Within the Seireitei's Seijō Tōkyorin, the corpses of the guards lay scattered everywhere.
Fortunately, it was nighttime, and all Central 46 were in their rooms, not in the Council Chamber, so they were spared the massacre. The old men huddled in the shadows, trembling, praying that Grimmjow and his men hadn't discovered them.
For various reasons, only Grimmjow brought eight Fracción who had come to join him among the Espada, several of whom were his former subordinates who had followed him all along.
The only one who recently came to join them was Szayelaporro's brother, Ilfort Grantz Granz.
Zero originally didn't want them to bring their subordinates, fearing they would be easily captured and used as research subjects. However, someone had to do the Troop-Clearing' work, so Grimmjow, who had the most Fracción besides Baraggan, brought his men.
Grimmjow and his eight Fracción were the first to break the Barrier and enter the Seijō Tōkyorin. In fact, the group of old men had already been discovered, but their Reiatsu was too low to be worth the time to kill.
"Ha, not a single one can fight."
At this moment, D-Roy, whose head was no longer bandaged, was extremely arrogant because he had cleared out more than a dozen Guards from the Great Spirit Book Gallery.
"Don't be careless. Those who were taken down were just Grunts. Captain-level wouldn't be so easily eliminated."
Shawlong is considered a relatively intelligent Menos Grande; otherwise, he wouldn't have thought of seeking resources by siding with Grimmjow, Menos Grande.
"Enough talk. You form the first line of defense. We'll deal with those who can get through," Grimmjow ordered directly, then called out to someone nearby, "You have no objections, right?"
Ulquiorra and Tier Harribel didn't bother arguing with him about this command, and the two of them Sonído and left together, forming a triangular formation with Grimmjow to surround the Seijō Tōkyorin.
The Fracción, having received Grimmjow's orders, began to scatter. Under Grimmjow's repeated commands, they were to allow the Captain-level Soul Reaper to advance to the second line of defense...
Meanwhile, Maki, the main figure in this mission, was carrying a strange, computer-like device to the basement of the Council Chamber, heading straight for the Great Spirit Book Gallery.
Szayelaporro suspected that the Shadow Space was hidden in the Seireitei, so he came here to collect samples to analyze the Reishi composition of the Shadow Space and then find a way to enter it.
Maki believed that they could not place all their hopes on entering the Quincy World, so he also proposed to invade the Great Spirit Book Gallery to find a way to attack the Soul King Palace.
Therefore, Zero decided to explore Soul Society again to obtain the information he wanted.
"The target is the Seijō Tōkyorin? Oh no, they're trying to invade the Great Spirit Book Gallery!"
When the enemy arrived, Kyōraku was still drinking his sake. When he easily noticed the enemy's undisguised target, he didn't even put away his sake bowl before he Shunpo left.
The Captains who, like him, had figured out the intruders' target, were all rapidly converging on the Seijō Tōkyorin within the Inner Court, including the Captain of the 11th Division...
"Haha, over there? This opponent must be formidable! I can sense their Reiatsu from this far away; that alone excites me."
"Little Swordsman can finally have a fun fight!"
Kenpachi Zaraki, unusually, didn't get lost, simply because the Reiatsu near the Seijō Tōkyorin was ridiculously strong. At this moment, the three suddenly appearing Reiatsu were like lights in the darkness, guiding his direction.
Any building that stood in his way was smashed to pieces, and a little girl was hanging on Kenpachi Zaraki's back.
Behind them, a man with short reddish-brown hair, a bald man, and a Mushroom Head guy were also running, the three of them closely following Kenpachi Zaraki and Yachiru Kusajishi in front.
"Ashido, your complexion has been off ever since the enemy appeared. Is something wrong?"
The bald man asked casually, completely disregarding the fact that Ashido was their Vice-Captain. He was none other than the now-famous Ikkaku Madarame, the Fourth Seat of the 11th Division.
That's right. At this time, Ashido was still the Vice-Captain of the 11th Division, Yachiru Kusajishi was the Third Seat. However, Yachiru would always stick to Captain Kenpachi Zaraki and never help Ashido with team affairs. She also often acted recklessly.
The Fifth Seat is Yumichika Ayasegawa, who is more feminine than a woman. With the Fourth Seat being Ikkaku seat, Yumichika can conveniently avoid the number four, which he dislikes.
"Be careful, they are very strong, especially their leader, who is stronger than anyone else."
Ashido only gave a brief reminder; he didn't tell Ikkaku what the 11th Division was like before, or even mention Zero's name. Ikkaku and the others only joined the Gotei 13 after many things had calmed down.
Within the Seireitei, discussions about Zero's deeds are forbidden by the Central 46, as they consider the massacre of the previous Central 46 a great disgrace.
"Really? The Captain must be very interested in that kind of guy!"
Ikkaku didn't ask any further questions. He knew about Ashido's past; he was said to have had many interactions with several former Kenpachi, making him a veteran member of the 11th Division.
Most importantly, he himself is incredibly strong, currently the man in the 11th Division who can fight Captain Zaraki for the longest time... therefore, Kenpachi Zaraki has retained his position Vice-Captain...
As the three of them gradually fell behind Kenpachi Zaraki, they sensed surging Reiatsu coming from several other directions, indicating that someone in those places had already engaged the enemy.
Several red Bala rained down from a rooftop, and the three scattered abruptly, assuming fighting stances.
"Hehehe, only Captain-level personnel can go through. You guys stay here!"
When DeRoy speaks or smiles, he reveals his strange set of teeth, which is quite creepy.
"They actually have a Vice-Captain! Not bad at all!"
Ilfort Grantz seemed quite excited when he saw the wooden sign on Ashido's shoulder. He and DeRoy were paired up to intercept enemies in that direction.
The two originally planned to Captain the Captain and just kill him first.
However, Kenpachi Zaraki's exaggerated Reiatsu startled them; even some of the Espada's Reiatsu was not as strong as his. The two had no choice but to follow orders and let the Captain-level go in, only intercepting those who came later.
"There are only two opponents, but we have three. How so?"
"Ikkaku, you should learn from the Vice-Captain's 'first come, first served' approach."
Ikkaku turned to ask, he only saw Yumichika's helpless expression, while Ashido had already pounced on the stronger Ilfort Grantz.
"Damn it! This last one is mine, Yumichika, you're not allowed to lift a finger." As he spoke, Ikkaku Madarame charged towards Deloi...
On the other side, Ashido's powerful slash made Ilfort Grantz's eyes narrow, and he had no choice but to draw his sword to block.
Before Ilfort Grantz could retaliate after blocking the first blow, Ashido unleashed a powerful Reiatsu, instantly unleashing a series of sword strikes that slammed Ilfort Grantz off the roof and onto the ground.
Gritting his teeth, Ilfort Grantz unleashed his full Reiatsu, attempting to gain an advantage through speed using Sonído. However, Ashido's Shunpo skills were also highly proficient, and the two clashed repeatedly at high speed...
Ikkaku also began fighting Deroy, who was currently not masked and whose strength was considered to be 'Brave-level' Arrancar. Deroy, who was initially contemptuous, had no choice but to draw his Zanpakuto to fight after Ikkaku cut off two of his fingers.
"I am Kenpachi Zaraki, the Captain of the 11th Division. Are you the strongest here? I only want to fight the strongest."
Kenpachi Zaraki charged forward and finally spotted one of the three Reiatsu. The blue-haired man was leaning against the wall, looking at him.
The reason for this question is that Kenpachi Zaraki has difficulty judging which of the three Reiatsu is stronger or weaker. For him, being able to sense them at all is already a stroke of luck; he cannot discern the details.
"Haha..." Grimmjow laughed wildly for a moment, then stopped and said, "Then you've come to the right person. I, Grimmjow, happen to be the strongest of the Espada."
This Captain-level opponent, who arrived first and sought the strongest opponent, and who came to him immediately, filled Grimmjow with ecstasy.
What does this show? It shows that even a stranger to the Grim Soul Reaper thinks he's strong enough, even stronger than Ulquiorra is ranked fourth.
"Alright... let's begin!"
Kenpachi revealed a ferocious smile. Yachiru had already retreated far away. He couldn't wait to bleed; he hadn't experienced that kind of near-death battle in countless years...
The outer wall of the Seijō Tōkyorin collapsed as the golden and blue Reiatsu collided. The close proximity of the Reiatsu had already affected Maki, who was working in the Great Spirit Book Gallery underground.
"Wow, such terrifying Reiatsu! Grimmjow has unleashed the full power of this stage of Reiatsu... We need to speed things up." Maki was shocked by the battle above, but his hands continued to move.
"Did Kenpachi Zaraki fight Grimmjow? Interesting. I always felt that guy's strength before was just a facade. Let Grimmjow test his true strength."
Zero was still sitting in the Control Room, watching the battlefield on the screen above. He was personally overseeing things from behind the scenes, ready to have someone release the Negación at any time.
Rei becomes curious about Kenpachi Zaraki's strength upon seeing his childhood rival again... a guy who couldn't even Zanpakuto easily killed his predecessor Kiganjō.
Just Isshin Shiba appeared in front of Tier Harribel, Soi Fon, the Captain of the Second Division, also arrived. The two exchanged a glance and then attacked Tier Harribel together...
Ulquiorra was also facing two people, Kyōraku and Ukitake. However, Ukitake looked unwell; his face was deathly pale, and it seemed he had just suffered a flare-up of tuberculosis...
Aizen didn't appear on the main battlefield; at this moment, he was organizing his Squad Member to clear out the Ragged Hollows and besiege Gillian... There was no other way; for the Seireitei, his so-called flowing-water-type Zanpakuto ability wasn't suitable for this kind of intense combat.