Chapter 359: It Doesn't Matter

Upon hearing H'el speak to the Monk of True Names, Urahara Kisuke's face showed disbelief, his eyes wide with shock.

In the next moment, within the barrier, H'el pointed his blade skyward. One by one, dark spheres began to appear above, densely packed in the sky, pressing against the barrier with increasing force.

"I can't hold it any longer," Urahara Kisuke muttered, his face darkened with despair. He turned ashen, sweat dripping like water as the spiritual energy within him surged wildly into the barrier columns, attempting to maintain them.

It was unimaginable—if such a vast number of dark spheres were to appear in the sky above the Seireitei, H'el would become an even more terrifying existence.

He was determined to stick to his plan.

But the dark spheres inside were becoming more substantial, like balloons squeezed into a small space, exerting tremendous pressure from within.

'Bang!'

The blue-hued barrier shattered under the strain, breaking apart in the sky like glass falling from a skyscraper. Before the fragments could dissolve into spiritual particles, the dark spheres within, like caged doves, burst forth into the sky, spreading out.

Unohana Retsu, Ukitake Jūshirō, Shihouin Yoruichi, and Kuchiki Ginrei looked up, watching as the dark spheres passed overhead, blocking out the sun and casting them into shadow.

The entire Seireitei was covered in a dense, orderly array of dark spheres, obscuring the sunlight and casting a chill over every Soul Reaper below. The hearts of the many Soul Reapers grew cold.

This battle had escalated to this point—Kyoraku Shunsui, Kiganjo Kenpachi, Hirako Shinji, Muguruma Kensei, Rose Otoribashi, and other Captains had been defeated. Even Head Captain Yamamoto could not hold out long enough to defeat H'el before the Gates of Hell were fully opened.

It wasn't until the leader of the Royal Guard, the Monk of True Names, appeared that it felt like H'el was finally being overwhelmed.

But now, looking at the sky filled with dark spheres, every Soul Reaper in the Seireitei couldn't help but feel despair.

Even with just three thousand of these spheres, they had struggled to cope—barely managing to survive despite their combined efforts, including the Head Captain. And now, the sky was filled with them, too many to count. How could they possibly fight against such overwhelming power?

Why... is he so strong?

Despair settled in the hearts of the Soul Reapers, their hands gripping the hilts of their Zanpakutōs weakly.

"Is his power even greater than before?" Ukitake Jūshirō's face paled as he looked up at the sky filled with dark spheres, his pupils reflecting disbelief.

Previously, they had been unable to deal with even three thousand of these dark spheres, unable to destroy them faster than they could regenerate. And now, with the sky thick with dark spheres, shrouding the Seireitei in darkness—how could they possibly fight?

Seeing the Seireitei engulfed in darkness, Ukitake felt a moment of confusion before resolutely deciding to use the 'Right Arm of the Soul King,' even if it cost him his life.

Unohana Retsu's face remained expressionless, but her eyes glinted with cold, murderous intent as she began to draw her blade from its sheath.

"Let him absorb more spiritual energy!" Urahara Kisuke, standing beside Shihouin Yoruichi, frowned deeply. His chest was tight with pain, the backlash from the barrier's destruction having severely injured his internal organs. He clutched his chest, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth as he looked up at the sky and said, "The Gates of Hell are about to fully open. His power has accelerated the process. Let him continue absorbing spiritual energy, even if it means the destruction of the Seireitei."

Urahara Kisuke coughed twice, exhaling a breath tinged with the scent of blood, and reminded Shihouin Yoruichi.

He had initially planned to funnel massive amounts of spiritual energy into the barrier for H'el to absorb, thereby accelerating the opening of the Gates of Hell and sealing H'el within.

Now that the barrier had been destroyed, that plan was dead in the water.

But with such a massive number of dark spheres, even a slight absorption of spiritual energy would result in a tremendous amount being drawn in, potentially achieving Urahara Kisuke's goal.

Now, Urahara Kisuke could only hope that H'el had no means of resisting Hell. Otherwise, a living Soul King would exist in the Three Realms.

Shihouin Yoruichi cracked her knuckles, a confident grin spreading across her face. "Kisuke, take a good rest and prepare your next scheme. Leave the rest to us."

With that, Shihouin Yoruichi began to walk toward H'el.

Urahara Kisuke was speechless. What other scheme could there possibly be...?

Speechless, his gaze shifted to Ukitake Jūshirō.

"The Gates of Hell are about to fully open. Displaying a power 400 times stronger than before will only hasten your downfall."

Facing H'el in the sky, the Monk of True Names suddenly grinned.

But it did nothing to alleviate the cold fear in his heart, his vigilance toward H'el rising to its peak.

He knew that at this moment, H'el was invincible.

Not just at this moment—in fact, even before this, H'el had been invincible, despite the fact that any Soul Reaper with spiritual pressure higher than his could use their Zanpakutō's abilities to affect him.

All the Soul Reapers had fallen to technique.

"It doesn't matter," H'el said with a smile. "I know the effects of the abilities you used on me are still present, lingering on me. In the end, they will make the Seireitei forget about me, forget the fear I brought you, make everyone who knows me forget me, and even make me gradually forget myself. In this world, there will no longer be any memory of me.

But it really doesn't matter. In the end, I will voluntarily walk into Hell. When I return, I hope that after the fear I've instilled in you, your abilities will have sufficiently advanced and innovated."

H'el laughed, seeming unconcerned about having succumbed to the low spiritual pressure abilities.

Even though he had gained a power over 400 times stronger by converting the ant's strength through perception, even then, his spiritual pressure multiplied by 400 was still just barely that of an average lieutenant-level spiritual pressure. With such weak spiritual pressure, he had no way to eliminate the Monk of True Names' influence on him.

But unable to eliminate it or not, he was still invincible.

As H'el bantered with the Monk of True Names, four captains outside the barrier launched an attack.

The first to strike, using Shunpo to step up from below, was Unohana Retsu.

"Bankai: Minazuki!"

In H'el's eyes, blood began to seep from the air in the sky, forming walls of blood. The surrounding dense blood dripped like it was falling from the floor of a dark dungeon, pooling at H'el's feet.

Unohana Retsu, like a demon drenched in blood, held her blood-stained curved Zanpakutō, pouring immense spiritual pressure into it as she slashed at H'el.

°°°

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