everyone back. After releasing that attack, Byakuya Kuchiki vanished from before them, replaced once more by Inaba's smug face.
"Well? I assume you've already prepared yourselves to face the entire Gotei Thirteen?" Inaba laughed happily.
Ever since he had failed to take Nozomi away, this was the first time he had smiled. Overwhelming strength always made it easy for people to become intoxicated.
"He can create spatial seals and use his opponents' attacks. Before coming to the Nest of Maggots, he must have already sealed away the techniques of the Gotei Thirteen," Tsunayoshi quickly shared the information.
He once again recalled the scene of Inaba using his own techniques to attack him.
Just as Tsunayoshi guessed, Inaba's Zanpakutō had sealed away a large number of the captains' techniques. Even if they were only attacks from Reigai, if stacked together in sufficient numbers, they would still be extremely powerful.
"Tsunayoshi, don't let that sword spin," Tatsuki reminded him. She had been present when Tsunayoshi fought Inaba back then.
"Right. That's exactly what I was planning."
Tsunayoshi switched to the power of the Earth attribute. He intended to repeat his previous tactic and use the gravity of the earth to prevent Inaba from spinning his Zanpakutō.
Just like when they fought in the World of the Living, Tsunayoshi used the properties of the Earth Ring to strengthen the gravity around Inaba. However, Inaba did not dodge at all. It was as though he had deliberately been waiting for Tsunayoshi to apply the gravitational pressure.
"With gravity at this level, even holding my sword is already extremely difficult."
Inaba raised his head and looked directly at Tsunayoshi for the first time.
"But as a researcher, you don't think I never considered a countermeasure, do you?"
Reiatsu flowed from his palm into his Zanpakutō, Raikū. Suddenly, streams of Reiatsu sprayed out from both ends of Raikū in opposite directions. Propelled by that Reiatsu, the Zanpakutō actually began to spin on its own.
Inaba had originally been a researcher of Squad 12 . For people like them, the first lesson in research was to study their own Zanpakutō. And under the influence of both the former and current captains, modifying one's Zanpakutō was an utterly ordinary matter.
In the past, Inaba had refrained from modifying his Zanpakutō because he feared it might affect his fusion with Nozomi Kujō.
But after discovering that Nozomi was being protected by a powerful enemy he could not handle, Inaba had indeed modified his Zanpakutō. He had added small devices to both ends of the blade that could release Reiatsu jets, specifically to deal with the powerful enemy named Tsunayoshi Sawada.
Raikū spun, cutting open a pitch-black space.
Before anything could be seen, a fierce wave of heat had already swept into every corner of the Nest of Maggots.
"Have you ever witnessed the Head Captain's power? Take this—Gōka no Ken!"
The one who emerged from the space was none other than Yamamoto, holding a massive sword of blazing flame. Inaba had sealed the power of Yamamoto's Bankai, and the flames those criminals had seen earlier were most likely one of Yamamoto's attacks that Inaba had sealed.
The Yamamoto who stepped out of the space moved like a machine, perfectly carrying out the action he had performed before being sealed. Gōka no Ken swept horizontally, and a terrifying flaming slash immediately surged outward.
When Inaba had assumed he would have to face the entire Gotei Thirteen, he had chosen the techniques he sealed with care, selecting large-area attacks as much as possible.
In order to seal this one strike from Yamamoto, Inaba had truly nearly been burned to death by the fake Yamamoto at the time. Fortunately, everything had been worth it. He refused to believe that any Shinigami could survive such a terrifying slash.
Yet amid this confident attack, Tsunayoshi's calm voice passed through the flames and reached Inaba's ears.
"Everyone, fall back. Hide behind me!"
Suddenly, Inaba felt his body become light. The gravitational pressure around him disappeared. At the same time, the hexagram behind Tsunayoshi rotated to the double-hexagon pattern.
Glacier.
The power of freezing.
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