"Summon—!!"
"Fivefold Rashōmon!!!"
At the very top of the colossal Wood Golem Arhat—
Bai Chen pressed his palms together.
A spell without seals. Instant casting.
BOOM—!!!
The gigantic Wood Golem Arhat was already absurd enough—
but no one expected Bai Chen had another trump card hidden.
"No way…"
The clouds churned.
The darkness was violently torn apart.
And the suffocating pressure brought by the Black Cero—
was instantly blown away by an even more overwhelming force!
At that moment—
around Bai Chen's body, spiritual pressure surged upward with a thunderous roar.
From hundreds of meters in the sky, it slanted downward like a waterfall—
slamming straight into the ground of Zaraki District.
In an instant, the battlefield fractured as if it were facing annihilation.
"What… is going on…"
"This pressure…"
"He was still hiding another move?!"
Ulquiorra's fingers were still raised.
The Black Cero was still being formed.
Beneath those two thickened, dark-green tear streaks—
his expression shifted.
Once again, he couldn't suppress the shock cracking through his mask of calm.
He had thought…
this was already the limit of Bai Chen's power in Shikai.
And judging by how this new aura shook heaven and earth—
this was clearly a finisher-level technique.
If Bai Chen fired that next—
it would be unbearable.
And Ulquiorra wasn't the only one stunned.
Far away—
the Shinigami "allies" erupted the moment the Fivefold Rashōmon began to manifest.
"Just that Wood Golem Arhat alone is already unbeatable…"
"And Bai Chen has another even stronger ultimate?!"
"This is way too outrageous…"
They stared up as the sky over Zaraki District—
which had been turned into "night"—
was forced back into bright blue daylight.
Some stood frozen.
Some widened their eyes until they hurt.
Many rubbed their eyes hard again and again—
until they were certain this wasn't hallucination.
It still felt like witnessing a miracle that shouldn't exist.
"Are you serious?!"
"Black-Winged Great Demon's release…"
"That pressure that nearly stole our right to breathe…"
"and it got… completely dispersed… just like that?!"
Ikkaku couldn't believe it.
His expression locked into stone beneath his bald head.
His breathing being normal again should've felt good—
but his mind had no room for relief.
Instead, Bai Chen's methods and power shattered his worldview all over again.
"Looks like…"
"We all panicked for nothing again…"
Yumichika wiped sweat from his face and let out a self-mocking laugh.
That fear from minutes ago—
now felt pointless.
He even suspected that if the sky collapsed right now—
Bai Chen would still find a way to hold it up alone.
After escaping danger again,
Yumichika's sense of safety surged.
As long as Bai Chen was there—
he wouldn't fear anything.
The Shinigami in the rear had only one job now:
stand still and watch—
and wait for Bai Chen to smash the Black-Winged Great Demon.
The Fivefold Rashōmon Rises
Under countless reverent gazes—
the cracked earth trembled again.
RUMBLE—!!
A high-frequency quake like a magnitude-10 disaster.
It tore at the shattered ground even further.
And just as everything within hundreds of meters suffered under the vibration—
from the abyssal fractures in the earth—
five colossal objects burst upward from the darkness below,
rising with explosive force—
then lining up like mountain peaks, towering and immense.
"This is…"
"From the depths of hell…"
"Gates of hell—symbols of death?"
Ulquiorra frowned.
Reflected in his emerald eyes—
were the forms of the Fivefold Rashōmon.
The demonic faces carved on each gate made cold dread crawl up his spine.
Each gate's surface was stamped with vicious ogres—
fangs bared—
and behind them yawned an endless black path into hell itself.
Faced with these five "absolute defense" gates—
Ulquiorra's confidence inevitably took another hit.
His resolve wavered.
And with that mental fluctuation—
the nearly completed Black Cero at his fingertips,
those flickering black glints…
dimmed noticeably.
At that moment—
Bai Chen's mocking voice descended from the sky.
"Black-Winged Great Demon, huh…"
"Didn't you just ask me…"
whether I've ever seen a Vasto Lorde's Black Cero after release?"
Bai Chen paused on purpose.
The amusement at the corner of his mouth deepened.
Then he returned Ulquiorra's words—
exactly, line for line:
"Then you probably haven't seen either…"
"a defense that can block any attack in the world…"
the so-called 'absolute defense'—Fivefold Rashōmon."
Bai Chen wasn't being arrogant for no reason.
He had absolute confidence.
To him—
the Fivefold Rashōmon, summoned with full force using his massive reiatsu,
was one of the strongest defensive techniques in existence.
Ulquiorra, even after first-stage release—
had only gained greater raw pressure and power.
That was all.
He had no truly "unanswerable" rule-based ability.
So in a pure clash of spiritual power—
Bai Chen was certain that even if Ulquiorra fired a hundred Black Ceros,
he wouldn't shake the Fivefold Rashōmon by even a hair.
"To someone like me…"
"a top-four Espada…"
"is this… being looked down on?"
"Like a stain…"
"A humiliation I can't endure…"
Under the crown-like twin-horned helm—
Ulquiorra's lips twisted tight.
His cold, proud nature would never allow a Shinigami to disdain him to his face.
So—
SHOOOM—!!
The Black Cero launched.
Silent annihilating black light swallowed the sky.
Destructive darkness tore through the air—
as if ripping the world apart.
"It's about to collide!!!"
"It should be exactly like Bai Chen said…"
"That Black Cero can't possibly shake the gates, right?"
Behind the reiatsu barrier, Isane held her breath.
She trusted Bai Chen—
but the Black Cero's destructive force was still terrifying.
She couldn't help feeling a sliver of worry.
The Moment of Contact
BOOOOM—!!
The Black Cero struck.
It detonated into a waterfall of dark spiritual power—
howling through the atmosphere, increasing the quake's frequency—
yet the darkness spread across the gates' surfaces like black waves…
and then—
it was swallowed.
By the ogre carvings.
As if the demonic faces opened their mouths and devoured it whole.
Within seconds, it all vanished.
As though nothing had ever happened.
Only a few drifting black spirit particles remained—
proof that a catastrophic blast had occurred at all.
The sight defied common sense.
And it detonated the entire crowd's awe.
"So that's the legendary Gates of Hell…"
"Against their defense…"
"that terrifying black light after detonation…"
"didn't even hit harder than a basic Red Fire Cannon!"
"It didn't move them at all—then got absorbed!"
"No wonder Bai Chen calls it 'absolute defense'!"
The Shinigami were shaken to the core.
Isane, Sasakibe, everyone—
stood in genuine reverence of the Fivefold Rashōmon's "multi-function" terror.
Ikkaku narrowed his eyes.
"It's those roots and vines embedded into the gateframes…"
"That's why the dark spiritual power…"
"got absorbed so fast after the explosion."
And he was right.
Bai Chen's Fivefold Rashōmon had been strengthened and modified—
its defense scaled with Bai Chen's own reiatsu,
and with Wood-Style fused into it,
it also gained the ability to absorb and plunder spirit particles.
That was why the Black Cero's aftermath vanished so unnaturally fast.
The Lock Breaks, the World Notices
Some sharp-eyed observers noticed something else:
even though the Black Cero was absorbed—
the initial burst was so violent that it ruptured beyond the battlefield.
It surged along the borders of Zaraki District—
and raced toward other districts at terrifying speed.
"That blast wave spreading isn't ideal…"
"But at least it broke out of Zaraki District…"
"It's finally spreading through Rukongai!"
Sasakibe turned his head.
In his aged eyes, excitement spilled out—along with fierce hope.
Earlier, he'd been furious that Research & Development wasn't acting—
and reinforcements from Seireitei weren't coming.
Yes, with Bai Chen dominating, reinforcements seemed unnecessary now—
but the battle being "sealed off" was still dangerous.
If the shockwaves reached the higher-numbered districts…
if they reached Seireitei—
even if it caused chaos—
it would be worth it.
The deadlock would break.
The news would no longer be trapped.
And that meant—
this invasion would end faster.
And sure enough—
the Black Cero's violent shock, even if absorbed later,
still smashed through the signal suppression.
It finally alarmed all of Rukongai.
Rumors ignited.
Patrol Shinigami learned the truth.
And at last—
the news reached Squad One.
Squad One: The Old Man Explodes
"What… did you say?!"
"Vasto Lorde Arrancar invading the border of Zaraki District…?!"
"And it's been going on for a long time?!"
"Outrageous!!!"
Inside Squad One's office—
the Captain-Commander slammed the desk so hard the wood screamed.
His white beard flared with fury.
His first reaction was immediate:
mobilize squads—
surround the entire Squad Twelve complex—
and arrest everyone involved on the spot.
Mayuri included.
"Captain-Commander, please calm your anger…"
"According to current findings, Squad Twelve has no intent to rebel…"
"This was Mayuri's personal decision. The seated officers weren't involved."
With Sasakibe absent,
Omaeda… no—someone else (the acting aide) stepped in temporarily,
assisting the old man with the crisis.
"Mayuri Kurotsuchi… that lunatic!"
"He will be punished in the harshest way after this!"
The Captain-Commander snorted.
The rage remained—but steadied slightly.
Then he demanded coldly:
"We've re-established contact, yes?"
"What's the latest from Zaraki District?"
He cared most about his subordinates' lives.
Two powerful Arrancar had invaded—
one of them a Vasto Lorde.
Even if he feared nothing—
he still wouldn't treat his people as disposable.
"Reporting, Captain-Commander…"
"The situation in Zaraki District is tense—but under control."
The aide bowed and reported with shock and admiration:
"According to Vice-Captain Sasakibe's relay…"
"aside from Bai Chen alone, none of the purification squad has engaged…"
"Bai Chen, by himself…"
"has already forced both Arrancar into a corner."
The Captain-Commander's clouded eyes snapped bright.
For the first time—
genuine astonishment flashed across his face.
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