One tragedy had ended.
The combined forces of the Gotei 13 and the World of the Living—Genryusai Yamamoto, Shunsui Kyoraku, Soi Fon, Sajin Komamura, Shinji Hirako, Yoruichi Shihoin, and Kisuke Urahara—had finally succeeded. Through a desperate struggle, they freed the tragic Momo Hinamori from the Hogyoku's corruption and reclaimed her soul.
Leaving her under the protection of Retsu Unohana, the ultimate authority on healing, the Soul Reapers turned to face the root of all evil.
But...
"Do not mistake this for a miracle achieved by such meager forces."
"Damn... it...!"
What awaited them was a massacre. Sosuke Aizen, the Demon King, exerted an overwhelming dominance. Swordsmanship, hand-to-hand combat, movement, Kido, and the spiritual pressure that governed them all—he was a master of every art. He wielded his god-like talents with an arrogance that brooked no resistance, bringing the heroes to their knees.
Even their greatest pillar of strength was not spared.
"Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto. I shall settle our score properly on another day."
"You... monster..."
The strongest Soul Reaper, the Head Captain, had been forced into self-destruction by a cowardly scheme. With their last hope, Ichigo Kurosaki, busy fighting Aizen's lieutenant, the remaining Captains could only wait for the final blow.
"Not yet."
Suddenly, an uninjured Soul Reaper appeared behind Sosuke Aizen.
"Oh? An impressive decoy. I couldn't tell the difference."
"I took a bit of inspiration from your star pupil's illusion techniques."
The man was Kisuke Urahara—the greatest mind in the three realms. Using a portable Gigai as a decoy to fake his defeat, the genius had bought just enough time to play his final hand.
Way of Binding 63: Sajo Sabaku!
Golden chains of spirit energy coiled around the enemy, binding him tight.
Way of Binding 79: Kuyo Shibari!
Without a moment's pause, a second layer of restraint took hold. Eight black orbs surrounded Aizen as a central star-shaped mark pinned him in place. Finally, Urahara prepared the ultimate Destruction spell.
"Limit of a thousand hands... reaching out for the darkness, touching the void... archer of the heavens, weaver of light... the path that casts shadows, the wind that fans the embers... gather together and do not falter, follow my finger..."
"How uninspired," Aizen mocked, making no effort to escape. "Kido of this level can only defeat Captain-class opponents. You won't leave so much as a scratch on me."
Ignoring the provocation, Urahara unleashed the hidden strike.
"...Light orbs, eight bodies, nine ranks, heaven's path, swift treasure, great wheel, grey turret... the far side of the drawn bow, vanishing into the brilliance!"
Way of Destruction 91: Senju Koten Taiho!
Countless arrows of light converged on the target. A colossal explosion tore through the area, incinerating the environment. It was a level-90 Kido performed with a full incantation by a former Captain—a display of raw firepower that completely enveloped the Great Evil.
"Amazing..."
"But even with that much power... will it be enough?"
The Captains' anxiety was natural, especially after the terrifying display Momo Hinamori had put on earlier. And their fears were justified.
"Pointless."
Sosuke Aizen emerged completely unscathed. Using a Flash Step that looked like instant teleportation, he appeared behind Urahara and slammed him into the ground with a simple blow.
"This shouldn't be all you have, Kisuke Urahara."
"Gah...!"
"The barrier you used against Momo and the surgical technique you devised to separate her from the Hogyoku were truly magnificent. Since you viewed her as a mere opening act, surely you have prepared something far more effective for me—the main event."
Aizen waited in the air with a look of twisted amusement, watching Urahara writhe in pain. The other Soul Reapers also turned their eyes toward the genius, desperate for another miracle.
"You're wrong."
"Oh? About what?"
Suddenly, another Urahara appeared behind Aizen. The one on the ground burst like a balloon.
"Hinamori was the opening act, and you are the main event. That much is true."
"..."
"But I'm not hiding a way to defeat you."
"—I've already used it."
The moment he spoke, a brilliant light erupted from Aizen's wrists. The technique Urahara had planted during their brief clash was now complete.
"It's a seal. I've blocked the spiritual pressure exhaust ports on your wrists—the vents every Soul Reaper possesses."
"Oh? How interesting. A bit of payback for Head Captain Yamamoto, I take it?"
"It's only interesting for me," Urahara replied, his eyes sharp beneath his hat.
If it were the Aizen of the past, he would have been more cautious. He never would have let Urahara get close. It was unclear how the appearance of the Hinamori-monster had affected him, but Urahara had not missed the opening created by Aizen's newfound arrogance.
"You will be consumed by your own spiritual pressure... burning from the inside out!"
A tsunami of spirit energy, hot enough to ignite the atmosphere, exploded. The shockwave pulverized the earth, and the Captains desperately clung to whatever cover they could find.
"Gah! What is this explosion!?"
"To think this is just the byproduct of Aizen's own power...!"
The storm of energy showed no sign of stopping. At its center, space itself seemed to warp and tear under the pressure. When the curtain of destruction finally fell, a deathly silence gripped the battlefield.
And then, the figure emerged from the light.
『At last... you understand me.』
"—Hogyoku."
***
It was the voice of Sosuke Aizen. No matter how muffled it sounded, that deep, authoritative baritone was unmistakable.
But the Soul Reapers were not shocked by his survival. They were reeling from something far more terrifying: the Great Evil's physical transformation. His spiritual pressure had swelled to a level that made their senses go numb.
And then there was what he said.
『"Hogyoku"—The Crumbling Orb. A fitting name indeed. It is truly the power to crumble the horizon where the divine and the mortal can never meet!』
The monster let out a quiet, joyful chuckle while looking down at its transformed body.
『Hehe... a grotesque, white form. I see. It seems there is a commonality in the early stages of our evolution...』
The creature—which could only be described as a white, pupal version of a man—narrowed the single eye remaining in its head. Its face was a featureless mask, like an unfinished mannequin.
And in the center of its chest...
...A single blue orb shone with a brilliant light.
"It can't be..."
『Kisuke Urahara's schemes were already overcome by Momo. Did you really think I would allow myself to fall behind her?』
The Soul Reapers trembled with primal fear. Aizen continued to speak with a calm, detached tone, as if the fact that he had survived Urahara's trap was a trivial detail.
"Why... why do you have that...?" Soi Fon screamed. "WHY DO YOU HAVE A HOGYOKU!?"
Her voice echoed through the crater. It was impossible. The Hogyoku should have vanished with the destruction of the Hinamori-monster. All they had to do was defeat Aizen, and the war would be over. That was the plan.
And yet...
『"A" Hogyoku? What a strange question.』
Aizen looked down at them with pure contempt.
『—Why did you think that I, of all people, could not create what Kisuke Urahara created?』
The horrific truth hit them like a physical blow.
There were two Hogyokus.
"That's impossible! If you could create one... if you didn't need Urahara's... then why go through all the trouble with Rukia Kuchiki and the Sokyoku!?"
"What does this mean!? Was everything—even your ultimate goal—just a lie!?"
"You said yourself that the first time you saw a Hogyoku was on the Hill of Sokyoku! It doesn't make sense!"
The Captains shouted their denial, but Aizen merely mocked them.
『I see. You are the kind of fools who believe the words of an enemy, and then conclude that "I" would be satisfied with an incomplete tool made by another.』
『—Truly, you are nothing but pathetic clowns.』
A collective gasp went up. They couldn't believe it. The conspiracy that had thrown the Soul Society into chaos back in August... was it all just a distraction for this moment?
No—it was worse. If that were true, then sending Momo Hinamori against them over and over... showing them her fused, tragic form... kidnapping her in the first place... everything...
"Was it all to hide the fact that you already had your own Hogyoku!?" Yoruichi gritted her teeth.
They had been played. Hinamori's lingering feelings for her comrades, her final rebellion, the Captains' desperate attempts to save her—every single detail had been in the palm of Aizen's hand.
They had been lured by the "Perfect Bait"—their tragic comrade, Momo Hinamori. They had exposed their strategies, their tactics, and their trump cards, only to be left exhausted and facing a Sosuke Aizen who had now achieved a perfect fusion with his own Hogyoku.
It was a total strategic defeat.
"Wait a second," Shunsui Kyoraku interrupted, his eyes narrowing. "Did you say the Hogyoku was 'incomplete'?"
『Yes, Captain Kyoraku. The Hogyoku Kisuke Urahara created had a superior casing, but its core—the spiritual essence—was lacking.』
Aizen explained that a Hogyoku required a massive number of souls to be perfected. Urahara, having failed to secure enough material, had used "Artificial Soul" technology to forcefully stitch together soul-factors to create a core.
『Naturally, there is a world of difference between his and mine. My Hogyoku was fed the souls of countless Soul Reapers—elite souls that far surpassed the Captain-class. Just like Momo's Hogyoku.』
Aizen revealed that he had completed his own Hogyoku by having it "consume" Urahara's. Then, he had used that perfected technology to create the Hogyoku he implanted in Momo Hinamori.
"Wait," Urahara cut in, his voice trembling.
If Aizen only wanted a perfected Hogyoku, he could have found research materials in the Central Underground Assembly or the archives of the Five Noble Families. With his hypnosis, he could have entered those places easily.
That wasn't what Aizen was after. The technology Urahara had used—the one Aizen had dismissed as "incomplete"—was the true target.
"Stitching together artificial souls... no, you can't mean...!"
Urahara turned pale and looked back at Unohana, who was protecting Toshiro and the comatose Hinamori.
『Oh? You're quite fast, aren't you? You've already realized it.』
Aizen's eyes crinkled in a smile. The other Captains demanded to know what he was talking about.
『What did you think when you saw Momo's transformation earlier? Some of you called her a "monster." How tragic.』
The Demon King explained that the technique Urahara used to separate Hinamori from the Hogyoku was a high-level "Soul Separation" technique. It was designed to target a specific spiritual signature and pull it away from foreign objects. It was more reliable than trying to extract the Hogyoku itself.
『And that is exactly why Momo took that form.』
"Captain Unohana! Cover Captain Hitsugaya's ears!" Urahara shouted.
Even if he was unconscious, Toshiro could not be allowed to hear this. The truth was so sickening that even the normally composed Urahara was visibly shaken.
Sosuke Aizen spoke the truth with genuine delight.
『The Hogyoku I gave Momo... the "materials" sacrificed to create it... were countless cloned souls of Momo herself.』
Silence.
Some Captains began to shake; others clutched their own bodies as if trying to keep their souls from escaping. They stood paralyzed, forced to process the ultimate blasphemy Aizen had committed.
Cloning—the act of replicating a soul—was the ultimate taboo in the Soul Society. A soul is what makes an individual who they are. Replicating one was a crime far beyond the creation of artificial souls or Mod Souls.
『Naturally, current technology can only produce soul-replicas with about a fifth of her original power. They are a far cry from a true soul.』
"You... you..."
But the horror didn't end there.
『Indeed. To create a perfect artificial soul of her, I needed a different approach.』
Aizen's next words felt like a curse, defiling the very pride of the Soul Reapers.
『—The "approach" was to take those fragmented soul-replicas of Momo and stitch them together to form a single, unified spiritual body.』
A chill of pure horror swept across the battlefield.
He had taken fragments of souls and sewn them together like a doll or a stuffed animal. And he had done it to the person they loved, hundreds of times over.
"You... you humiliated her to that extent!? AIZEN!"
"I'm glad Captain Hitsugaya is asleep... How much do you want to see them suffer!?"
"This is madness! We cannot let this monster live! DIE!"
The Captains charged at the Great Evil, fueled by a killing intent that bordered on insanity. The thought of such heartless malice being poured into a single girl made them lose all control.
"This is the end! Myo'o, take everything I have! Bankai!"
—Kokujo Tengen Myo'o—
"As a Soul Reaper, I cannot let this stand... Katen Kyokotsu!"
The giant armored samurai and the twin blades of the Kyoraku family struck from above and below. Simultaneously, Urahara and Shinji joined the assault.
"Shinji, cover me! Sting... Benihime!"
—Cero!—
A net of blood-red energy entangled Aizen as a powerful blast of Hollow energy struck him head-on.
"Not finished yet! Hiasobi Benihime: Juzutsunagi!"
Orbs of fire appeared along the net, exploding in a chain reaction that turned the Demon King into a pillar of flame.
Finally, the two masters of speed dived into the inferno.
"Let's go, Soi Fon!"
"Execution... is now in session! Shunko!"
The master and student unleashed their ultimate hand-to-hand technique, clad in lightning and wind. They struck from both sides, slamming every ounce of their spiritual pressure into the enemy.
Slashing, crushing, spirit energy, strikes, Kido—every art known to the Soul Reapers was unleashed in a perfect, synchronized annihilation. They poured their very souls into the attack, desperate to erase the monster before them.
A colossal explosion rocked the town.
Sajin, Shunsui, Kisuke, Shinji, Yoruichi, and Soi Fon waited as the smoke began to clear. They prayed that the feeling of their strikes connecting meant they had finally won.
『I see.』
The cold, emotionless voice shattered their hope.
『What!?』
"It seems that sealing technique was your last card."
Aizen stood in the smoke, perfectly calm. Before the Soul Reapers could even process their despair, he casually swept his sword across the air.
『Agh—!』
With that single, effortless swing, the Gotei 13's battle was over.
"Goodbye, my dear clowns. As far as distractions go, you were at least mildly entertaining."
The blood of the heroes sprayed across the ruins of the fake Karakura Town. As they fell to the scorched earth, the last thing they saw was the white pupal shell falling away from Aizen's face, revealing his handsome, mocking features.
The Demon King, Sosuke Aizen, had finished his stage of the cocoon.
***
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