Chapter 338: Shakkahō

As Jūshirō Ukitake caught Shunsui Kyōraku, he realized how light Shunsui's body was—almost weightless, even more so than Ukitake's own frail body. It was as if all the moisture, bones, and muscles in Shunsui's body had lost their mass.

His body's moisture, bones, and muscles had been pierced and transformed by H'el's Shadow World into something insubstantial.

His body was riddled with holes, oozing a mixture of colorless fluid and murky blood, leaving his entire form more tattered than a rag.

Ukitake's eyes widened in disbelief at the sight of Shunsui in such a condition.

In such a short time, he had been utterly defeated!

His body was completely pierced.

All that remained was the residual spiritual pressure keeping him barely alive.

"*Ugh…*" Shunsui tried to speak, but his throat and vocal cords had been completely pierced, rendering him incapable of forming coherent words.

"I'm listening, Shunsui. Take your time; I'll understand," Ukitake said, bringing his ear close to Shunsui's lips, his thin mouth tightly pressed together, his eyes reflecting deep sorrow.

"Spiritual… pressure…" Shunsui managed to gasp out in a barely audible voice. His entire being felt surrounded by the cold, icy nature of death, as if a woman's chilly temperament had turned him into a block of ice, shrouded in darkness and frigid cold. His tattered body trembled.

He was trying to convey that only a high concentration of spiritual pressure could destroy H'el in an instant, obliterating him.

Shunsui had already noticed that a weak spiritual pressure was H'el's fatal weakness.

But when he had prepared to use a high-level spiritual pressure for his Bankai, the opportunity had already slipped away.

Ukitake understood Shunsui's mention of spiritual pressure but didn't fully grasp the situation. He nodded with a grief-stricken expression, "I heard you, Shunsui."

Just then, Retsu Unohana, who had arrived behind Ukitake, saw Shunsui's wounds and her face tightened in concern. She quickly began chanting to release her Shikai.

"Minazuki, devour him!" A huge, flat, single-eyed creature, resembling a pale green manta ray, emerged from Unohana's hand as she released her Shikai.

Minazuki could rapidly heal the wounded by swallowing them.

Ukitake gently handed Shunsui's fragile body over to Minazuki's open mouth, allowing it to swallow him whole.

"His body's spiritual structure has been completely destroyed, leaving only his spiritual pressure. I'll do my best to save his life," Unohana said solemnly.

She had never seen such strange injuries before.

It was as if the very essence of his body had been completely pierced from within, destroying all the key spiritual nodes that maintained his body—precisely, elegantly, and with shocking accuracy.

If not for Shunsui's powerful spiritual pressure, he might have already died from such grievous injuries.

"Please, Captain Unohana," Ukitake said, nodding to Unohana. He knew that even if Shunsui could be saved, he would be left as little more than a shell of his former self.

Ukitake looked up, gripping his Zanpakutō, anger welling up in his eyes as he gazed towards the sky.

In the sky above, five captains had reached H'el before Ukitake, as H'el continued advancing, meeting the five Shinigami Captain head-on with his powerful spiritual pressure.

But the closer they got to H'el, the more they were struck by the overwhelming presence of the 3000 Worlds behind him.

The vast sea of spiritual particles surrounding H'el moved like stars, rotating around the 3000 Worlds and being absorbed, creating a breathtaking and awe-inspiring spectacle.

Kensei Muguruma wanted to say something, but Shinji Hirako felt there was no need. As he used Shunpo to quickly close the distance between himself and H'el, he extended a finger towards H'el, chanting,

"Ye Lord! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, fluttering wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Inferno and pandemonium, the sea barrier surges, march on to the south!

Hado #31: Shakkahō!"

Hado #31: Shakkahō was the perfect Kido for probing an enemy's strength, as its power could be adjusted. Depending on how the enemy responded, their strength and abilities could be assessed.

Fully chanting the Hado #31: Shakkahō, Hirako unleashed a red flame cannon nearly five meters in diameter from his fingertip, carrying searing heat as it flew towards H'el.

The surrounding air grew hot from the intensity of the Shakkahō.

H'el glanced at the captains who had approached without any pleasantries and had immediately started using Kido. The Shakkahō came roaring towards him with scorching heat and piercing sound waves.

A black circular disc appeared in front of H'el, like a gaping maw, swallowing the Hado #31: Shakkahō in one gulp.

The surrounding air quickly cooled as the Shakkahō disappeared.

"Heh… All you've got is weak stuff like that?" Kenpachi Kiganjo scoffed, grinning broadly as he mocked the useless Shakkahō.

"Kido is just a trifle. Let me show you what real combat is!" Kiganjo shouted as he drew his Zanpakutō, roaring as he charged forward, leaping into the sky, preparing to release his Shikai and engage H'el in close combat.

"Hado #31: Shakkahō."

H'el was quicker, chanting a brief incantation.

Suddenly, a black disc over 500 meters in diameter appeared above the airborne Kenpachi Zaraki.

A massive Shakkahō, over 500 meters in diameter and blazing like the sun, descended from the black disc.

The surrounding air rapidly heated up to a scorching level.

"How is this possible!" Shinji Hirako's eyes bulged in disbelief. He could feel that this enormous Shakkahō carried the same essence as the one he had just released.

This meant that H'el had used Hirako's Shakkahō, modified it, and wrapped it within his own, amplifying its size and power.

But… could a person really do something like that?

"Why is this Shakkahō so enormous!" Love Aikawa, the captain of the 7th Division, asked in shock. The Shakkahō had become a sun, and the searing heat coming off it was scorching his hair, making it feel dry and brittle.

"It's the black sphere behind him; it absorbs spiritual particles and amplifies the power of Kido!" Kensei Muguruma said, his eyes wide as he quickly deduced the function of the black sphere behind H'el.

"Get out of the way, Kiganjo!" Rōjurō Ōtoribashi shouted in warning.

The enormous Shakkahō, over 500 meters in diameter, crashed down towards the stunned Kenpachi Kiganjo, who hadn't even had time to chant his Shikai. The tremendous impact and scorching heat forced a scream from him.

Then, the gigantic Shakkahō collided with Kenpachi Kiganjo, erupting into a wild blaze of flames, creating a scene akin to a nuclear explosion in the sky.

°°°

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