Bleach : Begins with a Contract with the Departed Souls of the Uchiha Chapter 290 290: All for One, One for All

Outside, the fires of battle were still, yet the void within the shadows churned!

"Wait, what is that?!"

Hearing the startled cries from behind him, Yamamoto kept his guard up against Ren while casting a sideways glance toward the scene outside.

But that one look caused his expression to freeze instantly.

He couldn't help but turn his entire body to look again.

The First Division barracks were completely encased in a transparent barrier.

Several figures dressed in Stealth Force uniforms stood at the four corners and sides of the barrier, their hands ford into seals to maintain the formation.

The previous explosion had reduced most of the First Division headquarters to ruins.

Because the barracks were situated on high ground, it was easy to see the panorama of the Seireitei through the layer of the barrier.

At this mont, the Seireitei was engulfed in the flas of war.

Dark clouds choked the sky, plunging the Soul Society into a dim twilight. Great fires roared across the landscape, sending up pillars of black smoke. Many of the most famous structures had been reduced to rubble.

Compared to the bright, peaceful morning before the Captains' eting, it was like a descent into hell.

Every inch of the inner court was now soaked with the blood of Soul Reapers.

Even within Yamamoto's own First Division grounds, soldiers clad in heavy armor were everywhere, engaged in a bloody struggle against the stubbornly resisting mbers of the First Division.

To call it a struggle was generous. In Yamamoto's eyes, it was a one-sided slaughter.

Whether it was Kido or Zanpakuto, the attacks of the ordinary Soul Reapers were useless against that heavy armor, failing to leave so much as a scratch.

Conversely, the heavily armored soldiers unleashed a barrage of weapons that easily overwheld the Soul Reaper ranks.

A massacre of Soul Reapers was unfolding right before the eyes of the Captain Commander.

The sounds of distant fighting, weeping, and agonizing wails drifted into the room. Yamamoto's expression darkened, though he was not entirely surprised.

From the mont Ren entered the room, Yamamoto had anticipated this hellish landscape.

'A mber of the Gotei 13 must protect the Seireitei with their life; if they beco a threat to it, they must die!'

This was the creed he had instilled in every Soul Reaper.

From the newest recruits at the Shin'ō Academy to the veterans after graduation, this was the law!

What truly shocked him, however, was what followed.

Beneath the heavy clouds, a white bird flapped its wings, monitoring the ground from above the Seireitei.

In the distance, a blue fla surged like a flying bird, streaking toward their location.

In the sky nearby, a dark figure with pure white wings unfurled behind them hovered in mid-air, resembling an angel.

With a wave of its wings, feathers drifted down, carried by the wind to every corner of the Seireitei.

As the feathers landed, the captains in the eting room realized they weren't feathers at all, but slips of paper.

"This is..." Aizen reached out and caught one of the falling papers, scanning the contents.

The text was written in a formal hand. It was a manifesto, and while the wording was more refined and archaic, the core ssage was identical to what Ren had just proclaid.

It seed they were using that 'angel' in the sky to distribute this ssage across the entirety of the Seireitei.

Many other captains nearby, like Aizen, noticed the writing as well.

Suddenly, everyone sensed sothing at the sa ti and jerked their heads upward.

Thick dark clouds swirled with lightning and thunder, and it seed sothing massive was rolling through the storm, a long body swimming freely in the sky.

A booming laughter rang out alongside the thunder, shaking the inner court.

"Worororo!"

"The Noble District has been suppressed. Are you still not finished here at the First Division?"

A terrifying, massive head broke through the clouds, descending toward the First Division barracks.

A long, serpentine body snaked through the air, most of it still hidden in the clouds, covered in azure scales.

Two pairs of sharp horns protruded from the back of the massive head. Its mane drifted in the wind as it opened its mouth to reveal jagged, razor-sharp teeth, with long whiskers trailing from its snout.

Its golden-brown vertical pupils scanned the eting room with great interest.

The Soul Reaper captains, seeing the monstrous creature clearly, couldn't hide their horror. They stood frozen in place.

"Is that..."

"A dragon?!"

"Why would a dragon from myth appear here?!"

"Is there such a thing as a dragon in the Soul Society?"

Even Unohana Retsu, usually unfazed by anything, stopped her healing movents.

She looked up at the dragon, her eyes widening slightly in clear shock.

"A divine dragon... I have been in the Soul Society for many years, and I have never heard of the existence of a dragon."

"Today is the first ti in my long life that I have seen one with my own eyes!"

"The Noble District suppressed?!" Kuchiki Ginrei's face paled as a horrifying thought struck him. "Could it be..."

His son, Sōjun, was the Lieutenant of the Sixth Division, but due to his frail health, he was currently resting at the Kuchiki Manor.

Not just his son, but his daughter and grandson were all at ho.

The dragon's casual remark made Ginrei's hands and feet go cold, his heart filling with uncontrollable dread.

Then, a laughter even more piercing than the dragon's roar rang out.

"Mamamama! Kaido, why did you leave your post? What are you doing over here?"

The Soul Reapers followed the sound, only to see a figure that looked like a giant.

In a far corner outside the eting room, a massive, voluptuous woman stood in mid-air.

She stood upon a thundercloud, with raging flas burning atop her head and a massive blade in her hand.

The giant woman looked to be eight or nine ters tall. She was striking and imperious, one hand on her hip as she opened her mouth to reveal an aggressive smile.

Before the Soul Reaper captains could even voice their shock, another deep, booming voice echoed from elsewhere.

"Gurararara! This brat Kaido must have been bored. He knew we weren't finished here and ca looking for a fight."

The speaker was another giant figure standing in another corner of the ruins of the eting room.

He stood about six or seven ters tall, his fra magnificent and imposing. He wore a white coat draped over his shoulders and held a polearm nearly eight ters long.

Most striking was his long golden hair and the white mustache that curved upward like a crescent moon.

The Soul Reaper captains were not unfamiliar with giants—they had seen the gatekeepers of the Seireitei—so the size alone did not surprise them.

What truly shocked the captains was the overwhelming aura radiating from these people.

It was clear at a glance that these were no ordinary powerhouses.

"Giants?!"

"Damn it... where did Ren find subordinates like this?!"

"Every single one of them has such a powerful presence..."

In addition to these two giants, two other figures clad in crimson armor stood in the other corners of the First Division ruins, looking like ancient generals.

These two were of normal height.

One had spiky, waist-length black hair and stood with his arms crossed. On his back was a massive fan and a scythe.

He had a cold, arrogant temperant, and his eyes glowed with a red light as he looked down upon everyone in the room with pure disdain.

The other had long, straight black hair and held a broad blade. His expression was righteous and solemn.

Though he didn't move, his posture suggested he was ready to strike at any mont. His spiritual pressure was vast, and his calm gaze swept over the Soul Reapers in the room.

These two 'giants' and two 'generals' occupied the four corners of the ruins, completely surrounding the eting room.

"So that's how it is..."

Yamamoto surveyed the surroundings and withdrew his gaze.

Recalling the words of Hōzuki Gengetsu and Mū earlier, he realized the phrase 'ti is up' had another layer of aning.

The old man looked at Ren before him, his expression darkening.

"You've had us surrounded from the beginning."

"Of course. I never fight a battle I haven't prepared for."

Ren wore a slight smile and waved his hand.

"I aid for the timing of the Captains' eting to catch all of you in one fell swoop."

Sengoku stepped forward from behind Ren and pushed up his glasses, his voice steady.

"Without you captains to command them, the Soul Reapers are nothing but a pile of loose sand. Our offensive has been quite easy, sweeping through everything in our path."

"By now, the suppression of your Gotei 13 should be nearly complete."

As soon as he finished speaking, a figure resembling a golden flash appeared beside Ren's group.

The man had spiky blond hair and wore a Stealth Force uniform with a specialized white haori over it.

Looking at the newcor, Ren glanced at the grim-faced Yamamoto and asked with a smile, "Minato, what's the news? Say it loudly."

"Yes!"

Minato Namikaze glanced at the Soul Reapers, naturally understanding Ren's intent to crush the enemy's morale.

He spoke in a clear, ringing voice.

"Lord Ren, under the combined assault of the Stealth Force and the army, the barracks of every squad in the Gotei 13 have been successfully occupied."

"The Soul Reapers of the thirteen squads have lost all will to resist. In this battle, less than half of the Soul Reapers survived, and they have all been taken prisoner by our forces."

"Lord Nobunaga and Lord Tobirama have ordered to report and request further instructions!"

Upon hearing Minato's voice, a wave of visible agitation broke out among the Soul Reaper captains.

A chaotic murmur of discussion erupted within the crowd.

The morale of the Soul Reapers plumted at a visible rate.

Ren looked at Yamamoto, and seeing the old man's face grow darker, his own smile broadened.

Staring directly at Yamamoto, Ren said without turning his head, "Minato, tell Nobunaga and Tobirama to keep a strict watch on the prisoners. At the sa ti, begin a thorough search; there are bound to be stragglers after such a massive battle."

"The Stealth Force will fully take over the duties of the Gotei 13 to maintain order in the Seireitei and the Soul Society. The army is to maintain high-pressure suppression!"

"Understood!"

Minato Namikaze nodded firmly and vanished from the room in a flash.

At that mont, the blue bird arrived, flapping its wings.

The bird was wreathed in blue flas, its neck long and graceful, trailing three magnificent plus behind it.

It looked exactly like the mythical phoenix.

After seeing a dragon, the appearance of a phoenix didn't shock the Soul Reapers quite as much.

But what happened next stunned them once more.

The phoenix spread its flaming blue wings and its body shrank, transforming into a human form.

Though he had a human torso and face, his arms remained as wings and his feet were bird-like talons.

"The phoenix turned into a man?!"

"What kind of ability is that? Kido? Or a Zanpakuto?"

"Is that thing even human?"

By now, the diverse beings under Ren's command were making the captains' heads spin.

The man who was a phoenix landed on a remaining wooden pillar of the barracks.

He glanced at the Soul Reapers, then looked toward the 'giant' with the crescent mustache and waved a wing.

"Pops, are we not done here yet?"

Whitebeard laughed heroically. "Gurararara! The elite of the Soul Reapers are all here. These are the captains, after all, and the 'Strongest Soul Reaper of the Last Millennium' is among them."

"Still, I don't think it'll take much longer to finish them off." Marco nodded, then looked at Ren. "Big boss, the Kido Corps has been defeated. Also, regarding the Central 46, Akainu has already succeeded."

Just as he finished speaking, another voice rang out.

It was accompanied by a chilling frost.

"Arara... Sakazuki certainly wouldn't hold back. I expect many of those in the Central 46 are dead."

Frost instantly crawled across the dust-covered floor, turning the entire barracks into frozen tundra.

The air, which had been scorching monts ago, suddenly plumted in temperature, biting with the intensity of midwinter.

A tall, lean figure stepped through the frost and entered the eting room.

"Another one!"

"What kind of monster is it this ti?!"

The Soul Reapers whispered among themselves as they watched the newcor.

Their breath ca out in white puffs as they spoke.

The man appeared to be about three ters tall, wearing a dark green coat and a cold-weather cap, with round sunglasses on his face.

With just a few gestures, he had completely altered the environnt.

The captains' expressions darkened further.

"Most of the Seireitei has fallen. If it's just us..."

"Damn it! Can we really win this war?"

At this point, they could only pin their hopes on their final trump card to turn the tide.

Every eye turned toward the elderly figure at the front, their last glimr of hope reflecting in their gaze.

Now, Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigokuni was all they had left.

Seeing the newcor, Garp let out a boisterous laugh.

"Hahaha! Kuzan, since you're here, your task must be finished."

"Of course, old man." Kuzan looked at Ren and said, "The Great Spirit Book Gallery has been successfully occupied. I froze the guards in place; they can be thawed later."

With that, he crossed his arms and leaned against a wooden pillar with a lazy expression.

"Good."

Ren nodded with a smile.

Hearing this succession of bad news, his mood was excellent.

He had prepared for so long, launching a coordinated strike from the shadow dinsion across the Seireitei.

Ren would have been dissatisfied with anything less than this result.

Now, only these captains remained.

Or more accurately, only Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigokuni!

"Just now, why do you think I let you stand in those flas for so long? Why did I even allow you to discuss my abilities?"

"It was because I was stalling you. While you wasted ti, my forces have completely conquered the Seireitei!"

"Yamamoto, even your First Division... ha!" Ren turned his head and looked outside.

Inside the First Division grounds, his army, in coordination with the Stealth Force, had finished suppressing the First Division's Soul Reapers.

The surviving Soul Reapers had been taken prisoner and a portion of the troops remained to guard them.

The rest of the army had assembled into neat phalanxes in the courtyard of the First Division.

They waited in silence for Ren's next command.

Ren looked at Yamamoto and the captains behind him, his expression becoming increasingly arrogant.

"From the very beginning, you had zero chance of winning this war!"

"Now, once I deal with all of you, the Seireitei will be mine."

Yamamoto gritted his teeth, his face a mask of iron.

He stared at Ren with eyes filled with murderous intent.

"In the end, this is all my fault!"

"It was my hesitation back then that allowed you to grow to this level. The fact that the Seireitei has fallen into this state... the responsibility is entirely mine!"

"When I first sensed sothing was wrong with you, I should have struck without hesitation and erased every trace of your existence from this world!"

"Yamamoto, you couldn't have done it!"

Ren tilted his head back, radiating confidence.

"Setting aside the fact that you aren't my match, don't forget—I am a mber of the Noble Shihoin House!"

"'To protect the King and the Great Houses, one must destroy the enemy in the bud.' That is the creed you posted at the Shin'ō Academy. What, were you going to break the very system you've spent your life defending?"

"Yamamoto, admit it—you simply didn't have the guts!"

At those words, Yamamoto's eyelids lowered.

Ren was right; he had spent over a thousand years maintaining the order of the Seireitei. How could he easily break the rules he himself had established?

Ren smiled, feeling victory within his grasp.

He looked at the subordinates behind him and then at the soldiers lined up outside, and a surge of ambition filled him.

"Yamamoto, surrender."

"The situation is clear. You have no hope of victory, and I have no desire for further slaughter."

"If you submit to , I will spare the surviving Soul Reapers and allow you to continue leading them. You will still be the esteed Captain Commander of the Gotei!"

Yamamoto was silent for a mont, then he suddenly looked up, a fierce light flashing in his eyes.

As he gazed at Ren, the old man's grim face suddenly broke into a wicked, ferocious smile.

"Brat, do you truly think you've won?"

"Have you underestimated that much? I am Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigokuni! As long as I draw breath, I shall not be defeated!"

"Before, you hadn't committed a great cri, so it was hard for to move against you. But now, you've sought your own death!"

"Ren Shihoin, it's actually for the best that you brought all your subordinates before ."

"This way, it will be much more convenient for to annihilate all of you right here!"

Yamamoto's spiritual pressure exploded, accompanied by waves of heat that instantly lted the surrounding frost, sending up clouds of white steam.

An invisible weight descended, pressing down on the hearts of everyone present.

But the confidence in his words caused the captains behind him to raise their heads, their fighting spirit reignited!

"Yamamoto, I told you—you can't!"

Ren shouted, his own spiritual pressure erupting violently.

That burgeoning aura t Yamamoto's head-on, refusing to yield an inch, even seeming to surpass it!

"Old man, who do you think I am?! And who do you think we are?!"

Ren gripped his zanbato and spread his arms, his eyes burning like torches.

"For the sake of a single dream, we have crossed the boundary of death to stand here together!"

"Look! This is the power I have accumulated all these years! This is my invincible army that bestrides the world!"

Behind him, his subordinates stood tall and proud, their faces full of confidence.

The soldiers lined up outside raised their weapons, letting out a thunderous cheer.

"Victory! Victory! Victory!!!"

"Even if their bodies perish, their souls belong to ! These are the warriors who swear fealty to !"

"All for one, and one for all!"

"This connection is the treasure I, Ren Shihoin, am most proud of! It is my greatest and strongest ultimate technique!"

In the crowd, the cheers rose like a tsunami, even louder than before!

"Indeed! Indeed!"

Amidst that deafening sound, the Soul Reaper captains looked on in terror.

Watching the high-spirited soldiers, the Soul Reapers' eyes grew distant, their faces filled with confusion.

The morale Yamamoto had just raised withered away under the weight of those continuous shouts.

Ren saw the looks on their faces and a flash of satisfaction crossed his eyes.

He raised his fist and clenched it, and the cheers across the battlefield stopped instantly.

Ren looked at Yamamoto, his smile radiant.

"Yamamoto, you understand now, don't you? Against us, you have no hope of victory!"

"It doesn't matter!" Yamamoto roared, his fighting spirit unaffected by the display, his battle intent still surging like a storm!

Staring at Ren, the old man gripped his hilt and raised it high. Roaring flas instantly burst from the blade!

The fire soared toward the sky, releasing an intense heat. The dancing flas flickered and glowed, dispelling the darkness and cold within the ruins in a single stroke!

The frost on the floor lted and evaporated at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"It doesn't matter how many people you have, or how many victories you've achieved!"

"If the Seireitei is destroyed, we shall rebuild it. If the Gotei 13 is wiped out, we shall recruit anew. And as for you rebels, we simply need to eliminate you now!"

"My goal remains unchanged—I will cut down every last one of you traitors right here!"

"It will be simple!"

Seeing that Yamamoto was still being stubborn, Ren's smile gradually faded, his brow furrowing slightly.

He shook his head and said helplessly, "Sotis, when a person is too stubborn, it's really not a good thing—"

Before Ren could finish his sentence, a sudden change occurred!

A pitch-black blade suddenly thrust out from Ren's shadow, its target aid directly at his heart!

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