The Divine Forge

"I'm sure it's not been that long that you've forgotten about me." Oetsu Nimaiya taunted.

Reiō's facial expression changed, expressing disgust to him.

"Yeah, I can't just let you go around using something as powerful as that for free. Surely you remember... well then again you wasn't around but I forged the zanpakuto these shinigami today rely on. Thus, when I need to, I'm willing to break out my baby and discpline any zanpakuto spirits that need it." Oetsu explained. His zanpakuto `Banbutsu hasshō` (All thing's Origin) is a single release zanpakuto that was the first ever to exist, maintaining it's form as a hammer at all times. It's main abilities focus around the control of a zanpakuto spirit, being able to reproduce new spirits of different natures with ease and having control over other spirits by extension, able to nullify the abilities of a zanpakuto spirit when in close proximity, and even destroy a spirit should he desire by striking them directly.

"Thank goodness you got down here in time." Tenjiro exclaimed.

"Of course bro! Now you go relax, things are about to get real heated." Oetsu replied, winking in a friendly manner towards his comrade as he flash-stepped away.

"You will die just like the monk!" An enraged Reiō shouted before expanding his hand in front of him, spawning 5 pillars of light that raced towards the royal guard's position, the soul king exerting his reiatsu to lock Oetsu where he stood, freezing his legs.

"Absorb, Kokuren kanpekina kagami (Black Lotus Perfect Mirror)" Oetsu uttered as the light overwhelmed him; equipping a zanpakuto from under his jacket. As the dust settled after the attack, the soul king looked on in annoyance as the royal guard seemed to be completely unscathed despite not being able to dodge the attack.

"Now I know this zanpakuto doesn't hold a candle up to the real ability but did you really think you'd just be able to kill me that easily?" Oetsu taunted.

Unlike with the previous opponents, Reiō appeared to have a vengeance against Oetsu and had no desire to go on the defensive against him. He charged up a large dense ball of reiatsu before sending it flying towards Oetsu's direction, but rather than aiming to dodge the attack, the royal guard charged towards it. He grinned as he flash stepped beside it, facing towards the soul king and released the stored power within the zanpakuto. Kokuren kanpekina kagami is a zanpakuto that was forged with similar intentions to Shinken Hakkyōken but more versatile and useable in battling the divine. By absorbing the power of incoming attacks, it could redirect that power with the same lethality as the original user; in this case, he used it to not only destroy the cero but also potentially harm the soul king at the same time.

"Imitating power... how insolent." Reiō exclaimed, ashamed at the desperate feats Oetsu had to go to to stand a chance as he looked at the dust remains of the prodigious cero he launched, unharmed as he regenerated all damage taken almost instantly.

Reiō teleported behind the royal guard, ready to strike him and end the fight with a single attack, using a blade of reiatsu, similar in structure to Yhwach's reishi broadsword. "You didn't think I was that slow?" Oetsu taunted as he blocked the attack just in time, turning to the soul king. "Yeah the great thing about this zanpakuto is that it can also absorb power from objects too, looks like we're at a stalemate right?"

"Such bold words." Reiō responded.

Within a small shift of how he held his blade, Reiō had instantly sliced Oetsu all over his body, delivering several blows he had no chance at stopping.

"Dammit." Oetsu exclaimed. He had underestimated the transcendent speed the soul king had and was heavily wounded cause of it.

The soul king seemingly retreated to the sky, high above everyone as he raised his hand and uttered the words: "Shinku no sora (crimson sky)". Momentarily after, the sky turned a deep crimson red, covering the whole of soul society as flashes of light appeared in the sky, soon after revealed as beams of energy that were rushing down towards the seireitei and beyond. Requiring no incantation, the soul king could use primordial level kidō techniques that scaled far beyond other kidō based techniques.

"Shit!" Oetsu cursed, realizing the magnitude of the attack incoming. Far beyond the likes of Gremmy's meteor the impact of the hundreds of beams in the sky would definitely destroy the barrier and even reach the captains in the evacuation area, wiping almost everything out all at once; the sheer power for a feat of this kind unprecedented within the seireitei.

"The things you lot make me have to deal with..." A voice uttered.

"Well well well… Looks like you're all better already." Oetsu replied, looking upon Kuroi as he flash-stepped in.

"Yeah, and now you lot can butt out of my fight. Besides, your purpose wasn't to fight the soul king, Ichibe's waiting for you." Kuroi excitedly exclaimed, ejecting his hands out either side of his body before performing hand signals and snapping his fingers to summon an array of space-time barriers that encapsulated each and every beam of energy, solely saving the soul society from its premature destruction.

"I think we're due a round two... Soul king!" The royal guard taunted as Oetsu headed down towards Ichibe...