Chapter 204 – 204 ⥤ Hell’s Invasion

“I’m not — I didn’t — don’t make things up!” Akira’s hair stood on end as he blurted out his triple denial.

After his previous journey to Hell, he had zero interest in staying in such a terrible place for even a second longer.

Not only was the environment awful, but there were no days off. Forget health insurance and retirement benefits — they couldn’t even guarantee a basic salary. How was he supposed to recruit subordinates? Through exploitation?

He, Akira Kisaragi, wasn’t that kind of person.

Even Kisuke got two hours off every week.

“Lord Kisaragi, there’s no need for modesty.” Batsu’unsai stared at him intently, clearly convinced, “In Soul Society’s million-year history, there has never been a situation like this. This heaven-sent power proves you can replace Hell.”

Akira frowned.

He knew perfectly well that the disintegration of Rank 3 Reishi wasn’t his doing — it was Mimihagi’s work during the Konsō Reisai.

As the Soul King’s right hand, having special powers was natural. But was this done merely to return Rank 3 Reishi to Soul Society? Or was there another purpose?

He felt he needed to ask about this.

Facing an old acquaintance, Batsu’unsai cooperated fully, revealing everything she knew about Hell.

Their objective was simple: use Akira’s power to break Hell’s chains and regain their freedom. Whether through death or return to Soul Society — as long as they could escape Hell.

Centuries of torture had left the original Captains physically and mentally exhausted, pushing them to their breaking point.

And if they were in such a state, what of the others? The Captain-level Shinigami who had died before them had already become mindless zombies through endless torture. Yet their souls still endured torment day after day.

No one wanted to share that fate.

So at others’ urging, Batsu’unsai and Furōfushi joined the plan.

Initially, they’d aimed to target Akira directly. Unfortunately, he seemed to have some precognitive ability, dodging their traps at the last moment. Left with no choice, they targeted Aizen instead, letting him enter Hell on his own.

The plan was perfect in theory but harsh in reality.

Akira arrived in Hell as expected and thoroughly defeated all the original Captains. He even took the only two female members as “souvenirs”.

They had predicted the beginning but not the ending. This was, needless to say, the most tragic part.

Unohana took the intelligence to report to the 1st Division, while Akira secretly went to the 12th Division.

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“Sōsuke, help me quickly.” After recounting Batsu’unsai’s intelligence in detail, Akira looked at Aizen with burning eyes, “I feel the situation isn’t as simple as it appears. They might be hiding secrets from us.”

Aizen looked at him with mild surprise and nodded, “There’s truth to that. But I believe they’re not refusing to tell us — they can’t tell us. Hell is completely unfamiliar to us. If not for this incident, we might never have gone there in our lifetime. I suspect that even after leaving Hell, the restrictions on them persist, or rather… they could return to Hell at any moment!”

His gaze was steady as he recalled the chains that had wrapped around Fujiwara Shini’ichi and the others that day.

After returning from Hell, he had immediately searched the Daireishokairō for relevant records. Based on historical research materials and theories, he deduced that Hell maintained some monitoring capability over the Three Worlds.

First, it wasn’t just Rank 3 Reishi that fell into Hell. A small portion of exceptionally vicious criminals would also be drawn into Hell through the Hell Gate due to their heinous crimes in life.

Was this similar to Hollowfication? Or did Hell have other methods to distinguish good from evil among the dead?

The only confirmed fact was that Hell had existed since ancient times.

“This is too troublesome.” Akira grimaced, “Rather than endless speculation, why not ask someone who knows? The Boss has been by the Soul King’s side since childhood and must know Hell’s secrets. Let’s just ask Him.”

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The two left the 12th Division and arrived at Junrinan District.

In the shrine, Aizen’s eye twitched as he watched Akira pull out the latest photo collection from his pocket.

Soul Society had recently established a Female Shinigami Association, with Yachiru Kusajishi as president. Almost all members were female Shinigami.

The only exception was Akira. Somehow he had managed to infiltrate it, and his presence could be seen at every meeting.

The photo collection he’d just taken out was the Association’s latest publication, with sales second only to the official “Seireitei Communication”. This issue featured Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto’s work “Skeleton”.

Hopefully, Mimihagi’s eye wouldn’t be poisoned by this…

After a series of practiced operations, the shadowy right hand appeared across the tea table. Its emotionless eye calmly observed Akira, while the corner of its vision imperceptibly swept over Aizen.

“Boss, we want to know specific intelligence about Hell.” Akira displayed a flattering smile, respectfully pouring tea, “The souvenirs I brought back from Hell said something about me being able to replace Hell…”

Then, he recounted Batsu’unsai’s intelligence and Aizen’s theories in detail.

The response was silence. For the first time, Akira noticed a glimmer of contemplation in Mimihagi’s lone eye.

A moment later, a cold, discordant voice echoed through the room as flickering candlelight cast eerie shadows.

“…”

After the explanation, the shadow receded like an ebbing tide, not forgetting to take Akira’s offering before departing.

“I had imagined many possibilities, but never this.” Aizen’s face showed lingering shock; Mimihagi’s revelation had left him momentarily stunned.

Akira, thick-skinned as ever, quickly embraced this new reality with a grin, “No matter! I’m stronger than ever! Even if I must shoulder Soul Society’s burden while carrying Retsu-nee in one hand and my cat in the other, I, Akira Kisaragi, remain invincible! Hell? I’ll reduce it to ashes within three days!”

Ignoring his companion’s boasts, Aizen began analyzing their options. The information was overwhelming; even his legendary composure needed time to process it.

In ancient times, before the separation of the Sangai (Three Worlds), Hell and the Primordial World existed as equals. Then the Soul King emerged, vanquished the ancient Hollows, established the Three Worlds, and renewed the Primordial World’s cycle.

That should have been the end.

But the all-knowing, all-powerful Soul King discovered an alarming truth: the Three Worlds remained unstable despite the cycle’s renewal.

The Reishi forming the world steadily diminished, as if some Hollow-like entity were consuming it, removing it from the cycle entirely.

The Soul King traced this vanishing Reishi to Hell. Using His infinite power and knowledge, He attempted to stabilize the Sangai’s cycle He had so carefully crafted.

Yet despite His efforts, the Reishi continued to dissipate. With no alternative, the Soul King created the Gates of Hell, temporarily containing the escaping Reishi.

This solution merely addressed the symptoms, not the underlying cause.

When a deceased being’s Reiatsu reaches Rank 3 in the Spirit Class, their Reishi still falls prey to Hell’s influence. After centuries of assimilation, the Gates of Hell have become Hell’s sole domain.

As Hell continuously plunders the Reishi of powerful beings from the Three Worlds, the balance deteriorates further.

Eventually, this balance will completely collapse.

When that happens, the Gates of Hell will open fully, unleashing Togabito and Jigoku no Gaki into the three worlds without restraint — triggering the true apocalypse.

Hell’s monitoring of the Three Worlds is surprisingly simple: the Jigokuchō that accompany and guide the Shinigami are actually an evolution of Hell’s power.

At present, Mimihagi has no solution to this problem.

Fortunately, the stronger the Reiatsu on Soul Society’s side, the more stable the balance between both sides remains.

Currently, both Yhwach and Shigekuni Yamamoto serve as crucial weights on this scale, maintaining the fragile equilibrium. Only the emergence of an existence stronger than the Soul King might resolve this problem.

However, after His explanation, Aizen had a new idea.

“Akira, what if we try the opposite approach?” Considering his companion’s musclebound brain, he spoke directly, “Since your power combined with Mimihagi’s can decompose Rank 3 Reishi, could the Togabito who have fallen into Hell also escape and return to Soul Society’s cycle through this method?”

Akira: “?”

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After his influence, Akira concluded that Aizen now qualified for graduation. Only someone with such unbridled imagination could progress unimpeded on the path of science.

Since the research still needed several days for verification, Akira left the laboratory to Aizen and returned to the 11th Division alone.

As he reached the entrance, an arrogant voice rang out from the combat arena near the lawn.

“Is this all the Seated Officers of later generations can do? Pathetic — just a bunch of small fry!”

Approaching, he spotted a pink-haired female brat standing with arms crossed, looking contemptuously at everyone.

Thanks to Batsu’unsai’s cooperation, Akira had granted them considerable freedom instead of restraining them.

Near the combat arena lay several familiar figures: Kaname Tōsen, Sajin Komamura, Ikkaku Madarame, and Yumichika Ayasegawa.

Seeing this, Akira prepared to teach the female brat a lesson — but someone beat him to it.

Furōfushi frowned as she stared at the man who suddenly appeared before her, looking like a demon, a hint of gravity flashing in her eyes.

With thick black hair and an open, blood-stained Shihakushō, he emanated the scent of battle. His blood-red eyes and face twisted in a ferocious grin made him appear more savage than any demon.

“Let’s battle!” Zaraki raised his serrated blade, pointing it forward as golden Reiatsu erupted without restraint.

Without waiting for Furōfushi’s response, he launched his attack.

Having endured countless merciless beatings from Akira, Zaraki no longer needed an eye patch to contain his Reiatsu like in the original story.

Moreover, since his Captain never held back during their clashes, his strength had grown exponentially, far surpassing others in the Division. Throughout Soul Society, only a select few could now suppress him.

Everyone else he considered equals!

Blade light exploded as Zaraki charged like a beast, his golden Reiatsu dancing wildly like raging flames across his body.

Faced with such overwhelming pressure, Furōfushi didn’t dare underestimate him and immediately raised her sword to meet his challenge.

Steel clashed, sparks flew, flames ignited. The serrated blade rose and fell like a mighty hammer — still guided by instinct, but incomparably stronger than when he first joined the Division.

Clang—

Visible shockwaves rippled in all directions, crashing against the Kidō barrier.

Furōfushi grew increasingly alarmed as the battle progressed. She had thought Akira was an exception in the current Gotei 13, never expecting the 11th Division to harbor such hidden dragons. The Seated Officers she had fought earlier were already formidable.

Yet here stood someone even stronger!

Could this be the new standard for the Gotei 13? Had they, the dead, fallen behind?

As Furōfushi struggled more with each exchange, Zaraki was just getting started. White steam rose from his reddened skin as his golden Reiatsu transformed into a brilliant pillar of light, illuminating the combat arena like a miniature sun.

With a final explosive two-handed technique, he sent the woman flying, her body crashing hard against the Kidō barrier.

“Cough, damn it…” Furōfushi spat blood, glaring resentfully at Zaraki as he rested his Zanpakutō on his shoulder, basking in the arena’s cheers.

She had been careless, underestimating the brute’s hidden sword technique.

At that moment, black “snowflakes” began drifting down from the sky like burnt-out furnace ashes, falling onto the grass and into the crowd until they formed a thick layer on the ground.

Her expression shifted as she sensed something ominous.

Batsu’unsai materialized from the crowd at her side with a warning.

“Chains…”

Furōfushi touched her chest as the familiar Hell shackles reappeared, growing continuously like the Chain of Fate that binds human souls in the World of the Living.

“Hell has come.” She said, eyes fixed on the sky.

A massive gate had materialized above them, its black and red colors intertwined like coagulated blood. Grinning skulls moved their hands, slowly drawing open the gates to Hell.

As the gates swung wide, a tremendous suction force erupted from within, followed by countless black chains that shot down toward the two figures on the grass.

Just as the chains were about to reach them, a spinning Zanpakutō descended from above, deep purple flames erupting along its length, instantly repelling the chains.

The blade embedded itself in the nearby grass, and Akira strode forward to pull it out with one hand.

In that moment, a brilliant pillar of Reiatsu soared skyward — the blazing sun rising!

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