Garp nodded slightly, then withdrew his gaze and asked the Captains, led by Yamamoto.
"Worororo! I've heard this old man's Bankai is powerful. Is it really that terrifying?"
The Azure Dragon opened its mouth, revealing rows of fangs and a look that suggested he didn't believe in superstitions.
Beside him, Linlin threw a punch his way.
"Haven't I told you before? That isn't a power that can be dealt with by ordinary means."
"Kaido, you're not very agile in that form. You'd better change back into a human."
Kaido took the harmless punch and curled his lip, though he said nothing, letting out a low grunt.
"..."
The massive Azure Dragon suddenly began to shift, its long, slender body starting to contract.
In the blink of an eye, he transformed into a giant over seven meters tall.
Though Kaido was now in human form, his appearance was far from human.
Two pairs of horns grew from his head, his body was covered in scales, and a thick tail lashed behind him.
Those amber vertical pupils fixed on Yamamoto and the others as Kaido split his mouth open, revealing still-sharp teeth.
"This form is much better for combat."
As he spoke, he reached behind him, pulling a massive, black kanabo from his cloak and resting it on his shoulder.
Yamamoto and the others had seen the Phoenix transform into a human before, but seeing the Azure Dragon take shape was still a curious sight, even if not entirely shocking.
"Where on earth did Shihoin Ren find these strange subordinates?"
"The Stealth Force was only re-established a few years ago. In that time... it's a miracle Ren was even able to build the framework."
"Even if one searched the Three Realms... no, are there really this many powerful people in the Three Realms?"
Listening to the conversation, Garp shook his head.
This was exactly what confused him as well.
But even if he asked now, he doubted the other party would answer.
The old man gripped his Zanpakuto tightly, thinking back to Ren's earlier words.
His Bankai hadn't even been revealed yet, and he had never mentioned it to anyone. Where did Ren get his intelligence to know such secrets?
"At this point, talk is useless."
As his voice fell, Yamamoto was the first to charge forward with his blade!
Ginrei Yamamoto followed closely behind.
"Captain-Commander, let me assist you!"
Behind him, the various Captains were momentarily stunned. Just as they were about to charge with Yamamoto, Captain Unohana's voice reached their ears.
"You lot, just focus on protecting yourselves."
"Among the current Captains, only I and Ginrei Yamamoto still have enough combat strength to help share the Captain-Commander's burden."
The rest were merely Vice-Captains. Though their strength was decent, they seemed insignificant in a battle of this scale.
Due to the previous Captain Hollowification incident, there were even some present who weren't even Vice-Captains.
Namely, Tōsen Kaname of the Ninth Division and the Third Seat of the Twelfth Division, Mayuri Kurotsuchi.
Suddenly, Unohana's eyes widened.
Mayuri... had suddenly vanished?
He was clearly here during the meeting earlier. How could he disappear in an instant?
Could it be that he, too, was one of Ren's people?!
Unohana looked around. It wasn't just Mayuri who was gone; Captain Kyōraku Shunsui of the Eighth Division had also disappeared.
"Where are Third Seat Mayuri and Captain Kyōraku?"
The others looked left and right, confusion washing over their faces.
On the other side, the first thing Yamamoto encountered after charging was the half-dragon figure.
"Worororo! Old man, your ability is fire, right?"
"It just so happens I'm not afraid of fire!"
Kaido raised his kanabo and lunged.
"Mamamama! It just so happens I'm not afraid of fire either!" Charlotte Linlin, draped in flames and brandishing Napoleon, followed right behind Kaido.
The massive frames of these two charged forward together. Each step caused the ground to vibrate, exerting an immense pressure on those watching.
Compared to the two of them, Yamamoto didn't even reach their knees. He looked like an infant.
Yet, facing such behemoths, the corners of Yamamoto's mouth curled into a fierce grin.
"Ridiculous!"
That aged face was filled with absolute confidence.
Strength isn't determined by such simple factors. His flames weren't something just anyone could block!
BOOM!
The fierce battle erupted.
Whitebeard followed immediately, joining the fray.
"Ace, stay behind me and help us block that old man's flames."
"I've got it, Pops!"
Seeing Whitebeard and Ace charge, Sengoku glanced at Kuzan.
"Kuzan, you go deal with those Vice-Captains. This fire counters you too much."
Having said that, the giant Golden Buddha didn't wait for Kuzan's reply. He raised his arms and charged aggressively.
After all, Yamamoto was someone Ren deeply wary of, and that caution had rubbed off on them.
In that brief exchange just now, everyone understood that his strength was bottomless.
Now that the battle had restarted, these people—whether they were Marines or pirates in life—could only join forces to face him.
"Leave this skinny old man to me!"
Retsu dropped these words as her figure flashed, appearing before Ginrei Yamamoto.
Her fist swung down with brutal force!
"That strike of yours earlier stung a bit."
Seeing Retsu blocking his path, Ginrei Yamamoto was forced to halt his pace.
The massive fist, still bearing a blood-red scar from earlier, grew larger and larger in Ginrei's vision as it boomed toward him.
Ginrei Yamamoto tilted his head slightly to dodge the punch, then raised his Zanpakuto to slash at Retsu.
The two were locked in combat once again.
One with invincible iron fists, the other with superior swordsmanship; both were experienced veterans. For a moment, they fought to a standstill.
Watching these two battlefields, Kuzan scratched his head with a lazy expression.
"I understand, Mr. Sengoku."
The ground was covered in frost, the temperature in the air plummeted, and the wind began to howl.
Kuzan exhaled a breath of cold air and looked at the group of Vice-Captains.
"With Mr. Sengoku and Mr. Garp fighting right in front of me, I can't exactly slack off."
"Well then... let's get a bit more serious."
The Vice-Captains, however, had not yet noticed the approaching danger.
Faced with the question Unohana had just asked, they looked at one another, their eyes filled with confusion.
The battle had broken out so suddenly that they were doing their best just to keep themselves safe. They truly hadn't had the peace of mind to notice where those two had gone.
At that moment, Aizen raised his hand and said solemnly, "I didn't see Third Seat Mayuri... but as for Captain Kyōraku, I saw him heading outside just now."
"And he was being followed by that tall man in yellow."
Upon hearing this, Unohana's expression relaxed, and she secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
She dismissed the worst possible thought from her mind.
It seemed Kyōraku hadn't defected. He likely intended to lure his opponent away before dealing with them alone.
It made sense. Kyōraku might be irresponsible, but he was the Captain-Commander's disciple after all; he wouldn't do something so shameless.
The reason he suddenly left them was probably because he planned to use his Bankai.
While Unohana didn't know the specifics of Kyōraku's Bankai, she had gathered from hints dropped by Ukitake and Yamamoto long ago that his ability was not something suitable for display in front of others.
Whether it was a large-scale attack or the type that didn't distinguish between friend and foe, at least he had managed to stall one enemy for the Captain-Commander.
Just then, a cold current whistled toward them.
"Arara... it was a good idea not to blindly charge in with your Captain-Commander. At least you won't die without knowing why."
A tall figure flashed into existence in front of the Soul Reapers, a biting chill washing over them.
Looking at the three-meter-tall figure before her, Unohana frowned.
"You seem very confident facing us alone."
"I wouldn't call it confidence, but I have enough certainty to deal with you all."
Kuzan pushed up his sunglasses, the lenses already half-covered in frost.
Through the glasses, Kuzan's gaze swept over each of the Soul Reapers as he waved his hand.
"I have a proposal. Since you can't beat me anyway, why not just surrender?"
"What!"
Hearing such arrogant words, the Soul Reapers were furious.
"You dare look down on us like that!"
"Even if you are strong, if we all swarm you and fight to the death, you won't walk away unscathed."
"We still have Captain Unohana on our side!"
Kuzan sighed. "I'm not looking down on you. I'm just telling the truth."
He turned his face slightly toward Unohana at the front of the group.
"You're a Captain too, right? I remember your past in the records. You're quite the notorious villain."
"But how much strength do you have left now?"
Under Unohana's suddenly darkened gaze, Kuzan gestured toward her back with his chin.
Behind Unohana, the mysterious creature her Zanpakuto had transformed into had bulging cheeks, clearly holding something in its mouth.
Kuzan said, "If you could use your Bankai, you might even be able to defeat me. But right now, isn't your Zanpakuto busy treating that white-haired Captain?"
"King Ren's attack earlier didn't pull any punches. The wound is quite severe. Can you really heal him in such a short time?"
Unohana's expression sank at his words.
The opponent was right. Captain Ukitake's injuries were grave, especially the damage to his internal organs.
If it weren't for a mysterious power within Ukitake's body sustaining his life, he probably would have died on the spot.
Even with her full effort in treatment, it would take a significant amount of time. There was no hope in the short term.
And right now, once the opponent attacked, he wouldn't give her any time to heal.
"Even so, the Gotei 13 is not an opponent you can treat with such contempt."
"Do not underestimate our resolve!"
Unohana's brow furrowed with killing intent, her voice carrying a chilling edge.
The Soul Reapers behind her all wore expressions of grim determination.
"Resolve? It feels like you're saying you're prepared to throw your lives away."
"It's because you can't win that you have to fight with your lives on the line... See? Even you feel that there is no hope in this battle, to the point of thinking about sacrifice."
Unohana was stunned, momentarily unable to speak.
In the crowd, Aizen's face was as solemn as those around him, but his heart was far from kind.
He was wondering if he should take the opportunity to kill this guy right here...
Looking at this person, he seemed to hold some status with Ren. Killing him should cause Ren some trouble.
Before he could act, he suddenly felt two gazes land on his back.
Aizen turned his head slightly and saw Uchiha Shisui within the distant emerald giant, turning his head with red light shining in his eyes, staring straight at him with extreme vigilance.
Beside Shisui, Fushiguro Toji even extended two fingers and pointed at his own eyes.
'I see. They're watching me at every moment...'
Aizen looked at the head in Uchiha Shisui's arms and smiled inwardly.
It seemed his junior really didn't trust him at all.
To specifically send people to watch his movements during such a massive battle... that head had already grown back its skin and hair.
Sensing that gaze, Ren glanced over and saw Aizen in the distant crowd.
Ren blinked, and Aizen smiled slightly before looking away.
Shisui said, "My Lord, Aizen's intentions seem impure. Should we deal with him ahead of time?"
"No need to mind him. He's a smart man. At most, he'll do some things in the shadows, but he won't dare oppose me openly. Just keep a firm eye on him."
After a pause, Ren added:
"Besides, my thing is still in his hands. If we're going to act, we should wait until we get the Sphere first."
"Understood."
Shisui nodded in response.
Ren then looked to the side at the battle between Yamamoto, Sengoku, and the others.
The moves of these people were too grand. Under Sengoku's deliberate guidance, they had already moved to a quite distant place to fight.
Ren could only hear the distant booming, and even with his Sharingan, he could only just barely see clearly.
From his perspective, Sengoku and the others working together were only just managing to fight Yamamoto to a draw.
They were trading blows back and forth.
If it continued like this, they would probably be fighting for three days and nights.
Ren felt a bit more at ease and shifted his gaze around, suddenly letting out a soft sneeze.
"Borsalino is gone."
Toji, who was nearby, said, "Him? He went after Kyōraku Shunsui."
"When was this?"
"Right after your head was cut off." Toji waved his hand. "While Whitebeard and the others were launching their attack, Kyōraku took the chance to slip away, and that yellow-monkey uncle chased after him."
"Kyōraku slipped away?"
Ren thought of something and immediately understood.
"He's probably looking for a place with no one around so he can use his Bankai."
"His Bankai is quite special, after all. Borsalino probably isn't a match for it."
"Is that yellow-monkey uncle that strong and still not a match?" Toji's face showed surprise. "Should we call him back then?"
"No matter. With me here, Borsalino won't die." Ren asked again, "Mayuri was brought over, right?"
"He came to attend the Captains' meeting earlier. I was worried sick. It wouldn't be worth it if he accidentally got caught up in this."
Shisui said, "Just now, Hōzuki Gengetsu and Mū took the chance to protect him. You don't need to worry, my Lord."
"Everyone knows that pervert is your precious darling. They won't let him get hurt." Toji curled his lip and chimed in.
"That's good."
Ren's expression softened slightly, then he suddenly thought of something and looked at Toji.
"Toji, technically speaking, the one whose head should be cut off right now is you."
"Huh?" Toji was stunned, not understanding Ren's meaning for a moment.
"It's nothing. I just remembered a stale meme."
Ren turned his head again, looking up at Shisui, who was holding him.
"Shisui, by all rights, the one holding me at this moment should be a muscular childhood friend I grew up with, who would say something like 'Your youth was spent with me,' before carrying my head into a coffin."
"?"
Shisui tilted his head, his face filled with confusion.
Seeing the lack of understanding on his face, Ren sighed.
'At a time like this, I suddenly realize I don't have any friends.'
He felt a bit stung by his own words.
Thinking back on his past, Ren found that he had seemingly never had a close friend he shared joys and sorrows with.
The only one he found somewhat tolerable was Ginrei Kōga.
Well, he was still locked up... He'd go see him after the war was over.
Toji's eye twitched. "Boss, what kind of madness is this now? Do you think you're some lonely schoolboy? Are you going to say you want to make a hundred friends next?"
"Toji, you really don't understand. I'm feeling quite sentimental right now."
Ren said speechlessly, then shook his head.
"Never mind. My head is completely healed. Next, I'll recover my body."
"It's a bit slower than I expected. I wonder if it's because it's the first time."
Just then, the Phoenix in the sky circled the area where Whitebeard and the others were fighting for a while before flapping its wings and flying toward Ren.
"Oh, Boss, I see you're planning to recover your body. Do you need my help?"
The Phoenix landed on one side of the emerald giant, folded its wings, and transformed into human form.
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]