A flash of sword-light swept past, and all the Blades of the Soul King surrounding Aizen were reduced to fragments.
Immediately afterward, a beam of light the size of a millstone pierced straight through the head of the Shield of the Soul King. Under the impact of an enhanced Byakurai, the Shield of the Soul King followed in the footsteps of the other tool-like attendants.
The tip of Aizen's Zanpakutō pointed straight at Ōetsu.
In just this single exchange, Aizen had already realized that Ōetsu was the leader among these four.
"Did you really think you could take me down with trash like this?"
Aizen narrowed his eyes. His vast Reiatsu surged toward the four members of Squad Zero like a tsunami.
"Aren't you looking down on me, the challenger, a little too much?"
"I have no intention of looking down on you. They were merely there to buy a little time."
Ōetsu, who was not particularly tall to begin with, raised his head. His presence seemed twice as tall as his actual body.
"I will face you with the utmost seriousness!"
Two black-clad figures flashed to Ōetsu's side. They were Blades of the Soul King, carrying a square box. The box was filled with liquid, and within the liquid floated a Zanpakutō.
As Ōetsu drew out the Zanpakutō, he shouted in an impassioned voice. It was as though a beam of light shone down upon him, making him the most dazzling figure on the stage.
"I am the number one Zanpakutō creator! Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five—then four, three—I am Ōetsu Nimaiya!"
"Those who provoke the Soul King Palace have nowhere to run. From here on, this is Squad Zero's battle!"
Ōetsu likewise pointed his Zanpakutō at Aizen, but his movement caused the blade to tremble faintly.
Was there a mismatch between the blade and the hilt?
That subtle change did not escape Aizen's eyes, but he quickly denied his own thought. How could the creator of Zanpakutō commit such a crude mistake?
There was something strange about that blade.
Both the way it was stored in liquid and the trembling of the blade itself were suspicious.
Aizen was not given much time to think. In the next instant, Ōetsu had already appeared before him.
Clearly, the Shunpo Ōetsu used also possessed its own unique technique. In terms of speed, it was only slightly inferior to Kirinji's golden flash.
Yet Ōetsu, who appeared in front of Aizen, did not unleash some sharp and refined Zanjutsu. Instead, he looked lazy and casual as he swung a horizontal slash toward Aizen.
Compared to his Shunpo technique, this slash from Ōetsu was far too crude. Aizen did not need to spend any effort at all to parry it.
Aizen's pupils suddenly widened.
His Zanpakutō had blocked Ōetsu's attack path.
And yet, it had not completely blocked it.
Silently, without the slightest sound, Aizen's Zanpakutō was cut in two by Ōetsu's blade.
A special Zanjutsu?
No.
The problem was the sword!
The moment Aizen realized where the issue lay, a streak of golden light attacked once more.
It was Kirinji.
He had followed closely behind Ōetsu, launching a fierce assault at Aizen the instant Ōetsu severed his Zanpakutō.
"I have yet to introduce myself. First Officer, Divine General of the East, Hot Spring Demon, Tenjirō Kirinji!"
Along with Kirinji's self-introduction, his offensive became even more ferocious.
For a while, Aizen, who was left with only half a Zanpakutō, could only retreat while parrying. As for counterattacking, his broken half-blade simply could not gain any advantage against Kirinji's long blade.
"Fourth Officer, Divine General of the North, Great Weave Guard, Senjumaru Shutara."
Senjumaru's cool, alluring voice sounded behind Aizen.
One of the golden arms behind her held a long needle, thrusting it toward Aizen.
That was her Zanpakutō, Shigarami.
Senjumaru's attacks did not seem to be aimed directly at Aizen. Each time her long needle was about to pierce him, Aizen avoided it with his movement technique.
Aizen, besieged by two Squad Zero members, did not seem to be having an easy time. There was even a trace of disarray in his movements.
Ōetsu, who had created this situation, revealed a faint smile.
As the creator of the Zanpakutō, Ōetsu knew very well that the vast majority of a Shinigami's combat power lay in their Zanpakutō. That was why he had chosen to sever Aizen's blade right from the start, directly crippling most of his fighting strength.
After that, Kirinji and Senjumaru attacked together. Kirinji suppressed Aizen with speed, while Senjumaru struck by slipping her needle through any opening.
Watching Aizen appear somewhat flustered, Ōetsu proudly introduced the blade.
"This Sayafushi is a failure."
"It is far too sharp, and the blade is far too smooth and flexible. No matter what it cuts, it never chips. That would put every sword polisher out of work. Most importantly, no sheath can be made to contain it. Something like this can't even be called a proper sword, so I never handed it over to the Seireitei."
"Aizen, was it? Thanks to you provoking the Soul King Palace, this blade finally has a chance to appear. For that, I offer you my gratitude!"
Ōetsu's half-explanatory, half-mocking words answered the doubts in Aizen's heart.
In addition, Aizen had already adapted to the attack rhythm of the other two.
He was preparing to counterattack.
At that moment, Aizen suddenly felt his body lighten, as though something had been removed from him.
At the same time, Kirinji's attack rhythm accelerated once more, and his blade stabbed into Aizen's shoulder.
It was not strange that Aizen failed to defend. After all, he was still holding a broken sword.
However, Kirinji's stab seemed to have gone in far too easily. His body's defenses should not have been so simple to pierce.
Aizen raised his hand to touch his body, only to hear Kirinji sneer.
"Figured it out? Too late!"
Kirinji turned and twisted his body, using himself as the axis to fling Aizen high into the air behind him.
In the instant he was attacked by Kirinji, Aizen understood what he was missing.
The Ōken.
The Ōken that had always covered his outermost layer like transparent armor had vanished.
That was why Kirinji had been able to injure Aizen so easily.
Otherwise, with Aizen's reaction speed, he could have sacrificed a portion of the Ōken and launched a counterattack against Kirinji.
The one who had cut his sword was Ōetsu.
That left only one person who could have unknowingly removed the Ōken from him.
Senjumaru Shutara, known as the Great Weave Guard.
It seemed the Great Weave Guard was not only skilled in making Shihakushō. She was also highly accomplished in the art of stripping away armor.
No matter.
If the Ōken was gone, then it was gone.
Aizen's confidence had never come from something like the Ōken. His true trump card was the power he possessed after fusing with the Hōgyoku.
Aizen had just been flung away by Kirinji and had yet to stabilize himself when he realized he had collided with a thick tree trunk.
Looking around, he discovered that he had actually been trapped within a cage made of trees.
"Second Officer, Divine General of the South, Grain King, Kirio Hikifune."
Although it was an introduction, Kirio Hikifune's tone was hardly friendly.
She stood before the cage, looking at the man who had bullied her adorable lieutenant. She raised her hand and clenched it fiercely in the air.
This was a technique called Sangai.
The tree cage had been created by Kirio Hikifune using her own Reiatsu.
Under Kirio Hikifune's control, the villa-sized cage rapidly shrank to the size of a room. Its contraction did not stop. Kirio Hikifune intended to crush Aizen to death inside the cage.
This had been planned from the beginning.
The members of Squad Zero had tacitly left Aizen's execution to the enraged Kirio Hikifune. Having long since linked their lives together, they needed no words to communicate. A single glance was enough for perfect cooperation.
Just as Kirio Hikifune's attack was about to succeed, the shrinking cage suddenly stopped.
Not only did it stop—it even began expanding in reverse.
Kirio Hikifune's palm trembled. Her hand was about to be forced fully open. If this continued, the cage would be burst apart.
Kirio Hikifune immediately raised her other hand to her mouth, pursed her lips, and blew. Dozens of seeds flew from her palm, rapidly swelling into thick branches that covered the cage. Only then did she barely stop the cage from rupturing.
Only now did Kirio Hikifune have time to see what had happened inside the cage.
The cage had already expanded to the size of a soccer field, just a little short of completely shattering.
Inside the cage stood an enormous, dark-blue giant, towering between heaven and earth.
It had four arms. Two of them supported the cage, while the other two slowly drew two gigantic tachi.
None of the Squad Zero members present doubted the power of those two massive blades.
Kirio Hikifune's Sangai could not possibly withstand that giant's slash.
It was not only the members of Squad Zero who were shocked by the towering giant.
Far away beneath the Seireitei, in front of the Great Underground Prison beneath the Shin'ō Academy, the group watching the spectacle let out astonished exclamations without restraint.
"Are you kidding me? Aizen can summon such a terrifying giant?" Kensei Muguruma silently calculated how many slashes it would take for that giant to kill him.
"I wonder whether Jakuhō Raikōben would work against it…"
For the first time, Suì-Fēng did not dislike her own Bankai quite so much. Being big did have its advantages. At the very least, when facing an enemy of that size, she would not look quite so much like an ant.
"Interesting. Cutting that thing would definitely feel great!"
Kenpachi Zaraki laughed loudly, wishing he could switch places with the members of Squad Zero right now.
And it was not only Kenpachi Zaraki. After seeing the giant draw its swords, Retsu Unohana's eyes also became brighter.
Unlike the tense situation in the Soul King Palace, the group hiding underground and spying on the battle could freely discuss their thoughts.
And Kisuke Urahara, acting as the main operator, was the first to discover the source of Aizen's power.
"Hey, Tsunayoshi, isn't this the move you used before?" Urahara turned back and asked.
No matter what, Kisuke Urahara could never forget the battle between Tsunayoshi and Aizen at the Soul King Palace.
Urahara's single sentence caused the heated atmosphere to suddenly fall silent.
Everyone's gaze gathered on Tsunayoshi.
Tsunayoshi's eyes were likewise filled with shock.
What shocked him was not that Aizen had copied his technique, but that the scene of the current battle looked somehow familiar.
"Damn. Hashirama Senju versus Madara Uchiha!"
Wasn't that exactly what this was?
Kirio Hikifune's Sangai manifested externally in the form of trees, and Aizen had used Susanoo.
If not for the captains and friends around him, Tsunayoshi might even have thought he had transmigrated again.
"Who are Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha?" Kisuke Urahara sharply noticed the problem in Tsunayoshi's words.
"Huh? Oh, they're characters I came up with for a manga. The battle up there just gave me some new inspiration…"
Tsunayoshi pointed at the screen and bluffed his way through it.
"Really? Tsunayoshi, remember to tell me about your new inspiration when we get back!"
Hearing that it was about manga, everyone lost interest and turned their attention back to the battle between Aizen and Squad Zero.
Only Tatsuki moved closer.
Kisuke Urahara gave Tsunayoshi a deep look but said nothing.
He knew far more information than the others. Perhaps Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha were people from another world…
Tsunayoshi was still quietly explaining the structure of his new manga to Tatsuki.
To put it simply, Tatsuki was now already a well-known manga artist. Many of the short manga she had drawn had long since become popular outside their original circle.
All of those manga were stories Tsunayoshi had told Tatsuki during his free time, one by one. Tatsuki then converted them into manga and released them.
The two of them had long since stopped using their family's money. All their expenses were paid with income from manga.
It was precisely because of this that Tsunayoshi had already decided on his future career.
Once the matter with Yhwach was settled, he would become a plagiarist of stories from another world.
He would write the novels, and Tatsuki would draw the manga.
This was where the benefits of Fullbring showed themselves. Tsunayoshi and Tatsuki could completely control pens directly to write and draw on paper. As long as they had enough energy, they could even use multiple pens at once, with absolutely no need to worry about tendonitis.
But all of that was a story for later.
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