The sudden turn of events brought Ichigo to an abrupt halt.
A Shinigami.
On the way here, he had already caught vague glimpses of figures moving through the air and monstrous creatures that ordinary people couldn't see.
He hadn't understood what they were at first, but after overhearing everything at Urahara Shop, he finally knew the names of those supernatural beings.
Shinigami and Hollows.
And the man who had just grabbed Orihime was a Shinigami.
More importantly, he had specifically targeted her.
Ichigo's thoughts raced as he desperately tried to figure out what he could do, only for a pale pink petal to drift across his vision.
'Cherry blossoms?'
The thought flashed through his mind instinctively, but this wasn't the season for cherry blossoms.
"Scatter, Senbonzakura."
A cold voice rang out, and Tosen's previously calm expression changed at once.
He released Orihime, drew his Zanpakutō without hesitation, and immediately invoked its release.
"Cry, Suzumushi."
Then he went straight to Bankai.
"Bankai: Suzumushi Tsuishiki—Enma Kōrogi."
Darkness descended over the area as an enormous black dome enveloped everything around them.
Inside that darkness, Byakuya gave a cold snort.
He could neither hear the outside world nor make himself heard, but that didn't stop him from reversing his grip on Senbonzakura.
"Senbonzakura Kageyoshi."
Two enormous rows of blades rose from the ground and pierced straight through the darkened space before dissolving into countless pink petals.
"Kaname, you can still stop."
Komamura stood outside the black dome, staring at the Bankai of the man who had once been his closest friend.
Anger flashed through his eyes, but even now he tried one last time to reason with him.
He knew Tosen's Bankai well.
Anyone trapped inside had nearly all their senses stripped away, leaving only touch, while Tosen himself remained able to perceive everything normally.
So Komamura knew his words would reach him.
Tosen simply chose not to answer.
The storm of Senbonzakura swept through the entire black dome and tore it apart from within.
By the time the darkness shattered, however, Tosen was already gone.
So was Orihime.
Ichigo and Chad had not escaped unscathed. Both were caught in the edge of Senbonzakura's attack and suffered serious wounds.
Byakuya immediately looked upward.
Tosen stood high above them with Orihime held in one hand, a Garganta already opening behind him. He turned his blindfolded face toward those below.
"Kuchiki Rukia is not dead. If circumstances allow, she may return someday."
With that expressionless statement, he stepped into the Garganta.
Byakuya vanished in Shunpo and appeared in front of the closing passage, but a slash burst from within before he could pursue.
A second figure emerged.
Ulquiorra.
The Garganta closed behind him as he looked down at the two Shinigami and slowly raised his sword.
…
Elsewhere, Aizen was still fighting Yamamoto when a smile suddenly appeared on his face.
"It seems this place is rather inconvenient for you, Captain-Commander."
Yamamoto immediately understood.
"So your objective has been achieved."
He had already realized that Aizen was deliberately drawing attention and buying time. The smile on his face merely confirmed it.
"Yes."
Aizen disengaged and moved backward, calmly sheathing Kyōka Suigetsu.
"And I should thank you for cooperating so thoroughly. Shall we stop here for now?"
He gestured toward their surroundings.
"After all, I'm no longer your greatest enemy. And unless you fight me with everything you have, you won't be able to keep me here."
His smile deepened slightly.
"But you have no intention of unleashing your full strength in the World of the Living, do you?"
Yamamoto tightened his grip on his Zanpakutō.
He knew Aizen was right.
The barrier had prevented most of the destruction from spreading beyond the battlefield, but everything inside it had already been reduced to ruins despite both of them restraining themselves.
Compared with Aizen, a traitor born from within Soul Society, Cyrus was still the greater threat.
Worse, that greatest threat had yet to appear, and no one knew what he intended to do when he finally arrived.
"Until next time."
Aizen turned away.
"Though perhaps, when we meet again, we won't necessarily be enemies."
He leaped upward, tore through the surrounding barrier by force, and entered a rapidly opening Garganta in the sky.
No one tried to stop him.
Aizen had already demonstrated enough of his strength for them to understand how pointless a reckless pursuit would be.
"Captain-Commander."
Once the barrier was lowered, Soi Fon approached Yamamoto.
"Accelerate the preparations."
His expression was grim.
"This old man has a bad feeling."
Soi Fon's heart tightened, but she simply nodded.
…
The instant Aizen stepped into Hueco Mundo, his entire body tensed.
He spun around and found Cyrus standing nearby with his arms crossed, watching him with a faint smile.
Cyrus looked him over for a moment before nodding.
"Good. Hurry it up."
"I can wait a little longer for you."
Aizen naturally understood what he meant. Cyrus wanted him to accelerate the Hōgyoku's fusion and break through the limits of a Shinigami.
"You're not worried that I might actually obtain that power?"
Aizen studied him carefully.
"Or are you simply so confident that even then, you could still handle me?"
"Of course I'm confident."
Cyrus walked toward him.
"Even if I couldn't beat you, I'd still need enough confidence to try."
He stopped directly in front of Aizen.
"Though honestly, I don't think surpassing the limits of a Shinigami will be enough for you to defeat me. You're welcome to test that yourself."
"Blind confidence is hardly a good habit."
Aizen stared back at him without expression.
"That's true."
Cyrus readily agreed.
"So prove me wrong. Just do it quickly. I'm already starting to get impatient."
Aizen's gaze sharpened.
"So you still haven't found what you came here for?"
"I haven't started looking yet."
Cyrus smiled.
"I'll probably have to wreck this world badly enough before it reveals itself."
He spread his hands almost playfully.
"And since you're one of the natives, shouldn't you be hurrying a little? There's a terrifying outsider standing in front of you openly threatening to destroy your entire world."
Aizen gave him one long look.
Then his figure dissolved like smoke.
Cyrus glanced toward Las Noches before withdrawing his gaze.
"So?"
He spoke casually into the seemingly empty surroundings.
"How did it go? Have fun?"
"You know me."
Starrk stepped out from where he had been hiding nearby, wearing his usual weary expression as he spread his hands.
"I've never liked this sort of thing. If I had a choice, I'd rather I'd never met you at all and could've stayed wherever I was, sleeping."
"Too late for that."
Cyrus sounded entirely unconcerned.
Starrk sighed. The answer was exactly what he had expected.
"Well, the others seemed to enjoy themselves. The losses weren't exactly small, though. There were a lot of strong Shinigami this time."
He began giving Cyrus a brief report on the fighting in the World of the Living.
"They're only Hollows."
Cyrus raised one hand.
"Hueco Mundo has plenty."
Then he lightly tapped the space in front of him with one finger.
Crack.
The space shattered into fragments from that tiny touch.
It immediately began repairing itself, but the process was visibly slower than before.
Cyrus watched the fractures close and narrowed his eyes slightly.
So his suspicion had been right.
Soul Society might be vastly larger than the World of the Living, but the living world seemed to have far greater importance to the stability of this entire reality.
The disturbances there alone had already weakened the structure of the world enough for space itself to become noticeably more fragile.