Bleach: No cheat codes, he joined Aizen's side.

Chapter 326, Section 324: Jushiro Ukitake's Ruthless Strike

Yhwabach's interpretation is incorrect!

At least that's how Yoruichi Shihouin sees it.

The granting of this ability itself should also be considered as part of Yhwach's ability, and thus be rejected by the divine weapon in his own hand, the Eight Mirrors Sword!
This was said by Kisuke Urahara himself, and it had been proven before by the Quincy named Haschwalth, whose shield was destroyed by the Eight Mirrors Sword in the same way.

No matter how strained the relationship between Yoruichi Shihouin and Kisuke Urahara is now, she is still clear-headed when it comes to matters of principle.

Furthermore, Yoruichi Shihouin believed that Kisuke Urahara was equally sensible.

The latter wouldn't deceive himself on such a crucial issue.

This could only happen if Kisuke Urahara and Yhwach were originally in cahoots.

It is obvious that Kisuke Urahara and Yhwach are not in cahoots.

Therefore, Yoruichi Shihouin simply cannot understand why the Eight Mirrors Sword in her hand has failed.

Just as Higashino Shuichi didn't know why the Ise family's Eight Mirrors Sword could work in the hands of Yoruichi Shihouin.

Information asymmetry inevitably creates blind spots in certain areas.

In such a situation, the side with stronger raw power will naturally have the advantage in battle.

Clearly, Shuichi Higashino is the stronger party.

However, there was a detail that Yoruichi Shihouin didn't notice: before Yoruichi was pulled down by the super-high gravity environment that Shuichi Higashino had temporarily created, Shuichi Higashino's body staggered downwards for a moment.

That is evidence that Higashino Shuichi was also influenced by his surroundings.

The Eight Mirrors Sword in Yoruichi Shihouin's hands still posed a real threat to Shuichi Higashino.

However, Higashino Shuichi used a little trick, through the form of granting abilities, to reconstruct the special rules of this entire small world.

Such techniques are only considered as Higashino Shuichi exercising his abilities when he bestows them upon the small world.

Once the ability is granted, how the recipient uses that ability becomes irrelevant to Shuichi Higashino.

The inspiration for this technique by Shuichi Higashino can actually be traced back to the original story, specifically the scene where Nanao Ise uses the divine weapon, the Eight Mirrors Sword.

In the original storyline, Ise Nanao was the one who used the Eight Mirrors Sword to fight against Rie Barrow, a member of Yhwach's personal guard.

But in essence, Ridge Barrow, who drank Yhwach's blood and was given the ability of holy script by Yhwach, did not have his feedback transmitted back to Yhwach when he was attacked by Ise Nanao using the Eight Mirrors Sword.

Therefore, the object being granted the ability and the one who grants the ability are actually two different objects in the "eyes" of the Eight Mirrors Sword.

The case of Nemuro is a good example of this.

It could be said that because she possesses Haschwalth's abilities, she is regarded by the Eight Mirrors Sword as having divine power.

It could also be said that Nemu was regarded by Yagami Ken as possessing divine power because she was almost one with Higashino Shuichi.

Even though Nemuru was a special being, when Yoruichi Shihouin used the Eight Mirrors Sword to target her, the Eight Mirrors Sword's ability to break through divine power was not transmitted to Shuichi Higashino through Nemuru.

Then Higashino Shuichi has even less to worry about. He has endowed this small world with abilities, and Yoruichi Shihouin can use the Eight Mirrors Sword in her hand to cut through all of his arrangements.

In fact, if it weren't for the concern that bestowing too many extra effects upon the small world would be judged as divine power by Yoruichi Shihouin's Eight Mirrors Sword, thus enabling it to cleave the entire world in two with a single strike, Higashino Shuichi would not have simply granted this small world a single ability: strong gravity.

After all, with such a singular ability, limiting Yoruichi Shihouin might not be too much of a problem.

But what if they faced two other Grim Reapers who were also imprisoned in this small world?
Surprisingly, Higashino Shuichi had expected that the first Grim Reaper to stand before him again would be Kyoraku Shunsui, but instead, it turned out to be the sickly captain—Ukitake Jushiro.

"Perhaps in your eyes, we new generation of Grim Reaper captains are not as powerful as those first-generation captains you once dealt with, which is why you imprisoned a few of us Grim Reapers with you alone."

But I can tell you, in my capacity as the captain of the 13th Division of Soul Society, that the returned Quincy King, Yhwach, is mistaken.

The sentence should have been followed by, "Most of the new generation of Grim Reaper captains may indeed be mediocre to you, but that definitely doesn't include me."

However, Jushiro Ukitake felt that saying it was a bit pretentious and didn't quite fit his personality, so he ultimately gave up and stopped there.

Moreover, Jushiro Ukitake estimated that Yhwach on the other side should be able to see his determination.

Higashino Shuichi did indeed see Ukitake Jushiro's determination.

Even though Higashino Shuichi didn't hear the incantation for releasing his Zanpakuto from Ukitake Jushiro's mouth, he could guess from the surging spiritual pressure around Ukitake Jushiro's body and the fact that the Zanpakuto in his hand had changed from two swords back to a single sword, merging into one and forming a ring, that Ukitake Jushiro had already completed the Bankai of his Zanpakuto at this moment.

Ultimately, this is all Higashino Shuichi's fault. If Higashino Shuichi hadn't demonstrated to his fellow Shinigami through his actions that silent chanting could be just as effective in high-level matches, then silent chanting wouldn't have become a skill that most Shinigami with a bit of ambition must master.

Just like most Shinigami, the Bankai ability of their Zanpakuto is basically an "enhanced version" of the Shikai ability of their Zanpakuto. No matter how fancy the changes are in form, at the core, the Shikai and Bankai of the same Zanpakuto are the same.

In the original storyline, Jushiro Ukitake only ever showed his Zanpakuto's Shikai to others. As for the Zanpakuto's Bankai, due to Jushiro Ukitake's physical condition, he was never able to use it in front of everyone until the end of the Thousand-Year Blood War.

In the current timeline, Higashino Shuichi did inquire about Ukitake Jushiro's Bankai ability, but the answer he received was always that he didn't know.

The reason is that since Jushiro Ukitake took office as the captain of the 13th Division, he has never used his Bankai in front of other Shinigami until just now.

It is likely that only Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekaku knows about Ukitake Jushiro's Bankai ability.

At most, add Kyoraku Shunsui.

Even Yoruichi Shihouin was not qualified by Higashino Shuichi to ask Jushiro Ukitake to tell him.

Needless to say, the Great Spiritual Library is also a must-see.

Higashino Shuichi is not like Aizen Sousuke, who can stay in the Great Spirit Book Corridor for days on end just to figure out something.

Furthermore, the Great Spiritual Library does not have the indexing function of a modern library.

Finding information about Jushiro Ukitake's Bankai from this was like finding a needle in a haystack for Shuichi Higashino.

Fortunately, perhaps to avenge Yoruichi Shihouin, who had just been somewhat embarrassed by Shuichi Higashino, Jushiro Ukitake thoughtfully introduced Higashino to her.
"Leaping Dragon, the name of my Bankai, is to relinquish the ability of my Shikai—to absorb all the spiritual attacks from other Shinigami as spiritual particles and retaliate at will—and simplify the complex, unifying the two into one." At this point, Ukitake Jushiro paused deliberately, as if clearing his throat, but actually took a step towards Higashino Shuichi.
"During the activation of my Zanpakuto's Bankai, all effects acting on me, and those about to act on me, will be indiscriminately expelled, and then transformed into an obedient blade in my hand, which I can mold and use at my beck and call!"

As if the ceremony was over, Jushiro Ukitake pointed at Shuichi Higashino, and a cluster of extremely high-concentration spiritual particles, resembling a Hollow's Cero, instantly pierced the sky.

Because it was released by Jushiro Ukitake and was affected by his Bankai ability, this ultra-high concentration of spiritual particles was not affected by the surrounding environment in the slightest.

Higashino Hideaki could have simply moved aside.

After all, Jushiro Ukitake was a very gentlemanly man, and before attacking him, he gave a long speech.

This gave Shuichi Higashino ample time to prepare.

But Higashino Shuichi did not do that.

He merely shifted his body slightly to the side to ensure that he wouldn't be fatally injured by Jushiro Ukitake's extremely high concentration of spiritual particles, and then Higashino Shuichi casually constructed a weapon that originally belonged to Hasward in his hands.

The Shield of Scapegoats!

It's clear that Shuichi Higashino intended to use this shield as a one-time experimental product.

Of course, to use the power of omniscience and omnipotence to create a weapon of this level out of thin air, given Higashino Shuichi's current ability to fabricate omniscience and omnipotence using sacred script, the spiritual pressure required would be an absolute heavy burden for any normal Shinigami.

However, Higashino Shuichi relied on the left leg of the Spirit King, the Spirit King's torso that symbolized "support," which he possessed.

The latter can provide Higashino Shuichi with unlimited spiritual energy, which is why Higashino Shuichi now adopts a playing style that can be described as "squandering" or even "wasteful".

In theory, even if the Shield of Scapegoat cannot withstand the attack from Jushiro Ukitake, according to the characteristics of the Shield of Scapegoat, it can still weaken Jushiro Ukitake's attack to some extent.

This is the normal logic.

But what lies before Higashino Shuichi now is precisely the kind of abnormal development he feared.

The attack from Jushiro Ukitake not only pierced through the scapegoat shield in Shuichi Higashino's hand as easily as breaking through a thin layer of paper, but also almost took the life of the overconfident Higashino.

"Hehehehe."

After being hit by Jushiro Ukitake's attack, Shuichi Higashino couldn't help but laugh out loud.

The reason was that he had figured out what Ukitake Jushiro's seemingly polite and courteous self-introduction to Higashino Shuichi was actually trying to achieve.

That was a very standard deception, nine parts truth and one part falsehood. Jushiro Ukitake wanted to use this way of showing weakness to numb Shuichi Higashino's subjective judgment, so that Shuichi Higashino would lower his guard against him.

The real killer move lies in Jushiro Ukitake's description of his Bankai ability.

Perhaps in most places, Jushiro Ukitake was earnestly explaining the true effects of his Zanpakuto's Bankai ability.

However, Jushiro Ukitake deliberately concealed one of these points.

Furthermore, on this point, a verbal hint was given to Higashino Shuichi.

In other words, Jushiro Ukitake specifically emphasized that his Bankai ability is only effective on himself.

He was trying to give Higashino Shuichi the ability to absorb the effects of all changes around him, but only to work near Ukitake Jushiro's body.

To be honest, Jushiro Ukitake almost succeeded.

Shuichi Higashino was indeed deceived by Jushiro Ukitake's "simple" appearance and "sincere" words.

Higashino Shuichi had simply been subconsciously on guard.

This is a habit that Higashino Shuichi developed after a certain incident.

Higashino Shuichi never expected that such a habit would save him from the embarrassing situation of being knocked out of his original form by Ukitake Jushiro.

Feeling the wound on his right arm, pierced by Jushiro Ukitake's spiritual energy cluster, constantly devouring all forces that did not belong to it, with the hole at the wound's core.

With great decisiveness, Higashino Shuichi constructed a spirit blade on his body, then controlled the blade to sever his right arm and the right half of his torso.

"Cough cough cough!!!"

This is the sound of a violent cough coming from Jushiro Ukitake.

At that moment, he was truly in great pain.

As a seasoned captain with rich experience, Jushiro Ukitake knew that in this situation, what he should do most was to press his advantage and take advantage of the moment when Yhwach was forced to cut off his own arm, pressing him step by step!
However, his body, his damned body, was warning Jushiro Ukitake that his "burst" time was over.

If Jushiro Ukitake doesn't release his Bankai soon, he might die before he can even make a move against Shuichi Higashino.

In this respect, Jushiro Ukitake in this timeline is no different from him in the original story.

It's not that Jushiro Ukitake was unwilling to participate in such high-intensity battles, but rather that for him, there would only be one chance to make a move in such a high-intensity battle.

And it was an opportunity that I had to work myself to the bone for who knows how long to earn it.

In the original story, Jushiro Ukitake made a deal with the great god Mihahagi by sacrificing himself. Now, he is using his own body to launch a life-or-death attack on Shuichi Higashino!
Fortunately, Jushiro Ukitake was not fighting alone.

At this moment, another man appeared behind Higashino Shuichi.

There was absolutely no need for any extra communication between him and Jushiro Ukitake.

Two people only need to exchange a glance to understand each other perfectly.

"Leave the rest to me!"

Ukitake Jushiro smiled as he released his Bankai, letting the terrifying gravity pull him rapidly down from the sky.

"The rest is up to you!"

(End of this chapter)