Lille Barro seethed with fury when the two n began chatting as if he weren’t even there.
"Another Zanpakutō that manipulates shadows, is it?"
"Then let the sun erase the shadows!"
He raised a hand, gathering a radiant golden sphere of light.
In the next instant, the sphere burst into countless golden rays—rays imbued with the power of Piercing All Things!
"Where there is light, there is always shadow."
"Shadow Assimilation: Phantom Robe."
Katori Nanatsuki’s body beca enveloped in a shifting cloak of shadows. Every golden beam passed straight through him.
But the mont they did—his form reconstituted as if nothing had happened.
"Your light may pierce shadows, but it can’t erase my shadow," Nanatsuki said with a light chuckle.
After entering Hollowfication, his Reiatsu had reached Level 100.
This qualitative leap had evolved his shadow powers again.
Now, he possessed a partial immortality trait.
While cloaked in Phantom Robe, ordinary attacks could no longer harm him—unless they ca from Reiatsu greater than his own.
Nanatsuki even suspected that if he surpassed the limits of a Shinigami, not even Yamamoto’s flas would be able to burn his cloak.
"Impossible!"
"Anyone who defies God’s ssenger deserves death!"
Lille raised a single finger, condensing an even greater sphere of divine light.
But Nanatsuki had no intention of letting him finish charging it.
Kyōraku Shunsui was still nearby—and if Lille’s massive attack landed, it would obliterate him instantly.
"Listen to the trumpet of God—and die!"
The sphere before Lille’s chest morphed into a massive horn.
But standing there like that—he had made himself the perfect target.
Nanatsuki charged straight in.
From his waist, Datenshinkotsu flashed into his hand.
Katori-Ryū: Senmai-Oroshi!
SHING—!
Like a raging storm, hundreds of blade arcs tore through Lille’s body.
Shk! Shk! Shk! Shk!
"This kind of slash... won’t... work...?"
But as Lille Barro staggered, he realized sothing terrifying—his Reiatsu, even his body, was crumbling away.
"Impossible—! My Reiatsu—! My body—!"
"No—!"
In the next heartbeat, Lille Barro’s body shattered into countless golden Reishi particles.
"Datenshinkotsu is a Divine Armant," Nanatsuki said softly. "And as a so-called ssenger of God... how could you ever hope to withstand a divine weapon?"
Datenshinkotsu’s ability was to erode Reiatsu from within the spiritual body.
Nanatsuki rarely used it—because its effect was fixed, and it required physical contact to trigger.
A single slash could drain about a third of a seated officer’s Reiatsu.
But most of Nanatsuki’s enemies never survived long enough to see the weapon’s ability in action.
However, against a semi-immortal like Lille Barro, Datenshinkotsu finally had a chance to shine.
In unleashing Senmai-Oroshi, Nanatsuki had delivered hundreds of rapid strikes in re seconds.
And Lille—standing still—had each hit sap his spiritual power.
After being drained hundreds of tis, his spirit body simply couldn’t take it. It collapsed.
Nanatsuki sheathed his blade and withdrew the glass case holding the Hōgyoku.
Lille’s divine bird-like form and abilities were far too suspicious—it was likely he was connected to a fragnt of the Soul King.
As Nanatsuki drew out the Hōgyoku, the golden Reishi that had been scattering began to reverse—flowing toward him and into the orb.
"So it’s true... The Four Great Noble Houses really went all the way with this."
Nanatsuki watched the Hōgyoku actively absorb the golden particles and couldn’t help but click his tongue.
Lille Barro had truly processed sothing from the Soul King, though it’s not a part.
These golden Reishi fragnts—drifting in the air yet not rging with the normal spirit particles—were fragnts of the Soul King himself.
Luckily, Kyōraku Shunsui was still maintaining his Bankai domain.
That prevented the Reishi from dispersing beyond reach.
Nanatsuki made a full circuit through the area, allowing the Hōgyoku to absorb every last floating piece.
"I can feel it... the Hōgyoku’s awareness is becoming clearer."
Nanatsuki arched a brow.
Until now, the orb’s consciousness had been chaotic—lacking clear intent.
But after consuming Lille Barro’s fragnts... the Hōgyoku felt complete. It had developed a will.
There was no ti to explore that now—not in the middle of a war.
Nanatsuki stored the Hōgyoku away and walked over to Kyōraku.
"So that’s it... it’s really over?"
Kyōraku watched the golden Reishi fade from the air and realized that Lille Barro must have finally perished.
He couldn’t help but sigh.
A terrifying foe he couldn’t defeat even with full power... had just been instantaneously executed by Nanatsuki.
The gap in strength was staggering.
"chanic-type enemies are like that," Nanatsuki replied. "If your ability counters theirs, you can kill them cleanly."
Lille Barro might have seed terrifying, but in Nanatsuki’s hands—equipped with information advantage and counterasures—he was less troubleso than soone like Unohana Retsu, a master of swordsmanship who wouldn’t just stand still and take hundreds of hits.
Kyōraku released his Bankai.
The abyssal lake disappeared, and the dark gold palette faded.
The mont it ended, his face turned deathly pale.
He’d sustained his Bankai through sheer will—and a ton of drugs.
Without the aid of a Reiatsu-Converging Pill, he’d have collapsed long ago.
Shiba Isshin was no longer present—Nanatsuki had sent him off earlier to support the wounded Shinigami squads.
"Captain Kyōraku, you’ve done enough. Rest for now."
Elsewhere—Mayuri Kurotsuchi was facing off against Soul King’s Left Hand, Pernida.
"No new tricks?" he said lazily, parrying a whip-like neural tendril.
Despite being newly promoted to vice-captain, Mayuri had the upper hand—over Soul King’s Left Hand, no less!
Before arriving at the Wandenreich, he had already acquired extensive intel on Pernida.
In fact, records showed that Pernida had once crossed paths briefly with Aizen Sōsuke in the World of the Living.
Leftover neural tissue from that encounter had been collected at the scene—then handed over to the R&D Bureau.
After studying these abandoned nerves, Mayuri grew intrigued.
So before heading to the Wandenreich, he’d restructured his own body—specifically to counter Pernida’s abilities.
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