Chapter 357: Your Name

"It's over."

Seeing that H'el could transfer his consciousness between particles of spirit energy and then use them to create a new body for himself, Urahara Kisuke's expression was the most troubled among those present. His eyes were fixated on H'el, unable to believe that such a manipulation of spirit energy was even possible.

"Transferring consciousness between spirit particles? What kind of technique is this?"

"What's wrong, Kisuke?" Yoruichi Shihouin, standing nearby, also wore a grim expression as she observed H'el within the barrier. She glanced at Urahara and noticed the hopeless look on his face, prompting her to ask.

Urahara Kisuke shook his head with a bitter smile. "We have no chance of defeating him now."

"Hmm?" Yoruichi's face darkened, and she reluctantly agreed with Urahara's assessment. The abilities of the monk, who could name and affect all things, were formidable enough that most of the captains of the Gotei 13 couldn't even begin to counter them.

Just reducing an opponent's power by half without needing to release his sword was enough to overwhelm any of the captains. Not to mention the fact that anything toucHyuubyАхицнкнынn wnavdamose its name andvyskaidomhattuolomiattīceibomallelimlgrupiejumimg. Yet, H'el had endured all of these abilities and was still alive, which was terrifying.

Even with the attacks from the leader of the Royal Guard Division, the monk couldn't fully kill H'el. They were at a loss as to how they could ever hope to kill him.

However, Yoruichi was puzzled because, as far as she knew, Urahara Kisuke was not the tH'elto show such helplessness. He was always able to find a way out, always haH'elbackup plan.

Seeing Urahara's bitter and reH'el'sl expression, Yoruichi pressed on, "Why?"

"Because many of the spirit particles he previously absorbed were transferred outside the barShirafuden," UH'elra replied, his face deeply troubled.

OrigiH'el's his plan was to limit H'el's use of spirit particles, gradually wearinH'el'sdown until he could be completely destroyed. But now, seeing that H'el could transfer his consciousness into spirit particles and revive himself, Urahara realized the plan was doomed.

If H'el could transfer his consciousness into spirit particles and use them to rebuild his body, it meant that even if his body was destroyed within the barrier, he could possibly connect with spirit particles outside the barrier and resurrect himself.

And the outside world was filled with spirit energy—every breath was loaded with it. It was like a cat in a fish market a paradise beyond words.

This was extremely problematic.

Urahara was convinced that H'el could do just that, which is why his expression was so grim and regretful. If the barrier had been completely sealed off, without transferring any of the spirit particles H'el had come into contact with, they might have had a chance to truly eliminate him by destroying all his spirit particles within the barrier.

But now, it was impossible.

The spirit particles had dispersed into the atmosphere outside the barrier and couldn't be retrieved.

Yoruichi, having realized this, had her expression change rapidly. Urahara's actions hadn't been wrong; the only mistake was that they had all underestimated H'el's mastery of spirit particles—something beyond their wildest imaginations.

"Do you have any backup plans?" Yoruichi asked, her expression stern. "I believe you must have something prepared."

Urahara tilted his head slightly. Yoruichi's sharp eyes followed his gaze upwards to the sky, where the Gates of Hell were beginning to fully open.

"Our only option now is to send him to Hell and hope it can seal him completely," Urahara said in a serious tone. "The barrier can transfer spirit particles both ways. I can send a massive amount of external spirit energy into the barrier, letting him absorb it and accelerating the full opening of the Gates of Hell."

"In doing so, he might become even stronger than when he fought Captain Yamamoto. Your task will be to avoid being killed instantly and to stall him until the Gates of Hell can take him."

Urahara didn't think it was a good plan. Considering H'el's previous feats, once he gained control of enough spirit energy, he could become nearly invincible. Whether Yoruichi, Unohana Retsu, Kuchiki Ginrei, and Ukitake Jūshirō could delay H'el would depend entirely on whether their skills interested H'el enough.

But even a bad plan was better than no plan at all, and Urahara had no other options.

"I understand. I'll do my best not to get killed in one strike," Yoruichi replied firmly, clenching her fist over her chest as she looked towards H'el, who was regenerating within the barrier, as well as the monk, who was about to unleash his Bankai.

"Bankai: Shirafuden Ichimonji!"

As the monk leapt into the sky, Bankai unleashed, rushing towards H'el, a strange sensation suddenly overwhelmed him.

"Who am I?" A deep, unsettling question arose in H'el's mind.

In that instant, some effect had activated, erasing his name entirely.

"Was it mixed in with that attack earlier? Completely erasing my name." His eyes narrowed. In that moment, the memory of his name vanished from his mind.

From his earliest memories on Krypton, his name was now a blank space. He could remember the faces of those who called his name, but their voices calling him were soundless.

"Hala? Hyuu? Ахицнкнын?? navdam? rti? inan? nu vyskaidom attuolom attīceibom; lelim grupiejumim, ?········" In an instant, he tried to reconstruct his name based on the lip movements and the strokes of the written characters in his memories, but he couldn't resolve the fact that he no longer had a name.

Around him, Urahara Kisuke, Yoruichi Shihouin, Unohana Retsu, Kuchiki Ginrei, and Ukitake Jūshirō found themselves unable to describe H'el or speak his name.

At the same time, far away, Aizen frowned deeply, trying to say H'el's name but found himself struck silent, standing still in shock.

Gin Ichimaru opened his squinting eyes, falling into deep thought.

"Your name?"

Matsumoto Rangiku, who was praying for H'el, suddenly found her thoughts in turmoil as H'el's name began to fade from her memory. Her face turned to one of horror, "No...!"

White paint, like splashed ink, poured from the monk's Shirafuden Ichimonji, completely covering the space in white.

The monk swung his sword, and the two characters he wrote were branded onto H'el's chest.

"Black Ant!"

°°°

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