The Wandenreich's Silbern, originally covered in ice, had now been completely erased from the coordinates of this world.
In its place stood a vast, mirror-smooth white jade plaza, assimilated by the mighty power of the System. A gentle breeze swept across the level ground, which was devoid of bloodstains and even a single speck of dust, as though the grand slaughter that had once claimed billions of lives and annihilated the Quincy race had merely been an illusory dream that had never existed.
At the very center of the vast jade plaza stood a luxurious daybed, completely manifested from pure Senjutsu Wood Release Chakra.
Uchiha Tobirama reclined lazily upon cushions woven from thousand-year-old Tianshan snow silk, dressed in a wide dark-gold robe.
Having just experienced an epochal slaughter that had washed the Three Realms in blood and devoured the Origin of the Quincy progenitor, Tobirama showed not the slightest trace of fatigue or killing intent.
Instead, his terrifying vitality was restrained to the extreme, seemingly capable of reversing the galaxy with a single breath. Even the surrounding air seemed to carry an intoxicating vitality.
"Master, please have some wine."
Shihoin Yoruichi stood beside the daybed, holding a white jade wine cup in her delicate hands. The former Goddess of Flash, who had once looked down upon the entire Soul Society with her unparalleled speed, now served Tobirama with complete obedience.
Her golden eyes were filled with unwavering devotion.
On the other side of the daybed stood Bambietta Basterbine, the leader of the Sternritter girls.
The young Quincy had already been completely subdued by Tobirama's overwhelming power. Her expression, once filled with arrogance and capriciousness, now held only obedience as she carefully attended to him.
Tobirama casually enjoyed the moment of tranquility after the great battle.
For an emperor who had already crushed the Soul Society and Hueco Mundo beneath his feet, such leisure was nothing more than a brief pastime.
"The Quincy bloodline has been severed in this world."
Tobirama drained the fine wine brewed from high-purity reishi in a single gulp.
He then slowly rose from the daybed.
"The remnants of the Soul Society are trembling like rats in the sewers of the World of the Living, while the Forest of Menos in Hueco Mundo has been reduced to flat land by my Wood Buddha."
His voice drifted across the empty jade plaza, carrying an unmistakable sense of boredom.
"In this vast chessboard, I cannot even find a single piece capable of making me break a sweat."
His Rinnegan, shimmering with the light of dying stars, slowly lifted toward the sky.
His gaze crossed the surrounding ruins, passed through the broken clouds of the Soul Society, and pierced directly toward the highest dimension above all other planes.
There, seventy-two extremely complex and seemingly indestructible high-density reishi Barriers tightly sealed the sacred space.
The Royal Palace!
It was the absolute core of the Bleach Universe, the key to maintaining the balance of the Three Realms, and the supreme Holy Land where the Soul King resided.
"Master..."
Following Tobirama's gaze, Yoruichi looked toward the distant sky. Even a Captain of the Gotei 13 could spend their entire lifetime without ever reaching that place, and a trace of instinctive awe appeared in her eyes.
"That is the Royal Palace, guarded by the Royal Guard—the Zero Division. It is the only pure land in the Three Realms that has remained untouched by the flames of war."
Yoruichi's voice was soft as she explained, "According to the laws of the Soul Society, even the Captain-Commander of the Gotei 13 has no qualifications to set foot there. To pass through those seventy-two reishi Barriers, one must possess the Royal Key, which is created from the bones and blood personally bestowed by the Soul King. Without the Royal Key, no matter how powerful someone is, they will be instantly erased by the repulsive force of those Barriers."
"Royal Key?"
Hearing the term, Tobirama did not show the slightest trace of fear.
Instead, he let out a brief, mocking laugh.
He looked toward the sacred space hidden above the clouds, and an overwhelming arrogance appeared on his handsome face.
"Just a group of relics from a bygone era, hiding inside a turtle shell and clinging to their lives behind so-called Law Barriers."
"Any door in this world must obediently open wherever I wish to go."
His gaze became increasingly sharp.
"As long as I drag that so-called Soul King from his throne, the final piece of the puzzle for these Three Realms will be complete."
"No key?"
The corner of Tobirama's mouth curved upward into a cold smile.
"Then I'll simply smash that broken door, along with the fools hiding behind it, into pieces."
...
At the same moment.
Inside the Royal Palace, high above the dome of the Soul Society, the reishi concentration was so dense that an ordinary Shinigami would be unable to breathe properly.
Five detached palaces belonging to the Zero Division floated quietly like enormous islands above a sea of clouds.
At the center of those five palaces was the spacious main hall of the Soul King's inner sanctum.
The atmosphere within was solemn, yet there was also an absurd sense of relaxation and absolute confidence.
Five strange figures sat around a massive round table carved with ancient patterns.
Each possessed an ancient and imposing aura, and their combined Spiritual Pressure surpassed that of the entire Gotei 13.
They were the five members of the Zero Division—the Royal Guard who had shaped the history of the Shinigami.
"It's truly unsightly, those brats of the Gotei 13."
Kirinji Tenjiro, the Hot Spring Demon, had a distinct pompadour and a toothpick between his teeth. He casually rested his legs on the round table while playing with a wooden soup ladle.
"Not only did Old Man Yamamoto get himself killed, but they also allowed those Quincy from the Wandenreich to forcibly occupy the Seireitei. In the end, even that troublesome fellow Yhwach was erased by someone in the Lower Realm."
"Those gatekeepers have completely disgraced the Shinigami."
As the founder of the Soul Society's medical Kaido, Kirinji Tenjiro seemed far more concerned with the humiliation brought about by the chaos than with the lives lost below.
"You can't say that, Tenjiro."
Hikifune Kirio, the Grain King, sat beside him while enjoying a bowl of food that emitted astonishing Spiritual Pressure fluctuations.
"Although those brats are indeed useless, I have to admit that the power structure of that silver-haired man who suddenly appeared below is extremely rare."
"Being able to drain the Origin of Hueco Mundo in an instant has seriously disrupted the causal balance of the Soul Cycle of the Three Realms."
As the creator of Mod Souls, Hikifune Kirio possessed an exceptionally keen perception of energy flow.
"Yo, yo, yo! The balance is broken, the Zanpakuto are crying!"
Nimaiya Oetsu, wearing exaggerated sunglasses, an afro, and a gaudy down jacket, suddenly twisted around in his chair and began singing in a wildly off-key rap.
"That guy is an anomaly! A wild man completely out of control! The Asauchi I created are trembling because of that brutal power! But so what? He doesn't have a VIP admission ticket, so he can't come up to our noble clouds! Yeah!"
As he sang, Nimaiya Oetsu triumphantly pointed toward the palace ceiling, which was covered in ancient spells.
"That's right, Oetsu is right."
An extremely cold, mechanical female voice suddenly interrupted him.
Shutara Senjumaru, the Great Weaver, sat regally in her chair.
Six incredibly flexible skeletal mechanical arms extended behind her, while her magnificent robes made her appear even more imposing. Her expression was cold and her eyes held an unmistakable arrogance.
As the creator of the shihakusho, she had always regarded herself with the dignity and elegance of someone standing above all ordinary beings.
"Even if that man named Uchiha Tobirama possesses enough savage strength to flatten this land, he is ultimately nothing more than a crude individual who does not understand the principles governing the world's Laws."
The mechanical arms behind her moved gently, seemingly weaving an invisible web of fate.
"The seventy-two Barriers surrounding the Soul King Palace are manifestations of the world's underlying laws. Without the bone and blood modification bestowed by the Soul King—the so-called Oken—anything that touches those Barriers will be completely erased."
"He is like a beast reigning supreme in a mud pit. Even if he kills every creature within that pit, he can never leap beyond the water and reach the stars above."
Extreme conceit.
The members of the Zero Division had lived for countless ages and established many of the fundamental rules governing the Shinigami world.
Over time, they had grown accustomed to viewing themselves as beings equivalent to gods.
In their eyes, no matter how tragic the war below became, it was merely two colonies of ants fighting over the ownership of a rotten apple.
They were the observers standing upon an absolutely secure high platform.
Although the man named Uchiha Tobirama possessed unreasonable strength, as long as he could not break through the door governed by the world's laws, he could only rage helplessly in the Lower Realm.
"Senjumaru speaks the truth."
At that moment, the bald monk sitting in the primary seat finally put down the thick brush in his hand.
He was the most imposing of the five, with a thick beard and a string of enormous prayer beads around his neck.
The Eye Monk—Ichibe Hyosube.
The absolute leader of the Zero Division and the Namer of all things in the Soul Society.
At the dawn of this world's birth, he had bestowed names upon everything. Within the Laws of the Soul Society, mastering a name was equivalent to possessing absolute control over the thing that name represented.
A smile rested upon his broad face.
It appeared all-encompassing, yet beneath it was an unmistakable sense of dominance and cruelty.
"That young man's power has indeed exceeded the conventional boundaries of both Shinigami and Quincy."
"He swallowed Yhwach's Origin, creating a tremendous hidden danger to the balance of the world."
Ichibe Hyosube stroked his thick beard, a cold light flashing within his deep-set eyes.
"However, there is no need for concern."
"Since he does not possess the Oken, he is forever locked beneath this sky."
"Once he finishes struggling below and exhausts that violent momentum, we shall descend to the Lower Realm together and lay down an inescapable net."
Ichibe Hyosube picked up his enormous brush and casually drew the character for "Death" in the air.
"Everything in this world was named by this old man."
"As long as I use this brush to erase the name 'Uchiha Tobirama,' his strength, his body, and even all traces of his existence in this world will be erased."
"A nameless shadow is nothing more than a smear of waste ink beneath my brush."
His words were filled with absolute confidence in his authority over the world's laws.
In the eyes of these beings who had shaped the history of the Soul Society, physical strength and even the conceptual swallowing of an Origin were nothing compared to the authority they possessed over the world's fundamental rules.
"Hahahaha! As expected of the Monk! Well said!"
Tenjiro Kirinji burst into laughter, removing the toothpick from his mouth.
"In that case, let's continue drinking tea and watching the show. While we're at it, we can discuss how to promote a new batch of obedient recruits from the World of the Living and rebuild the Gotei 13 after we've dealt with that sinner who disrupted the balance."
Kirio Hikifune continued enjoying her food.
Nimaiya Oetsu resumed his ridiculous dance.
Shutara Senjumaru closed her eyes and rested.
Everything happening in the Lower Realm seemed completely unrelated to these high-and-mighty immortals.
The enemy's final display of arrogance had reached its peak.
They were immersed in the absolute security and superiority they had created for themselves, completely unaware that the "underlying laws" upon which they relied were far more fragile than they imagined.
...
"RUMBLE!!!"
However, just as the Zero Division's judgment tea party reached its most harmonious and complacent moment—
The entire Reio Daidairi, the sacred palace that had floated peacefully for countless ages without ever wavering, suddenly erupted with a terrifying tremor.
The violent impact was comparable to a miniature Big Bang, powerful enough to make the entire palace shake violently.
"CRASH!"
The precious tea sets and reishi cuisine on the round table were instantly thrown into the air by the shockwave before smashing onto the floor.
"What's going on?!"
Nimaiya Oetsu, who had been dancing moments earlier, stumbled and nearly fell. His exaggerated sunglasses slipped toward the tip of his nose as his eyes widened in disbelief.
The six mechanical arms behind Shutara Senjumaru stabbed into the floor, barely stabilizing her body.
For the first time, an expression of genuine horror appeared on her normally cold face.
"It's the reishi Barriers surrounding the palace!"
"The Barriers are suffering an incredible physical impact!"
"You've got to be kidding me!"
Tenjiro Kirinji's eyes widened.
"Those are seventy-two rule-based Barriers of absolute rejection! Without the Oken, even Ceros or Kido striking them would be instantly assimilated and erased. How could they possibly produce a physical vibration?!"
The smile on Ichibe Hyosube's face finally disappeared.
He gripped his enormous brush tightly, his eyes staring through the floor toward the space directly beneath the palace.
Beyond the layers of clouds and countless Barriers—
He sensed it.
It was not Kido.
It was not an energy beam.
It was a man.
A man who defied all logic and caused the surrounding space itself to tremble.
He was approaching in the most savage, direct, and common-sense-defying manner imaginable.
With nothing but pure physical strength, like a world-destroying meteor rising against the heavens, he slammed his fist directly into the first spiritual Barrier.
"BOOM————————!!!!!!!!"
A second roar, even more deafening than the first, shook the entire Soul King Palace.
Countless pitch-black cracks appeared in the surrounding space as the impact brutally transmitted through the palace and into the main hall.
"Impossible..."
"The Barrier..."
"The Barrier is cracking?!"
Hikifune Kirio's normally calm expression shattered completely.
Their worldview was being overturned before their very eyes.
The "beast in the mud pit" they had mocked only moments ago for lacking the means to ascend—
Was now using his fists to smash apart the so-called "underlying laws of the world."
The supposedly absolute and insurmountable Divine Gate.
One layer.
Two layers.
Ten layers.
Twenty layers!
With unstoppable momentum and overwhelming destructive force, the seventy-two Barriers began to collapse one after another.
Using nothing but sheer physical strength, Tobirama was ruthlessly shattering the final foundation of the Zero Division's arrogance.
"Everyone."
A bead of cold sweat finally appeared on Ichibe Hyosube's broad forehead.
He stared at the floor, which continued to groan beneath the repeated impacts.
His voice had become hoarse from the shock.
"Prepare to face the enemy."
"That monster, unbound by the rules..."
Ichibe Hyosube's expression turned grim.
"He has forced his way through the door!"