Ichigo moved like a thunderclap.
With a sonic boom that shattered the still air, he vanished from sight, tearing through the battlefield in a blur of black. The ground behind him erupted from the sheer pressure of his launch, sand blasting outward in concentric waves.
Ahead, Aizen slowly lifted his head. His once-pristine face was now almost entirely masked—jagged and pitch black, molded like obsidian bone. Twin horns jutted back from his forehead, and beneath the darkness, hollow white eyes glowed with primal rage. He didn't speak. He screeched—a deafening, beastly wail that sent birds from the distant desert skies.
Without warning, Aizen raised his hand. A small purple sphere of concentrated Cero energy bloomed at his fingertip, flickering violently like unstable plasma. The glow intensified as it condensed further, shrieking with energy.
FWOOOOOM
The Cero fired.
A beam of blinding violet shot toward Ichigo, splitting the sky. But Ichigo shifted mid-air with casual sharpness, his body blurring as he sidestepped the attack. The beam rocketed past him, tearing through the air with immense speed, and continued on for miles before—
BOOOOOOM!
—impacting somewhere far in the distance. The ground rumbled. The explosion bloomed like a purple sun on the horizon, mushrooming into a shockwave that flattened sand dunes for kilometers.
'Wow… it's taken over him completely,' Ichigo thought, narrowing his eyes. 'Unlike before… he's gone. In the anime, he was still fighting it. But now... this thing's running wild.'
He reached Aizen a second later—faster than thought.
Tensa Zangetsu came crashing down in a vicious diagonal arc, its black edge humming with lethal intent. But Aizen twisted just in time, gliding sideways with inhuman agility as the blade missed by inches, carving a scar into the desert floor.
He vanished with a flicker of speed and reappeared behind Ichigo, already driving his blade forward in a precise thrust aimed at his spine.
But Ichigo didn't need to turn.
With a half-step and a twist of his ankle, he swept his leg low behind him—catching Aizen clean across the ankles.
The monster stumbled.
Still mid-motion, Ichigo pivoted in mid-air and brought up his knee, followed by a brutal kick straight to Aizen's chest.
CRACK—BOOOM!
Aizen flew backward like a meteor, crashing into a cracked stone pillar that once stood tall near Las Noches. The ancient structure shattered completely under the impact, stone exploding outward as rubble buried half of his body. The dust hadn't even settled when—
ROOOOOAAAAARRR!!!
Aizen let loose an inhuman roar, louder than thunder, layered with the screech of the Hollow and the defiance of a fallen god. The sand around him vibrated violently. The broken fortress trembled. Even the sky above shuddered with distortion, rippling as if reality itself winced.
Ichigo floated just above the chaos, eyes narrowing.
The Hōgyoku was angry now.
It didn't just want to survive anymore—it wanted to dominate. Purple-black reiatsu surged around Aizen like a vortex, spiraling upward in a pillar of light. His body cracked and morphed further—arms elongating, his back sprouting razor-like tendrils of bone. His blade melted into his arm, becoming part of his flesh as his spiritual pressure swelled into something monstrous.
Ichigo's cloak flapped wildly in the wind, but he didn't move.
He simply gripped Tensa Zangetsu tighter, letting it rest at his side. The final round was about to begin. One last clash between man and monster. And the whole dimension would bear witness.
The air twisted violently between them. A storm of spiritual pressure churned the sky black as Aizen floated upward from the rubble, his monstrous form glowing with unstable energy. Cracks of violet lightning flashed across his body, and his face, masked in jagged Hollow armor, contorted in a sneer that no longer looked human.
Then—from his right hand—a blade began to form.
Raw reiatsu condensed at his palm, dark and unstable. It hummed, growled. The energy twisted into a sleek, elongated sword of pure spirit energy—a reiryoku blade—burning dark purple, like a corrupted lightsaber. It hissed and pulsed with every breath Aizen took, long and sharp, with jagged edges that screamed of death. Unlike Kyōka Suigetsu, this blade had no elegance. It was all rage, all chaos.
Ichigo hovered across from him, his black cloak flaring, Tensa Zangetsu gripped tightly in one hand. His smile widened as he looked over Aizen's grotesque transformation.
"You really went full monster this time, huh?"
Tensa Zangetsu's voice echoed from within.
"And here I thought he had taste."
Ichigo laughed under his breath. "Guess not."
Then, without warning—
CRACK—BOOOM!
Aizen blitzed forward, his reiryoku blade cutting the sky in half as he swung it downward like a falling guillotine. Ichigo blocked it in a flash, their swords exploding in a burst of pressure that shattered the air around them. The clash created a shockwave so strong it sent sand spiraling upward like tornadoes.
CLANG!
Ichigo ducked under a second horizontal slash, sliding across the air itself, then shot forward with a spinning swing of Tensa Zangetsu. Sparks sprayed as Aizen parried, their blades shrieking against one another. He twisted mid-air, slashing low—Ichigo leapt over it, flipped, then came down with a two-handed strike aimed at Aizen's head.
BOOM!
Aizen raised his blade to block, but the sheer force sent him crashing downward into the dunes. A crater erupted as his body hit the sand, and Ichigo landed right after, blades drawn, laughter in his throat.
"Tensa, having fun yet?"
His spirit responded with a grin in his voice:
"I've never been happier."
Before the dust could clear, Aizen erupted from the crater, mouth wide in a feral scream, blade raised. He slashed wildly, left-right-up-down, forcing Ichigo back step by step—but Ichigo parried each blow with precision, sparks flying like fireworks. Their swords clanged in rapid succession, each impact sending violent ripples of force through the air.
CLANG—CLANG—BOOM—SLASH—BOOM!
Suddenly, Aizen vanished—appearing behind Ichigo with terrifying speed. He stabbed forward, but Ichigo spun around mid-air, slapping the blade aside with the flat of Zangetsu. He then headbutted Aizen in the face.
CRACK!
Bone cracked. Aizen reeled back—but retaliated instantly with a sweeping slash that cut a canyon into the sand. Ichigo shunpo'd above it, then dove back in, laughing.
Their blades met again.
Over and over.
Each swing thundered across Hueco Mundo like cannon fire. The dunes erupted, massive craters forming with every clash. Las Noches trembled in the distance, stone structures collapsing just from the collateral shockwaves. Purple energy blasts and black slashes of reiatsu tore through the desert sky, slicing through clouds and sand alike.
And through it all—Ichigo laughed.
"I gotta admit," he said mid-swing, ducking under a thrust and landing a punch to Aizen's gut that sent him flying, "You might be uglier now, but you sure hit harder."
Tensa Zangetsu echoed his laughter.
"Don't let up now. I want more!"
Aizen skidded through the sand, then stopped himself mid-slide and roared. His reiatsu flared, and he fired off five mini-Ceros in rapid succession—each one sharp, purple, and wild.
Ichigo slashed the first two mid-air—BOOM BOOM—then dodged the next, letting it explode behind him. One grazed his shoulder, tearing his cloak. The final one he caught with his palm, crushing it before it could detonate.
A moment passed. Both warriors floated again, breathing heavy, eyes locked.
The laughter faded just a little.
Not out of fear—out of focus.
Aizen's blade extended slightly longer now, howling with barely restrained power. Purple lightning wrapped around his arms. His form shimmered, beginning to crack with energy that even the Hōgyoku could barely contain.
Ichigo raised Tensa Zangetsu, his grip tightening. The blade glowed faintly, black energy gathering around it like mist.
"Let's end this," he said quietly.
"Yeah," Tensa Zangetsu replied. "Let's show him what a real king looks like."
And with that—they charged.
One final time.
Sword against sword.
King against god.
The battlefield lit up with their final clash, shaking the dimension to its very core.
TO BE CONTINUED