To Destroy a God

Blood flew in countless directions as screams tore through the air. The ash skeletons were without pain, without remorse, without mercy as they continued to rip through the army of Togabito that Hell had summoned. Some of the ash skeletons had been destroyed, but there were simply too many for the Togabito to handle. The ones with the best success were those who had powerful enough ranged attacks, but Yamamoto knew that they too would perish shortly.

Hell had done little but run, avoiding Yamamoto's every technique. It was… highly annoying, Yamamoto had to admit. "Hadō 58: Tenran!" he barked, spinning Zanka no Tachi and unleashing a massive blast of fire, strengthened even more by the tornado-like blast of wind.

As expected, Hell vanished from the area just before fire turned all the sand in that area to ash, and Yamamoto followed him as quickly as he could. Hell was consistently just a bit faster than him. It vaguely reminded Yamamoto of Shihoin Yoruichi's favorite training game – Hōhō tag. He had witnessed Yoruichi and a young Kuchiki Byakuya at that game frequently before Yoruichi had been banished. Disturbingly, he realized, that put Yamamoto in the position of Kuchiki.

Well, that wouldn't do. It was time to change tactics. He had to either make the whole battlefield harmful to Hell – which wasn't practical, since Yamamoto's reiryoku did have a limit at some point and he needed to conserve some for sealing Hell – or he had to lure Hell into a trap. He frowned in consideration, absently throwing another concentrated slash of fire at Hell to keep him occupied.

Perhaps a large Tozanshō? It would certainly limit the battlefield, but Yamamoto doubted that he could catch Hell in it. A continuous onslaught of Hyapporankan? No, it was too easy to dodge. A collection of Tsuriboshi, with a tweak to make the material a trap? No, not enough sturdy objects to attach to. But perhaps… Yamamoto let out a fierce grin.

Quite suddenly, Hell realized he couldn't sense Yamamoto anymore. "Hm?" He paused for a moment and looked around. The ash skeletons were still present slaughtering his army, so Yamamoto wasn't dead. But the heat from his presence was gone. His reiatsu seemed to have disappeared entirely. And Hell couldn't see him anywhere. Had Yamamoto actually retreated from the battlefield?

Hell frowned. No, that made no sense. Yamamoto was completely dominating this so-called fight. Hell hadn't even managed to land a single blow on him, and Asahi no Kagami had been quite damaged by his heat aura. Why would Yamamoto retreat? …Perhaps he was running low on reiryoku? Or perhaps he was hiding, waiting for an opportunity since it was obvious that Hell could evade all of Yamamoto's attacks?

Hell nodded to himself thoughtfully. Yes, that last one made sense. No point in wasting reiryoku when it served no purpose. If this became a battle of attrition, Hell had the advantage, and both of them knew it. So Yamamoto had to be hiding somewhere nearby, waiting for Hell to let his guard down.

Hell extended his senses, trying to work out where the old man had gone. Not there… nor there… not over there either… "Damn Yamamoto," Hell grumbled. "Not enough to have a godlike Bankai and powerful spells, no. He just had to branch out, just had to master invisibility as well. Wouldn't surprise me if he had some ultimate seal too."

Yamamoto silently canceled his invisibility spell, Kyokkō, from right behind Hell. "Well, since you asked, Kuyō Shibari!" Hell flinched for the barest of moments, but it was enough for eight black holes to materialize around him, paralyzing him long enough for a ninth to appear in his chest. "Rikujōkōrō, Sajō Sabaku," Yamamoto cast almost absently, further binding Hell with another two powerful Bakudō.

Hell swore under his breath as he struggled to shake off the spells. He really shouldn't have tempted fate.

Yamamoto smiled tightly, but placed a hand over Hell's head and began the incantation. "Limit of the thousand blades, dutiful blades, unable to slay the enemy. The darkness of the void, the concept of fear, the absence of reason when they meet, come forth!"

Hell's eyes widened as complete darkness fell upon them. There was nothing to see, nothing to hear, nothing at all beyond Yamamoto and himself. He fell silent, studying the technique, looking for flaws even as he awaited the inevitable.

"Immortal body, absolute restraint, the wheel of time halts! With pure purpose I declare! Boidobureido Kugyō!"

Hell cried out as invisible, immaterial swords stabbed into him in all of his wrists, his ankles, his elbows and knees, all of joints in short succession, and then right next to his heart. A terrible cold rushed through his system, and abruptly he realized he could not move at all. Not even his jaw or his tongue would respond to him. How could a god of fire possibly be able to use such deathly cold? Then he realized – the frost in his veins was not from Yamamoto's reiryoku. It was from his own.

"You must have guessed it by now," Yamamoto said quietly. "Boidobureido Kugyō… the Void Blade Penance. The sword in your chest has penetrated your Hakusui, the source of your power, but did not damage it. Your body will now generate merely enough reiryoku to keep the seal intact and your body alive, but as it has been touched by the seal, your reiryoku will not respond to you. No, that is not quite correct. Your soul doesn't even recognize it as your reiryoku any longer.

"You're thinking of escape options, I'm sure," Yamamoto continued with the same quiet confidence. "You're thinking that if the sword in your chest is destroyed, then since your Hakusui is undamaged you'll be able to use your own reiryoku to destroy the remaining bindings. Did you think that even touching the Hakusui would not have consequences? The blade has entered your Hakusui, merged with it to an extent. If the seal is destroyed, then so too will your Hakusui be destroyed. If you are merely a soul fragment, as I believe, then you require a constant source of reiryoku to survive. This is why the Kushanāda, your soul fragments, constantly ate Togabito yet never grew any stronger – they needed more energy to exist than their Hakusui could provide… if they had Hakusui at all. So for you, losing your Hakusui is tantamount to ceasing to exist.

"I do not know if you would reincarnate here in your world in such a case… nor do I know if your Hakusui would recover in that reincarnation," Yamamoto admitted. "However, the point is moot, as I have left you unable to move in any conceivable way. I sentence you to eternal penance in the void. Live, Hell, and repent your sins."

Yamamoto fell silent, and Hell was left alone in the absolute void.

Yamamoto looked upon his work as he stepped out of his seal and nodded to himself in satisfaction. It had taken the shape of a sword, twice as large as Hell had been, whose color constantly shifted between very dark purple and black. Yamamoto picked it up by the hilt and nodded to himself. The seal was stable. Now the only thing to do was to hide it somewhere, and catch up with Kurosaki. If the young man had not returned by now, there surely was something wrong.

Masaki breathed deeply, gathering more and more reishi from her surroundings as her Quincy powers recovered with greater and greater speed. Only a minute or two longer, and she'd be able to support her son in the fight against Hell. For the moment, she watched them clash, trying to analyze both fighters' strengths and weaknesses.

Masaki watched Ichigo swing his blade, wrought in black fire, into Hell's barrier, cracking it. Ichigo had two primary strengths – his speed, and the sheer power he possessed. His weakness, however, was in how straightforward he was in fighting. There didn't seem to be a strategy to his movements beyond "Get to the opponent, defend against his attacks, and cut him down with all my strength." Ichigo didn't seem to be maneuvering Hell into a corner, or setting up for a powerful technique or anything like that.

Then again… Hell's barrier was truly an annoyance, Masaki decided as Hell repaired it with a gesture. Any strategy that they could concoct would depend on being able to break that barrier, or this battle had been lost before it had truly begun. Ichigo was performing the valuable if unenviable task of determining what it would take to get past that barrier. If they couldn't, then… well, normally the smart thing to do would be to retreat and get help, additional weapons, something that could make the difference. But that wasn't really an option this time – they had to stay and fight until Hell was sealed, or until the Gates fully repaired themselves. Otherwise, Hell would invade the living world again.

"Coward!" Ichigo roared. "Quit hiding behind that barrier and attack me!"

"And open myself up for you to kill me?" Hell retorted with a raised eyebrow. "No thank you."

Ichigo growled and raced towards Hell with all the speed he could muster. Hell brought up a hand, obviously channeling more power to his barrier to handle the next assault, but this time Ichigo didn't strike directly. He raced past Hell and twisted around in midair, preparing a Cero between his horns even as he flung a Getsuga Tenshō at his opponent. The Getsuga slammed into the barrier, prompting a scoff from Hell. "It won't work! You'll never pierce this barrier!"

"You want piercing power? Then try this on for size!" Ichigo shoved his left claw forward, but instead of the crimson light of a Cero, electricity crackled at his end of his index and middle fingers. "Hadō 4: Byakurai!"

A bolt of blue-white lightning shot forward and impacted the barrier with the strength of an angry god. In an instant, the barrier shattered and the lightning lunged for its prey, carving a hole in Hell's shoulder about an inch wide.

Hell stared at Ichigo in complete disbelief for a few moments, before his expression turned cold. "I see." And then he flashed into high-speed movement, dashing right for Masaki.

Ichigo swore and sped after him, making it just in time for Tensa Zangetsu to block Asahi no Kagami from reaching Masaki. "How dare you?" he whispered harshly, his Hollow double-tone making his voice sound even more menacing than it would otherwise. He channeled a Getsuga down Tensa Zangetsu, and Hell broke the deadlock and leapt back to avoid being hit. "You fought to ensure justice and peace for all souls! How dare you attack my mother?!"

"You young fool," Hell retorted. "It's simple enough. I kill her, and that gives me a bargaining chip with which to control you. For the sake of recreating humanity, I will commit any evil."

"You're just like Aizen," Ichigo snarled. "Neither of you ever could figure out that the right path to peace didn't involve becoming that which you were fighting!"

"Do you think your words move me?" Hell answered coldly. "I know that there will be no place for me in the new world. Do not think me such a fool that I cannot see the consequences of my own actions!"

"Then you should be aware of the consequences you've just brought on yourself," Ichigo spat, flaring his reiatsu angrily. "Back there, I was feeling pretty sympathetic. But now I just don't care. You tried to kill my mother. I will kill you – that's a promise."

Masaki calmly stepped next to Ichigo, her own blue-white reiatsu clearly visible next to his black-and-red. She had finally fully recovered her power, and she was ready to fight. With a simple gesture, she conjured her Quincy bow and an arrow. "You may be a god. But there is one thing that even gods should not dare to invoke lightly: a mother's wrath. To try to kill my son right in front of me… you've awakened my anger."

Quincy and Hollow pointed arrow and sword at Hell accusingly. "To raise your sword against my family…" they cried out together, "…is unforgivable!"

Ichigo leapt at Hell, black fire engulfing not only his blade but his entire arm as it traveled up Tensa Zangetsu's chains. Hell's eyes widened for a split second even as he created another barrier, but it stood no chance to Ichigo's rage. Tensa Zangetsu carved through the barrier like hot butter, and Hell was forced to defend with Asahi no Kagami.

Roaring a battle cry, Ichigo pressed forward, using his monstrous strength to swing his Bankai blade strongly enough to send Ayumu flying. He immediately took aim with his horns and swiftly charged his power. "Cero!"

Hell grit his teeth and created yet another barrier to block the crimson ray of destruction, but a voice to his right sent a chill down his spine. "Licht Regen."

That was all the warning Hell received before Masaki unleashed a storm of innumerable arrows. The barrier had had most of its power focused to the front to block the Cero, and was therefore no match for the unexpected assault. The barrier shattered in its entirety, and abruptly Hell was engulfed by the Cero and the swath of arrows.

When the Cero faded, Hell's corpse fell to the ground.

Ichigo materialized next to Masaki in a burst of Sonido. "…he's dead," he observed calmly as the body disintegrated.

"Yes. Sorry, Ichigo. I know he has to stay alive to be sealed."

"It's alright. He'll be back shortly."

"How do you know? What if it takes him a year to come back?"

Ichigo shook his head. "No, he'll be back in a matter of minutes, if not seconds. Remember how I told you about Cazador? When he beat me in my Inner World, I came back within a day, and that was when I didn't know what I was doing. Ayumu – that's Hell's real name – will pull himself together much faster than I did."

"Perceptive." Ichigo and Masaki turned to the side, where Ayumu was brushing himself off. "Are you ready to continue?"

"What do you mean, no?!"

Rukia, followed closely by Renji, the Vizard and Ichigo's Arrancar allies, steadfastly glared at Yoruichi. She was nervous, arguing against the Goddess of Flash, but she refused to let it show.

"Exactly what I said," Yoruichi told her with narrowed eyes. "You can't go through the Gates to help Ichigo." She raised a hand to forestall the inevitable demands to know why, and gestured towards the still-manifested Gates of Hell, where Hachi and Tessai were working together, maintaining a very powerful barrier to cover the large hole that Ichigo had blasted. "The Gates are damaged to the point where Hell, or Ayumu, or whatever his real name is, can escape here to the living world. If we weaken our barriers enough for you to go through, then that's an opportunity for Hell to escape, and we can't risk that. We got lucky that Ichigo was able to drag him back to the Hell dimension, and we can't count of him being able to do it again."

Renji clenched his fists. "Surely there's some way we can help him!"

Yoruichi jerked her thumb over her shoulder, where Urahara was working feverishly, setting up a machine. "Kisuke is working on a way to communicate with everyone. Until we have contact, the most we can do is prepare for the worst. Oi! Kisuke! How're you doing over there?"

"Almost done…!" Kisuke grunted, connecting a few wires and attaching what looked like a satellite dish to the top. With a singular movement, he aimed the dish right at the Gates of Hell. "There. Now let's power it up…" He vanished for a few seconds and then reappeared with a black box with a few cords dangling from it. He attached one of them to the machine in a previously-unseen slot, and nodded to himself when the machine began to whir and hum. "OK. Next step, connect to the right frequency…" he muttered, and twisted a few dials. "And… there."

Grabbing a microphone that he'd left on top of the machine, he spoke directly into it. "This is Urahara Kisuke from the living world. I am remotely powering your communication devices. All units in Hell, respond with your current status."

"This is Soifon-taicho. I am with everyone save Yamamoto-sōtaicho and Kurosaki. We have secured the site that Togabito were using to attack the living world. However, we are under siege by an unending number of Togabito."

"Do you have injured?" Urahara asked quickly.

"No. Kotetsu-fukutaicho has performed her role of healer admirably."

"Good. How long can you hold the site?"

There was silence for a few moments. "A few hours more," came the answer.

"Then we'll have to finish it before then. Yamamoto-sōtaicho, can you hear me?"

"I am here. Kurosaki and I separated when we encountered Hell. Did he escape with his mother?"

Urahara furrowed his brows. "When he emerged from the Hell dimension, his mother was not with him," he denied. "But he is currently fighting Hell on the first level of the dimension. Did he escape you?

"No. I sealed the Hell I fought. It is as I suspected – Hell's soul fragments have not reunited into a single being yet. He must have combined enough to create a second avatar. That explains the weakness of the one I sealed. Kurosaki, status?"

There was a pause. "Like Urahara said, we're fighting him on the first level. We just killed him again, but he'll be back any second."

"Why are you killing him?" Soifon barked. "You know perfectly well that he must be sealed!"

"Of course we know that! But Ayumu obviously knows that too, because he started putting himself in positions where if we break his protective barrier then he dies. It's very annoying."

"Who is Ayumu? And why are you speaking with the royal we?"

"Ayumu is Hell's original name – I'm using it to so people don't get confused between person and dimension. And it should be obvious that I'm not fighting alone. My mother and I are fighting together. Turns out she's a Quincy. Who knew?"

There was complete silence for a few seconds, and then everyone in the living world was treated to the sight of Ishida Uryū calmly approaching a sturdy wall and proceeding to bang his head into it repeatedly.

"…I would ask that you keep that a secret as long as possible," Yamamoto's voice said, with only a hint of exasperation. "If Kurotsuchi-taicho finds out, then I can see no scenario where he does not commit suicide by Kurosaki."

Shinji instantly looked expectantly at Rose and Kensei, who begrudgingly reached into their pockets and gave him some cash. Seeing the various Shinigami give him strange looks, he only smiled more widely.

"Don't worry, Yamamoto-sōtaicho," Urahara reassured him. "I will edit the recordings of your earpieces to omit her being a Quincy."

"Thanks. Oh, Ayumu's back. We could use some help, though."

"I'm on my way."

"Y'know, being able to hear them is good and all, but isn't there some way we can see what's going on?" Shinji asked Urahara.

"Hmm… perhaps. Let me see if my old student did as I suspect…" Urahara opened a compartment of his machine, revealing a small screen and a keyboard. He typed at it for a few seconds, and then nodded. "As I thought. The devices he gave them also have a forward-facing video camera. I can tap into it, but I need something to display with…" He nodded again, and vanished. Several seconds later, he reappeared with another small device, connecting it to a port next to the screen. His fingers flew across the keyboard, and then the latest device he'd hooked up began to project several videos against the wall. "Now to isolate the feeds we want…"

The number of videos displayed reduced to two, and the remaining images enlarged to rectangles, each three meters wide by two meters tall. Urahara nodded, satisfied with his handiwork. "There we go. The one on the right is from Ichigo's feed, the one on the left is Yamamoto-sōtaicho. Sound is enabled as well, so you should be able to hear everything they're saying."

It had been little over a minute since Shinji had asked Urahara to see what was happening in Hell. He shook his head in admiration. "Say what you will about him, but that mad scientist gets things done," he muttered even as he joined the others to watch the feeds. Ichigo was apparently looking at Ayumu, but his mother was caught on camera as well, being a few feet ahead of him and to the side.

"Mom!" Appearing apparently out of nowhere, Karin and Yuzu raced to see the display better. Then Yuzu stiffened, seeing the other person on the screen. "Karin, is that…?"

Karin's eyes went white for a moment, and then she nodded. "Yes, that's Hell. His soul's not whole, but that's definitely Hell…"

"So that's Hell," Isshin mused, following his children at a slightly more sedate pace. Behind him were the Kasumiōji group. "Masaki and Ichigo are fighting him, then?" he asked Urahara.

The scientist nodded. "Yamamoto-sōtaicho will be joining them shortly. Why are you here?"

"This is the safest place to be," Isshin said simply. "Everyone here is an ally of my son. There's no safer place for his sisters. The Kasumiōji, I assume, are of similar mind."

Kenryū and Enryū nodded firmly once to affirm the statement. Rurichiyo's eyes were very wide. "Kurosaki-sama has this many powerful allies?"

"Hai, Rurichiyo-sama," Kenryū confirmed. "If you are safe from Kumoi anywhere, you are safe here. Do you understand now why we sought Kurosaki-sama's protection?"

Rurichiyo could only nod, completely in awe. Then she noticed something. "So… where is Kurosaki-sama?"

"That's him," Karin told her, pointing at Yamamoto's feed. He had just arrived, and clearly in sight was both Masaki and Ichigo's Hollow form. Her eyes flashed white again, and she grimaced. "Ichigo's getting frustrated. Hell's strategy is working – he's wearing Ichigo down, little by little."

Isshin knelt down and looked Karin in the eyes. "Anything else you can tell us?"

Karin met her father's gaze, and then nodded resolutely. She turned back to look at Hell and her eyes turned white once again… but this time they did not turn back. "Hell has to maintain a constant effort to control the barrier around him, and if any part of the barrier is destroyed, it all goes down. The barrier appears to be no less than twenty centimeters from his body. His weapon has two uses remaining before it needs recharging."

"What about your mother? And your brother?"

"Mom…" Karin smiled as she looked at her. "Mom's doing fine. She's very determined to help Ichigo, and is completely focused on the fight. She knows that Ichigo will protect her, just as Ichigo knows that she will protect him. She's got a technique going, something to improve her defense… something to do with her blood. She's confident in it."

"Blut Vene," Ishida supplied, approaching. "It's a Quincy technique. By channeling reishi directly into one's veins, a Quincy can withstand blows that would otherwise kill a human. Its effectiveness varies by user."

"Your mother's Blut Vene was, well, exceptional. It wouldn't surprise me if she could take a direct hit from Hell and not be hurt a bit," Isshin assured his children.

"Wow… Mom's pretty powerful, isn't she?" Yuzu asked her twin.

Karin turned her eyes back to Hell. "Yeah…" she agreed softly. "I just hope it's enough."

"…job will be to break the barrier and let Yamamoto-sōtaicho do the sealing. Got it?"

"Got it," Ichigo confirmed, watching Yamamoto fight Ayumu. The sōtaicho had, upon arrival, ordered him to take a rest and work out a plan with Urahara while Yamamoto kept him distracted. It was a break that Ichigo was glad to receive, as it gave him a chance to use his Hollow nature to absorb some reishi from his surroundings and refill some of his reserves. "Thanks, Urahara."

"So what's the plan, Ichigo?" Masaki asked quietly.

"We're setting up Yamamoto for the punchline." Ichigo powered down out of Resurrección and removed his mask, reverting to Bankai. He would have powered all the way back down to Shikai, but he didn't want to give up the enhanced speed his Bankai gave him. "Can you hide your presence, reduce your reiatsu or something?"

Masaki nodded, and abruptly Ichigo could detect practically no reiatsu from her. "No problem."

Ichigo allowed himself exactly one second to be jealous of his mother's ability to instantly hide her reiatsu before taking a few moments to lower his as best he could. "OK. Let's move – we've got to find an appropriate sniping spot." After a quick look around and verifying that Hell wasn't watching them, Ichigo stepped into Shunpo, and felt Masaki follow with Hirenkyaku.

Yamamoto allowed himself a tiny flicker of satisfaction as he saw the pair vanish. He slammed Ryūjin Jakka into Ayumu's barrier again, allowing flames to engulf the two of them once again, purposely obscuring Ayumu's vision and hopefully inhibiting Ayumu's ability to sense anything beyond Yamamoto himself.

"Is this all you have?" Ayumu asked, disappointed. "How is it that you, a much more experienced Shinigami than Kurosaki, are unable to pierce my shield in any way? Is this really the most powerful Shinigami in Soul Society?"

"You haven't begun to see my power yet, Ayumu," Yamamoto replied calmly. "I was simply waiting for Kurosaki and his mother to be out of range. Bankai. Zanka no Tachi."

Ayumu leapt back in caution, putting some distance between himself and the leader of Soul Society. "Much better," he admitted. "I was very nearly incinerated there. So this is the form that defeated my other self?"

"Your barrier is quite strong," Yamamoto observed calmly. "Able to handle even those flames. I wonder if it can handle this technique?"

He lunged at Hell, Zanka no Tachi ready to eradicate the barrier. Yamamoto carefully watched Hell's expression as he approached, and when Hell began to smirk he instantly changed course and instead ran just past Hell. "Now, Kurosaki!"

On cue, an impossibly powerful arrow ripped through Hell's barrier like paper. But it was not aimed for Hell himself, but for a few centimeters away from Hell's torso. A quarter of a mile away, Masaki lowered her bow and smirked at her son. "Barrier down."

Ichigo couldn't help but smirk back as he moved Tensa Zangetsu away from her shoulder. "Good." The idea had been simple – Ichigo had the power, Masaki had the accuracy. Just as Ichigo and Ishida had almost done against that first Menos Grande what felt like a lifetime ago, they could combine their strengths.

With the barrier down, now everything depended on Yamamoto. And the old man was already in motion, firing what seemed to be all manner of binding Kidō at Hell. Ropes, chains, bars of light, pillars falling from the sky, black holes, Yamamoto was conjuring anything and everything as fast as he could.

The problem was that Ayumu was moving just as fast. He hadn't been disturbed in the slightest by his barrier failing, and was a blur of motion, using Asahi no Kagami to cut through Kidō he couldn't dodge. By all appearance, the two appeared to be at a stalemate – Yamamoto was casting fast enough, strong enough that Ayumu couldn't take the time to create another barrier. But Ayumu wasn't letting anything hit him.

Ichigo's eyes went wide. He saw his opportunity! Flickering into Shunpo and keeping his reiatsu as low as he could, he drew the dagger that Kyōraku had given him and began channeling his reiryoku into the blade.

To Ichigo's utter satisfaction, Ayumu never saw him coming. The dagger broke the skin on Ayumu's back easily, and pierced the heart. Ichigo promptly threw the full might of his power into the dagger, willing the spell to do as it was designed, to shatter Ayumu's soul once again.

Ayumu's mouth opened, and he spat out some blood before falling forward, falling off the dagger and collapsing onto the ground, dead. A second passed, then two, and then Ayumu's body disintegrated.

Ichigo blinked and looked at the bloody dagger he now held. "Did it work?" he asked. "Also, why is it so damn hot?"

"The heat is due to my Bankai, Kurosaki. Keep your distance – the closer you are to me, the hotter it is. The air closest to my skin is as hot as the sun itself. The fact that you are not merely ashes on the wind from that distance speaks well of your defense, but I would rather not test it further."

Ichigo swallowed. "That's… rather terrifying, actually. Thank you for not using it in the living world, then, when we were fighting Aizen."

"Of course. As for whether the dagger worked, I do not know," Yamamoto admitted. "I expected…"

"…something like him screaming in pain as his soul was forcibly torn apart, his whole body glowing and then hundreds of Kushanāda appearing? Me too."

"It's possible that his soul was split into so many pieces that the fragments could not form the Kushanāda," Yamamoto mused.

"Or it's possible that your spelled dagger did not work at all," an annoyed voice stated. Ichigo and Yamamoto turned to see Ayumu approaching, fully healed and his barrier already back up. "You fools. You cannot break a soul that lives on a higher plane than yourselves. Only a god can break a god. Do you really think you can stand beside the Reiō, that you could do as he did?! Until you comprehend your soul's true nature, until you know what part of your soul you are, until you have become a GOD, you will never be able to break me!"