The Time Thief

Gerard, transformed into the Light Giant, exerted pressure even on Kyōraku and Yammy, but Jinta, having reached Bankai, was no longer qualified to participate in the subsequent battles.

Before the Light Giant's fist could land, Kyōraku used his shadow to pull Jinta to his side, dodging the attack while giving him instructions.

"You should retreat; the battle that follows is beyond your capabilities."

"But!" Jinta was a very competitive boy. Even though he knew he could no longer threaten Gerard, he still wanted to do what he could.

Kyōraku tossed a ball to temporarily distract Gerard, quickly ordering, "If you want to do something, pick someone up for me. They should be around here by now."

Ukitake teleported them to a very far location; getting there from Seireitei would be no easy feat for an ordinary Bleach.

"The direction of Seireitei, right? I understand." Jinta immediately rushed towards Seireitei. He didn't even need to know who it was; the person who could appear between these two points must be the one Kyōraku wanted.

"This kid..." Kyōraku shook his head with a smile. He understood Jinta's eagerness to help, but sometimes being hasty doesn't work. For example, when facing the Light Giant, it's better to be a little more shrewd.

The shadow's hood quietly covered Kyōraku's head, and Kyōraku once again concealed himself among the countless shadows.

Yammy cursed under his breath at Kyōraku's disappearance. With Kyōraku gone, he would become the biggest target on the battlefield, and Gerard would definitely make his first move.

As expected, just as Yammy had thought, Gerard immediately set his sights on him. Now, Yammy had no choice but to bite the bullet and go for it.

Deep within his chest, Yammy still craved an endless stream of rage, but to his surprise, he found that the anger in his chest had diminished considerably, and the boost it gave him was far less than that of Gerard, the Light Giant.

Kyōraku, hiding in the shadows, saw it most clearly because the power of the Hogyoku had reached its limit. After all, this was just a fake Hogyoku; it was already quite good that it could increase Yammy's power by a large margin. It was impossible for it to achieve the ability of the real Hogyoku to perfectly fulfill wishes.

Gerard slammed his fist down, Yammy hurriedly crossed his arms to block. The cracking sound from his arm made him immediately realize that it was broken. With the armor and Steel Skin protecting him, he couldn't even block a punch from the Light Giant?

However, the "virtual" isn't just about Steel Skin; it also includes High-Speed Regeneration!

With a series of cracking sounds, Yammy's arms quickly returned to normal. Following the principle that he was going to be beaten anyway, Yammy launched an attack on Gerard, his fists, forged from volcanic lava and crackling with flames, smashing towards Gerard.

With a single punch, the Light Giant remained completely still. Yammy's punch was like hitting a pillar, unable to budge Gerard in the slightest.

Instead, Gerard made his move, throwing a series of punches at Yammy. Yammy was immediately shocked; a head is something that even High-Speed Regeneration cannot restore.

At this critical moment, the pink mesh structure firmly pulled Gerard's arms in the opposite direction, buying Yammy time to escape.

"Hey Kyōraku, you should have made your move a long time ago!" Yammy roared. If Kyōraku had cooperated, his arm wouldn't have had to be broken once.

"I can only intervene a limited number of times. Look at those nets, they've all turned into Reishi," Kyōraku said seriously.

Gerard in his Light Giant mode can be understood as being made entirely of Spirit Bow and Arrows; being hit by his attacks will transform matter into the most basic Reishi.

Yammy glanced at his arms. The reason why his Steel Skin and hollow physiques had no effect was probably because they were broken by that terrifying Reishi conversion ability.

"So what do we do now?" Yammy asked, shifting his weight laterally.

"Drag." Kyōraku didn't offer an explanation, only providing a one-word interpretation.

"How long can this drag on?" Yammy felt the pressure mounting. The opponent, who was previously just unkillable, was now completely unbeatable.

"No matter what, we absolutely cannot let him go to other battlefields. No one but us can stop this behemoth."

Hearing his own importance, Yammy felt a little smug. If he were alone, he would have run away long ago, but with Shunsui Kyōraku around, he could give it a try!

With Kyōraku's Beyond Bankai, Yammy began a tug-of-war with Gerard, and Kyōraku could only fight while praying that reinforcements would arrive soon.

Inside the Garganta connecting Hueco Mundo and Soul Society, as he watched the passage behind him rapidly collapse, Ginjo felt as if he were being chased by a bridge that was gradually breaking apart.

"Damn it, Garganta that Senjumaru came up with really that unreliable?!"

Ginjo cursed angrily, but he didn't dare to slack off at all and continued to run quickly. In front of him was Shukuro Tsukishima, who was silently charging forward without saying a word.

"Ginjo, I see light!" Tsukishima's voice rang out. At the same time, he pulled out a bookmark and transformed it into his blade, preparing for battle.

"I understand. Use your power without hesitation, Tsukishima!"

A blinding light erupted, and Tsukishima and Ginjo burst forth from the Garganta. Looking down, they were met with utter desolation. Ginjo was stunned. "Wait, they haven't even determined the coordinates yet!"

With just a casual glance up, Ginjo knew that they were quite a distance from Seireitei. How were they going to get to the battlefield?

"No, Ginjo, it's more accurate to say their positioning is perfect! I can feel Shunsui Kyōraku's spiritual pressure!"

"Then let's get started!"

Ginjo reached out his hand to Tsukishima, Tsukishima grasped Ginjo and plunged his sword into the ground. The Book of the End activated, and Tsukishima inserted his and Ginjo's past into this land.

Tsukishima had already memorized the direction of Shunsui Kyōraku pressure. At a point in the past, he had rushed with Ginjo, burying the time spent traveling in the past, all to condense that time into a single instant.

When Ginjo and his group arrived in Soul Society, Yammy was already kneeling on the ground, covered in wounds, and several of his tails had been severed by Gerard.

Kyōraku fared no better. While he and Yammy were stalling Gerard, most of his spiritual pressure was reduced to Reishi by Gerard, leaving only a trace of power Beyond Bankai remaining at the corner of his clothing.

Seeing Kyōraku and Yammy already out of power, Gerard raised his arms, and the Reishi automatically used his arms as support to condense two golden Spirit Bow, the arrows pointing in the direction his fingertips were pointing.

"Shunsui Kyōraku, what should we do? Where are your men?" Yammy gritted his teeth and forced out a few words.

Kyōraku could only manage a wry smile. He hadn't expected that even with the combined power of Beyond Bankai and Hogyoku, he wouldn't be able to hold out against the Light Giant, Gerard, for long. He had overestimated himself.

"Run, Yammy! I'll use Bankai to buy him a little more time. The rest is up to fate."

Kyōraku had made his decision to use his Bankai, the adult drama within Kuromatsu's heart, to buy himself a little more time, but in doing so, he would surely die.

"Then I'll leave it to you." Yammy didn't try to be a hero. Rather than staying behind, it would be better to pass on the news of the Light Giant to the Seireitei and let the Seireitei handle it.

The Spirit Bow and Arrows was poised to strike, and the phantom of Flower Heaven appeared behind Kyōraku. It was a gamble; the rest was up to fate.

In that instant, two bursts of spiritual pressure erupted, one above and one below, slashing towards Gerard's two arms respectively.

"Getsuga Tensho the Sky!" "Hōraku Hakkei!"

Two slashes, both black and red but in different forms, struck Gerard's wrist. They didn't break through his defenses, but they were enough to cause Gerard's Spirit Bow and Arrows to veer off course.

Two arrows grazed Yammy's head and body, startling Yammy so much that he froze in place.

The simultaneous appearance of these two moves brought a smile back to Kyōraku's face. The equation for victory was already written; it was time to launch a counterattack.

"Yammy, cooperate with me!"

Using the last of his spiritual pressure, Kyōraku thrust a massive black Zanpakuto out of the shadows, aiming directly at Gerard's chest.

Although he didn't know what Kyōraku was trying to do, Yammy still cooperated by firing a Lava Cero at the location Kyōraku was attacking.

At the same time Kugo Ginjo and Jinta, who had changed Gerard's attack direction, would not waste this opportunity. They unleashed the same slash once again, and all the attacks converged on one point.

It must be admitted that Gerard in his Light Giant mode is extremely powerful. Kyōraku and Yammy could only barely break through his defenses. After breaking through, Gerard's spiritual pressure would flash rapidly, repairing the wounds on his body.

Kyōraku launched another concentrated attack on Gerard at this moment in order to break through the Reishi defense layer on Gerard's body.

Kyōraku believed that Shukuro Tsukishima would definitely be able to seize the opportunity when Gerard's skin was exposed to the air.

Opportunities are fleeting, but Tsukishima is someone who can insert time into the past.

The four attacks erupted with a deafening roar, yet Gerard didn't even raise a cloud of dust. Only a small gap appeared in his chest defense. Because of his previous battles with Yammy and Kyōraku, Gerard's power had increased once more; such a tiny opening could be breached in an instant...

Before even the idea of repairing it had a chance to emerge, a knife was already plunged into the crack as soon as it appeared. The conditions were met, and Shukuro Tsukishima intervened in Gerard Valkyrie's past.

Returning to the place where Gerard and Kyōraku's battle began, when Gerard used his weapon to injure himself, he discovered that both his shield and longsword had vanished.

Stealing the conditions that led to events from the past and altering facts that have already been determined to happen—this is the Book of the End of Shukuro Tsukishima.