The Highest-Caliber One-on-One Duel in Soul Society

Thanks to Chun's efforts, the day of the final battle finally arrived. The two followed Chun to the prepared battleground, inside the Forest of Menos.

It wasn't too far from the Soul Reaper's Expedition camp, but it was obvious that they couldn't monitor this place from the outside, and there wasn't a single Hollow in sight. Neither of them asked, and Jun simply explained that he had used some minor abilities from the Kidō). Everyone knew Jun's Kidō was powerful, so neither of them suspected anything.

Thus, the decisive battle was about to begin.

The two stood facing each other at a great distance, neither drawing their swords, simply standing between them, and then began to back away.

Are you ready?

The two nodded in unison; at this moment, their eyes were only on their opponent.

"Battle begins!"

As soon as Chun finished speaking, he vanished in a Shunpo. Chun was fast enough, because a massive shockwave followed closely behind him.

Kuruyashiki Kenpachi and Sōya Azashiro's swords clashed, the violent collision unleashing a powerful impact. However, after this attack, Sōya Azashiro flew back at a speed even faster than when he charged towards the attack.

Sōya Azashiro lacks the strength attribute; his physical attributes are extremely low, making him completely incapable of engaging in Zanjutsu competition at this level. Although he is a master Zanjutsu, it's truly difficult to know how to comment on this.

However, it must be said that he is a combat genius. At the same time as this collision, Sōya Azashiro released a small portion of his Spiritual Power, which merged into Kuruyashiki Kenpachi's protective Spiritual Power, causing a disturbance in Kuruyashiki Kenpachi's Spiritual Power. Then, a 93rd-rank Hadō Tenryu shattered the protective spiritual power.

As the smoke and Kuruyashiki Kenpachi was a Mouth Bear, seemingly about to burst. He had already completed his Shikai, and more Mouth Bears emerged from the void.

However, at that moment, a gigantic tree root erupted from the ground like an awakened dragon, its immense power shaking the entire Forest of Menos.

"Ha!"

Not to be outdone, Kuruyashiki Kenpachi gathered his Spiritual Power and punched the tree. He was then propelled into the sky by the immense force, landing on a branch of one of the giant trees. From there, a massive branch descended from the heavens.

"Ooh-ya-ya~", Kuruyashiki Kenpachi was not afraid of this impact; his powerful protective Spiritual Power effectively blocked it.

But what if it wasn't just one? Several branches attacked from different directions in succession, like an impenetrable sword circle formed by a Zanjutsu master. Kuruyashiki Kenpachi was helpless because his opponent's sword was simply too long and too big. Unless he used Shunpo to escape backward, he had no chance to dodge it.

But will Kuruyashiki Kenpachi run away? The answer is obvious: no.

In an instant, immense Reiatsu descended. Kuruyashiki Kenpachi raised his Reiatsu to its limit, his powerfully condensed Spiritual Power radiating light. He actually managed to block the tree branch with a single punch; this brute force was probably comparable to some Soul Reaper whose Shikai was based on brute strength.

On the other hand, apart from the Mouth Bear who was still consuming its Hadō 93, the other Mouth Bear, under Kuruyashiki Kenpachi's command, had found the giant tree possessed by Sōya Azashiro, and so all the Mouth Bear began to gnaw on the trunk of that giant tree.

The giant tree possessed by Sōya Azashiro naturally wouldn't sit idly by. The tree, seventy or eighty meters in diameter, suddenly exploded, splitting into Mouth Bears away. It's conceivable that the spikes were originally intended to pierce the Mouth Bears, but the Mouth Bears ' physical strength was far greater than Sōya Azashiro.

Thus, the battle between the two sides split into two battlefields. On one side was the fight between seven or Kuruyashiki Kenpachi, while on the other side, about thirty Mouth Bears were gnawing at the giant tree Sōya Azashiro was using the broken parts of the trunk to retaliate.

If the two sides continue fighting like this, they certainly won't achieve any results in the short term. Kuchikura, having absorbed the ninety-three- Hadō Mouth Bear, finally finished digesting it. Its size increased to the same enormous size it had when fighting the bull warrior Vasto Lorde, but then suddenly shrank again. A powerful surge of Spiritual Power was extracted from Mouth Bear's body, transforming into a ball of light that flew towards Kuruyashiki Kenpachi and was absorbed by him.

Sōya Azashiro witnessed this scene. He could gain sensory abilities through the things he possessed; any one of his Reishi was his eye or his body. At this moment, he was further dispersing himself, completely dispersing his Reishi.

This will take time. Once the complete dissipation is complete, he will then carry out a proportional distribution and infection, using his Spiritual Power to infect the Reishi that constitute the giant tree, and then control them. When this proportion reaches harmony, and the infected area is large enough, he will become equivalent to the giant tree, meaning that the giant tree will come to life.

However, this requires a significant amount of time. As mentioned before, if given enough time to develop, Sōya Azashiro could even control the entire Seireitei, and it's not impossible that he could control the entire Soul Society; it's just a matter of time.

Controlling the giant tree is certainly less difficult than controlling the Seireitei, but it still takes a long time. However, controlling a portion of it first, as is the case now, is relatively simple, and more and more can be controlled as time progresses.

And so, the two tree roots Kuruyashiki Kenpachi, aimed at the battlefield and then suddenly thrust forward.

The entire Forest of Menos had never suffered such devastating destruction in its countless years of existence. Even the so-called battle of Vasto Lorde only damaged a specific part of it.

Now, the entire terrain of the Forest of Menos has changed. Countless tree roots have been destroyed and fallen to unknown depths in the lower layers, creating a huge vacuum zone in the middle layer of tree roots.

The trees in the Forest of Menos are already dead; all the roots, trunks, and branches are somewhat Petrification, so they simply don't have enough resilience to block these spikes.

Furthermore, as the thrusting distance increased, the power and intensity grew stronger, and the destructive force became increasingly greater, even snapping several smaller giant trees in half.

This immense destructive power finally caught the attention of Kuruyashiki Kenpachi, "Hey~ hey~, this is ridiculous!"

There was no time to dodge. The surrounding tree branches blocked his retreat, so Kuruyashiki Kenpachi prepared to defend against the impact. But he suddenly realized that this wasn't a one-sided thrust, but a pincer attack from two directions. In an instant, the area became a Mouth Bear.

The two tree roots collided, and the immense force tore everything around them apart. The Mouth Bear was also crushed by the force, proving that even these small creatures have their limits in terms of physical strength.

Chun was no longer in the battle; he ran to Natasha, the Black Widow. Because her symbol was the Black Widow spider, Natasha had an unparalleled sensitivity to vibrations, and Chun was listening to Natasha's reports.

"Wow! Does that guy who can merge himself into the tree not consume any Spiritual Power? How can he have such attack power!"

"I'm not sure either, but there should be some," Chun genuinely didn't know about the Spiritual Power consumption after Sōya Azashiro controlled the object.

"That guy you called Kuruyashiki has started letting his little creatures gnaw on other trees to replenish his Spiritual Power."

"It moved again, it was the tree trunk, the whole thing Explosion, several tree trunks at once. Can that person control different trees?"

Chun stroked his chin. "It seems that Sōya Azashiro didn't intend to completely control a single tree. He's making the most of it, controlling wherever there's a destructive force."

"What a useful ability! These two guys could tear down the Forest of Menos, haha!"

How do you rate your combat strength? If I were to encounter you, could you handle it?

"Hmm," Natasha thought carefully and said, "I probably can't beat that Sōya Azashiro, but that Kenpachi you mentioned isn't a match for me either."

"Power counter?"

"Hmm, that Azashiro is a good counter to me. As for that Kenpachi, if my poison contaminates his little ones, do you think he'll die?"

"What if someone can digest your poison?"

"Then I could kill him too, since he's still a bit lacking in raw strength."

"I'll believe you if you see his explanation."

"Oh? It seems you have a lot of confidence in that Kenpachi."

"His solution should be enough to kill all of you; only Zegrod might be able to withstand it."

"Oh? That piques my interest," Natasha chuckled wickedly, and just then, she suddenly said, "Here it comes, the solution!"

Returning to the battlefield, facing the exploding trunks of countless giant trees in all directions, and the collapse of numerous other trees, Sōya Azashiro's goal was to crush Kuruyashiki Kenpachi.

Moreover, numerous tree branches and roots were blocking Mouth Bear and Kuruyashiki Kenpachi's path. Just then, Kuruyashiki Kenpachi withdrew his Shikai, unleashed a single slash, and created an opening in the path, then discarded his sword and escaped through the opening.

"The bait has been laid, release the hungry Gaki Shura Gagaku Kairō!"

The ground of the Forest of Menos is no longer visible, so the location of this dark shadow is also unclear. However, as the enormous jaws continue to devour upwards, a strange, whale-like shape can still be seen.

Moreover, the more it devours, the larger it becomes, so no matter how you look at it, you can only see its head.

Moment

Close

Disappear

A massive gust of air erupted from the Forest of Menos, drawing countless Reishi towards the center of gravity. Even giant trees in the distance were snapped as they were pushed towards the center.

"Wow~ This move might really kill me, no, no, no, if I don't escape, I'm definitely going to die."

"Isn't that strong?"

"Hmm," Natasha's eyes lit up, "Hey~ Chun~, does this man have a wife?"

"Uh, your question..."

Answer me!

"No"

"Then he's mine~" Natasha licked her lips with a wicked grin.

He gave an awkward laugh. "He probably won't accept."

"That's not up to him. I won't let him go. Ah, that Azashiro is also seriously injured. Can the two of them still fight? Shouldn't we step in?"

"Okay! Take me there, and invite the others along."

Let's go!

"Huff... huff..." Kuruyashiki Kenpachi was even more exhausted than when he fought the Bull Warrior. Looking at the heavily wounded support Sōya in the distance, he smiled bitterly and said, "You're still alive?"

Sōya Azashiro was also in a terrible state. Half of his left arm was gone, several holes were exposed in his right waist, his entire abdomen was gone, and his spine was visible. His right leg was severed at the root from his thigh, and he could only stand by leaning on his sword.

"Hoo~ Hoo~ Almost there, but I don't care. As long as I have time, I can recover. It seems I've won; your knife is unusable now."

"Huff~ Huff~, yeah, I guess I lost, but I don't want to admit defeat so easily."

"Then! Let's fight again!" Sōya Azashiro's eyes lit up, just as he was about to disappear again, at that moment...

"Stop! Stop it, all of you!"

"What the Fifth Seat Shimizu?!"

The two were initially inclined to stop fighting upon hearing Jun's voice, but when Kuruyashiki Kenpachi looked up and saw Natasha beside Jun, he was somewhat surprised. However, once Oka, Dolfen, Starrk, Lilynette, and Tier Harribel arrived, things started to go wrong.

Although the Hollowfication Mask was incomplete, the obvious Hollow Holes in it didn't lie, and the sense of danger it exuded...

"That's an illusion!?"

"Yes, this is a higher rank than Vasto Lorde, which I call the Arrancar."

"Arrancar!?" Kuruyashiki Kenpachi had already arrived beside Sōya Azashiro, the two back to back. Sōya Azashiro narrowed his eyes, somewhat incredulous. "A higher-ups in Vasto Lorde!?"

"Haha~", Chun laughed, "Alright, alright, relax, they won't hurt you, how about this, Non-Aggression!"

Golden light illuminated the entire room, and everyone stared blankly at the food and drink before them. Chun smiled and said, "This is my Shikai, Non-Aggression. No one can attack an enemy in Non-Aggression. This rule is absolute, not even for you, Azashiro- san. Now, can we sit down and talk?"

Sōya Azashiro didn't believe it either, but just as he was about to attack Jun, his Kidō turned into fireworks. The Arrancar were also seeing Jun's Shikai for the first time, and they started playing around with each other, their noodle-like punches and kicks and their Cero that inevitably turned into fireworks. Even the Gran Rey Cero would turn into fireworks.

Chun clapped his hands, sending a Kaido into Sōya Azashiro's body. "Stop playing around, sit down, eat and drink something, then chat."

"Hey~", the group of Arrancar were very obedient, leaving Sōya Azashiro and Kuruyashiki Kenpachi completely bewildered.