The blade's tip passed so close that only a single strand of hair stood between Su Li's brows. Yet a hair's breadth in battle was an eternity. Tilting his head aside, Su Li lifted his hand calmly.
Patter.
The space before him seemed empty, but his fingers closed around something unseen—and clamped down sharply.
Crash.
A shimmer tore apart the air as Aizen's figure materialized in front of him. His expression froze when he realized that not only his wrist but the Zanpakutō itself was locked tightly in Su Li's grasp. Once Kyōka Suigetsu's blade was touched, its illusion lost all effect.
Across the sky, the false image born of Kyōka Suigetsu shattered into nothing. The true Aizen raised his eyes toward Su Li, confusion and disbelief flickering in his gaze.
If the first time Su Li escaped his hypnosis was because he never actually looked at Kyōka Suigetsu—then what about now? Was he… immune?
"You…" Aizen's voice was low. "Have you always been blind?"
The idea sounded absurd even to him, yet it was the only explanation that fit.
"Do I look like that to you?" Su Li asked quietly. Their locked hands strained against each other.
"Then… why?" Aizen's eyes narrowed, a rare flicker of true confusion surfacing.
"Your Kyōka Suigetsu manipulates the five senses completely," Su Li said evenly, his tone calm, patient—almost instructive. "But humans have more than five."
Aizen's eyes sharpened. "You mean a sixth sense?"
Su Li nodded once.
"Ha!" Aizen's composed mask finally cracked, his face twisting. "You claim that by relying on some vague, unproven feeling, you can see through my illusion? Ridiculous! There's no such thing in this world!"
"People always underestimate what they don't understand," Su Li replied, his gaze unwavering. "Even you, Aizen."
Aizen faltered slightly at the quiet reproach.
"The sixth sense," Su Li continued, "like the others, can be honed and sharpened. The world never discovered how—but I did. And not just the sixth. The seventh. The eighth. You only confuse my five senses. I still have three left. How could you ever deceive me?"
Aizen stood silent for a long moment. Then he exhaled softly and raised his eyes, now filled with something between awe and bitterness.
"So that's it… the true essence of Ultra Instinct." His voice was low, dry. "Reaction and speed… those were never its heart. Just words to mislead the world."
Su Li said nothing. The silence confirmed it.
Aizen smiled thinly. "Good. I've long thought Zanpakutō were unnecessary. Just convenient tools."
He lifted his other hand, gripped the blade firmly, and drew it back. "Then let's fight for real."
The sword slashed toward Su Li's head.
Su Li's left arm darkened instantly, the skin turning metallic black as it rose to meet the blow.
Ding!
A deafening shockwave burst outward, rattling the white coats of both men. The blade halted midair, pressed against that blackened arm, unable to advance an inch.
Aizen's expression hardened. In a flash, he lifted his knee and drove it toward Su Li's chest.
But Su Li's eyes didn't waver. His body trembled subtly—an instinctive motion—and the knee swept past him harmlessly. Losing balance, he seemed to fall into Aizen's arms, but his grip tightened like iron around Aizen's wrist.
Crack!
Aizen's arm bent sharply at an impossible angle. Before he could react, Su Li's elbow shot up—
Boom!
Bone popped, cartilage gave way, and Aizen's cheek caved inward under the blow. His arm twisted grotesquely.
Puff!
A gush of blood and shattered teeth erupted from Aizen's mouth.
Before the motion even finished, Su Li inhaled sharply and drove his knee upward.
Boom!
The strike slammed into Aizen's chin, crushing it into a molten shape. More teeth flew.
Before Aizen could recover, the grip on him vanished. Out of the corner of his eye, he glimpsed Su Li leaping high, appearing above him in an instant.
Aizen's back was arched, his chest wide open.
Su Li clasped his hands together, raising them high overhead.
"Double Bones…"
Aizen's eyes widened. That stance—no, it wasn't Yamamoto's form.
Then the hands fell, crashing down against Aizen's chest as Su Li's voice rang clearly:
"Youth version."
BOOM!
A thunderous explosion erupted. A wave of air expanded like a shock ring through the heavens.
Aizen's body was sent hurtling downward, blazing like a meteor, trailing light as he plummeted thousands of miles.
"Double Bones… youth version…?" Blood frothed past his shattered teeth as disbelief clouded his gaze.
Above, Su Li's eyes were cold as he descended after him in a flash of light.
Boom!
In an instant, he caught up to Aizen mid-fall. Aizen's face twisted in pain and bewilderment—this boy's strength had surpassed every limit, every expectation.
He had merged with the Hōgyoku, ascended to a transcendent form—yet still, he was being overpowered? What was this being before him? Man… or something beyond?
Shock, confusion, and disbelief tangled in Aizen's chest. Was this the end of the long-awaited battle that was meant to crown him as a god?
Before he could grasp it, Su Li's voice echoed faintly through the roaring wind.
"I can send you to the blue sky…" He tightened his grip around Aizen's head. "Or send you to hell."
The fall accelerated violently.
"Dodge!! Everyone dodge!!" Omaeda's shrill scream broke the silence below as he bolted at full speed.
But even without his warning, everyone had already seen the blazing comet descending. Bandaged or not, every Shinigami on the ground gathered their remaining strength and scattered in panic.
BOOOOOOM!!!
An explosion beyond imagination split the world.
A blinding mushroom cloud erupted, swallowing the horizon. The shockwave tore through the ruins, flattening everything in its path.
The captains and lieutenants clung to walls, bracing against the torrent of wind and dust.
When the roaring finally subsided, they staggered out from the debris and froze.
Where the two had crashed, the ground was gone. A vast crater spread before them, stretching for miles—far greater than even the explosion when Wonderweiss self-destructed. The rising cloud blotted out the heavens, turning the world beneath into a dark twilight.
Gulp.
Dozens of throats swallowed as one.
None of them had ever imagined they would live to witness such a sight.
A meteor… crashing to earth.
{🥳 The Fanfic is now fully completed! 🎉
You can access 300+ advance chapters right now on Patreon—available for subscription or purchase! ✨
👉 patreon.com/Oreski
🥰 Your support keeps me motivated and eager to create even more amazing stories!}