The Monk brushed the dust from his body and used the power of the Soul King to restore his battered face to its original appearance.
That arrogant confidence of one who looked down upon the world returned to him.
With several bursts of Shunpo, he flashed back to the center of the battlefield, deliberately putting on a sorrowful expression.
"What a pity, Sawada Tsunayoshi. You were so close. You really could have killed me."
"I should have killed you..."
Tsunayoshi raised his fist as he spoke.
"Yes. You should have killed me. So why didn't you?"
The Monk suddenly seemed to understand.
A sinister grin spread across his face.
"Or perhaps you don't dare to kill me?"
"Are you afraid that my death will cause upheaval in the Soul King Palace, which will eventually lead to the collapse of the world?"
The Monk spread his arms as though embracing the entire world.
"Sawada Tsunayoshi, you have too many burdens."
"And that is precisely why you are destined to lose today!"
The Monk pointed deliberately toward Karin and the others.
As one of the Five Special War Potentials and the one who prided himself on his wisdom, the Monk had immediately understood the close relationship between Ichigo and the others and Tsunayoshi.
There were two reasons he hadn't used the others to threaten Tsunayoshi earlier.
First, he simply hadn't had the spare capacity.
Second, the others were natives of the Three Worlds.
Tsunayoshi was different.
He was an outsider.
The Monk couldn't manipulate him as easily.
As for the Monk himself, he had long since discarded things like attachments and burdens.
The only thing motivating him to continue living was maintaining the stability of the world.
For that purpose, he was willing to do anything—even stuff the Soul King into the corner of a table like a wedge holding everything together.
"Burdens?"
"They're the reason I've always been able to keep moving forward!"
Tsunayoshi used Shunpo and appeared in front of the Monk.
He rewarded him with an Extreme Solar punch straight to the head.
Unfortunately, without the support of the Sun attribute's flames and without Golden Holy Dragon Mode, the punch was somewhat lacking.
The Monk casually manifested Senri Tsūtenshō, completely blocking the attack.
"This level of power isn't enough to defeat me!"
The Monk grabbed Tsunayoshi's fist and hurled him away.
With the aid of the propulsion devices on his feet and back, Tsunayoshi flipped through the air and landed safely.
Tsunayoshi naturally understood that his current strength wasn't enough to do anything to the Monk.
The difficult part wasn't killing the Monk.
It was preventing him from reviving.
Sealing him.
That was the first solution Tsunayoshi thought of.
But the situation had arisen too suddenly.
Where was he supposed to find a sealing technique capable of imprisoning a Shinigami of the Monk's level?
Even Aizen's seal had relied on the Hōgyoku within Aizen's body as its source of power.
Without it, an ordinary seal wouldn't have been capable of restraining Aizen.
Furthermore, everything in the world associated with Black and White was under the Monk's control.
If Tsunayoshi threw him into the Muken, a place of absolute darkness, he might actually be strengthening the Monk instead.
After thinking it over and finding no solution, Tsunayoshi could only deactivate Golden Holy Dragon Mode first.
There was no choice.
Having another sun continuously scorching the world was hardly beneficial to any living being in the Soul Society.
Reluctantly, Tsunayoshi extinguished his miniature sun.
But the Monk interpreted the scene completely differently.
"So your so-called Golden Holy Dragon can only last for such a short time?"
"Without that monster, how are you going to withstand my attacks?"
The Monk clapped his hands.
His giant Reiatsu construct—the "mecha" form—activated once again.
For him, this merely consumed some of the Soul King's power.
There were plenty of Soul King candidates here.
Capturing even one of them would be enough to replenish what he had spent.
Tsunayoshi was speechless.
Does this guy really think I have absolutely no way of dealing with him?
Unfortunately, Tsunayoshi really didn't have a good way to deal with him yet.
Faced with the Monk's attacks, he could only rely on the speed of Super-Activation to continuously evade.
At the same time, while dodging, he communicated with his strategists about the situation.
Tsunayoshi's Inner World
On the rooftop of Namimori Middle School, the Tenth Generation Boss, Byakuran, and Furuki Enma sat together, contemplating how they could deal with the Monk.
Not far from them, two figures radiated yellow light.
They were Arcobalena(sun) and Daisy.
The two figures represented the Sun-type power of the Shinigami and Hollows respectively, and they were sustaining Tsunayoshi's Beyond Bankai.
"Come on, think of something! Little Tsunayoshi is getting beaten up out there!"
Furuki Enma anxiously watched the situation in the outside world and urged them on.
"Damn it, don't just sit there doing nothing! Come and think with us!"
Byakuran pressed Enma's head down.
"There's nothing I can do."
Enma glanced from side to side.
"The Quincy power can't temporarily fuse with yours."
"And I can't beat the Monk on my own."
"Of course I have to rely on you two."
He looked at them suspiciously.
"You don't seriously think I understand your powers better than you do, do you?"
Byakuran fell silent.
That made sense.
Tsunayoshi was using his and the Tenth's powers to fight.
Naturally, the two of them should be the ones to figure out a solution.
The problem was that conceptual abilities were extremely abstract.
Neither Byakuran nor the Tenth Generation Boss was particularly skilled in sealing techniques.
That was why, despite having spent so much time thinking, they still hadn't come up with an answer.
Byakuran looked toward the Tenth Generation Boss, hoping he could contribute something useful.
The Tenth Generation Boss had kept his eyes closed for a long time.
Finally, he opened them.
"There's no other way, Little Tsunayoshi."
"Kill him first."
The Tenth was certainly ruthless.
He immediately went straight for killing the Monk.
"But the Monk can revive," Tsunayoshi explained.
"That would be pointless."
"Then let him revive."
"Only after witnessing the process of his resurrection will I know how to harmonize him."
The Tenth Generation Boss spoke calmly.
Byakuran's eyes lit up.
They indeed possessed an ability no less extraordinary than the power of names.
The Sky's Harmonization was itself an extremely conceptual ability.
Put simply, it could potentially affect anything.
The question was what kind of effect it produced.
That depended on the direction in which the harmonization was applied.
If they could capture the Reiatsu fluctuations produced when the Monk revived, they might be able to harmonize them with the Reishi dispersing throughout the air.
If so, it might be possible to seal the Monk's resurrection itself.
"Good idea!"
Byakuran waved his hand enthusiastically.
"I'm in too, Little Tsunayoshi. Go ahead and do it!"
Back in reality, after taking several punches from the Monk, Tsunayoshi muttered:
"All right. I understand."
"Hm?"
"If you're surrendering, it's not too late."
The Monk smiled.
"I'll do my best to leave all four of your limbs intact."
The Monk struck him with another palm.
This time, Tsunayoshi didn't retreat.
He crossed both arms before his chest and blocked the attack.
Then he forcefully spread them apart.
"Golden Holy Dragon Mode!"
"What the hell?!"
The Monk was genuinely dumbfounded.
"Didn't you say you could only use it once?!"
How could he activate it again?!
Golden Holy Dragon Mode indeed required the flames accumulated within the solar wheel to activate.
When the solar wheel was complete, the mode could be activated and deactivated at will.
But if the solar wheel wasn't full, activating Golden Holy Dragon Mode immediately started a countdown.
Each flame represented one breath.
This time, Tsunayoshi's Golden Holy Dragon Mode would only last for several dozen breaths.
But against the Monk—
That was enough.
Golden wings formed from flames erupted behind Tsunayoshi and propelled him forward.
Tsunayoshi rapidly threw both fists before him, each punch like a sharp spike piercing a path through the air.
Extreme Barrage!
Jabs.
Hooks.
Straight punches.
And more.
Tsunayoshi closed the distance at astonishing speed.
The Monk's giant Reiatsu construct couldn't stop him.
Before long, Tsunayoshi had reached the Monk's chest.
This was where the Monk's true body was protected.
The Monk secretly swallowed.
Is Sawada Tsunayoshi actually trying to kill me?
Tsunayoshi drew his fist back to his waist.
A flame detached itself from the solar wheel and flew into his gauntlet.
He accumulated his strength and punched.
A devastating beam of light shot from his fist, tearing through the Monk's body.
Extreme Cannon!
Tsunayoshi followed the path he had blasted through the Monk's body and appeared directly before him.
Three flames then descended onto Tsunayoshi's body.
Two additional figures separated from him.
Extreme Machine Gun — Triple Combination!
Three Tsunayoshis formed a triangle around the Monk and threw their punches simultaneously.
Every escape route was sealed.
The Monk had no choice but take all three blows.
Even outside Golden Holy Dragon Mode, Tsunayoshi's full-powered attacks could swell the Monk's face into a grotesque mess.
This time, however, Tsunayoshi was in Golden Holy Dragon Mode, with the flames enhancing his attacks.
All three attacks were physical manifestations of his true power.
The result was devastating.
The Monk's body, forged through the power of the Ōken, could no longer hold together.
Fine cracks appeared across its surface.
That was the Sun attribute's flames wreaking havoc inside him.
The activation properties of the Sun attribute caused the Monk's Reiatsu to become extremely active as well.
And that hyperactive Reiatsu began destroying the fundamental structure of the Ōken construct formed from the Soul King's power.
At that moment, the enormous structure the Monk had built over thousands of years was suddenly deprived of its foundation.
It collapsed.
And as its master, the Monk could no longer hold himself together.
His body continued cracking.
Finally, under the influence of the Sun attribute, he exploded into a dazzling mass of light.
The Monk was dead?
The spectators couldn't accept what they were seeing.
They had witnessed the Monk literally explode.
His entire body had shattered into pieces.
Only his head remained, its eyes vacant and unfocused.
As for Ichimonji, which contained the power of names, it instantly reverted to the form of an ordinary calligraphy brush.
Without the Monk supporting it, it was nothing more than a dead object.
Everyone opened their mouths.
But no one knew what to say.
According to reason and hierarchy, the Monk was a member of the Soul King Palace and the superior of the Gotei 13.
The Gotei 13 should have protected him.
They shouldn't have simply stood by and watched him explode.
But emotionally, the Captains of the Gotei 13 leaned much more toward helping Tsunayoshi.
The reason was simple.
Tsunayoshi had helped them far too many times.
So many times that they could probably never repay him.
And even from the standpoint of reason, Tsunayoshi wasn't completely in the wrong.
He had never done anything that endangered Soul Society.
He had even actively protected the World of the Living and worked to preserve the safety of the Three Worlds.
If they judged the situation by reason alone, Tsunayoshi was no less justified than the Monk.
So there was nothing left to say.
Without even needing an order from Kyōraku, every member of the Gotei 13 fell silent in perfect unison.
They did their best to ignore the fact that the Monk had just exploded.
Over by Kirinji, Yoruichi watched him remain completely calm.
She couldn't help asking curiously:
"What? You Royal Guard really are cold-blooded. Don't you have any human feelings at all?"
"Tch!"
Kirinji still wore his arrogant expression.
"There's nothing to worry about."
"The Soul King Palace's foundation isn't that simple."
"The Monk is probably hiding something."
"How could he really die?"
The moment Kirinji said the word "Monk," the vacant head seemed to twitch slightly.
Tsunayoshi immediately shifted his attention toward it.
Was that just his imagination?
Just as Kirinji had said—
The Monk wasn't truly dead.
His consciousness was already in the Soul King Palace high above.
And there, he was quietly reaching for his trump card.
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