The same phenomenon unfolded across every corner of the Bleach world.
1st Division, Captain-Commander's Office
The antique room was shrouded in a heavy atmosphere.
Before the transparent screen, Chōjirō Sasakibe sweated profusely, his gaze filled with awe and worry as he looked at the silent Captain-Commander.
Since the video resumed, Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto's face had darkened like still water.
"Kisuke Urahara…"
"Isshin Shiba…"
"Yoruichi Shihōin…"
Each name was spoken with a tone far from friendly, laced with hostility, disappointment, and regret.
After all, the trio in the video were once his prized talents, only to betray the Soul Society.
His white brows drooped like willow branches.
Yamamoto raised his eyes, asking sternly, "Chōjirō, do you think the scenes on this screen are real?"
First, Urahara fought an Arrancar alone. Now, the trio faced an unknown, powerful enemy.
The video's scenes were steeped in mystery.
"It's… hard to say," Chōjirō shook his head hesitantly. "Instinctively, I think the footage is edited or fabricated. But the reiatsu perception—it's too real to fake. These battles likely happened."
Sweat drenched his back, his voice trembling with unease.
The video's backgrounds—modern skyscrapers—suggested the living world.
Yet, Chōjirō couldn't recall any recent Hollow invasions, let alone Adjuchas-level Arrancar.
If this was Urahara's doing, what was his motive?
And how could the vivid reiatsu and oppressive pressure be explained?
His mind swirled with confusion, a tangled mess.
Rubbing his chin, Yamamoto nodded. "You're right, Chōjirō. Sight, sound, and touch can be deceived, but reiatsu cannot. It seems Urahara and his group faced a formidable foe. These battles are likely real."
"What should we do, Captain-Commander?" Chōjirō asked, at a loss.
This bizarre situation was unprecedented.
"Contact the Technical Development Bureau and keep watching," Yamamoto replied without hesitation.
Initially dismissive of the "strongest fighters" ranking, he now burned with curiosity.
He wanted to uncover the video's origin and, more importantly, identify the mysterious enemy radiating such overwhelming pressure.
"Yes, sir!" Chōjirō rushed out to contact Mayuri Kurotsuchi.
Yamamoto sat alone, the room's atmosphere growing stifling as he watched the screen.
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Hueco Mundo, Las Noches, Inner Hall
"What the hell? That battle ended so abruptly? So unsatisfying!" Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez slouched on the steps, spitting in frustration.
The first scene—Yammy Llargo's fight with Urahara—ended with Benihime's explosive sword pressure.
The Espada expected more, but the video cut to a new scene.
"Look, that fisherman-hat Shinigami's back!" Zommari Rureaux, the 7th Espada, pointed out.
"That's gotta be Kisuke Urahara, right?" Nnoitra Gilga sneered. "A weakling like him in the top 15? Ridiculous."
The Praying Mantis was livid, despising Urahara from the core.
Arrogant by nature, Nnoitra believed he was the strongest Espada.
Urahara's dominance over Yammy didn't impress him—Yammy was just too weak.
"Same here," Grimmjow chimed in, grinning confidently. "If Shinigami trash like him can make the list, I should be in the top 10!"
The Panther King's arrogance surpassed even Nnoitra's.
Suddenly, the video resumed.
Shing!
Sword pressure sliced through the air.
Opposite Urahara's trio, the unknown enemy emitting monstrous reiatsu emerged from the mist.
White, bone-like skin encased their body, resembling a cicada in its pupal stage, with only piercing blue eyes visible.
The grotesque form stunned every Arrancar present.
"Hm?!"
Even the haughty Espada fell silent, staring at the cicada-like figure.
Those blue eyes sparked an urge to kneel in worship.
"What's going on? Who is this?!"
After a brief silence, the hall erupted in chaos.
The longer they stared, the stronger the urge to submit—a pressure born from the soul, a hierarchy of existence.
"It's terrifying! My blood's freezing!" Sunsun, one of Tier Harribel's Fracción, trembled, curling into a ball.
"This pressure… it surpasses even Vasto Lorde!" another Fracción stammered.
The hall housed four Vasto Lordes—the top four Espada.
Yet, their full power, even in Resurrección, only caused suffocation, not this soul-crushing dread.
The cicada figure stood motionless, yet their reiatsu threatened to shatter the heavens, nearing another dimension.
Among them, Baraggan Louisenbairn, the former king of Hueco Mundo, looked grim.
Even he, the Skeleton Emperor, felt a fatal pressure, as if facing an invincible foe—pure despair and powerlessness.
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