"Heh, unsolvable."
"I have to admit, whether it's Aizen's personal strength, or the power of his Zanpakutō, Kyōka Suigetsu…"
"With all the wisdom I possess, ever since this ranking began, even after watching the video for this long, I still can't come up with any method to break it!"
"I'd imagine… Urahara Kisuke over there is probably having the exact same reaction, right?"
Mayuri Kurotsuchi spread his hands.
For someone as habitually arrogant as he was, this was the first time he had openly set aside his pride in front of everyone and frankly admitted that he was powerless.
And of course, he still made a point of curling his lip at Urahara Kisuke while he was at it!
This man who always claimed not to care,
Yet at every moment wanted to compete with, and surpass, that rival of his!
Clearly,
Mayuri felt that
If even he and Urahara Kisuke—the two men with the highest intellect in the world—couldn't come up with a way to defeat Aizen…
Then,
Second place on the list! That was only natural!
In fact… even bumping him up one more rank and putting him at the very top wouldn't be unreasonable!
Kyōka Suigetsu really was too unsolvable!!!
"Sigh…"
After listening to Mayuri's words,
The entire First Division barracks was filled with nothing but heavy, weary sighs.
Unsolvable…
Invincible…
Illusions at every moment, in every place!
What exactly could they do, to actually defeat Aizen and put an end to his endless posturing?
In the face of this question…
Head-Captain Yamamoto's aged body seemed to stoop just a little more.
The expression on his face
Was one of deep, heavy concern.
Even when facing Yhwach, he had never looked quite this dejected!
Clearly,
Ever since this round of ranking began,
Despite the fact that Aizen had already defected long ago,
His body in Hueco Mundo, he still seemed as if he had never left Soul Society at all.
Through the constant playback of the video,
He continued to toy with and mock the Captains of the Gotei 13 again and again!
He was treating the entire Gotei 13 like pawns in the palm of his hand!
That was the most despair-inducing thing of all!!!
———
On the other side,
In the Human World, inside Urahara's shop—
"Heh…"
"You see? I wasn't wrong. From beginning to end, there's only one person—Kurosaki Ichigo—who can defeat Aizen."
"Now, even if he doesn't want to, he'll have no choice but to become the protagonist!"
"He'll have to shoulder the task of saving the world!!!"
Urahara Kisuke shook his head slightly,
His smile a little helpless, his eyes full of a wary respect.
It was obvious that, when it came to Kyōka Suigetsu, even he felt completely at a loss.
In fact,
Urahara could easily imagine
That, at this very moment in Soul Society, the morale of the entire Gotei 13 must be at an unprecedented low!
Five-senses hypnosis.
Illusions layered one after another.
Scene after scene being exposed.
It was more than enough, in an instant, to shatter the confidence of every single Shinigami!!!
However…
Beside him, Tessai Tsukabishi
First took off his reflective lenses and, with a cloth, slowly and carefully wiped them clean.
Only after his mood had calmed somewhat did he change the subject. "Actually, I don't think we've reached the most hopeless point yet."
Hearing that,
Urahara Kisuke raised an eyebrow and asked back, "Tessai, what do you mean?"
"Shopkeeper, did you forget?"
"Back during your round of the ranking, you, Miss Yoruichi, and Kurosaki Isshin all appeared at the very end! And you three managed to double-team Hōgyoku Aizen twice in a row!"
"It's just that the footage cut off there, so we never got to see how it ended. For all we know, it might be leaving behind some kind of foreshadowing."
Tessai carefully replayed the scene in his head.
In that final shot, Aizen's chrysalis-like Hōgyoku body had been bound by Benihime's ability,
Then struck directly by a Getsuga Tenshō.
So,
What happened afterward?
Was there a chance they'd managed to seriously wound Hōgyoku Aizen?
Even if they couldn't kill him, at least it might have been enough to win back a little morale, right?
And at that very moment,
As if responding to Tessai's comments,
The image on the translucent screen
Faded from black, brightening once more.
After a flicker,
A brand new segment began to play—
"Rumble—!!!"
The blast wave roared up into the sky.
It kicked up layers of dust and smoke, making the screen itself tremble.
On the screen,
Urahara Kisuke landed lightly on the ground, his green outer robe whipping wildly in the haze.
He looked toward Kurosaki Isshin and asked, "Well? Do you think you can take Aizen down?"
"I'm not sure…"
Shaking his head slightly,
Kurosaki Isshin kept his gaze fixed straight ahead, his expression grave. "After changing into that form, Aizen's spiritual pressure has completely vanished. I can't sense it at all anymore."
"And when my blade fell just now, at the instant I cut into that chrysalis shell, I even had the feeling that there was nothing inside!"
"It really gives you the creeps!!!"
As he spoke,
Sweat slid down Kurosaki Isshin's cheek; he looked like a man facing down a mortal enemy.
Keep in mind,
After regaining his Shinigami powers,
Kurosaki Isshin's strength hadn't regressed. If anything, he'd reached the absolute pinnacle of a Shinigami.
In head-on combat,
He'd been able, at least for a time, to suppress Aizen in his Shinigami state. That was proof enough that his strength placed him among the very top-tier fighters!
Because of that,
Those remarks of his,
Once broadcast out into the real world through the ranking video,
Immediately stirred up fresh panic!
The viewers once again felt the formless pressure of Hōgyoku Aizen weighing down on them!
"You've gotta be kidding me…"
"The gap is so huge they can't even feel his Reiatsu anymore?"
"That's a clear sign they're not even on the same level! How is this fight supposed to continue?"
"Even three-on-one, there's clearly no chance of winning!!!"
Within the Seireitei,
The Shinigami of the Gotei 13 felt their hearts sink even further.
Damn it!
The longer this round of ranking continued,
The stronger Aizen's power—and the pressure he exerted—seemed to grow, the more unsolvable he became!
And the more hopeless it all felt!
They didn't even dare imagine
How things would be once Aizen kept on evolving. By the time the Thousand-Year Blood War rolled around,
Just how strong would "Blood War Aizen" be?
Could it be that his combat strength would reach a level rivaling the Soul King?
Would he end up trampling Yhwach and Ichibē under his feet?
The more they thought about it, the more terrifying it became!!!
And at that moment—
"Shua!!!"
With a single slash,
All of the shockwaves and the raging flames of the explosion were wiped away in an instant.
Hōgyoku Aizen's form emerged whole and unscathed in the midst of that light.
"That was a beautiful strike…"
"I understand that attack now as well."
At that moment,
Just hearing Aizen's voice
Was enough to make the viewers realize that, through the crack in the chrysalis shell,
Even when the camera zoomed in for a close-up,
They still couldn't see any flesh or skin inside!
There was only a void, constantly emitting a faint purple glow!
The visual effect presented
Made every viewer feel as if Aizen himself had already ceased to exist!
That what stood before them
Was merely a strange life-form that had broken through the boundary between Shinigami and Hollow, one whose Reiatsu could no longer be perceived!
"This is way too eerie…"
"This guy Aizen… has become something completely alien!!!"
Inside the First Division barracks,
Watching the footage,
The Captains all felt their scalps tingle, goosebumps rising all over their bodies. Instinctively, they began to worry for Urahara and the others.
Honestly,
Just looking at him was enough!
The Lieutenants present—like Ōmaeda and Kotetsu Isane—found their legs going weak, trembling in fear.
They didn't even dare to breathe too loudly; terror filled their hearts!
As for Soi Fon, Komamura Sajin, Hitsugaya Tōshirō and the other former losers at Aizen's hands,
Their nerves were drawn taut, fists clenched tight!
Their composure was just as fragile; every one of them looked like someone being forced to relive an old humiliation.
Only the Head-Captain
And Unohana Retsu managed to remain somewhat calm on the surface.
But deep inside, they too were shaken,
Overwhelmed by the sheer intimidation of Hōgyoku Aizen's chrysalis form!!!
"Well then…"
"Urahara Kisuke, Kurosaki Isshin, Shihōin Yoruichi!"
"It's about time I let you understand my power!!!"
As his voice fell,
Hōgyoku Aizen raised one hand.
Behind the white outer shell, those pupil-less eyes showed no emotion.
He didn't perform any elaborate movement; he simply swung his blade lightly.
"Boom—!!!"
Terrifying, tangible spiritual pressure
Exploded on the spot along with a surge of purple light.
It formed a massive sphere of energy that covered the entire battlefield!
The screen couldn't even contain its full extent!
Naturally, it overflowed the image boundary,
Tearing through space-time and affecting the real world, sending out waves of Reiatsu like tsunamis!
Once more, throughout every corner of the Bleach world, it caused catastrophic destruction, leaving countless viewers bleeding and injured!
"Uwaaah…"
"There's no time to dodge at all!"
"This blast of spiritual-pressure-as-a-physical-force… it's even stronger than the final Heaven and Earth Ashes of Ryūjin Jakka's Bankai!"
"And this… this is just Hōgyoku Aizen's most basic normal attack!!!"
Cries of pain and screams
Rang out from every different location—the Human World, Soul Society, the shadow realm,
And even among Aizen's own people in Hueco Mundo,
Those Hollows and Arrancar were complaining as well after being caught in the collateral damage!
In short,
With that single strike,
Hōgyoku Aizen not only shattered the screen and wreaked havoc in reality,
More importantly…
At the very moment the purple light swept across,
The figures of Urahara Kisuke and the other two collapsed at once, their bodies swallowed up by the blinding explosion!
It was obvious…
They had been one-shotted!
Reduced to nothing more than props to highlight the overwhelming combat power of Hōgyoku Aizen!!!
"Tch…"
"So it's over already?"
"The sheer level of Hōgyoku Aizen's power is a bit too ridiculous, isn't it!"
In Silbern,
Inside the crystal palace,
The pure-blooded Quincies of the Wandenreich wore expressions that were hardly any better.
Some were horrified,
Others full of dread.
Most of them felt nothing but despair!
Even the strongest among the Sternritter—like Haschwalth, Valkyrie, Lille Barro and the others—
All had their brows tightly furrowed, their eyes flickering restlessly.
Under this crushing Reiatsu, none of them dared casually run their mouths and offer a sharp-tongued critique of Hōgyoku Aizen!
"If the timeline is correct…"
"Then in the future, from the end of this Fake Karakura Town battle until the outbreak of the new Thousand-Year Blood War…"
"There should be at least one or two years in between, right?"
"It's impossible to even imagine how insane Aizen's Reiatsu will be after that period of growth!"
Thoughts like those
Clung to everyone's hearts like a nightmare.
They made the pure-blooded
Quincies
Seriously start to doubt that, once that future came,
Whether their Majesty, Yhwach, would even be able to defeat the Thousand-Year-Blood-War version of Aizen—that was a question in itself!
In any case,
After watching this latest segment,
Aizen's image as an unbeatable existence had become even more entrenched!
Viewers all over the world
Found themselves completely consumed by the terror of being dominated by him and Kyōka Suigetsu!!!
———
After that,
While everyone was still shaken, their eyes filled with fear,
The video jumped again and cut to a brand new scene.
This time, the location had changed.
It was no longer the fake Karakura Town battlefield in Hueco Mundo.
They had arrived instead in the real Karakura Town!
The footage picked up seamlessly from
The moment after Ichimaru Gin's hidden intentions were exposed—
Continuing on from where he had repeatedly stabbed Aizen and ripped open his chest!
"Ahhhhhhh—!!!"
A piercing roar,
Accompanied by a towering pillar of blue spiritual pressure,
Instantly dyed the entire screen purple!
Even the translucent light curtain and the real world resonated together!
The figures of the viewers
Once more rocked violently, completely out of their control!!!
"Did Ichimaru Gin fail?"
"In the end, he still couldn't pull it off!"
"And he even sped up Hōgyoku Aizen's evolution yet again!!!"
Inside the First Division headquarters,
The Captains could only use both hands to shield their faces.
Peeking through the narrow gaps between their fingers,
They forced themselves to make out what was happening on the screen!!!
Sure enough,
Just as they had feared,
Hōgyoku Aizen had evolved again!
This should count as his fourth-stage form!!!
After this evolution,
Aizen's appearance changed significantly.
Not only had his eyebrows disappeared, leaving him looking far less handsome and heroic, the center of his forehead now bore an obvious sealed eye-like slit!
Most striking of all,
On Aizen's back, three pairs of enormous butterfly-like wings had sprouted, and a Hollow hole yawned open in his chest, the Hōgyoku embedded within!
On top of that,
Even his Zanpakutō, Kyōka Suigetsu,
Had fused completely with his right hand; their powers had become one!
It seemed he no longer needed to deliberately release his sword—
He could invoke his "five-senses hypnosis" at will!!!
The moment this heretical form was revealed,
It caused an uproar; the audience exploded into frenzied discussion.
They couldn't help but be stunned, voices heated as they argued:
"?!"
"Is it just me?"
"Why do I feel like… in this form, Aizen looks a whole lot like us Hollows!!!"
Within Las Noches,
Grimmjow frowned deeply.
He replayed the footage several times, back and forth, before finally reaching that conclusion.
"Yeah…" Nnoitra nodded. "That space in his chest, that's the most obvious feature of us Hollows, isn't it!!!"
"Right?"
"To evolve into a higher-dimensional form and end up looking like this?!"
Even Szayelaporro, behind his glasses-like Hollow mask,
Had a look of shock he hadn't anticipated.
You had to understand,
As Hueco Mundo's resident scientist,
He had spent the last few centuries deeply researching the evolutionary path of Hollow lifeforms.
The conclusion he'd reached:
For an ordinary Hollow, if it wanted to break through its power limit, the only path forward was to Shinigamify.
Which was how the current mass Arrancarization of Hollows in Hueco Mundo had come about.
But…
Aizen's evolution,
At least so far, appeared to be the opposite.
The Shinigami traits on his body were growing fewer and fewer!
Instead he was drawing closer and closer to Hollows; he'd even manifested a Hollow hole!!!
Szayelaporro did not believe
That obvious hole existed because Gin's Kamishini no Yari had blown him open.
He saw it as an inevitable result of Aizen's evolution!
Because the Hōgyoku set into that hole didn't look the least bit out of place!
Anyone could see it at a glance and feel that the union was flawless!!!
"Congratulations, Captain Aizen…"
Ichimaru Gin offered his congratulations with a smiling squint. "Looks like those two stabs of mine ended up helping you—pushing you one step further down your chosen path."
"From here on, in just this form alone, you should be able to create the Ōken right here in Karakura Town and march straight on the Royal Palace, shouldn't you?"
Ichimaru Gin's heart was quaking.
He could no longer sense any Reiatsu from Hōgyoku Aizen at all.
Clearly,
The obvious changes in Aizen's outward appearance
Also signaled that Hōgyoku Aizen had truly become a transcendent being!
He now stood alongside Ichibē and Yhwach!
He was, in truth, someone with the qualifications to step into the Soul King's realm!!!
However…
In response to Gin's words,
Aizen, while equally satisfied with the result of his evolution,
Still kept his face impassive as he reminded him coldly:
"Hey…"
"You seem to be forgetting Kurosaki Ichigo."
"I don't recall seeing even a single frame in any of the footage so far that shows him already defeated."
"Kurosaki Ichigo… he's the only one qualified to stand at the same height as the future me!!!"
By the time he finished that last sentence,
Aizen's gaze had grown fervent.
Only Kurosaki Ichigo could truly bring out the might of the evolved power he now possessed!
(End of Chapter)
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