Hearing this, Yamamoto's brow furrowed slightly.
Although he didn't know why this old man was bringing up the Spirit King at this time, these high-level secrets were indeed his blind spot.
The space above had been firmly locked down for countless years by a power that surpassed everyone's comprehension.
Aside from a few insignificant names, no information could leak from above to the lower realms.
It was as if there were only guards in the Spirit King's Palace, and nothing else.
Seeing his puzzled expression, Tsunayashiro Shōgo slowly smiled, holding his sword and removing his Ōburo clothing, revealing his gaunt, wiry upper body, calmly explaining:
"The Spirit King is the Three Worlds themselves."
"Eyes, ears, brain, limbs, internal organs, bones, blood vessels, nerves, skin, nails, hair..."
"Everything, has been mercifully bestowed upon this world by Him."
"He entrusted all of this to us, the Five Great Noble Houses, allowing our ancestors to wield the sun, moon, stars, and human reason on His behalf, in order to maintain the stability of this world."
"His very existence is the most powerful force in this world."
"Surpassing Shinigami, surpassing Hollows, surpassing humans..."
"So, Genryūsai."
Tsunayashiro Shōgo slowly said, his voice becoming increasingly calm:
"I will no longer be a Shinigami."
When he removed his clothes and slowly explained all of this, everyone present understood the reason why Tsunayashiro Shōgo was saying these things.
Their eyes turned to the gaunt old man's chest.
In the center of that chest.
A piece of femur about the thickness of an arm, as clear as crystal, was embedded in his body like a dagger, firmly in place, unmoving.
The withered skin around this bone burst forth with new life, turning from vigor to decay.
The original old and decaying skin transformed into smooth, delicate skin like that of a young man under this power, the blue veins that swelled beneath the skin and muscles, like earthworms, bulging high, constantly sucking in power from this bone.
Clearly, this was a Spirit King bone.
Just as the Ukitake clan could trade with the 'One-Eyed God' to have the Spirit King's hand take away Ukitake Jūshirō's congenitally weak and decaying lungs, making him a Spirit King substitute, in order to have Him restore vitality.
The Tsunayashiro clan also had similar secret arts.
However, their method of use was completely different.
To be specific, it was to 'forcefully seize' a portion of the power from the Spirit King's body at the cost of one's life, and unleash it within an extremely short period, forming a terrifying combat power sufficient to touch the apex of this world.
The moment they saw this scene, everyone understood where the strong 'sense of abnormality' they had felt earlier came from.
They could clearly feel it.
The power contained within just this crystal-like fragile bone far surpassed that of anyone present -- even Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni.
At this moment, everyone's gaze became sharper.
Only Yamamoto seemed to have anticipated all of this long ago, continuing to ask calmly:
"So, the Spirit King is already dead?"
"What exactly are those people in the heavens protecting?"
As the Spirit King's bone was completely embedded in his body, Tsunayashiro Shōgo's expression became more relaxed, and he laughed loudly:
"How could that be?"
"How could the Spirit King die?"
"Even if he loses his brain, bones, and internal organs, the Spirit King is eternal! Genryūsai!"
"The reason the Spirit King bestows so much upon this world is because..."
"He cannot exist!"
"This is also—the mission of us, the Tsunayashiro clan, for countless years."
The moment the words fell, he suddenly raised his head, looking at the people in front of him.
At this moment, the spiritual pressure within his body had been elevated to an unimaginable level.
Even all the lieutenants present, all of whom had spiritual pressure far exceeding 3rd seats, felt a strong sense of crisis in their hearts in the face of this terrifying power, feeling like ants covered in dark shadows, their hearts filled with fear.
Almost at the same time, Tsunayashiro Shōgo's figure disappeared from the spot.
Standing beside Yamamoto, Iihara Kaname adjusted his glasses and suddenly shouted:
"No space, no color, Sumeru Pure Land, my appearance is also distorted."
"—Fukubara!"
The moment the sword was drawn, the space in front of everyone subtly rippled for an instant, leaving an invisible trace.
Instantly, a narrow crack appeared on the originally flat plains, abruptly piercing through tens of meters, easily splitting the ground in front of them in two.
Everything that stood in the path of this spatial blade was split in two, leaving only a smooth cut in the middle, instantly severing Tsunayashiro Shōgo's path of advance.
The old man's figure appeared on the other side of the spatial slash.
Following this, a petite figure suddenly dashed out from the crowd, drawing the blade in her hand at the same time, a small serpentine tongue unconsciously slipping out of her mouth, a crimson light shining from her single eye, her deep purple pigtails pulled into a straight line by the air at high speed.
At the same time, Saitō Furofushi's highly recognizable morbid cry rang out:
"Devour and Eradicate! Shuryōkyū!"
The deep purple blade, wrapped in crimson blood light, slashed towards Tsunayashiro Shōgo from above, drawing a dazzling trail.
However, Tsunayashiro Shōgo simply raised the katana in his hand.
"Clang!"
The moment the blades collided, the immense force transmitted from the opposite blade instantly froze Saitō's figure, the expression on her petite and crazed face slightly stiffening.
In an instant, both she and her sword were sent flying, stirring up a violent gale on the ground.
However, taking advantage of this fleeting gap.
Several invisible spatial blades had already enveloped him.
Also appearing in Tsunayashiro Shōgo's vision was Kachiki Hayanami, expressionless, charging forward with a naginata, the edge of his vision catching a figure circling around his back.
"Pfft."
However, facing this joint attack by multiple strong individuals, Tsunayashiro Shōgo merely sneered disdainfully.
The next moment, he held up the katana in his hand.
The pupils in Kachiki Hayanami's eyes suddenly contracted.
Almost instinctively, he withdrew his naginata and took half a step to the side.
"Buzz—"
Only a vibrating sound remained in his ears.
The two invisible spatial blades that had just been flying straight towards Tsunayashiro Shōgo had silently split the space where she had been a second ago.
If Kachiki had been half a step slower, he would have been torn to pieces by his own allies' attacks.
'This is...'
Kachiki Hayanami frowned subconsciously.
The bespectacled man behind him also had a solemn expression on his face.
"Clang!"
A heavy sword strike came down along Tsunayashiro Shōgo's thin, wiry arm, suddenly landing on the shaft of the naginata in Kachiki's hand, emitting a very dull sound, forcing his entire body to crouch, his shins almost sinking into the ground.
During this brief pause, the girl received a knee strike to her abdomen with a dull "thud," the great force nearly causing her to lose consciousness, the eyes under her glasses almost turning white. His other withered hand gripped her long hair with extreme speed, throwing her to the side, slamming her to the ground with a "bang"—flinging her back countless meters, stirring up clouds of dust.
Before the old man could turn around, his vision was filled by the tooth-filled, lipless mouth of Hisamei Entetsu that had silently appeared behind him.
A pair of heavy maces thicker than his arms roared down.
However, before they could fall, Tsunayashiro Shōgo had already raised the katana in his hand with one hand, steadily catching them, the blade not even trembling slightly.
Following this, he delivered a back elbow strike.
Hisamei Entetsu's behemoth-like figure was instantly sent flying by this strike.
This series of events seemed long.
In reality, from the moment Iihara Kaname provided assistance, Saitō Furofushi dashed out of the ranks and initiated her Shikai, to Kachiki and Hisamei simultaneously following up, and finally the entire process of the several of them being sent flying all happened almost in the same instant.
In the eyes of the other Shinigami in the distance, the lieutenants, who usually seemed impossible to defeat, were like ordinary soldiers in front of this old man, displaying a shakingly overwhelming disparity.
They didn't even have the qualifications to fight him!
"Genryūsai!"
The old man, with his bare, wiry upper body, pointed his sword forward and roared:
"Come, let me see your strength!"