Suddenly, Hyōrinmaru’s gaze shifted abruptly toward a spot not far away, as though pulled by an invisible string.
Lying quietly upon the permafrost was the duplicate “Hyōrinmaru”—the blade belonging to Sōjirō Kusakabe, which Yanagawa had casually tossed aside after his inspection.
Hyōrinmaru reached out his ice-clawed right hand and made a grasping motion toward it.
*Bzzzt—!*
As if summoned by an irresistible command, the Zanpakuto violently trembled, tore itself free from the frozen soil, and streaked like an azure meteor straight into Hyōrinmaru’s hand!
“What?!” Isshin Shiba’s pupils constricted as alarm bells blared in his mind.
He had an inkling of what was happening, and a terrifying thought crossed his mind.
Hyōrinmaru now held a blade in each hand—the weapon formed from his own true manifestation, and the duplicate belonging to Sōjirō Kusakabe.
The next second, Kusakabe’s “Hyōrinmaru” flared with a blinding azure radiance!
A torrential surge of ice-attribute spiritual pressure poured madly out of Kusakabe’s blade, rushing like rivers returning to the ocean as Hyōrinmaru’s true body greedily absorbed and swallowed it whole!
Kusakabe’s sword lost its luster at a rate visible to the naked eye.
And having absorbed power from the same origin, an unbelievable transformation overtook Hyōrinmaru!
*”ROAAAR—!!!”*
A deafening dragon’s roar echoed across the wasteland!
The spiritual pressure exploding from Hyōrinmaru instantly skyrocketed, as though its final shackles had been shattered!
Its sheer intensity, and the profound majesty of the ice rules governing it, was leagues beyond anything he had shown before!
The frozen earth beneath his feet fractured layer by layer, caving in to form a massive glacial crater.
The blizzard raging in the sky came to an abrupt halt—not because the power had weakened, but because all the frost, ice, and snow seemed to submit before this newly reborn might, condensing into an ice-blue halo of spiritual pressure that swirled around his body.
The single Hyōrinmaru remaining in his hand grew even more translucent and crystalline, radiating an eternal frost.
“This is…” Feeling the terrifying spiritual pressure rolling toward him, Isshin’s expression shifted drastically, his eyes wide with utter shock.
“He took back his power?
Is *this* Hyōrinmaru’s true strength?!”
The intensity and texture of this Reiatsu immediately brought back memories of Captain-Commander Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto’s Ryūjin Jakka—a terrifying might capable of reducing the world to ashes, representing the absolute pinnacle of fire.
Though their attributes were polar opposites—one extreme fire, the other extreme ice—that overwhelming pressure of being “the strongest” was eerily similar!
“The strongest ice-type Zanpakuto…
It truly lives up to its name!”
Isshin gritted his teeth, tightening his grip on Engetsu.
He could tell that Hyōrinmaru was on an entirely different level than just moments ago!
If before he could rely on his own formidable strength to trade blows or even gain the upper hand, against this King of Ice that had seemingly returned to its complete form…
Alone, he stood little chance.
“Yanagawa!” Isshin snapped his head around, roaring at Yanagawa, who was still casually standing at the edge of the battlefield.
“How much longer are you going to just watch?!
Get over here and fight!
If I have to keep taking him on alone, I might really have to use Bankai!”
Urgency laced his voice, with a hint of exasperation.
Bankai was his ultimate trump card, but just as he had said before, it came at a tremendous price.
He would never use it unless driven into a corner.
Furthermore, facing Hyōrinmaru in this bizarre, hyper-empowered state, even unleashing Bankai wouldn’t guarantee victory, yet the toll on himself would be catastrophic.
Yanagawa took a step forward to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with him, his pure white haori fluttering wildly against the tempest stirred up by Hyōrinmaru’s terrifying Reiatsu.
Yet there wasn’t a trace of gravity or tension on his face.
Instead, the corners of his mouth curled into a playful smirk.
Turning his head toward the battle-ready Isshin, he teased in a lighthearted tone, “Oh?
Giving up already, Captain Shiba?
Weren’t you full of confidence a minute ago, bragging about how you were going to melt him down?”
“…”
Isshin nearly choked.
He glared at Yanagawa, his expression priceless.
Taking a deep breath, he snapped, “Yanagawa!
Quit standing there and making sarcastic remarks!
Do you think the title of ‘strongest ice-type’ is just for show?!”
His tone was agitated, but the flames coating Engetsu burned even hotter.
Hearing this, the smile on Yanagawa’s face faded slightly, though his eyes remained calm.
Without another word, he said, “Let’s take him together, Captain Shiba.”
The moment the words left his mouth, Yanagawa moved!
But rather than charging straight at Hyōrinmaru, spiritual light swirled around his hands as he incanted:
“Bakudō #61: Rikujōkōrō!”
“Bakudō #62: Hyapporankan!”
“Bakudō #63: Sajō Sabaku!”
*Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Whoosh!*
Beams of binding light of varying colors—their structures clearly distinct from standard Kidō—shot out from Yanagawa’s hands in rapid succession.
Their target was the complete Hyōrinmaru, who had just consolidated his power and reached the absolute apex of his momentum!
Hyapporankan transformed into multiple rods of light that walled off Hyōrinmaru’s surroundings.
Rikujōkōrō was no longer just six simple sheets of light, but split into dozens of thinner, far more intricately structured beams of Reishi.
And the massive, serpentine chains formed by Sajō Sabaku were coated in a strange, pale-gold spiritual film, whistling through the air as they lashed out toward Hyōrinmaru’s neck and waist!
It all unfolded in the blink of an eye!
The speed, pinpoint accuracy, and audacious modifications and combinations with which Yanagawa cast Kidō made Isshin’s pupils shrink in sheer amazement.
*This kid’s understanding and control of Kidō is utterly absurd!
These modified spells are completely unheard of!*
Though the complete Hyōrinmaru possessed staggering power, his movements were slightly sluggish from having just absorbed that massive influx of energy.
Coupled with the tricky angles and unorthodox structures of Yanagawa’s binding spells, he was momentarily trapped by the spiritual chains and beams of light!
*”Roar!”* Hyōrinmaru bellowed in fury.
He struggled violently, his ice-clawed arms thrusting outward with explosive force!
*Crack!
Cra-crack!*
Under the complete Hyōrinmaru’s horrific strength, cracks spiderwebbed across the reinforced Bakudō chains and beams as frost rapidly spread over them!
Evidently, these modified binding spells alone were never going to hold him for long.
But Yanagawa’s goal had never been to permanently bind him—it was to disrupt and create an opening!
“Now, Captain Shiba!” Yanagawa barked.
“On it!” Isshin was already primed.
Engetsu trailed a blazing tail of fire as he lunged straight for the vulnerability exposed by Hyōrinmaru’s struggle!
“Getsuga Tenshō!”
A colossal slash of flame surged forth with unparalleled piercing power, tearing straight toward Hyōrinmaru’s chest!
Wrath flared in Hyōrinmaru’s eyes, and the golden light on his forehead flickered intensely.
Drawing upon this mysterious golden power, he forcefully broke through the bindings and parried Isshin’s slash.
Immediately afterward, he slammed both ice-clawed hands into the ground, chanting in a low, resonant voice:
“Millennium…
Ice Prison!”
*RUUUUUUMBLE—!!!*
With Hyōrinmaru at the epicenter, the earth shuddered violently!
Countless massive pillars of ice—each over ten meters thick and hundreds of meters tall—erupted from the permafrost and pierced into the sky!
These ice pillars were not scattered randomly; they formed a spherical cage that rapidly contracted inward, completely swallowing Isshin and the space ahead of him!
The pillars radiated a frost capable of freezing eternity!
Once trapped inside, the victim would be permanently frozen, Reishi flow halted, and all life extinguished!
“Damn it!” Isshin’s face twisted in horror.
He could feel an absolute freezing power within that prison, far surpassing any technique used before!
The ice cage shrank at terrifying speed; retreating in time was impossible!
At that critical juncture—
Without anyone realizing when, Yanagawa appeared slightly behind Isshin’s flank.
And the Zanpakuto he had been holding all this time without truly drawing upon—Tenzen—was finally raised slowly, held horizontally before him.
His other hand gently traced across the plain, silver-white blade.
“Quake—”
A bizarre oscillation rippled outward with Yanagawa’s Tenzen as its origin.
“—Tenzen.”
The instant the release command was spoken, Tenzen’s silver-white blade erupted with a brilliant silver glow!
The light wasn’t blinding, yet it imparted a sensation of vibration that shook the very depths of the soul.
Yanagawa’s grip remained rock-steady.
He simply swept the silver-clad Tenzen in a seemingly casual slash toward the closing Millennium Ice Prison.
*Snap.*
The moment that faint sound rang out, starting from the trajectory of Yanagawa’s slash, the space in front of him visibly distorted, folded, and then—
Shattered.
The space was forcibly shaken by an unseen power into spreading, web-like white fissures!
These fissures expanded silently, distorting light wherever they traveled.
Even Hyōrinmaru’s eternal frost seemed disrupted and repelled by the “fracturing” itself!
In the next second, these spatial cracks collided with the Millennium Ice Prison.
*SKRRR-CRASH—!!!*
Upon touching the white fissures, the massive pillars of ice were shattered like delicate glassware struck by an invisible sledgehammer.
Nearly half of the Millennium Ice Prison crumbled and pulverized under Yanagawa’s seemingly effortless slash, dissolving into a sky full of shimmering, crystalline ice powder!
Taking advantage of the breach, Isshin rolled out ungracefully.
Scrambling to his feet, he stared in lingering terror at the drifting ice powder.
Then, he whipped his head around toward Yanagawa, who still held his follow-through posture as the silver light on his blade slowly receded.
Isshin’s jaw dropped wide enough to fit an egg, his eyes filled with unprecedented shock.
“Space itself…
cracked open?!”
He muttered under his breath, barely believing what he had witnessed.
That was Hyōrinmaru’s Millennium Ice Prison!
And Yanagawa had shattered it to pieces with a single swing?!
Even the complete Hyōrinmaru in the distance, whose momentum had slightly waned after unleashing the Millennium Ice Prison, showed visible astonishment for the first time.
On his forehead, the flickering frequency of the golden light turned erratic.