Chapter 667 This Is What a Good Leader Looks Like

Mayuri glanced at Zaraki charging toward them and silently thought, 'Just as the rumors say, a mad idiot.'

But Mayuri was happy to play along. He quickly sheathed his sword, clutched his chest, and retreated from the battlefield.

He had just been putting on a show with Makoto's men.

The goal was to let the other division members who arrived in a hurry see him fighting these Hollows in a bloody battle, to avoid suspicion afterward.

Now that the goal was achieved, there was no need to keep up the act.

The Rabbit Devil was the first to meet Zaraki. His sharp claws cut through the air, clashing violently with Zaraki's jagged Zanpakuto.

Blood-red and golden Reiatsu clashed fiercely at the point of impact, each collision creating a visible shockwave.

Feeling the heavy pressure transmitted through the blade, a glint of surprise flashed in Zaraki's eyes, his voice full of undisguised appreciation: "Oh~ not your average Adjuchas."

The Rabbit Devil also showed a dangerous smile. "You're not your average Shinigami either."

As he spoke, his other claw slashed diagonally toward Zaraki's abdomen. Zaraki sidestepped, the claws tearing three parallel gashes in his Shihakusho.

During their battle, more and more Shinigami gathered from all corners of the Seireitei.

Leading the charge was none other than Captain-Commander Yamamoto Genryusai himself.

His Lieutenant, Sasakibe Chojiro, had a Hell Butterfly perched on his fingertip.

After receiving the latest frontline intelligence through this creature used by the Soul Society for emergency communications, Sasakibe's face grew even paler than before.

"Captain-Commander. According to intelligence from the 11th Division, Third Seat Kurotsuchi of the 12th Division has been defeated. Captain Shihoin Yoruichi of the 2nd Division has been captured. The 11th Division's Zaraki is currently engaging the enemy. The opponents are estimated to be several top-tier Adjuchas."

Hearing this, the veins on Yamamoto's forehead visibly bulged.

His fury was already nearing its limit, with several Captains and Lieutenants undergoing Hollowfication and the prime suspect being his own 12th Division's Captain.

Then, two Vasto Lorde had launched a surprise attack on the 2nd Division.

Before he could even deal with all that, the 12th Division was also in trouble.

Even the decisive battle against Yhwach's Quincy army a thousand years ago hadn't made him this angry.

Yamamoto forcibly suppressed his rage and asked, word by word, "How did Shihoin Yoruichi end up at the 12th Division?!"

"Th-that... since Captain Shihoin Yoruichi has been captured, the 11th Division doesn't know the specifics either..."

Sasakibe replied, sweating profusely.

He had followed Yamamoto for nearly a thousand years and could clearly sense from his tone that the Captain-Commander was on the verge of completely losing his composure.

When Yamamoto led the elite of the 1st Division to the 12th Division, aside from the sharp clashing of blades, they could already hear Zaraki's excited, almost delirious shouts:

"Hahaha! Excellent! Excellent! This is what battle should be!"

Zaraki was laughing wildly, his body covered in dozens of bleeding wounds.

But he didn't care at all. He continued swinging his jagged Zanpakuto with manic abandon, each slash carrying a suicidal ferocity.

Opposite him, the Hollow with red markings, resembling a rabbit, was also covered in wounds of varying sizes.

The battle had been raging for a while, still deadlocked, neither able to truly overpower the other.

"Zaraki! What the hell are you playing at?!"

Yamamoto roared, his voice making everyone around instinctively shrink their necks.

'Damn it, at a time like this, this brainless battle maniac was still holding back?!'

Zaraki had a bad habit... when facing an evenly matched opponent or one that piqued his interest, he would unconsciously suppress his true power, dragging the fight out to savor the thrill of battle longer.

Yamamoto saw through his old habit at a glance. Normally, he could turn a blind eye, but now was not the time.

Sensing the sudden burst of violent Reiatsu from the old man, the Four Gay Bros, who had stayed behind to hold off the enemy, all changed expressions simultaneously.

'What was this?'

'This unfathomable Reiatsu was on a completely different level from any opponent we had faced before.'

Enraged to the extreme, Yamamoto slowly raised his cane.

The seemingly ordinary wooden staff's surface was instantly charred black by flames erupting from within. The wood turned to ash under the intense heat, revealing an ancient, unadorned Zanpakuto beneath.

It radiated a heat so intense it warped the surrounding air.

"All Things in the Universe, Turn to Ashes... Ryujin Jakka!"

The moment Yamamoto spoke the Zanpakuto's release command, wild flames surged from the blade like a released beast.

The fire spread rapidly, engulfing the entire 12th Division's barracks and the surrounding area for hundreds of meters in a sea of flames.

The fire turned the sky above the Seireitei as bright as day. Even civilians in the distant Rukongai could see the unnatural red glow on the horizon.

Beam, who had been using the Water Prison Technique on Yoruichi, and the Four Gay Bros, who had just disengaged from their fight with Zaraki, all showed looks of shock.

Beam's eyes widened, his voice catching in his throat beneath the shark mask: "That old man is no joke."

As the team's most proficient water-type user, he was often assigned by Makoto to deal with troublesome fire-types.

Like in the other world when he fought Demiurge.

But the flame aura emanating from this white-haired old man was on an entirely different level from any fire-type he had faced before.

"Captain-Commander, please calm down!"

Sasakibe couldn't help but try to intervene.

"We still need to extract information from them!"

The entire Seireitei was in chaos, with too many unanswered questions. They needed to keep a few prisoners alive for interrogation.

"I know." Yamamoto's eyes, half-covered by his brows, narrowed slightly. His gaze swept eagle-like over the various Menos Grandes below, finally lingering a moment longer on Beam, who was holding Yoruichi captive with his water technique. "One is enough."

With that, Yamamoto suddenly drew his blade.

A massive sword energy, carrying flames as hot as the sun's surface, transformed into a flame slash that could split the horizon in two, descending with thunderous force.

Taimatsu!

The power and range of this slash far exceeded any previous attack. He was clearly intending to use this technique to cut down all the Hollows except Beam in a single strike.

Seeing this, the Four Gay Bros all widened their eyes.

Without needing to communicate, they opened their mouths simultaneously. Four Ceros fired from four directions, converging into a single thick energy torrent that met Yamamoto's Taimatsu head-on.

One Vasto Lorde and three top-tier Adjuchas, each putting forth their full power. The Cero and the flame slash collided above the 12th Division's barracks, producing a thunderous roar that shook the entire Seireitei.

The shockwave spread from the point of impact, tearing the roofs off several nearby buildings.

In the end, the two attacks canceled each other out. The Four Gay Bros had barely managed to block the Captain-Commander's slash, but their faces were etched with lingering shock.

They had barely blocked that attack, not even having time to catch their breath.

But the next second, Yamamoto had already drawn his blade again.

His figure vanished from its spot, reappearing directly above them the next instant. His hands gripped the hilt, Ryujin Jakka's blade erupting with even fiercer flames than before.

An even larger flame slash descended from the sky... not a single blade of sword energy this time, but a blanket of fire.

It was Jokaku Enjo.

"Damn it!"

The Four Gay Bros cursed in unison.

They didn't have time to charge another Cero.

Seeing this, Beam also prepared to release the Water Prison Technique on Yoruichi, forming hand seals to counter with his water techniques.

At this critical moment, a Destruction Beam and a Heat Blast flew in from the side simultaneously.

The two attacks precisely struck the flank of Yamamoto's Jokaku Enjo. The three forces collided violently in midair, forming a massive sphere of mixed energy.

The sphere exploded high above, scattering into countless small fragments of fire that fell upon other corners of the Seireitei, triggering explosions one after another.

The 1st and 11th Division's members all turned their heads in unison toward the direction the attacks had come from.

They saw Makoto walking out of the Technology Development Bureau's ruins, followed by Yu and Pochi.

"Boss!" The Four Gay Bros exclaimed in surprise.

They had thought they were about to be finished.

Sasakibe and the others' expressions darkened simultaneously, 'There were even more Vasto Lorde?!'

Makoto and Yamamoto's gazes clashed across the flames. After a few seconds, the former spoke first, "The Captain-Commander himself has come out, huh."

Yamamoto held Ryujin Jakka horizontally before him, the flames on the blade casting flickering light on his wrinkled face.

"Brat, are you the mastermind behind this incident?!"

Makoto let out a soft breath. He didn't answer Yamamoto's question. Instead, he raised his hand to signal his subordinates to step back.

"None of you are a match for him. Fall back."

What makes a good leader? This is what makes a good leader.

In normal fights, when encountering a tough opponent, he tells you to fall back.

But when there's something good, he tells you to line up.