"Bankai · Kamishini no Yari!"
At the very moment Rosse raised his hand and erased Aizen's world-destroying Cero, and everyone present had their attention drawn to Rosse—
The venomous snake that had been lurking in the shadows finally bared its fangs.
There was no earth-shattering explosion of spiritual pressure, no dazzling display of light and color.
Ichimaru Gin simply pointed the short blade hidden in his sleeve toward Aizen in midair.
The teasing smile that always hung at the corner of his lips disappeared completely at that moment.
In its place was absolute coldness and killing intent.
Whoosh!
The blade extended infinitely through the air, as if even light itself had been cut apart.
Even in Ichigo's hyper-sensitive perception, he could not clearly see the path of the blade.
All he caught was a streak of silver lightning moving so fast it surpassed the speed of thought.
That silver flash was like a silver serpent piercing through time and space, shooting straight toward the Hogyoku exposed on Hollowfied Aizen's chest.
"Damn it!"
Ichigo's pupils shrank to the size of pinpoints.
The angle of that strike was vicious and cunning. The timing was even more perfect, it came right when Aizen's previous power had faded, his new power not yet fully gathered, and most of his attention had been drawn toward Rosse.
This was absolutely not some attack meant to suppress a rampage.
That killing intent compressed to the extreme, that merciless strike—
'It is clearly targeted to take Aizen-sensei's life!'
What made Ichigo feel as if the blood in his entire body had frozen was something else.
The moment Kamishini no Yari's Bankai spiritual pressure fully erupted, a familiar yet unfamiliar cold aura stabbed his nerves like a needle.
'That spiritual pressure!'
Even though it had been deliberately concealed, that underlying cold, sinister texture could not be mistaken.
It was the same mysterious spiritual pressure that remained in the fatal wound on Inoue Orihime's chest, the one Kuchiki Byakuya had judged to belong to a captain with Second-Class spiritual might.
"Damn you! So it really was you, you bastard!"
Ichigo's eyes split with rage.
The image of Orihime's cold, broken body flashed through his mind, and fury instantly burned away his reason.
His body lunged forward, ready to stop the attack no matter the cost.
But unfortunately, it was too fast.
The reason Kamishini no Yari was called the God-Slaying Spear was precisely because of its divine speed, so fast that even gods could not blink in time.
The tip of the blade had already touched the butterfly-like bone wing on Aizen's back.
It was even about to pierce through the hierro of Hollowfied Aizen.
And at this moment, Aizen, standing on the edge of losing control, had his single eye on the mask locked tightly onto Rosse.
There was nowhere to dodge.
No time to react.
'It's over.'
Even if he had fused with the Hogyoku, being pierced by this blade, one containing dissolving poison, would mean certain death.
However, just as a smile was about to appear at the corner of Ichimaru Gin's lips, just as that silver edge was about to end everything—
Clang!
A sharp metallic crash exploded across the battlefield, so crisp it made people's eardrums ache.
There was no spray of blood.
No image of the Hogyoku shattering.
At the critical moment, a solid shield formed from countless grains of gray dust rotating at high speed suddenly appeared in the path of Kamishini no Yari.
It forcibly blocked the unstoppable blade.
Time seemed to freeze.
Ichimaru Gin still maintained his stabbing posture.
But his entire body looked like a statue whose soul had been pulled out, frozen stiff in place.
Those fox-like eyes that were always narrowed into slits, eyes that seemed to mock the entire world even in the most dangerous situations, opened fully for the first time.
Within those pale blue pupils, there was no frustration over the failed assassination.
No anger at being blocked.
Only confusion.
And a disbelief so overwhelming it nearly drowned him, mixed with something that felt like shattering.
He looked at that familiar gray dust shield.
Then he looked at the figure standing in front of his blade, standing between him and the only wish he had pursued for a hundred years.
"Gin!"
The figure slowly emerged from the dust.
Matsumoto Rangiku stood there, her golden hair whipping wildly in the raging spiritual pressure storm.
She held only the hilt of her Zanpakuto.
The blade itself had already transformed into the indestructible shield of Haineko.
Her gaze was extremely calm.
Even somewhat cold.
"Your attack was too heavy. Were you trying to kill Captain Aizen, the one Captain-Commander Rosse favors?"
That single sentence was faster than Kamishini no Yari.
Sharper too.
It pierced straight through Ichimaru Gin's heart.
"Heh!"
Gin opened his mouth.
His voice sounded dry, like rusted gears turning.
He had imagined countless endings.
He had imagined being killed by Aizen in return, at the hands of that powerful being.
He had imagined Ichigo stopping him, since that kid was full of unexpected surprises.
He had even imagined Rosse suddenly stepping in to block him.
He had even thought about what excuse he might give after failing.
But the one thing he had never imagined... Was that the person who would block this strike—
Would be Matsumoto Rangiku.
All the patience of his life. All the betrayals. All the blood stains on his hands. Even that thing he retrieved.
Everything he had done was for this moment.
To avenge her.
Even if she had grown close to Rosse, that monster. Even if she already treated him like a stranger. Even if she might truly have fallen in love with the new Captain-Commander...
Ichimaru Gin thought he could accept all of it.
He only wanted to repay that debt.
He wanted her to reclaim the soul she had lost.
He wanted to slice the culprit who made her cry into a thousand pieces.
Back then, as her companion, it had been his duty.
But now—
For Rosse's grand plan.
For the culprit himself, Aizen—
She had personally raised her Zanpakuto and stood in front of him.
This twisted sense of fate made Gin feel as if his chest had been stuffed full of broken glass.
Every breath hurt beyond words.
"Ah! Well, I just saw Captain Hitsugaya looking like he couldn't hold out any longer, so I instinctively tried to help him out," But his daze lasted only a moment. The very next second, that annoying fox mask returned to his face.
Ichimaru Gin withdrew Kamishini no Yari, tucked both hands into his sleeves, tilted his head, and spoke in that flippant, irritating tone:
"Really sorry about that, Vice-Captain Matsumoto. Looks like my clumsy attempt to help caused you to misunderstand."
"Hmph! Misunderstand?"
A black blur suddenly rushed forward.
Ichigo held Zangetsu like a furious lion as he stood in front of Ichimaru Gin.
Those bloodshot eyes looked ready to spit fire.
"You murderer! You still think you can argue your way out of this?"
"The killing intent in that strike just now was practically overflowing! You clearly wanted to kill Aizen-sensei!"
He wanted nothing more than to swing his blade and cut down the slit-eyed bastard in front of him.
Not just because Gin had tried to assassinate Aizen.
But because of that spiritual pressure.
The real killer who harmed Inoue Orihime, that same cold, snake-like aura was identical to the Kamishini no Yari that had just erupted.
"Ichimaru Gin! I don't care what you're plotting, but I'll be watching you every second!"
Ichigo ground his teeth.
"Orihime's debt, and today's debt, I'll settle them with you one by one!"
If Aizen weren't still in the middle of Hollowification, making a major fight unwise, he would have already attacked.
"Oh my, it seems Captain Kurosaki really misunderstands me."
Facing Ichigo's undisguised killing intent, Gin merely shrugged indifferently, even spreading his hands with a smile.
"I truly didn't mean to make things worse. But luckily we have the wise and mighty Captain-Commander Rosse here. Even if Captain Aizen really lost control, it probably wouldn't cause too much damage, right?"
He had completely returned to his usual demeanor.
That moment of shock, heartbreak, and confusion from earlier had vanished like foam under sunlight, buried deep within the darkest corner of his heart.
Since Rangiku chose to stand on that side.
Since the blade failed to pierce through. Then he would continue acting. Until the curtain fell with his death.
"That's enough. All of you stand down!"
At that moment, Rosse's authoritative voice descended from the sky, interrupting the confrontation below.
The focus of the battlefield had already shifted.
Boom!
With that brief interruption over, the battle in the sky escalated once again.
"ROOOOAR!"
As if sensing the killing intent from the ground that had nearly taken his life, or perhaps having finally broken free of the body's restraints and completed his evolution, hollowfied Aizen released a roar that shook the heavens.
He no longer paid attention to the ants on the ground.
Instead, he poured all of his violent battle intent onto the man before him.
Just as Ichimaru Gin had tried to use his Hollowification to kill him, Aizen also wanted to seize this chance to use this new body that had crossed the boundary of Shinigami and fight Rosse properly.
He wasn't trying to win.
He simply wanted to tell Rosse: the current him already possessed the qualification to stand beside him.
Whoosh! Boom!
The two figures instantly broke the sound barrier, transforming into a purple and a blue streak of light that shot straight into the sky.
One hundred meters. Five hundred meters. One thousand meters.
They completely escaped the constraints of the ground and fought recklessly like gods ten-thousand-meter above, in the sky.
Every collision of Ceros exploded into brilliant mushroom clouds.
Every clash of Zanpakuto tore apart the clouds and caused terrifying atmospheric shockwaves.
That was power beyond First-Class spiritual might, touching the very edge of the world's rules.
The captains on the ground had no choice but to activate defensive Kido.
Even so, the shockwaves of spiritual pressure raining down from above still made their chests tighten, forcing them to lower their heads and dodge.
"Tsk! Tsk... unbelievable."
Yoruichi stood on the highest point of the Tenth Division barracks.
While protecting the buildings, she shaded her eyes with one hand and looked up at the sky that had already been torn apart.
Her golden cat eyes were filled with shock.
"Aizen's already reached a completely different level of strength, and it still isn't enough to make Rosse use his full power?", She couldn't help glancing to the side.
Because not far away, another Rosse was still standing there.
That was the projection Rosse had summoned with his Bankai.
It was also proof that Rosse still hadn't used his full strength.
The one fighting Aizen in the sky was merely Rosse's real body, simply using the spiritual pressure amplification from Bankai to fight.
"What a monster. Rosse might not be any weaker than Captain-Commander Yamamoto at his peak."
Relying on her rich combat experience, Yoruichi made a tentative judgment.
The situation was already clear.
Aizen had grown much stronger, but compared to Rosse there was still some distance.
Although the visual spectacle of their battle was equally terrifying, Shinigami battles were usually fights where spiritual pressure was compressed to the extreme.
If one judged only by spectacle, Komamura Sajin wouldn't look inferior at all. But he probably couldn't even survive a single strike from either of them.
In Yoruichi's view, both of them had already crossed the threshold of First-Class spiritual might.
However, Rosse relied on the amplification of his Bankai's spiritual pressure, similar to Captain-Commander Yamamoto.
Aizen, on the other hand, broke through using Hollowification.
His strength was still somewhat lower than Rosse's, probably even below Yamamoto's level.
But no matter what, the Soul Society had gained another top-tier combat force.
Together with the veteran Unohana, they had at least minimized the impact of Yamamoto's death.
But Yoruichi knew this was only the beginning.
If Aizen's Hollowification succeeded, then not just Aizen, everyone present would experience explosive growth in power.
'Hollowification.'
Even hearing that word now made her heart stir.
After all, she carried a blood feud as well.
If she didn't hurry and grow stronger, she would never be able to avenge her family… or Sui Feng.
.
.
.
One hour later—
The sky-shaking battle high above still showed no sign of stopping.
The rumbling thunder never ceased.
That was the wail of the atmosphere caused by two spiritual pressures that had already surpassed the limits of Shinigami, colliding violently within the clouds above Seireitei.
"Whew! Thank goodness!"
Hitsugaya Toshiro looked up, rubbing his sore neck without taking his eyes off the sky.
"Luckily Captain-Commander Rosse forced the battlefield up into the sky. Otherwise just the shockwaves from this past hour could've destroyed the Tenth Division… no, the entire Seireitei."
If captains like them tried to enter that battlefield, the result would basically be the same as Komamura Sajin and Zaraki Kenpachi.
They'd be taken down in two seconds.
Yet the two figures in the sky had already been fighting at high intensity for an entire hour.
Just the sheer amount of spiritual pressure alone was enough to make anyone jealous.
Buzz!
At that moment, a deep purple beam of light capable of blinding people descended from the sky.
It was the residual wave of a Cero that had spilled out from the clash between the two fighters above.
Although it was only an aftershock, the destructive spiritual particles within it were still compressed to the extreme.
If it landed, everything within five hundred meters would be completely vaporized.
"Damn it, here it comes again!"
Hitsugaya's pupils shrank as he instinctively ducked his head.
But he made no move to counterattack.
'What a joke!'
With his strength, even unleashing a Bankai ultimate move wouldn't stop that Cero.
The next moment, the Rosse projection that had been standing quietly nearby merely lifted its eyelids slightly.
"Bakudo Number 81 · Danku!"
A massive transparent wall of spiritual energy instantly appeared above everyone's heads like a sudden heavenly barrier.
Boom!
The purple beam of destruction slammed heavily into the Dankū barrier, sending terrifying ripples across its surface.
The collision of light and wall produced a violent shock.
Yet no matter how violently the Cero raged, the Danku barrier stood as steady as a mountain.
Not a single crack appeared.
A few seconds later, the deep purple beam exhausted its energy and unwillingly dissipated into nothingness.
The Danku barrier then faded away like ripples on water.
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