'Spirit King'

Once the floodwaters swept through the Spirit King's Palace, the Division Captains present were all left reeling.

Nara Dan isolated the surrounding water, forming an empty sphere around himself.

"Kira."

"Once these Captains come to their senses, help me stop them."

Nara Dan instructed, then pointed a finger, planting a measure within Kira Izuru's body.

"I've left something with you."

"It'll be enough to keep them out..."

Nara Dan glanced at Renji Abarai beside him and saw the awkward look on his face.

He must have realized that he had gone easy on the Division Captains, which was why they had managed to break in so easily.

Otherwise, with Renji Abarai's current Above Captain-level strength and his Bankai unleashed at full power, how could those Captains, trapped in a gravity mire several times stronger than normal, have possibly broken through the encirclement?

But Nara Dan merely smiled and had no intention of holding it against Renji Abarai.

That was simply Renji Abarai's nature. If he were truly forced to serve Nara Dan, the end result would likely be blades turned against each other.

At that point, Nara Dan would truly become the villain.

Of course, that was not the most important thing. More importantly, Nara Dan had never intended for Renji Abarai to become a qualified subordinate.

From the very beginning, Nara Dan's purpose in cultivating Renji Abarai had been clear.

It was to create a second Ichigo Kurosaki—or rather, a second Spirit King.

Besides, Renji Abarai was nothing more than an idle piece on the board. Nara Dan had more important matters to attend to now.

The next second, Nara Dan vanished from where he stood, and began making his way through the Spirit King's Palace.

Without much effort, Nara Dan was the first to find the Spirit King's