Crossover Anime: Starting with Bankai from Demon Slayer

Chapter 173 Zero (Part 1)

Soul Society, Soul King Palace.

This is an absolute forbidden zone suspended above Seireitei, a supreme realm that only those who possess the Royal Key may set foot in.

There is no night here.

Only the eternal, somewhat nihilistic, bright daylight.

At the deepest part of Omotesando, in front of a dojo that looks ancient and huge.

A burly, bald old monk with a thick beard sat cross-legged in mid-air, holding a huge calligraphy brush in his hand, writing something in the void.

His expression was calm and serene, as if the birth and death of all things in the world could not cause him the slightest emotional fluctuation.

The main military unit consists of one military guard.

He is the leader of all the Shinigami, the one who named everything in the original Soul Society, and is also known as—the True Name Monk.

Suddenly, the large pen in his hand stopped abruptly.

The drop of ink, which was originally meant to fall onto the canvas in the void, strangely defied the rules of gravity and hovered at the tip of the brush.

Then, with a soft thud, it dripped onto his pristine white haori.

It's like a drop of filth that can't be wiped away in a pure white world.

"Um?"

Ichibei's always smiling eyes slowly widened.

His eyes, which usually held a hint of playfulness and clarity, now flashed with a trace of surprise.

This was followed by a profound sense of solemnity.

"This feeling..."

"7

He slowly put down his pen, his gaze seemingly piercing through layers of space, looking towards nothingness beyond nothingness.

"How nostalgic that feeling is."

His voice was deep, carrying an echo that seemed to come from ancient times.

"Hey! Monk! You felt it too?!"

Accompanied by a burst of hip-hop energy and rhythmic footsteps.

A dark-skinned man wearing sunglasses, with an afro, and dressed in a sleeveless haori appeared beside Ichibei.

He is Nimaiya Oetsu, also known as "Katana God," the creator of Zanpakuto.

He, who usually uses imported words all the time, didn't have a hint of a joking expression on his face at this moment.

He had his hands in his pockets, his eyes behind his sunglasses fixed on the direction of the present world, his brows almost furrowed into a knot.

"That brief moment... though faint, it definitely didn't escape the ears of someone who's witnessed every Zanpakuto being drawn!"

Wang Yue's tone turned serious: "That's the mournful cry of a Zanpakuto... No, that's not right! The sound that sword made... it wasn't made by me at all! It's more like some kind of self-constructed anomaly!"

"And that spiritual pressure..." Wang Yue turned to Ichibei, lowering his voice, "Monk, that feeling of wanting to devour everything... doesn't it remind you a bit of that guy?"

Ichibei did not answer immediately.

He slowly stood up, his massive body casting a shadow on the ground.

Ichibei extended his thick fingers and gently twirled the huge rosary beads.

"Although they are completely different in nature, they do have a similar taste..."

He turned around and cast his gaze toward the deepest part of the Spirit King's Palace, the innermost chamber that sealed the Spirit King's true form.

Something has touched the edge of the Three Realms...

"That feeling wasn't from a Grim Reaper, nor a Hollow, nor a Quincy or a Fullbringer..."

""

The monk's eyes became unfathomable, as if he were calculating something, or as if he were weighing the pros and cons.

"Wang Yue."

"Are you there? Are you there?"

"It seems that this long and tedious history is about to see a new variable." Ichibei grinned, revealing a chilling smile.

His pearly white teeth gleamed coldly in the sunlight: "I just don't know if this variable... will become a guardian of the Three Realms like you and me? Or will it become a wedge instead? Or... a catastrophe that destroys everything...?"

In the present world, Fuyuki City.

A golden scar was cleaved open in the sky.

The golden-red spiritual pressure flames were still burning wildly, as if they were alive, clinging tightly to the cracks in the magic circle to prevent it from going further out of control.

The terrifying suction force that was originally generated by the magic circle and was about to drag the entire Fuyuki City into another dimension actually paused for a moment under this strike!

The wriggling black mud also began to dissolve because of this cut, stopping in fear at the crack.

"It worked?!"

Outside Fuyuki City, Matsumoto Rangiku, who was directing the evacuation, turned around and saw the cleaved sky, her eyes filled with disbelief.

Who is that man? How could he single-handedly sever a spiritual calamity of this scale?!

"Why isn't it over yet!"

Kisuke Urahara's voice showed no sign of relief; on the contrary, it was even more anxious.

He stared intently at the bird whose momentum was beginning to wane.

Although the suction force of the magic circle weakened, it did not engulf the entire city.

But the black beam of light that shot down from the center of the vortex did not disappear!

Buzz!

In the sky, the shattered magic circle suddenly began to rotate in reverse.

The suction force that had spread throughout the city was completely gathered at this moment, turning into a single force that was focused entirely on Asuka!

All the evils of this world have been bestowed upon him.

"Ugh!!!"

Asuka was feeling somewhat exhausted because she hadn't yet submitted to his Zanpakuto after being forcibly released.

The black markings on his body now resembled countless venomous snakes, deeply burrowing into his flesh and completely connecting with the gaping maw of black holes in the sky, forming an inseparable whole.

"Damn it, I can't move!"

"There's nothing we can do, Asuka. It's fate; there's no escaping it."

The black-haired youth's voice rang out again, but it seemed he had already foreseen this situation: "This world is undergoing changes because of you, and only you can restore these changes to normal."

"Don't struggle, or the world's restraining force will continue to spread until it engulfs the entire present world."

The chains of cause and effect have bound him firmly.

The surrounding space is rapidly folding and solidifying.

He was like an insect encased in amber; although he still had his own consciousness, he could do nothing.

"Asuka!!"

On the ground, the butterfly desperately tried to rush up.

"Take her away!!" Asuka roared with all her might.

Kisuke Urahara gritted his teeth, and the Benihime in his hand drew a complex trajectory in the air.

"Binding Technique Seventy-Nine: Nine Luminaries Binding!"

Nine jet-black spiritual pressure points instantly appeared around Shinobu Kocho, forming an absolute protective barrier around her.

This restricted her movements, preventing her from stepping into the abnormal spiritual pressure field of Fuyuki City, which was just a stone's throw away, and preventing her from rushing into that... impending, certain-death spatial turbulence.

"Let me go!! You fox-man!! Let me go!!"

Shinobu Kocho frantically pounded on the barrier, her rapier drawing sparks as it sliced ​​through the light.

Tears streamed down her face uncontrollably again: "Asuka! You just promised me! You said you'd take me home!"

"I'm sorry... Shinobu..."

As the bird looked at the petite figure crying, the fierce golden flames that had been burning in its eyes slowly faded, replaced by a deep sense of apology.

He could feel the space behind him collapsing.

The winds of another world were already blowing against his back.

"Looks like... I'll have to break my promise again." Asuka gave a wry smile.

I never imagined that we would be separated by different worlds so soon after meeting...