I'm really not the number one slacker in Soul Society.

The middle-aged man wasn't unwilling to resist, but as Shihouin Hyakugetsu looked at him, the black shadows surging on the ground tightly bound his limbs and mouth and nose, rendering him unable to move or make a sound, leaving him no choice but to let Shihouin Hyakugetsu swing the butcher's knife down.

Then, Shihōin Hyakugetsu softly recited:

"Sprout, Bone-Eater."

Chapter 118: The Battle Begins

An astonishing scene unfolded: Shihouin Hyakugetsu, sword and all, transformed into a wisp of smoke, swirling around the middle-aged man's body before finding the wound that Honebami had just inflicted—and dashed inside in one breath.

The middle-aged man, whose mouth and nose were covered, began to struggle like a maggot. His veins bulged, his face turned red, and countless strange protrusions bulged out from under his skin... as if some indescribable monster was using his body as a nest and was now about to break out of it.

While Aizen's attention was drawn to this, Yama took a half step back and quickly created a clone with a spiritual pressure value even lower than that of a paramecium. He then cast a newly learned spiritual pressure shielding barrier on this clone, spun around, and kicked it towards the Seireitei!

Very well, these actions went unnoticed by anyone.

After being kicked about a hundred meters away, the clone holding the rabbit talisman turned into a streak of light and disappeared into the depths of the jungle in an instant.

As he ran, he adjusted his face to resemble the skin of his past life, and then gradually absorbed spiritual pressure.

The Seireitei needs manpower, and this is a good opportunity to let this face show its face.

He also needed an opportunity to test the holographic experience card.

.............................................

Shihōin Hyakugetsu travels through flesh and blood.

Under the power of Honebami, she was able to temporarily break free from her physical body and transform into a life form similar to a free spirit particle, and used this form to burrow into the wound created by Honebami.

Ultimately, the injuries inflicted by Honebami can be seen as the “beginning of a sacrificial ritual”—if the spiritual pressure of the person being cut is twice as low as hers, she can designate them as a “sacrifice” and she herself becomes the “sacrifice recipient,” taking everything from the sacrifice in an instant.

This includes spiritual pressure, life force, and even abilities.

However, the act of "stealing abilities" is equivalent to stripping someone of their "soul essence," which cannot be done with the power of Shikai; only Bankai can do it.

She currently possesses more than twenty abilities, all of which were acquired in this way.

Hyakugetsu Shihouin once questioned Honebami's abilities. At that time, she had not yet made up her mind and had no idea why she had awakened such a strange ability—but Honebami himself answered her question.

That was a kind of despair.

The despair that arises from this world built on suffering.

The order of the four noble families is based on the remains of the Spirit King, consisting only of his torso and head—what right do they have to talk about justice and honor? And what right do they have to... live in this world!

No, it's not just the nobles who are guilty, but the world itself that can only survive by sucking the blood of the gods!

So... let her destroy all of this!

After easily absorbing the spiritual pressure of this junior of the Tsuna-Yashiro family, Shihouin Hyakugetsu briefly peeked into his memories.

Hmph... Was releasing me part of a conspiracy in itself?

They want to use me to deplete Yamamoto Genryusai's spiritual pressure, and then reap the benefits.

They don't even dare to take action themselves? How ridiculous.

That's why the idiots of the Tsunayo family have been a bunch of parasites living in the shadows since their ancestor.

A world ruled by a bunch of maggots... Ha, no matter when you look at it, it's just utterly ridiculous.

But these idiots actually tried to treat me like a disposable item; they were really courting death.

Even if my goal is simply to smash everything, and there's no need to deliberately adjust the order of things, even if I'm killed by the likes of Yamamoto Genryusai or the Zero Division, it's only because I'm not capable enough—but that doesn't mean I can tolerate anyone trying to take advantage of me.

Let's make a few plans then, something we haven't done in a long time.

Both Tsunayo and Shihouin have several troublesome trump cards up their sleeves, making a direct confrontation unwise—besides, they've just awakened and their spiritual pressure reserves are still somewhat depleted, so engaging in direct combat would put them at a significant disadvantage…

In other words... the most urgent task is to lie low and get into the best shape, only then can we have the confidence to do things.

And so, Shihouin Hyakugetsu gradually regained her physical body. With a casual slash of Honebami, she cleaved the Tsunayoshiro family descendant, who had been eaten down to nothing but a human skin, and then walked out in deep thought.

To be honest, those many years in Infernal Affairs did have some impact on her.

This transformed her from a grumpy older sister into a less obviously grumpy one.

The shriveled human skin floated lightly to the ground, becoming food for the black shadows, which devoured it in an instant.

Wow, that's really environmentally friendly.

Mima, standing in the woods, sighed, "Destroying the body and covering up the crime is always a difficult problem when committing murder—but this senior doesn't seem to have to worry about that."

Aizen didn't respond.

Instead, he continued to stare intently at Shihouin Hyakugetsu—mainly observing the way she used black shadows.

Although the most troublesome situation still occurred, neither Yama nor Aizen seemed afraid.

This confidence comes from strength. Since neither of them is worried about being killed by Shihōin Hyakugetsu, they can stand here so leisurely and observe.

Those nobles' subordinates, however, clearly did not have that luxury.

Rather, it's more accurate to say that there's probably no one in the world who can remain calm while waiting to be killed.

If having one's brain pierced by a finger was still within the acceptable range, the middle-aged man's extremely environmentally friendly way of dying had clearly broken through the mental defenses of this group of guys. They were all seen weeping and begging for mercy.

Generally speaking, even a pig with a conscience would feel immense guilt upon seeing that pitiful state—however, Shihouin Hyakugetsu clearly lacked such a high level of conscience.

She merely picked at her ear with annoyance, casually stuck Honebami into the ground, then beckoned with her finger and said softly, "Come out, Honebami, these people are yours."

A few seconds after he finished speaking, Honebami's form suddenly twisted.

It first shrank, transforming from a Zanpakuto into a pale sphere floating in mid-air, then suddenly expanded, twisted, and extended countless thorns, which gradually twisted into the shape of bones.

They kept piling up and overlapping, eventually forming a slender human figure over four meters tall, pieced together from countless bones.

"This is……"

Mima frowned, exchanged a glance with Aizen, and then guessed, "Did she materialize her Zanpakuto?"

“It’s possible,” Aizen said, “but it’s also possible that her Zanpakuto itself has this ability.”

The giant monster conjured by Shihouin Hyakugetsu stretched its body, its countless bones rubbing against each other, producing a dense cracking sound—to be honest, if you stand a distance away, this big guy that looks a bit like a stick figure is actually quite cute.

If we ignore its behavior.

The transformed Honebami bent down and easily lifted a member of the Stealth Mobile Force with its enormous hand, then raised it high and opened its massive, fang-filled mouth.

At this point, everyone knows what it's going to do.

The covert combat member he had captured struggled frantically, uttering incoherent screams, but Honebami's massive hand was as solid as cast iron, making it impossible for him to break free. Thus, the unfortunate fellow could only watch helplessly as half of his body was stuffed into that terrifying maw.

With his mouth suddenly closing and a snapping sound, his two frantically kicking legs came to a complete stop.

"..."

At this point, even Mima couldn't stand it anymore.

Although these people deserved to die for participating in this conspiracy, killing is one thing, but being eaten alive is just too cruel.

He wasn't exactly a compassionate person, but he also had no interest in watching this torture spectacle... The gore was tolerable, but the screams were really jarring.

But given the current situation, he couldn't very well go up and stop them with a righteous air—so even though he felt disgusted, he could only continue to watch.

When only one person remained in this group...

Aizen, Yama, and Shihouin Hyakugetsu all suddenly turned their gazes in the same direction.

Chunshui and the others finally arrived.

..........................................

"This is really..."

The four team leaders, who had been running through several groves of trees, looked at the wondrous scenery with different expressions.

A blood-soaked skeleton monster, a dwarf version of Yoruichi in a black robe—the three captains who had been ordered to come immediately understood what was going on.

There was no need for further investigation; they were presented with both good and bad news.

The good news is that they ran right into their target, but the bad news is that their target looked incredibly powerful.

After consuming more than a dozen people, Shihouin Hyakugetsu's spiritual pressure increased somewhat, to at least the level of Twenty Carts of Kensei.

Shunsui sighed, while Ukitake and Isshin stared at the half-corpse in Honebami's hand, their expressions gradually turning serious.

Meanwhile, Oni Kenpachi, who seemed to have wandered in, looked completely bewildered, like a background character who would be the first to die in a horror movie.

"Kyoraku, this should be..."

Ukitake placed his hand on the hilt of his sword and asked in a low voice, "What should we do? Should we negotiate?"

"if you can……"

Chunshui rubbed her chin, feeling a headache coming on: "Let me do it."

Having said that, he stepped forward, walked to the edge of the black shadow, and raised his hand to greet Shihouin Hyakugetsu: "Yo, you must be..."

"Captain Hagoromo."

Shihōin Hyakugetsu tilted his head: "You're from the Gotei 3... now it's the 13th, right? — Whatever, you're Yamamoto Shigekuni's subordinate, aren't you?"

See, the historical generation gap is immediately apparent.

Back in the era of Shihouin Hyakugetsu, Yamamoto wasn't even a member of the Gotei 13, and there were only three Gotei 13. The situation in Soul Society was far more chaotic than it is now.

Chapter 119: The Ghost City is in ruins

The veteran captains, Shunsui and Ukitake, were able to handle the situation, but the up-and-coming Isshin and Oni Genjo were completely bewildered.

What is this guy talking about?

"That's not wrong."

Chunshui sighed: "You must be the legendary sixth head of the Shihōin family, right?"

“It’s me.” Shihōin Hyakugetsu moved her finger, and the black shadow that covered an area of ​​several hundred meters suddenly retreated, merging into the black robe she was wearing.

The last nobleman's subordinate, who was bound, collapsed to the ground with a thud.

He was nearly driven mad with fear, and with a scream, he ran away as fast as he could—luckily, neither side paid him any attention, and thus a lucky survivor was born from a seemingly hopeless situation.

"What brings Yamamoto Shigekuni's men here?" Shihouin Hyakugetsu asked coldly. "If you want to take action, I don't mind."