Bleach : Begins with a Contract with the Departed Souls of the Uchiha Chapter 293 293: It Took Some Effort

Could it be that Ren, whom even he found incredibly troubleso, had died so simply?

Had he really perished so easily, so carelessly, at the hands of Yamamoto Shigokuni?

The entire process and this outco were so absurd they were almost laughable.

Yet, Aizen could not find it in himself to laugh.

He simply watched the charred corpse in silence, watching as Ren's subordinates sward forward to surround the remains.

The cheers and shouts of his colleagues rang in his ears.

"Ren, that traitor, is finally dead!"

"So what if he started a Great Rebellion? We have the invincible Captain-Commander on our side!"

"Long live the Captain-Commander!"

"Before the Captain-Commander, all enemies are nothing but clay chickens and pottery dogs!"

"Serves you right for being so arrogant! Now you know how powerful the Captain-Commander is!"

"Next, it's ti for the rebels who followed Ren to pay!"

Hearing the cheers around him, Aizen frowned imperceptibly.

He turned his gaze over these so-called colleagues, and for so reason, an anonymous spark of anger flared in his heart.

Ridiculous.

A pack of weaklings who could only survive by clinging to the strong—what right did they have to speak here?

Garbage acting tough on borrowed authority.

Aizen looked back at the charred corpse, the naless fire in his heart growing even stronger.

And Ren, what was he supposed to be?

Usually showing off with such an air of importance, yet when the mont of truth ca, he was taken down by Yamamoto in just a few moves.

He hadn't even managed to force out Yamamoto's Bankai.

I must have been out of my mind, blind to the truth.

To think I actually viewed a boring waste like this as the greatest threat.

How narrow-minded and petty of .

Beside him, Kana noticed sothing and tilted his head slightly toward Aizen.

"Lord Aizen, you seem to be in quite a foul mood."

"No, Kana, I am in a very good mood."

Aizen's voice was as gentle and deep as ever, but to Kana's ears, it sounded like he was saying the opposite of what he felt. Knowing Aizen's temperant, Kana did not say anything more.

Just then, a commotion broke out among the crowd.

"Wait, what is that?"

"A golden... Great Buddha?"

Golden light suddenly erupted from the front of the group, painting the surroundings in a brilliant, shimring hue.

A massive golden Buddha statue appeared, reflecting in the eyes of the Soul Reapers.

The statue was several dozen feet tall, topped with an afro-like uṣṇīṣa and even wearing a pair of glasses.

Its face was solemn and majestic, resembling a wrathful Guardian as it strode toward the Soul Reapers.

Every step caused the ground to tremble.

At the very front of the Soul Reapers, Yamamoto raised his head and looked at the familiar face of the Great Buddha.

"I rember you. You are one of Ren's subordinates."

Yamamoto had seen with his own eyes that this Buddha had transford from the person closest to Ren earlier.

It seed his status among Ren's followers was not low.

"Your master has been slain by . If you surrender now, I can grant you a lenient sentence."

The Buddha's eyes looked down at the Soul Reapers who were like ants on the ground. They flickered with coldness, devoid of any ancestral rcy.

"Words are useless!"

"Yamamoto Shigokuni, for this deed, you deserve ten thousand deaths!"

With that, Sengoku raised his right hand.

The golden palm opened, radiating light as it descended toward the Soul Reapers.

"Die."

A powerful, invisible shockwave erupted from the Buddha's palm, pressing down on the Soul Reapers like a collapsing sky.

The mont Sengoku moved, Unohana reacted imdiately.

She raised her hand, blocking the space in front of her.

"Bakudō Number Eighty-One: Dankū!"

As Unohana completed the Kido without incantation, a transparent barrier manifested before the group.

BOOM!!

The invisible shockwave slamd into the transparent barrier, causing it to shake violently.

Cracks began to spiderweb across the barrier.

Unohana's hand paused as she went to draw her blade, her eyes widening slightly in surprise at the cracks on the Dankū barrier.

She was a powerhouse among the Soul Reapers. Even if she had cast the Kido without an incantation, making it weaker than its full version, it should still have had significant defensive power.

Yet it was nearly shattered by a single palm from an unknown nobody?

Just where did Ren gather these powerful individuals?

Fortunately, although Dankū cracked, it ultimately blocked the blow.

Sengoku's shockwave was deflected, creating a massive backdraft of air that nearly blew away the people behind him.

"Old man Sengoku, watch where you're aiming!"

Toji rushed to stand in front of the charred corpse, grabbing the two severed arms and shielding them behind him.

Even Shisui, disregarding everything else, tightly held the head in his arms.

His eyes were blood-red, the three tomoe spinning rapidly until they transford into a windmill-like pattern.

A teal-green aura began to manifest around Shisui.

Sengoku glanced behind him with an apologetic look.

He then turned back to the transparent barrier and the Soul Reapers behind it.

"You actually blocked my shockwave?"

As he spoke, a sturdy figure flashed through the surging air currents to appear in front of the Dankū barrier.

The coat on his shoulders flapped loudly in the wind. Retsu raised a fist, looking at Yamamoto and the others behind the barrier with pure rage.

"Break for !"

A punch was thrown, striking the Dankū barrier head-on.

With a sound like shattering glass, the already cracked barrier could no longer hold. It exploded into countless shimring fragnts.

At that mont, Yamamoto faced the attackers directly, swinging his flaming, broken blade.

"Don't you dare!"

A wall of fire rose from the ground in front of Retsu, and a burning fist extended from it to et Yamamoto's Ryūjin Jakka.

"Fire Fist!"

Boom!

The flas exploded, but they never reached Retsu.

Looking at the young figure blocking his path, Retsu's gaze fell upon the Whitebeard Pirates' emblem on the boy's back, and various mories flashed through his mind.

It seed that even in death, there were so good things after all.

The figure turned his head slightly, revealing a face dotted with freckles.

"Old man, what are you dazing off for?" Ace barked, then turned back to focus all his energy on clashing with Yamamoto.

"If you want to lecture , you're five hundred years too early!"

Retsu snapped back to his senses, his fist tightening as he charged into the flas ahead.

Whoosh!

He punched a path through the fire, arriving right at Yamamoto's side.

Just as he swung his fist, Ginrei t him with a blade.

Fist and blade collided, sending out ripples of air that pushed the flas aside.

"So hard!"

Feeling the solid resistance against his blade, Ginrei was inwardly shocked.

He had blocked a sword with his bare fist?!

Just how powerful was this physical body?

Was this man truly made of flesh and blood?

"Ace, Retsu, get out of the way!"

A deep, powerful voice suddenly bood nearby.

Whitebeard had arrived beside the Soul Reapers, his Murakumogiri wrapped in a sphere of white light as he swung it down toward them!

Seeing Whitebeard's move, Ace's eyes widened.

"Pops, you're stepping in already?!" He rembered the plan from the war eting wasn't like this.

Though he was never one to follow plans—and had been lectured by his father for it—he hadn't expected his father to be the one to break the plan first.

However, he reacted quickly, withdrawing his arm and no longer deadlocking with Yamamoto as he leaped to the side.

Seeing this, Yamamoto did the sa, kicking off the ground and retreating backward.

BOOM!

Whitebeard slashed out, the white light exploding as it slamd into the Soul Reapers.

Rumble!

The earth shook violently, and deep fissures cracked across the ground. The surrounding buildings all collapsed.

The sheer power of Whitebeard's strike was so imnse it instantly altered the landscape of the inner Seireitei.

Even the barriers originally set up around the area could not withstand the shockwave of this single blow.

The mbers maintaining the barrier were sent flying, and even the soldiers inside the First Division were affected.

Fortunately, the barriers on their armor were sturdy enough, and the trees that suddenly sprouted from the ground provided extra protection, barely saving their lives.

Hashirama Senju clasped his hands together and sighed in relief when he saw the soldiers were safe.

"Phew... Uncle Whitebeard's personality is truly explosive."

Beside him, Uchiha Madara tilted his head with a proud, aloof expression.

He then looked toward Yamamoto's group.

The area where Yamamoto and the others stood was devastated beyond recognition, reduced to a ss of ruins.

Smoke and dust billowed.

At that mont, Sengoku acted decisively, leaping into mid-air and striking toward the ground with another palm.

Golden light blood as the palm slamd down!

BOOM!!

The dust was blown away, revealing the slightly disheveled figures of Yamamoto and the others, as well as the shattered transparent barrier guarding them.

Despite taking a direct hit from Whitebeard, the Captains were actually unhard!

Before Yamamoto and the others could catch their breath, they felt a massive force descending from the sky.

The broken ground sank further, and a giant palm print appeared, with the Captains trapped in the center.

"This is—"

"A shockwave?!"

Yamamoto's body sank slightly, as if a mountain were resting on his shoulders, threatening to bend his straight spine.

This power felt like the impact of an explosion, but it was several magnitudes stronger.

Even Unohana and Ginrei looked haggard under this pressure, forced onto one knee.

The others were not so composed; they were pressed flat against the ground, their internal organs feeling squashed, their faces flushed red.

Unohana looked at her nearby subordinates and gritted her teeth in resistance.

Back when the battle first erupted, she had released her Zanpakutō to swallow and protect the heavily injured Jūshirō.

The shockwave Sengoku unleashed hit the ground and began expanding outward.

Rumble!

Rubble, beams, and charred earth were all swept away, including so of their own soldiers who had luckily survived earlier.

In an instant, the center of the First Division beca a barren wasteland, which, combined with the fissures from Whitebeard, looked like a desolate purgatory.

"We aren't done yet! Take another hit from !"

Another sharp voice rang out.

Charlotte Linlin stood high above on a thundercloud, swinging her massive blade down toward the people below!

"Sovereignty!"

A massive wave of sword intent erupted from Napoleon, surging toward Yamamoto's group!

BOOM!

The earth shook violently once more, and smoke and dust filled the air again.

Sengoku landed on the ground and waved his hand to clear the dust.

He turned his head and shouted to the soldiers still holding their ground: "Withdraw! Be careful not to get caught in the crossfire!"

The soldiers received Sengoku's order. Though still in a panic, they maintained basic order under their mid-level officers and quickly retreated from the area.

In this clash of titans, the re shockwaves of the battle were not sothing these foot soldiers could withstand.

Seeing the soldiers retreat, Sengoku turned to look at the two tall figures beside him.

"Whitebeard, Big Mom, I know you are angry."

"But use fewer of these landscape-altering moves. We're the ones who will have to fix this later."

Whitebeard frowned and said in a heavy voice, "Seeing Boss Ren in that state, I can't hold back my temper!"

"Whitebeard is right. Not everyone can stay as calm as you, Sengoku."

Linlin landed on the ground, warily staring at the smoke with a solemn expression.

In her perception, although the Captains' auras had weakened after taking her attack head-on, they had not disappeared.

She tilted her head and looked at Sengoku with an unfriendly tone: "Sengoku, you were right beside Ren, yet you let this happen. This is all your responsibility!" Sengoku's face darkened as he prepared to argue.

On second thought, a hint of helplessness flashed across his solemn, Buddha-like face.

He admitted he bore so responsibility, but saying he was entirely to bla was a bit of a stretch.

Given what he knew of Ren, even if he had tried to persuade him back then, it likely wouldn't have had much effect.

Sengoku turned around to see a teal-green giant appearing behind him.

The giant was only a torso, translucent, and its internal structure could be seen through the ethereal flesh.

Inside, Shisui held the charred head, a crimson light flashing in his eyes.

Susanoo!

While protecting Ren's Gigai earlier, he had used his Mangekyō power to construct a defense, sparing them from the battle's shockwaves.

Beside Shisui, Toji guarded the torso and looked at Sengoku, Whitebeard, and the others with a sigh.

"Don't you guys think you're making a bit too much noise?"

Looking at the surrounding bones and giant, Toji turned to Shisui, his expression softening slightly.

"That's a convenient ability. It's a good thing you're here; it's a huge help."

If he had been here alone, protecting these remains would have required quite a bit of effort.

"It was nothing."

Shisui shook his head, the bloodstains on his face not yet dry.

At that mont, Sengoku's voice ca: "How is the Great King's condition?"

Toji looked at the charred corpse in his arms and said speechlessly, "He's turned into this ghostly state, how do you think he is? When you guys fight, can you keep the noise down a bit?"

Shisui added, "We are protecting the remains. There will be no issues."

Hearing this, Sengoku nodded. "I understand." In the sky, the Azure Dragon was now supported by clouds and descended, its massive head stretching down beside Charlotte Linlin.

Looking toward Yamamoto and the others, the Azure Dragon pulled back its lips to reveal rows of sharp teeth.

"Worororo! So the final battle starts now!"

Linlin imdiately punched the dragon's head. "Idiot! Look at the situation! Is this the ti for that?"

"Huh?"

Kaido bared his teeth with a look of displeasure.

Sengoku barked, "Stop it! The enemy isn't dead yet. Save the bickering for after the battle!"

Just then, an elderly and deep voice rang out.

"You rebels won't have an 'after'!"

"I will send every single one of you to hell right here!"

In the smoke, raging flas ignited, churning the air and blowing the dust away to reveal the situation inside.

A bottomless crater had appeared in the ground, and on its edge stood Yamamoto and the other Soul Reapers.

After the repeated attacks from the others, although these Captains were injured and coughing up blood, they had not imdiately lost their combat capability.

They stood behind Yamamoto, their faces showing grim determination.

Looking at the state of these Soul Reapers, Charlotte Linlin's face darkened.

"You guys... do you have to resist to the end? Can't you just die quietly?"

The Azure Dragon nearby opened its mouth and said, "Linlin, what kind of nonsense is that? No one just sits there and waits for defeat without struggling."

"Enough, the two of you! Stop arguing at a ti like this!"

Whitebeard shouted, then glanced at Ace beside him.

"Ace, when the fighting starts, stay behind and protect yourself."

"I understand, Pops."

Ace stood by Whitebeard's feet, flas igniting on his body as he nodded solemnly.

In the sky, the Phoenix flapped its wings and soared past Whitebeard.

"Pops, I'm going to check on our General!"

With that, Marco flew toward the teal giant.

Sengoku looked at Yamamoto and the others, his voice growing sharper: "Playti is over. Now, we get serious!"

"True. Although I don't particularly like the thods of King Enma, regardless, he is our King, and you actually killed him..."

A layer of frost suddenly ford on the ground. Retsu crushed the ice underfoot as he walked to the side of Sengoku's Buddha form.

Cracking his knuckles, Retsu's face was grim as he gnashed his teeth.

"We will definitely settle this score!"

Beside Retsu, Kuzan rested a hand on his forehead and sighed. "Mr. Retsu, you didn't listen during the war eting again, did you?"

Looking at the enemies surrounding them, Yamamoto gripped his Zanpakutō tightly, flas surging from the blade.

Just as he was about to act, he suddenly felt a strange sense of dissonance.

Looking around, Yamamoto scanned the expressions of Sengoku and the others, and that sense of dissonance beca even more obvious.

Sothing was wrong.

Very wrong.

"Even though their leader is dead, the morale of these people hasn't wavered in the slightest."

"This defies all logic!"

In the crowd, Aizen patted the dust off his clothes, having noticed the sa issue.

He studied Sengoku and the others, and a thought suddenly occurred to him.

Could it be...?

Hearing Yamamoto's murmur, Unohana looked over with a startled expression.

"Captain-Commander, you an..."

At that mont, a muffled voice suddenly ca from the distance.

"Whew, I can finally speak."

Hearing that familiar voice, everyone was shocked and imdiately looked toward the source.

A spine-chilling scene t their eyes.

Nearby, the Phoenix was circling overhead, and below him stood the teal-green half-body giant.

Inside the giant's torso, Shisui was holding the charred head.

The head twitched slightly and, under the horrified gazes of the crowd, suddenly turned around, revealing a truly grotesque appearance.

The black, charred crust on the face began to flake off, revealing the deep red muscle fibers beneath, which were writhing and growing rapidly like maggots.

A pair of bulging eyes with no eyelids looked toward Yamamoto and the others.

Bared teeth were exposed as the red muscles moved the jaw to speak.

"Everyone, sorry to keep you waiting."

"It took so effort to repair the brain damage and regrow my facial features."

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