Chapter 335: Crisis, Crossing Two Worlds
Clang clang squelch smack!!
Deep in the mountains, two figures clashed relentlessly, emanating terrifying Reiatsu and flashy, budget-burning special effects with every strike.
Yamamoto, stripped to the waist, revealed powerfully built muscles. Each swing of his blade summoned tsunami-like waves of flame.
Satoru, also bare-chested, wore a wild grin on his face.
Facing the inferno of Ryūjin Jakka, he showed no fear.
Tossing Risō Jakumetsu aside casually, Satoru pivoted at the waist and threw a punch—
"Open!!"
The terrifying fist wind formed a brilliant blue shockwave, instantly tearing through Yamamoto's flames.
Satoru's figure followed closely behind the shockwave.
With one hand extended forward and the other drawn back like a full bow, his bare fists seemed to carry the momentum of an entire mountain!
"Haaa!!!"
Yamamoto gripped his sword with both hands and executed a left upward slash.
The blade's trajectory created a crescent-shaped wave of blazing flames!
BOOM!!!
Sword and fist collided, exploding into a massive circular shockwave that peeled back layers of soil from the ground. Trees were torn into wood fibers by the violent Reiatsu, then instantly consumed by Ryūjin Jakka's heat, turning to flying ash.
Such a clash of power made Yamamoto's blood boil with excitement he hadn't felt in a long time.
In the past thousand years, the only time he had fought with his full strength was when he cut down Kenpachi Kuruyashiki during the previous Hell incident.
That kind of battle hadn't been satisfying—it was merely a necessary choice to minimize losses.
Looking across the entire Soul Society, probably only this foolish disciple could give him such a thrilling fight.
Yamamoto grinned, revealing his white teeth, ready to give Satoru a surprise.
But Satoru suddenly raised his hand to stop him.
"Hold up!"
"?"
"It's noon. Time to eat."
"You bastard! In a real life-or-death battle, would the enemy stop to let you eat?!"
Yamamoto roared with anger.
Hearing this, Satoru thought for a moment:
"If I'm sincere and explain clearly, it should be possible."
"Impossible!!"
Under Yamamoto's displeased gaze, the two walked several kilometers to find their pre-prepared lunch.
Before this, they had tried keeping food nearby.
When they wanted to eat, they discovered it had long been burned to ashes by Ryūjin Jakka's residual heat.
Since then, whenever they went out for field training, they would place the food further away.
Taking out the rice balls prepared by Suì-Fēng, Satoru took a big bite.
Inside the rice ball was soft, oil-marinated tuna.
Additionally, according to Satoru's taste, salted egg yolk and ham had been added.
Focused on maximum calorie intake.
Yamamoto picked up a rice ball, took a bite, and frowned.
"Nonsense. Why put these things in rice balls?"
"Just adding salt and a little fish makes it delicious enough!"
Satoru grinned: "This is a popular way of eating in the living world. Teacher, you need to try new things more often to age slower."
"?"
Yamamoto gave him a dangerous look.
Satoru quickly picked up a cylindrical object.
"Teacher, look! This is something good I bought from the living world!"
He unscrewed the lid, and white steam floated out.
Yamamoto leaned over to look and found it was hot miso soup.
"Oh... We've been fighting for a couple of hours, and it can still maintain this temperature? Quite a useful item."
Taking the miso soup poured by his disciple, the old man happily took a sip.
Satoru looked at him strangely.
"Teacher, your reaction is too calm. Have you seen a thermos in the living world before?"
"No, never seen it."
The old man shook his head.
"However, I could achieve the same with Ryūjin Jakka."
Satoru fell into thought.
Old man, could you show even the slightest respect for your Zanpakutō?
No wonder Ryūjin Jakka has always been dissatisfied with you.
With these feelings of emotion, he ate and drank his fill, then stood up.
Suddenly, Satoru realized his waist felt empty—his sword was missing.
Only then did he remember that he had thrown Risō Jakumetsu aside during the earlier battle.
Searching around, he dug Risō Jakumetsu out from the soil.
After cleansing the loose dirt with his Reiatsu, he sheathed it again.
Risō Jakumetsu vibrated, expressing gratitude to him.
Yamamoto also stood up.
The old man tugged at his clothes, trying to put them back on properly, only to find they had been ruined by Satoru's attacks.
Satoru skillfully retrieved a new set from the Shadow Space, including the First Division Captain's Haori.
"Not fighting anymore?"
He handed the clothes to Yamamoto.
Looking at the Shinigami Uniform and Haori before him, Yamamoto's eye twitched.
Taking the clothes, he changed while saying:
"Do you think this old man has as much free time as you do every day?"
"As the Captain-Commander, the workload I have to handle is several times, even over ten times, that of you captains!"
Satoru blinked slightly. "Several times zero is still zero."
"?"
Yamamoto gave him a puzzled look.
Satoru quickly coughed. "What I meant was... has Teacher been dealing with any troublesome matters lately? Do you need my help?"
"I'm not boasting, but I'm quite experienced in handling division affairs!"
Yamamoto frowned. "You handling division affairs? I can hardly imagine it. Would you just kill everyone who raises problems?"
"?"
Satoru was outraged.
Yamamoto finished dressing, picked up Ryūjin Jakka, and slipped it into his obi.
"There's plenty of work. Just dealing with the aftermath of the Hell incident is enough to give anyone a headache."
"Thousands of Hell's sinners flooded into Seireitei. Although I incinerated most of them immediately, the remaining few still caused significant damage."
"After that, the Gates of Hell opened several more times... You know about this, since you always rushed to the scene immediately."
Yamamoto was quite satisfied with his disciple's diligence in this regard.
"On top of that, with all the nobles' petty squabbles and various issues in Rukongai, when would I ever have time to rest?"
"If you want to help me, focus on training more personnel. I can't expect much else from you, but you've inherited some of my talent in teaching."
Hearing this, Satoru stroked his chin.
How could Yamamoto's teaching ability compare to his own?
Just look at the disciples he taught... Uncle Kyōraku was a drunkard and a slacker, completely unreliable.
Brother Ukitake wasn't bad, but he was always sickly and not very dependable either.
As for himself, he possessed extraordinary talent. Even without a teacher, relying solely on himself, his achievements would certainly not be inferior to Aizen's.
Thinking this, he crossed his arms, looked at Yamamoto, and let out a derisive snort.
Though he didn't know what this brat was laughing about, Yamamoto felt his blood pressure rising.
Just as he was about to do something, he saw Satoru suddenly look up at the sky.
Instinctively, Yamamoto followed his gaze.
In the clear blue sky with white clouds, an unnatural distortion began to appear.
Within seconds, the sky completely transformed.
Skyscrapers, bustling traffic.
A modern city appeared upside down in the sky.
Like a mirage.
Yamamoto frowned.
"The living world? Why is it appearing here?"
Satoru grinned.
"Definitely nothing good."
A figure suddenly Flash Stepped beside them.
"Report, Captain-Commander."
"The Twelfth Division reports detecting abnormal spatial fluctuations between Soul Society and the living world."
"Spiritual waves from the living world have been detected in Soul Society!"
Hearing this, Yamamoto's expression darkened.
His first thought was of the Quincy.
If the Quincy killed too many Hollows in the living world, it would disrupt the balance between the two worlds, causing Soul Society and the living world to draw closer until they eventually destroyed each other.
"Boy, come with me."
With that, Yamamoto vanished into the air.
Satoru Flash Stepped after him.
Back at the First Division barracks, Mayuri Kurotsuchi was already waiting.
"Captain Mikami, Captain-Commander, please look here."
Dispensing with pleasantries, Kurotsuchi directly produced a tablet computer.
As he explained, Satoru roughly understood the situation.
Simply put, a spatial bubble had inexplicably appeared between the living world and Soul Society.
Originally, the two worlds were separated by the Dangai, and under normal circumstances, they would not intersect.
But this increasingly expanding spatial bubble acted like a bridge.
If it fully expanded and merged with the barriers of both worlds, it would form a massive, unobstructed passage.
At that point, even if the two worlds didn't collide directly, the effect would be nearly the same.
Yamamoto said in a deep voice:
"Has an investigation team been dispatched?"
"We have," Mayuri Kurotsuchi shook his head lightly. "None of the investigators sent have returned."
"Currently, we have no way of knowing the state of that space."
Hearing this, Yamamoto thought for a few seconds.
He looked at Satoru.
"Kid, go to the World of the Living and confirm whether this is the work of the Quincies."
"If it's confirmed to be related to the Quincies, eliminate the problem immediately."
"Including, but not limited to, killing them all."
Satoru scratched his head.
"Why don't I just go check out that spatial bubble directly?"
"Nonsense!"
"Absolutely not!"
Yamamoto and Mayuri Kurotsuchi spoke simultaneously.
Mayuri Kurotsuchi quickly said: "Absolutely not, Mr. Satoru. Our understanding of the Dangai is too limited—it's filled with various dangers beyond human capability to withstand."
"Even though you're strong, you must not take this risk."
"If anything were to happen to you, the Seireitei would fall into chaos!"
Hearing this, Yamamoto glanced at Mayuri Kurotsuchi.
When Mayuri first took his position, Yamamoto had been somewhat worried.
This eccentric scientist always gave the impression that he might do something outrageous on a whim.
But now it seemed that, despite his bizarre behavior, the man's head was quite clear.
His foolish disciple truly had a knack for employing people, if nothing else.
Satoru nodded and turned to leave.
After he left, Yamamoto frowned and pondered for a few seconds.
Then he looked at Mayuri Kurotsuchi and said:
"Captain Kurotsuchi."
"Notify the Kidō Corps to prepare the Dangai Kidō Cannon."
Hearing this, Mayuri Kurotsuchi was slightly taken aback.
He opened his mouth as if to say something.
But then he lowered his head:
"Yes."
...
...
World of the Living, Satoru Heaven Headquarters.
Ishida Ryūken sat in his office, looking at the computer screen before him.
Today was the day the LSP4 commercial, personally filmed by Satoru, was set to air.
Due to his lingering trauma from Satoru's style, he hadn't even reviewed the content during the company's internal screening.
After all, it was the boss's own project—whatever it turned out to be, so be it.
Only today, with the commercial already on television, did he finally muster the courage to see what outrageous stunt Satoru had pulled off this time.
His eyes were hidden behind his reflective glasses, making his expression unreadable.
But from his furrowed brow, it was clear he wasn't exactly pleased.
On the screen, Satoru wore a white tank top and smiled.
Then, he stepped forward, reached up, and ripped open his tank top, revealing his well-muscled upper body.
Behind him, several muscular men who had followed him onto the stage also tore off their clothes, baring their bodies.
A row of muscular hunks, each with a bow-tie collar around their necks.
Then, under pink and purple strobe lights, the hunks began to twist and dance energetically.
Throughout the dance, phrases like "LSP4, the groundbreaking gaming console" and "Play with your family in the living room~" were intermittently spoken.
The advertising slogan itself wasn't particularly problematic, but when delivered by these muscular men in strange tones, it created an oddly mesmerizing effect.
Then, under Ryūken's increasingly horrified gaze, these muscular hunks suddenly began removing their pants.
With their backs to the camera, they magically shed their trousers through mysterious special effects, revealing white briefs underneath.
Each pair of briefs displayed an English word.
When connected, they formed a complete sentence:
[This era's coolest gaming console]
Ishida Ryūken adjusted his glasses, his composure slightly crumbling.
Just when he thought this was the advertisement's most outrageous stunt, the muscular men began putting on half-body "costumes."
Some wore LSP4 console shells, others became controllers, some turned into display screens, along with several previous-generation LSP series consoles.
Clad in these "costumes," the hunks only revealed their heads and calves, swaying their bodies back and forth.
The visual effect was pure psychological pollution.
Ishida Ryūken picked up the remote control and snapped off the television.
He couldn't take it anymore. Watching further might tempt him to summon his spirit bow and shoot the TV to pieces.
At that moment, Satoru's figure suddenly appeared in the room via Flash Step.
"?!"
Ishida Ryūken's eyes widened.
For a moment, he wondered if this was still part of the commercial.
Fortunately, he quickly realized this was the real Satoru.
"Hmm? Did I just hear my handsome voice?"
Satoru looked around immediately after appearing.
"Your imagination."
Ishida Ryūken's voice was icy cold.
Satoru looked around the room but found no evidence of Ryūken secretly admiring him, showing a somewhat disappointed expression.
He sat on the sofa and explained the reason for his visit to Ryūken.
Upon hearing it, Ryūken abruptly stood up.
"Absolutely impossible!"
"I swear on the Ishida family's honor that all the Quincy activities in the living world are under my surveillance. It definitely wasn't them!"
"Moreover, even with the power of the Dangai, not just anyone can create such a huge disturbance... There are very few Quincy in the living world capable of something like this."
"Please investigate carefully!!"
Ryūken understood clearly that if anything went wrong with this matter, it would concern the survival of all Quincy in the living world.
He bowed deeply, his back already drenched in cold sweat.