Under the shocked gazes of the crowd.
The indestructible black coffin was forcibly melted and torn apart from the inside!
A pillar of gold-red fire erupted from the coffin, piercing the sky. Carrying a berserk will to incinerate all karma, it completely obliterated the high-level Hado into a sky full of black fragments!
Wherever this gold-red flame passed, the air was burned into nothingness, and black fissures were scorched into space itself.
Even Soya Azashiro's omnipresent Reishi, used to assimilate the Seireitei, let out a sizzling sound the moment it touched the flames.
Then, it was mercilessly evaporated and devoured.
"What kind of fire is this...?"
Not far away, Gin Ichimaru and Byakuya Kuchiki were forced to halt their clash by the sudden, terrifying phenomenon.
Byakuya looked at the gold-red pillar of fire, a rare tremor of shock appearing in his cold eyes.
That was not a fire-type Zanpakuto... or rather, not a fire-type as he understood it.
When his Senbonzakura touched the falling sparks from the fire pillar, he didn't feel the slightest bit of heat or burning.
Yet, when those same sparks landed on Gin Ichimaru opposite him, they genuinely scorched the hem of his clothes...
Just what in the world...
The firelight dissipated.
Asuka's figure slowly emerged from the scorched earth.
The upper half of his Shihakusho had been completely reduced to ashes, revealing muscles like tempered steel.
An ancient sash woven from gold-red flames coiled around his body like a living creature. The black markings attached to his skin had now turned black-gold, looking mysterious and divine.
In his right hand, he dragged a slender, sharp tachi that burned entirely with flowing gold-red light. His left hand and shoulder were completely enveloped by a materialized, massive wolf claw burning with the hellfire of karma.
A phantom flame wolf head, several meters tall, loomed in the air behind him, glaring fixedly at Aizen below.
The wind stopped.
Everyone's gaze converged on the demon god who had crawled out of the Avici Hell.
Ichigo Kurosaki, who had just been separated by Aizen's Kurohitsugi, stared blankly in Asuka's direction.
He then looked down at his own Tensa Zangetsu and frowned in slight dissatisfaction.
"He actually managed to master it?" Yoruichi Shihoin said in disbelief.
In her memory, Asuka was still that exhausted delivery boy, huffing and puffing while learning Hakuda from her.
Sosuke Aizen also stood quietly in place.
He looked at Asuka before him, looked at the roaring wolf phantom, and looked at the gold-red flames that continuously devoured the Reishi in the surrounding space.
His deep brown eyes reflected Asuka's god-like, demon-like posture.
His original coldness, arrogance, and that composure of treating all things as chess pieces...
In this instant, they were provoked by an indescribable emotion.
The corners of his mouth began to twitch slightly.
"Heh..."
At first, it was just an extremely tiny upward curve.
But soon, that curve grew larger and larger...
"Hehe..."
"Hahahaha..."
Suddenly, a burst of somewhat manic, bitter laughter seeped from Sosuke Aizen's throat!
Gin Ichimaru furrowed his brows slightly.
Having followed Aizen for over a hundred years, he had never seen this man reveal such a loss of composure...
"I see... So that's how it is."
Aizen covered half of his face with his hand as he laughed, his laughter filled with self-deprecation.
"...What an absurd irony this is!!"
Aizen suddenly dropped his hand, staring fixedly at Asuka.
That fervent gaze was like looking at the most perfect work of art in the world, looking at the ultimate answer he had pursued his entire life.
"I spent a hundred years of time, plotted countless operations, and sacrificed an unknown number of wandering souls and Soul Reapers... all just to obtain this Hogyoku capable of breaking boundaries!"
"Although encountering you and the miracles around you along the way made the value of this Hogyoku seem somewhat dim, it remains a project I highly value."
"But... Number Seventy-Eight! Asuka!"
Aizen muttered to himself, taking a large step forward as if wanting to touch that miracle from a closer distance.
The newly completed Hogyoku in his chest was emitting a faint blue light.
He pointed at Asuka, his tone filled with admiration and fanaticism:
"Is this your true power? This transcendent form, have you realized it yourself?"
"If you had displayed this form earlier... if I had seen through the essence of your soul earlier..."
"Why would I have expended so much effort seeking answers elsewhere?"
"It turns out the final answer was always in my very first laboratory, always within you..."
Aizen looked toward the deeper parts of the Seireitei, toward the estates of the Five Noble Families.
"As expected, this is the reason they commanded Central 46 and exhausted all efforts to find you..."
"Are you done spouting nonsense?"
Asuka interrupted Aizen, his golden wolf eyes coldly watching the ecstatic man.
The Reiryoku within his body had been pushed to its absolute limit.
With a casual wave of the massive flame wolf claw on his left hand, deep scorched marks were carved into the ground.
"Purifying Karma・Radiant Flash."
Asuka gripped the gold-red tachi tightly and slashed down through the air with all his might.
Crack--!!
A gold-red lightning bolt that pierced heaven and earth exploded from the tip of the blade, sweeping toward Aizen!
Looking closely, this gold-red lightning was not thunder, but was formed by the rotation and condensation of nine Purifying Karma Red Lotuses.
The red lotuses carried the karma of condemnation, swearing to incinerate the villain before them to ash!
However, facing this thunderous strike, Aizen surprisingly didn't move an inch.
For no other reason.
The time had come.
Vmm--!!
At this very moment, the canopy of the sky, which had already been shattered by the intrusion of the Flower Crane Cannon, suddenly began to tremble again.
An ear-piercing shattering sound rang out as space was forcibly torn open from the outside.
Several pitch-black rifts spanning the sky appeared out of thin air, and dozens of massive Menos wearing pale, long-nosed masks poked their heads out from within.
"Gillian?!"
Toshiro, who had just released Daiguren Hyorinmaru, looked up at the sky in shock, not yet understanding what was happening.
Several dazzling pillars of light, displaying an eerie golden-yellow hue, descended from the sky!
A few minutes ago.
In the distance, in the direction of the Central Great Underground Prison.
"Kill--!!!"
A blood-soaked Kenpachi Zaraki swung his battered Zanpakuto, letting out a maniacal laugh brimming with fighting spirit.
Ever since being defeated by Ichigo Kurosaki, Kenpachi had felt restless all over, itching for another fight.
Thus, just as Aizen had predicted, he made his way all the way to the Central Great Underground Prison, intending to rescue the Ryoka accomplices to use as guides to find Ichigo's location.
Unfortunately, he 'coincidentally' ran into Captain Sajin Komamura of the Seventh Division and Captain Kaname Tosen of the Ninth Division, who were investigating the mole here.
"Come on! Komamura! Tosen! Both of you, come at me together!!"
Kenpachi laughed maniacally, viciously slashing forward once again.
"Arrogant fool!"
Opposite him, the towering Sajin Komamura was also looking quite battered at this moment.
His iconic woven bamboo helmet had already been cleaved apart by Kenpachi's blade during the fierce battle, revealing a majestic and furious wolf head.
Komamura held his Zanpakuto, Tenken, horizontally across his chest. Behind him stood the phantom of a massive, mountain-like black-armored warrior.
"In that case, I shall grant you the slaughter you desire! Kenpachi Zaraki!"
"Bankai・Kokujo Tengen Myo'o!"
BOOM--!!!
Two terrifying forces collided in midair, erupting into a devastating shockwave.