The battle was about to start, but first. Let's give a shout to our sponsors, Raid Shadow Legends.
Just kidding.
He watched as Aizen finally reached his final form.
His body shimmered with an unnatural light, merging with the Hōgyoku. White armor etched itself across his skin like divine filigree, and his eyes, once calm and calculating, now glowed with raw, transcendent energy. He had become something no longer bound by human limits. Something alien.
Below, Gin stood motionless, sword lowered.
He sighed softly. "I'm sorry."
Rangiku froze mid-swing, her heart skipping. Her blade wavered in her grip.
'Why… why would he say that now?' she thought. Her eyes trembled as she stared at the man she'd chased for years — the man who now looked more distant than ever.
Above it all, Ichigo smiled faintly.
He could feel it.
Aizen's power had tripled, maybe even more. The air around him vibrated from the sheer weight of spiritual energy. Even the atmosphere seemed to buckle under his presence.
This was the strongest opponent he'd ever faced.
And yet, there wasn't a single drop of fear in him.
Just anticipation.
Excitement.
His heart beat steadily. Focused.
'If we fight here, everyone will die…'
He glanced around at the battlefield—captains still engaged in battle, wounded Soul Reapers recovering in the distance, and Karakura Town suspended in the air behind them.
'So... what's the emptiest dimension I know?'
His mind flashed.
Hueco Mundo.
A dry, hollow desert.
Perfect.
His eyes flicked to Urahara, who watched from a rooftop, battered but still standing. For just a second, their gazes met — and the former captain understood.
No words needed.
Urahara flicked his fan open, wind brushing through his blonde hair. With a single swing, he tore open the sky behind Aizen, forming a swirling Garganta.
Aizen turned sharply, eyes narrowing. "What is this?"
Before he could even react, Ichigo was already in front of him.
Faster than sound.
Faster than thought.
His hand crashed into Aizen's face, gripping it like iron. Then — BOOM — they vanished into the Garganta with a pulse of spiraling black.
And just like that, the battlefield fell silent.
Every captain, every lieutenant, every Arrancar paused.
The war had stopped — momentarily — frozen by the force of a single man.
Back in Hueco Mundo, the skies cracked.
Ichigo and Aizen burst through, tearing out of the Garganta in a shockwave of force. Ichigo's grip tightened, and with brutal strength, he hurled Aizen downward.
A pillar of white stone shattered as Aizen slammed into it headfirst.
BOOOOM
Dust rose like smoke.
Jagged debris scattered across the bone-white desert.
Aizen emerged from the crater moments later, unfazed, brushing the dust from his armor. His expression twisted in outrage.
"Why did you bring me back here!?"
No answer.
Ichigo hovered in the air above him, silent.
The wind blew through his black shihakusho, now trimmed with white along the edges, its ragged cloak swaying. Tensa Zangetsu rested in his right hand, the chain wrapped loosely around his wrist.
But what caught Aizen's attention — what made his stomach sink — was Ichigo's face.
Or rather, the transformation across it.
Slowly, deliberately, Ichigo raised his hand over his head.
A familiar mask began to materialize — only this time, it didn't form as a shell.
It fused with him.
No crack, no break. The bone-white visor clung to his skin like a second face, alive with black and red patterns etched like war paint across his features. The hollow within was no longer separate.
It was one with him now. An evolved form. A bonded force. The pressure in the air spiked. Hueco Mundo, for the first time, dark clouds appeared.
Black clouds churned in the endless sky — a sight no one thought possible in this lightless world. Lightning crackled between the rolling shadows, as if the dimension itself was reacting to Ichigo's presence.
Aizen's eye twitched. His fingers curled. He was disturbed. No, furious. He rose slowly from the crater, floating toward Ichigo with eerie calm.
"No matter. I'll kill you first," he said. "Then your friends. Your family. Your world."
His tone was almost bored, but the malice behind his words was sharp.
"That was always the plan."
Ichigo didn't speak. He didn't flinch. He just stared — golden eyes glowing beneath the hollow mask, his expression calm, but unreadable.
Tensa Zangetsu pulsed with reishi in his hand, the air around him rippling like heatwaves.
Aizen's voice dropped low. "You think I'm scared of you? I've transcended everything—Soul Reaper, Hollow, human. I am evolution itself!"
Still no answer.
Ichigo floated forward, one slow step at a time through the air. His gaze never broke.
The very sight of him made Aizen's spiritual pressure fluctuate.
Then, the two god-like beings moved.
In a blink, they vanished—no sound, no warning, just a blur of impossible motion.
Air cracked. The very sky seemed to twist from the pressure they exuded.
Their blades met in a violent collision—Zangetsu and Aizen's weapon sparking with chaotic reiryoku.
BOOOM
A blast of raw spiritual force detonated outward. The dunes below were vaporized in a flash, massive craters forming from the sheer pressure. Wind howled across Hueco Mundo, carrying shockwaves that shattered stone and sent sand spiraling into the clouds.
Pillars crumbled. Hollow beasts in the far distance cried out in panic.
Dark clouds churned above like a storm reacting to their presence.
This wasn't a clash of men. This was a war between gods. And it was only the beginning.
The start of the end—the final battle of the Hueco Mundo Arc.
TO BE CONTINUED