"Arrogant? Perhaps."
The Reigai Aizen lowered his gaze slightly, seemingly unaffected by the previous remark.
"But in my view, the greatest advantage of the entity known as 'Aizen Sōsuke' is not his superhuman intellect or talent."
"It is the mindset of treating all people and things as mere tools."
"The moment you viewed Naraku Sora as a close friend, that mindset was no longer pure."
"In contrast, as a Reigai clone, I possess the exact same intellect, talent, and even strength as you."
The Reigai Aizen slowly raised his eyes, staring directly into those brown pupils as he enunciated every word:
"Without relying on Naraku Sora's power, I can still stand at this current height, and even ascend to the higher heavenly throne to stand at the very pinnacle!"
"The truly arrogant one is you!"
Hearing this, Aizen said nothing. His calm gaze simply shifted into one of pity, as if he were looking at an incompetently raging loser.
That needle-like gaze pierced viciously into the clone's heart, instantly twisting the expression on his face.
"Aizen Sōsuke!!"
"What is with that look?!"
Aizen smiled, replying calmly,
"I merely felt a bit of unwarranted pity for a pathetic worm."
"A clone is ultimately just a clone. Even with the power of a Spirit King fragment, you are still nothing more than a clumsy imitation."
The Reigai Aizen's breath hitched. His expression instantly twisted into one of extreme ferocity. Unconcealed killing intent surged wildly, causing the surrounding temperature to plummet.
"As long as I kill you, everything will belong to... me!"
Before he could finish, his figure vanished from the spot, flashing right in front of Aizen. In the instant a cold light erupted, his blade was drawn, slashing forward with ferocious momentum.
*Clang!*
The instantaneous clash of metal sparked with intense heat. The colliding blades produced a scalp-numbing screech of friction.
Waves of air exploded outward layer by layer. The surging shockwaves cracked the street beneath their feet.
Just as stated before, the Reigai Aizen had copied everything from the original. His materialized Reiatsu surpassed almost all the Captains, truly standing at the apex of Soul Reapers.
Because he possessed nearly identical memories, he understood the real Aizen perfectly.
Therefore, he didn't hold back; the moment he struck, it was with the force of a thunderbolt.
A tempest of speed was unleashed, resulting in an unknown number of fierce clashes in a mere instant.
First, countless sparks bloomed, followed by a terrifying force expanding from the center, instantly carving out a crater a thousand meters in diameter.
The earth caved in, and spiderweb-like fissures continued to spread outward.
But soon, the Reigai Aizen noticed something was wrong.
He had clearly unleashed all his power and Reiatsu, and he even had the upper hand. Even if he couldn't completely suppress his opponent, shouldn't they at least appear evenly matched?
So why was he the one constantly being pushed back?
*Boom!*
Like a heavy hammer smashing down, it howled through the air.
*Crash!!*
His blade was blocked, but at the same time, the Reigai Aizen felt his body becoming increasingly sluggish. It was as if the surrounding gravity was constantly increasing, requiring him to exert even more strength for every single movement.
"Hadō #63. Raikōhō."
During their stalemate, a brilliant golden light bloomed in an instant, as if a blinding sun had risen from his fingertips.
*Rumble!!*
The violent thunder was deafening. The explosive lightning closed in instantly, striking Aizen with absolute precision—
Or rather, the Dankū barrier in front of him.
"I thought you would use something like Black Coffin, but to think it would actually be Raikōhō."
Aizen shook his head, a flash of disappointment in his eyes.
As expected, one shouldn't place too high of an expectation on a clone.
Although he had discovered the power of the Spirit King within Aikawa Love's soul while studying him earlier, it was not enough to bridge the gap between a clone and the original.
The claim of being 'exactly the same' was merely an exaggeration.
The stronger the original, the greater the disparity in the resulting Reigai.
What a dull technique.
"Seeping crest of turbidity, arrogant and untamed vessel of lunacy!"
"Boil forth, deny, grow numb, flicker, disrupt sleep!"
"Crawling princess of iron, eternally self-destructing doll of mud, unite, repulse, extend to the earth, and know your own powerlessness!!"
The Reigai Aizen raised his left hand. Taking advantage of his opponent being delayed by the Raikōhō, he chanted the entire Kidō incantation in one breath.
Reiatsu surged forth like a bursting dam, instantly covering the entire battlefield.
Pitch-black darkness rose from the ground, transforming into solid iron walls that surrounded Aizen.
Looking at the instantly formed Black Coffin, Aizen seemed to think of something, the corners of his mouth curving up slightly.
Silent Reiatsu flowed like water, gurgling as it wrapped around the blade.
Straight black streaks emerged from all around, instantly weaving into a mottled patchwork of lines. The air suddenly grew heavy, like surging quicksilver.
He raised his gaze and swung his arm to slash.
Pitch-black sword pressure erupted from the blade. In an instant, the street plunged into darkness, and the surroundings fell dead silent, as if even sound itself had been severed.
Seeing this, a flicker of panic finally flashed in the Reigai Aizen's eyes.
Whether due to habitual thinking or some other reason, when pulling out his trump card, he had subconsciously resorted to a fully chanted Black Coffin.
However, he had overlooked this technique of Kidō fusion.
Seeming to read his opponent's mind, Aizen smiled. "This is the difference between you and me."
The moment his voice fell, the pitch-black sword pressure cleaved through the towering Black Coffin. With its residual power undiminished, it charged straight toward the Reigai Aizen's position.
A streak of darkness swept past.
The incantation-abandoned Dankū barrier shattered instantly, turning into countless Reishi that scattered around. Survival instincts pushed the Reigai Aizen to unleash a Flash Step to its absolute limit.
But there was a gap in their power after all, and he simply couldn't dodge in time.
Compared to the Black Coffin technique he had mastered before, the current area of effect was far too large.
The pitch-black sword pressure was like a crescent moon in the sky. Even though it only grazed him, it sliced the Reigai's body cleanly in half at the waist.
Blood sprayed out like a fountain, instantly dyeing the ground red.
"It is over, Modified Soul."
Aizen used Flash Step to arrive beside the Reigai, raising his Zanpakutō to finish him off completely.
Facing impending death, the Reigai Aizen suddenly calmed down. No longer hysterical, a smile even resurfaced on his face.
"Lord Aizen, blindly trusting others comes with a heavy price."
Hearing this, Aizen raised an eyebrow, a flash of unquestionable confidence in his eyes.
"With that guy's intelligence, he can't deceive me."
The Reigai Aizen fell silent instantly.
If they were going to talk like this, there was no way to continue the conversation.
But during this brief pause, a Reiatsu highly familiar to both of them suddenly intruded upon the battlefield.
"Hmm? You have one too?"
Naraku Sora stood on the roof, looking down at the messy scene with a somewhat disappointed expression.
"Kagerōza's taste is truly quite poor. I searched the entire Seireitei and couldn't find a clone of myself."
Aizen: "..."
Was having an identical copy of oneself made by someone else really something to be happy about?
However, just as he was about to issue a warning, the Reigai Aizen on the ground seemed to suddenly think of something. His eyes immediately lit up. Releasing his Reiatsu, he forcibly glued his severed body back together, and at the same time, under the sunlight—
He raised his Zanpakutō toward Naraku Sora.
A sound like shattering glass echoed. Terrifying Reiatsu instantly blanketed the entire battlefield, swallowing Naraku Sora within it.
Aizen's breath hitched.
An unexpected situation had occurred.
Just as a certain someone often said, villains die from talking too much.
Just a little bit of curiosity had caused things to take an unpredictable turn.
Kyōka Suigetsu's Complete Hypnosis took effect based on the strength of one's Reiatsu.
And his greatest strength was his Reiatsu.
In this regard, even Naraku Sora was far inferior.
"Hmm?"
Naraku Sora clearly noticed the anomaly as well. The environment before his eyes underwent a subtle change.
The Aizen who had been lying in a pool of blood vanished. In his place, two identical figures stood amidst the ruins.
Whether it was their appearance, Reiatsu, or aura, the two were like copy-and-paste replicas. It was impossible to tell the difference.
"Lord Aizen, just as you said earlier, you are close friends who trust each other."
"So I want to conduct an experiment to see if Naraku Sora can distinguish..."
Before the Reigai Aizen could finish his sentence, he saw a certain someone reveal a ferocious, demon-like smile.
"It doesn't matter if I can't tell real from fake."
"No problem, I'll just beat up both of you equally!"
Reigai Aizen: "?"
No, wait, what about your friendship? What about the bond between you two?
Isn't this playing out completely wrong?!
Aizen sighed deeply, saying helplessly,
"If you could guess what this guy is thinking, then you wouldn't be a clone of 'Aizen Sōsuke' anymore."
Before his voice even faded, scorching heat suddenly ignited on Naraku Sora's body. His Reiatsu acted as fuel, distorting the surrounding air and causing his figure to abruptly blur.
Black and red arcs of electricity emerged, wrapping around his arms and dancing wildly.
Taking a single step, he instantly appeared right in front of the two of them.
Pulling his arm back, his joints emitted a sound like grinding metal. Abundant power surged wildly as he threw a punch without holding anything back.
Physical strikes and Reiatsu shockwaves erupted in succession, forming a silhouette of destruction. Advancing inch by inch with unstoppable momentum, it completely and utterly obliterated the Reigai clone.
"Chirping on and on about friendship and bonds."
Having easily disposed of the Reigai, Naraku Sora rolled up his sleeves and scoffed disdainfully.
"So what if it's Complete Hypnosis? What father in the world can't recognize his own son?"
"?"
Looking at the smug man, Aizen pushed up the glasses on the bridge of his nose, his face completely expressionless.
"Hadō #90. Black Coffin."
Pitch-black iron walls rose from the ground, instantly swallowing a certain someone within. Terrifying Reiatsu, like the overturning of heaven and earth, poured out without reservation.