The young Soul Reaper, who had just started his shift, was getting cozy with a beautiful girl who had just died. He was startled when Makiya and the other found him, feeling like his career was over.
He looked utterly despairing. While flirting with a 'client' during work hours was definitely wrong, he wondered if it really required two captains to handle him.
After the situation was explained, the Soul Reaper finally breathed a sigh of relief and contacted the Seireitei. The Senkaimon opened smoothly, and Makiya and Urahara returned through the official channel without any incidents along the way.
The official Senkaimon was stable and spacious. The interior of the Dangai was very quiet; aside from the constant spatial turbulence, even the Kototsu patrols were scarce.
The exit on the other side of the Senkaimon was located near the four great gates of the Seireitei. After Makiya and Urahara successfully left the Dangai, they found themselves in front of the grand North Gate, the Black Ridge Gate.
"Hm? Who goes there?"
A rough voice came from behind the gate. A burly black man with a mohawk, thick yellow eyebrows, and wide lips slowly stepped out.
"Ahaha, it's Watchman Danzomaru," Urahara said with a forced laugh, adjusting his green hat. Going through the official channel had its downsides; the news of their unauthorized excursion would definitely reach the old man's ears.
"Captain Urahara and Captain Makiya." The burly man raised his hand from his Zanpakuto but remained vigilant. "Why are you returning from the World of the Living? The gatekeepers didn't receive any application for your departure."
"A small accident occurred during an experiment. We accidentally fell into the Dangai and took a long way back," Urahara sighed, looking quite annoyed.
"I see." Danzomaru nodded, pulled out a small notebook to jot things down, and said respectfully, "I will report your reasons truthfully."
Urahara looked depressed, already anticipating a scolding from the old man. Makiya, however, looked completely indifferent. He was already a known troublemaker, and since he was close to Shunsui and Jushiro, the old man usually turned a blind eye to his antics.
Of course, it might also have been because Makiya frequently took Kenpachi Zaraki into the Muken for fights, which kept the battle-hungry Kenpachi from causing trouble elsewhere, much to the old man's satisfaction.
After passing through the Black Ridge Gate, Makiya and Urahara went their separate ways, agreeing to meet again that evening.
2nd Division, Captain's Office.
Buried under a mountain of paperwork, Soi Fon looked exhausted. The files and documents stacked high on her desk were like insurmountable mountains, crushing her.
Work makes people age; it's the same in any world. The moment a worker starts their shift, their body and soul age fifty years instantly. There is no cure for this disease except for clocking out or taking a holiday.
Suddenly, Soi Fon's ears perked up. She heard familiar footsteps, and a smile unconsciously flickered across her face before she quickly suppressed it, replacing it with an expression of anger.
As a master of Hakuda and close-quarters combat, Soi Fon was extremely sensitive to footsteps, especially those of the two people she cared about most. She could distinguish them even from a great distance.
Sure enough, shortly after, Makiya's figure appeared at the office door.
Whoosh!
Soi Fon skillfully gathered Kido energy and launched a flying kick at Makiya.
"Makiya, you brat of a captain! You finally decided to come back? Do you have any idea how much I—"
This time, Makiya didn't play along with her. He vanished before Soi Fon's eyes and reappeared right beside her.
He grabbed Soi Fon's ankle and pulled. Still in mid-air, Soi Fon lost her balance and was instantly captured in his arms.
"Hey! Wait, don't do this now..."
"Stop for a moment." Makiya put a finger to her lips. She immediately quieted down, staying in his arms without moving, her face flushing red.
Soi Fon glanced at Makiya's hand and realized the finger touching her lips was the same one that had just held her foot. Her expression turned strange.
Makiya didn't notice Soi Fon's expression. He expanded his spiritual pressure to search the area. Everything in the 2nd Division was normal, and he found no sign of Aizen.
"Blaze... Chisato!"
Bright red flames erupted, spreading along the blade and enveloping Soi Fon's body.
He was very familiar with Soi Fon's spiritual pressure. Almost the instant his energy entered her body, he felt that strange yet familiar presence.
It was Aizen's Kyoka Suigetsu!
He had checked her body inside and out before, and Aizen's spiritual pressure had been purged. This new trace was clearly planted while he was away.
The flames of Chisato wrapped around Aizen's energy. Makiya skillfully extracted it and absorbed it into himself; he had done this many times recently.
After removing the spiritual pressure, Makiya scanned the 2nd Division's hidden facilities again, processing all the information.
After a moment of thought, he opened a desk drawer and pulled out a note.
"Eh? When was this note put here?" Soi Fon leaned in to look.
[Captain Makiya:]
[I am glad you share my ideals. The path to the top is magnificent... Let us meet at the summit.]
[...Additionally, I hope you enjoyed the entertainment I prepared for you in Hueco Mundo. Use the Menos as pawns and play this game against me.]
[In the end, there can only be one king standing in the heavens. I look forward to your challenge.]
Aizen's handwriting was as refined as jade, elegant and fluid. Anyone unaware of the truth would think the writer was a gentle and sophisticated gentleman.
Makiya curled his lips. The Master of Posturing was true to his name, even writing challenge letters so poetically.
"Soi Fon."
"Hm?" Soi Fon looked up, confused.
"Get down first."
Soi Fon looked down and realized Makiya had let go of her, but she was still clinging to him like an octopus with her arms and legs wrapped around him.
"Ye—Yes!" Her face turned beet red as she scrambled off him, steam practically rising from her head like a boiling kettle.
Makiya shifted his feet, shielding Soi Fon behind him as he suddenly drew Chisato with lightning speed.
Aizen hadn't left yet. Though he was well-hidden, Makiya's experience from multiple worlds and his extraordinary perception allowed him to catch a faint, lingering trace of being watched.
Chisato surged, the light on the blade dancing like a spirit snake. The sword's hum echoed like a dragon's roar between heaven and earth. The blade tore through space, stabbing toward a corner behind the captain's office.
Before the sword light even arrived, the terrifying spiritual pressure caused the surrounding space to tremble. The blushing Soi Fon felt as if a mountain had dropped on her; her knees buckled, and she collapsed, cracking the tiles beneath her.
The impact of the spiritual pressure spread across the 2nd Division and even the entire Seireitei in an instant. Weaker Soul Reapers collapsed in terror, staring at the sky in shock.
Even the stronger Lieutenants felt their bodies go weak, their legs shaking as they looked toward the 2nd Division in horror.
"That's..."
"It's Captain Makiya's spiritual pressure! What's going on?"
"Captain Makiya is so terrifying. Is this the true power of a Captain?"
"No, our own Captain shouldn't be that strong!"
Shinji Hirako suddenly appeared and annoyedly punched the gossipers, leaving smoking lumps on their heads.
After punishing those guys for talking behind their captain's back, Shinji looked toward the 2nd Division with a grim expression. "Is that guy Makiya fighting someone... is it Aizen?"
In the 4th Division, the refined Retsu Unohana sat calmly on the porch, her Zanpakuto by her side, radiating a peaceful aura. But as Makiya's pressure reached her, the gentle beauty stiffened. Her throat moved as she swallowed hard.
Unohana forcibly suppressed the urge to draw her sword and fight, focusing on the flower arrangement in front of her. She didn't even notice that her arrangement had become a mess as her thoughts drifted elsewhere.
In the 1st Division, the Head Captain, who was sipping tea, opened his eyes slightly before closing them again. "Hmph, to think he has grown so quickly..."
Commotions broke out in every division. In the 2nd Division, Makiya's eyes were sharp as knives, and the released Chisato glowed brilliantly.
Although it was only a Shikai, the sheer pressure was undeniable. The spiritual pressure alone felt stronger than a typical Captain's Bankai.
Like Kensei Muguruma, for instance.
This was the result of Makiya intentionally controlling his output. The spiritual pressure was condensed into a single point, transformed by the skill of a Sword God into a dazzling flash of light.
This strike seemed to shatter the shackles of time and space. Wherever the blade passed, the air seemed to be torn apart by an invisible hand, making a heart-wrenching cracking sound.
The sword qi shredded the sky, warping the space it touched as if it were being sucked into a black hole. The air ahead shook violently, and a Kido barrier unraveled, revealing what was hidden.
Behind the Kido barrier, Aizen stood at the entrance of a closing Dangai rift. His expression showed a hint of surprise, yet he remained poised.
Without the support of a Senkaimon, an opening to the Dangai could lead anywhere. Wandering aimlessly in the spatial turbulence could lead one away from the world created by the Soul King and into nothingness.
But Aizen clearly had his own way of navigating. In the final moment before the rift closed, Chisato's blade pierced through the spatial fissure, and a terrifying burst of sword qi exploded inside the Dangai.
Boom!
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