Inside Las Noches.
High above the main hall, Aizen sat upon the highest throne, one arm propping his cheek as his calm eyes watched the light-screen before him.
On the screen, multiple images flickered back and forth—violent clashes, surging reiatsu, battle after battle unfolding in rapid succession.
Standing to the side, Gin observed the changes in the footage, his eyes narrowed into a curved slit.
"Oh my, oh my…
What a terrifying fight. With the enhancement in place, the Espada are outright suppressing the Shinigami."
Aizen's gaze drifted across the different frames. After a moment, he spoke quietly:
"A temporary suppression won't change the overall outcome.
"Ulquiorra and the others, as they are now, don't have the power to wipe them out."
"And with Shimo-kun present… causing major casualties becomes extremely difficult."
Gin's expression showed a hint of puzzlement.
"If that's the case… won't we be leaving Hueco Mundo's forces too thin?"
Aizen's fingers tapped the armrest—heavy, dull knocks echoing.
"Before I answer that," Aizen said mildly, "let's have some black tea, Gin."
Gin froze for a beat, then went to the side chamber connected to the hall and returned with a teapot and cups.
The sound of tea pouring into porcelain rang especially clearly in the empty hall.
Aizen lifted his cup, took a small sip, and asked:
"Gin… what do you believe Hueco Mundo's 'combat power' truly is?"
Gin tilted his chin up slightly, thinking for a moment.
"Including myself… the Espada and the Arrancar are Hueco Mundo's main fighting force."
Aizen's lips curved faintly.
"Hollows are merely tools for wartime.
"They are not the same as you."
"When I ascend to the heavens… you will be the only one at my side who gets to witness it."
Gin's eyes flickered. He lowered his head slightly.
"It would be my honor."
Aizen set his cup down and continued:
"Ulquiorra and the others only need to do one thing—delay Shimo-kun and his group."
"As long as they buy enough time… that's sufficient."
Gin's heart stirred, recalling certain things Aizen had done earlier.
"Does this have to do with that final experiment?"
Aizen nodded.
"Although the final Arrancar has already been created… it still lacks a step before it reaches its ultimate form."
With Gin, Aizen didn't bother hiding it.
Gin's fingers flexed slightly, as if he'd connected several threads in his mind. After a long pause, he let out a soft breath and smiled.
"Then should we move on Karakura Town now?"
Aizen's gaze remained placid.
"No. Not yet—this isn't the best timing."
"I want to see whether Mantikor can force Shimo-kun to reveal another card."
As he spoke, Aizen's eyes returned to the screen above.
In one frame, two figures stood facing each other.
Compared to the frantic battles in the other frames, this one was… quiet.
So quiet it felt unnatural.
---
Hueco Mundo — Inner Ring
A colossal dark-green barrier covered the white desert, swallowing an area that stretched for thousands of miles.
The instant Captain-class reiatsu erupted, the weaker animal-like Hollows near the battlefield were instantly broken down into reishi and scattered into the air.
"Let's begin our fight."
Mantikor's zipper-like mouth opened and closed repeatedly—yet the voice came from his abdomen.
"Kyōraku Shimo… I can't hold back my urge to battle anymore!"
The moment his words fell, his reiatsu burst outward like a tidal wave.
A deep-purple, solidified pressure flooded the area—covering several miles in a heartbeat.
At that overwhelming surge, every other battlefield stalled for an instant.
Both sides—Espada and Shinigami alike—turned their eyes toward Shimo's direction.
"Mantikor… that bastard was hiding this much?"
"Even with a threefold boost, this is insane!"
"The 'Tenth Espada' isn't his full strength!"
"After the Shinigami are dealt with, I'm fighting that guy once—no matter what!"
The Espada reacted with excitement and aggression.
The Shinigami, however, felt something else:
Worry.
Most of them had ties to Shimo—some deeper than others. They didn't say it out loud like Nel did… but it was carved into their hearts all the same.
Feeling that terrifying reiatsu, their eyes inevitably carried a trace of unease.
"…He'll be fine, right?"
"Shimo, that guy…"
"The one who beat me won't fall here!"
Shimo lifted his head, watching the purple tide of pressure spear into the sky.
"Tch… looks like Aizen prepared thoroughly for me."
Mantikor's mouth split wider, and within it, teeth seemed to wriggle and shift.
"Aizen-sama's strength… do you really think you can understand it?"
His jaws suddenly opened to a twisted angle.
He shoved both hands inside his own mouth, and after a moment—
He pulled out a Zanpakutō.
The blade was slick with saliva, nauseating to look at.
Mantikor didn't care.
He gripped the hilt with both hands, and his reiatsu climbed another tier.
"Oh, right."
A savage grin twisted across his face. His eyes brimmed with cruelty and manic confidence.
"I forgot to tell you."
"The Arrancar Domain's boost to my power…"
"Is tenfold."
BOOOOM!
His reiatsu exploded again—multiplying in a sudden leap.
With Sonído, his body vanished from where he stood.
Shimo's eyes shone like starlight—no surprise on his face at all.
He extended a hand and spoke softly:
"Bakudō #81: Dankū."
BANG!!
A thunderous impact slammed into the transparent barrier.
The air rippled. The surrounding pressure fluctuated violently.
Mantikor swung his Zanpakutō more like Kenpachi did—in his hands, it wasn't a sword at all, but a hammer… or a great axe.
Mad, brutal strikes crashed down on Dankū's shield.
Within only a few breaths, countless cracks spread across the barrier, as if it might collapse at any moment.
"Hahahaha—Kyōraku Shimo!"
Mantikor roared with laughter. "Is that all you've got?!"
"You're disappointing me! Aizen-sama thought you were worth watching!"
"DIE!"
As his assault surged forward again—
Shimo's reiatsu finally erupted.
BOOOOM!!
KRAK—KRRRK!!
A sickening sound of bones breaking rang from Mantikor's body.
His airborne form fell like a meteor—
BOOOOM!!
A crater-like pit was smashed into the white sand, swallowing him whole.
Black reiatsu spread over him like a mountain's weight, pinning him so hard he couldn't even rise.
"Tenfold reiatsu enhancement…"
Shimo stood at the rim of the crater, his indifferent gaze fixed on Mantikor—bones fractured in multiple places.
"…And that's it?"
The contempt in his tone was a blade, stabbing straight through Mantikor's pride.
Mantikor let out a beastlike growl, his eyes bloodshot.
He tried to resist—yet he couldn't even move a finger.
Shimo's overwhelming pressure had reached the limit of what he could endure.
Under that crushing force, the Hierro he boasted about… the reiatsu he prided himself on… meant nothing.
Crackling blasts sounded across his body—violent pops that were horrifying to hear.
Even amid their own battles, the others were watching.
Aizen had specifically warned them about Shimo—and what Shimo displayed now planted fear in their bones.
Blood seeped from Mantikor's pores.
In unbearable agony, he screamed.
"GAAAHHHHH—!!"
Maybe it was a burst of desperate potential.
Maybe Shimo loosened his suppression by the slightest margin.
But at the brink of death, Mantikor finally forced his Zanpakutō upright and roared—his voice shaking the battlefield:
"Devour… Gluttonous Manticore!"
BOOOOM!!
In the instant his words fell, a savage purple reiatsu erupted from the blade and surged skyward, completely wrapping Mantikor inside it.
His wounds closed in moments.
High-Speed Regeneration.
At the same time, his body underwent violent transformation.
The human-shaped Mantikor dropped low as his limbs thickened with bulging muscle.
White bone spread from the zipper on his face, crawling backward—
gathering at the base of his spine, forming a thick, white scorpion tail.
KRRK… KRRK…
His back split open in two long tears, and black bone structures burst out—
unfurling into grotesque wings that spread wide enough to cover the entire crater.
The once-human Mantikor had become a mythic monster—
a scorpion-lion.
And his reiatsu surged again, multiplying until it could finally resist Shimo's crushing pressure.
He climbed out of the crater step by step, thick limbs plated with bone.
Beneath the zipper-mask, teeth grew wildly, flashing with cold light.
His blood-red eyes locked onto Shimo.
"I'm going to chew you to pieces… little by little… and swallow you whole!"
Mantikor's roar echoed.
Shimo's expression didn't change.
"So this is your trump card?"
"…Lame."
He never intended to kill this new Espada with reiatsu suppression alone.
If nothing else, Mantikor was clearly a tool Aizen had designed specifically for him—Shimo could sense it in the nature of his pressure.
What mattered now was testing how it worked.
Shimo extended his hand.
Pale-blue reiatsu gathered in his palm.
Sand and grit exploded upward, forming a white dust storm that slowly buried the crater behind Mantikor.
Shimo aimed his palm directly at the beast and spoke lightly:
"Hadō #88: Hiryū Gekizoku Shinten Raihō."
BOOOOM—!!
A gigantic blue-white beam detonated from his palm, thunder coiling around it with impossible force.
Even the dark-green Arrancar Domain was dyed blue-white for a moment.
But Mantikor didn't flinch.
He opened his blood basin of a mouth—dense, jagged teeth on full display, a terrifying sight—
And the roaring thunder cannon was swallowed whole.
Shimo's eyes narrowed slightly in surprise.
"So that's your trump card."
He could clearly sense it:
The instant Hadō #88 touched Mantikor's mouth, the reiatsu's properties changed.
Under those teeth, the massive spiritual power became Mantikor's food.
As the thunder cannon was devoured, Mantikor's own reiatsu climbed higher and higher.
Shimo's brow twitched.
Now he understood the Espada's special nature.
"An Arrancar created specifically to counter my reiatsu traits…?"
Mantikor closed his mouth, looking satisfied.
"Delicious."
"As long as reiatsu pressure can't crush me… all your attacks are meaningless!"
"Accept death, you insignificant Shinigami!"
"Pray! Cry! Feel your own pathetic insignificance!"
His howls shook the air.
The phrase "drunk on success" fit him perfectly.
Shimo raised an eyebrow, his expression turning oddly amused.
"Blind power has made you arrogant."
"But since when did you start believing… my attacks can't affect you?"
Mantikor froze.
A bad premonition surged from the depths of his gut.
Shimo slowly drew his Zanpakutō.
A cold gleam slid along the blade.
"If you want to see it…"
"Then open your eyes."
"Don't blink."
He lifted his gaze, locking onto the Arrancar Domain above, and smiled faintly.
"Suspend the space… Akatsuki."
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