An Army of One

A hint of appreciation flashed in Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto's eyes. He could, of course, tell that the thorn armor on Tsuna's body was modeled after his techniques.

"Not bad, it seems you still have the strength to fight," Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto said.

"This is nothing! I've only seen your East and West moves. What about North and South?" Tsuna used the protection and heat insulation of his Thorn Armor to regain his footing.

The thorn armor continuously multiplies its resistance; with each layer of skin burned away, the Cloud Attribute regenerates a new layer of protection. With this heat-insulating decoration, Tsuna no longer needs to fear Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto's sun-like temperature.

"Sawada Tsunayoshi, these two techniques, the North and South, are not to be displayed lightly," Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto kindly advised. These two techniques are his killing moves, and they are not as easy to control as the Kyokujitsu Katana and the Zanjitsu Gokui.

"Time waits for no one. Since you're not going to make a move, sir, I'll have to strike first!"

Tsuna gestured with his chin to indicate the state of the barrier. Due to the presence of the Zanjitsu Gokui, the barrier was once again damaged, Ukitake had no choice but to transfer all the heat energy that the barrier could not withstand into the sky.

However, the release of heat also creates a problem: the temperature in Soul Society will rise at a slow rate.

In other words, neither the stability of the barrier nor the peace of Soul Society gives Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto and Tsuna much time to wear each other down, and a battle like the one in One Piece that lasts for days and nights is even less likely to occur.

Because the world cannot withstand the devastation of such military power.

After Tsuna's reminder, Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto realized that he didn't have much time left to wield his sword freely. In that case, he would follow Tsuna's advice and try out his trump card.

Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto flipped the Zanka no Tachi and planted it at his feet. There was no more ground to stand on within the barrier, so Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto's planting was just a feint; the spot where the sword was planted was an area he had condensed with his spiritual pressure.

The reason Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto did this was simply because he felt it would be more ceremonial.

An eerie spiritual pressure emanated from the Zanka no Tachi, spreading outwards from the Zanka no Tachi to a patch of dark red earth. The earth was covered with cracks and rubble, and the eerie red light made it feel as if one were in Hell.

"Dead bodies, I grant you a brief moment of battle pleasure..."

As Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto's voice rang out, the sound of bones colliding echoed one after another. Then, a dark red skeletal hand emerged from the ground, and one after another, dark red skeletons crawled out of the eerie red earth.

Tsuna subconsciously swallowed. Although he could guess what kind of move Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto was using, the eeriness of witnessing it firsthand was still quite shocking. Fortunately, he knew about the ghosts and Bleach of this world, otherwise he might have been scared sick by the sight before him.

As the sound of bones colliding increased, so did the number of awakened skeletons. Soon, Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto was surrounded by skeletons, all stretching out their withered arms toward Tsuna, as if they were demanding Tsuna life.

"Zanka no Tachi - South - Kaka Jūmanokushi Daisōjin!"

As Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto finished speaking, the skeletons stood up completely, some even holding swords and bows, trembling as they moved forward, seemingly ready to attack Tsuna.

"These are the blades I wield. I imbue their ashes with the heat of my blades, awakening them. The resurrected spirits will hunt my enemies to the ground." Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto stared at Tsuna and asked, "Sawada Tsunayoshi, how do you intend to overcome my army of the undead?"

"It does look quite frightening..." Tsuna used the Floating Cloud Tonfas to twist the Black and White Handcuffs around his waist.

"But that doesn't mean you're the only one who can summon an army..." In the blink of an eye, without noticing that the handcuffs Tsuna was turning had become three on each side.

"Oh no! Ukitake, you have to hold on!"

Urahara had a bad feeling, casually gave Ukitake a word of advice, and frantically poured his Kido spiritual pressure into the barrier.

"I'll help too, what an annoying brat..."

Hirako followed Urahara's example and poured spiritual pressure into the barrier. He was originally a master of Kido, and although the power of the Kido he released was not very strong, after Urahara's repeated demonstrations, Hirako had mastered the corresponding techniques.

Tsuna was unaware of the chaotic situation Urahara and Hirako were in. When he saw the skeleton army halfway through its march, he immediately threw away the spinning handcuffs.

From the Tsuna made his move, these handcuffs began to take effect, splitting into two, four, and eight. Just as the handcuffs were about to collide with the skeleton army, the black and white gloves had completely covered the skeleton army, and from above, they were no less numerous than the skeleton army.

This is the Beyond Bankai of the Cloud Attribute: tree-like chain-like splitting and exponential growth in quantity. In some ways, the attack range of these forms is even wider than that of the Storm Attribute.

Just as the handcuffs were about to strike the skeletons, they ignited with purple flames, undergoing a rebirth and reshaping themselves back to their original forms within the flames.

The black handcuffs belong to Roll, the white handcuffs to Cloud Velociraptor, a large number of purple cacti appear on the battlefield, along with a variety of agile and warlike velociraptors.

In the blink of an eye, Tsuna had assembled an animal army that was in no way inferior to Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto's skeleton army.

Under the onslaught of the Cloud Hedgehog and the tearing bite of the Cloud Needle Ball State, Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto's skeleton army quickly collapsed. They were just skeletons to begin with, and their combat power was limited. In the charge of the two cloud armies, they were quickly routed.

Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto was not surprised by the defeat of the skeleton army. Pure skeletal bodies could not unleash the true power of these undead. To make them wield swords and shoot arrows fiercely and powerfully, muscles had to be created for them and flesh reconstructed.

Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto activated the second phase of the Kaka Jūmanokushi Daisōjin. Clusters of fiery energy enveloped the skeletons, and the skeletons that stepped out of the baptism of fire actually turned into living people!

Using the same fire energy from the Zanka no Tachi, Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto directly restored the skeletons to their appearance before they died.

There are Bleach wielding Zanpakuto, Quincy holding bows and arrows, and even the appearance of Hollow monsters has been restored one by one.

These spirits have no independent consciousness; they merely obey Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto's will and regard Tsuna as an enemy. Only when the spirits regain their physical bodies can they unleash the power they had before birth. This is Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto's true army of spirits.

The most eye-catching thing was the circle of Bleach blocking Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto's way. They were all wearing Captain's Haori and had fierce expressions. Each of them was a former squad captain!

The original Gotei 13! Tsuna recognized them.

A thousand years ago, Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto was not a gentle person. Iron-bloodedness was his code of conduct. Even if his teammates held back the enemy, he would not hesitate to burn them to ashes along with the enemy!

It's unclear what Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto's mindset was when he summoned these people, but the captains watching the show couldn't hold back any longer.

"What are those?" Kyōraku had a vague guess, but couldn't bring himself to say it.

"The first generation of the Gotei 13, along with the Quincy, died under the Captain-Commander's blade while trying to hold them back." Unohana Retsu calmly recounted this far from peaceful fact.

Regardless of the circumstances, it is a fact that Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto personally killed the captain of the Gotei 13, and the remaining junior captains were all plunged into terror.

With Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto's intelligence, it was impossible for him not to realize that his actions would terrify his colleagues, but he did it anyway. Throughout his life, he had never needed to hide anything, including the Millennium Plan, which was an open deal with the nobles.

What's done is done. Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto's actions did not go unnoticed by the other captains, who realized his mistake. It is an indisputable fact that he and his comrades were burned to death in the great war a thousand years ago.

Kyōraku quickly realized that Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto was still plotting, but the moment the current captain became dissatisfied with Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto's ruthless past would be the moment when the Gotei 13 would welcome a new Captain-Commander!

The moment the undead army regained their physical forms, the battlefield situation changed instantly. The undead's combat power increased exponentially, and the Cloud Hedgehog and cloud velociraptors could no longer advance an inch. They could only resist the undead's killing speed by splitting and multiplying at a rate that was too fast.

No, our army needs reinforcements. Several white lines extended from the Spike Dragon pattern on Tsuna's feet, piercing into the ground like tree roots.

Before long, large, serpentine-like Spike Dragon emerged from the ground in the center of the battlefield.

With the addition of the Spike Dragon, the balance of power on the battlefield began to shift towards equilibrium. The number of splits in Tsuna's animal army and the number of awakened undead gradually became equal. It was unclear whether it was Tsuna and Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto's strange tacit understanding that was maintaining the stability of the battlefield.

"I am greatly shocked by the strength of the Captain-Commander and Sawada!" Komamura said. The sheer number of troops reminded him of the saying "too many ants can kill an elephant."

"Tsk tsk, one man is an army, no wonder the teacher has high hopes for Tsuna." Kyōraku murmured to himself. This kind of power, that one person is an army, is the source of Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto's confidence for thousands of years.

Toshiro was already pondering whether his Hyōrinmaru could learn this fighting style. Ice and fire were just two extreme attributes; he should be able to create ice sculptures to fight...

Kenpachi Zaraki had completely lost interest in the challenge; he only wanted to improve his combat strength as quickly as possible so that he could enjoy the thrill of battles at this level.

As for Urahara, Hirako, Ukitake, and the others, they had no time to evaluate the battle; they were too busy to even think about it. The clash between the two armies was the ultimate test for them.

Compared to the bustling scene at the center of the battlefield, Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto and Tsuna, located on the periphery of the battle, were relatively calm. Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto was testing Tsuna's animal army, while Tsuna was wary of the original Gotei 13 in front of Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto.

Tsuna was certain that once the first Gotei 13 entered the fray, the balance of power would shift once again. The animal army would be no match for the attacks of these elites, and in order to maintain the situation, he would have no choice but to step in.

Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto caught a glimpse of Tsuna's worried gaze and a barely perceptible smile appeared on his lips. Since Tsuna was worried, he would test Tsuna's limits.

At Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto's behest, the first Gotei 13 has moved!