CH 172: POWERFUL
The moment Gojo opened his eyes, light seemed to gather in his pupils as the world as he knew it began to change.
The flow of time and space seemed to become completely visible for an instant before the vision vanished.
Even then, he could feel that he became different. Completely different.
His entire body was seemingly filled with unending strength but more than physical strength, what he cared for was the use of his spiritual energy.
‘Gather.’
Under his immediate command, light gathered at his fingertip and began to move erratically before transforming into a candy.
Manipulating Matter was something he was already able to do but never so easy. He felt like he could command the Reishi as if it was his own limb and could make it do anything he wanted.
In the past, he needed to ‘Know’ and ‘understand’ the structure of what he wanted to create in order to bring it into reality, and even then it was hard to be perfect.
But now? He did not need ‘knowledge’ and ‘understanding’.
Only imagination.
This was in a way a realm close to that of a god.
‘How incredible.’
Gojo marveled. This was truly inconceivable and he could feel that it still wasn’t the end. There was still one aspect of time he did not understand.
Once he did…Gojo was sure that he could create even life. [1]
But this wasn’t enough.
Time, Space, and Matter.
Thanks to his Limitless being complete now, it wouldn’t take long to have full control of space.
He already had near full control over matter now.
Finally, he already mastered the “past” and the “present” so he simply needed to control the “future”.
Once he did, once he obtained those three, he would be able to manipulate even reality.
‘Haha. It seems like we are on our way to truly become above the Heaven.’
[Heh, did you ever doubt it? The two of us together are unbeatable.]
Gojo smiled at the proud words of Kogo but did not refute them.
Alone they were strong.
Together? They were the strongest.
Gojo wanted the world to know and accept this truth.
“Well then, guys thanks for guarding me all this while.”
Yoruichi and the others who had stayed silent when Gojo woke up nodded. But it was hard for them to hide the shock in their eyes.
In the past, they could still barely feel Gojo’s Reiatsu.
But now?
Now they felt nothing—
–And this could only mean one thing…
—-
[Soul King palace.]
Ichibe Hyosube, Known as the <<Monk Who Calls the Real Name>>
He was a mighty man and if the Soul King wasn’t added, he was the oldest living being in existence in all the worlds.
For someone like him who has lived for a few millions of years, he had been able to witness the entire history of the universe and named all things that existed in the soul society.
To him, even someone as old as Yamamoto was simply a baby chick.
Furthermore, he was well and truly immortal in a way for even if he ‘died’, he would not truly die and could come back to life as long as someone called his name.
He was old. He was strong. He was immortal.
Because of this, Ichibe had always been one who could keep a calm smile no matter how dire the situation. Even if the whole soul society was erased, as long as the soul king was not affected he wouldn’t even blink.
But now, such a man was starring agape at the Soul King.
“What did you do?”
For the first time in millions of years, Ichibe spoke informally to the soul king that was imprisoned in the green crystal.
The soul king meanwhile did not respond. Sealed in the crystal, with no limbs and no organs, not even a heart. He was a pitiful being that was kept in stasis, neither truly dead nor truly alive.
His only companion was eternal pain.
This king, who had never once moved, never once smiled, nor even once blinked since the time he was betrayed and imprisoned by his closest allies.
The king who, despite all his power, was nothing more than a sad prisoner.
The king whose title was but a shame to hide his identity as a slave.
That very king…For the first time in a very very long time…smiled slightly.
For some reason, Ichibe felt a chill go down his spine at this expression.
But in the end, he simply sighed and began to walk away.
What the Soul King did, in the end, did not matter.
His only goal, his only duty, was to protect the soul king, to keep him alive so that the universe would stay stable.
He had never hated nor despised the soul king.
If all it took to ensure the lives of billions of people were the suffering of one man… then Ichibe would accept it with no remorse. [2]
The moment he walked out, he meet an old friend of his that was hurrying toward him,
“Yo, Ichibe! Something happened.”
Oetsu Nimaiya, known as the <<God of sword>> and the creator of all zanpakuto. Nimaiya was a dark-skinned man with thick, black hair that was shaven and dyed green on the sides of his head.
He wore a variation of the Shinigami uniform, featuring instead a green undergarment, and a shortened hakama that exposed his lower legs. Worn over this was a white, sleeveless puffer jacket with the Royal Guard emblem on its back, as well as the alternating circle and diamond pattern of a captain's haori along the bottom.
Since Senjumaru was the one who created the uniform, she always hated the way Nimaiya wore his but could do nothing in front of his stubbornness.
“What bring you here, old friend?”
“Well…You know how you told me to always keep track of that dude’s sword?”
As the creator as all Asuchi, Nimaiya was in a way linked to all of them and knew the position of absolutely all of them. No matter where they were.
Usually, he didn’t use this power. It was impossible for his mind to keep track of thousands of swords. But it wasn’t difficult to focus on a few dozens.
Until now, he had kept the position of Gojo’s sword always in mind.
But just now,
“I suddenly lost track of it.”
Nimaiya was truly surprised. This was the first time this had arrived since he created those Asuchi. Not even Ichibe could hide his Zanpakuto from his perception.
Hearing this news, Ichibe simply shook his head,
“Let’s call the others.”
“What?”
Ichibe had a serious expression as he walked away, “We need to discuss how we should act.”
This was perhaps the most important decision he would have to make in millions of years.
[1]: Gremmy can also create life by the way. He created two Quency if I remember well. But this skill should be limited otherwise he could have created more of them. Of course, this is only a supposition. Perhaps he couldn’t be bothered to create more of them.
Bleach has many power. But the greatest in my opinion are the
V the Visionary of Gremmy.
B the Balance
A the Antithesis
A the Allmighty.
[2]: In CFYOW, we learn that if Yhwach’s body couldn’t have been used to replace the deceased soul king, then he would have sacrificed Ichigo with no hesitation and place him as the new Soul King.