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As the ranking continued, the moment the opening scene became clear, not only Gin and Tōsen, but even Aizen's expression changed dramatically.
The three of them exclaimed almost in unison:
"How is this possible?!"
"Yamamoto… he actually lost an arm?!"
Shock.
Aizen's pupils shrank violently.
Reflected in his dark eyes was the towering back of the Captain-Commander, and the empty left sleeve of his shihakushō, fluttering in the air where an arm should have been.
At that sight, all three felt as if they'd been struck by lightning.
Their bodies stiffened, faces frozen in disbelief and dread.
Is this… real?
In those brief recap scenes just now, the Captain-Commander had only begun to show his true strength.
Whether it was his Zanpakutō or his hand-to-hand combat, calling him "invincible" didn't feel like an exaggeration at all.
After watching those moments, one thing was clear.
As things stood, Aizen—still at the very peak of the Shinigami world, yet not having transcended it—wouldn't dare say he had absolute confidence facing the old man head-on, even if he knew everything in advance.
In Aizen's view, there were only two ways to defeat that old man.
First, outsmart him.
But the Fire-Extinguishing Prince's failure had already proven that this path was a dead end. In the face of absolute power, any schemes or tricks were nothing more than laughable parlor tricks.
Second,fully fuse with the Hōgyoku.
By relying on the Hōgyoku's power to shatter the limits of a Shinigami and ascend to a higher dimension, one could finally surpass the old man in spiritual pressure and suppress him completely.
Only that would work.
At that thought, a bold speculation surfaced in Aizen's mind.
Could it be…
That in the future, he had already perfectly fused with the Hōgyoku—and defeated old man Yamamoto head-on?
That was the only explanation that barely made sense of what they were seeing now.
From the very start of the scene, the Captain-Commander was already missing an arm. Clearly, this was the aftermath of the Karakura Town battle.
"Captain Aizen…"
Snapping out of his shock, Ichimaru Gin narrowed his eyes and chuckled softly. "Looks like that thing you've always wanted—'weakening the Captain-Commander'—really did come true in the future, huh?"
"Indeed," Aizen replied calmly, unfazed by the teasing. "But even with one arm gone, Yamamoto's presence is still overwhelming. He still stands at the very pinnacle of the Shinigami. No one can afford to take him lightly."
Those were Aizen's true feelings.
Even missing an arm, the old man still radiated an immense pressure that made Aizen wary from the depths of his heart.
Just then, the video took a sudden turn.
—Shua!
The camera shifted, focusing on the area behind the Captain-Commander.
At some point, more than a dozen figures dressed in white uniforms had silently appeared there.
"These are… pure-blood Quincies from the Wandenreich!"
Thanks to the previous segments, the Wandenreich, the Sternritter, and the abilities of pure-blood Quincies had already been mostly revealed.
So the moment the audience saw those familiar uniforms, they recognized them instantly.
And felt even more shocked.
"They actually dare to openly invade the First Division barracks right in front of the Captain-Commander? Are they challenging the strongest Shinigami of the past thousand years?"
Then, when they realized the setting was the First Division's office, the shock hit them all over again.
Invading the First Division. Provoking the Captain-Commander.
That was like pulling a tiger's whiskers—plain suicide.
If a tiger were that easy to mess with, it wouldn't be the king of beasts.
"Hmph…"
"I don't know what kind of incident cost me an arm," the Captain-Commander's voice rang out from within the office, heavy with anger and surprise. "But for these vermin who skulk in the shadows to dare confront me directly… that, I truly did not expect."
It had been nearly a thousand years, hadn't it?
It had been a very long time since anyone had dared provoke him to his face.
At that moment, among the group of pure-blood Quincies, their leader spoke from behind a white mask, his voice low and cold.
"You…"
"You must be the Captain-Commander of the Gotei Thirteen. Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni, correct? We are here under orders to inform you of something."
Hearing this, most of the viewers in front of the translucent screen suddenly understood.
So this was it.
The beginning of the Thousand-Year Blood War.
The opening act of the final battle that would claim countless lives.
"Captain-Commander, my deepest apologies!"
"It must have been my carelessness that allowed the pure-blood Quincies to infiltrate the office…" In front of the screen, Sasakibe Chōjirō bowed deeply in apology. As the vice-captain of the First Division, he instinctively believed this future tragedy was the result of his own failure.
"Chōjirō, it's fine. Perhaps you were simply out on an errand at the time. Don't dwell on it," the Captain-Commander said, giving a small nod for him to rise.
However—
BOOM!
A deafening explosion of splintering wood suddenly rang out.
The audience watched in stunned silence as an enormous blade of reishi smashed through the office wall, its edge razor-sharp as it slammed deep into the structure.
Pinned to the wall by the tip of that blade was something else.
A pale figure, drenched in blood, barely clinging to life.
"That's…"
The Captain-Commander raised his head and narrowed his eyes.
The moment he recognized the face of the dying man, the old body that had steadied Seireitei like an anchor for a thousand years began to tremble uncontrollably.
"Chōjirō!!!"
The cry burst from his throat, every syllable thick with shock.
His eyes, usually half-lidded, flew wide open in terror as he stared at the screen.
"Captain-Commander… I…"
Frozen in place, Sasakibe could only stare at the sight of his future self on the brink of death. The blade had torn through his throat, blood pouring endlessly from the corner of his mouth.
His heart went ice-cold.
So it wasn't carelessness or dereliction of duty that let the Quincies into the office.
It was because… I was already about to be killed?!
Despair swallowed him whole.
Even knowing this was the future, the sheer realism of the scene drained all strength from him. His thoughts went blank, his mind short-circuiting entirely.
"Damn it… those bastards!!!"
The Captain-Commander clenched his fist in fury.
A man who rarely let anything shake his composure, he finally let a curse slip under the weight of his anger.
The cane in his hand, wrapped in rattan, seemed to swell violently at that very moment.
As if Ryūjin Jakka were on the verge of being unleashed.
And yet—
What followed was even more infuriating.
The pure-blood Quincies' declaration of provocation drove his rage straight to its limit.
"Do not mourn. There is no need for sorrow."
"You should instead sing praises for his sacrifice. He has shown you Shinigami a bright future—one where, after resisting with everything you have, you still die in utter despair."
"Remember this well, Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni…"
"In five days, you and the entire Gotei Thirteen will be completely annihilated by the Wandenreich!!!"
…
In the real world, before the translucent screen.
After hearing that arrogantly defiant proclamation, the Captain-Commander's fury instantly maxed out.
"..."
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