A cold light flashed, and hundreds of slashes turned into a huge net and crashed forward.
The sturdy barrier instantly shattered, and the slashes arrived before Yhwach and the others.
This time, Yhwach did not resist but flickered and disappeared from where he stood.
The surrounding Sternritters were momentarily stunned, then one after another they reacted and dodged.
However, just then, a surging Time energy enveloped them. Under the effect of the Time energy, many members, led by Haschwalth, had their consciousness fall into a brief blank state. When they came back to their senses, the slashes were already close at hand.
[Congratulations on successfully defeating Äs Nödt, obtaining the purple trait: Fear.]
[Congratulations on successfully defeating Askin Nakk Le Vaar, obtaining the red trait: Deathdealing.]
[Congratulations on successfully defeating Meninas McAllon, obtaining the purple trait: Power Enhancement.]
...
Amidst a series of deafening roars, more than ten notification sounds rang out one after another.
Tatsuma didn't pay attention, not even bothering with the few Sternritters who were lucky enough to survive by relying on their abilities, and cast his gaze towards the other side.
Under the amplification of Time energy, streaks of slashes continuously fell at astonishing speed.
Yhwach summoned his Reishi bow, and various scenes from the future appeared before his eyes.
Unlike the blurry scenes he had seen before, in a face-to-face combat situation, he could finally gaze upon Tatsuma's future.
But modifying the future requires consuming a certain amount of Reiatsu. The greater the difficulty of modifying the future, the more Reiatsu will be consumed.
Erasing Tatsuma's wave of magic bombardment earlier, he had used up nearly one-tenth of his Reiatsu. This terrifying consumption was somewhat beyond Yhwach's expectations in all aspects.
It was precisely because of this that he was forced to abandon the Sternritters and flee alone.
Consuming one-tenth in a single instance, if it happened a few more times after this, there would be no need to fight this battle anymore.
He had to save enough Reiatsu to prepare for defeating Tatsuma later.
"Are you sure you want to hold back in front of me?"
Tatsuma saw through Yhwach's thoughts and flickered, disappearing from where he stood.
Scenes of the future appeared before him, and Yhwach desperately dodged to the right. But before that, a cold light fell first.
The sword edge, gathering Power of Destruction, paused slightly on Yhwach's body surface, then crashed down.
With a tearing sound, Yhwach's left arm flew into the air, severed at the root.
At the same time, a miserable scream sounded from Yhwach's left arm.
[Congratulations on successfully defeating Pernida Parnkgjas, obtaining the purple trait: Winding and Circuitous.]
"Although it was only for an instant, being able to block my attack is commendable."
With a casual magic cannon blast, he annihilated Yhwach's left arm, along with Pernida hidden within it.
Tatsuma turned and looked at Yhwach, who was a hundred meters away and had restored his arm.
"Coming out to see me in person, you're not planning to just keep running away like this, are you?"
"..."
Yhwach did not reply, his expression grim.
Through various channels of information gathering, as well as the images provided by Aizen, he was not completely ignorant of Tatsuma's strength.
However, in his view, the battle situation shouldn't have been like this. By recovering his full power through Ophis' Snake, he should at least be able to fight Tatsuma to a draw, or even gain the upper hand.
But in reality...
Looking at the various situations in the future where he was suppressed by Tatsuma, Yhwach's expression was extremely ugly.
Can't win, absolutely can't win.
From the start of the battle until now, he had been constantly watching the future, searching for an opportunity. But no matter which future it was, facing Tatsuma alone would only result in defeat.
"You don't look like you're in a good state." Just then, Aizen's voice sounded.
Yhwach didn't turn his head, he had already seen the other party's appearance through the future.
"Aizen, I need you to help create an opportunity."
"No problem."
Aizen slowly walked over and drew the already enhanced Zanpakutō from his waist.
"That is... Ryūjin Jakka?!"
Not far away, Shunsui suddenly widened his eyes.
As Yamamoto's disciple, he naturally knew what the other party's Zanpakutō looked like.
But why was Ryūjin Jakka in Aizen's hands?
Didn't Yamamoto, just like them, take a pill containing Hollow power?
"Captain Kyōraku, the preventive measures you could think of, I naturally could think of and devise countermeasures."
As if seeing Shunsui's confusion, Aizen's voice sounded.
He raised the Ryūjin Jakka in his hand and injected the Reiatsu within his body into it.
"Opportunities like this are rare, so let me show you."
"The power originating from Captain Commander Yamamoto."
Bankai: Zanka no Tachi!
A deafening roar sounded, and Aizen's aura broke through its limit, reaching a new peak.
At the same time, with Aizen as the center, the temperature in the air rapidly rose, and the ground melted into lava.
"Is this the trump card you meticulously prepared?"
In the high-temperature inferno, Tatsuma stepped on the lava and slowly walked towards Aizen and Yhwach.
"Compared to Yamamoto, this Zanpakuto has displayed even greater power in your hands."
"Because unlike Captain Commander Yamamoto, I am not fixated on the ways of the Shinigami."
Flames reaching tens of millions of degrees ignited on Aizen's body, forming a layer of feathered robes to protect himself.
Shinigami have limits.
From a long time ago, Aizen clearly realized this fact. In order to break through the limits of the Shinigami and ascend to the throne by replacing the Soul King in the future, he had made many efforts over the years.
The hōgyoku was just one of them. Besides the hōgyoku, he also researched the powers of other systems in this world.
Runes from Norse, Evil Pieces from Devils, and otherworldly technology from the Deva.
Analyzing the powers of many different systems and extracting the useful parts from them.
With such repetition, while Aizen's vision was enhanced, his application of power also far surpassed the original story.
"Come, Tatsuma."
"Before you take another step forward, I will defeat you here."
Several magic arrays appeared under his feet, and Aizen, while receiving comprehensive enhancement, disappeared from his spot.
Three slashes fell from the same angle, causing a collapse of phenomena while simultaneously stabbing towards Tatsuma.
"Interesting."
Tatsuma let out a light chuckle.
The three slashes were not difficult for him. Under the acceleration of time, he could even swing hundreds of times in an instant.
However, no matter how fast he swung his sword, there was still a certain time difference. But Aizen's move was different, the three slashes appeared at the exact same moment without any time difference.
Precisely because of this, the three slashes, completely stacked together, amplified their power to the extreme.
Coupled with the high temperature inherent to Ryūjin Jakka, this strike could even rival the full power of a Chief Deity from a pantheon.
However...
"It's still not enough."
Tatsuma raised his sword and blocked this strike. Without activating any abilities, he blocked this strike relying solely on pure power.
Aizen, who had already anticipated this, paid no mind, and his figure flickered, disappearing from his spot once again. Combining Shunpo and Magic, he turned into a beam of light constantly flashing around Tatsuma.
Ryūjin Jakka coupled with sword techniques honed through countless trials, the combined application of magic and Kidō, and Deva tools.
In order to defeat Tatsuma, Aizen revealed all of his trump cards without reservation.