Sōkyoku Hill – At the Summit
Breaths halted once more.
Aizen stood with absolute confidence, clapping slowly, amusement gleaming behind the shine of his glasses.
Behind him, Ichimaru Gin lingered with his ever-present smile, and Tōsen stood expressionless, a mask of cold indifference.
"Oh, don't look at me like that…" Aizen said with mocking gentleness, stepping forward. "I didn't mean to interrupt… your words were truly sincere and moving. Especially yours, Ren-kun."
The atmosphere quivered beneath a faint yet suffocating reiatsu. It wasn't loud like Ren's, but it spread across the hill like a spider's web—binding the breath and planting doubt into the mind.
"How?!" Suì-Fēng cried, whipping her head up. "How are you still alive?!"
"Do you truly believe anyone among you is qualified to kill me?" Aizen sneered, his gaze sweeping over them from above. "As for the corpse you saw… merely a simple illusion."
As he spoke, Aizen raised his hand slightly, and the corpse they had all seen days ago materialized—still dripping with fresh blood.
Of course, it was only an illusion, yet it had felt utterly real to every single one of them. Such was Kyōka Suigetsu's true power: complete domination over the five senses.
"As you can see…" Aizen murmured, his eyes fixed on the corpse as it dissolved into particles of light. "All it took was a single moment. A single glance at my blade… and it was over."
Suì-Fēng grit her teeth, sweat streaming down her brow despite the cold air. Minds faltered all around—if Aizen had truly survived, if he had seized control of the senses of everyone who had witnessed him… then how much of what they considered reality was nothing more than falsehood?
"And why reveal yourself now?" Yamamoto asked, voice quiet yet laced with fire.
Aizen slowly turned his head toward him, a faint smile still carved on his lips.
"Because this play has run its course. My time in Soul Society is almost up… and I have taken what I needed."
"You speak as though you intend to leave!" Kyouraku shouted, lifting his hat slightly, his gaze shadowed.
"That is precisely what I intend." Aizen answered calmly—then suddenly, another Aizen appeared beside Rukia, his hand buried gently in her chest.
Shocked cries tore the silence.
"RUKIA!!" multiple voices screamed, horror etching their faces.
Yet Rukia herself made no sound—not even a groan.
She stood frozen, pale, her eyes wide in disbelief.
And from the hand Aizen slowly withdrew from her chest, a small, dark orb emerged, its core pulsing with faint violet light.
"Since you have what you came for, leave now," Ren's cold voice rang out as he pulled Rukia back before Aizen could act further. "Or I'll make you regret ever trying to toy with us."
"Ren…" Rukia whispered weakly. Though unharmed, she felt drained, her body weakened as the violet sphere was ripped from within her.
"There's no need to speak," Ren said quietly, his gaze fixed on Aizen, even as he sensed the approach of several powerful reiatsu signatures closing in fast.
"RUKIA!!" Ichigo's voice echoed across the hill as he appeared with Tatsuki and the others.
"Perfect timing," Ren smirked faintly, hefting Rukia onto his shoulder before hurling her toward Ichigo like a cannonball.
As she soared through the air, the stormy skies above Sōkyoku Hill seemed to part for her, opening a path. A cold smile tugged at Ren's lips.
"Catch her, Ichigo," he said in a voice barely audible amidst the rising storm of reiatsu surging from his body.
Ichigo stretched his arms wide, just managing to catch the barely-conscious Rukia.
"Rukia!! Are you alright?!" Ichigo cried, worry flooding his face.
Rukia didn't answer. Her body shivered in his grasp.
"Get away now!" Ren shouted louder as he advanced steadily toward Aizen. Reiatsu coiled around him like serpents, while golden cracks of light etched themselves into the ground beneath his feet.
"How fascinating to see you grow so much in just two months," Aizen said warmly, his eyes gleaming with the pride of a father praising a child for high marks.
"But unfortunately…" he continued, now truly measuring Ren's weight for the first time, "…that changes nothing."
{ Are you certain you wish to fight him? }
{ This man is a monster in every sense of the word. In your current state, you cannot win, not even if you unleash Bankai. }
Mikazuki's voice rang in Ren's mind. Ren possessed the talent to one day surpass Aizen, but here and now… victory was all but impossible.
"Prepare yourself, Aizen," Ren said without answering Mikazuki, drawing his obsidian blade. In an instant, it flared into a brilliant crimson, no chant, no words spoken—those who had mastered Bankai could call forth Shikai without a name.
"…" Aizen's gaze lingered on the blade with quiet interest, though his face betrayed no reaction beyond silent intrigue.
Swish!
Ren didn't hesitate. He vanished, reappearing in front of Aizen, blade arcing down to cleave him apart.
Ting!
With the same calm composure, Aizen raised his sword and parried the strike effortlessly.
"Oh, is that all you have?" he murmured with a mocking smile, though his eyes lingered on Ren's blindfold. Those strange eyes, hidden beneath, stirred his curiosity unlike anything he had seen before.
"Getsuga Tenshō…" Ren whispered indifferently, his sword still locked with Aizen's. A blast erupted point-blank.
For a brief instant, golden brilliance consumed the blade, and before Aizen's tightening eyes, a roaring Getsuga Tenshō burst forth directly at his face, bypassing the sword restraining Ren's strike.
BOOM!!
A thunderous explosion shook Sōkyoku Hill, the ground trembling violently as smoke and ash engulfed the summit, blotting out all sight.
...
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