Three Locks Sealing Three Gates

Yoruichi and the four Onmitsukido squad leaders set out first. Hongjiang and the others waited in place for nearly forty minutes, but the distant Sternritter Fortress remained completely still.

That was definitely good news. It meant the five who had infiltrated the Sternritter Fortress hadn't been discovered. After waiting for about ten more minutes, Hongjiang and the others set out as well.

One hour was the maximum time Yoruichi and the four captains had allotted for completing the mission. If anything unusual happened at the Sternritter Fortress during that time, they would send a signal immediately, and Star-Extermination Siege would skip the Three Locks Sealing Three Gates stage and proceed straight to the extermination phase.

From the looks of it, Yoruichi and the others had completed their mission smoothly. Now it was up to Hongjiang, Hachigen Ushoda, and Ushoda Hachigen.

Three Locks Sealing Three Gates was a large-scale Bakudō Hongjiang had developed. If any one of the three performed it alone, it would take over a minute to complete. But if they cast it simultaneously from underground, the ground, and the air, the time could be reduced to under fifteen seconds.

The creation of Three Locks Sealing Three Gates had pioneered a new school of Kido: Combined Kido. As for Ao, who had created the spell, Hachigen Ushoda and Ushoda Hachigen naturally admired him immensely.

But despite their admiration, the two still had doubts about how Combined Kido would be performed. Of course, they had no concerns about the spell itself; their doubts were about the casting positions. Hachigen Ushoda, responsible for underground, and Ushoda, responsible for the ground, were fine. But Ao, who was supposed to handle the air, was the key. After all, Soul Reapers couldn't fly in the Soul Society.

The two had asked Hongjiang about this more than once, but he'd never given them a straight answer. It was true that people couldn't fly in the Soul Society, but nothing was absolute, was it?

Right in front of the two, Hongjiang raised his right foot and paused for a moment. Then he pressed down with his foot, and his whole body slowly rose into the air. He didn't stop there, though. His body dipped a few centimeters before coming to a halt.

Hachigen Ushoda and Ushoda both gaped. With their experience, they naturally understood what Hongjiang had done. But understanding it was one thing; managing to do it was another.

The air in the Soul Society was actually low-purity spirit energy mixed with many impurities. What Hongjiang had done was essentially the same principle as Water Spider. He first coated his foot with a layer of spirit energy, then rapidly filled it with spirit energy less dense than the air, creating an invisible balloon beneath his foot. Anyone could do it with sufficiently precise control over spirit energy, but unfortunately, no one in the Soul Society could manage that level of precision yet.

Seeing their astonished expressions, Hongjiang's mouth curled wildly beneath his mask. This was nothing. If he weren't afraid that making too much of a spectacle would alert the Quincy, he could even have conjured a pair of wings.

"Everyone, we don't have much time. See you at the Sternritter Fortress!"

The invisible bubble beneath his foot burst with a pop, and Hongjiang vanished in an instant, leaving behind a ring of pale ripples that slowly spread outward.

"No wonder he's an exceptional Soul Reaper from the same era as the Head Captain!" The remaining six marveled inwardly. They exchanged glances and nodded, then used Flash Step and disappeared into the night.

The time for the operation drew closer by the second. At the very center of the inner district inside the Sternritter Fortress, Yoruichi, dressed in black, lay on the roof of a house, motionless as she watched the plaza in the distance.

In the middle of the enormous plaza stood a huge white stone gate. The plaza was brightly lit, but there wasn't a single person in sight. Yoruichi knew, however, that the moment anyone stepped inside, more than forty Quincy resting in the surrounding houses would launch an attack.

As Yoruichi counted the seconds in her mind, she made one last mental run-through of her attack route. The start of Star-Extermination Siege was fast approaching.

Ten kilometers above the plaza, a masked man in a cornflower-blue robe gazed down at the quiet city. Before long, though, it would be bustling.

Although none of the three had brought a clock, each of them seemed to have a slowly emptying hourglass in their mind. As the last grain of sand fell, Hongjiang, Hachigen Ushoda, and Ushoda Hachigen raised their hands at the same time. A long incantation, half chanted and half recited, issued from their mouths.

"Lost traveler, your body remains in the shattered tower, your soul wanders the barren land of suffering."

The moment the incantation began, the spirit energy around the Sternritter Fortress started to stir. The Quincy inside the fortress naturally couldn't ignore such a display. But the four Onmitsukido squad leaders, already in the middle district, were a step ahead of them and activated the Boundary-Breaking Talismans in their hands.

Four oval white portals appeared out of thin air before Hirako and the other three, who had been waiting for some time. Without a word, they strode through the portals. The next moment, four dense, oppressive spiritual pressures appeared in the middle district of the Sternritter Fortress.

The Quincy in the fortress also realized they were under attack. But without clear orders on whether to deal with the threat inside or outside first, they fell into disarray. That confusion utterly cut off their only possible path to survival!

"The earth caves in, the heart burns, the foul marsh swallows, shackles bind the feet that stray. Hungry beasts, a thicket of blades, towering pillars—those hands that push open the door shall be stripped to bare bones. The path of light has gone out, the path of darkness is cut off. The earth's lock is fastened, the earthly gate sealed. Retreat, for this place is called Near-Earth!"

"Dragon's roar, tiger's howl, lion's cry—the footprints of those who stray shall surely meet. Eastward, westward, southward—the black giant tortoise lies, guarding the four directions. A road ends in a road, a wall beyond a wall. There was never a gate in this world; hang a lock, and the gate seals itself!"

"Scattered winds, broken wings, the vault above is beyond reach. Twenty-two bridges severed, sixty-six bands shattered, the stars shine beyond the vault. Heavy clouds of darkness, eternal streaks of lightning—hang heavy locks upon the gate to heaven. Descend, for this place shall never change! Ao Bakudō: Three Locks Sealing Three Gates!"

Hachigen Ushoda underground, Ushoda Hachigen on the ground, and Hongjiang in the air completed their incantations at almost the same time. A massive black curtain unfurled rapidly, then formed a rectangular coffin that enclosed the entire Sternritter Fortress. Three enormous silver locks appeared on the coffin's base, side, and lid, corresponding to the positions of the three casters.

For Hachigen Ushoda and Ushoda Hachigen, their part of the mission was over. All they had to do now was pour in spirit energy and keep the three locks on the black coffin intact. But Hongjiang still had to hurry off and meet up with Yoruichi.

He shot straight through the coffin's lid, and the Boundary-Breaking Talisman in his hand responded at once. An oval portal appeared in midair, and Hongjiang plunged through without hesitation.

Half a minute earlier, the disturbance in spirit energy outside the Sternritter Fortress had also affected the inner district. More than sixty Quincy gathered instantly. After a brief exchange, they split up under the lead of a man and a woman: over forty Quincy rushed toward the outer district, while the remaining twenty-one stayed around the Senkaimon. At that point, Yoruichi still hadn't made her move.

From Yoruichi's current position, if nothing stood in his way, Ao could reach the Senkaimon in the blink of an eye. But the twenty-one Quincy in the plaza were no pushovers, either. Yoruichi would need to move a little closer first—just not yet.

Three seconds before Three Locks Sealing Three Gates was complete, Yoruichi moved. Without using Flash Step, she charged straight toward the distant Senkaimon. "Bankai! Ten Directions Annihilation Flame Heart!" As soon as her Bankai was complete, twenty-one blue arrows appeared before him.

Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom...

Amid the deafening explosions, a crimson Flame Tide raged across the plaza. The Quincy there rallied their power to protect themselves and, more importantly, the Senkaimon behind them. As a result, they failed to notice Yoruichi riding the blast wind and soaring into the air. Two seconds had passed.

In midair, Yoruichi activated his Zanpakuto and caused another explosion, using it to change direction. He landed directly on the crossbeam of the Senkaimon and slapped the Boundary-Breaking Talisman onto it.

The Quincy below weren't pushovers, either. They quickly locked onto Yoruichi on the crossbeam and fired blue arrows at him again, but Yoruichi blocked them all. Crimson fireworks bloomed once more.

Just then, a white mask marked with black lines appeared in the white portal opened by the Boundary-Breaking Talisman, followed by a cornflower-blue robe. Diezuka Hiroe, who had just completed Three Locks Sealing the Heavenly Gate, finally joined Yoruichi on the crossbeam of the Senkaimon!