Bleach : The God of Flames

Soul King Palace, deep within the second level of the Inner Palace.

The Monk’s consciousness arrived here.

It was a gloomy place. Only scattered candlelight illuminated an altar and several boxes, as though something were being worshipped here.

This was an altar dedicated to the supreme existence of the Three Realms.

The Monk, whose form was merely an apparition, wearily dropped himself onto the floor. The candle flames here did not flicker in the slightest. To the Monk, the passage of time within his consciousness amounted to no more than an instant in the real world, giving him a brief opportunity to catch his breath.

Sawada Tsunayoshi… just what kind of monster was this kid?

The Monk was beginning to regret not maintaining a closer connection between the Soul King Palace and the Seireitei. Because of that, such tremendous changes had occurred in the Seireitei without him knowing anything about them.

Tsunayoshi’s name had no anchor in this world, so unlike other people, the Monk could not directly learn of his existence simply by knowing his name.

That had given Tsunayoshi time to grow.

By the time the Monk discovered him, Tsunayoshi’s strength had already reached a point where the Monk could no longer manipulate him at will.

Fortunately, the Monk still had a trump card.

Since the establishment of the Soul King Palace, he had never been an invincible existence.

In ancient times, countless people had sought to overthrow the Soul King Palace. No one liked having a newly established organization hanging over their heads—not even the Five Great Noble Houses.

Back then, Genryūsai had yet to make a name for himself, the Gotei 13 had not even been established, and Ōetsu Nimaiya’s reputation as the God of Blades had spread only among a limited circle.

The Soul King Palace had been weathering one crisis after another, and the only person it could rely upon was the Monk.

Of course, the Monk was not invincible either.

During that era, many extraordinary clans possessed what they called sacred artifacts, and among those weapons were quite a few capable of countering Ichimonji.

Amid such turbulent times, the Monk had single-handedly maintained the existence of the Soul King Palace.

That continued until Ōetsu arrived. At the Monk’s suggestion, the Soul King Palace used Zanpakutō to bring the world under control. The Soul Society subsequently descended into internal strife, and those extraordinary sacred artifacts gradually disappeared amid the wars.

Heroes emerge in chaotic times.

Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto and Unohana Yachiru both rose to prominence during that era.

What happened afterward was simple enough. Yamamoto led the original Gotei 13 in a battle against Yhwach, who had invaded the Soul Society.

That was the war a thousand years ago—the blood-soaked battle that established the foundation for a thousand years of stability in the Soul Society.

However, Yamamoto and the others were not the only ones who contributed to that battle.

The Soul King Palace, represented by the Monk, had also taken a side.

And the Monk had chosen the side of the Gotei 13.

There was only one reason for this.

Yhwach had actually intended to return the Three Realms to their original state of chaos.

That was something the Monk could never accept.

He had spent all this time protecting the Soul King Palace precisely so that the Soul King’s sacrifice would not be wasted, doing everything in his power to maintain the stability of the Three Realms.

Yhwach’s objective had undoubtedly crossed the Monk’s bottom line.

It was during that confrontation that the Monk employed the trump card hidden within this altar and sealed Yhwach’s Almighty.

As a result, Yhwach had been forced to use a thousand-year period of false death to regain the true power of the Almighty.

The power the Monk had used to seal the Almighty was the Soul King’s Left Arm.

And if that was the case, the contents of the boxes upon this altar were obvious.

Every single box, large or small, contained a part of the Soul King.

The mutilated figure sealed within the crystal was now nothing more than an empty shell.

Apart from his head, which remained intact, even the Soul King’s internal organs had been completely removed.

The Five Great Noble Houses of old had been responsible for killing and dismembering the Soul King.

But extracting the Soul King’s internal organs…

That had been the Monk’s doing.

There had been no other choice.

To protect the Soul King Palace, the Monk needed the Soul King’s power.

And this was something the Soul King himself had tacitly permitted.

After the Soul King was dismembered, the Monk used the power of several of his internal organs to deal with the crises that threatened the newly established Soul King Palace.

Later, the Left Arm was used to seal Yhwach’s Almighty, while the Right Arm was cast into the Soul Society’s Reverse Bone District to help the newly established Gotei 13 deal with the threat of a Quincy invasion.

The Soul King’s legs were used as the pillars supporting one of the realms.

A great noble family also made its own contribution to that undertaking.

As for the limbs and the portions of the internal organs that had been consumed during the early days…

When Yhwach was sealed by the Monk, he had also sensed the existence of this altar.

Before leaving the Soul King Palace, he and his Schutzstaffel stole two boxes from the altar.

Without the Almighty, Yhwach could not determine which box contained the most precious item.

With time running out, he simply chose one large box and one small box.

Whatever happened, he was bound to get something valuable.

Those two boxes contained the Soul King’s heart and genitals.

Now, because of Tsunayoshi’s appearance, the Monk had no choice but to use some of the few remaining parts once again.

These powers would diminish with every use.

But using them against the unstable variable known as Sawada Tsunayoshi was still worth it.

The Monk pressed his palms together in prayer.

He began reciting a continuous stream of prayers, essentially describing how dangerous the current situation in the Soul Society was and beseeching the Soul King to bestow his power upon him during this critical moment of life and death.

Reciting the prayers was not enough.

The Monk even stood up and began performing a ritual dance.

Fortunately, this was the world of consciousness, so the candle flames remained completely still.

Otherwise, after all that movement, his physical body would have been reduced to several layers of ash by his enemies.

The reason the Monk went to such elaborate lengths was because he was also afraid of the Soul King’s power.

He could have simply opened one of the boxes and taken out the part inside.

But if he did that, the karma of forcibly using the Soul King’s power would fall upon him.

Therefore, the Monk could only invoke the protection of the Soul Society as justification and have the Soul King willingly cooperate by granting him the power.

As he performed these rituals, the Monk could not help sighing inwardly.

Fortunately, the Soul King was now merely a mindless mutilated body.

Otherwise, how could he dare try to deceive him like this?

Wouldn’t that be tantamount to throwing his own life away?

After the lengthy ritual, the candle flame suddenly flickered.

Crack!

One of the boxes opened.

This meant that the Soul King had responded to the Monk’s summons and permitted him to use his power for the sake of the Soul Society.

The Monk’s face immediately lit up with delight.

He hurried over.

He already knew what was inside without even looking.

After all, he was the one who had divided these boxes.

Inside was a section of the Soul King’s intestinal tract.

Because it was so long, the Monk had divided it into several portions when he removed it and placed them in identical boxes.

He had used part of the intestinal tract’s power in the past.

Unlike the other intact organs, these divided portions did not grant him any special ability.

What they contained was simply the purest form of Soul King power.

And that was enough.

Soul King power reinforced by the physical power of the Soul King’s own body was on an entirely different level from the Soul King power that naturally emanated throughout the Soul King Palace.

Once he used the power contained within this intestinal tract, the Monk would become as powerful as though the Soul King himself had descended once more.

The Monk carefully removed the section of the intestinal tract.

Then he respectfully bowed toward the altar three times.

Regardless of anything else, proper etiquette had to be observed.

He needed to make sure he could still receive the Soul King’s support the next time he required it.

The moment the Monk finished his bows, his ears twitched.

He patted his chest and muttered to himself,

“Good thing I was fast. Who is it? Who’s calling for me so soon?”

Because he possessed the power of a true name, even if the Monk’s body were destroyed, as long as someone called his name, he could immediately resurrect.

Just now, the Monk had heard someone calling his name.

The connection between the Zero Division Palace and Ichimonji had already been activated.

He had to respond as quickly as possible.

The Monk formed a hand seal and placed the section of the Soul King’s intestinal tract within it.

Because he was currently only a manifestation of consciousness, he could not bring the Soul King’s remains into the lower world through resurrection.

He could only use this method.

Once he resurrected, he would summon the Soul King’s power, and the intestinal tract would respond to him, directly projecting the Soul King’s power into his body.

After completing all this, the Monk bowed once more toward the altar.

Then he separated his palms.

His entire body transformed into a pool of black ink and disappeared.

After the Monk vanished, the Soul King Palace once again returned to silence.

Though it was not quite as peaceful as it appeared.

The Monk did not know that, at the exact moment he removed the intestinal tract, on the level directly above him, the Soul King—the being sealed within crystal whom he regarded as nothing more than a living corpse—moved his pupils.

The Soul King’s eyes seemed capable of seeing through countless obstacles and observing the future after it had changed.

Those eyes…

Were the true Almighty.

Back in the Soul Society.

When everyone saw the Monk killed by Tsunayoshi, they were all stunned.

The members of the Gotei 13 were relatively calm.

They had already considered the possibility that Tsunayoshi might be able to kill the Monk when he unleashed his power.

The most shocked of all was Tenjirō Kirinji.

That unfathomable True-Name Monk had actually died at the hands of a mere youngster?

True-Name Monk…

That title suddenly reminded Kirinji of something.

The anxiety on his face disappeared.

There was nothing to fear from the death of a member of Squad Zero.

They were truly immortal.

“Wake up!”

Kirinji’s voice boomed across the battlefield.

He was deliberately making it loud enough for the Monk’s head, which was rolling across the ground, to hear him.

Damn it!

Yoruichi cursed inwardly.

She had overlooked the fact that there was another sly old bastard beside her.

Now that Kirinji had shouted the second half of those words, all of Tsunayoshi’s efforts would truly be wasted!

Shunkō erupted.

In a flash of lightning, Yoruichi charged forward with unstoppable momentum and kicked Kirinji directly in the face.

That was the fastest response she could manage.

She had kicked him in the face specifically to make him swallow the rest of his words.

And that was not all.

After forcing Kirinji to swallow what he had intended to say, Yoruichi needed to launch a high-frequency barrage against him.

The attacks had to come so relentlessly that Kirinji would have no chance to speak.

If possible…

Yoruichi intended to kill Kirinji on the spot!

Kirinji’s words also alerted the captains who had been watching the battle nearby.

Several of the quicker-minded captains reacted almost simultaneously with Yoruichi.

Earlier, while Tsunayoshi was fighting the Monk, Kyōraku had already used the power of shadows to return the captains’ Zanpakutō to them.

Unohana Retsu immediately swung her sword toward Kirinji, sending a blade of spiritual pressure slicing through the air.

Her speed could not match Yoruichi or Kirinji.

That was the only thing she could do.

Kyōraku’s figure vanished on the spot.

He intended to use the power of shadows to strike Kirinji.

After all, Tsunayoshi had already killed the Monk.

Kyōraku no longer cared whether the Gotei 13 truly fell out with Squad Zero.

If possible…

He wanted to leave the entire Squad Zero behind.

Hirako had already released his grip on his Zanpakutō.

The blade of Sakanade twisted as its Shikai was released, and under Hirako’s control, the entire world would be turned upside down.

If calling out a name is what activates the power…

Then if the name is wrong, would that power fail?

Hirako’s eyes were filled with resolve.

From the moment Ōetsu had reached out toward Rōjūrō Otoribashi, the captains among the Visored and Squad Zero had become mortal enemies.

Using Sakanade’s power to invert the name Kirinji spoke…

Would that prevent the power of the name from taking effect?

Answer me.

It has to work!