In the original timeline, because the protagonist came down from the Soul King Palace, the seventy-two layers of protective shield were damaged, and the Reishi followed him all the way to the Seireitei.
Therefore, Yhwach and others were able to use those Reishi to travel to the Soul King Palace, located Heavenly Heights.
The current Seireitei is merely imitating those Barriers; the protective walls of the 'Eightfold Heavens' have developed weak points due to the loss of some Reishi...
"Step down! There's nothing more for you to do. The inability to clone the Schrift and move into the Shadow Domain means the cloning failed; it's more like a replica."
Zero dismissed J, who was merely a tool; he was just a clone and did not possess the power of the Schrift, but he could slightly utilize the Quincy's Reishi affiliation ability, namely 'Sklaverei'.
The originally miniaturized Blood Drink grew larger, held in Zero's hand and infused with a large amount of Reiatsu. When the Reiatsu reached its peak, a red slash, taller than the Sekimon, struck the unstable 'Eightfold Heavens' protective barrier.
Zero's terrifying Reiatsu caused the space to be distorted to an extreme degree, and then the protective barrier shattered, leaving him facing the city wall formed by the Sekki-seki.
Two Gillian, taller than the city walls, emerged from the Garganta once more, slowly advancing and opening the city gate forged from Sekki-seki...
"Gillian Menos Grande? Damn it, I've never fought any of these monsters before!"
"Be careful, that's the enemy."
"Arrancar? Why can't I sense his Reiatsu?"
A group of ordinary Squad Member guarding the city gate trembled as they saw Zero walking slowly forward, but they could not sense anything from him.
"Of course you can't sense it. My Reiatsu is on a completely different dimension from yours. Let me lower my Reiatsu so you can feel it..."
In a playful mood, Zero deliberately lowered his Reiatsu, from the First Dimension to the level of Captain-Commander, around ten Reiatsu.
The Reiatsu of a normal Captain-level, if not suppressed by the Captain himself, can already cause the Squad Members to have difficulty breathing, chest tightness, trembling all over, and be unable to move.
This Reiatsu, reaching the Top Tier of Captain, instantly caused the Squad Member to suffocate while trembling...
"He wiped out an entire squad with just his Reiatsu, how terrifying! Is he Nangong Ling?"
"Facial comparison confirms it is indeed him."
Akon saw this scene on the monitor and was immediately terrified. The other strangely shaped members of the Research and Development Institute also trembled a few times.
According to classified documents, the enemy leader Nangong, was able to defeat half of the Captains of the Gotei 13 on his own. The Captain-Commander had also defeated Nangong Ling, but failed to kill him.
As Akon momentarily lost focus, Zero disappeared from the surveillance footage. He shouted into the communicator, "The enemy has breached the defenses!" Meanwhile, Zero was rapidly heading towards Sōkyoku Hill.
Several huge cracks appeared on the central stone pillar, clearly indicating that the attack had exceeded its tolerance.
Ultimately, it held up and didn't completely shatter, so the Barrier is slowly repairing itself, though its protective power is not as strong as it was initially.
"Has it finally arrived?"
The Yama-jii guarding the center of the great formation suddenly opened his eyes and muttered something to himself. He looked towards the direction where the protective barrier had first shattered, his gaze piercing...
Not only did he sense it, but many people in the Seireitei also sensed it the moment the 'Eightfold Heavens' Barrier was broken.
After Ulquiorra's Resurrección, his hair grew longer, his tear lines deepened, and the large bone horn on his head, a remnant of his mask, resembled a crown.
He held a pale blue, sharp Reishi Spear, and a pair of black demonic wings spread behind him. His Red Star Outfit had transformed into a white robe made of Reishi, with a black line clearly dividing it in the middle.
Sensing Zero's Reiatsu, Ulquiorra paused his attack and said coldly, "Lord Nangong has come in person, which means your plan to trap and kill us has also failed."
Now, his opponents had increased to three. Ukitake, struggling to stay afloat, joined the battle alongside Vice-Captain Kaien, and the three of them held off Ulquiorra's Resurrección.
"That's not necessarily true. Your Lord Nangong was beaten pretty badly back then!" Kyōraku replied to Ulquiorra, his breathing slightly rapid.
Without Bankai, he was indeed somewhat passive in the fight, but he wasn't completely helpless... In fact, at this point, Kyōraku was still the main attacker among the three, and only he possessed the strength to defeat Ulquiorra.
"Then let's wait and see..."
Ulquiorra raised his Lance and Sonído another powerful attack, targeting the weakest of the Kaien. The Reishi Spear struck the Kaien's Nejibana, the overwhelming force of the attack easily crushing Kaien.
He was sent flying diagonally, forced to spin 1080 degrees before crashing into the ground, shattering buildings along the way.
'Damn it, the gap is too big. If only I could already use Bankai skillfully...'
With this thought in mind, Kaien immediately lay down and remained motionless, only panting heavily; he could no longer fight. Originally, he only had a broken right hand, but now he had at least a dozen broken bones all over his body.
As the Kaien was blasted away, Kyōraku once again launched his signature sneak attack, leaping to a position higher than Ulquiorra and slashing down.
With a clang, Ulquiorra parried the swords, but then a figure appeared behind him—it was Ukitake, wielding two swords.
Ukitake launched a scissor-like cross-cutting attack on Ulquiorra, attempting to cleave him in half. Ulquiorra could only rely on his speed to Sonído away.
Ukitake, who has already unleashed 'Sōgyo no Kotowari', is not so easy to deal with. He and Kyōraku work together seamlessly, with one suppressing the other and launching a sneak attack, and the other launching a sneak attack when one is attacked. They are experienced and cunning in combat.
It's rare to see even one person like this, let alone two. They're incredibly cunning, and since they're from the same school and work together seamlessly, they can be called a sinister duo...
Ulquiorra, who had been forced back by Ukitake, landed and was immediately pierced through the back of his heart by a blade. He was slightly surprised, but not flustered at all.
At this moment, Kyōraku's upper body also appeared from Ulquiorra's shadow. He was about to raise his sword to stab again, but Ulquiorra turned around and threw his spear into his own shadow, causing a huge explosion in his Shadow World.
This is just a prototype of the 'Lanza del Relámpago', and its power is not yet at that level, but it should not be underestimated.
Kyōraku, clearly stunned by the blast, jumped out in a disheveled state. Ulquiorra then conjured Reishi Spear in his hand once more, cleaved back Ukitake who attempted a sneak attack, and then Sonído behind Kyōraku.
"So fast!"
Kyōraku exclaimed in surprise and dodged with Shunpo, while Ulquiorra's speed was significantly enhanced after his Resurrección, so he was naturally fast enough.
The two began to compete in speed. Ulquiorra followed Kyōraku with a series of Sonído, finally anticipating his position and thrusting his spear, striking Kyōraku squarely in the abdomen.
Ulquiorra, spear in his right hand, slammed the spear against a tall tower, pinning Kyōraku firmly in place. Then, he conjured Black Cero in his left hand, intending to shatter Kyōraku.
Kyōraku's expression remained unchanged. He pushed off the wall, ignoring the pierced abdomen, and slid forward. Once his right hand had enough distance, he slashed upwards at Ulquiorra's left hand, uttering two words: "White!"
Pfft!
To Ulquiorra's disbelief, his left hand was severed, and as the energy became unbalanced, Black Cero was about to erupt on the spot.
Ukitake's figure intervened between the two once again. Sōgyo no Kotowari absorbed the Black Cero with her right sword, while releasing her left sword at Ulquiorra, who was almost at zero distance.
With a deafening roar, Black Cero erupted not far away, blasting apart all the walls surrounding the Seijō Tōkyorin.
"He's not dead? What a pity."
Ukitake secretly regretted that the incompletely formed Cero couldn't penetrate Ulquiorra, and instead carried him several thousand meters before exploding.
"You can't kill him; his main ability after liberation doesn't seem to be speed."
Kyōraku tore open the Reishi Spear from his abdomen and threw it aside, fearing that Ulquiorra might remotely control it to explode, which would truly be the end for him.
Seeing Kyōraku bleeding profusely from his abdomen, Ukitake asked with concern, "Are you alright?"
Kyōraku's face was pale. "He won't die yet..."
Then, looking in the direction of the explosion, he said in a deep voice, "When I attacked him with 'Kageoni,' he didn't care about the wound at all; it healed during the battle."
"I risked breaking his arm to confirm whether his abilities were as I suspected..."
Sure enough, when Ulquiorra Sonído, his severed arm was completely healed, the burns from the Cero explosion were recovering, and even the tight-fitting robe that he wore after his Resurrección was being restored.
"High-Speed Regeneration... and the regeneration speed is so fast."
Ukitake exclaimed in surprise, his face turning pale, while Kyōraku wore an expression of 'I knew it!' Luckily, they knew beforehand, otherwise Ulquiorra would have been in trouble if he had seized the opportunity to exchange injuries.
"Swapping my injuries would be the most unwise choice..."
Ulquiorra's indifferent words had barely faded when towering flames erupted from Sōkyoku Hill, and two terrifying Reiatsu emanated from it, engulfing the entire Seireitei.
The three realized what was happening when a duel erupted between the two leaders on Sōkyoku Hill. The powerful Reiatsu penetrated the Sekimon and affected the clouds in the sky.
The clouds parted in two, one golden and one red, a strange phenomenon that terrified even the Soul Reaper within the Seireitei.
"Lord Nangong has personally taken action, so continue your desperate struggle!" Ulquiorra assumed a fighting stance, ready to face Kyōraku and the others once again.
The only two unaffected were Kenpachi Zaraki and Grimmjow. When the true form of the Pantera appeared, their battle entered a state of complete frenzy.
After Grimmjow's Resurrección, his form was similar to his Vasto Lorde form, both being upright, but without the mask, and the originally white bandages on his body were now glowing blue, as was his tail.
At this moment, Grimmjow's black and blue claws were hard enough to withstand Kenpachi's one-handed slash, and coupled with his super-fast movement, Kenpachi, now with his eye bags exposed, was at a complete disadvantage...
As for Tier Harribel, she was still engaged in fierce combat with the two. The three of them only paused slightly because of Zero's appearance.
The erupting flames engulfed the entire Sōkyoku Hill. The 'Sougyoku,' an Sōkyoku with the destructive Zanpakuto of a million, was nothing in the face of the flames released by Ryūjin Jakka.
It's merely a symbol, representing the rules and regulations of the Soul Society, used to punish those who commit grave crimes; it doesn't mean it's powerful...
"This Barrier is half rotten, what's the point of you guarding it?"
Zero arrived at the core of the formation, too lazy to look at the rest. He had just clashed with Yama-jii at the extreme Reiatsu of his Shikai, and Zero had won by a narrow margin.
Nearly a century has passed since the last all-out battle. Although Yama-jii has made some progress, it hasn't been much. In terms of Reiatsu, Zero has surpassed Yama in the same Shikai level.
"I see. Your Reiatsu has grown to a level stronger than mine? But what about your actual combat strength?"
Yama-jii's tone was indifferent, his eyes unwavering. With a swing of his sword, a massive flaming dragon flew towards Ling.
However, Zero easily dodged the attack. He had no intention of fighting and laughed, "Knowing you might not be able to kill me, you still used my subordinates as Bait to lure me out. Do you think I don't know what you're doing? I'm afraid the Zero Division is already preparing to descend, isn't it?"
A flicker of emotion finally appeared in Yama-jii's indifferent eyes; his plan had been seen through.