"What is wrong with that? You and I are both breaking the rules of the world. The only difference is that, just like before, you stopped once you achieved your own goal." Sōsuke Aizen spread his arms. "But that isn't enough. Soul Society doesn't need reform. It needs to be remade. When I stand upon the throne, every rule will be rewritten, and the suffering you endured will never happen again."
"If you were truly trying to make the world better, your twisted reasoning might still make sense." Muten Natsu's eyes were clear. "But you're not."
"Individuals always value their own feelings while ignoring the misfortune of the collective. For the sake of their own happiness, they will even reject a better future for the whole and deny those strong enough to change the world," Sōsuke Aizen said earnestly. "That is exactly what you are doing now."
"From the moment you decided to stand in the heavens, you lost the right to say that." The bone-white armor on Muten Natsu's left arm was already covered in large patches of black. "Someone who truly wants to make this world better wouldn't deliberately inflict suffering, wouldn't cut down his own subordinates, wouldn't disregard individual feelings, and wouldn't ignore individual wills."
Interest appeared on Sōsuke Aizen's face. "Oh?"
"He would bring everyone together, care about everyone, and believe in everyone's strength and wisdom." Muten Natsu raised Myōki. "He would walk among the crowd with everyone else, not stand above them in the heavens."
"Muten Natsu, you really are... exactly as I imagined." Sōsuke Aizen lowered his eyes slightly. "Give you enough suffering, and you produce sparks no one expects."
"You just said the weak sink into beauty, and suffering makes people think..." Muten Natsu's arm armor turned completely black. "Now it's your turn to leave behind the comfort of a smoothly executed plan and reflect on your actions through suffering."
"You say that as if... you can actually do it." Sōsuke Aizen chuckled. "When you fail, how will you look back on these bold words?"
"It doesn't matter." Muten Natsu raised Myōki above his head. "I'm not standing here because I can stop you. I came here because I want to stop you!"
"A useless attack." Sōsuke Aizen raised his blade. "Are you going to try it again?"
A deep blue radiance flashed, shooting in from the distance.
Sōsuke Aizen, already prepared, dodged it with ease. Muten Natsu, however, took the initiative and met the Reishi arrow head-on.
"Bankai. Rin'en Bokukō!"
Viscous Spirit Ink surged into the sky, then fell back down like a pitch-black waterfall. The ferocious Rin'en Bokukō burst from within it and slammed into the unusually powerful Reishi arrow.
Muten Natsu reached up and clawed at his face. A bone-white skull mask covered his cheeks as Hell Flames surged forth, igniting the colliding Rin'en Bokukō and Reishi arrow. Their stable structures were completely destroyed, and the violent power turned into a black fire dragon that roared into Muten Natsu's body.
In the gale stirred up by Reiatsu, layers of black bandages wrapped around his body. The bone-white skull mask on Muten Natsu's face extended downward, covering his neck, spreading to his shoulders and chest, and forming armor that connected to the arm guard on his left arm.
Two vents in the white armor covering his back released wisps of black mist that swayed gently like ribbons.
Muten Natsu's figure flickered. In the next instant, he appeared in front of Sōsuke Aizen and brought his blade down.
Sōsuke Aizen raised his sword to block, instantly unleashing a powerful burst of Reiatsu, intending to forcefully extinguish Muten Natsu's Hell Flames just as he had done back in Soul Society.
But the Hell Flames only wavered. They never went out.
The Zanpakutō raised before him could not withstand Myōki's immense force. Sōsuke Aizen was pushed back against his will, the air creaking beneath his feet.
"So your Bankai can be used this way as well?" Sōsuke Aizen tilted his head. "You've watched long enough, Gin."
"I wasn't just watching." Gin Ichimaru smiled. "You two were having such a good conversation. I didn't want to ruin Captain Aizen's mood."
"Is that so..." Sōsuke Aizen pointed toward the direction the Reishi arrow had come from. "Then go deal with them."
"I wanted to watch a little longer." Gin Ichimaru glanced at Muten Natsu. "But since Captain says so..."
Having locked onto the attackers' Reiatsu, Gin Ichimaru ignored Muten Natsu's attack and charged toward the trio's location.
"Don't worry too much about your companions," Sōsuke Aizen said, blocking Muten Natsu's path. "That is an insult to warriors who have stepped onto the battlefield."
Muten Natsu narrowed his eyes. Spirit Ink surged from his left hand, condensing into the shape of a Bokukō. It passed through Sōsuke Aizen's Zanpakutō and swept across his body.
"Corrosion at this level..." Sōsuke Aizen noticed the ink clinging to him. "It no longer works on me."
"I know." Beneath Muten Natsu's skull mask, his jaw shifted slightly. The instant his teeth clicked together, the ink suddenly ignited into black flames and engulfed Sōsuke Aizen.
"Interesting..." A burst of Reiatsu scattered the Hell Flames, and the wound on Sōsuke Aizen's chest began to heal. "Show me more of your potential, Muten Natsu. While your comrades are still alive."
…
"Ichigo!" Uryū Ishida checked the fallen Ichigo Kurosaki. "I told you not to push yourself, but you just had to do it again... How do you feel now?"
"I..." Ichigo Kurosaki trembled as he stood with Yasutora Sado's support. "I feel like I can do it one more time."
Uryū Ishida said, "...Go ahead and wreck yourself, then."
Yasutora Sado waved his hand, tossing Ichigo Kurosaki toward Uryū Ishida, then raised his arm in front of the two of them and braced his right wrist with his left hand.
A sharp, cold gleam suddenly descended, driving Yasutora Sado backward.
"Whoa, you actually blocked that." Gin Ichimaru lifted his hand slightly, and the absurdly long blade of his Zanpakutō, Shinsō, shrank back into the shape of a short sword. "You've gotten stronger, Ryoka."
"Damn it..." Sweat beaded on Uryū Ishida's forehead. Their previous attacks had drained all three of them badly. Now that they were facing a Captain-class opponent like Gin Ichimaru, winning was out of the question. There was no guarantee they would even survive.
"Don't be so tense." Gin Ichimaru chuckled. "Death... only takes an instant. Shoot to kill, Shinsō!"
The blade extended, its cold gleam closing in within the blink of an eye.
Yasutora Sado raised his arm to block, but the shield on his forearm abruptly vanished.
The two Reishi arrows from earlier had also taken an enormous toll on Yasutora Sado. He no longer had the strength to stop Gin Ichimaru's attack.
"Picking on kids is a bad habit." A great blade swung out and knocked Shinsō aside. A broad, powerful figure stepped in front of the three of them. "Gin Ichimaru."
"Oh my." Gin Ichimaru looked at the man. "It's been a long time, Captain Shiba."
"D-Dad?" Ichigo Kurosaki stared at that broad back in disbelief. "Is that... Dad?"
But that outfit... and what did he mean, Captain Shiba?
Muten Natsu had mentioned something about Shiba before too...
What the hell was going on?
Wearing a black Shihakushō, a tattered white Haori tied over his left shoulder, and holding a Zanpakutō in his hand, Isshin Kurosaki turned his head and glanced at Ichigo Kurosaki.
"Hey... say something..." Ichigo Kurosaki could not read Isshin Kurosaki's expression. "What the hell is... Ugh!"
Ichigo Kurosaki doubled over as a bone-white substance spilled from his mouth and nose.
The rubble beneath Isshin Kurosaki's feet shattered. With a sweep of his hand, he carried all three of them away at once, vanishing right before Gin Ichimaru's eyes.
"Huh? They ran off just like that?" Gin Ichimaru shaded his eyes with one hand and looked around. "They sure are fast. Gone in the blink of an eye. Now what am I supposed to do?"
Gin Ichimaru opened his Reiatsu perception. The first thing he sensed was the battle between Sōsuke Aizen and Muten Natsu. Their powerful Reiatsu clashed against each other, one as still as an abyss, the other like a violently erupting volcano. "That won't do... So you really can't beat Captain Aizen after all..."
Ignoring their Reiatsu, Gin Ichimaru searched in other directions and soon noticed the three people carrying out rescue work.
Orihime Inoue was using Sōten Kisshun at full power. There were too many wounded for her to heal them completely, so she could only do the bare minimum to keep the critically injured alive. Once a severe injury was stabilized, she immediately moved on to the next person.
Rukia Kuchiki's Kaidō healing was not as powerful as Orihime Inoue's Sōten Kisshun, but Sode no Shirayuki's cold could help stabilize injuries as well. Combined with Kaidō, it greatly eased Orihime Inoue's burden.
Retsu Unohana replenished the two of them with Reiatsu while performing emergency treatment on the wounded.
Almost the instant Gin Ichimaru sensed her Reiatsu, Retsu Unohana raised her eyes and looked toward his location.
"Cough!" An indescribable pressure descended out of nowhere. Gin Ichimaru's breath caught sharply, and he coughed twice before recovering.
"The Captain of the 4th Division, huh..." Gin Ichimaru shook his head, avoided Retsu Unohana's direction, and continued searching for Isshin Kurosaki's Reiatsu. "Hmm... His Reiatsu disappeared too. Looks like he put up a pretty strong barrier. Hiding on purpose... What is he doing?"
What Isshin Kurosaki did startled both Uryū Ishida and Yasutora Sado, who were already worried about Ichigo Kurosaki.
He stabbed his blade into Ichigo Kurosaki's chest.
"What are you doing!" Uryū Ishida tried to stop him, but it was already too late.
He stared at Isshin Kurosaki in disbelief and was just about to demand what kind of real father would do something like that, when he remembered being chased all over the place by Ryūken Ishida's Reishi arrows.
Right. He was probably his real father after all.
Isshin Kurosaki pulled out his Zanpakutō. There was no wound left on Ichigo Kurosaki's chest. Instead, the white substance spilling from his mouth and nose solidified, then gradually scattered away.
Ichigo Kurosaki coughed hard twice and sat up with Yasutora Sado's help. "What the hell..."
"It's complicated, so I'll keep it short. You already know your mother was a Quincy, and I'm a Shinigami, so you have both Quincy and Shinigami powers inside you." Isshin Kurosaki kept watch over their surroundings as he spoke quickly. "On top of that, you also have Hollow powers. You should've felt them by now."
Ichigo Kurosaki reached up to touch his face, remembering his earlier fight in the World of the Living against the Arrancar Shawlong, when the being calling itself Zangetsu had taken over his body.
That same feeling had surfaced again just now. But unlike during the fight with Shawlong, this time Zangetsu did not feel like he was trying to take over his body. It felt more like he was trying to devour his soul.
"Hollow powers?" Uryū Ishida frowned. "If he has Hollow powers inside him, how can he use Quincy powers?"
Isshin Kurosaki casually picked up three bricks and stacked them together. "The Hollow power is on the bottom, the Shinigami power is in the middle, and the Quincy power is on top. That's roughly how it works."
Uryū Ishida immediately understood what Isshin Kurosaki meant.
Quincy power and Hollow power conflicted with each other. The Shinigami power served as a buffer between them, which was what allowed Ichigo Kurosaki's Quincy power to function.
The Quincy power acted on the Shinigami power, and the Shinigami power suppressed the Hollow power.
When Ichigo Kurosaki's Quincy power was heavily depleted, it could no longer work together with his Shinigami power to suppress the Hollow power the way it had before.
As a result, the Hollow power broke through the restraints of both the Shinigami power and Quincy power, then surged out.
"I transferred part of my Shinigami power to you and suppressed the Hollow power again," Isshin Kurosaki explained carefully. "But that suppression is only temporary. If you don't want to be devoured by the Hollow, you'll have to fight it yourself."
"...Right!" Ichigo Kurosaki slapped his cheeks. "Got it."
"I know you've got a lot of questions right now..."
"But now isn't the time to talk about them, right?" Ichigo Kurosaki interrupted Isshin Kurosaki. "When you're ready to tell me, take your time and tell me everything... I want to take my time listening too."
"You damn brat..." Isshin Kurosaki grinned and gave Ichigo Kurosaki a firm slap on the shoulder. "You've all done well. Leave the rest to the adults."
He flashed out of the barrier and stood in midair, fixing his gaze on Gin Ichimaru.
"Done catching up already?" Gin Ichimaru's smile was the same as ever. "Your Reiatsu doesn't seem as stable as before. Can you still use Bankai like that?"
"To deal with you..." Isshin Kurosaki raised his Zanpakutō. "I don't need Bankai."
"Wow, scary. I can't afford to let my guard down." Gin Ichimaru turned slightly. "Against you, it looks like I'll have to use Bankai."
The corners of his thin lips curved upward, like a venomous snake showing a cold smile. Gin Ichimaru's narrowed eyes opened slightly as he murmured, "Bankai, Kamishini no Yari."
Whoosh!
With a faint yet piercing sound, everything within a ten-kilometer fan-shaped area in front of Gin Ichimaru was sliced cleanly across the same plane.
High-rises, trees, water towers, railings... all of them were split in two in an instant. Their upper halves flew into the air, then came crashing down under the pull of gravity.