Chapter 57: The destructive power of a natural disaster, the slashing collision that tears apart the heaven and earth

At that moment, the temperature across the entire Soul Society dropped several degrees.

A bone-chilling cold swept through Seireitei as every shinigami felt the oppressive and terrifying spiritual pressure weighing down on them.

Previously, when Kenpachi Zaraki had released his reiatsu, the distance and barrier had muffled much of its impact. Though they could tell it was powerful, it hadn't been overwhelming. But now?

Now, they felt as if they had been thrust into a world of ice and snow. Their bodies trembled involuntarily, hands and feet turning numb as an unprecedented sense of fear took hold. It was as if they had been struck by an invisible force, crushing them under its weight.

Near the training grounds, several 11th Division members, known for their battle-hardened resilience, found themselves struggling. Their spiritual pressure wouldn't circulate properly. It was as if their very souls were freezing over.

Elsewhere in the Seireitei, members of the Court Army and various divisions also felt the familiar spiritual signature.

Ise Nanao, Hinamori Momo, Kuchiki Rukia, and Matsumoto Rangiku all stiffened as realization dawned upon them.

"It's… the Commander-in-Chief!"

"Mr. Uehara!"

"Shiroha!"

Shock flickered across their faces before being replaced with unwavering confidence.

"So it's him…" Rangiku exhaled, the tension leaving her shoulders. "There's no way he would lose."

"The Commander doesn't do anything without absolute confidence!" Nanao added firmly.

Their faith in Uehara Shiroha was absolute.

Outside the barrier, the captains stood in stunned silence as they took in the scene before them.

The moment Uehara Shiroha had activated his Bankai, a tide of icy energy had flooded the martial arts field.

Frost condensed in the air, and a thick layer of white frost coated the ground. Every shattered stone pillar, every broken rock, was now encased in an impenetrable layer of glacial armor. The entire battlefield had transformed into a frozen wasteland, as if winter itself had descended upon them.

Not long ago, it had been a bright and sunny day.

Now, even standing behind the protective barrier, the captains could see visible puffs of white air as they exhaled.

"If that barrier wasn't in place… this would be catastrophic," Shiba Isshin muttered, his expression grim.

This natural disaster-like Bankai was simply terrifying.

Kyoraku Shunsui cast a sidelong glance at Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni, who remained with his eyes closed, seemingly unbothered. His voice was low as he mused, "I wonder if Uehara Shiroha will become a monster like the Old Man in the future…"

Meanwhile, Tōsen Kaname observed the battle with an unreadable expression, his spiritual senses fully extended. His thoughts churned darkly.

" They truly are a monster."

To Tōsen, people who prioritized battle over the laws of Soul Society were dangerous—inevitably leading to chaos. And this Uehara Shiroha…

He had a foreboding sense that Uehara Shiroha could become an obstacle to his own vision of justice.

Within the frozen battlefield, standing amidst the biting cold, Kenpachi Zaraki gripped his Zanpakutō with one hand.

The slender, jagged blade trembled slightly—not from his own movements, but from the sheer force of Uehara Shiroha's reiatsu pressing down on it. Yet, instead of fear, Kenpachi's face split into a satisfied grin.

"Hah… It's been a long time since I felt my blade being sharpened by someone else's spiritual pressure alone. Damn, I missed this feeling!" His golden eyes burned with excitement.

Raising his Zanpakutō, he pointed the broken edge directly at Uehara Shiroha, his entire body tensing as he gathered power.

A somewhat dull voice echoed from beneath Uehara Shiroha's helmet. "Aren't you cold?"

He had already activated his Stand's abilities, and yet… Kenpachi wasn't even flinching?

Kenpachi scoffed. "I've been frozen by you so many times before, my body got used to it." His voice was brimming with confidence.

He had challenged Uehara Shiroha countless times before. Yet, every single time, he hadn't even had the chance to draw his sword properly. It had been humiliating.

But this time?

This time, Kenpachi was ready.

He was going to cut him down in one stroke.

As Kenpachi continued charging his attack, Uehara Shiroha wasn't idle either. His reiatsu surged, escalating to an even greater height.

The captains watching from outside the barrier felt their breath hitch. Even now, these two were still increasing their spiritual pressure?

"Do these monsters have no limits?!"

At this moment, Kenpachi was fully focused.

Never before had he been able to let loose like this. Normally, he held back, constantly suppressing himself to avoid killing his opponent too quickly. But this time?

He had a gut feeling.

If he didn't go all out, if he didn't push himself to his absolute limits—

Then he wouldn't be able to touch Uehara Shiroha.

If he couldn't hurt his opponent, then it wasn't a fight.

And if it wasn't a fight, then it was boring.

With that thought, Kenpachi moved.

His blade came down in a vicious arc—the strongest slash he had ever unleashed since arriving in Soul Society.

Words couldn't describe this ultimate strike.

It wasn't just an attack.

It was a law of the universe.

The force of the slash locked Uehara Shiroha in place—his body, his will, even time and space itself seemed to be bound by the sheer might of the strike.

There was no dodging it.

There was no blocking it.

This was the power of a true master of the blade.

A single cut that defied all logic.

A single cut that could break through anything.

Much like Kurosaki Ichigo's Getsuga Tenshō, which demonstrated the miraculous might of pure force, Kenpachi's attack was an embodiment of the concept: One slash shatters all.

Uehara Shiroha's grip tightened around Frostmourne.

Without hesitation, he swung his sword to meet the attack head-on.

There was no need for words.

No need for eye contact.

In that moment, only their weapons spoke.

Blinding white spiritual pressure clashed against dazzling golden reiatsu as their blades met in the air.

The impact was instant.

A deafening explosion engulfed the battlefield as a shockwave of raw power burst outward.

The sheer force of the collision created an energy shield around them—an unstable sphere of destruction that crackled violently, containing their clashing energies.

For a single second, the world stood still.

Then—the shield shattered.

An eruption of slashing waves surged outward, carving massive trenches across the arena.

Each wave of energy tore through the ground, leaving behind deep fissures—some wide enough to fit four or five men walking side by side. Bottomless pits formed where the sheer force had obliterated the terrain.

The arena—once a proud training ground—collapsed entirely.

Only the ground beneath the two Shinigamis remained intact.

Outside, the barrier surrounding the battlefield trembled violently.

Visible cracks formed along its surface.

Despite Kurotsuchi Mayuri designing it to withstand an ordinary captain's full-strength battle, he had not anticipated these two monsters.

This wasn't just a fight.

This was an annihilation.

The moment the barrier began to falter, Kyoraku Shunsui sprang forward, transferring his spiritual pressure to stabilize it. Unohana Retsu followed suit, reinforcing it further.

Together, the two millennia-old captains barely managed to hold it together.

"Impossible…" Mayuri Kurotsuchi muttered, staring in disbelief. "My barriers… defeated by brute force…?!"

Silence fell over the captains.

This battle had exceeded their expectations.

When the dust settled, the destruction was laid bare.

The once grand arena was gone.

Only two figures remained—standing motionless.

The captains held their breath.

Who had won?

Atop two jagged cliffs, Uehara Shiroha and Zaraki Kenpachi had exchanged places, their figures now standing on opposite sides. Between them, the battlefield lay in utter ruin—several massive, crisscrossing gullies carved deep into the terrain, each marking the aftermath of their clash.

The wounds left behind by their blades were quickly swallowed by the frost, the freezing air sealing them under thick layers of ice.

The once-proud training ground was unrecognizable. Every trace of structure had been shattered beyond repair, claimed either by Uehara Shiroha's frigid dominion or Kenpachi's devastating slashes.

Uehara Shiroha glanced down, brushing his fingers across the faint white marks that marred his ice armor. His lips curled into a smirk.

"What incredible battle instincts!"

He looked toward Kenpachi and chuckled.

"I was aiming to take your head in a single strike," he admitted.

But Kenpachi had done the impossible—dodging the fatal blow in an instant and even managing to land a strike in return.

It was expected.

This man wasn't just a brute who fought on instinct alone—his battle sense was terrifying. Even when faced with an overwhelming difference in strength, he refused to go down quietly.

Uehara Shiroha had learned his lesson.

Kenpachi Zaraki was the type of opponent who only grew stronger through battle. The more he fought, the more powerful he became. If left unchecked, he would eventually force his way past any limit.

To prevent him from pulling off something insane—like suddenly awakening a dual-blade form or summoning a meteor-splitting attack—Uehara Shiroha had unleashed his Stand's power to its absolute peak.

The moment their blades collided, Kenpachi's Zanpakutō—already jagged and chipped—became as fragile as ice struck by a sledgehammer. The sheer cold had seeped into the steel, turning it brittle beyond repair.

And so, the next move had been simple.

Uehara Shiroha had shattered Kenpachi's sword and, in the same motion, carved deep into his chest, aiming for the aorta—a decisive, incapacitating strike.

Yet, even at the brink of death, Kenpachi had reacted.

At the last second, he twisted his body, avoiding a direct fatal wound while simultaneously lashing out with the remnants of his broken blade.

Though the attack had failed to breach Uehara Shiroha's universal barrier and ice armor, it was enough to impress him.

"Not bad," Uehara Shiroha muttered.

Kenpachi might be reckless, but he was far from mindless.

His reaction speed, his intuition, his battle awareness—it was all monstrous.

Many had called Kaname Tōsen a "Demon Hunter," but Tōsen's own Bankai had been shattered by this very same intuition. Even in a world of absolute darkness, Kenpachi had relied on instinct alone to counterattack.

Now, he had done it again.

He had felt the danger and dodged accordingly.

Kenpachi stood still, his breath heavy. He stared down at his broken sword, then at the massive wound across his chest—cold mist rising from the gash, frost already creeping over his skin.

His grip tightened.

"This is it?!" he roared, voice filled with unwillingness. "Impossible! This is just the beginning! Move, dammit—move!!"

He ordered his body to obey.

But his vision blurred. His limbs felt heavy.

His strength—his will—was fading.

His body refused to listen.

"Next time… Next time, I'll definitely—"

Before he could finish, the frost consumed him. His final words were sealed away, frozen within the ice.

Uehara Shiroha sighed, lowering Frostmourne as the cold winds began to settle.

"I already know what you wanted to say," he muttered, shaking his head. "But honestly? I wasn't interested in hearing it."

With a casual shrug, he retracted the power of White Album, allowing the battlefield to gradually return to normal. The ice and snow retreated, the suffocating chill dissipating into the air.

As the transformation ended, the heavy armor on his body shattered and faded, revealing his usual confident smirk and refined features.

He had just defeated three captains in a row.

And he hadn't even broken a sweat.

Outside the Barrier

A stunned silence had fallen over the captains.

All eyes were locked onto the battlefield, their gazes filled with shock.

Kenpachi Zaraki—the legendary Shinigami, the 11th Kenpachi, the strongest combatant in the Gotei 13—had been defeated.

And it wasn't even a close fight.

There had been no struggle, no drawn-out battle. It had been clean, decisive.

Kenpachi had been frozen solid—just like that.

Suì-Fēng's expression trembled, disbelief flickering in her sharp eyes.

"So this… is the gap between us?"

Byakuya Kuchiki clenched his fists.

From the beginning, he had believed himself to be a worthy opponent. Yet, in the face of Uehara Shiroha, he had been nothing more than a clown.

For him, fighting Kenpachi had been a battle of life and death.

For Uehara Shiroha?

It hadn't even been a warm-up.

Komamura Sajin and Shiba Isshin exchanged glances, equally shaken.

Even Ichimaru Gin, who rarely showed genuine emotion, had lost his usual smirk.

Mayuri Kurotsuchi's golden eyes gleamed with something unreadable—his fascination with Uehara Shiroha reaching new heights.

Only Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni remained impassive, his ancient face betraying no emotion.

Unohana Retsu had initially moved forward to treat Kenpachi, but she halted upon seeing the frost covering his wounds.

She understood immediately.

Uehara Shiroha had already treated Kenpachi in his own way—sealing his injuries with ice to prevent further damage.

It looked extreme.

But in truth, it was more effective than ordinary healing techniques.

"This man… is truly something else."

Kaname Tōsen clenched his fists, his forehead creased with tension.

"I never imagined… that monster had such terrifying destructive power."

To him, Kenpachi Zaraki had always been a threat to justice.

A chaotic force, an unchecked beast who would inevitably bring disaster.

But now—now even he had fallen to Uehara Shiroha.

Tōsen felt a deep unease settle in his heart.

"Uehara Shiroha… are you a storm that will scatter the darkness? Or are you the dark clouds themselves?"

He had once known a friend who dreamt of becoming the wind—a force that would blow away the darkness and reveal the stars.

But that friend had been killed.

Killed by the corrupt nobility of Soul Society.

Since then, Tōsen had sworn to never forgive the Shinigami.

And yet, before him stood Uehara Shiroha—a Shinigami whose power rivaled anything he had ever witnessed.

He didn't know whether to see him as an ally… or an even greater threat.

Far above the battlefield, within the Soul King's Palace, the Monk of Names, Hyōsube Ichibei, observed the chaos below with an intrigued expression.

His secret technique had allowed him to witness everything from the moment Uehara Shiroha had activated his Bankai.

And yet… something was off.

As the one who governed the names of all things, Ichibei knew that Uehara Shiroha had spoken a false Bankai name.

At first, he hadn't cared.

A Zanpakutō's true power could only be accessed by awakening its true name. Without it, Bankai could never reach its full potential.

But Uehara Shiroha's freezing ability was… extraordinary.

Ichibei's eyes narrowed.

"Strange… I cannot see into his inner world. Something is blocking me."

For a moment, a rare flicker of uncertainty crossed his face.

Then, he smirked.

"What a fascinating boy."

Meanwhile, deep in the shadows of Soul Society, a Quincy technician rushed through the Sun Gate, racing toward the palace of the Invisible Empire.

He fell to one knee before Jugram Haschwalth, his voice unsteady.

"Lord Haschwalth! Our investigation is complete!"

"Just now… the reason we all felt that chill…"

"It was caused by a Shinigami's Bankai!"

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