Chapter 123 - Yhwach's Almighty!?
"What...what is that!?"
Urahara's face was filled with disbelief, his body trembling uncontrollably.
Not only Urahara but Mayuri Kurotsuchi also looked equally shocked, his eyes wide and reflecting the image of Yamamoto's half-body.
Even the usually emotionless Nemu couldn't hide her surprise, her body trembling as she muttered, "Y-Yamamoto Captain Commander!?"
Even Gilgamesh's expression shifted slightly with surprise.
His ruby-like eyes studied the upper half of Yamamoto's body, and a thoughtful glint flashed as he internally noted, "Judging from Yamamoto's state and his attire, he must have been using his Bankai, Zanka no Tachi."
"To be killed in his Bankai form, and with such a gruesome death...the other side of that portal must be..."
Before Gilgamesh could finish his thought, a tall figure with long hair slowly emerged from the portal.
The figure, without sparing a glance at Yamamoto's mutilated body, looked around the surroundings and spoke with a hint of surprise, "This is...the Dangai?"
Then, as if realizing something, his expression stiffened, and he muttered in disbelief, "No...this is..."
Before the figure could say anything further, dark shadows suddenly surrounded him, enveloping his entire body.
As the shadows gradually dissipated, the figure began to vanish, leaving behind a cryptic remark: "Interesting...I've remembered this world. I'll be back soon."
Urahara and Mayuri immediately sprang into action, rushing to close the portal they had opened moments earlier.
As the portal sealed shut, both scientists collapsed onto the ground, their faces covered in cold sweat, clearly shaken to their core.
Despite only seeing the figure through the monitoring screen, both Urahara and Mayuri felt an overwhelming sense of dread, as if they had glimpsed something terrifying beyond comprehension. It was a suffocating fear that pressed heavily on their chests.
Even Nemu was worse off, standing frozen like a malfunctioning machine, her eyes unfocused, sweat pouring down her face.
Only Gilgamesh managed to maintain his composure, though even he showed a trace of concern.
Because Gilgamesh recognized that the figure that had just appeared was none other than Yhwach, the main antagonist of the Thousand-Year Blood War arc, and the Emperor of the Wandenreich.
Gilgamesh hadn't expected such a massive surprise. The portal that Urahara and Mayuri had opened was linked to the future of the Thousand-Year Blood War arc. Though he wasn't sure whether it was this world's future or another parallel world's future.
One thing he was certain of, however, was that it wasn't the future of his original world. This was evident from the lack of significant growth in his King's Points and the future vision provided by the Soul King.
Gilgamesh narrowed his eyes slightly, feeling the gravity of the situation.
When it came to Yhwach, Gilgamesh wasn't confident in his ability to counter him.
Yhwach had a particularly broken ability—The Almighty.
In the Bleach universe, The Almighty was one of the most overpowered abilities, allowing Yhwach to alter the future itself.
Of course, Yhwach's Almighty wasn't as potent as the Soul King at full power.
This was understandable, given that Yhwach was essentially the Soul King's son, or more accurately, a being derived from the most important part of the Soul King.
Even though Yhwach's Almighty wasn't on par with the Soul King's full potential, it was still nearly invincible.
Gilgamesh remembered that in the original storyline, Yhwach had said something to the effect of, "The Almighty is not just the power to see the future; it is the power to alter it."
This meant that Yhwach could erase any unfavorable futures for himself.
In the original story, Yhwach had rewritten the future in which he was killed by Ichigo Kurosaki.
In other words, even if Gilgamesh possessed the power to kill Yhwach, it wouldn't matter if he couldn't break the Almighty.
To truly kill Yhwach, he would need to find a way to disable Almighty.
In the original storyline, Yhwach was ultimately defeated through the combined efforts of Ishida and Ichigo.
To counter the Almighty, Uryū had gone undercover within Yhwach's forces, and at the crucial moment, he used The Silver Arrowhead to disable Almighty, allowing Ichigo to defeat Yhwach.
But at this point in time, both Uryū and Ichigo were far from reaching the power levels they had during the Thousand-Year Blood War arc.
Given their current strength, it was almost impossible for them to replicate the events of that battle and defeat Yhwach.
Gilgamesh's eyes narrowed further as he thought, "This is going to be tricky."
"Perhaps with the insight from my Omniscient Star, I can discover a flaw in Yhwach's Almighty."
As Gilgamesh pondered, Urahara and Mayuri were already recovering from their shock and springing back into action.
They divided tasks—Urahara went to recover Yamamoto's body and secure other important items like the Yata Mirror, while Mayuri immediately informed Yamamoto and the other captains, ensuring that Nemu prepared the surveillance footage for review.
In the First Division's office, one month had passed since the Reishi Catastrophe, and the cleanup work was nearing completion.
Yamamoto was listening to a report summarizing the work carried out by the various divisions.
"The individuals trapped in the Reishi crystals have mostly been rescued. Aside from a few with severe injuries, most have recovered after receiving treatment from the Fourth Division..."
Unohana had just begun her report when all the captains present suddenly heard Mayuri's voice through Bakudō #77: Tenteikūra.
"All captains, come to the Twelfth Division immediately. This is urgent!"
The urgency and seriousness in Mayuri's voice sent a chill through the hearts of everyone present.
Even Yamamoto's expression turned grave.
In Yamamoto's mind, the only unpredictable factor in the Soul Society right now was Gilgamesh. Could this emergency be related to him?
The thought made Yamamoto's head throb.
He had no idea how to deal with Gilgamesh. Fighting him was clearly impossible, and there seemed to be no other solution either.
Yamamoto could only hope that Gilgamesh would soon return to his own world and leave the burden of dealing with him to the Yamamoto of that world.
With that thought, Yamamoto's face remained stoic as he said, "Let's go. We'll head to the Twelfth Division together."
With that, Yamamoto stepped forward with Shunpo.
The other captains exchanged glances, all suspecting that the emergency was indeed related to Gilgamesh. Although none of them wanted to get involved in the affairs of the ancient Hero King, they had no choice but to follow.
Even Zaraki wasn't exempt.
The memory of being bound by the chains of light conjured by the Soul Society's will—rendering him powerless—was still fresh in his mind.
Though Zaraki loved battle, he wasn't foolish, and he certainly didn't enjoy the feeling of being utterly helpless, unable to move or even speak.
And so, even the battle-hungry Zaraki kept his distance from Gilgamesh, respecting the king's terrifying power.
Soon, under Yamamoto's lead, almost every captain and lieutenant from the Gotei 13 gathered at the Twelfth Division's Research and Development Institute. Even the captains from the past and future timelines, like Yoruichi, Renji, and Rukia, were present.
As for Ichigo, he had already returned to the human world and resumed his normal life.
Upon arrival, Nemu led the group to the Twelfth Division's secret research base.
There, they saw Urahara and Mayuri, both wearing grave expressions, while Gilgamesh stood nearby, arms crossed, deep in thought.
The most eye-catching object in the room was the table draped with a white cloth.
Judging by the shape beneath the cloth, it was easy to discern that the object beneath it was a person's upper body.
Whose body could it be?
Why was there only an upper half?
And why did Urahara and Mayuri seem so tense?
Questions swirled in the minds of the gathered captains.
Yamamoto was the first to speak. "What happened? Why did you summon us all so urgently?"
Urahara took a deep breath and responded with utmost seriousness, "Before we begin, I want everyone to brace themselves. What you're about to witness will be more shocking than anything you've imagined."
His words stunned everyone present.
Urahara, known for his usual carefree and playful demeanor, had never spoken with such solemnity.
The uncharacteristic seriousness of his tone set off alarm bells in the minds of the captains. Whatever had happened, it was bound to be extraordinary.
As the captains pondered the implications of Urahara's words, Mayuri pulled back the white cloth.
Everyone's gaze instinctively focused on the revealed figure, and when they saw what lay on the table, expressions of shock, disbelief, and fear washed over them.
Some even rubbed their eyes in disbelief, hoping to erase the horrifying sight before them.
Others, overwhelmed by the shock, lost their balance and collapsed to the floor, gripped by an uncontrollable fear.
Yamamoto's eyes, which were usually half-closed, widened completely as he stared at his own upper body lying on the table. A strange sense of detachment swept over him.
He had never imagined that one day, he would look upon his own corpse.
Ukitake, struggling to cope with the shock, coughed violently as he asked, "Captain Mayuri, what is going on?"
Still coughing, Ukitake added in disbelief, "Is that a clone you created as part of your experiments?"
Ukitake's words offered a glimmer of hope to those who couldn't bear to accept the reality before them. They all looked expectantly toward Mayuri and Urahara.
But Mayuri crushed that hope without hesitation. "I wish I had made this clone, but unfortunately, I didn't."
Mayuri gestured to Nemu and continued, "As you know, Urahara and I have been working on a way to send His Majesty, the Hero King, back to his world."
"Today, we succeeded in opening a portal within the Dangai. That's when this...upper half of the Captain Commander came through. Please watch the surveillance footage."
The room went silent as the captains turned their attention to the large screen displaying the recorded footage.
The video showed Yamamoto's upper half falling through the portal, followed by a figure stepping out.
As soon as the figure appeared on the screen, Yamamoto, Unohana, and future Yoruichi all narrowed their eyes and, in near unison, uttered the same name.
"Yhwach!"
"Zangetsu!"
Some of the captains, who were privy to the ancient secrets of the past, were visibly shaken upon hearing the name Yhwach.
Meanwhile, Urahara, puzzled, turned to future Yoruichi and asked, "Zangetsu? But isn't that the name of Ichigo's zanpakutō?"
"Why did you call him Zangetsu?"
His question drew the attention of everyone in the room. All of them now focused on Future Yoruichi.
Yamamoto and Unohana couldn't possibly have mistaken Yhwach's identity. So why had Yoruichi called him by that name?
Future Yoruichi didn't hesitate to explain. "When I helped Ichigo train for his Bankai using the Tenshintai, the personified version of his zanpakutō looked exactly like that man."
Yamamoto's expression grew even grimmer, and after a moment of heavy silence, he gave a new order.
"Byakuya, Renji, Rukia—you are to bring Ichigo to the Soul Society immediately."
Then, Yamamoto turned to Urahara. "Urahara, prepare the Tenshintai. I want to see Ichigo's zanpakutō with my own eyes."
Throughout the entire conversation, Yamamoto deliberately avoided looking at Gilgamesh.
Though he suspected that Gilgamesh might have insights into what was happening, he didn't want to rely on someone from another world.
In the original timeline, Yamamoto had similarly avoided involving Ichigo in the battle against Aizen, unwilling to draw a human into the conflict.
In his fight against Aizen, Yamamoto had sacrificed an arm to perform Hadō #96: Itto Kaso. While Orihime had the power to restore his arm, Yamamoto had refused to ask for her help, choosing not to rely on a human for his recovery.
That was Yamamoto's pride.
Gilgamesh understood this perfectly, thanks to his Omniscient Star.
And this suited him just fine. From the shadows, he could quietly analyze and observe Yhwach's abilities.
At the same time, Gilgamesh was curious to see whether Yhwach would still defeat a fully intact Yamamoto.
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