Valley of Screams Accelerating Toward Destruction

With a whoosh, three figures appeared around Byakuya and Ichigo: Tsuna, Ichigo, and Toshiro. They had rushed over immediately after Byakuya's restriction was lifted.

"Are you alright, Byakuya Akina?" Ichigo asked anxiously as he approached the two.

Tsuna and Toshiro circled the temple, but because Byakuya's final Bankai was so powerful, they only managed to pick up a few small green rags on the ground.

"Not bad, you took care of all the enemies?" Tsuna asked Byakuya while handing the collected evidence to Toshiro.

"No, one escaped, Ryudoji Ganryu," Byakuya said truthfully. "Could you treat Akina's injuries? She's not in good condition."

"No, treat Byakuya- sama first," Akina said, frowning.

Upon hearing Akina's address, Tsuna knew that Hisana's memories were now in control of her. He used his Sun Attribute power to open his palm and said, "Don't fight, let's heal our injuries together."

Under the influence of the Sun Attribute flames, Byakuya and Akina's injuries were rapidly healing. After seeing that Byakuya was unharmed, Akina's other memories took over.

"I'm sorry, Byakuya, I messed everything up."

Akina was somewhat frustrated. She had wanted to help Byakuya understand her past, but instead led him to a cemetery. She wanted to attend a temple fair filled with memories, but instead, it was just a memory.

Not to mention that it attracted enemies and almost cost Byakuya his life, at least from Akina's perspective. Byakuya's blood-covered appearance was truly terrifying.

"It's not your fault." Byakuya patted Akina's head. "Is there anywhere else you want to go? I'll go with you."

Akina shook her head slightly. She was in no mood for leisurely strolling around; she didn't even know what she should be doing right now.

Seeing Akina like this, Byakuya felt a pang of heartache. Akina didn't have much time left, and every moment wasted meant less time for Akina to be happy.

However, Byakuya couldn't very well force Akina to go wandering around, so he turned to Tsuna and asked, "Can I stay at your place for the night?"

Considering Ryudoji Ganryu's escape, fearing that Akina might be attacked again, and to avoid harming innocent people, Byakuya decided to ask Tsuna for help.

"Sure," Tsuna readily agreed, providing two guest rooms was no burden for his family.

"Please wait a moment." Toshiro stepped forward, turned on the Gigai Communicator in his hand, and broadcast, "Manager Urahara has detected a change in Valley of Screams. Manager, you can speak now. Tsuna and Captain Kuchiki are both here."

As the person in charge of the World of the Living affairs of the "Valley of Screams Incident, "Toshiro created a group chat specifically for this operation. Urahara contacted Toshiro suddenly through the group chat, and judging from his tone, it didn't seem to be anything good.

"Tsuna and Captain Kuchiki are both here, that's great."

Urahara, then immediately got to work, "I've detected that Valley of Screams has suddenly entered a state of rapid collapse. If this continues, I'm afraid the Soul Society and the World of the Living will collide before dawn."

Tsuna and Byakuya exchanged a glance. Byakuya then looked at Akina and Valley of Screams's accelerated change, which meant that Akina's time had decreased again.

"Tsuna, your suggestion to wait until dawn to process the application for the Valley of Screams is going to be rejected. I'll have someone find the entrance to the Valley of Screams right now," Toshiro said.

Although the Valley of Screams connects the World of the Living and the Soul Society, the sky connected to the Soul Society cannot be entered into the Valley of Screams; one can only enter from the place where an anomaly occurs in the World of the Living.

Therefore, after entering the World of the Living, Toshiro sent out his men to find the entrance to the Valley of Screams.

"Let them search along the river for the entrance," Tsuna suggested. There aren't many rivers in Karakura Town, so they should be able to find something soon. Tsuna was more interested in the accelerated collapse of the Valley of Screams than the location of the entrance.

"Manager, under what circumstances would the Valley of Screams collapse more rapidly?" Tsuna asked.

"The Valley of Screams is composed of the Blanks. The collapse of the Valley of Screams means that a large number of the Blanks have disappeared. One possibility is that the other party has found the Thought Bead and, by taking advantage of the Blanks's tendency to chase after the Thought Bead, has gathered the Blanks together. Once the original structure is lost, the Valley of Screams will collapse."

Toshiro glanced at Akina expressionlessly. "The Thought Bead is safe. Captain Kuchiki eliminated all but one of the attackers."

Previously, due to the urgency of the situation, she hadn't noticed, but now, from Toshiro's undisguised words, Akina realized that she was the Thought Bead of Longing" they were talking about.

"Huh? The Thought Bead are safe?" Urahara hadn't expected this either, his mind racing as he considered another possibility.

"In short, the current result is that a large number of Blanks Beads have disappeared. If it wasn't caused by the Thought Bead, then it can only be due to human consumption."

"I don't think Ryudoji Ganryu has the ability to consume a large amount of Blanks at once," Byakuya Kuchiki said. He had seen Genryu's use of Blanks, the kind of use that involves absorbing and releasing them repeatedly, which was hardly a consumption for a large space like the Valley of Screams.

"Only one kind of creature can suddenly consume such a large amount of energy, and I'm talking about Hollows!" Urahara said seriously. "I suspect that the Genryu you mentioned is just throwing caution to the wind."

"You mean Ryudoji Ganryu voluntarily became a Hollow?" Byakuya quickly guessed this possibility.

"If the other party is just a madman who will stop at nothing to take revenge on Soul Society, it's not impossible. You've reduced him to a lone commander and you can't take the Thought Bead, so I think he would resort to this tactic," Urahara analyzed.

Originally, Ryudoji Ganryu did not intend to sacrifice his life, which is why he kept searching for Akina in order to complete his revenge on Soul Society while preserving the Ryudoji bloodline.

However, Byakuya's appearance shattered Yanlong's hopes of seizing the Thought Bead. With the favorable situation turning sour, Yanlong chose the most extreme course of action.

Ryudoji Ganryu broke through his own Saketsu, deliberately creating holes in his body. As Hollowfication, he only retained the thought of devouring everything in his mind, coupled with the innate devouring instinct of the Hollow itself.

The void that Yan Long transformed into seemed insatiable, frantically plundering the Blanks of Valley of Screams.

"Found it, the entrance is under a steel bridge." Toshiro kept a close eye on the information, and with Tsuna's hint, the team members quickly found the entrance Valley of Screams.

"Captain Hitsugaya, for this Operation Valley of Screams, I suggest that only Captain-level should enter. Valley of Screams is already collapsing, and it's not easy for anyone else to even stand still inside."

"Execute the decapitation operation and swiftly eliminate that Hollow. Captain Hitsugaya, use your ice to freeze the area Valley of Screams. After that, have your team members go in to assist in severing the connection between Valley of Screams and the World of the Living and Soul Society."

Urahara, taking into account the changing circumstances, offered Toshiro some advice.

"Captains?" Toshiro glanced around and, coincidentally, there were two Captain-level fighters present. "Do the three of you have time to come over?"

"If it's frozen, I can help," Tsuna said.

"I'll go!" Ichigo responded enthusiastically.

"I'm fine," Byakuya replied immediately. His injuries had fully healed and wouldn't affect his fighting ability.

"Wait, I want to go too!" Akina suddenly stood up and shouted. Seeing the way the four people were looking at her, she explained, "I can separate the Valley of Screams from the two worlds."

"You remembered everything?" Byakuya said softly.

Akina nodded slightly. "With so many of you talking about the Thought Bead' and its Valley of Screams or something, how could I not remember? I was just running away before; now I want to face my destiny!"

"You should enjoy this night..."

Just as Byakuya was about to persuade Akina to give up, he saw the determination in her eyes. "This is what I should do. I'm already very happy to have met you all, Byakuya."

Byakuya stopped trying to persuade her, and simply took a step closer to Akina, pulling her to his side. In the final moments of the young girl's life, he didn't want her to suffer any further harm.

"Stay close to me."

"Okay, I understand!" A charming smile once again appeared on Akina's face.

Seeing that the plan was set, Toshiro led the group and rushed towards the entrance of the Valley of Screams. On the river under a steel bridge, a completely different world could be seen, which was the Valley of Screams.

"Hachi ~ You're too slow, always ordering people around." Rangiku, whom Toshiro had brought, pouted and complained from the bridge frame.

"Call him Captain Hitsugaya!" Toshiro glared at Rangiku; this Vice-Captain was showing him less and less respect.

"Shall we charge in now, Captain Hitsugaya?" The speaker Ikkaku somewhat excited; after learning that there were Hollows inside, he was eager to have some fun.

"No, you all stay outside. I'll go in with Captain Kuchiki, Tsuna, and Ichigo."

Toshiro glanced around. This mission had fallen to him because the other captains weren't interested, so all the people who came were Vice-Captain.

Ikkaku of them is strong enough to be Captain-level, but he gets easily carried away in fights and is hard to control, Toshiro still leaves him outside to provide support.

Upon hearing Toshiro's arrangement, Ikkaku's face was filled with boredom, and he lay on the truss like a lazy, listless fish. In contrast, Rangiku looked happy. She could pass the mission by just going through the motions, so why wouldn't she be happy?

Without much conversation, after making the necessary arrangements, Toshiro led Tsuna and the other three into the river that represented another world.

Without any discomfort, they only felt a change in environment and found themselves in the world of Toshiro Valley of Screams. The main appearance of Valley of Screams was similar to a desolate canyon, with no vegetation growing, except for a few screens embedded in the hillside.

As soon as he entered, Tsuna felt the world was distorting. The mountains and clouds were slowly turning into curved shapes, and the entire Valley of Screams was like a giant vortex.

At the center of the vortex, there was a very obvious spiritual pressure from the void, which seemed to be the location of the void that Yan Long had transformed into.

This space Valley of Screams is being devoured by the center; the cracks in the canyon are increasing, and there is a faint sign of collapse.

"Captain Kuchiki, Ichigo, you two go and completely kill Ryudoji Ganryu. Tsuna, you and I will each split up and freeze this Valley of Screams."

Toshiro quickly devised a plan of action. His gaze fell on Akina, and seeing the expectant look in Akina eyes, he softened.

"Thought Bead, Akina, follow your instincts and sever the connection between Valley of Screams and the World of the Living, Soul Society!"

"Received, mission accomplished!" Akina exclaimed excitedly, clenching her fist.