Crushing

"Kyougoku."

Although everyone present had anticipated this from the beginning, the moment Kunitsuna Shōgo's voice fell, all the lieutenants standing at the forefront couldn't help but pause.

If we consider 'Dangai' as a vast cosmic space, then 'Soul Society, the World of the Living, and Hueco Mundo' are a complete 'three-body structure,' a stable channel connecting the large worlds within Dangai.

And Kyougoku, is a small world that constantly attracts souls drifting outside of Dangai, pulling them into itself.

These kinds of small worlds are countless within Dangai, varying in size, each resembling a bubble in the center of a water glass, that could disappear or appear at any time.

The Kyougoku that the Tsunayashiro clan controls is one of these.

The only difference is...

Thump—

Kunitsuna Shōgo's sheathed sword gently tapped against the ground, emitting a dull sound.

As the sound subsided, a tide of ashigaru soldiers dressed in plain clothes surged forth from behind him.

Each of them was at least over two meters tall, their arms thick and inhuman, resembling the appearance of hollows. Their faces were concealed by white cloths, with hoods covering their heads and long hair draping down their backs, their chests open, revealing bare skin.

Scrawled across the white cloth in crimson letters was the phrase "Yujin Army."

Wielding swords and blades, their auras were ferocious.

Their bodies emanated an almost abnormal spiritual pressure.

Forged, nurtured, and accumulated over countless generations of Tsunayashiro, the number of wandering souls in this world had long surpassed that of an ordinary Kyougoku.

With a sufficient number of wandering souls, there would naturally be a portion with spiritual pressure talents.

"Roar—"

However, what came from their mouths was not human speech, but roars like beasts.

Clearly, these people had been treated with some kind of special processing by the Tsunayashiro clan, and there was no longer any trace of human reason in their actions. Only clear red marks were branded on their chests as they gathered behind Kunitsuna Shōgo.

Head Captain Yamamoto Genryuusai Shigekuni still stood quietly in place.

The lieutenants behind him watched the group of feral mongrels with scornful eyes, all of them wore expressions of bloody delight, yet not a single one spoke out, their suppressed silence like the dark clouds before a storm, filled with murderous intent.

The crowds behind the two old men were black and white, respectively.

Distinctly separated.

Genryusai's gaze didn't linger on these bestial soldiers for even a second, he continued to quietly observe Kunitsuna Shōgo.

He knew very well.

This guy's trump card wouldn't be so... foolish.

However, Kunitsuna Shōgo simply gave the command calmly:

"Slaughter them."

The moment the order was given, the humanoid beasts behind him immediately stirred restlessly, raising their swords and letting out deafening roars.

The next moment.

They surged forth like a raging tide.

Without the need for Yamamoto to say more, many instructors, led by Fujimiya Makoto, plunged into the opposing crowd like tigers released from their cages, swinging their swords and engaging in indiscriminate slaughter.

"Kill—"

Fujimiya Makoto was the fastest, naturally rushing to the very front of the entire group, like the tip of a black tide, piercing straight into the white crowd before him.

Only when one got close could one realize the sheer size of these 'Yujin Army' soldiers, each of them like a silverback gorilla, even the greatswords they wielded were clearly larger than normal.

However, none of this mattered.

In just an instant, the blade in Fujimiya Makoto's hand slashed down from above, drawing a dazzling arc of light in the air.

"Roar!"

The Yujin Army soldier in front of him, despite having his eyes covered by white cloth, accurately judged the direction of the falling blade, roaring and raising his greatsword to swing towards Fujimiya Makoto.

The blades clashed, first emitting a clear tearing sound of metal against metal.

Following this, the seemingly slender blade in Fujimiya Makoto's hand effortlessly severed the black greatsword, which resembled a door, and cut straight into the skin of the Yujin Army soldier in front of him.

"Hmm?"

The moment he struck the enemy, Fujimiya Makoto's gaze paused for a moment.

However, he immediately increased the strength in his wrist, fiercely cleaving the giant in front of him into two halves from left to right along the path of the blade, blood splattering in the midst of a tragic scream.

Just now, the instant he struck the enemy's skin.

He could clearly feel that the texture of this skin was much harder than that of a normal Shinigami.

If he had to describe it, it was somewhat similar to the sensation of a large Hollow's 'Hierro' armor, but not as strong.

Clearly.

These guys' bodies were peculiar.

However, Fujimiya Makoto didn't think too much about it.

If the sky falls, there are taller people to hold it up.

As a simple soldier like him, he only needed to charge forward valiantly.

That was enough.

As the two armies clashed, the lieutenants, led by Yamamoto, also implicitly formed an encirclement around Tsunayashiro Shōgo.

Tit for tat.

However, no one moved first.

At their level, everyone could easily sense the feeling of some kind of massive presence emanating from Tsunayashiro Shōgo's aging body.

It was an invisible, but very clear 'sense of oppression'.

However, when combined with Tsunayashiro Shōgo's aging appearance, it presented a peculiar sense of abnormality.

--It was as if his body contained a part 'that didn't belong to him'.

Amidst the battle cries, the soldiers behind him were clearly being slaughtered at a frightening rate, their corpses littering the plains, yet Tsunayashiro Shōgo himself still maintained a slow, calm demeanor, speaking slowly in a detached voice:

"Remarkable, Genryūsai."

"To be able to rise from the status of a commoner to this point, stepping onto the threshold of what it means to be a Shinigami."

"Even I, an old man, must admit it."

"Compared to the fools that fill the Five Great Noble Houses and the Central 46, you might be better rulers and protectors of this vast Soul Society."

Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni still quietly observed him.

Or rather, he was waiting.

"However..."

Suddenly, Tsunayashiro Shōgo changed his tone, slowly drawing his Zanpakutō, casually discarding the sheath, his voice becoming even more aged and hoarse:

"You, with your commoner background, still know too little."

"Perhaps you've heard of the Spirit King."

"But, I'm afraid you completely fail to comprehend what kind of existence the 'Spirit King' truly is, wouldn't you say?"